Week 7- the Globe performance week

 The Globe project 2023  

This globe project is the first one I have completed on the Acting for stage and screen course, finding it to be one of the most exciting and enjoyable experiences I have had when performing. Not only was it fantastic, but it was also something completly new for me, having never worked on a tour before- not to mention taking on the role of the tour guide and being responsible for keeping the tour moving. 

Initial worry's and hesitations   

Because I have never experienced being a tour guide I was initially hesitant and nervous especially when running through it at collage. Although not being at the globe did create a sense of difficulty when it came to spacing I think it was my lines and improvisation that made me feel more nervous, because obviously when it comes to improvisation you don't know what your going to say until you say it, and because of this I also didn't know how that would effect my already existing lines and were the tour needed to end up. But after we started rehearsing in the globe it all started to flow a lot better, not just because we could figure out the spacing- but I could also use the separate spaces to peace together what sections of the tour were the closest to one another- helping me jest how far through the tour we were at any given time, allowing me to make sure the tour was always going in the right direction so we didn't accidently skip any sections. 

I was one of the primary school tour guides, meaning my audience was going to be young children which is something I was Initially quite worried about, knowing that children tend to be very unpredictable and loud. This is something I had to take into account when doing practise run throughs, needing to maintain a sense of hyperbolised excitement keeping a fun and energetic sense to my improvisation so that they would never lose interest whilst on the tour. I was also slightly worried about how to react to unexpected questions or comments from the children or how to dim down noise or conversation without seeming mean or aggressive. To help out with this some of the other actors working on the project stepped in as a "child audience" to help us practise- purposely asking child like questions and getting loud and excited easily so we could figure out what the most effective way to deal with it was- whilst also practising not letting it put us off what we were doing. I personally found this helpful and from it learned that quickly drawing the focus to one thing or a person weather it be yourself or another character pulled the children straight back into it, giving them something to place their attention on to prevent them talking in-between sections. 

How I felt about the performance and what I've learned/taken from it  

I personally feel the performance was really successful, and I'm pleased with how well everything slotted together- never feeling like anything was clunky or unpolished. I am also proud of how I managed the stresses of working with children, and have now learned so much to take on in the future if I ever find myself needing to work with children again. When working with children I have learned that patients is probably one of the biggest elements, and if you have to pause for a second to let them calm down or take things in, your not detracting from the performance your just allowing them to fully experience what's happening. I would also say that taking on their questions and just rolling with some of the odd unexpected things they say is the best way to stop yourself freezing when they ask something completely off topic. I also think that its really effective if you ask them questions yourself on things to do with what your showing them- especially if as interactive as a tour, because it allows them to feel more involved therefore they're more likely to pay attention to what's happening, which prevents them messing around as much and losing focus when your speaking.

I also feel like the experience has help me build on the skill of covering up mistakes when performing, because there's always going to be a high possibility that mistakes are made-  especially on a tour were your constantly exposed to the audience and their input. But because I've never been part of a tour before I haven't been exposed to such a high chance of uncertainty, and although no major mistakes happened- there were still points were we nearly lead the audience in the wrong direction- having to think fast and improvise it in a way to make it seem planned and natural. Mistakes aren't normally seen as a positive, but in this instance I feel I learned a lot from experiencing them then I would have not, gaining a clearer understanding of how to hide a mistake with improvisation- adding more practise to the reflects of deviating from a mistake when live performing.