8th May Lesson Evaluation

1 ) What important discoveries were made during the rehearsal?

The aim of today's rehearsal was to prepare for our full run - showing to the rest of the group. Through doing so we were able to discover the following:
- what still needs to be done, where the gaps are ( any problems that we need to resolve and change)
- linking scenes together. It is clear that the transitions are the main missing aspects! Without the transitions, it was difficult for the audience to know when and where to move (also some of the audience were confused as to the connection between scenes- the transitions could clear this up!)
-beginning/opening scene. As we were only given the script for this today, it is clear we need to make lots of improvement/ alterations. We also need to clarify that Claudio has booked a room with Hero otherwise this becomes confusing in the canteen scene when he only refers to his 'wife'.
- the bedroom scene with all five Hero's is confusing - the audience were questioning why there are suddenly five (considering that I have been the only one portrayed as Hero so far). We need to find a way of making this clear- communicating our idea of surrealism to the audience. I suggested that we could write words on the dresses however this may be too obvious.
- within the canteen scene there is nowhere for the manager and blue coat to hide/ or change. We will have to consider transitions and 'backstage' next rehearsal.
- from feedback I learnt that the depression scene ( with hero and Claudio) doesn't quite work. Instead of Hero being in the bedroom before Claudio arrives, Claudio should start off on his own- which makes it look as though he's talking to someone who's not there (and further reinforces the fact that this is all in his head- he's having a mental breakdown!). I can then enter when he talks about 'needing me there with him' where we show our separation using hand placement either side of the door.
- lines and cues were a problem! The full potential of our acting was masked by scripts and also the cues were messy- however the transition will help to fix this problem.
- small issues with the bingo scene, we need to re rehearse the song! thinking about timing and accuracy of harmonies.
- I personally need to research my character of blue coat ( as I felt I gave a really weak performance as this character!)

2 ) What led to those discoveries?

The full run was essential to the discovery (of the above). Without this, it would have been difficult to expose the possible issues and problems - now that we have made and experienced these mistakes/ problems, we can begin working towards fixing them

3 ) Towards where do those discoveries lead?

We now need to consider the prop and costume changes, during the run we only mentioned and mimed where these would be - however we need to put this into action to discover how this will work (if we need to make any changes, alterations, solve complications etc.) we have made a props/ costume list of everything we need to buy - this will be the first thing we do next rehearsal!
The feedback given way really helpful, we can now take on board these comments and apply them to our performance. In particular I will focus on my bedroom scene and what I can change or include to make if clear why there are suddenly five Hero's alongside me. Someone had the idea of using a Rose as a symbol - which could tie into the final scene when Claudio is left to his death.
Considering the final scene, we need to plan the ending- what do we want to happen? How will it finish? Where do we want to stage this? etc.
it is important that we keep re rehearsing in order to improve quality and standard of acting, costume changes, and confidence of lines.

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

As mentioned with the props/costume, we have a tendency for saying '(prop/costume change) Will happen here' rather than physically doing it. If we get in the habit of performing this way, the same will happen on the night of rehearsal!

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

From audience response it is very clear where the dramatic tension is within the scenes- we provoked a good contrast in responses - crying with laughter to seriousness.

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?

I was really impressed with the level of organisation from Nicole, Jessie and Meg. Furthermore the initiative Jessie and Meg had to separately rehearse the Beatrice and Benedict scene  (in their own time) really helped to improve and develop our performance- this section acted as a transition which was much better than the one I had originally devised. I also loved the characterisation of Claudio which George chose- it makes sense with his actions and also adds to the comic effect.

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

The run though was the most important thing to happen in rehearsal as it has helped us to Realise where we are at 'in the grand scheme of rehearsals' and set the agenda/ criteria goals for the upcoming rehearsals.

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?

All of us agree that we need to plot/ plan out all the costume and prop changes- the run helped us to realise how complex this would be!