Overall act 1 went alright, however Andy gave us quite a lot of notes for us to work on;
-Lunatics are way too loud, take the volume down and put more tension in the body instead of the voice.
-Renfield needs to be given the opiate which Doctor Seward suggests and this needs to be given to Renfield by Grice, while he is holding Renfield.
-In scene 3 with Jonathan and Seward all the lunatics need to turn when describing the house and make shapes like gargles and turrets and turn when Jonathan says 'Gothic'.
-Grice grab Renfield's hair in scene 4 and tug him about when Grice says 'Mad bastard'.
-Scene 5 at Heartwood house the lunatics are too loud that the acting being done on stage cannot be heard so the lunatics need to be turned down.
-In Dracula's first scene which is scene 7, when we have all been sword fighting and we collapse on the floor, one side gets up when Dracula says 'Romanoths' and the other side gets up when Dracula says 'Hapsburgs' and then all the lunatics sit back down when Dracula says 'Upstarts'.
I feel after getting this feedback and running through it again, it all looks a lot better because we're now complimenting the act 1 scene 1 scene between Mina and Lucy, instead of making a whole new scene just behind their scene.
The queues for certain bits has made the act look a lot neater and smoother. Very good.
Friday, 20 June 2014
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Act 2
We ran act 2 today without Andy as we were not sure what the transitions were after each scene.
Overall, it went alright, however for scene 7-(the cell scene), the people who were forming the cell around Renfield were not too sure when they should be moving, so we had to establish what words people would move on. Because of this, it made it look messy and unorganised because people were moving at different times and the movement wasn't sharp enough.
We also changed scene 15, we made it so there were only two movements, one of the movements having four beats and swinging our right arm on the fourth beat and moving forward then back. The other movement being two steps, arms out, like an eagle almost with your head high and then another two steps and you cross your arms across your chest and put your head down.
Overall, it went alright, however for scene 7-(the cell scene), the people who were forming the cell around Renfield were not too sure when they should be moving, so we had to establish what words people would move on. Because of this, it made it look messy and unorganised because people were moving at different times and the movement wasn't sharp enough.
We also changed scene 15, we made it so there were only two movements, one of the movements having four beats and swinging our right arm on the fourth beat and moving forward then back. The other movement being two steps, arms out, like an eagle almost with your head high and then another two steps and you cross your arms across your chest and put your head down.
Show day
On the day of the show we ran through the show 3 times-(that's including performing it). When we were rehearsing it, I didn't feel ready, at all! I kept mucking up my lines and forgetting where I'm meant to be. However, the second time we ran through it, I focussed a lot more and I remembered where I was meant to be, I did stutter over a line, but I paused, took a breathe in and continued and I feel it went well. Overall I think the first two run trough's went well, we just had to be more confident in our lines. When we performed the show, I think everyone could tell that we had put so much hard work and effort into it, and everyone stayed in character and did great.
That day we did change part of scene ten-(act 1), where Lucy is sleepwalking and Mina is calling her name. What we did in stead is have Lucy stood in front of the bottom step with Dracula holding it's cape around her, so only her face is showing. This made a lot more sense, too, because it gives Mina a reason to be worried because she can't see Lucy.
That day we did change part of scene ten-(act 1), where Lucy is sleepwalking and Mina is calling her name. What we did in stead is have Lucy stood in front of the bottom step with Dracula holding it's cape around her, so only her face is showing. This made a lot more sense, too, because it gives Mina a reason to be worried because she can't see Lucy.
My interpretation
The main point Liz Lochhead is trying to make in her adaptation of Dracula is good overcomes evil, but there are also other points given in the play.
The play starts by showing two vulnerable young woman, they both come across as innocents who are interested in finding love and staying in love. Mina has already found the man she loves, Jonathon and she is to marry him on her 25th birthday, and Lucy is hoping to have the same thing to happen to her.
Lucy is vulnerable because of her little, fragile figure and is ill quite often, which is the reason their father bought Whitby before he died because they believe that Whitby's air is a curative.
Mina is vulnerable because she doesn't have anytime to look after herself as she worries about Lucy's health and when Jonathon goes away to Europe and she doesn't hear from him she then starts worrying about him too.
When Jonathon shows Dracula the picture of Lucy, Mina and Florrie, he instantly see's Lucy's vulnerability and that's why he take such an interest in her as he believes that she would be easier to manipulate.
Dracula starts visiting Lucy after seeing the picture of her, he starts visiting her in her sleep-(act 1, scene 10), because she is at her most vulnerable and easy to take advantage of because she's very ill and asleep.
The mental asylum people have a sixth sense, they can sense when Dracula is coming or near. As Renfield proves in act 1, scene 10 when he starts going mad when Dracula is coming he says "Faster master faster faster faster master master master...". Also in act 2, scene 12 Renfield is warning Mina that Dracula is coming-(even though he wasn't told, he can just sense that he is coming).
Even though it isn't in the script, I know that Renfield was a lawyer before Dracula turned him mad, and I'm not too sure how Dracula manipulated him, but I think Dracula managed to manipulate him because Renfield was scared of death, I think this because in act 1, scene 2, Renfield eats flies and spiders and after eating a fly he says "It's fat with life, strong life, and gives life to me.." so I think where Dracula eats living things and lives forever, it makes him believe that if he dos the same he can also live forever.
Van Helsing is the religious symbol of the play and shows the audience that good will overcome evil, as many plays do. Lochhead shows this by using the crosses, consecrated wafers, and praying.
The play starts by showing two vulnerable young woman, they both come across as innocents who are interested in finding love and staying in love. Mina has already found the man she loves, Jonathon and she is to marry him on her 25th birthday, and Lucy is hoping to have the same thing to happen to her.
Lucy is vulnerable because of her little, fragile figure and is ill quite often, which is the reason their father bought Whitby before he died because they believe that Whitby's air is a curative.
Mina is vulnerable because she doesn't have anytime to look after herself as she worries about Lucy's health and when Jonathon goes away to Europe and she doesn't hear from him she then starts worrying about him too.
When Jonathon shows Dracula the picture of Lucy, Mina and Florrie, he instantly see's Lucy's vulnerability and that's why he take such an interest in her as he believes that she would be easier to manipulate.
Dracula starts visiting Lucy after seeing the picture of her, he starts visiting her in her sleep-(act 1, scene 10), because she is at her most vulnerable and easy to take advantage of because she's very ill and asleep.
The mental asylum people have a sixth sense, they can sense when Dracula is coming or near. As Renfield proves in act 1, scene 10 when he starts going mad when Dracula is coming he says "Faster master faster faster faster master master master...". Also in act 2, scene 12 Renfield is warning Mina that Dracula is coming-(even though he wasn't told, he can just sense that he is coming).
Even though it isn't in the script, I know that Renfield was a lawyer before Dracula turned him mad, and I'm not too sure how Dracula manipulated him, but I think Dracula managed to manipulate him because Renfield was scared of death, I think this because in act 1, scene 2, Renfield eats flies and spiders and after eating a fly he says "It's fat with life, strong life, and gives life to me.." so I think where Dracula eats living things and lives forever, it makes him believe that if he dos the same he can also live forever.
Van Helsing is the religious symbol of the play and shows the audience that good will overcome evil, as many plays do. Lochhead shows this by using the crosses, consecrated wafers, and praying.
All of the characters
Lucy Westerman-
Lucy is a very young girl in a young woman's body. I think this because she is very naïve because her sister, Mina, has babied her as both their parents are dead. Even when their dad was alive, Lucy was a "daddy's girl", so she's always been treated a lot younger than what she actually is. I think she's been treated like this because she's very fragile, sensitive and vulnerable and she sleep walks and doesn't eat much, so they worry about her a lot.
Mina Westerman-
Mina is has had to grow up before her time since her dad died, because she had to take responsibility of her younger sister Lucy. She's a very caring sister, because she always worries about Lucy. I also think she's also full of lust over Jonathan, but where she's a higher class lady, she has to behave until she's married. I think she tries to be more sensible than she needs to be to set Lucy a good example of what a lady should be like.
Jonathan Harker-
I think Jonathan is a true gentleman, and a hard worker. However, I also think there's a slight "naughty" side to him. I think this because in act 1, scene 3, when he's talking to Seward about his secretary, he tells Seward she's a "peach" and tells Mina she's an "absolute dragon".
Arthur Seward-
Seward is a middle aged man, who wants to find love, but feels like he doesn't have enough time for it because he works in a madhouse, he also feels like a woman wouldn't marry him as he works in a madhouse, this is said in act 1 scene 3. He falls madly in love with Lucy Westerman, but when she dies, all he wants is revenge on Dracula!
Dracula-
Dracula is a manipulative and lustful character in this adaptation of the play. He/she/it, shows this because he begins manipulating the most vulnerable character in the play, Lucy. He does this by visiting her when she is asleep and ill.
Van Helsing-
Van Helsing is the religious symbol in the play, he shows how good always overcomes evil. He does this by using crosses and consecrated wafers throughout the play. He shows that good overcomes evil because in the end, after all their hard work, it all pays off. He believes that when they killed Dracula, is was an act of "mercy, and not of hate".
Lucy is a very young girl in a young woman's body. I think this because she is very naïve because her sister, Mina, has babied her as both their parents are dead. Even when their dad was alive, Lucy was a "daddy's girl", so she's always been treated a lot younger than what she actually is. I think she's been treated like this because she's very fragile, sensitive and vulnerable and she sleep walks and doesn't eat much, so they worry about her a lot.
Mina Westerman-
Mina is has had to grow up before her time since her dad died, because she had to take responsibility of her younger sister Lucy. She's a very caring sister, because she always worries about Lucy. I also think she's also full of lust over Jonathan, but where she's a higher class lady, she has to behave until she's married. I think she tries to be more sensible than she needs to be to set Lucy a good example of what a lady should be like.
Jonathan Harker-
I think Jonathan is a true gentleman, and a hard worker. However, I also think there's a slight "naughty" side to him. I think this because in act 1, scene 3, when he's talking to Seward about his secretary, he tells Seward she's a "peach" and tells Mina she's an "absolute dragon".
Arthur Seward-
Seward is a middle aged man, who wants to find love, but feels like he doesn't have enough time for it because he works in a madhouse, he also feels like a woman wouldn't marry him as he works in a madhouse, this is said in act 1 scene 3. He falls madly in love with Lucy Westerman, but when she dies, all he wants is revenge on Dracula!
Dracula-
Dracula is a manipulative and lustful character in this adaptation of the play. He/she/it, shows this because he begins manipulating the most vulnerable character in the play, Lucy. He does this by visiting her when she is asleep and ill.
Van Helsing-
Van Helsing is the religious symbol in the play, he shows how good always overcomes evil. He does this by using crosses and consecrated wafers throughout the play. He shows that good overcomes evil because in the end, after all their hard work, it all pays off. He believes that when they killed Dracula, is was an act of "mercy, and not of hate".
Act 1 Scene 3
For this scene the chorus were all stood in lines, making an office type shape around Jonathon and Seward. Then on certain words the chorus would turn around and look at them both, like for instance when Seward says "Miss Westerman, eh?" and when he says "yes, well... all a bit Gothic for my taste".
There were not too many issues with this scene, but Andy told the two main characters to have more fun with the scene and told one of the actors to find things to do for his character.
There were not too many issues with this scene, but Andy told the two main characters to have more fun with the scene and told one of the actors to find things to do for his character.
Act 2 Scene 16
This scene isn't very long as we all cut lines out of it because Nisbett and Grice had to carry Renfield around and they didn't want to run out of things to do.
Before we started with this scene, we got a safety mat, because I was going to be getting thrown about and we didn't want to risk any serious injuries.
At first we were just practising what they were going to be doing with my dead body, the first thing we tried, and decided to keep was they'd hold my legs and my arms and carry me up to the top of the steps onto the stage and then put me down. After that they both grabbed an arm each and dragged me up so I was standing up nearly-(still holding me up) and the Harry-(Grice) would then put me over his shoulder in a fireman carry. They then walked around a little bit and he'd then put me down and quickly push me towards Michelle-(Nisbett) before I fell to the ground and then they'd keep on pushing me to one another and then they laid me down and walk off, after a couple of beats they run back on, grab my arms and drag me off stage.
Where we decided what we were going to be doing in this scene before we started doing it, it was pretty straight forward, however. we had to make a few tweaks and decide on queues for when they'd pick me up, push me to one another etc.
The first queue was Grice's first line "Would you credit it?" and that's when they'd lift me up and start carrying me to the top of the stage.
Then the next one was "Sewage pipes..." that's when they'd lift me up so I was in a standing position, Grice then puts me over his should when he says "must've gone berserk...". After they went off stage and say "But hey, I will miss ya' Renfield" a beat after that they run back on to come grab me and take me off stage.
This scene was so hard to keep a straight face in and not take any of my weight, as I find it scary when people are lifting me and throwing me about everywhere because I worry that I'm too heavy and I have to have a lot of trust in the people doing it. It took me quite a while before I stopped caring about them taking my weight and trusting them not to drop me. But when we were rehearsing it, they made sure that they were fully focussed on the scene which made me feel a lot more safer.
Before we started with this scene, we got a safety mat, because I was going to be getting thrown about and we didn't want to risk any serious injuries.
At first we were just practising what they were going to be doing with my dead body, the first thing we tried, and decided to keep was they'd hold my legs and my arms and carry me up to the top of the steps onto the stage and then put me down. After that they both grabbed an arm each and dragged me up so I was standing up nearly-(still holding me up) and the Harry-(Grice) would then put me over his shoulder in a fireman carry. They then walked around a little bit and he'd then put me down and quickly push me towards Michelle-(Nisbett) before I fell to the ground and then they'd keep on pushing me to one another and then they laid me down and walk off, after a couple of beats they run back on, grab my arms and drag me off stage.
Where we decided what we were going to be doing in this scene before we started doing it, it was pretty straight forward, however. we had to make a few tweaks and decide on queues for when they'd pick me up, push me to one another etc.
The first queue was Grice's first line "Would you credit it?" and that's when they'd lift me up and start carrying me to the top of the stage.
Then the next one was "Sewage pipes..." that's when they'd lift me up so I was in a standing position, Grice then puts me over his should when he says "must've gone berserk...". After they went off stage and say "But hey, I will miss ya' Renfield" a beat after that they run back on to come grab me and take me off stage.
This scene was so hard to keep a straight face in and not take any of my weight, as I find it scary when people are lifting me and throwing me about everywhere because I worry that I'm too heavy and I have to have a lot of trust in the people doing it. It took me quite a while before I stopped caring about them taking my weight and trusting them not to drop me. But when we were rehearsing it, they made sure that they were fully focussed on the scene which made me feel a lot more safer.
Research sheet
Dracula - Research
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Bram Stoker’s Dracula – What was he trying to say with this book?
Any information about his life or the novel may help here.
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Vampire Myths: Researched information on any aspects of the historical mythological origins and related data.
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Antonin Artaud – What is the Theatre of Cruelty? Any ideas about how this could help us?
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Well, in Dracula there's a lot of lust, so we could release "the double", because you can't say lust, so you need to think of other ways to show it, for example; breathe. We could also use the grid method, so we can push ourselves to the absolute maximum. |
Your character(s) in the play: Describe your character using information given in the script/ storyline. How would you describe your character? Provide a personal view about what you feel and think about your character.
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Renfield, my character is a fictional character from Bram Stoker's "Dracula".
Renfield is Dracula's "puppet" through most of the play. In the play, he is known for eating living creatures, starting with flies, then spiders, then birds. He starts getting a taste for living creatures after his encounter with Count Dracula. The resultant belief that he can extend his life by draining the life of others-(like a vampire)- (this can link back to the research we did a few weeks ago about vampire myths. Lockhead could have got this idea of "external life" from Elizabeth Bathory's belief of killing virgins to keep herself young and beautiful forever). In the script, Dr. Seward describes him as "a paranoid schizophrenic with alternating homicidal and suicidal phases. And zoophagous to boot" and Dr. Van Helsing describes him as a "poor brave man.." I personally think Renfield is absolutely mad, but sometimes, for a short while he can be sane because in scene 7 act 2 he says "I pray thee, Lord.... portrayed it as a winged thing as butter or even the common fly?". So I believe that he madness can be switched off for a short amount of time and then it turns back on. It's almost like he remembers who he once used to be before Dracula turned him mad. |
Style of Production
Watch the 2 films - Dracula (1931) – Nosferatu (1922)
What can we learn and use in terms of:
· Lighting
· Costume
· Staging, Set and Props
· Costume and Make-Up
· Acting Style
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Dracula and Nosferatu are very similar with all the technical support for both films, but there are a few difference and some of them work better than others to our benefits. For instance in Nosferatu and Dracula the lighting is very different, in Nosferatu the lighting they use is natural daylight where as Dracula uses lighting of candle light and dark to create shadows and i feel as a company we can use Dracula's lighting for our show because the dark and light shows good and evil also the lighting they use on Dracula's eyes gives a good effect that we can use both films have costumes which are set in the victorian times so we can think about getting Victorian costumes also the make up is very similar, having dark make up around the eye's to show the evil characters and also a pale face to show illness. The style of acting is very different in Dracula and Nosferatu. In Nosferatu they use mime for acting and also make their actions very big and over the top where as Dracula's style of acting is Absurdism. I think we can use both of their styles of acting, we can use Nosferatu's style of acting for miming the props and then we can use Dracula's style of acting to help us make it scary and bring out the double. Also in Nosferatu instead of wolves they have hyenas and I think we could use this for movement for more animals instead of just wolfs.
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Artaud
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74QsimqC2Nw <------ That is the link to my Artaud Ritual.
Antonin Artaud
Antonin Artaud - Theories.
Today we started looking at Antonin Artaud and his techniques of acting.
Antonin Artaud didn't have any real success in his life, he lived quite a bad life, he had to go through both of the two world wars.
He also had a drug addiction and had a nervous disorder. After all this he began to write essays and there is now a book of every single essay he as ever wrote called 'The theatre and it's double' and this is where his theories come in.
- What have you understood of the theories? - in your own words.
One of Artaud's theories was called the "The Plague Analogy", this theory is about "Lancing The Abscess". That means pushing yourself to the absolute limits which means being cruel to yourself as an actor so that it would help the theatre expose the audience's sub-concious and release their "abscess" to release their inner evil... Their taboos.
"Lancing The Abscess" basically means everything evil in a society is hidden in ever person's sub-concious-(which is the "abscess" that we speak of), so everyone has this abscess but they hide it because of the morals created by the society around them. Things like paedophilia, murdering, raping, etc.
The other one of Artaud's theories is "Waking The Double". He believes that everyone has another side of their personality that they don't want to let loose.
However, Artaud believed that by "waking the double" as an actor can help them make their emotions louder than the words they speak and brings out the audience's "double".
Theories - Exercises.
We then began to look at these theroies and try some of these out and see how it would feel to be cruel to oneself and if we really could do them.
- Starter exercise - Instruments in a circle - Basic ritual.
The first exercise we did was a ritual in complete and utter silence apart from the sounds of the instuments-(we didn't even know what we were doing, but Andy told us before we walked into the room not to make a single sound), we started copying Andy, in silence. We then all stood up at the same time making a tune with the little instruments we were given-(some people we using their hands and clapping) all at the same time. We then started going round in a circle, keeping the same rhythm as before. We did this for approximately 10-15 MINUTES. Afterwards we all sat down-(still not talking or making any noises) with our eyes closed and we had to think of a word that described how we felt about the exercise we just did. I said "Relaxed" and some of the others were "Energised", "Calm", "Focused".
I found it very relaxing because we were all in-sink with each other and even though no one was talking, I felt like it was still very controlled and secure. It got us all really focussed and relaxed for the rest of the lesson.
- Grid exercise - Cruel to yourself - Feel? - Why?
The second exercise we did was the Grid Exercise. We all stood in a giant square, four actors for each side of the square. In this square there were loads of pathways and we had to walk down, up, left, right and centre trying to get loved by someone, anyone. It didn't have to be boyfriend/girlfriend love, it could have been love from a parent, friend, pet, whatever would have made you push yourself to the limit. I thought of my dad, because I knew that would make me push myself to the limit. It was awful having to think about it for so long and then having Andy shouting telling us to "work harder", but it worked. I think I did push myself, a lot. I'm not sure what everyone else thought of, obviously, but it affected a lot of them too.
When we first started the exercise we were all walking slow, but then Andy was telling us to work harder, making us work harder to get the love we think we deserve, so in the end we all started running around the pathways.
When Andy wouldn't stop pushing us and he said to me individually "Chloe! Work harder! C'mon" I wanted to turn around and hit him. But obviously I didn't I just push myself further, eventually I just started crying and running around the space and I couldn't stop, I then began to shake and didn't know what to do when we stopped.
During this exercise I had a million different emotions rushing through my body all at once. Some of them I've never felt and can't describe. But the main emotions I felt was lonely, pure anger, upset, lost and many, many more.
The reason why I think we did this is to see just how much we can push ourselves until we break completely.
- Slow motion - Size of performance.
The next exercise we did was the slow motion exercise, we did two one was Wrestling and the other was Boxing, we were in pairs and we had to do extreme slow motion moves for a couple of moves. I found it quite difficult to do this, as I'm quite a fast moving person, so it was very different to what I'm used too.
- Ritual - Communicates directly - Not throughout.
The final exercise we did was Ritual, this is where we got into groups and we had to come up with sounds and musical instuments, we looked at the hacker which is a set of rugby players who do a ritual before their match to scare their component and give them luck. My group came up with a piece and this piece had to be the sound of rain or how the rain makes you feel, so this is putting your emotions through by sounds and music. I think the reason we did this to communicate directly and also being able to get our emotions through different ways intead of just words. This exercise made me feel happy and enjoy showing different ways of emotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74QsimqC2Nw
Antonin Artaud
Antonin Artaud - Theories.
Today we started looking at Antonin Artaud and his techniques of acting.
Antonin Artaud didn't have any real success in his life, he lived quite a bad life, he had to go through both of the two world wars.
He also had a drug addiction and had a nervous disorder. After all this he began to write essays and there is now a book of every single essay he as ever wrote called 'The theatre and it's double' and this is where his theories come in.
- What have you understood of the theories? - in your own words.
One of Artaud's theories was called the "The Plague Analogy", this theory is about "Lancing The Abscess". That means pushing yourself to the absolute limits which means being cruel to yourself as an actor so that it would help the theatre expose the audience's sub-concious and release their "abscess" to release their inner evil... Their taboos.
"Lancing The Abscess" basically means everything evil in a society is hidden in ever person's sub-concious-(which is the "abscess" that we speak of), so everyone has this abscess but they hide it because of the morals created by the society around them. Things like paedophilia, murdering, raping, etc.
The other one of Artaud's theories is "Waking The Double". He believes that everyone has another side of their personality that they don't want to let loose.
However, Artaud believed that by "waking the double" as an actor can help them make their emotions louder than the words they speak and brings out the audience's "double".
Theories - Exercises.
We then began to look at these theroies and try some of these out and see how it would feel to be cruel to oneself and if we really could do them.
- Starter exercise - Instruments in a circle - Basic ritual.
The first exercise we did was a ritual in complete and utter silence apart from the sounds of the instuments-(we didn't even know what we were doing, but Andy told us before we walked into the room not to make a single sound), we started copying Andy, in silence. We then all stood up at the same time making a tune with the little instruments we were given-(some people we using their hands and clapping) all at the same time. We then started going round in a circle, keeping the same rhythm as before. We did this for approximately 10-15 MINUTES. Afterwards we all sat down-(still not talking or making any noises) with our eyes closed and we had to think of a word that described how we felt about the exercise we just did. I said "Relaxed" and some of the others were "Energised", "Calm", "Focused".
I found it very relaxing because we were all in-sink with each other and even though no one was talking, I felt like it was still very controlled and secure. It got us all really focussed and relaxed for the rest of the lesson.
- Grid exercise - Cruel to yourself - Feel? - Why?
The second exercise we did was the Grid Exercise. We all stood in a giant square, four actors for each side of the square. In this square there were loads of pathways and we had to walk down, up, left, right and centre trying to get loved by someone, anyone. It didn't have to be boyfriend/girlfriend love, it could have been love from a parent, friend, pet, whatever would have made you push yourself to the limit. I thought of my dad, because I knew that would make me push myself to the limit. It was awful having to think about it for so long and then having Andy shouting telling us to "work harder", but it worked. I think I did push myself, a lot. I'm not sure what everyone else thought of, obviously, but it affected a lot of them too.
When we first started the exercise we were all walking slow, but then Andy was telling us to work harder, making us work harder to get the love we think we deserve, so in the end we all started running around the pathways.
When Andy wouldn't stop pushing us and he said to me individually "Chloe! Work harder! C'mon" I wanted to turn around and hit him. But obviously I didn't I just push myself further, eventually I just started crying and running around the space and I couldn't stop, I then began to shake and didn't know what to do when we stopped.
During this exercise I had a million different emotions rushing through my body all at once. Some of them I've never felt and can't describe. But the main emotions I felt was lonely, pure anger, upset, lost and many, many more.
The reason why I think we did this is to see just how much we can push ourselves until we break completely.
- Slow motion - Size of performance.
The next exercise we did was the slow motion exercise, we did two one was Wrestling and the other was Boxing, we were in pairs and we had to do extreme slow motion moves for a couple of moves. I found it quite difficult to do this, as I'm quite a fast moving person, so it was very different to what I'm used too.
- Ritual - Communicates directly - Not throughout.
The final exercise we did was Ritual, this is where we got into groups and we had to come up with sounds and musical instuments, we looked at the hacker which is a set of rugby players who do a ritual before their match to scare their component and give them luck. My group came up with a piece and this piece had to be the sound of rain or how the rain makes you feel, so this is putting your emotions through by sounds and music. I think the reason we did this to communicate directly and also being able to get our emotions through different ways intead of just words. This exercise made me feel happy and enjoy showing different ways of emotion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74QsimqC2Nw
Act 1 Scene 9
In most of the scenes, we had a lot of trouble and found things hard, however, scene 9 we had loads of trouble working on because we didn't know how to do the lifts and what we could all be doing.
After working on the lifts with Su, we kept on practising them so we knew they were safe and everyone was okay doing them.
We tried two different lifts with Izzy-(who was playing Lucy). The first lift we tried out was one where she was laying down and she had five people holding her, two on her legs, two on her upper body and one on her head. This didn't work so well as Izzy didn't feel comfortable doing it, also it's stopped the audience from seeing her face. The next lift we tried with Izzy was her stood up and two people holding her feet together and two behind her supporting her back, she also sat comfortably on their shoulders. This lift worked a lot better because the audience could see her face, she felt a lot more comfortable with it and also it gave Izzy a lot more freedom to make herself as irresistible to Jonathon as possible. In the end Izzy started moving her arms, pulling Jonathon towards her with a force by moving her arms. Also, Izzy had all of the vampire brides carrying her and if they weren't carrying her, they were following.
With Heta's-(Jonathon) lift, it was just like Izzy's lift.
We didn't know how we'd all come onto stage either, for scene nine. But someone came up with the great idea of all of the boys-(including the two Renfields) on stage left, just behind the curtains and the girls-(vampire brides) on stage right behind the curtains. Then, one boy and one vampire bride would walk out at the same time, meet in the centre, link arms and walk down the steps and be stood opposite each other on the opposite sides of the step stage. Then when everyone was down, Sophia-(Mina) would lay on the bottom step on the stage, as if she was sleeping. Then, using complicity, we'd all raise our hand, which is closest to the audience and the stroke it down our necks, then after a beat the boys heads would drop to the side and then they all collapse at the same time.
Jonathon would be on the bottom step of the stage.
Also, in this scene we managed to get some Artaud in. When the vampire brides and the men are walking to centre stage, we made it so the men were in a trance, by the vampires unnerving beauty.
After working on the lifts with Su, we kept on practising them so we knew they were safe and everyone was okay doing them.
We tried two different lifts with Izzy-(who was playing Lucy). The first lift we tried out was one where she was laying down and she had five people holding her, two on her legs, two on her upper body and one on her head. This didn't work so well as Izzy didn't feel comfortable doing it, also it's stopped the audience from seeing her face. The next lift we tried with Izzy was her stood up and two people holding her feet together and two behind her supporting her back, she also sat comfortably on their shoulders. This lift worked a lot better because the audience could see her face, she felt a lot more comfortable with it and also it gave Izzy a lot more freedom to make herself as irresistible to Jonathon as possible. In the end Izzy started moving her arms, pulling Jonathon towards her with a force by moving her arms. Also, Izzy had all of the vampire brides carrying her and if they weren't carrying her, they were following.
With Heta's-(Jonathon) lift, it was just like Izzy's lift.
We didn't know how we'd all come onto stage either, for scene nine. But someone came up with the great idea of all of the boys-(including the two Renfields) on stage left, just behind the curtains and the girls-(vampire brides) on stage right behind the curtains. Then, one boy and one vampire bride would walk out at the same time, meet in the centre, link arms and walk down the steps and be stood opposite each other on the opposite sides of the step stage. Then when everyone was down, Sophia-(Mina) would lay on the bottom step on the stage, as if she was sleeping. Then, using complicity, we'd all raise our hand, which is closest to the audience and the stroke it down our necks, then after a beat the boys heads would drop to the side and then they all collapse at the same time.
Jonathon would be on the bottom step of the stage.
Also, in this scene we managed to get some Artaud in. When the vampire brides and the men are walking to centre stage, we made it so the men were in a trance, by the vampires unnerving beauty.
act 1 scene 1 and 2
So today we showed Andy all the scene's we've done so far and he gave us back a lot of feedback and things we could do just to make the show even better.
Scene 1:
The first scene is where Mina and Lucy are talking about Jonathon and other things. Overall Andy said that this scene is pretty good, however, it just needs some polishing up. Like for instance, to two actresses who play Mina and Lucy need to think about their blocking on the stage and they also need to get more confident with their lines so the can act without their scripts.
Some of the blocking they should focus on is Mina's entrance, because at the moment Mina is standing in front of Lucy, when Lucy is looking in the mirror, thinking about who she should marry. I think Mina should just say her first line- "Catch her death!" when she first walks onto stage, because that makes Lucy turn around to face her then they are not blocking one another, also by doing this, it will show who's in charge, because the audience should know that Mina is like a mother to Lucy because it helps explain why Lucy is the way she is.
The chorus also need to stop taking away the focus from the actual scene, too. Because even though it's good what we're doing, it's like we're creating a scene of our own, when we're meant to be complimenting what's actually going on, on the stage between Mina and Lucy. So what we need to do is tone it right down and stay looking at Mina and Lucy so then the audience's focus will be on them, too. It is hard though, because we're meant to be crazy, and we want to show the audience that we're crazy without stealing all of the limelight. However, what we did to solve this, is instead of all of the crazy coming out of our mouths, we put it into our body and face so the audience can see we're crazy without us having to be really loud.
Scene 2:
This next scene was so much fun to do, because all of the chorus could be as loud and as crazy as they wanted to be. It was the first Renfield scene, it starts off with him saying/singing "I once knew a woman who swallowed a fly.." the actress who did this first tried saying it normally-(still crazy) but then she added a little tune, which sounded a lot better because this line is a like a nursery rhyme. The line after that "Perhaps she'll die, perhaps she won't die" was said in a very fast, in a questioning type of way. I thought it worked really well with the first line being sung, almost and then the next line questioning what's going to happen to this woman next.
Andy said the line "To die or not to die, that is the question" is a quote from Hamlet, so the actress had to bring out her Shakespearian in a crazy manner.
Part of the chorus work for this scene is to shout out or just say crazy words at random, there were some words that we had to say together, too. such as "Bed-lam", we had to shout this out all together and we also had to repeat the words "screw Lucy's".
When Renfield says "time to get yourself into something warm and double-breasted in a whorehouse, my son", it is aimed at Seward because he's making a joke about sex and Seward not getting any-(we find that in the next scene).
When Renfield starts getting agitated by Seward not listening and calls him a "bastard", the chorus have to repeat that and shout it.
Scene 1:
The first scene is where Mina and Lucy are talking about Jonathon and other things. Overall Andy said that this scene is pretty good, however, it just needs some polishing up. Like for instance, to two actresses who play Mina and Lucy need to think about their blocking on the stage and they also need to get more confident with their lines so the can act without their scripts.
Some of the blocking they should focus on is Mina's entrance, because at the moment Mina is standing in front of Lucy, when Lucy is looking in the mirror, thinking about who she should marry. I think Mina should just say her first line- "Catch her death!" when she first walks onto stage, because that makes Lucy turn around to face her then they are not blocking one another, also by doing this, it will show who's in charge, because the audience should know that Mina is like a mother to Lucy because it helps explain why Lucy is the way she is.
The chorus also need to stop taking away the focus from the actual scene, too. Because even though it's good what we're doing, it's like we're creating a scene of our own, when we're meant to be complimenting what's actually going on, on the stage between Mina and Lucy. So what we need to do is tone it right down and stay looking at Mina and Lucy so then the audience's focus will be on them, too. It is hard though, because we're meant to be crazy, and we want to show the audience that we're crazy without stealing all of the limelight. However, what we did to solve this, is instead of all of the crazy coming out of our mouths, we put it into our body and face so the audience can see we're crazy without us having to be really loud.
Scene 2:
This next scene was so much fun to do, because all of the chorus could be as loud and as crazy as they wanted to be. It was the first Renfield scene, it starts off with him saying/singing "I once knew a woman who swallowed a fly.." the actress who did this first tried saying it normally-(still crazy) but then she added a little tune, which sounded a lot better because this line is a like a nursery rhyme. The line after that "Perhaps she'll die, perhaps she won't die" was said in a very fast, in a questioning type of way. I thought it worked really well with the first line being sung, almost and then the next line questioning what's going to happen to this woman next.
Andy said the line "To die or not to die, that is the question" is a quote from Hamlet, so the actress had to bring out her Shakespearian in a crazy manner.
Part of the chorus work for this scene is to shout out or just say crazy words at random, there were some words that we had to say together, too. such as "Bed-lam", we had to shout this out all together and we also had to repeat the words "screw Lucy's".
When Renfield says "time to get yourself into something warm and double-breasted in a whorehouse, my son", it is aimed at Seward because he's making a joke about sex and Seward not getting any-(we find that in the next scene).
When Renfield starts getting agitated by Seward not listening and calls him a "bastard", the chorus have to repeat that and shout it.
Words that describe Dracula
We've just finished reading the script and have been asked to do a mindmap or write down of all the words that pop into our heads when we hear the word "Dracula"
Dracula;
. Blood
. Death
. Lust
. Gothic
. Fear
. Anger
. Wolves
. Lucy
. Danger
. Shapeshifter
These are some of the things that come to my head when I hear the name "Dracula".
Dracula;
. Blood
. Death
. Lust
. Gothic
. Fear
. Anger
. Wolves
. Lucy
. Danger
. Shapeshifter
These are some of the things that come to my head when I hear the name "Dracula".
1st Read Through - Interpretation
So far we have read from scene 1-8 of Liz Lochhead's version of Dracula. Comparing it to the film we have just watched, I feel that the two main woman-(Lucy and Mina) have stronger personalities in the script compared to the characters in the film. I think it may have something to do with the film was made in the early 1900's and woman were not seen as equals, so they made them a lot more meak, whilst in Lochhead's adaptation she made them a lot more powerful, this could have something to do with it being written in 1989. Another thing I noticed when reading the script, Lochhead has sexualised the woman a lot more, by using innuendos "leg or breast, Mr Jonathon" and "I said, meine Wilhel-Mina.... come and gawp at me in my drawers".
I believe that the film is old fashioned and that in the script, although it is set in the Victorian era, it has been written from a modern point of view, because the woman are a lot more strong minded.
So far we have read from scene 1-8 of Liz Lochhead's version of Dracula. Comparing it to the film we have just watched, I feel that the two main woman-(Lucy and Mina) have stronger personalities in the script compared to the characters in the film. I think it may have something to do with the film was made in the early 1900's and woman were not seen as equals, so they made them a lot more meak, whilst in Lochhead's adaptation she made them a lot more powerful, this could have something to do with it being written in 1989. Another thing I noticed when reading the script, Lochhead has sexualised the woman a lot more, by using innuendos "leg or breast, Mr Jonathon" and "I said, meine Wilhel-Mina.... come and gawp at me in my drawers".
I believe that the film is old fashioned and that in the script, although it is set in the Victorian era, it has been written from a modern point of view, because the woman are a lot more strong minded.
Tuesday's lesson;
Today we were at Pelham and we set the stage out exactly how we're going to have it on show night.
This was so helpful because it gave us an idea of how/where we're all going to be and where we need to stand for certain bits etc.
It also got us used to having so much space and to get more comfortable with the stage and how we're going to move round it and on it.
This was so helpful because it gave us an idea of how/where we're all going to be and where we need to stand for certain bits etc.
It also got us used to having so much space and to get more comfortable with the stage and how we're going to move round it and on it.
Wolf scene
Act 1, beginning part;
In this scene, we had everyone hiding in the audience, off stage and on the sides of the stage. Then after ten seconds of the heavy breathing, I run onto stage in a night gown covered in my own blood, scared out of my head, looking for a safe place to hide. I run to the middle of the stage, look at the audience, I then run to stage right, look at the audience again then I run back to the centre. When I get back to the centre for the second time there's a noise of werewolves howling. When this happens I'm slowly start walking up the steps, when I get to the top step I turn around and see all of the werewolves circling around me from the bottom. I then run to stage left, where I have two werewolves jump out at me then I run to stage right where I have two more werewolves jump out at me, I then run to centre stage, where I am completely surrounded. I collapse to the floor with a loud, quick scream with everyone is clawing me and "eating" me. After about 10 seconds we all stand up, clock the audience, then run at them, then there is a blackout.
I had a lot of difficulty with this scene, even though it's a quick scene, I found it really hard to act so terrified. We spent quite a lot of time working on this scene, one because I wasn't acting scared enough, and two because everyone else wasn't entirely sure when they should start walking out from the audience.
In the end we decided everyone should start coming out when I start walking up the steps, and when I turn around at the top step everyone should be halfway on the stage-(except the people on the stage hiding just behind the curtains), then I run to stage left where I have two of the werewolves jump out at me, then I run to stage right and have two more run out at me. When this is happening, the werewolves on the floor are coming closer and closer until I reach centre stage and they're all around me and I collapse to the ground and then they start ripping at me, making it look like they're ripping me to shreds and eating me, from the audience's pov.
To help me act so scared, before I run onto stage I started heavy breathing, and making myself shake and make my eyes water a little. Then I'd run onto stage as fast as I could and look around everywhere.
In this scene, we had everyone hiding in the audience, off stage and on the sides of the stage. Then after ten seconds of the heavy breathing, I run onto stage in a night gown covered in my own blood, scared out of my head, looking for a safe place to hide. I run to the middle of the stage, look at the audience, I then run to stage right, look at the audience again then I run back to the centre. When I get back to the centre for the second time there's a noise of werewolves howling. When this happens I'm slowly start walking up the steps, when I get to the top step I turn around and see all of the werewolves circling around me from the bottom. I then run to stage left, where I have two werewolves jump out at me then I run to stage right where I have two more werewolves jump out at me, I then run to centre stage, where I am completely surrounded. I collapse to the floor with a loud, quick scream with everyone is clawing me and "eating" me. After about 10 seconds we all stand up, clock the audience, then run at them, then there is a blackout.
I had a lot of difficulty with this scene, even though it's a quick scene, I found it really hard to act so terrified. We spent quite a lot of time working on this scene, one because I wasn't acting scared enough, and two because everyone else wasn't entirely sure when they should start walking out from the audience.
In the end we decided everyone should start coming out when I start walking up the steps, and when I turn around at the top step everyone should be halfway on the stage-(except the people on the stage hiding just behind the curtains), then I run to stage left where I have two of the werewolves jump out at me, then I run to stage right and have two more run out at me. When this is happening, the werewolves on the floor are coming closer and closer until I reach centre stage and they're all around me and I collapse to the ground and then they start ripping at me, making it look like they're ripping me to shreds and eating me, from the audience's pov.
To help me act so scared, before I run onto stage I started heavy breathing, and making myself shake and make my eyes water a little. Then I'd run onto stage as fast as I could and look around everywhere.
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