Unit 8 - Assignment - 4 End of year show assignment

End of year show Assignment- Radium girls:

DISCLAIMER: photos from the internet were used within my work.

Side note- to access all the links to presentations, you'll need to copy and paste into your safari search bar. The link to blogger is the only one you can access immediately :) 

Task 1- production diary 

https://charperacting.blogspot.com/ 

Task 2- End of year Auditions 

Preparation --- When preparing for the end of year show auditions I read and researched multiple plays that I thought would contain good monologues that were not just powerful, but challenging. Some of these plays included, "boy parts", "the crucible" and "Prima Facie", I even looked at some monologues from TV shows including "the haunting of hill house" and "killing eve"- all of which contain interesting characters with a large amount of depth with monologues that reflected this. In the end I gave myself too much choice, so decided to really think about what it was I wanted to show when Performing the monologue and was it a big enough challenge and was I pushing myself enough. This helped me eliminate some of the options particularly a monologue from Killing Eve which at one point I was partly set on doing. I did't eliminate this option because it was an easy monologue- I eliminated it because I already knew it off by hart as I'm a big Killing Eve fan, therefor it wasn't broadening my skill when it comes to character types, which Is why I decided to go back to a play that I hadn't given much thought to initially- this play being "free fall" by Vinay Patel. The play follows the interaction of two people on a bridge- both of which are quite melancholy characters that hide their stories deep down making them both very 3 dimensional and real to the audience. The monologue/character I picked is very different from me as a person, as she's a mother, she's been to prison, she hates what she does meaning I couldn't use life experiences to help me put myself in her mindset, purposefully making it more difficult to get into the characters head space and creating a harder challenge for myself. This meant I had to do extensive research to understand my character, which included watching prison documentaries- specifically mothers in prison as she had her baby in prison. I also did research into the way being in prison can affect your mindset- taking you out of a Society setting, which coincidentally makes it harder to re enter back into Society without the timetable and structure. I also thought I'd watch a TV program called "Time" that follows the lives of inmates in a British prison. I'd never watched it before, but knew that season two was a different storyline to season one, focusing on 3 women in prison- one of them being a young pregnant women. I found this incredibly useful when it came to understanding my character, as documentaries only go so far but with TV shows you get to see a depiction of first hand experience as its happening instead of just hearing about it. This also helped me understand my character as a person more as I was able to empathise more intensely and digest the experience as if it was my own- developing a mindset surrounding these experiences. This then made it a lot easier to get into the character mindset, using character triggers to put myself in that zone. When learning the monologue I used a transcribing technique that involved writing the first letter of the words in the monologue and instead of referring back to the text when making a mistake, I would refer back to the transcribed version instead. This method allows my brain to fill in the blanks without getting the word wrong and resorting to paraphrasing, using the method as a way to learn the monologue as quick as possible efficiently.

Audition Experience --- I feel my audition went well, but not amazing. I'm happy with my portrayal of the character and her emotions, but feel as if I could of deepened it slightly in the actual audition itself- letting my pre audition nerves take me out of the character headspace I was initially in. The flow of the audition as a whole went quite smoothly- answering some questions before I started my audition, and not stopping/re starting my monologue at any points during the audition. If I was to do my audition again I would of relaxed into it more, I felt as if there were times throughout my delivery that I was over thinking it a bit to much and slipping out of the characters headspace, but as I let myself relax more this became something I could dodge. I think my facial emotion was strong within my audition, feeling satisfied with how I performed in that area, and knowing that my heavy preparation is to thank for that. My volume did dip at times throughout delivery, but that's something I need to work on as a whole inside and outside the audition. 

Headshots used in Audition:

Task 2.1- Research 

Power Point

Below is a link to a power point that contains some research I have done for my role:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1imA9ZKUb5QpEEKDA9FUBm1eWCA7U2tbRhwomZmrv-9s/edit?usp=sharing

Clothing Research 

When developing the character of Kathryn I very quickly realised just how much she changes/develops throughout the play- facing a new section of her challenging story every time she enters a new scene. There is only one scene throughout the whole play that Kathryn enters with the same mindset she had in the previous scene, and that's one of the earlier scenes that leads on into scene 3. It is only at the very beginning that we see any mindset similarities within her, but from there on she is constantly changing. One of the main time jumps we see Kathryns development through is the gap between Act 1 Scene 3 and Act 1 Scene 7- going from an excitable teenager to a grief stricken young women who has a lot of drive. Timeline wise these scenes are around 7 months a part, so technically not very long for someones headspace to alter so drastically, but it's what's happened to her in this 7 months that was so important for me as the actor playing Kathryn to understand. In this 7 month gap Kathryn watches Irene die very slowly and painfully of Radium poising. She sees how it affects her body, her mindset and most importantly her life all for the worst. Kathryn is very close by Irene's side looking after her throughout this process, so sees it so close up- a lot closer than any of the other characters close to Irene throughout the story. Kathryn is also Irene's cousin, and as we see in scene 3 before hand, her and Irene have a very sisterly bond- bickering and giggling together throughout the scene. Meaning that when Irene dies it's as if she's lost one of her sisters. So I knew from looking into this more- and creating a deeper understanding of how the girls died, that I was going to need to fully know the ins and outs of that 7 month section of Kathryn life. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to enter scene 7 in the right headspace or be able to draw from Kathryns lied experiences without fully understanding them. This is why I decided to create a diary for Kathryn, as she already someone who loved to write it just made sense. The diary that I've created contains multiple things, such as poetry, drawings and even accounts of dials she's painted- but the main part of it is the account I've made of what Kathryn saw Irene go through. I've set it out like a diary and I've used historical research on what it's like to die from radium poisoning that I've collected in a section of my power point dedicated to characterisation and research surrounding Kathryn and the historical event. 

I see this diary that I've made for Kathryn as an anchor for me to use when preparing to go into scene 7, and personally find it incredibly helpful when I'm trying to re live that 7 months of Kathryns life in the 15 minutes between Act 1 Scene 3 and Act 1 scene 7. 

Task 2.2 - Production role   

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MFN2GoxOepD3voOo-fOmtdqFqM87txKiZxAw3dpAdEE/edit?usp=sharing --- production Role power Point 

Accent progression activity plan sheet: 

Evaluation 

personal journey: 

When we started this project i was incredibly excited to delve into something that explored naturalism, having never done a naturalistic show before and feeling that to progress and build as an actor i had to focus and understand the technique and skill that comes with naturalism on stage: as apposed to naturalistic acting in general. Although I was excited for this project I was also apprehensive- especially when it came to the historical aspect of this show and the heavy research that comes with this- knowing how important it was going to be when it came to telling the story and understanding the characters life progression accurately.

My initial process when approaching the project was to turn straight to the script- pulling out as much detail as I could, and using it as a away to help me narrow down my areas in research- for example the effects radium poising can have on the body etc. I also made sure to learn my lines straight off the bat, as I knew that it would be impossible to apply this research and get into the character head space if I was reading of a script or focusing heavily on what i was going to say instead of the emotion in the scene and the instinct of the character. I then moved onto deeper character focus, collaborating with my fellow actor Lily who was also playing the role of Kathryn in cast 1- discussing and openly sharing our views of the character and outside work we had done to develop her further. This was a very helpful decision that was made, as it allowed me to get a constant outside view from someone who understood the subtext of Kathryn and the message behind her and her actions- allowing me to understand certain scenes better as we could discuss them together and be honest on how we would approach it and take ideas/understanding from one another as actors. I also feel personally that because of this team work element between me and my fellow actress playing Kathryn, I have developed a better way to communicate with other actors when working on projects, along with creating a deeper understanding of how important collaboration and team work is. 

Show evaluation

The overall objective of the show, and of my performance was to tell a very real and emotional story. Shining a light on a tragic moment in history that is not discussed enough- striving to portray the real hart ace within it whilst doing the actual real life women of the story justice. I also wanted personally to portray well and clearly the different sections of Kathryn life, along with the change that came with that. I wanted to make sure her individual story was clear and emotional- striving for an audience connection with this character so that her troubles within the play are emotional for the audience to watch and as a result convey the true pain of the story. 

I personally feel that throughout the performance I achieved this objective effectively, connecting with the other characters emotionally whilst showing the differentiation between Kathryn's relationships throughout the story and how they change and develop. Altering the way I played her on stage to fit her changes, and using my prep and research before hand to do this effectively. For example the shift she has from childhood to adult hood, changing my vocality in pitch and pace- speaking in a slightly faster tempo whilst adding this sense of  energy behind my words to appear punchy and energy filled. I then altered this taking away the energy and replacing it with a more articulated delivery to show a calculated response, adjusting the tone i used within the scene depending on what Kathryn has experienced prior, or how she had previously developed within the play. This also translated into my physicality, using what state she was in health wise to impact the way I stood,sat and moved around within scenes, for example in scene 3 Act two she is about to go in for an opp-oration on her jaw that is badly decaying, so because of this squished her speech together and added in longer more breath filled pauses, hunching my posture and pushing my hips to one side. Creating the image of discomfort whilst showing the audience the overall physical effects the radium poising has had on her body. This scene in particular was one i was nervous for as previously had struggled with volume within it- balancing being sick but also articulation and diction at the same time. After getting notes on it, I improved it when performing in the show but still feel as if my volume- throughout the whole show- but specifically in that scene could still of been improved. This is something I am aiming to improve on as an actor going into our next project, as this was something I overall struggled to improve on throughout rehearsals and the show itself, so will definitely be focusing a lot more on volume, especially in theatres and how to vocally support effectively. 

When performing the show I was emotionally engaged and aware/in tune with my characters emotions whilst performing- using the diary I wrote from Kathryns perspective to help me get into the mindset when transitioning from Act 1 scene 3 to Act 1 Scene 7. I used this diary as a mental anchor, which was very helpful and assisted me when reaching some of the really heavy and saddening emotions in Scene 7. I also feel that personally my props/costume changes throughout the show allowed me to further communicate character deterioration and personality. For example at the end of Act 1 I start coming into scenes with a cain, not just using it as a way to impact my physical movements, but as a way to impact my mindset and truly believing that I was incredibly sick. The same goes for Kathryns shoes, as they changed the way I walked entirely, and really allowed me to hold myself in a fixed way- making it a lot easier to walk in character and deepen the 1920s atmosphere for the audience.  

When I wasn't playing Kathryn I was a radiums girl in the show, moving pieces of set and filling out the stage to create a full and busy image for the audience. I personally found the ensemble transition aspect of the show quite challenging as we had to be synchronised when moving the factory tables- making sure they were placed evenly in distance from each other, which was tricky as you also had to rely heavily on the other person moving the table with you- having to almost telepathically communicate were it was you were both going at one giving time. We did make a few mistakes when transitioning from scene to scene with the tables- missing out a whole transition for one of the scenes, meaning the actors on for that scene had to just work around it instead. Luckily we saved it by just transitioning straight to the transition after the transition we missed, which meant the transitions could flow in order again. If we were to do the show again I would definitely study the transition sequences a lot more- putting loads of work into my performance itself, but not as much into my ensemble performance which is something I regret as I know things could of gone better if we had been more focused as an ensemble. Having said that we did fix the mistakes we made- not letting them de rail us, which speaks highly to the kind of team we are.