Timeline washing line

With Jonathan, the company created a washing line with every scene of the piece on a separate piece of paper. This washing line allowed us to see each scene standing alone, allowing us to see if it flows, and change, get rid of, or add scenes. From attaching all the scenes we had so far, we all wrote down either scenes that needed to be added, thoughts of the piece as a whole and/or anything necessary that needed to be spoken about.
We then went round the group, each person speaking with absolutely no interruptions until they had finished. This discussion meant every person had a chance to speak, and more importantly, to be listened to by the whole company. Letting everyone have their opinion meant every voice was heard clearly, and that the whole group was involved with the decision making, not just a number of people. This got the message through that decisions about the piece as a whole needed to be whole company discussions, so everyone is aware of everyone's opinions, and there is no small talk which could misinterpreted or misunderstood.
Decisions that came from the timeline were:
- Transitions need to be made to link scenes together
-The time characters need to be slotted into the piece now the story is there and establish what their characters are
-Intertwining of old and young could increase and more fun to be had with it
- P.O.W dance section is now gone due it not really having a definite point, and using up time that needs to be used for story clarification and what is truly necessary
-The love letters scene has swapped to the first time Alfie is drafted to war, to establish war, and it fitted better than later on in the play
-The first song that originally opened the piece is now gone as it contradicted our message of celebrating old people, and didn't really fit into the rest of the piece, that even though it was humorous and engaging, it didn't fulfil the purpose

As well as this, Jonathan suggested another opening which we all agreed was much stronger and set the message of our piece really clearly, setting up the audience with the right information from the word go to understand what the piece is all about. Originally, it opened with the antagonists song straight into Alfie and Evie, with no real direction of what the audience should be looking for, apart from being told one day they will die. The new opening was that Alfie and Evie are sat on stage with old masks on, doing everyday things alone. The antagonists then come on, describing time and stories, why memories are everything, how they should be cherished, really getting that message directly to the audience, letting them ponder over it as the story begins. The main point was that after this scene, the antagonists ask 'what do you see?' before revealing the people underneath the masks. And at the end, the masks go back onto the people and again the audience are asked 'no tell us, what do you see?' linking the piece altogether, with the message clear as crystal to the audience, that their perceptions of old people should change, that underneath a mask is an extraordinary person. This is visually occurring on stage, so the message is visually there, making it hopefully less complicated and straightforward for the audience to grasp.
The session was extremely helpful, everyone sat listening to each other, accepting what was said and together solving any problems. I felt it got the group together, got rid of tension and problems, and it felt like the whole company were taking control of moving the piece forward in the same direction, instead of different groups trying to take it in different directions. It was a real mark in moving forwards efficiently, knowing exactly what needed to be worked on. Also that we needed to stop splitting into our usual groups, that now material is there, we need to be working on it together as a whole group.

Video Evaluation

Following the video of the 1st stumble through of the first half of the piece, we all sat and watched the footage, making sure we made notes, positive and negative, what weaknesses and strengths were etc.
When watching it, I decided to evaluate it section by section in this order, so when we came to discussing it was very easy to feedback.
The main point we all felt was there was a need for more clarification with the storyline and underlining message. It was still a bit unclear what the antagonists roles were and how we slipped from the past to present, and what there journeys were. What was surprising was the amount of material we actually had, which was a real encouragement for the company, that even though it was very rusty, we had the basic structure in place.
Apart from clarification, it also highlighted where our gaps were in the story. We all agreed a timeline was in need, so we could all visually see the piece with the chapters. That was our aim before we continued, as there were still questions on the order of scenes and how the story developed. To allow us to continue devising, we needed to make sure every member of the company was on exactly the same page.
The video was really helpful to see the material we had so far, also to sit back and watch it from an audience point of view allowed us to see whether we ourselves understood what was going on. If not, clarification and pushing that message further was something we needed to focus on.

Script Writing: Walk home

This scene I wrote after the 2nd stumble through in Jonathans' lesson, which I shall evaluate when I've seen the video.
I asked the group if they would mind me attempting to write a scene that linked the first meeting dance to Alfie being drafted to war.
We had tried to write a scene that morning, yet we kept reaching a block, we knew we wanted the couple to go on a walk home from the dance, and to show time passing, yet we didn't want to make it corny that it was too 'like the films' that would led to possibly pushing the audience away instead of drawing them in.
The walk home was relatively easy to write, keeping it short, punctuated by awkward moments and slick moves by Alfie, leaving his coat with Evie to collect it the following day so he could see her again. There weren't any chick flick movie quotes, but trying to stay as truthful to a real life scenario as this as possible.
Again in Frantic's 'Lovesong' the couple have a scene where they are sitting as if they're underneath a tree, just chatting about life. I took this as inspiration and got the walk home to end with the couple not wanting the night to end and walking to sit underneath a tree. There they paused, and I got the Old Evie to have dialogue where she describes what happened, that they visited that tree every Sunday afternoon, signalling months have passed yet they always came back to the same place. Having Old Evie speak this added in the interlinking of the old and young, as well as keeping with this thinking back to memories and enjoying them, wanting to remember them.
I then got the script from the beginning of the play, where the old couple speak 'when people ask us how we met' dialogue. I thought the young couple could repeat this dialogue, slightly altered, when they are under the tree as months had passed. This dialogue again repeats at the end, so you get to see it spoken three different times, each having a slightly different meaning and intention, in three different time periods, where different events have happened.
At the end I added the lines 'Yes...it is a great story isn't it? 'One we'll never forget.' 'Oh no, one we'll never forget'. To have the audience witness the couple say those lines, almost like a promise to each other, and knowing that for one of them, as much as they want to remember, their body/mind wouldn't let them would hopefully giving them an urgency and empathy for Old Evie to remember her past. It would be nice to have the audience really get that emotional connection with Evie and Alfie, seeing their younger selves completely oblivious to what would happen, yet the audience already knows. Whenever I watched plays or films, knowing what the ending/future was of characters before they did gave you a certain feeling you couldn't otherwise get, you know what is to come, but you have to sit and watch it unfold before you.

1st Stumble Through

The Wednesday rehearsal, Abby suggested we do a stumble through of all the scenes we have devised already, giving us a chance to highlight the gaps that need filling and to give us a first look into how the piece is shaping. It was really handy as some of us had never seen parts of it before, and it was great to see it starting to come together.
Evaluation:
Dances have their basic structure in shape, but now need to be finished and started to polish, this is relatively easy to do which can be done early. They convey the right moods we were aiming for, and whole company dances really lift and heighten the mood!
Opening flows and fits together well, the entrance and first viewings of the younger couple needed to be interlinked and the transitions a lot smoother, yet the introduction to the old couple is concise, laying an understanding of her mental state is there, but when we go into her first memory needs to be a bit clearer.
There are many gaps we need to fill, from the dance to drafting to war no.1, the war to the hospital scene, the prisoner of war ending to no memory, no memory needs to start being devised around and how it links to the ending.

In the later rehearsal, Nick and I chose to devise a movement sequence for when Alfie gets drafted to war for the first time. Yes the young couple have already had a dance sequence together, yet this was a lot less physical and a lot more emotive, but the movement allowed us to convey this sense of sadness and deep frustration that words either couldn't do or wouldn't do as well.
Nick had the thought of 'Lovesong' by Adele, its fairly slow, and how the music swelled and got more emotive fitted the sequence, giving the sequence and the couple a journey through both movement and music.
We chose to have the letter as a main focus. We started devising by finding ways the letter could be passed under, over and around each other, never letting the letter drop and always as a point of contact. Then we travelled it and added levels and moments of stillness where the couple couldn't look at it and just held or embraced each other, the letter in between their hands.
As the sequence developed, we found that there was a point where frustration turned to anger for the young Evie. That the letter became to much, so she scrunched it up and threw it away, turning to Alfie and starting to push him away, yet wanting to hold him but knowing that letter has gotten in their way. The more upset she got, the more desperate Alfie gets to just hold her, and finally wraps his arms around her, and they stay like that till the music fades out.
We got some of the others to watch it, and the feedback was great, that it was nice to see a journey for the couple where it isn't all 'perfect', and having Evie break instead of Alfie they agreed was an effective twist almost. It allowed the couple to really gain sympathy from the audience.
It then became apparent that we needed a scene before this that linked the end of the dance to the letter. A scene where the audience learn that they have been together and their relationship has developed, to gain that audience's respect and feelings, so that when the bad news comes, the audience aren't been demonstrated to that they should feel sad, but they really feel it from how the play has developed.

Script Writing: Re drafting to War

Over the weekend I decided to write a scene for when the young man gets re drafted to war. I thought there needed to be a gritty scene where the young couple seem to argue, with tension building, as it would create their romance to be more 3D, as no relationship is plain sailing.
I started by researching conscription to the army during WW2 to get the facts and figures.

http://www.historyonthenet.com/ww2/conscription.htm
This site was where I got the information of when conscription was introduced to Britain, where young men didn't seem to have a choice, many tried to appeal against it, around 60,000 appealed where among 18,000 was dismissed, which is quite a fairly large percentage, and  your reasoning to not join the army had to be a very good one. Not wanting to, simply wasn't an option. This gave me the reasoning to make Alfie feel compelled to open the OHMS letter, as he knew he had to choice but to go, it was pretty much a law now, and he had to comply, regardless of his feelings.

 http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWconscription.htm
This whole scene was based around the letter that is found in their home, so I wanted the letter to be read out, preferably by an antagonist, to allow reactions from the young couple without dialogue. This letter needed to have a likeness to what would have been written in those days, this website I found a load of primary sources which was based around conscription with the first world war. I knew are based in WW2, yet I  couldn't find an example from that period, and I thought that the letters context wouldn't have altered that much, they would still be about conscription.
The source I took quite a lot of inspiration and wording from was from King George 5th, statement issued on the 25th May 1916.
Its content had encouragement for soldiers, trying to bring higher spirits to the war. I liked that it was very factual, trying to be directly addressing and forming a relationship with its readers, yet everyone knowing what the sub meanings really were.
From there I wrote a letter that managed to capture that factual mood, these letters would have been sent to millions, all exactly the same just with the name at the top and bottom altered per person. I had the vision for it to be said in a very factual tone, nothing emotional, as the person sending it would have no emotion connection to the receiver and probably had more pressing matters on their mind.
The scene I enjoyed writing, it was exciting to add that tension atmosphere, giving the couple a rupture in their romance, a problem they both had to face with no choice. It would probably be in naturalism, because focus on the words would be a key fact.
I showed it to the company and got positive feedback, so its now a case of getting it on its feet and see how we can devise with and around it.

Choreography of Rhythm

After researching and finding the YouTube video Rhythm choreographed by Tom Richardson, a group of us and Rose choreographed a company dance for the meeting scene.
I showed them the routine, and we decided to stick with the same song as it had a good beat to it, it was from that time period, yet seems to have a sort of modern feel. From improvising to the song, it gave the right atmosphere we were looking for, light hearted, exciting, lively.
From improvising, we chose moves that we liked and were simple to teach and learn by people who had never danced before. Repetition was something we included a lot, as it keeps a dance easy to remember, but also it's sometimes nice to watch moves twice to get to appreciate them and enjoy them for longer. We came up with a short routine, and tried it in partners, dancing opposite/around each other. Even though it was exactly the same routine repeated in pairs, it gave another dynamic and again gave us a simple yet effective routine.
We tried a few lifts, the rock and roll lift, shut the box, cartwheel, twist etc, and picked what we liked. Rose also taught us an arm motif that is performed in pairs which we added to the end.
After teaching the whole company, it had a cheeky, playful mood that everyone really enjoyed performing. Visually, it looks great, and the cheekiness in pairs allows for fun character improvisation with the actors, so it isn't just a dance. As well as this, it isn't too long, so the audience get a jam packed routine, and we end it where perhaps they would want to see another section, so it leaves them on the edge of their seat, wanting more so their really watching, where sometimes a long routine can be appreciated for the first half before people sit back and sort of switch off.
This routine is pretty much finished in terms of choreography, so it'll be banked until it needs to be polished and placing's sorted etc.
I loved teaching it, and creating a dance for people who had never danced before was good practice of choreographing for the group you are with, basing it on the group ability so it accompanies everyone.

Monologue

I wrote this with no idea where it could feature in the play, I didn't want to allocate it a place due to its content. My inspiration was the young man's speech he performs in 'Lovesong', he rants on about time and the functions of time before eventually reaching his point that he thought he was becoming boring to his wife. This ranting on of such a big topic I thought was very clever, taking something out of the everyday.
From this, I chose to write about a bigger picture, of space. We have a theme of time, and time passing by and running out, and we live in a world with time, yet in a space where it doesn't exist. I gave myself half an hour to write what came to mind, this was my outcome:


Space,  made up of thousands of universes home to limitless galaxies full of endless stars that shine light for millions of light years no matter how big, small, old or young they are. The part of this never ending mass we know best consists of ten planets surrounded by many moons ceaselessly revolving around a giant ball of gas that can warm your skin from its home millions upon billion of miles away. And yet, among all this, there is you, and there is me. In the midst of an infinity, throughout all the commotion on this planet and space in which it lives are two people, where everything stops. Where time itself is simply forgotten for a moment. The thought of how we could fit into a place that has no edges and keeps on going is replaced by how we can fit into someone else's little infinity. Somehow, it doesn't seem fair, that a place where time doesn't seem to exist, a clock gently ticks. And one day, with that person you found in a never ending place, where everything stopped for a moment, that clock, our clock, will stop ticking.

Devising no memory section

In Abbi's rehearsal, we had brought in scripts/monologues/ we'd written over the previous days and read them out to the company. It gave us a chance to see what scenes now had dialogue and what needed to be filled, as well as this it gave us a sense of what moods and atmospheres scenes would have that we can build on.
From hearing these, we then split into 3 and each took a different piece of dialogue. Karl, Elsa, Megan and I took mine and Megan's monologues and combined them. They were very contrasting, one was a man having an ordinary chat about ordinary things and mine was about the limitless space we live in where our lives are so small. One focused on the bigger picture, and the other the small, so it was interesting to see how they combined.
Karl read through his monologue, but would stop in places where the three of us would interject with my monologue. What was nice was that even though the two contrasted, they fitted together. It got the audience to think more outside the box, and having to listen to two, seemed to create a better focus, instead of giving them an easy ride to just listen to one that flowed on its own.
We banked the idea for now, but ways to develop it would be through adding more everyday gestures, with Karl getting up and doing everyday activities, perhaps integrating the two in space as we stayed further upstage, so intertwining in both space and words.
The others were a scene to do with the P.O.W section, before our movement sequence.

We then focused on how we could devise the no memory section. Abbi got us to each pick a sentence from a monologue of our choice and find gestures we could perform alongside the words. The group was split it half, one doing one watching. The first group had to walk around the space miming their words and gestures, one person was acting as the old woman, searching for a memory. When you were tapped on the shoulder, you then spoke with gestures. They would touch more people at a quicker pace which meant words were flying around the space, overlapping, varying in tones and pitches etc.
This was then developed into adding a book to our sequences, they became doors, steps, hats, birds and others. When you were tapped you performed the sequence spoken with your prop. The old lady would then find one memory which she would try to hug, nurture, hold on to as if clutching to a precious memory before letting go and moving on.
It was then developed into the old lady taking away your book to search, if your book was taken away you stopped where you were and if the wrong book was given to you, you threw it to the floor and started singing, you could only perform your sentence with your book.
Visually, it looked great, the lines would have all featured in the play at a point, so it was like all her memories jumbled into one. The movements layered it, and it was like the sentences were written in the books that were being held. As the pace picked up you had movement, singing, overlapping of speech, where it looked chaotic yet had an organisation to it, messy yet not ugly looking. It provided us with a great starting point to the section, where we were originally struggling. This idea was banked.

Production meeting - casting

A production meeting was set up to discuss castings for both characters and casts. Firstly, we started by deciding what the stock characters were in the play. This decision was fairly easy:
Old woman
Young woman
Old man
Young man
Antagonists
The first problem we faced, was how many antagonists we wanted. There were mixed reviews on 2 or 3. Pros and cons for both were being able to have the good cop/bad cop relationship, more people to manipulate, and sort out the odd number we had having 11 performers with Laura being technician.
The conclusion, after much deliberation, where everyone got their opinion on the table by passing a book around the circle where you could only talk holding it, which was a very effective technique ! , we decided on two antagonists per cast and Lee would stay the old man in both. This was due to most preferences on 2 antagonists and Karl really wanting to play that part, meaning we had a gap in one of the casts. Lee was happy to do both, so we moved on.
We then gave our 1st and 2nd preferences to who we would like to play, from that it became quite obvious and simple to allocate roles to everyone.
The most challenging was deciding on who went in what cast. The main women were split into similar looks, Liv and I both blonde Mandi and Chloe both brown/dark haired. It was the young couples that were the issue to split. We had worked in pairs originally, but didn't get the opportunity to work with the other and test what the outcome was. Therefore, for the remainder of the rehearsal, we went off and learnt the two duets performing them with the opposite partner.
This carried on into the following day, where we still hadn't made a decision. I am first to admit that I didn't voice my opinion strong enough for fear of other people's feelings, as there are some big personalities in the group that I didn't want to upset. The deciding on the casting is still on going, but hopefully resolved asap. Not voicing our opinions early on has made it more difficult and added un needed tension, however, we feel strongly about the right pairings due to having to work in them for the remainder of the project, and the overall feel of each cast should be to the best as it can be. Even though it's been slightly stressful, and probably made the process drag a little, it is teaching me to be bold in my opinions, because skirting round issues makes it far more difficult. So it's been a lesson well taught.

Dance inspiration

The lovers meet at a dance fairly near the beginning of the story, a whole company dance no. I though would give a fun, upbeat mood that gives some light-hearted sections to the piece.
Now I know most of the company aren't trained dancers, yet a simplified routine consisting of unison, partner work, different pathways etc would be suitable for people's abilities and still look effective.
I researched into the types of dancing that was around in the 1930s/40s, and the Charleston was still around, but it had developed in style from the 20s. Then, it was very flash, placed, hands flexed, exaggerated in both facial expression and moves itself. The 1930s/40s Charleston was more partner work, a lot more relaxed in the steps and consisted of more turns and kicks.
Researching on youtube, I found a choreographer named Tom Richardson, a current choreographer who usually does contemporary, yet I found a dance involving moves from the 30s/40s that has a modern feel to it.
The dancers are professionally trained, yet there are moves that could be adapted and simplified, and the general mood that he captures I thought could be very fitting with the dance scene we could create.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov02ImwiL58
The dance that I choreographed consisted of a sequence of movements performed in unison that were then repeated in partner work. By repeating the same movements, for those who had never danced before, repeating the sequence they already learned and knew gave them more confidence in the routine. I then gave everyone two counts of 8 to improvise any dancing they like, this gave people free range to do what they pleased, so they didn't have to learn a full routine which could have taken longer to rehearse, and the time frame we had to get it up to standard was short. The improvisation section was then brought back to unison with a simple sequence that everyone did again in partners before finishing centre stage in a last pose. Because the routine was fairly simple, it needed to have an burst and eruption of energy that was sustained throughout. It's set in a vibrant dance hall, and in the 30s, spending your evenings in a dance hall was the height of entertainment and exciting to all those who attended, so the atmosphere we created vocally and physically needed to compliment the setting we were in.
What also helped with a simpler routine was the ability for people to add characterization without stressing and over thinking the movements themselves, when watching the footage back of the dance, those glimpses of conversation between characters and expressions are what enriches the routine from being a routine to a movement sequence grounded in just as much acting as moving.

Devising hospital scene

With our structure in place, we then split into three groups and chose a section of the story to explore. Harry, Elsa, Megan and I chose the hospital scene, where the two lovers meet after he gets injured.
It was popular amongst us to use movement here, where perhaps words wouldn't be able to express what we wanted to convey, and movement requires no words, where the littlest movement can mean a lot.
'Lovesong' by Frantic has been a big inspiration for our piece, and a scene occurs with a young couple on a kitchen table. The actors was continuously in motion, doing circular pathways around/over/under each other with a constant point of contact, it was intimate with a affectionate quality that was beautiful to watch. We took inspiration from this and created a duet on a table.
*Video is on company blog*
Music was added over the top to bring another dynamic and provide an atmosphere, just piano, which to me, has a delicate quality to it, which fitted with the soft reuniting scene we wanted to create, 'I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi' being careful yet loving out of disbelief that they have met again after such a long time.
When we came back to this scene after a break, we developed it from the present into the past. Elsa played the old lady, sitting at a desk that we decided the duet would happen on, that makes less set to cart around then getting a bed, and a desk is multi-functional. Harry wrote a brief script to provide some context, and linked the past and present together.
We thought it would look effective having the old lady reading, then the past appearing and happening around her. Having the two ladies on stage at the same time. To make it clear that the ladies are the same, we added a mannerism of gently pulling our hair in exactly the same way, a mannerism that would be repeated throughout the show to make it clear to the audience.
Again this developed with the older lady performing some of the actions as if remembering the memory, and speaking through months as the duet went on, to signal that the couple were together in hospital for a substantial amount of time as the man healed. It just added another layer to the scene, it gave the movement more context.
It was great to split into small groups, as we each got our ideas across equally and it was far easier to devise than having 12 people's ideas thrown in at once. It also gave 3 of us a chance to play characters we would potentially play.
How the table duet turned out in the final show was slightly different. Transitions changed and had text added that meant Evie no longer started at a table but was sat in her chair upstage. The librarians performed a transition with Alfie where they bandaged him up and spoke dialogue that informed the audience of Alfie's admission to the Queen Victoria Hospital where Evie was working. There were debates as to whether the scene was based around Evie discovering her patient was Alfie or whether she already knew. But it was agreed that we preferred Evie's surprise, and that gave the table routine a real intention and purpose, the movement happening through a result of delight that they were reunited. The movement sequence ended with the two lying on the table, then with a lighting cue to signal night and day, a passing of time, they wake up and their location is a bedroom instead of a hospital.
When rehearsing the sequence, Nick and I developed it and added moves to make it longer. Because there were lifts that would be performed on the table, we rehearsed it on the floor to make sure we got the technique correct, otherwise performing straight on the table with little rehearsal increases the chance of it going wrong and badly injuring yourself! Once we felt comfortable, we practiced on the table and taught Harry and Mandi. What was critical for this sequence was not to rush it, and there was a certain dynamic quality needed to turn the sequence from what had the danger of being 'corny and cheesy' to something very touching. Movements like how we stroked the others face or how the boys span us round on the table were details that gave an emotional depth to it. Nick and I made sure we gave good amounts of rehearsal, coming in early or staying late if needed, to add recognize and add where those moments should and needed to go, so hopefully when we perform it, its that much more meaningful than just a sequence.
*Video footage of the duets developments can be found on the Level 4 Facebook page, the final sequence seen on the tour performance dates*

Sorting the storyline

Abby's lesson had the aim to get a 'hanger' in which a basic structure was set. The beginning of that week had involved a lot of discussion around the narrative of our piece, but not enough decision making, so the afternoon provided a substantial amount of time to get a structure down that flowed well and everyone agreed on.
We wrote down all the stories we wanted to include from the people in Age UK and picked the main parts that were of most significance and that would link well.
- Henry jeweler
- Roy War
- George prisoner of war
We wanted to interlink all the stories, adapting and slightly altering them so they all became life events for a couple, we felt this would enable an audience to grow more attached to them as they got to see their whole lives unfold, the good and the bad, instead of snippets of many different people.

We wanted to base the piece around a couple, starting the piece when their old in their home, and go back in time to where they first met, and you watch their lives unfold, to portray the message that behind the person there is a great story.
The original structure was: evacuation, couple meet at a dance, drafted to war, love letters, hospital and reunited, re drafted to war, prisoner of war, no memory section, remembering and ending.
We hadn't discovered where we would flick between the past and the present, but we all agreed that we'd add and integrate as we went along. Everyone pitched in their ideas and we made sure everyone's were considered before we wrote them down. It allowed everyone to voice their opinions and made the structure a collaboration of all of us.
After a long afternoon, we finally came to our decision of the basic section, where it became far easier to begin devising, being able to pick a section, whichever we wanted.
The order of the piece changed dramatically from this which I will discuss with other sections of the process. But we discovered very early on, within the next two rehearsals really, that the evacuation was going to be removed from the story, it didn't fit with the rest of the play and we only had forty five minutes to fit our story in. So we decided to scrap the evacuation firstly, and start the past at the moment the couple first met, which meant we could start acting the ages of late teens, instead of children.

Meeting with Oathall

After organising a meeting with the head teacher of Oathall, Harry and I visited the school on the 19th November. It was a great time to really sell our company, our mission statement and impress a figure of authority outside of college.
An issue we faced was wanting to peform our show to year groups that were studying for their GCSEs. The prospect of having our preferred year groups as an audience lookef problematic.  However, we sold the show as an extremely accessible performance for all students as well as subjects not only in subject content but also dramatic style. We agreed that english students would benefit from the script writing as well as story telling, music students with the live musical accompaniment and musical eras, dance students with the physical theatre and pure dance scenes and PSHCE students with the community outreach and topics addressed throughout. The response was extremely positive and the vast amount of options we gave didn't restrict the school.
We didn't get a date set, however,  they are forming a meeting with heads of department and years to organise what they will choose, so a date shall certainly be booked!
It was a great experience liasing with people outside of college, it helped that I had known the headmaster so the atmosphere was very relaxed. Also having the responsibility to sell our company in a professional manner was really enjoyable and greatly grew my confidence.

Relaxation: Voice 1

Relaxation
-Lying on the floor eyes closed
-Breathing just raising tummy, not chest
-Imagining lying on a favourite beach (Nahoon South Africa)
-Tensing pairs of muscles from feet upward, tense x3 then relax
-Music playing in the background
-Imagining holes in heels filling you up with water from the feet up
-Imagining the water draining out again from the head down

Helps voice:
It gets rid of tension around the core muscles and torso, where the organs and muscles you use and control your voice are,. This ridding of tension allows you to use them to its full potential, also decreasing the risk of damaging your voice as you should then be using it properly.

Helps body:
Releases unnecessary tension, mine particularly in my shoulders and upper back. By focusing on parts of the body instead of all at once allows you to focus in on specific muscles to relax them, taking this extra time shall be far more worthwhile, and is a more thorough relaxation technique than speeding through to save time. It also lets you become as neutral as possible, really being a blank canvas for new characters, who shall hold tension in other parts of their body that are different from yours. As well as this, if you are aching anywhere, it should ease that and your muscles should hurt far less or even not at all afterwards.

Alignment:
Task 1
In a pair, watching how the other person stands, where they hold tension, where they lead from, how they place their feet and how the body stacks on top of it etc. Analysing is lots of detail. Then we had to stand as that person.
Mandi: Feet are always turned out, knees slightly outwards also, torso is slightly forwards at an angle, making her shoulders lead and curve in. This makes her chest sink inwards, and makes her torso look smaller than it is.
How I stand:
Feet in parallel with knees unlocked. My shoulders are back but my arms are quite far forwards, my hands fall in front of my body instead of hanging down the sides of my body. I stand with my bum very much tucked underneath my body, so my core is usually always engaged so that my bum isn't stuck out overly arching my back.
Task 2
When we changed each others alignment, my lower torso was lengthened and my head from my shoulders, which let my arms fall back down the sides of my body instead of in front of it.

Flop and drop:
-Flop down, swooping from side to side to rid tension out of the arms and let the head fall heavy
-Someone stands behind and runs their fingers up your vertebrae on your back, as they do you uncurl up to standing, trying to uncurl each vertebrae as your partners fingers pass them. the head the last thing to come up as it is the heaviest. It allows you to focus on how the body uncurls to standing by going through each vertebrae instead of going straight to standing, which can sometimes be damaging to your back. It also can contribute to alignment, with letting your shoulders slide down your back and not be raised.

Pulling shoulders:
-In pairs, one takes the arm of their partner and stretches it by pulling slowly, as to release tension from their shoulder. Choosing the one that is higher than the other until they are equal
Mandi's shoulders:
As they are curled inwards, it curves the vertebrae at the top of her spine, making her look slightly smaller than she is, so trying to get them pushed back out so the shoulder blades are forwards but down the back was challenging! It wasn't so much the releasing tension of the shoulders, it was trying to get the top of the spine lengthened so her shoulders fell down properly, opening out the chest, making her broader which made her look taller.
My shoulders:
With carrying a heavy bag on my shoulders most of the time, my left shoulder was far higher than the right. As it was pulled, I could feel the tension out from my shoulders across and up my neck, and it was a lot of relief! Then my right was higher and the exercise had to be repeated on both shoulders twice before they were even. It showed there's a lot of tension in both shoulders, and getting someone to do that exercise for me releases. It opened up the gap between my shoulders to my head, again letting me appear taller.

Speed dating

Evaluation:
Overall, I found the experience really enjoyable, keeping up the character consistently was challenging, but keeping that inner monologue going and constantly talking or listening to other characters made it much easier to stay in role.
I went in fully with the intention that my character was just going for a bit of fun and wasn't interested in any serious relationship. But as the 'speed dating' went on, and she got to chat to all different types of people, I found that she started to doubt her previous intentions, and what if she found a man she really liked?
I had decided to have Polly out drinking on a wild night out the night before the event, so she was still trying to battle with a hangover to be able to endure the whole event. With make up creating big bags under my eyes I hoped would aid that, as well as trying to appear a bit exaggerated and words slightly elongated a bit too much.
It was interesting to see how she reacted to different people, so with Graham, the relief of finding he liked drinking, and that he wasn't too serious and could have a laugh fitted, and his obvious intentions of 'fun' fitted with her motto perfectly, so she found it very easy to chat away and not really feel any emotion. Yet when people like Derek and Peter came along, who took a real interest into her work, asked her questions and even offered to read her column provided a new emotion for her, where someone who took a genuine interest into who she was gave her some hope that the life she originally wanted could still be available. It was that mix of feelings, whether she followed her new life motto she'd worked so hard for, or to go back to what she secretly always wanted that contradicted it. This all started to unfold as the event went on which I didn't originally expect. It was very fun to see how it developed, being instinctive and spontaneous with decisions gave me a chance to really let go and have fun. Not overly pre planning allowed for things to happen/emotions/character decisions that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
Watching the video back that was taken, I saw that I could have worked more on her physicality. I think the reason being that when I saw how I sat/walked, it resembled more of how I do it normally than a new character. I think working on that physicality, though it may not be exaggerated or big due to being an ordinary person, but it would help with how she would change posture etc. to different reactions or how she was feeling, perhaps giving her that more 3D character.
*Video footage of Speed Dating link below*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E53SZR_7dzU&list=UUMFDVfFL_3pZ5xmNQdjwo4w

Character diary entries

After the exercise of 'character's favourite object' where we had to bring an object that was very close to the character's heart and had a distinctive meaning led to a new side of my character 'Polly'. I chose to have a mug that said 'make do and mend', with being a writer, endless amounts of caffeine to keep away the stress and aid creative juices was a necessity, so a mug seemed an obvious choice. However, as I began to explain the importance of it, I chose to give Polly a much more layered background. Her determination to succeed with being a rebellious 30something can't have come out of no where. So I chose for her to have had a previous long term relationship that ended badly. This then gave her a clear reason and motive to do something about it, to give her career choice a clear purpose and drive. Again it developed that she put alcohol into her mug mixed with her drinks as she continued her day, but brushed over the topic. A hint of a hidden alcoholic maybe? Her determination to pick herself up from her sudden end to what seemed to be a perfect life and break the stereotype as it failed her actually was the thing that she couldn't bare.
I didn't want the choices to be too overdramatic that they took her out of being an ordinary person. But the reason behind it was to make Polly a far more detailed person with all sorts of hidden traits and facts about her, a person isn't simple, life throws up all sorts of cards. And so I thought these decisions made her far more 3D, not being too obvious about her real self, putting on a front like most people do. And as I began to add things to her, it made her far more interesting to play, and hopefully more interesting to talk to and watch.
These decisions then impacted the trip out with the public. Again, I wrote down the experience like a mini monologue:
Well, today I did something different, went to a local supermarket with two ladies I'd only briefly met at night school, hooray. Charlotte and Violet. Both single, instant release of breath, so there wasn't any awkwardness having to be overly chirpy for someone else's blossoming love life. I didn't really go for any particular reason, it was just nice to have a day plan, if that even counts, not stuck in that studio flat surrounded by endless blank pages needing to be filled out. But alas, today provided me with a window of opportunity for my next column. Instead  of continually having to rely on my own choices I can use theirs! Of all the isles to venture down, I knew I had to visit the booze section. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally about not caring of judgement, but that's when I'm in the comfort of my sofa, typing away on the laptop where my actions from the previous night are confined to a single page read by strangers probably on a moving train. But two women you've barely met seeing you increase in desperation to go to the alcohol section at just past 12 could throw up problems I don't want to hear or face. All of a sudden, Violet picks up a bottle of Smirnoff off the shelf, yes, with all the intention of buying it. Relief. Instant relief.
Again, when we were sat in the waiting room before the speed dating commenced, I wrote again Polly's thoughts before it started. I didn't have much time so only a little was written:
Well, here I am, waiting for my speed dating extravaganza to commence. Not entirely sure why I'm here to be honest, had a cracking night last night, running on two hours sleep. Was thinking, maybe this could be a new column? Yes! How to do speed dating half off your face. Oh crap, crap crap crap, bollocks and crap, we're being filmed...

Lonely heart - monologue

This exercise gave us a chance to write a monologue as our characters, about anything we wanted.
Evaluation:
I loved this exercise, as writing is something I really enjoy and hadn't really had a chance to have my own reign of writing a monologue. At first, I found it hard to pick what I would speak about, then I chose her to write a rant to the audience about her having to write another column to her magazine.
Once I'd gotten over the mind set of 'this would sound good, or this flows nicely' and getting into the mind set of my character, it got easier to write and phrases and its tone all started to fit together.

My monologue:
Well, here we are once again, sat in the office chair of rotating endless possibilities and opportunities to broaden the horizons of women hiding in what they believe to be a dark, lonely hole, repeatedly, no doubt with a tone growing ever closer to despair, lingering on the term, or should I say label, 'middle aged'. Urgh. Week after week, I take up the role of fellow middle aged companion, raising my sword of hope and attempting to slice society's stereotypical 30 something with a column or two at the back of a magazine. Probably covered in coffee, discarded under some overweight man's fat arse on the 7.39 to Brighton. I'm determined life can be fun. Waking up disorientated with a man whose face you don't recognise between your legs surrounded by countless empty bottles isn't reckless, why feel bad? No sudden inner turmoil of 'oh crap, I'm a slut' but rather a sense of achievement? I probably enjoyed myself, the room looks like we had fun. So what?

Evaluation:
The writing in the style of the character I found hugely helpful. By choosing a subject close to their heart, I found it increasingly easier to find and form opinions on topics, the choices of words they use and how they sound on paper. It also got me to think like her, with naturalism, the inner monologue is crucial, so having to think what to write down got me back into practicing and reciting that inner monologue. I took this form of writing down thoughts further, when having to get into the character for the speed dating task, I chose to write down her thoughts to help get into character, again, it got me to forget my thoughts and replace them with hers, a great way of focusing and getting fully into character. This worked for me, and I will definitely continue to use it in the future, and possibly think of ways to develop it in some form.

Lonely Heart Character Creation

Creating my lonely heart character has been really fun so far, the opportunity to have my own say over a whole character, being able to invent everything about them has allowed me to start being creative with no restrictions.
I chose the ad 'I like my men like my kebabs, found by surprise on a drunken night out covered in too much tahini. In not long from now I will have discarded you onto the pavement on life, but for now, you're a perfect complement to a perfect evening.'
Originally, I created this character to be a complete party-goer who wanted to live recklessly. But then as we had to answer loads of questions to their history, I found that there could be a lot more to this character than what is on the surface.
From the questions she became a mid thirties single woman, never had a long term relationship, a couple's counsellor who lived on her own in a studio flat and loved a drink.
Evaluation:
The background writing, even if it did take a long time, made us really delve into our characters past, then what came out of it would shape how they acted in the present day. Learning about their history would help us with how we would react to people/situations/places, and makes people 3D instead of 2D. People are always far more complicated and have many layers to their personalities than they let on, which is how this then developed my character to a deeper level.
I found that her being a couples counsellor didn't really fit with the rest of her, so I changed her profession to a writer, but a writer for a magazine. Changing her profession led to the development of her again, I chose her to write for a magazine that was hardly known, where her column is just from the back page where the prospects of admitting she was a failed writer were too close to bear. She would have to have a purpose to write, and I chose, with her being a single 30 something, that she would write to aim to be an inspiration to other middle aged single women, that they need not to be ashamed and take life with a pinch of salt.
With each new thing that I found, the questions exercise made me think that each decision I made had to have a reason, and that led to more quirks to my character.

You are enough!

The exercise of writing down all our strengths, what we're good at, what we enjoy and what we think we need to work on was really useful.
To be honest, self evaluation I find quite difficult, so it took me a while to write things down. But as I began to start self evaluating, it started to get easier. When we'd finished, it was great to look back at what I'd written and what others had. It got us to start seeing what other people's strengths were, so when it came to devising work, and working as a company, we would have a better understanding of how to work efficiently together.
Also, by having our individual sheets allows us to regularly look back at them, seeing if we have improved on any points, write new ones, and add new strengths or skills that we've acquired over the course.
Being a self-evaluation task helped me start to think more analytically, and was a good introduction to start evaluating myself in lessons/exercises etc. where hopefully it'll become easier as well as more helpful.