heres a simple equation:

Theatre = Life.  - Olivia Miller

'nough said.

Reflection

So here we are. The end of first semester of Theatre Lab!! In these few months, our class really has come along way and learned quite alot. I think taking this class means alot to me because as a senior I have been committed to theatre all four years at Pingree and now I am finally getting the chance to tie in everything I have learned. This course was alot different than the previous classes I have taken with Barbara and the difference proved to be an eye opener for me! First off we got the chance to study all aspects of theatre- not just acting- but tech, directing, and even some playwriting. We started the year with acting and I remember reading that exert about silence or working on a scene from The Glass Menagerie and learning the importance of the script. Then with Matt we studied the elements of set, lighting, sound, and costume and how each element makes ( or breaks) a show. We watched videos like the Cirque Du Solei documentary or the french performers on the rolling platforms to expose our selves to other, unique and abstract forms of theatre. I really enjoyed watching the french ensemble because although we could not understand them, through their use of technicial elements like set design and sound the storyline was very universaly clear. We then started to work on generating material for our production for Drama Fest ( or our own theatre festival!) and thats when the kids and monsters were born. Our journey with them has taken us from bad self help books and our self help lists, to telling stories about childhood fears to the class while they lay on stage with their eyes closed. The development of the characters from the short scenes we created in class, writing bios, and brainstorming ideas for possible performance all helped us transform our orginal ideas from day 1 with our monsters/kids to where we are now.

This is all a rough sketch of what we have done- I left out the short scenes we performed for grandparents day isnpired by the same text we were all given to the class where we sat outside and listened to each other's monologues from Menagerie. There was so much packed into this year, that I wish I had done a better job of keeping up with my journal to record all that I have learned. It is too much to sit down and write about everything I took away from T.Lab but I will say this- It has opened my eyes in ways I wasnt sure were possible. For example, my experience with directing- while very brief- has sort of inspired me. I really liked having the artistic license to help guide the actors into creating something we all were proud of. I learned how hard of a job it is to direct- not to over direct an actor or try and act it out myself- and how much leadership it takes. Being prepared and ontop of everything is tiring especially for me, because having to be the one who is supposed to have all the answers or even all the props is tiring. I got lazy being an actor- and I respect and appreciate all that a director must do before, during, and after the production. Also, I had to have a strong, clear vision in my mind before I shared it with the actors so that they were on board with me was tough. Challenging as it was, getting the chance to be a director has made me consider the possibilites. Arthur and I are excited about possibly directing our own show for our senior project and who knows, maybe I want to pursue directing in college!

The days of "Softserve: The musical" and playing pass the severed head are long gone but the memories are still here. ( oh gosh that was cheesy! ick) Seriously though, the lessons learned and the memories gained are priceless. T.Lab 2010- its been real.

the big day!!

My last post which was super long and fabulous got deleted : /
But I will report on how today's performances of our scenes went!
MLK day turned out to be a snowy, icky day and our speaker was caught in a ton of traffic so he was delayed. So during our break I was told, you guys are actually performing NOW. Classic theatre moment of pure panic, excitment and nerves! Before Arthur, Kate, and Jake went on stage I told them a few things. One- to listen to each other, and remember that they have to work together as an ensemble. Two- to PROJECT and don't let the laughter cover your lines. Three- to go out there and have FUN and enjoy themselves. Once we preset all of Arthurs props- the first time we ever used some of them- and I ran and got my script we were ready to begin. All of the scenes went well today and all the actors used our franticness as good performance energy. When it was time for our scene, I was sure they would surprise me. And they did! Arthur did wonderfully with his props and using his body. Kate and Jake fed off each other and really supported one another up there which was great to see. And all three of them, felt the audiences energy and used that to keep in the moment. I was so proud watching them up there, because they looked and felt confident and I TOLD THEM they would do great! I could tell they were digging the laughter they were getting, and fueled them to keep going till the end. They didnt forget the awkward moments though and had some moments of genuine listening and reaction. I think they worked hard and even though I would have loved more time to work, since our scene was long, they came a long way.

Today afterwards lots of people came up to me and said great job on the scene and it made me feel so proud of the work we had done. I responded by saying, it was all the actors! Maybe I staged it and helped them with acting choices but all the character work was 100% generated by them. I was impressed with the amount of script work we did that showed when I asked them questions about their character and they had really thoughtful and interesting answers. They deserved a good performance! Seeing and hearing their peers praise them afterwards seemed to give them confidence that they all have potential and should continue to keep acting!

Directing 101

We left our monster/kid work behind for next semester I assume and moved on to our small scenes written by my playwriting class. I got the chance to be a director!! Theres a first time for everything, so my challenege was to take Alex Sweetser's scene "Awkward Much" and help direct Arthur, Jake, and Kate to peform in the theatre concert and MLK day. I think the challenge is that we have the longest scene and lots of work to do and it feels like not enough time! Barbara gave me a big responsiblity to help my actors, who are all pretty new to acting actually, with developing characters and feeling and looking more natural onstage. I started off the process with what I know best and what Barbara has taught me to do, script anaylsis. We went through and broke the text down into chunks, moments, shifts, etc so they would feel less overwhelemed by the large scene. Then I had them make lists of facts they got from the script and then ivention and imagination they developed from those facts. The next step was to have them do a line by line anaylisis, where they thought of action verbs and intention for each line. Once all this was done we started some rough staging and set work. The process has been tough for me because I have that terrible acting tendency in me where I want to just jump onto stage and show them how I would do it rather than explain it. So I fight that urge and do another techqinue I have observed from my experience which is ask questions that will guide them to good acting choices. Also I left the staging pretty basic so they could play with it and feel free to act on impulse.The troubles with this is they dont seem to use that freedom. When we ran through it, in front of Barbara they were so intent on remembering their lines ( they have done a pretty good job by the way!) that they forgot about their movements. I think my next challenge is to get them to start listening and reacting. Last time I sat them down and we went through and I made them think of an action verb for each of the 9 chunks and to try and convey that action strongly. I think it helped a little bit, along with the notes I gave them- like Arthur using his body more and no nerdy accent and Kate and Jake making dilerbrate eye contact at moments and looking away at others. I hope that I can keep losening them up and trying to get them to work more moment to moment, because I feel like they still see the scene as a whole and arent relishing in the tiny moments of comedy or drama. We dont have much time which scares me because there is so much I want to do with them and work on individal sections and make them really strong because I think the scene has a ton of potentional. I am proud of where these three have come and I want to keep guiding them in the right direction and to be proud of what they have acomplished. I think getting them to feel comfortable and confident up there when they peform is the ultimate goal as a director. I have had so many ideas and alot of my techniques are ones that I have been taught and tried myself, but to actually be the one in charge is somewhat daunting. They look to me for the answers and sometimes I dont have all of them! I didnt think that directing would as hard as it is because in order to lead others in your vision, you have to be clear in that vision yourself. I think that with more time and more acting excercises, our group could really get somewhere in this performance. They all are eager and willing to try new things and I am so thankful that they trying their very best. Now I just want them to try not for me or for Barabara or Matt, or their friends and family, but simply for themselves. The best reward they can get from acting is feeling acomplishment and confidence in themselves because they have worked hard and they deserve it!

Where we are now...

It's been awhile since I last wrote! Ive been so busy, in theatre lab and outside, that its been hard to keep track. But LOOK OUT FOR MY WRAPUP VIDEO. It will rival Olivia's video diary!!
But for now I am going to record as much progress as I can since I last wrote.
In regards to our monster/kid work we split into groups and tried to brainstorm and write down our ideas for possible performances. One of my groups had an amazing idea which I think we should definatley use!
   The scene starts with a black stage and a single spotlight on Emily's monster on a stool. T-bone ( Jake) comes from the shadows and starts his interagration/monologue about the kid monster war. He is trying to figure out how it started and how to get back Sara( me) who was taken by the monsters. Then the rest of the performance is snipits of the past showing how kids came to fear monsters. We matched up each kid to a monster and started to think of situations of how the monsters turned evil. We didnt get to brainstorm many yet but when we return to this we will work it all out. The ending is still unclear, but we want to end up with that same intergation scene and maybe a possible saving of Sara!