Assignment 2--- Peter Pan assignment

Peter Pan assignment:

Task 1--- Acting journey this term

Charlie's Acting journey (charperacting.blogspot.com)

Task 2 part 1--- Audition week 

Refer to blog labelled "Week 8---Peter Pan audition week" 

Task 2 part 2--- Characters 

For Peter  Pan characteristics analysis go to Week 8 Audition week underneath the sub category "Characterisation". Elements of this task are also discussed in task 4 evaluation, under the sub heading "Reflection on Personal objectives"

Peter Pan is a classic character that has been portrayed multiple times throughout stage and screen, one of the main depictions being the Disney cartoon film "Peter Pan". I feel the depiction of Peter Pan in this classic cartoon film definitely highlights the cheeky and self; centred cocky side to Peter, softening this cockiness in the later live action version of Peter Pan- adding in a kinder sense to the character whilst maintaining these original characteristics. I also did some research into the National Theatres version of Peter Pan- were they add a more modern effect to the costumes and set, making the storyline feel more energized compared to some other previous version. Although I like the National Theatres version of Peter Pan I personally feel like the depiction of Peter Pan himself in this version was to mature- feeling more like an older thinned out version of the character, which is why I didn't use this version of Peter Pan as influence for mine, and instead used both the previous film version as I felt they were more accurate to the depiction I was aiming for. 

Task 3---Audience and their expectations 

There were three different audiences we had to come and watch our performance: Relaxed audience, Public audience and Primary school audience. The relaxed audience was one that consisted of care home residents, individuals with learning disability's ranging from Primary school age to adulthood and some Level 2 Students from our course. This audience was quite loud and responsive to the production, which is something we were aware of beforehand- getting taught a bit of sign langue and other ways we could communicate with some of the audience members to make them feel comfortable. We also had a specialist that came in to educate us more on how to accommodate our relaxed audience the best we could, this included turning the mic down slightly so things weren't so loud. One of our fight scenes was also altered slightly, as normally it would go into the audience- instead it only went onto the balcony so no one was alarmed by the aggression or sense of danger. We also did a little segment before this show, were we introduced the main characters and informed them that the swords weren't real etc. The whole point of this show was to provide people who can't usually go the theatre an opportunity to enjoy the creative arts without feeling like they weren't welcome or couldn't enjoy it. 

The second of our three audience types were the primary school audiences. We didn't make any big changes when performing for this audience, instead just kept in mind they were young children so not to be to aggressive in fight scenes etc. But Because I was playing a lost boy I didn't think there was anything I would do that would scare them- meaning this wasn't much of a worry for me. When performing for a Primary school audience I found myself leaning more towards funny facial expression, due to the fact that they found the funny moments for funny than other audiences- therefore there was this instinctive reaction to make more of a deal out of those moments which I really enjoyed and found fun to perform. Personally I feel the Primary school audiences were louder than the general public audience, which was obviously expected and something I was ready for and use to- using the skills I learned from being a primary school tour guide to help me. 

The third audience type we had was the Public audience, which in my opinion is the most nerve-racking audiences to perform Infront of, because almost all of the audience members are adults- meaning their harder to impress and more judge when it comes to something they don't like, they just want to be entertained which was always in the back of my mind when performing for the Public audience. I also found that unlike the Primary school audience it's a lot harder to build on those more humorous moments, because their not as inclined to laugh therefore It can sometimes throw you off and make you doubt your performance which can be stressful and distracting. Although I found performing for the Public audience to be the most intense, I feel it made me push myself the most- especially for the VIP performance- which as a result made my performance on stage stronger. 

I'm really grateful for the opportunity to perform for so many different audiences, and as a result have learned that being aware of your audience type and catering to that is really important as it can make the experience for the audience members even more enjoyable and entreating. I've also become more confident when it comes to performing Infront of multiple audience types, and now know what to expect for future performances that involve these audience types.

Task 4 Evaluation

Reflection on personal objectives 

My personal goal within my performance as Peter Pan was to stay true to the character, deliver a representation of what people know and love about him, whilst adding my own characterized elements to my depiction. I wanted my performance to symbolise the lack of creative restriction that comes with being a child, and how that effects Peter Pan as a character and the way he views the world. I feel it’s important to show a clear lack of sophistication and etiquette when playing Peter Pan to reflect his upbringing and stubbornness when it comes to adulthood. He doesn’t have that parental figure therefore he won’t have been taught to exist in such ways- which is why I feel personally he should juxtapose anything relating to adulthood. I Feel Peter Pans motives as a character are quite self-centred, especially at the beginning of the play although these do alter slightly as he is introduced to Wendy and her life/what she stands for. But in general, they tend to revolve highly around what he wants for himself- which is somethings that also continues to highlight his lack of parental figure. I would say a motivation for Peter that it very fixed yet not touched upon as such is his want to be loved; his constant search for that love and the motherliness that’s brought with it, hence why he’s fixated on finding a mother. I wanted this to be something I made more obvious in my depiction of Peter Pan, because it adds another emotional layer to the character that the audience can connect to. I wanted to show Peters development and his hidden emotions with the hopes that it would alter the way the audience see him as a character, whilst understanding the melancholier elements that come with Peter Pan’s story. I would say I met these objectives in an effective way- adding a discrete more naturalistic sense to the scenes that delved into these elements surrounding Peter Pan- pushing to show the fear he’s built up to accept these emotions. Although I am not displeased with how I met the objective I still feel I could have made his frustration and anger linger more in some of the end scenes to show the audience more of his character change. Because overall this would have pushed the audience to see Peter Pan in truer form like I initially intended.

Assess Emotional Engagement 

I personally feel the way I conveyed Peter Pans emotions were quite true to who he is as a character- always having a sense of energy behind the emotions he experiences throughout.  Although Peter does symbolise that element of energy I always made sure to add a naturalistic sense to the scenes were he showed raw emotion, by toning down the energy and letting the words flow without exaggerating them. I feel this technique of showing his raw emotion was most effective in the scene were he mentions his mother, because it massively contrasts the way Peter Pan shows his emotions in the first act etc- highlighting to the audience that this is something serious and traumatising for him as a character. Adding this more naturalist human sense to these scenes also allows the audience to connect with him more as a character- which as a result makes them root for him more as a character at the end, as they develop more of an understanding of his pain. I would say overall I communicated Peters intentions and emotions quite successfully- maintaining the characters sense of self whilst still allowing the audience to see the multiple sides to him as a person.   

Review vocal Performance

The vocal aspect of playing Peter Pan was quite intense due to the fact that he had a lot of main musical numbers/duets that were important and beneficial to the show- which meant it was very important for me to take care of my voice and keep it healthy when performing, otherwise I wouldn't of been able to do the most of the musical numbers especially the more challenging ones in the second half. I feel that my articulation when singing was strong, yet my pronunciation could of been improved; from my perspective I was clear when singing, but would accidently squish words up when pronouncing them instead of slowing it down more, so they weren't mis said and jumbled together- although I did hide these mistakes by making it one of Peters quirks instead of obvious mis pronunciations. My volume/protectory was strong and maintained throughout the performance- using my posture and lung support to help me maintain a steady diaphragm, even when out of breath whilst performing Musical numbers such as "what happens when you are grown up". I feel personally my breath control was weak and something I should of sort more support with pre show (this is something that would of helped my breathlessness when singing). When it comes to pacing I do feel I was successful in keeping with the timing, and even when I did accidently mess up once at the start of "do you believe" I was very quickly able to get myself back into the right beat count by listening to the music and starting back in on the right line. I feel my singing voice didn't really reflect Peter Pan as well as my speaking voice did, due to the fact that I'm a female soprano and Peter Pans a little boy. It's also quite hard to change the way your singing voice sounds whilst making sure your hitting the notes and singing technically correct, but I still feel I could of prepared more for that before hand just to create more of that Peter Pan persona. 

Analyse Physicality and Movement

I feel my physicality and movement on stage embodied Peter Pan quite successfully, altering the way I walked and moved around the stage to fit who he is as a person. I added this jumpy effect to my walk, flicking my feet up from the tips of my toes into a small jump within every step, constantly switching between running and walking sporadically- creating this image of restlessness and hyperactivity. I would also regularly use the set as if it were a play ground, jumping onto beds and playing with probs etc, I wanted this to show the childishness behind Peter Pan- yet also use it as a way to show the contrast between him and Wendy and highlight the fact that Wendy could never really stay in Neverland and will always have to grow up at some point, unlike Peter who won't. When playing Peter I made sure to have him interact with characters in the way he saw them and his opinions towards them. For example when Peter first meets john and Michael I made him seem slightly irritated and disgusted, because in reality he only actually wanted to take Wendy to Neverland so isn't going to be best pleased on the Idea of meeting them and taking them too. I also became more playful and cheeky when interacting with hook, because for me I feel as if Peters goal is to show off and irritate when around the pirates- adding this cocky tone to my voice whilst giggling and grinning more throughout dialogue, making it obvious that to Peter it's always just a cat and mouse game.

Consider Ensemble Dynamic   

When performing in an ensemble dynamic I feel it's important to always be aware of the unwanted open spaces on the stage, so that you know when performing the areas that you need to fill out. This is something that I made sure I did when playing an ensemble character, whilst also heightening my emotions so they built up the general sense of the scene. It's also important to not detract from the main event that's happening on the stage as it then makes things seem crowded and courses audience distract, which leads to parts of the storyline becoming lost. 

Evaluate costume and probs usage

Costume and props were something I found to be really important when playing Peter Pan, especially props as in the first Wendy and Peter scene I used them excessively- picking up anything and everything on the stage and turning them into a distraction for Peter. This was mainly toys, but even pillows, clothing etc was something I also used- picking things up and wearing them even taking them into the other scenes like I'd stolen them from the Darling household. I found that this really helped me bring Peters childishness to the stage, and actually found it really fitting for his entrance scene as he's in a child's bedroom, so obviously is going to get distracted as he is too a child and loves toys. I feel as if it also showed a deep sense of imagination from Peter as I would take plastic folks from one scene and then pretend it was a sword in the next one and proceed to fake fight people with it around the stage. Doing this just made my portrayal of a little boy seem more believable, whilst also helping me feel more energetic and restless as I would purposefully let myself get distracted by new props I maybe hadn't interacted with before- this also gave other characters on stage such as Wendy John and Michael something to try and take off me/create a moment out off, allowing the audience to see more of the contrast and abstract dynamic between them all a lot more.

Identify Artistic Choices  

When first interpreting the script I personally was drawn to the characters relationships and how they would translate/be developed on stage further. Especially when it came to Peters and Wendy's relationship, I found that the script gave a very clear sense of their separate Ideas on what the relationship was- with Wendy viewing it as something romantic whilst Peter seeing her as a maternal figure and nothing more. Although this was well communicated through the script I still feel as if a sense of Peters disregard for Wendy in the beginning could get lost so I made an active character development choice to make that obvious, for in my opinion Peter only really talked to Wendy so he could find his shadow- not because he was interested in being her friend. I think this choice was something that really aliened with my artistic vision of Peter Pan, as I view him as slightly selfish- especially at the beginning of the play so we can see his morals change as he develops more towards the end, caring for not just his happiness but that of the lost boys too. 

Acknowledge Strengths 

I feel as if my main strength when playing Peter Pan was my energy, making my characterisation seem even stronger as I backed it up by putting 100% into every scene, even if I felt slightly embarrassed or out of my comfort zone whilst doing it. This is something I'm proud of my self for committing too, as I know that if I hadn't Peter Pan wouldn't of had the same care free energetic effect I wanted him to have. This has also shown me that as an actor throwing yourself into your work always reflect positively on yourself, even if your unsure about the work that your doing it's important to commit as it always makes your performance stronger. I also feel my adlibbing within scenes was a positive strength, especially for this character as he is very talkative and restless, which as a result ending up further building on the character presence he admitted for the audience, as I also used it as a way to show the mindset he had in certain moments.

Identify Areas for improvement  

An area I feel I could of improved on was definitely the fight sequences, as in my opinion I feel it was always uncertain whether they would go well or go badly. Although the stage fighting aspect of playing the role was something I had never done before I still feel as if in rehearsals I could of put more time into making sure I was more 100% certain with them, instead of focusing on scenes that didn't need all the attention we were giving them. I also feel like the last scene with Wendy and Peter felt like I wasn't as connected to the character as I could of been- for in this scene Peter was definitely a lot more venerable, which is something I wish I had channelled more when performing this scene as it would of made it that bit more emotional for the audience. 

Set Personal Goals

 A personal goal I would like to set for myself is to channel the inner mindset of my character more, for I feel like on the outside I'm acting like them but not feeling like them- which is something I know will improve my performance skills more especially when it comes to naturalistic style acting. I want to develop the ability to flip into the character mentally a lot more efficiently and deeply as In my opinion it helps an actor show the raw emotions of that person instead of feeling like it something your always trying to fake. I'm really interested in characters to want to explore that more- delving into what makes a person themselves.