Single - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - working on the spectrum

This was some information to help me see how the performance was originally created and so I can see the flip and get a better idea of how it works so I can just not think about it and go for it while feeling reassured.

Single Drama - 13th to 16th

As a company we created the busy London street from the second half of the play (Link To It Here). The opening soundscape and the way it builds really creates the sense that Christopher have stepped out into a street and it gets busy quickly. I like that we show the harshness of the world as when the noise gets too much for Christopher and he goes into his ball, the situation only gets worse for him as the people then walk out and the audience can visually see the street so the street seems to get more crowded and Christopher has to adapt to this busy environment and move with it, but he doesn't. He freaks out and barks at a drug dealer only to be pushed around and calm down to go into the next scene.

This week we also went off script and created scenes with select characters. I was with Ellie, who plays Siobhan, we created a scene of Christopher having a counselling session with Siobhan about his mothers 'death' I feel the improvised scene went well as a short performance (Link To It Here) but i also think it helped me think how Christopher feels about his mother, especially after he thinks she is dead. I got the sense that he isn't sad about it, more trying to process what exactly happened and that it happened as Christopher isn't an emotional character he is more analytic.

This week I researched what Christopher thinks of and feels about Ed (his father) (Link To It Here)

Overall I think our performance this week looks good, I think that as everyone learns their lines and understands their characters more everything will become great not just good but I feel that's a given with every performance. I think that specifically for the work we did this week the thing we need to improve is at the end of the street movement/soundscape bit when I am pushed onto Kyle then onto Kai I feel it could look better if I'm pushed onto Kyle then after he pushes me to Kai he goes and sits down then another person takes his place to catch me and Kai sits down the someone replaces Kai and so on until everyone is sitting. I feel this will show everyone in the street ignorantly pushing me and leaving me to keep the sense of the busy street while also it will slowly thin out the number of people on stage to leave it just me and Ashley.

Double (Joe) - Jason's Adventures

Journey There

Jason assembled a great group of heroes, known as the Argonauts after their ship, the Argo. The group of heroes included the Boreads (sons of Boreas, the North Wind) who could fly, Heracles, Philoctetes, Peleus, Telamon, Orpheus, Castor and Pollux, Atalanta, and Euphemus.

The Isle of Lemnos

The isle of Lemnos is situated off the Western coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). The island was inhabited by a race of women who had killed their husbands. The women had neglected their worship of Aphrodite, and as a punishment the goddess made the women so foul in stench that their husbands could not bear to be near them. The men then took concubines from the Thracian mainland opposite, and the spurned women, angry at Aphrodite, killed all the male inhabitants while they slept. The king, Thoas, was saved by Hypsipyle, his daughter, who put him out to sea sealed in a chest from which he was later rescued. The women of Lemnos lived for a while without men, with Hypsipyle as their queen.

During the visit of the Argonauts the women mingled with the men creating a new "race" called Minyae. Jason fathered twins with the queen. Heracles pressured them to leave as he was disgusted by the antics of the Argonauts. He had not taken part, which is truly unusual considering the numerous affairs he had with other women.

Cyzicus

After Lemnos the Argonauts landed among the Doliones, whose king Cyzicus treated them graciously. He told them about the land beyond Bear Mountain, but forgot to mention what lived there. What lived in the land beyond Bear Mountain were the Gegeines which are a tribe of Earthborn giants with six arms and wore leather loincloths. While most of the crew went into the forest to search for supplies, the Gegeines saw that few Argonauts were guarding the ship and raided it. Heracles was among those guarding the ship at the time and managed to kill most them before Jason and the others returned. Once some of the other Gegeines were killed, Jason and the Argonauts set sail.

Sometime after their fight with the Gegeines, they sent some men to find food and water. Among these men was Heracles' servant Hylas who was gathering water while Heracles was out finding some wood to carve a new oar to replace the one that broke. The nymphs of the stream where Hylas was collecting were attracted to his good looks, and pulled him into the stream. Heracles returned to his Labors, but Hylas was lost forever. Others say that Heracles went to Colchis with the Argonauts, got the Golden Girdle of the Amazons and slew the Stymphalian Birds at that time.

The Argonauts departed, losing their bearings and landing again at the same spot that night. In the darkness, the Doliones took them for enemies and they started fighting each other. The Argonauts killed many of the Doliones, among them the king Cyzicus. Cyzicus' wife killed herself. The Argonauts realized their horrible mistake when dawn came and held a funeral for him.

Phineas and the Harpies

Soon Jason reached the court of Phineus of Salmydessus in Thrace. Zeus had sent the Harpies to steal the food put out for Phineas each day. Jason took pity on the emaciated king and killed the Harpies when they returned; in other versions, Calais and Zetes chase the Harpies away. In return for this favor, Phineas revealed to Jason the location of Colchis and how to pass the Symplegades, or The Clashing Rocks, and then they parted.

The Symplegades

The only way to reach Colchis was to sail through the Symplegades (Clashing Rocks), huge rock cliffs that came together and crushed anything that traveled between them. Phineas told Jason to release a dove when they approached these islands, and if the dove made it through, to row with all their might. If the dove was crushed, he was doomed to fail. Jason released the dove as advised, which made it through, losing only a few tail feathers. Seeing this, they rowed strongly and made it through with minor damage at the extreme stern of the ship. From that time on, the clashing rocks were forever joined leaving free passage for others to pass.

The arrival in Colchis

Jason arrived in Colchis (modern Black Sea coast of Georgia) to claim the fleece as his own. It was owned by King Aeetes of Colchis. The fleece was given to him by Phrixus. Aeetes promised to give it to Jason only if he could perform three certain tasks. Presented with the tasks, Jason became discouraged and fell into depression. However, Hera had persuaded Aphrodite to convince her son Eros to make Aeetes's daughter, Medea, fall in love with Jason. As a result, Medea aided Jason in his tasks. First, Jason had to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen, the Khalkotauroi, that he had to yoke himself. Medea provided an ointment that protected him from the oxen's flames. Then, Jason sowed the teeth of a dragon into a field. The teeth sprouted into an army of warriors (spartoi). Medea had previously warned Jason of this and told him how to defeat this foe. Before they attacked him, he threw a rock into the crowd. Unable to discover where the rock had come from, the soldiers attacked and defeated one another. His last task was to overcome the sleepless dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece. Jason sprayed the dragon with a potion, given by Medea, distilled from herbs. The dragon fell asleep, and Jason was able to seize the Golden Fleece. He then sailed away with Medea. Medea distracted her father, who chased them as they fled, by killing her brother Apsyrtus and throwing pieces of his body into the sea; Aeetes stopped to gather them. In another version, Medea lured Apsyrtus into a trap. Jason killed him, chopped off his fingers and toes, and buried the corpse. In any case, Jason and Medea escaped.

The Journey Back

On the way back to Iolcus, Medea prophesied to Euphemus, the Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Cyrene. This came true through Battus, a descendant of Euphemus. Zeus, as punishment for the slaughter of Medea's own brother, sent a series of storms at the Argo and blew it off course. The Argo then spoke and said that they should seek purification with Circe, a nymph living on the island of Aeaea. After being cleansed, they continued their journey home.

Sirens

Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens—the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ship into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was more beautiful and louder, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs.

Talos

The Argo then came to the island of Crete, guarded by the bronze man, Talos. As the ship approached, Talos hurled huge stones at the ship, keeping it at bay. Talos had one blood vessel which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail (as in metal casting by the lost wax method). Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo was then able to sail on.

Jason returns

It should be noted that Thomas Bulfinch has an antecedent to the interaction of Medea and the daughters of Pelias. Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. He had seen and been served by Medea's magical powers. He asked Medea to take some years from his life and add them to the life of his father. She did so, but at no such cost to Jason's life. Medea withdrew the blood from Aesons body and infused it with certain herbs; putting it back into his veins, returning vigor to him. Pelias' daughters saw this and wanted the same service for their father.

Medea, using her sorcery, claimed to Pelias' daughters that she could make their father smooth and vigorous as a child by chopping him up into pieces and boiling the pieces in a cauldron of water and magical herbs. She demonstrated this remarkable feat with the oldest ram in the flock, which leapt out of the cauldron as a lamb. The girls, rather naively, sliced and diced their father and put him in the cauldron. Medea did not add the magical herbs, and Pelias was dead. Pelias' son, Acastus, drove Jason and Medea into exile for the murder, and the couple settled in Corinth.

Treachery of Jason

In Corinth, Jason became engaged to marry Creusa (sometimes referred to as Glauce), a daughter of the King of Corinth, to strengthen his political ties. When Medea confronted Jason about the engagement and cited all the help she had given him, he retorted that it was not she that he should thank, but Aphrodite who made Medea fall in love with him. Infuriated with Jason for breaking his vow that he would be hers forever, Medea took her revenge by presenting to Creusa a cursed dress, as a wedding gift, that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on. Creusa's father, Creon, burned to death with his daughter as he tried to save her. Then Medea killed the two boys that she bore to Jason, fearing that they would be murdered or enslaved as a result of their mother's actions. When Jason came to know of this, Medea was already gone; she fled to Athens in a chariot of dragons sent by her grandfather, the sun-god Helios.

Later Jason and Peleus, father of the hero Achilles, attacked and defeated Acastus, reclaiming the throne of Iolcus for himself once more. Jason's son, Thessalus, then became king.

As a result of breaking his vow to love Medea forever, Jason lost his favor with Hera and died lonely and unhappy. He was asleep under the stern of the rotting Argo when it fell on him, killing him instantly.

My opinion
I like this story as it is very long so we have a lot of story line that we can work with, develop and even cut out if it isn't needed. I like that there are a lot of characters that we can also develop and research and cut out if we have too many. I feel that the part at the Isle of Lemnos can be cut as it doesn't affect the story as a whole and isn't really needed.

Double (Joe) - Two Stories of Medusa

Medusa 1.
Many years ago there was a beautiful women called Medusa. She lived in a place called Athens in Greece. She was a very kind and she obeyed her Greek gods and goddesses. Even though there was pretty girls there, Medusa was one of them.

Every single day Medusa always boasted about her self. She says to other people she is the most prettiest out of everyone in the whole wide world.

On Sunday, Medusa told the miller that her skin is more beautiful then fresh white snow. On Monday, she babbled the cobbler that her hair is brighter than the sun. On Tuesday, she commented the blacksmith's son that her eyes are greener than Aegean sea. On Wednesday, she boasted to the public that her lips are redder than the reddest rose in the world.

When Medusa wasn't busy she would boast about her self while looking in a mirror. She thought she was the prettiest woman in the whole wide world. She admired her self.

On and on Medusa went about her beauty to anyone and everyone who stopped long enough to hear her. Until one day Medusa and her friends went to the Parthenon. It was Medusa's first time going to the Parthenon. The Parthenon was the biggest temple in Greece. In the Parthenon was the goddess of wisdom and beauty and that was Athena. There was statues of most of the gods and goddesses in the Greek culture. All the people who went there obeyed Athena, all except Medusa.

Medusa saw all the statues and she whispered "Who ever did this statue did do a good job but it would look better if I was the statues." Every picture she saw she said that the person did a good job but she would look better in the picture and she is so delicate.

When Medusa reached the altar she sighed happily and said, "My this is a beautiful temple. It is a shame it is wasted on Athena for I am much prettier than she is, perhaps one day people will build an even grander temple to my beauty."

Then Medusa's friend grew pale. The priestesses heard what Medusa said and they gasped. The roomer went really quickly through the whole temple and everyone started to leave. Everyone knew Athena will get angry if anyone compared her to someone else.

Before long the temple was empty of everyone except Medusa, who was so busy gazing proudly at her reflection in the large bronze doors that she hadn't noticed the fast departure of everyone else. While Medusa was gazing the figure changes. The figure changed into goddess Athena.

"Vain and foolish girl," Athena shouted angrily, "You think your a prettier girl than me. While other people are working, playing or learning you just boast about your self. Medusa there is more to life than beauty alone you see."

Medusa tried to point out that her beauty was an inspiration to those around her and that she made their lives better by simply looking so lovely, but Athena silenced her with an angry wave.

"Nonsense," screamed Athena "One day beauty will fade away. But I will make it fade away now and all your loveliness will be gone forever."

When Athena uttered those words Medusa turned into a terrible monster. Her hair thickened into hissing snakes and body turned into a snake.

"Are you happy for what I have done? Now anyone who looks in your eyes will now turn into stone and no one will be able to save them," snapped Athena,"Even you, Medusa, should you seek your reflection, will turn to rock the moment you see your face."

Athena then sent Medusa with her hair of snakes to live with the blind monsters, the gorgon sisters, at the end of the earth, so that no innocent people would be turned to stone at the sight of her by accident.

Medusa 2.

The Medusa was the daughter of Phorkys and Keto, the children of Gaea (Earth) and Oceanus (Ocean). She was one of the three sisters known as the Gorgons. The other two sisters were Sthenno and Euryale. Medusa was the only mortal out of the three.

She was originally a golden-haired and very beautiful maiden, who, as a priestess of Athena, was devoted to a life of celibacy; but, being wooed by Poseidon, whom she loved in return, she forgot her vows, and became united to him in marriage. For this offence she was punished by the goddess in a most terrible manner. Each wavy lock of the beautiful hair, which had so charmed her husband, was changed into a venomous snake; her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes now became blood-shot, furious orbs, which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the beholder; whilst her former roseate hue and milk-white skin assumed a loathsome greenish tinge.

Seeing herself thus transformed into so repulsive an object, Medusa fled from her home, never to return. Wandering about, abhorred, dreaded, and shunned by all the world, she now developed into a character, worthy of her outward appearance. In her despair she fled to Africa, where, as she passed restlessly from place to place, infant snakes dropped from her hair, and thus, according to the belief of the ancients, that country became the hotbed of these venomous reptiles. With the curse of Athene upon her, she turned into stone whomsoever she gazed upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery, deliverance came to her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus.

My opinion

I like this story as it has a good moral to it and I feel we can get really creative with how we show this story. However, my concern with using this story is that there are only few characters in them so not everyone will have a named part. I also think that for the majority of the year seven, all male group the story won't be engaging for them.

Double (Joe) -The Story of Ares

Ares was the child of Hera and Zeus, born of an immaculate conception. You see Hera was rather jealous of Zeus who was able to conceive a child, Dionysus, by putting the child into his thigh after the mother died. Hera took a magical herb that allowed her to have a child immaculately, this child was Ares.

Zeus because he was not actually the father of Ares (no one was really) was not one to excessively dote upon infant Ares. He was rather negligent. Once during infancy Ares had been abducted by two giants, known as the Aloadai, and they had trapped him in a gigantic bronze jar, to never release him. Zeus however paid little attention. It was in the end the Aloadai mother who discovered the truth and told Hermes who assisted releasing Ares from the bronze jar.

Seeing the unsafe environment for Ares (being trapped in bronze jars for several years is not the best toddler care), Hera decided to move Ares somewhere else safer, thus she chose Priapus, who trained and raised Ares until he was a fully grown man.

Ares the God of War had one main adversary, his sister Athena, who was also a deity of warfare. Though they were both deities of warfare they represented different aspects of war itself. Ares was the God of war and blood-lust, he represented the primal nature of war, its brutality, and its violence. He fought just on instinct and his own rage and personal fury he had, and fought primarily for the sake of fighting. However on the opposite spectrum was Athena the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare. Her warfare was the tactical warfare that calculated each move carefully with strategic strikes in order to get the job done. As can be seen brother and sister were very different, and from this vast difference many conflicts arose.

Ares among the Greek peoples was least favored because of his brutal nature. He was seen as a mercenary of sorts, filled with rage and lust for blood. He was seen as unappeasable and fickle, supporting one side at one time, but changing sides at another time, just so he could shed blood and cause war.

Ares also had quite the interesting love life. Though he was never married, he had several relationships. Plus all of these relationships were never one night stands, as many of these were somewhat committed relationships, relationships that bore him several children. Also much unlike numerous other gods, Ares did not use deceit or trickery in order to attain his love affairs. He never abducted, raped, or tricked a woman for his love.

Ares most famous and most long-term love affair was the with the goddess of beauty Aphrodite. Even though Aphrodite was already married to Hepheastus, she saw much of the handsome Ares (a big improvement from the blacksmith Hepheastus who is considered very ugly). From their relationship they had several children, including Harmonia who would grow up to become the fearless leader and mother of a tribe of fearsome warrior women, the Amazonians.

Not surprisingly Ares was very well known for the many conflicts he was embroiled in. During the Trojan War Ares joined the war on the side of the Trojans against the Greeks as a show of support for Aphrodite. Although this may have gotten him brownie points with Aphrodite the other Olympians were none too pleased, as most supported the Greeks. In battle he charged Athena who had been taunting him during the battle. During his advance Athena picked a large stone and flung it at Ares stopping his advance and knocking him unconscious.  

During the same Trojan War, Athena was able to convince a Greek soldier to wound Aries. With the help of Athena he did and wounded Ares. In pain and rage Ares bellowed loudly, so loudly that the earth itself shook at his voice. He tried to complain to Zeus (yes he went crying to daddy), but Zeus refused to acknowledge his complaints.

In another conflict Ares went to the aid of one of his fellow Olympians surprisingly enough. This was the case of King Sisyphus. He found out that King Sisyphus was holding Hades the God of the underworld, and Ares decided to come to his rescue. Ares went and administered heavy threats to Sisyphus including decapitation if he didn't relent Hades’s captivity. Sisyphus in fear did release Hades. Hey you would be afraid too if the God of blood-lust and war was threatening you.

Although Ares was disliked by many peoples, and there were many other Olympians favored more than him, he still had plenty of followers. However many of these followers were, unfortunately, not so morally upright (and in some cases just crazy) minor deities and mortals, several of which included his own sons.

In battle he rode with two of his sons, who were minor deities themselves. One was Phobos who represented fear, and Daiemos who represented Panic.

Also Ares was viciously protective of many of his numerous children, propelling him into various conflicts to defend them, however many of these instances led Ares to join into battles that he could not win.

When one of his sons was killed during the Trojan War, Ares, leaped onto the battlefield, defying Zeus' orders that the gods and goddesses not take part in the battle.

In another case, Ares’ son Cycnus was a thief who attacked travelers on certain roads, killed them and took their bones from the bodies. What was he using the bones for? He wanted to create a gigantic temple in honor of his father… made completely of human bones, that’s a little gruesome. However Cycnus had the great misfortune of messing with one traveler that he really should not have, Heracles. When he tried to attack Heracles, obviously Heracles fought back, and when Ares saw this he jumped to the defense of his son Cycnus. However Heracles was far stronger than both of them, he easily killed Cycnus and he deeply wounded Ares.

And Ares wasn't sexist; he was equally defensive with his daughters as well. Once one of Poseidon’s also numerous sons attempted to rape Ares daughter Alcippe. When Ares saw this he promptly stopped him and brutally killed him. Poseidon was furious and demanded he be put on trials with the twelve Olympians presiding over the case. This lead to the first murder trial in recorded history. The hill, which was in Athens, was appropriately named Aeropagus (Ares’ Hill). At the end of the trial Ares was acquitted of all his charges.

My Opinion
I like the story as I find it interesting and engaging to see a character so violent and unapologetic about it. However the violence isn't really strongly to do with the affair story, just extra information about his life but we can include it in the story so our audience of year seven males are interested. 

Double (Joe) - Jason and the Argonauts

It begins when Jason's Uncle Pelias kills Jason's father, the Greek King of Iolkos, and takes his throne. Jason's mother brings him to Cheiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) who hides him away and raises him on the Mountain of Pelion.

When Jason turns 20, he journeys to see Pelias to reclaim his throne. At a nearby river, Hera the Queen of the Gods approaches him disguised as an old woman. While carrying her across the river he loses a sandal and arrives at court wearing only one. Pelias is nervous when he sees Jason missing a sandal, for an oracle has prophesied that a man wearing only one sandal shall usurp his throne.

Watch the VideoJason demands the return of his rightful throne. Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis (modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia). The story of the fleece is an interesting tale in itself. Zeus, the King of the Gods, had given a golden ram to Jason's ancestor Phrixus. Phrixus later flew on the golden ram from Greece to Colchis, whose king was Aietes, the son of Helios the Sun God. Aietes sacrificed the ram and hung the fleece in a sacred grove guarded by a dragon, as an oracle had foretold that Aietes would lose his kingdom if he lost the fleece.

Determined to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason assembles a team of great heroes for his crew and they sail aboard the Argo. The first stop of the Argonauts is the Greek Isle of Lemnos, populated only by women. Unknown to Jason and his crew, the women have murdered their husbands. The Argonauts fare much better though; in fact the women use the occasion as an opportunity to repopulate the island.

After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople, heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.

When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor. Reluctant, the king suggests yet another series of challenges to Jason. He must yoke fire-breathing bulls, plough and sow a field with dragons' teeth and then overcome the warriors who will rise from the furrows. Aietes is confident the tasks are impossible but unbeknownst to the king, his daughter Medea has taken a liking to Jason. She offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. He agrees. Medea is a powerful sorceress and Jason is successful.

Jason and Medea return to Greece where Jason claims his father's throne, but their success is short-lived. Uncomfortable with Medea's magic, the locals drive Medea and Jason out of Iolkos. They go into exile in Corinth where the king offers Jason his daughter in marriage. He agrees and so violates his vow to the gods to be true only to Medea. Furious, Medea kills the woman, kills Medea and Jason's children and then ascends to Mount Olympus where she eventually marries Achilles. Jason goes back to Iolkos where his boat the Argo is on display. One day, while he sits next to the boat weeping, the decaying beam of his ship the Argo falls off and hits him on the head, killing him outright.

Double Drama - 15th October 2014

We finished the tea party scene and I feel it is our funniest scene and most random. I like the crazy surgery, I love the prank call and the final dance is weird (in a good way). We then created the painting the roses scene and I think it is short but works well to transition into the crochet scene, also with the film we will add it gives me time to change for the Red Queen. We also created the final scene which is a drug auction and Alice is faded out of Wonderland and back home, where I think we could walk the audience back to the main hall and slowly get quieter until Alice is left alone with the audience.

Double Drama - 14th October 2014

We looked at lifts and cool lifts we can try in ‘Alice in Wonderland’, I feel that as a group we trust each other and get along with each other but we need to trust that we can do lifts and stuff safely so we can incorporate them into performances. I feel that if we work together to improve our strength, at the same time we will get a better understanding of what each of us can do so we can be more confident when we do lifts and stuff. We also looked at a Japanese performance which was disturbing yet showed the core strength that the performer had and the hard work he put into it, we then saw another performance where a man walked barefoot up and down this stage that was covered in broken glass and nails and stuff so his feet were being cut up and he was bleeding, it was supposed to represent the struggle we go through in life. I’m not sure about the glass walkway thing but the core strength thing (very Martha Graham) we could use in our performance.

Double Drama - 7th and 8th October 2014

We created the tea party scene by doing two groups one with everything they could need: props, set, script, etc. the other with nothing. We found that this created two very different scenes, both crazy and great so we put the two together to form this weird quirky tea party. I felt this worked well as it put the two groups in different circumstances and they each created different performances we then have two ideas that we can play with to put together this scene.

Double Drama (Joe) - 3rd October 2014

We looked into putting ourselves in upsetting situations to try and get a genuine experience and improve our acting skills. This was interesting to fell that emotion and get in the really bad mind set but I feel it was good to experience it. We then discussed what year sevens would like watching as we are performing to them soon. I found it hard to remember what I liked to watch when I was in year seven but we came to the conclusion that it was Action films, Violence and things they shouldn't watch. We also looked at Greek myths as the storytelling course includes it apparently so we looked into it and found a similar trend of violence and heroes and stuff. So we have decided to tell a Greek story to the year sevens so they get to experience the things they like.

Double Drama - 30th + 1st September and October 2014

We looked at set and props that we had under the stage to see if we could get inspiration from it for our show. It was cool to get inspiration from something other than a picture or song or to be given a script. We brought out a lot of wooden chairs, as we got this stuff the way the show will look became clearer in my mind but I am willing to develop my view as well as change it. We also organised the journey that our audience will be taken on, starting from the hall to the stage, to the corridor then to the H-Block, into the computer room and finally into the gallery theater. Toby and I planned a skit of sorts to do outside the H-Block which shows a creepy drug making scene. I feel this skit of ours works quite well to set a disturbing mood before the audience go to wonderland. 

Double Drama (Joe)- 26th September 2014

We started to lesson by reading a passage from the books we brought in and I found out that I might have a good reading voice (you know the one your mum or dad has when they read to you before bed when you were younger) I feel that it will come in handy later in life, but that is beside the point. We then took a smaller part of the extract and had to step forward and say it in a way that hooks the audience’s attention straight away. It took me two times but I got there and managed to say it with confidence yet not over doing it, I felt it was hard to perform it in the right way. When we repeated the task later it took me a lot longer to get it right and I found it really hard. We then walked from one end of the room to the other with purpose which was incredibly hard, I had to think someone was there and I needed to talk to them just to get the right walk. However the second time we did it I just couldn’t get it. The last thing we did was walk with an emotion, show a genuine emotion (no overacting) every time I overacted just that little bit but I eventually got there and I will use that in our performance in single drama as Christopher so I don’t over-act.

Double Drama - 24th September 2014

Today we started work on our performance of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, we did a warm up with Toby leading it and he made us do a tiring warm up that he learnt from his brother in the army. It was very painful and exhausting, but got us active and warmed up. We then arranged what characters will be in our performance and any initial thoughts about them or the play itself, I felt this got everyone to contribute their ideas and I got a feel of how people wanted this to go. We worked out who got what part, through a system which turned out wasn’t full proof as there were problems but we ended up with everyone having a part that they weren’t sad about, I ended up as The Red Queen.

We then started ideas on how we can start our performance and how we get the audience from the main hall to the gallery theatre. We had this idea that we kidnap the audience, blindfold them and bring them to the gallery theatre. I had the idea that we sit them down with us sitting with them and we start screaming so the blindfolded audience think that some of the audience members are in trouble and panic. I felt this will definitely get a reaction from the audience in an Artaud style so I feel we should use something like this in our performance. However we decided to go down a different route and freak the audience out with loud noises and sudden silence, which I also think works well as while we are asking the audience the time it gets them involved with the show and have an Artaud experience of performers yelling at them. I like this opening as it starts our show with a bang and sets a tense atmosphere.

Double Drama -23rd September 2014

We looked at Rudolph Laban and his ideas on movement, his basic idea was that there are only eight types of movement that a person can do: Dab, Flick, Punch, Slash, Glide, Float, Wring and Press. We spent half the lesson exploring these eight movement types and how they could be used in characters or to create characters. I found this interesting to see us create entire characters from a simple movement concept, I learnt that I can use these movement types to help me become different characters and I will try to incorporate this when creating characters.

We also looked at movement in pairs by never not touching each other and doing what feels natural to get from one side of the room to the other, I learnt that as a class we are very comfortable with each other and ourselves as we had no issue with constantly touching each other (in a perfectly non sexual and professional way). We eventually created a group piece that told the story on a disabled child using all parts of what we learnt today. I feel my groups’ performance went very well, it was very creative and I think we got to show the characters mental and emotional struggle.

Double Drama (Joe) - 19th September 2014

Today in Joe’s lesson we practiced the dance that we were taught last week, with the Moulin Rouge story, but we couldn’t film it because technology wasn’t our friend today and we couldn’t get the song to play, which was sad but reminded me that not everything goes to plan. So we then talked about ways in which to tell a story and had twenty minutes to research these ways and give our opinion on them, I found it hard because I suck at research but I eventually found five methods and thought the pros and cons of each. After we each discussed our findings, we discussed stories that we could recreate and I wasn’t much help because once again I can’t think on my feet (something which I still need to work on). After all that we were put into groups and we created openings for one of the movies (mine being Toy Story) I had the idea that we were all toys in the room and there is a child’s voice and a sudden shut of a door, I which we then come to life and do stuff. I think to idea worked but we couldn’t bring the wow factor and show off some skills, which Joe wanted, because I don’t have any Cirque Du Soleil skills to jump into and wow everyone with but I could try and learn because that sounds fun.

Double Drama -17th September 2014

We started the lesson with a warm up game of sticky toffee then stretched our muscles, where I learnt that I am not that flexible and wish to work on that, and then we performed a sort of trust exercise, where we learnt about each other and how far they are willing to go physically (that sounded really wrong – not in that way) I got a better feel for how other people will act when we put trust and balance together (I’m not explaining this very well). I learnt how much my body can withstand, I can probably hold peoples weight on my back while close to the floor and that I am very trusting as in the performance my group did I was lifted and dragged around the room, but I feel like I can trust the people in my class with stuff like that, however I fear that I don’t trust myself lifting others (the opposite of Mr Noble’s concern that he had in school) I feel my performance went well and I think I learnt that I trust other with my body but I don’t trust myself with others, so I need to work on that.

Double Drama - 16th September 2014

We started to look at the practitioner Antonin Artaud, when we first entered the classroom there was creepy music playing, which I felt kind of set the atmosphere. We then had our hands tied with marking tape without any explanation of why this was happening and sir just started the lesson of explaining who Antonin Artaud was. I learnt that, like Pina Bausch, Anton was very extreme in his methods of drama but where Pina Bausch focused solely on her performers experience Antonin Artaud also included the audience in the experience, i.e. he will ‘kidnap’ them and ‘hold them hostage’ during the performance so they will get a real experience like no other. I understood what Artaud was saying when I broke out of the binds and not having full control, especially when I ran blindfolded towards a wall with the rest of the class only there to stop me and when sir ran at me full pelt, the total lack of control gave me a fear that a regular performance can’t give me and I had a real reaction of jumping out the way.

After understanding why Artaud thought like this and having an experience of it, we then went under the stage, split into two groups and we tried to see who could creep the other group out the most. I was blindfolded, grabbed and yanked into the room where I was touched up by a broom followed by a rope whilst hearing loud bangs occasionally. It was terrifying, I got sweaty and my heart rate rose, it was an amazing experience, and for that reason I wish to incorporate that into our performance of ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Double Drama (Joe) -12th September 2014

Today in Mr Kelly’s lesson he explained as actors we need to start creating different atmospheres in our performances, rather that always being dark and sadly emotional. He showed us clips of ‘magic to do’ from Pippin and ‘can you feel the love tonight’ from the Disney World show of The Lion King, this made me realise that to create an affective performance I don’t need to resort to dark, sad stories to create atmospheres, I can venture down a love story or cheesy happy stories.

Sir did contradict himself by then giving us a dance that he choreographed to a song from ‘Moulin Rouge’ which told a sad story and basic outline of ‘Moulin Rouge’. I felt this stretched me as an actor as I played an unfamiliar character of someone who buys prostitutes. It was challenging to try to dance whilst being in an unfamiliar character that I have not researched. I felt it went well but I could have done better if I looked into the type of person I was portraying and have some background information for the character.

During the lesson I learnt how to enter the emotions a character is going through by imagining the scenario happening to me and how I would feel in their shoes. This I can take with me and really understand the feelings of my characters but it also helped me understand what I should be feeling for the dance and how my face should look during the performance. Getting this feeling in my head helped me get the feeling in my eyes, which I learnt is the place that shows believable emotions for the audience.

Overall the lesson was fun and really insightful, I feel that the dance looked good and dramatic and I feel that I learned a lot about the emotions of characters and the use of facial excretions that start from the eyes.

Double Drama -10th September 2014

At the start of the lesson we were informed of the four topics we will know about by the end of the lesson: Neutrality, Ephemerality, The Truth in Performance and Exhaustion. I was excited to get started yet apprehensive about the exhaustion part.

Neutrality

I learned that neutrality was being in tune with your body and being able to have your body in an aligned, ready state so that we have full control of what it then does, I found it interesting to find out more about what my body can and can’t do. I found out that my arms can’t hold the rest of me up for very long but also that I can actually balance a stick on my finger and still move around the room.

Ephemerality

Is basically that something is created, developed, shown then dies and we all move on, I found this to be enlightening in that if I make a mistake on stage, in a few days/week/months everyone will have moved on. However I also found it sad that everything we will ever put effort in to create, whether it was amazing or shit will be over and forgotten about, but I guess that’s life.

The Truth in Performance

It’s a big fat lie!!! I discovered that no one can ever become their character or live their characters life or show real emotion, we can get close, extremely close but we will still be ourselves on stage and playing a character. We lie to an audience to get them to believe in a fantasy world with a storyline or whatever we are showing them.

Exhaustion

The crazy German woman or Pina Bausch was a performing arts visionary who sort of took the idea that all performing is a lie and tried to make it real. She caused all her performer to genuinely experience the emotions they needed (i.e. exhaustion, she made them do a long exercise to tier her performers out, happy, she gave them drugs) as a class we were pushed to exhaustion and then immediately wrote what we felt, I wrote “sweaty”, “thirsty”, “weak” and “damp” but my arms were weak so the words were big and messy but I understand how it will genuinely portray the feeling of worn out and how the crazy woman’s idea has some truth to it and will create a stronger performance. At the time I felt dry inside yet soaked outside my body and incredibly weak.

Pina Bausch (extra info)

Philippina "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German performer of modern dance, choreographer, dance teacher and ballet director. With her unique style, a blend of movement, sound, and prominent stage sets, and with her elaborate collaboration with performers during the development of a piece (a style now known as Tanztheater), she became a leading influence in the field of modern dance from the 1970s on.[2] She created the company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch (de) which performs internationally.

Single - Thoughts on Father (Ed) Christopher's POV

Father is the person who took care of me after mother died, though she didn't die, she left to live with Mr Shears as they we doing sex, so Father lied to me but I didn't know that at the time. He turned all my yellow food red as I don't like yellow but like red. I later found out he killed Wellington, Mrs Shears dog, because they were doing sex and he wanted to get closer to her but she decided to not to and father got mad and wanted to hurt her. This is when I found out all the lies Father told me so I couldn't live with him as he killed Wellington so he could kill me. After finding Mother, Father came to the house and tried to get close to me so I pointed my Swiss Army Knife at him so he couldn't kill me. Then Mother and I went back to Swindon and I had to stay at fathers from 3:49 to 5:30 because Mother said I'm not allowed to stay on my own but he doesn't talk to me he just sits out side my door, crying sometimes. He started a project with me to spend time together and we planted a vegetable patch together.

Single - revolutionarts2016: Improvising off-script - Siobham & Christopher

revolutionarts2016: Improvising off-script - Siobham & Christopher

I felt the scene went well and it helped me get a better sense of how our characters interact other than when Siobhan is reading Christopher's book.

double (Joe)-Five Ways To Tell a Story and How Each Are Effective

Straight Acting

This is the generic, simple yet effective way to tell a story. It shows the audience who the characters are, what they do in the story and how they feel about it. It is basic but audiences somehow always love this type of performance otherwise we would have stopped doing them centuries ago.

Monologue

A monologue is a great way to tell a personal story as it can show the character's emotions during the telling of their story; it also creates a close relationship between the actor and the audience and is good for creating atmospheres. However, this can be less effective when their a multiple characters with their own viewpoint of the story and will get boring if the audience had five people giving long monologues on the same story with nothing to break it up.

Song

The songs tempo and tone can create moods and atmospheres so are really effective if incorporated with a piece of movement or as an underscore for a scene. However they can also tell stories on their own by using lyrics that contain rhyming metaphors and similes to express emotions the persona has towards a certain incident.

Dance

Dance can quickly show a story and portray an emotion through the movement of the performers and the song played with the dance. Dance is a great way to entertain an audience and keep them interested; however this doesn't really build an intimate relationship with the audience so won’t get a strong emotional response from them.

Flashbacks/Flash-forwards and Split Screen

These are brilliant ways to enhance story telling as they can reveal parts of the story when they will be most effective. They are usually used to create plot twists or to change the opinions that the audience hold of a specific character. However if the story being told is a generic ‘beginning, middle and end’ story then flashbacks/flash-forwards won’t really be necessary. Also split screen only works if the story follows at least a second character so if the story only follows one character split screen is pointless.