Site Specific Risk assesment

Hazard	Involved	Likelihood	Severity	Control Measures in Place
Uneven tunnel floors which could result in trips and falls	12 cast and 15 audience	Possible	Mild	Cast well-rehearsed in space with a whole day rehersal in venue            Pathways kept clear of all equipment            Hazards clearly marked and avoided when possible           Main pathway always well lit and audience accompanied by guide at all times.       Warning given to audience prior to performance about wearing suitable footwear to prevent tripping       Movement from scene to scene is slow
Items falling from height	12 cast and 18 audience	Very Unlikely	Medium	All items are clearly marked       All items at heights are fixed in properly with little chance of falling
Fire	12 cast and 15 audience	Unlikely	Severe	Fire extinguisher always available Safety talk given by experienced tour guide
Strobe lighting Getting lost in tunnels Chair Breaking	12 cast and 15 audience 12 cast and 15 audience 12 cast	Possible Likely Possible	Medium Mild Medium	Warning given on material and at entrance to performance           Strobe restricted to 10 second intervals       Ensure cast knows the way around the tunnels and guide is present in the tunnels at the same time. Whole day of rehearsal in tunnels.       Ensure chairs being used are safe standard for their purpose of lifting       Practice with the same chairs before hand to identify and address problems

Site Specific update

We are now devising scenes for each of the patients. This is sometimes hard for the group as I will be devising another scene whilst they're doing another scene which I am in. I think the group are now working really well together and being really productive to create scenes. I think we now just need to make sure that we learn lines in order to keep the scenes running smoothly rather than keep stopping to check lines. This is the order of our show:

1. Opening-Entrance of Fort Amherst
2. PTSD-First tunnel near well
3. Jesus scene-Church
4. Edward and Henry scene-Tunnel between church and gate
5. Clyde's movement-Tunnel between church and gate
6. Stage combat-Tunnel
7. Gate scene-Gate area
8. Helen's scene-Cannon area
9. Toby and Meg "movealog"-Tunnel
10. 7 devils-Upstairs room
11. End-Entrance of Fort Amherst

I think this works really well and I do think that some of the scenes need a bit of re-writing, I think this is going to be a good performance. I think the script is the strongest that we have ever written and the characters are challenging yet enjoyable for everyone to play.

Site Specific 7-Update

We have now decided to change our idea into a mental health idea where people in the asuylum. We decided that there would be psychiatrist (which would be me) to visit the tunnels.

We also went and looked at Fort Amherst and it helped to trigger a lot of ideas for everyone. We also discovered some smaller rooms couldn't be used due to the limited space in  them for the cast and the audience. We also found out that we can link the history to our piece due to the fact that the fort was used as an asylum up until 1963. There was also power points meaning laptops and sound systems could definitely be used. I think it also suits the eerynesthat we are going for aswell.

We then split into groups to and devised scenes. My group had the scene with a gate which was shut behind us causing the psychiatrist to panic. I think this scene workes well but it still needs some development in order to be completed well

Site Specific: Day 6

Today the group had a lot of arguments as people wanted to find an idea in their own way and people ended up not being productive due to these arguments. We came up with a no power idea but I feel like people may be getting ahead of themselves as I think that it definitely needs to be further developed before we can actually choose this for an idea as we still only have a base idea rather than what we actually want for the whole piece. I feel like people just need to now just need to accept everyone's ideas and not overprotect our own to actually be able to develop this idea.

Style

The style of 39 steps is very slapstick which means it's very high energy and high paced. It also breaks the fourth wall meaning that we can address the audience if something does go wrong and make a joke about it as it isn't a play that takes itself seriously too much which i what I think our class would be good at. I think the fact that we can make jokes throughout the play if it goes wrong helps the performance. Also the fact that we get to be over the top makes it a challenge yet an enjoyable project to work on. Slapstick make the whole play funny and the fact we have to be energetic throughout will be a challenge but I feel like that our class as a whole will be very good at this as energy is one of our strong points, we will just have to make sure that we are confident enough to try various new things to make sure that we keep the performance fresh and funny throughout without people getting bored.

Transitions

Transitions in the 39 steps have to be fast and smooth in order to keep the high energy of the performance up and that so the pace stays fast. This will be difficult but achievable with us due to us not really having a stage crew and we do all of the transitions ourselves. I think that we will have to almost plan out all of our transitions before hand to make sure that they are quick and smooth. Although due to the nature of the play, if something gets left on, we can always just play it off as a joke and take it off during the scene, I think the fact that for most of our performance we are only using the apron of the stage, it will make transferring set around much easier although our wing space will be very limited especially as the actors will need room to get on and off and we will also have to make everything easily accessible.

Voice

Voice is very important with 39 steps because due to the fact that everybody is multi-rolling. Voice will be one of the main things that will differentiate between the characters. The fact that the two clowns (or three in our act) play so many different roles makes it difficult to the audience to see who they are playing so they will have to have a complete different voice for each character especially during the train scene where they change within seconds and they are only changing the hat that they are wearing. Voice also comes into characterisation to make sure that it is over the top and funny, voice extremities have to be used to see a clear contrast and to make each character funny and memorable to the audience especially as some then come back in later in the play.

Pace

The pace of the performance for 39 steps is very quick and has to be very high energy throughout which is what makes it so entertaining to watch. All the lines have to be said very quickly in order to keep this up and it means that everyone has to know all their lines or the pace will slow down and could then ruin that part of the scene. We also have to make sure though that the audience can still understand the story and what we are saying.We can't make it too quick so they don't understand what's going on or that our words merge together. We will have to make sure that pace wise, we always find the the perfect balance so we are fast, but not too fast. Our energy will always have to be high and over the top as that is the whole gimmick of 39 steps. I feel like this will be something our group will not struggle with once we've learnt our lines.

Vaudeville

Origin
Vaudeville is a type of theatrical genre. It was a popular genre that was popular during the 1880s until 1930s in America and Canada. A vaudeville performance would normally consist of a series of separate acts which are normally unrelated. There were a lot of different acts:

• Classical musicians
• Singers
• Dancers
• Comedians
• Trained animals
• Magicians
• Female and male impersonators
• Acrobats
• Illustrated songs
• Jugglers
• One act/scene from plays
• Athletes
• Lecturing celebrities
• Minstrels
• Movies

The birth of vaudeville was on 24th October 1981 at New York's Fourteenth Street Theatre. Tony Pastor aimed to draw a potential audience from women and families. Vaudeville also banned the sale of liquor in his theatres, eliminated bawdy material from shows and offered gifts of coal and hams to attendees. After Pastor's first show (which was an experiment), it was a success and other theatre managers soon followed this set-up.

B.F Keith started in Boston where he built an empire of theatres and bought Vaudeville to other parts of the US and Canada.

A performance of bill for Temple Theatre, Detroit, 1st December 1902:
1) Burt Jordan and Rosa Crouch. "Sensational, grotesque and 'buck' dancers. A good act..."
2) The White Tscherkess Trio. "A man and two women who do a singing turn of the operatic order. They carry special scenery which is very artistic and their costumes are original and neat. Their voices are good and blend exceedingly well. The act goes big with the audience."
3) Sarah Midgely and Gertie Carlisle. "Presenting the sketch 'After School.' ... they are a 'knockout.'"
4) Theodor F. Smith and Jenny St. George-Fuller. "Refined instrumentalists."
5) Milly Capell. "European equestrienne. This is her second week. On account of the very pretty picture that she makes she goes as strong as she did last week."
6) R. J. Jose. "Tenor singer. The very best of them all."
7) The Nelson Family of Acrobats. "This act is composed of three men, two young women, three boys and two small girls. The greatest acrobatic act extant."
8) James Thornton. "Monologist and vocalist. He goes like a cyclone. It is a case of continuous laughter from his entrance to his exit."
9) Burk and Andrus and Their Trained Mule. "This act, if it can be so classed, was closed after the evening performance."


Decline
With the continued growth of lower-priced cinema in the early 1910's, Vaudeville took a heavy blow. Theatres started to show the cinema films in theatres. Vaudeville started to only be used as a launch pad to later careers for stars like Judy Garland. They found fame quicker than earlier vaudeville stars for leaving live performances earlier.

Psychiatrist research

What is psychiatry?
Psychiatry is the branch of medicine focused on emotional and behavioural disorders. It is mainly focused on:

• Diagnosis
• Treatment
• Prevention.

What is a psychiatrist?

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in mental health, including substance use disorders. Psychiatrists are qualified to assess both the mental and physical aspects of psychological problems.

Some reasons why people seek for psychiatric help:

• Panic attack 
• Frightening hallucinations
• Thoughts of suicide 
• Hearing "voices."
• Sadness
• Hopelessness
• Anxiousness

Psychiatrists use a variety of treatments – including various forms of psychotherapy, medications, psychosocial. All of this depends on the need of each patient. 

Psychiatrists work in a variety of settings including:

• Private practises
• Clinics
• General and psychiatric hospitals
• University medical centres
• Community agencies
• Courts
• Prisons
• Nursing homes
• Industry, government and military settings,
• Rehabilitation programs
• Emergency rooms
• Hospice programs

Site Specific: Day 5

Today we brainstormed and pitched everyone's idea and I think we went the wrong way about this. Everyone was overly protected about their idea and wouldn't want anyone to change it even if it meant it would fit better in with the piece. I think it's important for the group to remember it's a democracy and not a dictatorship and some things from the ideas we have will change. None of the  ideas we currently have is perfect enough to devise a whole performance around it.

Site Specific: Day 4

Today we had a shorter lesson than usual. We were split into 3 groups and each group had a different picture. This was the picture for my group:

We had the idea that there would be a small child crying next to the wall in a corner and two men on a tour would discover the child and try to help him. The only thing the child would say would be that he had lost his parents. Eventually voices from the parents of the child would be asking him to come back would be heard. The child then disappears through the hole. I liked this idea as it relates to Fort Amherst's ghost history and it opens up a lot of ways we can tell a story.

Other groups which had pictures came up with a military idea which they lined us up and told us that we had been forced to become soldiers. I really liked this idea as it relates to Fort Amherst's history again but I'm worried how a plot could develop from this and what could be done after this scene.

Another idea was to find someone who had the key to the country's energy crisis. I thought this was a good idea but I wouldn't know how we would be able to incorporate Fort Amherst into it

Site Specific: Day 3

Today we had to decide on our location for our performance. These were the options that we narrowed it down to:

• Fort Amherst
• Chatham Dockyard
• Upnor Castle
• Upchurch Orchard

Fort Amherst got the majority meaning that we will be performing our piece there. We got a few pictures and got split into 3 groups and with each group we had a picture which he had to devise a scene around. We decided to do a scene to go along with our boat idea but we thought we would create a flashback of three friends about how 2 are very confident about going to this warehouse and one isn't. This could be used to further develop a back story of characters and why people decided to come to the fort to be saved by this boat

Site Specific:Day 2

Today we split into two groups and we were given a picture with a location that we had put down on our brainstorm. We had a picture of Chatham Dockyard of one of the slip  roofs where they used to build ships. The fact that the area is empty, it means that we can do a lot with the piece but this also means that it's hard to base a subject round the location. We looked at a couple of ideas like people looting ship parts and builders being stuck on a roof. In the end we decided on the idea that my group from the other day came up with with the idea of the boat that's coming to save us from something. There was then one lone survivor who was waiting for his friends to return after he'd been waiting for a week for them to do so.

Site Specific Day 1

Today we started working on our final unit: Site Specific. We started by doing a brainstorm of all of our idea of where we can perform. We then shared all of our ideas with the class. We decided that we would limit our ideas to only the local area due to travelling cost for the cast and crew and to be able to transport equipment like lighting and speakers. We then had to pick a location of where we could set it and pick out ideas from there. A few of us liked the idea of a piece of land with some buildings called "The Orchard". The only problem with this is that it is private land and it may not be able to be up for hire and there could be lots of dangerous things here. This also means that we  could adapt our performance if it rains so that nobody gets wet. This also means that we can do a promenade performance around the whole piece of land.We also decided that we would have to devise this piece rather than have it scripted due to the large amount of people in our class for everyone to have a big enough role. My group had an idea at the fact that people were coming to get on this boat to get out of the country for a reason and the boat wasn't there at that point. This was just a small idea and would have to explore many more and not just decide on the first one we have come up with like our class has done in the pass.

Tuesday 15th March

Due to the member of our group who played George was not in, we sstruggled on what we could do due to George being a main character. I read in for George as the cast went through 2-3 pages at a time. I think this was a good idea for the cast as it helped the cast remember which lines came in which order. The only problem is that they skipped my parts out which I feel likle that I may have not much to say,  still have lines to go over in the right order aswell.

Thursday 10th March

Today we looked at certain skills as actors. We looked at things like diction, tone, pitch, projection, accent, dialect, voice control, breath control and support. We gave ourselves a rating out of 10 and made points about weaknesses and our strengths.

We then went off script and found that some people skipped certain chunks out of the script and skip things out. I feel like that when we learn our scripts properly, that we need to do as quick as possible, we will be able to make this flow and not skip things out as this throws other people in the cast off.

Monday 7th March

Today we went through the play from page 18. We only had one lesson again and felt like that we were very productive. I liked the fact that we didn't just do a run through like we normally did. We went through each part and thought of ways of improving them. Things included on how we can approach lines and find better ways to say it. We did this with most of the lines that we went through so it made the characters have much more depth in everything that we said. One thing that we must now do is learn lines so it's easier to set things as we won't be holding scripts. This will also make it easier with the run-throughs as it will be much more smooth and much more realistic. As much as I'd like to go through my bits, I think this made the play as a whole much better and we all need to go through bits that need a lot of work and I felt like the part we did is much better now to how it was. Also, it's hard to do my bits all the time as I only have two sections that I'm in. I feel like that those bits do need to go through this same process because it will make it much easier to do and make it much more enjoyable to watch.


My plan for next lesson is to think about what I'll be wearing and how that will affect how I act and stand. I also need to keep thinking how to act when I'm not involved in the conversation and keep it the same rather than changing each time as Specs would keep this the same as he an awkward character.

Tuesday 1st March

Today we finished with the creating characters and what they think of each other. We were missing Kai who plays George so he's gonna have to fill his take on each character out another time. We then ran through the last section of the play that I'm not in much. I read in for Kai but it was difficult due having to share the room with year 11's who kept on throwing a ball at us and shouting things out. This made us very distracted and without any props due to the floor, we didn't actually get much done especially as George is the main character and nearly every other line is his.

Monday 29th February

I felt today we were un-focused and din;t get much done. We got to do a read-through and got to talk about some things with levels but didn't get to work as hard a s usual. I feel like that on Monday's, we should be working extra hard due to only having the space for half of the time allocated due to only being one room available due to the other group also needing time to rehearse.

Reviewing another perofrmence

This week I looked at this shortened version the play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmJukg35BgU

I didn't really liked the way the interpreted the play at all. The play is set in England as it mentions landmarks like the millennium wheel and they clearly have American accents. I felt like George wasn't bossy enough in this version and it made the audience more sympathetic towards him which I think isn't the correct way to play him. He is doing this play to make himself look good and the fact that nobody else is putting any effort in makes him lose more and more control throughout.

I felt like that as the play was shortened, a lot of Rose's bits didn't make sense and the actress didn't understand what she meant. I felt like it didn't make sense. I feel like Spec's bit was a bit rushed and him just running around in the spotlight wasn't exactly the most entertaining thing to watch. I feel like the pace was correct but needs to be more different in the way they each stand. I also felt that the costumes were wrong and would much prefer if we didn't wear bright orange boiler suits as I feel like that is quite stereotypical american.

Thursday 25th February

We decided that the first thing that we would do today would be to look at the characters of George and Kinsey's relationship with the rest of the characters. We decided that Kinsey has control over George but George wouldn't admit it. We then ran through the play again using the idea of having the stage behind us because we have to perform it that way and starting on the stage with everyone walking down when Allan does the wrong line. I didn't like this idea because I didn't think that the place where the play is being set would have a stage and would make the space look un-naturalistic but we went ahead with it due to it being a group vote and me being the minority.

Monday 22nd February

Today we ran the beginning up to page 12. I feel like this rehearsal a lot of people struggled to focus on the read-through that we did for the first period. I felt like that we could of got more done if people actually did focus and didn't mess around. This definitely slowed us down meaning we didn't get much done in limited time that we had. We did discuss on what each of our characters do when they move and the reasoning behind it. I decided that Specs would either stand or sit awkwardly near the side because he is mostly there to be ignored. I will have to careful where I go though so that I don't get in the way of the audience. My goal at the moment is staying in character when I'm not being spoke to. This would include the way that I stand, sit and facial expressions and making sure I don't switch off.

The second lesson I did script analysis on the part where I play 4 characters.

Rent evaluation

Last week we performed our version of the musical "Rent" and I think it went well and we got a lot of positive feedback. If we were to do it again on a larger scale, there's a few things that I would change:

1. Location-I feel like that if we were to do it again, I would prefer to do this in a theatre where we could possibly have a similar size stage but where we could possibly be able to make more use of the stage with things like set and props. I feel like we could make it much more like a loft with more advanced decking. I feel like that this would help the audience almost understand more about the setting where the majority of the musical takes place. I think it would also be better if we were then able to make the scene changes much smoother with the set that was transported on and off stage.
2. Costumes-I feel like that we could possibly be able to invest some more money into costumes. The costumes we had weren't terrible but it was mainly using the actors own clothes and we could possibly made Joanne a bit more formal as she is a lawyer and Alexi Darling a bit more business like. I couldn't do this as I was in the next scene and I don't really have that much business wear that I could of used so with money invested in costumes we could of made the characters more realistic of what they would actually wear.
3. Cast-When Rent is done in mostly America, the ethnicity of certain parts are almost a necessity. Collins and Joanne are black and Mimi is Hispanic looking. I feel like that if we did it again we could first of all use a slightly older cast to make it more realistic and have a black Collins as I feel like that kind of soulful voice make the part easier to sing and a Hispanic Mimi as it's mentioned in the script in "Out tonight" (even though we cut it). I do think that Joanne could be any ethnicity though and I think if we were going to cast it, we could definitely open it to more than just black women as it isn't mentioned in the script and the vocals could be sung by any ethnicity. I would also make the cast bigger with 15 people doing it making the ensemble bigger which would boost volume and would prevent the principle characters from doubling up in some ensemble parts.
4. Band-I feel like that we could use a real band so that we wouldn't be constrained to certain timings with the backing tracks as the band generally go with the actors. I feel like this would also make the show have more of rocky feel to it that it was meant to have.
5. Length of show-If we did this again, I'd want to do the full show so that the story would be easier to follow. I felt like that Maureen's and Joanne's type of relationship was difficult to follow at times and would sometimes skip key moments out. I also feel like that Maureen could be in it more even though she's not in most of the first act in the musical anyway. I feel like that we could definitely put all the cut sings back in, especially "over the moon" as it shows the protest against Benny rather than Maureen just showing up to the Cafe. We would obviously then reinstate the interval in the original place and if we did this in a bigger venue, would make it about 20 minutes but in a school, more about 10 minutes as there is less to do for the audience and they would be just sitting there for a bit too long so it would be more suitable to do a shorter interval.
6. Sound-I feel like if we did this again, no matter what venue, the use of radio mics would be needed to help the audience understand the plot more clearer as they'd definitely know what each of the characters would be singing. Giving us mics would mean we would feel more confidence to experiment as we wouldn't be worried about projecting as much.
7. Projection-The cast had this idea to project all of us at the back of the stage at the end for Marks film but we never filmed anything for it so we couldn't do it but I felt like as this is the only opportunity for projection, it would be good use and the perfect time to use it.

Thursday 11th February

Today we thought about costumes for the first time. I had the idea of wearing plain white because we are in a mental asylum. I felt like this would be realistic if it wasn't pure white but more like they've been used a lot and almost like they haven't been ironed like the picture below.

I then thought it would be a good idea to have symbolic items of clothing for each of the characters that they are in the play. An example of this would be for Rose to wear a hat for Lady Bracknall. Specs would have the book of the play but a well worn version of it with it being tattered. I thought this would be the most realistic as they was put in this prison for young offenders, they wouldn't be treated like adult prisoners with the boiler suits. I feel like they wouldn't have their own clothes though as they wouldn't have an identity.

Specs subtext

George is very patronising towards Specs and only really gets to talk when he is told to. This is still very hard for specs and if he takes too long, they'll cut him off and he doesn't object. He also then gets told to do his scene showing that he loves to perform and would love to be in the play meaning that he either does have stage fright or George being the director doesn't let him be in it because he really doesn't like him. Specs could easily play any character and in the group, he is the only one who can actually act but doesn't have any confidence to do so who pretends like he doesn't.

Monday 8th February

Today we went from page 18 and looked further into each of our characters with things like Rose's childish mannerisms and Milo's accent and George and Kinsey's former friendship. We particularly looked at Allan's monologue about when he lived in London. When we first did this, Ashley (Allan) walked forward and faced the front. I pointed out that he would only be performing to some of the audience due to where our audience will be sitting. I pointed out that we should move it back so everyone can see whilst the rest of the group suggested for him to lean against the wall so he looks relaxed and is ignoring the other characters. We also made him slow down so that he would come across much more relaxed.

Child detention center

https://youtu.be/xm5w7tdTmvM

Over the weekend, I looked into a documentary of John venables and Rob Thompson and the type of prisons they go to. They talk about how the prisons they went to, it's much more about rehabilitation. In our prison in the play, it's more about punishment so that they stay in there and  not get out. In the documentary, they talk about how some of the prisoners actually get let out on days out. The people in our play never would because they wouldn't be trusted to. This could show that this play is an exaggeration of real life. The Rose character could be an exaggerated version of Mary-Anne Belle as she strangles a kid and his them with a hammer. I think specs crimes aren't touched upon as it makes the audience wounder what he actually did as we know he's been on there the longest.

Thursday 4th February

Today we went to the hall but we had to wait for a while because of a meeting. We then went onto the stage as saw that there was a table in the middle of the stage. We all thought that this would be a good idea to use as another bit of our limited set. We came up with the idea that the edges of the table would have to be covered with some sort of material to soften it so it wouldn't look dangerous and it couldn't be used as a weapon. I like the idea of the table being used if it's used right. I don't think we should sit on it too often because it's still a table in which you're meant to place objects onto. I think the only time someone else should use it is when Rose (Ellie) lays on the table.

We then thought about the power shift and control between the two characters of Kinsey and George. We decided that it would be a good idea to keep them as far away as possible because they don't get along anymore. This would then build up for when they are together on their own when they have their argument and they get closer and closer. It would also start with George being in control with it then slowly shifting over to Kinsey. We would show this by who advances to the other person whilst the other person is stationary. I like this idea because I think it will show the audience who is control at each part of the conversation and they can see George become more and more defensive against Kinsey.

Thursday 4th February

Today we worked on subtext. When we did a certain scene, we had to clap when we think that the character is thinking something different to what he really is saying. I couldn't take art in this due to there not being a long enough scene which all of us are in. We did a scene with everyone else in. I looked at subtext on my own whilst the group did this.

I decided that I would look for what Spec thinks in his first scene. Something that happens with specs is that he gets spoken to when someone needs information. This is normally George to back him up on an argument even though George doesn't actually care about him. The fact that he actually gets to speak to someone when he gets called upon actually gets him to be excited and makes him happy until get told to shut up again. This has are him the quietest person there even though he has been there xor the longest

Tuesday 2nd February

Today we looked at the actual space for our performence and started to set how we would perform it. We decided that Spec's prompting chair would be behind the audience so it would be like the audience seating would be set out like they are about to perform the play. We then looked at levels with today's run-through. We looked how we could not all be in one place and make sure we are on a variety of levels to make sure that the audience would keep their attention for longer. We also decided that we would have our own chair aswell that would stay stationary as they wouldn't be able to as it would be too dangerous as it could be used as a weapon.

Monday 1st February

Today we looked through the script and started to develop each of our characters past. This is will help us to create a character if we actually know what they have done to end up in this prison. I feel like that what we said about Specs could be correct but I'm not sure that he is faking everything. I feel like the fact he has always been bullied for his stammer, this would then cause him to have psycopathic thoughts. Even if he is faking they way he acts, it would be hard to actually potray this as he is always around eveyone else and always acts shy and gets bullied. I feel like that he is genuilly like this and isn't faking this and the fact that other people like George bully him makes the situation that he is in even worse. Spec's will have to be sympathised with the audience and will be hard for the audience to understand him with little stage time but it is possible if I do act it right so the audience can fully understand him as he is a confusing character especially as he doesn't have much of a backstory and doesn't have any hints to what he did unlike the other characters.

Character profile

Specs

Real name: Unknown
Age: 16-20
Specs could be one of two things, he could generally have a stammer and be quiet, not looked after and in some cases bullied by others or he could be actually putting things on pretending to be. I personally think that he is very clever but I think he is being honest. My group discussed the possibility of him not being actually being bullied and alone but I think that he is actually like this and isn't hiding behind this and is planning to break out. I think he does actually have a stammer and I think he probably the worse offender of the group and has done the most horrific crime but you don't get any hints of this because he is the worst offender. It also may be the case that because he is the first one in this prison out of everyone in the play, he could be the only one who knows what he did and hasn't actually told anyone what he has done because he doesn't really speak much and maybe doesn't get a chance to.

Thursday 28th January

Today we looked at how we would have our audience for the play. We thought about having it in in the round but then thought that it wouldn't be good to have people with their back the audience at times. I felt that it also meant that it became unrealistic as we were going to have a circular stage in which wouldn't be the case in which this play is set as they wouldn't have circular rooms. We decided that we would instead have our audience in a square with no seats at the back. We then did a run through of the play focusing on where the audience are now sitting

26th January 2016

Today I was cast in Specs in handbag for our unit of contempary theatre. I like the character of specs but will be challenging as he doesn't have many lines. There is also just one scene so will be hard to keep hold of the audience's attention. Also it's set in a plain room meaning that it's hard to make it visually good to watch as well. I think that Specs is the one person who could possibly be the smartest but is the most ignored/bullied person in  there which will mean that I will have to make him come across as sympathetic. Specs also multi-roles by playing everyone in a scene of the play meaning a range of voices for both male and female

Rent week 11

Today we cleared up the numbers that we felt like needed work. We all pitched in on each others songs and I think that it improved a lot of songs with our ideas. I felt that everyone's characters were much more obvious in the songs and they felt more confident. I think this was an extremely productive and impotent rehearsal week which I think should be done for all shows.

Devising Evaluation

Group Work
Getting things done
I found that as a group we worked well together once we had started putting a scene or a movement piece together. I feel like that we struggled to start because I feel like that we liked to discuss what we are going to do. If we were going to do another devising piece, I feel like we need to be more active and just get up and try something and if it doesn't work scrap it and try something else. But once we started, because we had a similar idea of the piece we wanted to create, we got things done quickly. We may of been able to maybe to try another scene if we were more active as we had the same idea but wasted time discussing ideas rather than trying them. I did like the fact that we did workshop a lot of ideas like the different staging to make sure we did it the best possible way we could do it. It was also difficult to devise when we did have members of our group away but now looking back at this I felt like we were relying on there being a full group which isn't always guaranteed and ended up wasting time because of this.

Research
I feel like that we did good research and made each piece very realistic to how each problem of the aspect of women's rights was presented. I feel like because we also used quotes that were used in real life, it improved our dialogue compared to previous devised pieces. Also, because we used a lot of realistic events, it made it more believable and audience could relate to each scene as they would of heard of each of our problems as they are very well known. I think it helped that we looked into each of our scenes into more detail out of lesson and then coming in to see how we could then incorporate this into our piece.

Group arguments
I felt like the group as a whole took offence to when either their idea was rejected or when something wasn't done their way. I feel like in devising pieces, there are always going to be arguments on people preferring other ideas but I felt like some people sometimes gave off an angry tone and this lead to people being offended leading to bigger arguments. I feel like this was unintentional and was thinking of the devising piece and wanted to be good but I feel like this could of prevented a lot of falling outs and gave us more time to work on the actual piece. Because of this, a lot of people got fed up of what could come across as moaning and retaliated (including me) which just made the argument worse. I feel like next time, things should be said in a calm and controlled voice to prevent this fro  happening.

Performance
I think that the performance went very well. I think acting wise, everybody knew what they were doing and nobody went wrong or confused anybody else. I think that we were very prepared and ready for the performance. The technical problem we had was that the speaker turned itself off meaning the audio for the clip for Emily being hit by the horse, the audio the video for "In the jungle" and the music for the signs weren't played. This did make it a bit awkward but I don't think many of audience members noticed this and I think the group did well to improvise this.