New theatre.
This was our first proper show in the theatre so we were all nervous and we did forget a lot of direction. In the beginning we were more involved and spaced out better however after the first half we fell back into old habits and sat at the back of the stage in a line, and acted in the same line at the front. We all recongnised this and made sure when it got to Brighton we would change. I think the pace of the piece went well even though the energy dropped halfway through, but it was brought back up by Ruby (Orlando) and Shaniqua (Hymen) just by using their voices and bringing enthusiasm. I am proud of my performance in the new theatre because even though the accent was a little off I gave all my energy and got a really good response from the audience.
Brighton.
The setting of Brighton helped us a lot to get into the character as there were trees and the sun like there would have been with the climbing frame. A lot of people agree we gave a lot more for that performance and I know people enjoyed it more. Although there were times where the intimate moments were lost due to outside noise we always brought it back up. The audience weren't as responsive as in the New Theatre but there were a lot of people watching which was surprising. I enjoyed performing in Brighton more than the Theatre however I think my performace in the New Theatre was better.
I really liked the concept of our performance and I thought it as cleverly done as there was an element of truth and it tied in really well with the play. Because we were from a private sheltered all girls school it made the themes more obvious.
The school wouldn't let the girls know about certain types of music or literature and definitely not love so when it occurred in the play, it was obvious it was a main theme.
However looking at the other 2 plays I thought the audience would have preferred them because they were more contemporary and explored other themes like drugs which a contemporary audience may find more interesting. But I liked our concept and I wouldn't have done it differently and I think our set and costume were more appealing.
I think the other Williams fit in well with their concepts, and I did really like the Russian William as it was very different from the obvious way to play him and it was very funny and witty. It was almost like it wasn't Shakespeare which I liked.
In the beginning I hated the fact we were all going to be on stage for the whole time. I thought it would look messy and unorganised, which it did when we all sat at the back in a line. But now its all over I realised it was a really good idea as it challenged us, and done right, can look very effective.
It was hard to be engaged the whole time but using the 'sit stand lay' method that our director taught us. Which is going between sitting down and watching the scene to standing, leaning on a tree or the frame or laying down and listening. It's a nice way to use levels and make the staging look better but also it helps to look more engaged if you change the way you're watching every now and then.
Having the frame there also made it more interesting to look at as the frame offers so many levels to act from.
The first few rehearses were dedicated to reading through and understanding the play, which I found extremely useful and I think others did too, although reading through it was dull if you don't come on for 52 pages. But it was the first step into creating these characters.
We began to put the play on its feet quit early which I think is good because there was a lot of work to do and it's even harder with the language. We would block out the scenes in order and go over them a lot to remember them, we mainly focused on the first half for the majority of rehearsals. Obviously to begin with it was hard because you had to hold a script in your hand and learn your blocking and find your character AND act for the same time.
The rehearsal process continued onto blocking scenes but those who weren't in them were allowed to sit on the side and get on with work. The first few weeks were okay because I could learn my lines and work on my character profile but I wished I used all the time I had more productively as I did waste the hours I could have used to be doing something worth while. So admit I was wrong in that sense.
Obviously after a while listening to the same scenes over and over again can become dull. So when we were asked to sit onstage like in the actual performance it was hard to act engaged. It was really difficult to react to things you've seen a million times before and I feel like I could have put in more effort into that- but I think I made up for it in the shows as I put all my energy into what position I was in and how engaged I was in the piece which was easier almost as it was in a different space.
It was much harder to find the character of William, and I struggled right up until we got the staging as I came out of my shell a little bit.
Because my scene doesn't come in for 52 pages (around an hour into the play) I didn't begin to be directed as my 'As you like it' character for a long time into the process.
In the beginning I was really anxious I was just going to look like an idiot. So I held back a lot. In the beginning also it was hard for me to see eye to eye with the director as I would copy what I was told to do but it wasn't right.
This made me feel embarrassed that I just couldn't get it which made me hold back even more. Then we put the accent in. Which I hated, because I couldn't do it and it made me anxious. So I was spending too much time on stage trying to sound right I wasn't even acting at all and right up until the last few weeks I was stumbling through and acting really terribly. I felt like everyone was watching me intently to either make them laugh or to judge me which made me feel pressured so William wasn't coming out.
What really helped me with my character was when we had a talk from Bob (a stage and screen actor) who helped me gain more confidence in the role. And if I make a mistake, own that mistake, because I was only going to be centre stage for five minutes. He reminded me that there were no small parts and only small actors and that so what if I only have ten lines- I'm going to own them ten lines.
After this when I began to rehearse, people laughed because they were enjoying it, not because it was so bad it was awkwardly funny. Once we actually had the frame we also on the dress rehearsal that is when I finally found William. He was a lovable idiot who loved a girl he could never have and he will probably never know that. He was a character you could have so much fun with and I did, I stopped dreading my scene and couldn't wait for it. The audience responded to the character well which made it all the more better. And in the end, after all that stress I actually think I did a good job with my character.
Before finding William I found my girls schools character. I decided I wanted to make my girls school shy and quiet to contrast with William being proud and out there.
{insert Margo character profile here}
I found this character quite easy to find, as she's an anxious person and I have anxiety so it was easy to feel what she was feeling. And I'm sure everyone has had some unrequited love in their time so I didn't find it hard to gather those emotions to feel about Audrey's Arden School girl.
William.
The description of William in the play was 'a young country fellow in love with Audrey.'
I assumed this meant Audrey was my girlfriend or something but oh how wrong I was.
To get a bit of background on my character in the play I found a summary but alas, he wasn't even mentioned. So I didn't have a lot to go on.
I first read my scene and I thought William was a bit of an idiot. If he really was as in love with Audrey as its claimed then why would he not fight a bit more... He just kinda stands there and takes every insult thrown at him from Touchstone and then he just leaves.
So my first overall impression of William was he's got a good heart but he's dim.
I didn't read the play until the half term and when i finally got round to it. I could barely stumble through the first few pages. The language was so dense and difficult and my eyes couldn't concentrate on the page. I found it really difficult to read through the play and it was hard to understand. And I didn't actually understand the play until long into the rehearsal process.
