15th May Lesson Evaluation

1 ) What important discoveries were made during the rehearsal?

Within today's rehearsal we worked through the notes given yesterday- mainly focusing on reworking the suicide scene! Yesterday some of the audience couldn't see the suicide taking place ( and therefore missed the main aspect of our play- the rest wouldn't have made sense without this knowledge!). Furthermore, the way in which me and George act out the death seemed humorous to the audience - although we were acting seriously, it looked funny from where they were standing!
To change this, we experimented with the idea of climbing over the barrier and falling from the front. This worked much better visually and we were able to create a more emotional, creative/ effective death.
To start with, I climbed over the barrier, whilst Nicole read out the poem. We held moments of stillness in order to portray emotion and the difficulty of decision hero was about to make. George/ Claudio held onto me from behind (partly for health and safety- to stop me from falling) and partly to show his resistance in letting me go - wants to try and stop me.
I was worried about how this looked visually- I case it seemed as though George was helping me to commit suicide however from watching this back on video it still looked as though it was me controlling my actions.
Once I was over the barrier, we needed to work out a way of falling (safely!). Whilst still holding onto George, the rest of the group supported my back (enabling me to let go) as they lowered me to the floor. Here I suggested that George could hold the petals in his hand - once he lets me go he could throw the petals over me.
Once I am on the floor the rest of the group turn away and gasp to further clarify that I have committed suicide - and the reaction to all the blood!

2 ) What led to those discoveries?

As mentioned above the feedback from the run gave us direction and indication as to what we should be rehearsing or changing within our next rehearsal. When performing, we were aware of the things that weren't working so well- particularly the suicide scene! When jumping I felt as though there wasn't enough impact- it wouldn't shock the audience or create a great effect (especially as I was only able to jump from the bottom step!). Now that we have incorporated movement, breath, stillness/ freeze frames, and a clearly visible suicide- the scene has become more emotive, shocking (particularly as it is quite risky!), and will help the audience to understand Claudio more- his reactions are clearer and the separation is shown in slow motion - gives us both a chance to express emotion and struggle and show each characters intentions.

3 ) Towards where do those discoveries lead?

I feel much more confident now that we have developed and improved this scene - I was worried initially that our scene before (undeveloped) wouldn't provide enough background story between Claudio and hero, show their relationship or even translate clearly- especially without the train sound effects it wasn't clear that this was a suicide! Moving on from this scene, we were able to start developing the canteen scene, working on entrances / exits.
Within our next rehearsal we still need to figure out and develop how we move as Hero - currently we all march in whilst saying the poem however it has been suggested that we use the objects around us to fall on and use/ creep or climb around (which would increase our stage presence and power as hero, considering there is only three of us).

Furthermore we need to prescribe and re-devise the scene with blue coat and Consuela - getting the audience involved with the salsa. Using the hub for this would make more sense and be easier for the audience to see (currently it's near the toilets) however during the run we had to wait a while for them all to come out - not all of them could see and this wasted time for those come out first!

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

The possible roadblocks here would be to use our time tomorrow in an unproductive way- becoming too content with what we already have and choosing not to rehearse! There are still small aspects of the performance that need tidying such as costume placement, music, lighting, sound effects, singing/ timing etc. although it's tedious and may include lots if discussion and repetition, it could be the difference between a good performance and a great performance.

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

Before working on the first suicide scene, the only dramatic action was the bingo scene (this is the main climax point). Now that we have developed and improved the suicide scene, there is more dramatic action (particularly as we are able to hook 'hit' the audience straight away) and get them engaged - especially as we now have more clarity, the audience is able to follow from the beginning!


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

The most important thing within this rehearsal was firstly the suicide scene (as mentioned above) and secondly the read through of our script 'Line bashing'. This helps us to remember and learn our cues - we also tried reading in other characters lines (other than our own). It helped to hear how someone else would read the same line - as we can improve or change our own interpretation (might prefer it the way someone else says the line or copy a way in which they do this).