Earthquakes in London Blog 6

9/5/16:

Today we had a run through of acts one, two and three, going through them and then going through them as tableaus and then had a time run for them. I had to do act one and the majority of act 3 since we didn't have time to finish


Developments with Colin: Today I was thinking a bit more about Colin in terms of who he could represent and I thought of something. I had this idea about Colin representing the people that don't overly care about the issues presented and just more about living while he can. Overall he never really expresses any interest in the environment or the themes presented, The only time it's ever mentioned by him is after the burlesque scene in which he says, "I thought you made a very good point" where he's referring to the destruction of the rain forest. After that it's never mentioned by him again and it just goes to an arc of him trying to change his life or being upset with it. He wants Sarah out of his life and wants to do the things he never could, he looks up girls partying and wants to do it or at the very least recapture his youth. I have a feeling Colin only went to a few parties when younger and feels he could've done more. I originally thought he probably went to none when he was younger but then it's mentioned in act 5 about a jacket he wore to "Suzie's party" so I feel as though he probably did but not that much.

Also I have been thinking about moments where to make it seem as though Colin is making decisions despite him having to go with what the script says. I have already mentioned the moments with Sarah in act 4 but I also thought about some moments in act 1 and 3. I was think that during the scene where I'm with Tom and Jasmine there should be a moment where you can see that I decide to leave due to it being quite awkward and knowing that probably not much is going to happen. Then during act 3 after Jasmine just walks past me into the house I should have a couple moments where, one, I decide to follow her and two, I want to change the subject when things get too serious and she says that things are getting bleak. The last I thought of was to get up when Jasmine and Sarah start talking since I'm finding it rather annoying and don't really want to listen. I want to try out these subtle actions just to get across what he's feeling. He's not very happy and to properly get across who he represents I think this might help even if only a little Also they may add to the humour of Colin since I do see him as a sort of tragic yet funny character.




Idea/input:

Something I tried out today was a costume idea. I brought in a pair of glasses to see if they would work on Colin. I thought of this since it would go along with the idea in epic theatre of using costume to denote a character. Glasses can suggest a few things such as intelligence and that you have an attention to detail but can also signify a flaw or a weakness so I thought it would fit with showing that. The issue it would show is his lack of confidence.

Strengths and weaknesses: 

Strength: The scenes are actually coming along very nicely and I'm really enjoying their developments, their getting faster and more flowing although apparently still have pacing issues. Today I had a good sense of focus especially during the moments where I was supposed to be still. If I can keep that up on stage then I think it'll look great. All the scenes should flow yet overlap each other and I think if everyone does that it will look amazing. The feedback I got from today was that I am doing very well and I'm quite funny as Colin and do the singing scene quite well.


Weakness: My projection wasn't very good today and I realised that even though I'm trying my best as of now to go crazy during these dance scenes today's energy for me was quite lacking. That's quite bad because if I don't have the right amount of it in the actual performance then it won't give the right effect so I'm going to have to really try and go for it next time. .


Research:

Today I heard gestus being talked about and realised that I haven't done much research on that even though I'm basically aware of what it is so I decided to look into it when I got home.

Gestus is Technique in which you use gesture in order to show a characters essence or attitude as an overall character rather than using it to show specifics to do with an individual. For example a greedy corrupt capitalist would be shown smoking a cigar, sticking his fat belly out and laughing at his fortune and wealth. These are used to show a characters role in society rather than the character themselves. This means that the gestures only show a general person not a specific one. This means for Colin I could say that he represents the unemployed/people or possibly even just the shy people in the world so I was thinking to give him a sort of lowered posture where his stance isn't one of overly confident although he will get that later after the suit has been put on. He'll stand with more confidence and just seem an overall stronger person just from his stance and gesture. However it seems as though our play isn't really using gestus or at least not yet because we might have a small workshop on it at some point. I am definitely going to stick with changing his physicality after the suit is on since I have done it in class and it all seems to be fine.



Considering all the info/research I have given throughout this process, how would I sum up this play in a sort of synopsis? As of now I'd sum it up like this:

A play about a dysfunction and estranged family who are mostly aware of an impending earthquake. They all react in different ways such as the daughter Freya worrying about what kind of world she'll bring her unborn child into, The father, a man of the generation responsible for the way the earth is going warns one of his daughters so she doesn't give birth and doesn't even speak to the others because of his issues with fatherly duty and devotion to his wife. He never felt like he was there father so when his wife died he left them on their own. The play definitely focuses on issues of climate change and family and these two themes interlink. His motivations are driven by both of them. It shows this family among all this happening and their dysfunctional nature having an effect on everybody around them. Such as the Sarah's preoccupation with her job dealing with environmental issues in the government is affecting her marital status and even the other daughter Jasmine turned into rebellious All this while the inevitable earthquake is getting closer and closer to arriving. It shows the dangers and hopes to make you actually care and think about it.

The official synopsis on the earthquakes education pack doesn't even have much of a detailed synopsis it only really sums up the characters so that shows how complex it is to sum up all the interlinking themes, arcs and plot into a short summary. As the script even says the play is packed and scenes even overlap so it makes sense that shortening it means omitting details. I found it hard but I like what I came out with.






10/5/16:

Today we ran through the remainder of act 3 and then most of act 4 although unfortunately we couldn't finish it since we ran out of time.


I got some feedback from Karen after class about my performance. She says that she loves what I'm doing with the character and how I'm portraying him, my physicality, vocal delivery and timing are very good overall. Her concern was whether or not I'd be able to maintain the vocal quality in the theatre. She said how it's good that it's clear Colin has issues but is trying to keep them hidden instead of just making them apparent which she said would probably happen under any director. That feedback made me quite happy with how it's all going. I still obviously have some vocal issues to sort out so that my performance is effective while in the theatre but I'm very confident with how my portrayal of Colin and how the play as whole will go.


Strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths: I still think the scenes are looking great and love the staging especially how while the scenes themselves overlap we never actually block anyone when we're not supposed to such as Becky (Mrs. Andrews) doesn't get in front of me and Chloe during act three at the wrong points and it all flows well. Also I got some positive feedback from the class about my dancing scene and they say my physicality is good yet may need to be bigger in the theatre and I completely agree. I feel that my dance moves and over all movement to be honest are actually excellent from a comedic standpoint.


Weaknesses: One weakness of today is that the acts are still becoming too long and the general pacing is quite slow. That's what it seems from the feedback although I did look up the run time of the play and the average is just over three hours according to a review I read by The Telegraph so I'm not sure that means Karen wants it to be less than that or if we're genuinely going too slow since it's always quit hard to tell when you're on stage as time goes slower (For most people) while performing anyway. If we really are just going too slow then we'll have to step it up. Also I said that I think my singing is bad and the response I get from the students is "Is supposed to be isn't it?" and while I've realised that is true I have been trying to actually sound good and it hasn't been going to well I sound quite flat and just barely in tune. I'll keep it because it seems to suit it and it is my best attempt so overall that turn out well.


11/5/16:

Today we ran through the remainder of act 4 and even ran through it working out some extra blocking and details.

Input/Ideas: I brought in a costume idea for Colin today. It was a white stripey jumper with glasses. I thought this would suit him because in the original production Colin (Played by Tom Goodman-Hill) wears a light brown cardigan so I thought a sweater/jumper would be a good equivalent since I have the costume anyway and my feedback seems to be that they think Colin is a little more colourful when I play him so the stripes seemed to be a good way to symbolise that and express a bit more of what he's like as a person or a representation of shy or aspiring people in society.







Demands:

Since we overall didn't do too much in terms of development I thought I'd talk a little about the performance demands of this play taking into account general demands and the demands for going with the epic theatre style.

- A good sense of focus and control since this perform will require us to stay still for long periods of time and we will be facing out to the audience a lot. If we seem unable to focus it will take them out of it in a bad way.

- The ability to present a character on stage. This means I should have the ability to not play a character naturalistically if required to do so although keep it as a possibility for certain scenes. In this performance we do speak using generally naturalistic voices but our physicality is not for, for the most part.

- I must be able to show a flawed character even if only subtle for example my character Colin isn't a bad person and overall could be quite likeable but I have to show the issues that this role in society would go through and in my case it's issues of isolation, regret and social awkwardness. From my feedback I've been getting the issues across but also that I'm trying to hide them.

- Not get too connected to the character. This is so that I don't get too invested in Colin so that I attempt to get other people such as the audience to care about him or get invested in the character instead of getting involved in the themes and drama.

- Be able to project my voice especially as Karen calls me subtle actor and this may downplay my vocal strength and volume in the theatre but I will try my best to audible and completely articulate.

- I must be articulate and not be monotone so I can show a range of tones. It doesn't have to be natural for this but any performance that is too one note isn't a good one.

- To have the right amount of energy to perform such as in my dancing scenes or moments where I have to present being lively, whether or not I'm doing it naturalistically I still need to show that to some capacity also having little energy means that the audience could be taken out of it in a bad way since no one wants to watch a dull or drab performance

- To get across who the character I am portraying is supposed to represent. In this case the unemployed or someone who aspires and wants to live.

- Being able to show a characters free will to make their own choices but they still end up going with what the script says. 

This weeks links:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7929004/Earthquakes-in-London-National-Theatre-review.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/7