Assignment 1
Task 1- warm up analysis
A---One of the improvisational warm ups that I found to be highly useful on the build up to the globe was a variation of a circle game- were someone would go into the circle and act out an activity or movement. After they had done that someone else would then have to enter the circle, and ask them what they were doing- in response they would say anything else, apart from the activity they were actually doing. This then meant that the person who had come into the circle would have to do the action that the previous person said. The reason that I feel this warm up was so good when it came to improv on our run up to the globe was because it forced people to act on instinct, especially if they got a particularly difficult action/movement, such as: "riding a unicorn or "singing Oprah"; constantly exercising that reflect to act immediately and not hesitate as much. I also feel like it prepares you for the impossible when it comes to randomness, which is something that I found to be useful due to the fact that I was one of the primary school tour guides, and having to manage the randomness of children.
*Second improvisational game is in week 5 blog underneath "Wednesday 11th October 2023- warm up activity- improvisational game.
B---The game that I've thought of is almost like a characterisation building blocks game, were an actor needs to use their physicality skills to develop a walk for a character they have in mind. Once they have done that the other actors doing the warm up (who will also have thought of a character) will watch the walk, as they try and guess the main personality traits of their character. They only have a few minutes to figure out the walk and the personality traits, because the whole point is that its sporadic, and gets you into the mindset of switching into character section by section. Which is why the actors would only be focusing on their characters walk, as from trial and error I have found it to be a great starting point for characterisation- preventing yourself from becoming stiff and still when performing as said character. Figuring out a characters walk also makes you naturally build on facial expressions that fit with the walk, pushing you further into characterisation without even thinking about it. I feel this game could be useful to people who procrastinate characterisation or those who struggle to delve into it, because figuring out a characters walk isn't something that you need to focus on a large amount to figure out, and from doing so can then very easily mould the rest of the character in a domino effect way.
Task 2- Weekly blog
https://charperacting.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-globe-project-2023-this-globe.html ---- globe week production diary
Task 3- character study/analysis
Because my character was that of a time traveling detective tour guide for the primary school tours- not actually being a previously existing historical figure, I had a lot of free rain when it came to what my character was like and who they were as a person. I personally really enjoyed the free rain I had with the character, but at the same time I did have to constantly keep in mind that I was a primary school tour guide meaning I couldn't be to scary or overpowering, because obviously I was working with children and they are easily scared/overwhelmed compared to adults. Keeping this in mind I sculpted my character around the idea of intelligence, using the evening tour guides characters of Burke and Hare as a kind of inspiration- due to the fact that the primary school tour guides were meant to be a sort of toned down version in a way, but at the same time keeping it original. So because of this I took the physical mannerisms of the Burke and Hare characters- for example their walk and fast paced deminer, plus their old fashioned smart look- with a shirt and tie, but adding in the overcoat to give it more of a detective feel. Although I was working with children, I still wanted to add a sense of creepiness to the character to maintain that element of horror- not to mention the fact that I am very fascinated by creepy characters. So to do this without making things way to scary I added a more excitable energetic feel to my character, having him be fuelled by the facts of history- vocalising this excitement to the children regularly. This meant that in the moments of the tour were my character became more mysterious and creepy, it was balanced out by the excitement, which also helped my character become more likeable to the children, as it gave them energy to build of throughout the tour.
I feel like my character is a naturally very friendly person, yet constantly aware of his large amount of knowledge- which is something he enjoys vocalising regularly. Unfortunately over time he has found that his knowledge can be used against him, so therefore has refrained from sharing as much as he knows, which is the real reason he can become easily agitated and more aggressive/creepy, due to some past adventures that went wrong. But because he loves to gain knowledge, he decided to take an interest in time travel- believing that if he could take himself back to that period in time he would get a deeper and better understanding of the historical event. Despite his brains he overdid it- relying to much on time travel to the point were he would use it on the daily, causing himself to get trapped within neither the past or the present- existing entirely through time travel. Which is how he became to be a time travelling detective, rerouting trainee detectives from that the time frame he lands in to help him solve the mysteries.
task 4- promenade and immersive theatre
Promenade theatre is quite commonly referred to as a modern day version of medieval staging, were the performance is placed outside and the audience are required to follow them from place to place as the show progresses. Promenade theatre is really useful when wanting to create a more societal production- adding a deeper sense of real life to the performance. It can also help make a performance more immersive as it often blurs the physical space between the audience and the actors, creating opportunity for some really visually interesting scenes not just artistically but also through accurate outdoor places such as castles and other historical buildings that make the performance more real and historically accurate. Although promenade theatre is really good for audience connection, it also creates more opportunity for actors lines to be lost or dialogue to be missed by the audience- not to mention the lack of control or restriction you have over the audience and their behaviour, plus the fact that your exposed to the public.
Immersive theatre is a type of theatre in which the audience are made to feel included within the plot- designed to completely break the 4th wall allowing the viewer to feel at one with the actors and the environment surrounding them. Immersive theatre also opens up the chance for the audience to have a say in the narrative, being given a sense of responsibility throughout, and in some circumstances relied on to collect information and keep the performance going. Immersive theatre is also similar to Promenade in the way that the surroundings are also used to add to this experience, eliminating the stage element of traditional theatre and replacing it with that sense of real life surroundings. Although there are many positives to immersive theatre, it too like promenade has little control over audience behaviour or restriction- opening up more opportunity for complications. Research wise I mainly focused on medieval weapons and there uses, this is because my character wasn't pre existing, and instead was fictional- meaning that most of my research went into other things pre historic. One of the weapons I did some research on was a torture device called the iron chair- depending on the origin of this historic device certain elements of it change, but the main concept is that someone is strapped onto a spiked chair with a hole on the seat for coal and fire to be placed underneath it. it's designed to slowly and painfully cook people alive, and was used as a way to get information out of people by making them watch someone they know get slowly killed.
task 5- evaluation
Performer improvement section of evaluation is in Globe tour blog week 7 --- https://charperacting.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-globe-project-2023-this-globe.html
I feel my performance was effective, because of my constant improvisational adlibbing- using it as a way to build up a stronger relationship with the audience, so they could feel more included within the action of the performance itself. This also allowed me to gain more control over the way the audience would act, by adding in games or tasks that purposefully were meant to influence there behaviour positively to avoid complication in certain sections of the tour. This also helped me build a deeper sense of character when performing- using my own characterisation of my character to show their true emotions and reactions in different sections of the tour, hopefully making certain sections more believable and immersive for the primary school children. I'm also incredibly proud off just how effectively we all collaboratively worked as a team, constantly relying on one another to make sure everything slotted into place- using each other as ques throughout the entirety of the performance, whilst all bouncing off one another to build everyone's performance more, making sure everyone was left supported.
goals for next performance --- as a main goal for myself personally, I really want to work on controlling pre performance anxiety, because I find it can sometimes stop me from being as confident while performing, and therefore creates more opportunity for me stumbling on lines and enjoy myself as much as I do in rehearsals. Another goal that I also have for myself is to focus on pace a bit more, and even though I did delve into pre performance, I feel as though its something I can improve a lot more on moving forward.
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