Lesson notes 2nd April

1 ) What important discoveries were made during the rehearsal?

Within today's rehearsal, our aim was to begin improvising and experimenting with lifts (Hero and Claudio) for the bedroom scene. Here, we wanted to create juxtaposition (conflicting attitudes and emotions that Claudio has towards his vision of hero). Originally we had decided to only use one hero for the bedroom scene however, we decided to try using all the Hero's (gradually increasing in number as the scene develops- starts with one hero which soon become a trio etc. as more Hero's appear). This reflects how Claudio starts to feel overwhelmed and struggles beneath her power. This becomes evident within the final scenes as Claudio becoming overwhelmed with guilt and the flashbacks of how he badly treated Hero.

2 ) What led to those discoveries?

Our inspiration for this scene was through frantic assembly videos- using physical theatre (particularly in bed scenes) to portray love and anger. There was one moment that we particularly liked- a man and woman duet in a bedroom. Similarly to our piece, the movement signified feelings of love and anger. Each time the movement became more violent and rough, the man would put the woman in his closet/wardrobe. Taking this idea, the Hero's could come out of the wardrobe- one at a time as the scene builds. Therefore the wardrobe could be metaphoric for memories and his mixed emotions/ feelings towards Hero. For example, the first Hero that comes out of the wardrobe could represent love, therefore the movement is gentle yet passionate. The next Hero could represent frustration therefore the movement is more violent, perhaps with bigger lifts and moments of solo dance? Other emotions that could be explored include fear, anger, happiness, joy, hate etc.

Furthermore, we began to use Pinks music video 'try' as inspiration for the lifts. We like the contemporary style of her movement - lifts and dance reflect the same dance idea 'the difficulties of love in a relationship, contrasting between anger and love'. Another aspect of the video that we could use includes paint! Each time pink and her lover fight or end a lift in anger/pain, a new colour paint is thrown at a part of their body e.g. Heart, neck, legs. For each different Hero (who represents a different emotion) they could have their own individual colour of paint. For example love could be red, anger could be orange, frustration could be blue, happiness could be yellow etc. by the end of the performance Claudio is covered in different coloured powder paints. This is a visual way of presenting his emotions towards Hero, rather than wearing his feelings on the inside, he is wearing them physically on the outside!

3 ) Towards where do those discoveries lead?

Although we didn't get very far with the lifts, we now how lots of possible ideas to explore and build on in future rehearsals. We found the lifts difficult as we were trying to recreate them from the music video which presented confusion when working out how to get into and out of lifts. To help us progress with this and perform the lifts safely we are going to research and watch 'how to' videos on YouTube where we will be talked through and demonstrated each step.

4 ) Consider questions No. 1-3 except focus on important roadblocks/dead ends.

Particularly within this scene, the roadblocks will be a combination of mental and physical. The mental roadblocks will be our attitudes towards the dance and lifts e.g. Thinking we can't do something, being too scared to try, not trusting each other etc. whereas the physical roadblocks will include what each Hero and Claudio is physically able and fit to do. We are all at different stages and abilities within dance therefore some people will find certain movements or lifts easier than other. We have to ensure that we consider each of our strengths and weaknesses and construct movement that best suits an individual's capability.

5 ) Reflect on dramatic action and conflict.  How’s it going?  What actions does this suggest?

This scene especially explores a vast range of dramatic action and conflict- we cover a complete spectrum of emotions! As mentioned earlier, each Hero represents a different emotion therefore the movement within each section will have a different dynamic quality.

6 ) Reflect on transformational leadership.  How’s it going?  What actions does this suggest?

I feel that we all contributed within today's lesson however I know that I could have been more accepting to trying new ideas - especially the lifts! Despite this however I offered ideas (showing videos) and suggested different ways of trying lifts when we were figuring out how to move into/ out of lifts. Megan seemed to hold the lesson together as she was constantly trying out new ideas and was open to anything new, even if they went wrong! She also kept the rest of the group motivated and willing to continue.

7 ) Reflect on the journey of one or both of the actors with whom you are working.  How’s it going?  What needs to happen next?

When improvising scenes, I noticed that Amy really understood her character and had a good sense of how this character related to the others (within the original play and our adaptation) and therefore was able to make her relevant to the improv. The amount of knowledge and research she has done into the original play has helped me to realise how important and helpful this is- as it helps us to make more relevant and intelligent decisions. Learning from this, I will watch the film again (including the digital theatre version) and order a copy of the script to annotate.

8 ) What is the most important thing that happened (or didn’t happen) in your recent rehearsal?  Unpack its importance.

I think the most important thing that happened was that although we didn't achieve much in the end, we were able to start physically exploring our ideas and discovering what worked/ what could potentially work.

Further to this, we decided to try improvising in character (the beginning hotel reception scene). This didn't work out as well as we had planned - and was a clear indication of the research we still need to do! We didn't completely understand our characters and the improvisation went off topic and wasn't relevant to our play at all! This approach to devising doesn't entirely work with our company therefore we need to accept this and experiment with other methods of devising (once we have done more research into the play!)

9 ) What is the most important thing that could happen in your next rehearsal?  How will you shape the rehearsal in order to increase the odds of that “thing” happening?

I think the most important thing within our next rehearsal will to begin  systematically assigning parts of the play to different scenes. This will not only help us to research more into the play but will also develop and improve our current ideas for performance- give more substance and 'meaning'/ purpose.

10 ) Consider where you’re at in the grand scheme of all rehearsals.  How’s it going?  What actions does this suggest?
After today's lesson I have realised that we still have a long way to go! Although I initially thought we were ahead and could start on our devising, i know that I have skipped the most important step- this being 'thorough research'. There is so much more that we could include if we looked deeper e.g. Different themes, personalities and messages hidden within the text.