22/03/13 Evaluation

I began the rehearsal with an improvisation game where two characters find themselves with a mundane dilemma and must sort it out in the most exaggerated, dramatic way possible. I did this to try and help my cast be more caricature and deliberate in the first two scenes of my extract. I was quite pleased about how well this worked as my cast both enjoyed it, and I noticed a difference in how they performed the scenes.

I asked that they perform a timed runthrough of the play to ensure that it was within the time restrictions. I believe that the runthrough went exceptionally well with the notes given yesterday still being taken aboard. I timed it at about 18 and a half minutes which is perfectly acceptable. I started off with a general note to my cast that from now on, they should not be coming out of character if they make a mistake. Instead, they should do their best to carry on. For scene 1, I gave praise to Eleanor for her use of facial expressions, praise to Conor for his evil foster parent posture, praise to Lewis for his priest impression and praise to Chelsea for the funny way she delivered on of her lines on the cross. One thing I noted needed improving was the way the foster parents beat Chelsea. In that rehearsal, it seemed a little fake and slow and Eleanor appeared to be too gentle.

I had much to praise and very little to criticise about the second scene as it had been performed so well. One thing which I did bring up however was that the performers were sometimes not anticipating what came next and rushed to positions, slowing the pace of the scene and making it look unprofessional.

I also had very little to criticise about scene 3 either. The main issue was that Conor did not know the speech well enough and that he often made errors with wording, dynamics and inflection. Hopefully he will be more familiar with his lines after the Easter holidays. Another thing I want to improve is Eleanor's characterisation in this scene. Her character compulsively corrects Conor throughout the scene, but Eleanor appears to be playing her as bitchy, which slightly spoils the atmosphere of the scene. Instead, I want to guide her into being more passive aggressive.

Phil Green provided some feedback, almost entirely on scene 1. His main point was that it should be "be much bigger and more deliberate." I agree largely with this and intend to guide my actors into playing much larger and precise characters. He also noted that Lewis could be more 'unsettling' when narrating. Phil gave us a sheet on Melodramatic gestures which describe cliche ways of expressing emotions on stage. I encouraged my actors to act it all out to help them understand what I'm trying to achieve better.

Afterwards, we did another runthrough and I noticed a positive effect that mine and Phil's feedback as well as the exercise had had.