Week 50

 Monday 17th February 2025

Monday for me was more of a DNA day, as I spent the majority of the day with my DNA cast. Me and one of the other actors playing Brian have had a discussion about how it is that we are really playing Brian, and what naturalism looks like in the scenes were Brian's gone slightly insane- because its quite difficult to get that balance of it's funny for the audience but not funny for anyone else in that scene- especially Brian. I still feel like I have more to delve into with Brian and his development into a unstable mindset so we left the scene were we find Adam for today and instead pulled more of our focus onto the first scene. Brian doesn't speak throughout this scene but I would say it is one of the most physically exhausting scene for me throughout the whole play- as Brian consistently just cries throughout it, whilst also varying on the brink of a panic attack. Developing this emotion and physically getting myself in a state to cry for 10 minutes straight is quite challenging as a performer, and I find that because of my use of breath I physically exhaust myself by the end of the scene- so I would definitely say that this is a more challenging scene that I know is challenging and improving my skill. 

Tuesday 18th February 2025

Bright young things rehearsals

My main focus of today was definitely our Bright Young Things  rehearsal as the morning was spent focusing on our showcase pieces, and currently I'm still focusing on learning all my dialogue which is something I want to get done before I add the ensemble into the scene as the majority is my character. We blocked two more scenes in this rehearsal, and are currently really far along with the play. I'm really enjoying rehearsals and am also nearly of script as well which makes blocking the scenes a lot for me to focus on and remember. When it comes to Hester I would say I'm still trying to get a better grip of her and who she is, although I figured out the balance of energy for her as a character- I would say my next focus when it comes to Hester will be characters relationships as currently I feel slightly unsure as to how she reacts or interacts with each separate character in the play. 

Thursday 20th February 2025 

We started the day off with a brilliant session blocking welcome to the rock from "come from away"-  This is the opening number of the musical and is very impactful to the audience, whilst clearly communicating the direction of the rest of the musical. It makes you excited for what's to come so as a group we had to make sure that we added that energy into what we were blocking. There's a lot of speaking/monologue section within the song that have a very specific timing, so this was quite hard to nail and match up correctly. Normally I really struggle with picking up and executing the harmonies but I didn't struggle as much with these ones- and I can see my progression with my singing and picking things up quicker especially harmonies has improved massively so I'm very pleased about that. 

Add video of come from away :

We then moved onto an acting for screen session, were we focused on medical dramas and the difficulties that come with acting in them. Soaps and medical dramas are probably some of the most likely work opportunities that we might get- especially medical dramas as they are constantly in need of extras and patients to be in the episodes alongside the main cast. Last term we were focusing on table scenes in these sessions and how to manage all the separate elements that you have to keep in mind, for example eating/drinking the same amount each take whilst also keeping up your energy and of course lines. But medical dramas feels like a step up from that, as there's even more you have to be aware of. For example the characters within the dramas go from 0 to 100 very quickly and are thrown into these intense emotional rollercoasters of saving someones life on the floor and then dealing with their dying patient whilst managing their personal issues, this not to mention the medical jargon that the actors have to digest each new scene. We've been been put into groups and giving a small scene each from a medical drama and are going to potentially film it like we did our table scenes, which is something I'm excited for but also apprehensive for as it seems like a very difficult thing to get right and execute realistically.