Developing Blog

Introduction 

Our first play is a exciting contemporary version of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' which is translates to modern text as overhearing gossip which is true to the context of the play such as Beatrice and Signor Benedick relationship.I am looking forward to working with this play as it has potential on trying out new things and giving risks to add more comedy to the exacts.

To be honest I wasn't familiar of the context of the play which it harder to understand what happening during the film that I was watching. The play itself was a comedy was is one of the difficult parts of acting in the performing arts. I thought that I would struggle with this because of the language behind as well.

The Language 
In this play the language is very particular style. It is written in Old English which is different to our way of speaking in modern day such as in Shakespeare he uses words such as 'thee' and 'thou' which we use as 'you'. For example if you stress a different word such as 'A dear happiness to women' emphasizes the word women it feels unnatural and confusing to saying what you mean. However emphasizing the word dear it brings the sentence to a natural feel. My scene is written in prose which I think it fits with this scene because when I act it I feel free with words and that is what I think Shakespeare felt that Beatrice and Benedick can express the language without sticking to verse (iambic pentameter). The conversation that they have relates to what the other person said previous. For example 'so some gentleman or other shall' scape a predestinate scratched face'. This is a very bold statement by Benedick. Scratching means a quite violent thing to say in a piece of dialogue.In a modern translation Benedick said 
'Well I hope you stay in that frame of mind or some poor man will end up with his face scratched up' which makes me understand what Benedick is saying in the scene so then as Beatrice I can react and say ' Scratching could not make it worse twere such a face as yours were'. At first I found the word twere hard to pronounce as I wasn't use to the word as it is old English. To solve this problem I broke this word into to section and thought of the word 'were' but with at the beginning of the word. I have a general idea about what I am saying but I researched the sentence and it said ' If he had a face like yours, a good scratching couldn't make it look worse' which relates to Benedicks sentence before this line was saying.

The opening lines are played in a rhetorical form (asking a question).  For example 'I pray you is signor mountato returned or no?'. In modern interpretation that means is mountato back yet?. Examples like this makes it easier to translate.

Ideas 
Our main idea to modernise the play is to set it to a festival. I thought that this is a brilliant idea because it fits with the scenario of the play. There are some many features of the festival. I suggested a silent disco. Silent disco would maybe fit into a scene with Beatrice and Benedick so they could block each other out and make it funny. Another idea was a to a scene in a portaloo scenario when Beatrice is overhearing the plan that going on between Ursula and Hero. The portaloo would be a great scene. We recently saw the play of the 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' which was very physical but simple with props and technology. One of the scenes had a loo in a box which was a clever prop to use so we thought we would take that idea that make it stand up in our adaptation of Much Ado. The final idea was to piece a band theme together and make Don John the brother that has quit the band which would been by the audience that he is a solo artist. Leonato would be the event organiser which would make him more in charge of the whole situation.

What have I have watched and noticed in my character?

I have the version of Much Ado About Nothing with Beatrice played by Catherine Tate. Catherine plays Beatrice as a overly confident person. There is advantage playing Beatrice like this. Some of the lines can be funny by slowing them down such as 'loves me' which fits with Benedicks reaction. I tried my version of this interpretation in rehearsal by playing a little over the top and being bold with arm gestures. However it wasn't me playing Beatrice's because some comments were that I was too similar to Catherine Tate. When I playing her I felt like I should tone down the voice because I felt like I wasn't being myself when playing Beatrice.

Another version was Emma Thompson's version of Beatrice. This version a more naturalistic approach which made it more meaningful with the lines and the crowds around her would either support her or disagree.

I thought that both versions were good examples of Beatrice and how play Beatrice in completely different  ways that worked well with the Benedicks in the scene.

Having seen other actors playing Beatrice I have been trying out different interpretations of Beatrice and also to get people to laugh because after all it is a comedy.

Acting in scenes 

My feedback in general at the moment is to break the lines in to units of thoughts. I thought that this would help me to help me learn my lines because I am struggling with the language. My technique to learn my lines is to colour code the sections of thought and repeat the process with the same colours so I can think visually what lines are under each colour. Once I have learnt my lines I think I will find it easier to become my own Beatrice.

The ideas with the set is coming together now I tried actually sitting on the toilet and open the lid and smelling it which got some laughs in the audience. The feedback that we got from the scene is that I needed to spit much more earlier and that the people on the other side of the toilet needed to make sure that audience know that it is a act for Beatrice. From the first time we did with no props and set I couldn't imagine this scene being funny as I understand what was being said between Ursula and Hero. However after watching the modern version of the Much Ado About Nothing Retold I thought that it made more sense and that it could be funny with the friends having a laugh across from me.

Targets 
Become more confident with lines and learn them to add movement such as hands to make the dialogue better especially in Act one scene one.

What interpretations have I seen and how did they help my character to progress? 

My targets have been working well because I am more confident with my lines. Knowing my lines helps me to develop Beatrice a lot more. The first few times I played Act one scene one I recently saw Catherine Tate's version. She plays the character slightly over the top to emphasize the humour with Benedick. I interpreted this version and see if it fitted to my character and how I play Beatrice. The feedback that I got was that I was too similar to Catherine Tate because the way I deliver lines didn't make the audition a comedic reaction. I also found that I speak my lines too quick in my scenes. One of my targets are to slow down when speaking because the quicker I speak the more muddled I get with lines as I find Shakespeare very hard to learn.

What could I improve vocally to this performance? 

Our voice lessons have focused us on stressing the particular words that makes the sentence more clear. Karen told us to emphasize the verbs in particular as it gives the delivery a lot stronger.The particular line that I struggle with which is 'I wonder why you still be talking Signor Benedick nobody marks you'. I naturally put the emphasis on the 'you' rather than the 'marks' makes more sense as the modern interpretation as basically say 'I wonder why Benedick is speaking as no on listens to him'.


What has my process been for Act 3 scene one?

The festival theme is seen throughout the scenes of the play for the this scene we decided that Beatrice should be in a portaloo symbolizing that the experience of a festival environment.

As you can see a portaloo has a very tight space to imagine being inside of and how horrible the conditions are. At first I found this scene difficult as my constant note is always keep listening or imply that I am listening because that's the whole purpose of the scene. One of our tasks was an exercise to think about your objective of the scene. From the target it says
'You can never know what you are doing until you first know what you are doing it to. For the actor,all doing has to be done to something. The actor can do nothing without the target. The target can be real or imaginary, concentrate or abstract, but the unbreakable first rule is that it all times and without a single exception there must be a target'

I found the target helpful as I thought of a verb that I can act doing which has a worked as my target is to listen to the other ladies across from me. On the other side There target are that they are planning an act for Beatrice.

After having it rehearsed a few times I am now getting the idea about how I should play my character in this scene. I have lots of suggestions.

Suggestion number one

Donna was very kind and helped me out in a more realistic approach in this scene. A portaloo normally is quite disgusting so she suggesting putting loo roll around the sides and making it cleaner that it was originally. in my opinion this was a good way of have a naturalistic and acting for people that think the toilets at festival is gross. The way she explained it helped me and I could may get a laugh because it is horrible. However Sally argued that I would look too busy and not tackling the purpose of this scene which is to hear what Hero and Ursula are saying about how in love Beatrice is.

Suggestion number two

I listened to Phoebe and Lewis's feedback about that I was looking too awkward on the toilet and wasn't any energy on one side of the scene. Phoebe's idea was to sit on the toilet with my elbows on my knees and my legs spread slightly and thinking and responding to the Hero and Ursula's conversation. From Phoebe's idea, I got inspired by thinking of how horrible is and shutting the lid straight away. The feedback in some of the lessons was that I still wasn't quite focused on listening to Hero and Ursula.

Suggestion number three

I needed to think more simple and little things that would make the audience giggle. Sally gave me a suggestion to just open the lid straight away and just accept that it is a horrible toilet and that the audience may laugh from that. That way I had more focus on listening. This way of playing Beatrice makes it more realistic and now I am starting to think of reactions such as 'no truly Ursula she is too disdainful'.

At the moment I am trying suggestion three more than the others however the others have been used with ideas along with the bigger idea such as sitting on the toilet as Phoebe thought of.


The Language in Act three scene one

Although I don't speak in very much in the scene I still need to understand what Hero and Ursula are saying about Beatrice. Here is a modern interpretation

'The best part of fishing is watching the fish cut through the water and greedily take the bait. Now we're for Beatrice, who's hiding right now in the honeysuckle arbour. Don't worry, I will my part'.

When I read this modern language of this scene I thought that this makes so much sense because now I know the meaning. Ursula is basically saying that we caught Beatrice like a fish and that we have caught by bait which is Benedick being madly in love with Beatrice.

I keep hearing Hero say the word 'disdainful'. To be honest I didn't really know the meaning of the word. So I researched the word and it means arrogant, mean and superior. I then related this to the role and try to have emotion memory of this scene. Someone that I can picture as this arrogant, mean and superior person. This way it will make me react more naturally.  In context of the sentence Hero says ' No truly Ursula she is too disdainful' which means that I am arrogant.


Act One Scene One progress: feedback and improvement 

At home I have worked really hard on this scene basically with the language and the meaning of it. I recently discovered that my first line ' I pray you is Signor Mountato returned or no?'.Originally I though that the words 'Signor Mountato' was a person but 'Mountato' means thrust. This meant that I had to change the tone of the delivery and I thought of having a hand gesture as well to commuicate to the audience that I mean a sword not a person. 

What additional pieces to fill the gaps in the play? 

As the play is too long for a college performance we are just performinfg certain scenes from the play. However the scenes dont show much of the plot enough so we have created two physical theatre pieces that fill in the gaps. Our first part of the physical section which is everyone is in unison doing different freeze frames. The four freeze frames related to the experience of an festival.

1 Pose- create a still image that ur character would do at a festival.

2 Smoke- lots of smoke around in a festival environment.

3 Drink-Lots of people get drunk at festivals whilst enjoying some great bands that are playing.

4 Selfie- Technology is used all the time now which meant that it was appropriate to apply a selfie in the piece to make it more modern.

The song we picked for this piece was 'Invaders Must Die' by The Prodigy. This song suited the piece well as it is a upbeat music and fitted well to a silent disco scene. In reality songs like the 'The Prodigy' are played either on the main stage or in a separate tent away from the main stage.

The next song was to explain to the audience the context between Hero and Margaret. At first we tried 'smack my bitch up' by The Prodigy which at first made the whole physical theatre process difficult at it is a slow moving song that the beat doesn't kick in until further in the song. So we chose another song because it felt better with the piece because it fitted the theme of the festival as I could imagine seeing this seeing this song live. The song is called 'The Joker and the thief' by Wolf mother. This song works so much better as it kept in time to all of the movements. After the song choice we could feel the music more. Sally had an objective on moving Margaret and Hero from one side to another. For the audiences eye we needed to make it obvious as it is a quick gap and a important of the storyline. Inspired by The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time we thought that putting Margaret and Hero in the air will make this piece unique such as the things that The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time was about using physical theatre.   

This video shows loads of lifts that The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time used which was directed by Frantic Assembly (A physical theatre company focuses on movement in plays and there own devised plays). This gave us ideas about using our lift as it is visiable approach for the audience to see a swap going on.  It explores techinques such as the walking on the wall lift, the jet pack and flying. The lifts were amazing to watch and that's what we wanted. Frantic Assembly are well known for there lifts which is great for our performance.





Rehearsals in the theatre 

What was different rehearsing in the theatre than rehearsing normally?

Rehearsing in the theatre brought the staging and the whole performance to life.

From this photo you can see that the everyone is in character and see that this particular scene is working with the other people in the scene. This particular scene I found that I was lot more confident with trying a action to support the dialogue on what I was saying such as in this picture I was saying

'He set up his bills here in Messina and challenged Cupid at the flight, and my uncles fool reading the challenge,subscribed for Cupid and challenged him at the bird bolt'.

I was basically telling a story about my how Benedick lost a archery match with Cupid thats why I made an action for a archery pose for this photo. This photo of the performance is roughly in the middle of the Beatrice's part between Hero, Messenger and Leonato. The modern interpretation is

'Benedick once put up a public notice in Messina challenging Cupid to an archery match. My uncle's jester accepted the contest on Cupid's behalf but used toy arrows at the shooting match. But tell me, how many men did he kill and eat in his battle? I promised I would eat anyone he killed'.

This quote made some much sense to me whilst I was acting and I understood how this story was funny because I am saying how dumb Benedick is.

This scene starts with me and Hero and talking as we are listening to Leonato and what he is organising in the festival. In rehearsal we had to imagine a really attractive guy that you would love to see so Donna and I used to whisper to ourselves what our perfect guy would be to come on stage to the festival. The guy that we imagined was Don Pedro one of the band members. With this imagined guy I think we added some energy towards the scene because we were fans of Don Pedro therefore we should be excited and pick up the scene.

Costume

As you can see from the photo I am wearing a flowery dress which is what would be worn at a festival. I thought that this dress suited Beatrice as she is a feisty character and that she would suit a dress because of her presence particularly in this scene she is owning the stage. I thought that in this costume I felt like more of a Beatrice because I could create a 'walk' for her shaking the hips with head held high more which made the performance better for me. The wellies helped me to picture myself in a festival too because wellies are the most common footwear at a festival.

Staging

The staging was really clever as we used the projector as part of the set which I was amazing to have for the audience as it showed who is what character.

Here is a photo of what it looked like before the scene started out. This way of using technology made the character clearer to the audience, made the set minimum and it was clever in the sense that you haven't seen this type of staging before. The whole idea of this screen makes the performance more professional and unique and less complicated when it comes to moving from scene to scene.



How did the audience react to the play?

Overall I think the audience laughed at the funny parts which some of our character act more in the character to get more of a laugh. Sally brought this up in our feedback so we took it on board. The one part which was challenging for me not to laugh was the toilet, After all of the times in rehearsal how everyone didn't laugh at my reactions it certainly was achieved in the real performance. As soon as the knickers were on the audience were creasing up the whole time during this scene. The first couple of times was a bit nervous I had never done it with the knickers but after the a couple more I knew what the audience would react to therefore I could act on that. On the open dress I gave a natural reaction to something that Hero was saying which was dropping the toilet paper and rolling off the stage. That moment was so naturalistic which I didnt know how to react at first and whilst keep listening to the conversation.  Personally that was the best that I have seen myself play that role because of the natrualistic places however it was a success in the main performances too.

What was the process of the monologue at the end of this scene?
Sally gave some acting points about my monologue and mostly said about how I was overacting Beatrice slightly whereas in this monologue she is genuinely shocked about what she has heard about her love life and how she loves Benedick. To improve my monologue I asked the question to myself
'What fire is in mine ears'?
The response to the question completely changed as my tone was more soft instead of loud and open. Since then the monologue became much better. As the monologue progressed I could see that the more i was in love with Benedick the more I opened up to the audience. Especially on the last line which was
'I believe it better than reportingly'
I could see a change in my face and I could actually think I am falling in love which makes me naturally run off.

Character Profile 

Name: Beatrice (niece of Leonato)

Age: 30

Description of character
Beatrice is the niece of Leonato who is a noble man in Messina. She is a feisty character with lots of words to say about certain characters.

What does Beatrice think of the other characters?

'No and if he were I would burn my study'  ( Act One Scene one)

Beatrice is uses some of these insults about Benedick to present to other people how much she detests the guy. She makes harsh remarks and comebacks to Benedick. Beatrice doesn't like Benedick as he more of a bachelor man trying to show off in front of everyone and wants to get all the ladies.

'Id rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man wear he loves me' (Act one scene one)

This is a bold statement coming from Beatrice as she clearly doesn't want anything to do with Benedick. The language shows that Beatrice having a battle with Benedick for her to try and win because she doesn't take no for an answer.

'Taming my wild to thy loving hand
If thou dost love my kindness shall incite thee
To bind us up in a holy band
For others say thou dost deserve for
I believe it better than reportingly' (Beatrice Act 3 scene 1 Beatrice)

However in Act three scene two she expresses her love for Benedick and finally realizes how she feels. She is saying:

'Ill be kind to you from now on, and if you really do love me that kindness will encourage you to seal our love with a wedding band. People say that you deserve my love and I believe it- not just because they've said so'

Interestingly Shakespeare has written this particular monologue in verse to put stress on the certain words to make it sound loving such as 'wild heart and 'thy loving hand'. Previously Beatrice has always spoken in prose to make the harsh sounds stand out.

What do the other characters think of her? 

Benedick 
Benedick is very masculine character towards Beatrice as he tries to win Beatrice over by passing the insults back and fourth with Beatrice.
'Well you are a rare parrot teacher'
The phrase 'rare parrot teacher' means that Beatrice is instructing Benedick like a parrot would is following the insult that Beatrice said previous.

Towards the end of the play we see a different Benedick with Beatrice such as this quote

'I do love nothing in the world so well as you.' (Act 4 scene 11 Benedick)

Benedick is saying that there is nothing in the world that I love as much as you. Benedick has expressed his love for Beatrice which shows that he has changed from act one when he is arrogant to a passionate loving character who has fallen for Beatrice.

'No truly Ursula she is too disdainful'(Act 3 scene 1 Hero)

Although Hero, Ursula and Margaret are putting on a trick, Hero still says this to try and get a react in the 'act'. This quote means

'No truly Ursula she's is too scornful. She is as devious and fierce as the wild hawk on the rocks'

The words 'scornful' (attitude in speech) gives a impression of Beatrice that she is too loud and big for her boots. Also 'devious' (shifty and crooked) explains Hero's opinion on how indecisive Beatrice is.

In conclusion I have really enjoyed researching and playing Beatrice as she is a character which is fun to play and has given confidence. Also this play has made me enjoy learning Shakespeare by learning lines in Old English.

Classical Theatre Assignment 1

The Globe Theatre

Historical 

Picture 1 The Diagram of Globe Theatre 

The famous globe theatre in London was built in 1599. Shakespeare referred this theatre as the 'wooden O' as the theatre was rounded. The Globe could hold 3,000 spectators and had 20 sides for the spectators. Unfortunately the original globe theatre was burnt down in 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII. However in the same year a reconstruction of the globe was built. As seen from the diagram there were lots of seats to be filled. The seating was more expensive the higher you went.

The Staging 

The staging was set up as a thrust stage which meant it was more intimate and harder to keep all of the audience engaged. The reason why the audience is harder to engage is because the actors had to work out where to face the parts of the audience such as soliloquies were difficult because you had to keep the audiences attention even though you aren't always looking at them. In Much Ado About Nothing Benedick has two soliloquy in Act Two scene 3 expressing thought in his soliloquy.I think the audience can relate to these soliloquy as it is about love. Referring to our modern interpretation Benedick had more of a intimate feel to the audience and offer them rhetorical question that the audience answer in there head. Each solilquy was different in some ways by using a minor difference to tell the audience a story about Benedick and Beatrice love life. This is when the comic side of this piece comes in as the characteristics clash as part of the play which adds laughter and light relief.      The staging would have minimal props because there wasn't many props that were made in the Elizabethan era. The only part of the staging that was on the stage all the time were the pillars that were plotted about the stage. For example in Much Ado About Nothing maybe the pillars were used for Beatrice to not be revealed to Benedick because they have a distant relationship.The pillars were there to show the audience the relationship of Beatrice and Benedick. Above the stage were was the tiring house where the costumes were put. The tiring house had a clock to represent the time of day the play had been set. Now in a modern version of Much Ado About Nothing there would be technology to cover the setting such as dark lighting in a dark play in Macbeth when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth kill King Duncan the dark lighting would suit that part and the audience. The characters would enter the stage if from either stage left or right if they were a human character such as in Much Ado Leonato would walk on confidently and start Act One Scene one. Compared to Rourkes version of Much Ado the staging was a proscenium stage which I think was more easier on the actors to communicate to the audience.

The Staging -Trapdoor 

The trapdoor was a feature to the globe as it showed what type of character they must be. The actors would enter or exit from the trapdoor if they have died or is reflected as a ghostly character such as in Act 3 scene 4 in Macbeth when Banquo is seen as a ghost whos comes back to show the guilt of Macbeth murdering him. The trapdoor was known as hell which explains why the character would enter or exit though the trapdoor. Under the trapdoor, there was loads of space underneath which meant that the actors could wait for there scene.


The Staging- The Heavens 



Similarly to the trapdoor the heavens is also another part that the actors could enter. For example Titania in A Midsummers Night Dream would enter from the top of the stage because she is a fairy to the play. The artwork in the heavens would be the stars and the sky. Relating to theatre now the heavens are always seen as angel and some beautiful artwork.




The Globe- The Audience 

The audience is relating to the people socially because of where they sat. The audience standing would be more involved with the play. For example because Much Ado is a comical play the audience would laugh at the humour that was in the play. Specifically in Act one scene one on page eight when Beatrice and Benedick have a friendly conversation they bounce of one another like a competition between each other. Personally I thought that the proscenium version works better compared to the original staging because it would of made it easier for the audience to see the actors more rather than loosing the attention. However the thrust stage is set up socially because of class. The cheapest ticket would be standing which costs 2p (£5). As sitting ticket would be 3p and so on. The reason why the standing tickets were the cheapest because of the weather conditions that could happen such as rain. Also the standing tickets can fit many people in so it can get overcrowded. The label named 'upper stage' was seating for the rich people so they can be seen 'above the actor' and so the rest of the audience can see them. They were the royals of the audience. This type of audience would not come necessarily  to watch the visually. It was more to do with hearing the play and the type of voices that were heard.  In Shakespeare's time the audience wasn't as responsive compared to our audience today. The seating would depend on your social class and how much money you would spend to come to the theatre.


Social and Culture relating to Much Ado About Nothing 
Originally all of the actors were played by men. It was against the law for women to act in Shakespearian era which meant that boys aged 13 to 15 would play the romantic females and the older men would have the comical female such as Beatrice. The young boys didn't have a broken voice which meant that they could use a higher pitch in there voice to make it more realistic. The make up was slightly over the top with pink cheeks and eye shadow and a beauty spot. It was a stereotypical women in the Elizabethan era. This picture shows how The women were dressed by wearing a big dress to show the female character. The hair a wig that has been put on. The picture above is what the Elizabethan era would show. The picture shows the hands gesture between the man and the women.

Much Ado has themes that relate to society such as marriage with Claudio and Hero. Marriage was a common the Elizabethan era. The dowry (a contract between the families of the engaged couple of the transferring all the brides belonging to the husband house or their house)would be common in the Elizabethan era as most of the people would be Christian. After marriage in society the next stage was to have a large family which meant children. The amount of pregnant women in the Elizabethan era were very high especially for Queen Elizabeth I being born in a big family. Queen Elizabeth I was the second child of Henry VIII married to Anne Boleyn. Compared to the modern day in Much Ado has as developed in society has followed the dowry system it is optional Rourke version was set in the 1980s. 1980s society there were ideas of same sex marriages at the time when Much Ado about Nothing was performed.

Relationship was a important feature especially between the main characters Beatrice and Benedick. In the contemporary version of Much Ado I understood how the chemistry was just not entirely a love relationship yet. In the 1980s it was mainly about having a good time at the bar. However the original would be similar by saying the conversation in the Act One in a sarcastic way.  There are different types of love because of the love that Hero and Claudio compared to Don Pedro and Don John. The two brothers have a different kind of love as they are family whereas Hero and Claudio show more of affectionate love to one another.

In terms of language in Act One Scene one with Benedick and Beatrice they are written in prose which is interesting because of the sarcastic it makes me understand that the light conversation is free to say anything that fits with the other comeback that has been given previously. For example 'scratched face' was used in both versions of the play. Both versions were funny because of the delivery of the line but however I thought that maybe the original play the audience may have got the jokes because of the language used.

The audience point of view 
Some scenes I could feel how the audience were reacting to some funny moments in the play. For example the portaloo scene I thought that the audience related to that because they have been in a similar experince therefore could imagine what it is like for the character to sit on a portaloo. 

Generally Much Ado shows a whole range of knowing how the audience is following and understand the audience such as the characters Dogberry and Verges are lower class therefore the audience could relate to that similar class as they know what it is like in that class experience. The scenes are I have seen with Dogberry and Verges are set near bins and dark and lower down than the others in the play. 

On the other hand higher in class such as Don Pedro who is one of the royals which means he is more upper class compared to the lower class characters Dogberry and Verges. He is always standing proud and knows what he is doing and has direct decisions. However his niece Beatrice has slight upper class but is a big character that shines Don Pedro by confidence. The audience can relate to this as some members in the globe theatre were upper class therefore they would understand Beatrice and Don Pedro's character as they as similar themselves in class. Today we changed it to a band point of view which the audience would think about as members of a well known band are naturally higher because of the famous aspect they have. Being a fan of band the band would out shine the fans because of the status.    


To conclude I fully understood the play of Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing by exploring the globe historically, in culture and social themes that the play has.

Research for Road

In Road there are many themes that links to the 1980's. Poverty was in the 1980's Margret Thatcher came to power politically and made some changes which effected people who became employed from there jobs. This was the time when Billy Elliot was made. Billy Elliot shows the theme of the miners strike. Billy Elliot is a great example because there are miner strike scenes that shows you what the conditions were like and how the police were trying to get the miners.

This video shows that miner and the police and how violent it was. The police would block parts of the road. This video really shows what the strike conditions were like.

 The suffering of not seeing there families is running deep. The communities were separated and it took a long time to heal. Some of the communities never did heal.

The guardian wrote a story about a person Bruce who was a miner. He was 29 years old and married with 2 young kids. He worked as a miner in Silverwood Colliery Rotherham since 1978. He said that he knew that the strike would happen. They warned enough by our NUM (National Union of Mineworkers). Thatcher and her government wanted a showdown.

The strike is mainly because of the power and the leadership of Margret Thatcher this video explains the idea that Margret Thatcher had. Margret Thatcher was very good at giving speech to support her argument. 

The of National Coal Board wanted to cut 20,000 more jobs that previously planned to get the industry to break even was purely a commercial one. The NCB happily signed to the agreement. The minister thought that a strike could be avoided. The NCB never thought the strike would go on for years. Quoted by John Redwood 

'The left's aim is to pave the way for ultimate defeat of the government by destroying its policies and its credibility'. 

John Redwood was the chancellor of NCB and that quote was explaining his plan for the future. 

How does the theme poverty relate to my character?

My character Valerie is in a process of poverty because from her monologue she is explaining her story about the life that she is in and how her husband is always out. The words 'can we not have before again' shows that she is struggling and need help. The word 'we' means its more than one person which means maybe its a relationship issue. The poverty theme effects Valerie because of Margret Thatcher's cut jobs that Valerie needs. 

Music

Another theme that occurs in Road which is music. The character Bisto uses a lot of music in his scenes and relates to the 1980s. He refers in his monologue 'ahh the Bee Gees'. The Bees Gees was formed in 1958. The band member consist on Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.  The trio were very successful by releasing songs staying alive. They released the disco part of the 1980's. The Bee Gees had sold more than 220 million records worldwide. 

This clip was the music in the 1980s because this decade was all about discos and having a good time with your friends down the pub. The dance move of night fever was then brought in from this record and thats what became more popular. 

The 1980s was the memorial decade for music because of the diso element and DJ's like Bisto. Bisto used the music for his act. The music made his act more funnier and communicated to the audience his job and his character from. 

Also the music in the last scene got the boys what they wanted by getting the girls Carol and Louise drunk. The song 'Try a little tenderness' was written by Otis Redding which was released in 1932. 

Fashion

The fashion was a very popular part of the 1980s. Some of the fashion from 1980s have passed on to this decade such as leather jackets. Leather jacket were popular in the 1980s. International fashion was influenced by American sportwear more so in 1980s than it had been since jeans in 1960s. Also the jean jackets were influenced in the 1980s. Velvet was popular around the clock and women with tweeds and leather. 

Mens clothing wore snug fitting and comfortable clothes. Soft fabrics were everywhere while they clothes were still tight compared to today, they weren't skin tight like the seventies. 

Activewear was a popular choice for men and boys alike. Matching sweatpants and sweatshirts flew off the shelves for the entire decade. In the early eighties the men started a fashion of having a thick moustache but by the end of the decade they had become much less popular. Mens suits were relatively conservative seemingly the only in the eighties that wasn't drowned in the bright colours. 

Most characters wore the eighties fashion in the play Road. For example the girls that go 'pub after pub' had the fashion to talk to the men that were around. The girls wore heels to go out to the party. 

Valeries character didn't really have fashion as her costume was in her nightie but if she would go out she would of worn vibrant colours. 

Final Week Road

This week is the last week of Jim Cartwright's play 'Road'. This play has given so much confidence because I have gone out of my comfort zone and tried a more challenging part for my personally. I feel that I have improved in my character by trying out different ways of taking the monologue and having a new perspective on each line and point when I want to change the tone of the monologue.

The feedback that was given to me was on the whole much better than my previous attempts at this monologue however my accent did slip slightly at places where I wasn't as confident which was mostly near the end. On the other hand I know this and I will use this feedback to make my character better.

I have a prop in my scene which I am struggling to use because the prop either looks too rehearsed when I get angry or it looks funny. So I acted on this and tried to involve the washing more by stretching the clothes when angry and folding them angrily. I think that this will have my character more as it is her responsibility to do the washing, cleaning and ironing etc around the house. From a audience point of view they seems more interesting rather than sitting in a static position.

I have had some other feedback which says that I wasn't believable with the experience that Valerie is going through. For an example when Valerie's husband comes home Valerie would be more scared and quiet rather angry and loud.  The reason why I should do this is because I researched on youtube the 'Sons and Lovers' by DHLawerence which showed what a relationship similar to Valerie's. The video clip showed that when the husband comes in the room he wanted the centre of attention. It helped me realise what the husband's view is and how a he would come home from a long day at work and then go to the pub. Equally I can see how Valerie is when the money is spent on drink rather than on food,clothes and entertainment for the family. She must feel so embrassed to ask for money when she has no choice but to provide for her family. This makes sense as she is 'always scrimping and scarping' for her husband to give her some money.  She doesn't seem to have family to turn or on any prospects which doesnt help on her mental state and her ability to cope.

Week 7- Road

This week is the final week of rehearsing before show week. Personally I think the show is coming together really well however we still need to practise with energy, accent work and relationship with other character that need to have the chemistry between the two characters.

The two character I was referring to are Joey and Claire. From rehearsals I have seen I haven't found the relationship between because they still not entirely confident with there lines. They need to work with each other more to get the relationship right. I think that the scenes they have with each other is suppose to make the audience cry because there scenes are very sad to watch. I think that Claire needs to be more emotional and more caring for Joey because Claire is going on a diet for her boyfriend. Also there is a part of a scene where Claire stands up quickly and then feels dizzy. This looks not naturalistic because the spinning of her head suddenly comes too quickly. I feel she need to feel the dizziness before getting up so then she is knowing how she is feeling. I think Joey's reaction is not a obvious to see. I have a idea to maybe Joey gets out of bed and helps Claire in to bed again. This idea will give some movement to the scene and wont be boring to watch. Joey and Claire need to be similar to the character Romeo and Juilet. The relationship between Romeo and Juliet is so powerful because of the love they share. Romeo and Juliet are similar age to Joey and Claire. Also the reason for the both couples are that they die for the other person in the relationship. For example Romeo kills himself for Juliet because I thought that she was dead. Claire went on the diet because of Joey.
In order to improve Claire and Joey's relationship watching this clip will make them improve the scene.



The scene that we worked on was the scene between Helen and the Soldier (Curt). This scene has come on leaps and bounds. The reason why this is because the physicality is so strong in this scene it makes the audience be drawn in and see what Helen's character is about. I has humour this scene but at the same time you feel sorry for Helen. the way to improve this is to work more on the accent and slow the speech down because the speech can be lost if Helen speaks to fast. The awkward climb up on the soldier is my favourite part of this scene because it is funny and something to different to watch. This one thing that I would say is to work on the northern accent at time because the accent can be dropped.

This week was putting all the scenes together and running the whole show in one go. I performed my monologue and I thought that this was my best so far. The reason why it was my best attempt of the monologue was because I felt confident for the first time with my lines and my character. In my feedback Kirsty said that it was brilliant and made her cry which I think was a great reaction which I needed. Also to bring the emotion in to the monologue helped and made me cry to. The whole monologue came out more naturalistic. The only improvements that I need to make was to articulate on certain words such as 'swallowing and throwing'.

Before this feedback I had to think of ten items in my washing basket to show anger but then sadness. For example turning the washing inside out and fold it and just stroking clothes when daydreaming.

Target for this week are:
Keep going over the lines to avoid forgetting them in the performance
Practise with the washing and get use to using the clothes on what parts of the monologue.

Character Study

Name: Valerie Johnson

Age:35
Martial Status: Married
Ethnicity:White British 

What does your character do for a living?

Valerie is a mum with three children who she picks up after in a flat whilst her husband is working for the family. Valerie doesnt see her children too much because he is drinking at the pub all the time. I know this because Valerie cant do go out and get food to provide for family because the money is spent on drinks for her husband. Valerie is a working mum at home to make sure that the washing,cooking and cleaning are whilst the children are at school. 

What is the relationship between her and her husband? 

I think Valerie struggles to bond with her husband because Valerie is hesitate about him because of the way her husband treats her such as his 'fat hard hands in bed at night'. Valerie says that her is a 'rough dog' which I think it means that her husband is using her for sex which is horrible to think about for Valerie. If Valerie had a choice she would leave her husband but then she would feel guilty and want to come back. She feels confused about what she wants to do because she saying 'I blame but I dont blame him'.
Religion
I think that Valerie is a Christian because she prays for money and asking for money from her friends and neighbours. The neighbours are Christian because when they ask to help they are there to help for Valerie and that is a reference from Bible which is 'Love thy neighbour as you love thy self'. This means that neighbours believe that if Valerie needs money and help the neighbours will help.
Education
Valerie was brought in a poor part of the north which made it very hard to be in school and go to school. Valerie didn't have the best education because of where she lived and the environment around her. She received no qualifications because of the way she was living and her attitude towards school. Now she regrets all of this and she wants her children to have the best education possible so they dont make the same mistake as there mother did. 

Social Life 
Valerie doesnt have a social life because she is always at home looking after the children who she loves very much. She sacfices are social life because she doesnt want her children being left alone by her husband because he will be "pissed drunk".

Road- Week 6

This week we focused in individual scene to refine them ready for the show.

I focused on emotion on my monologue this week. Deborah said to come up with six points on where I need to change the pitch or emotion. She suggested one point which was the part of 'Rough dog' because that part is telling a story and changing the emotion slightly brings the characters differences. I thought about the other five point and about how it would flow into the monologue.

I chose the other 5 points:

The second point that I thought changing the perspective of the of that sentences. The words of 'What a life' is a line that makes Valerie review her life and her daily routine after that line. The line follows by 'get up feed every baby in the house'. The daily routine is tiring and is very lonely.

The couple of times I have said the line "Im fed up" sounds very depressing and not realistic. Issie said a good point about not showing the right reaction of the word. I thought if i changed to be more angry and burst in with the monologue. Bursting in with the monologue will allow the audience to be more interested.

Another point that I thought I could change was the last final words in the monologue which was 'oh my man'. Laura gave me some feedback on changing the line slightly to be more sacrastic and bring more volume to that line. The volume will bring the monologue up and build up the emotion more. I think that Valerie loves her man but she is heart broken because of what he does and her experience with her husband.

The fifth point that I thought was changing the perspective of the line 'He'll come home soon'. I thought that Valerie could be a little nervous for when he comes in because she knows what he is like when he is drunk.  I thought that to feel that I am nervous I thought bring the pace faster and look around her to see if he comes home.

In my monologue I say 'drinks it' three times. I thought to change the tone slightly on every time I say it and a reason for saying it three times. For example a memory that my character that didn't like and show that emotion in my voice and facial expression and body language.

I took part in a audition workshop with Max Lewendel who is the artistic director of Icarus Theatre collective. He said to consider the space and imagine what room I was in. When he said this I thought that I was in the washing and that would make sense considering I look static at the moment.

I had feedback to have a prop so the monologue wont look as static which could be boring.