Final Performance!!!!!

All our hard work and determination was finally worth it, we managed to produce a beautiful piece of theatre that contained not so nice themes. I think the whole class should be proud of both themselves and each other as they have managed to take on such a mature play of great importance.

I don’t really remember much else if I am completely honest; my nerves seemed to have gotten the best of me and somehow must have managed to eat away at my memory as last night was merely a blurred dream for me.

Nonetheless I must reflect and I must say, even now after we have performed the piece and although I am not intentionally doing so, the play is still unfolding in my head and my understanding has totally plummeted through the roof. For instance it wasn’t until I was just about to go on stage last night that I realized the full extent of my characters objective and although I had thought of it a lot, it was only then that I though of it in depth and noticed its importance.

 

I mean having a characters objective helped a lot and made it easy for me to always keep in my mind what my character wanted. This then meant that I could combine what Sephy 'wanted' into the lines. For instance knowing that Sephy wanted Callum to tell her that he loved her made my voice sometimes seem more desperate, whilst other times when my voice was raised, almost angry like, it was because he wasn't telling her the one thing she desired. And it’s only now that I realize that it takes the whole scene just for Sephy to comprehend that she doesn't even need Callum to literally tell her that he loves her because she knows that no words could express the kind of love that he has for her and visa versa. 

I defiantly think that I will never again do a performance without using character objective because I can see how much is has benefited my scene and how I have developed a learning to develop the mindset of my character. I did this by going into so much depth about the scene and then by using that information to make links with what I as a character wanted to get out of the scene (be it in the text or in the subtext). Now that I know how to do this, hopefully next time I will be able to make the links quicker and then have more time to gather extra information about my character.

With regards to my main term target I believe that I managed to perform a naturalistic performance in an abstract manor. For example, the fact that the scene was mirrored was quite abstract and unusual (hopefully unique) however the actual acting side of the piece was as realistic as we could manage to be. I sometimes find it difficult knowing whether I am showing my facial expressions enough or whether I am being over the top as I try to make my expressions clear but in a naturalistic way. I also believe that I stayed professional (even though my Father did his very best to distract me) and I managed to carry out the relationship between Sephy and Callum in the way that I hoped it to be performed.

The overall performance was great, Benji gave me loads of energy and so I could bounce off of that energy and reflect it back to him. We were both defiantly in moment and got lost at a particular part but both carried on, improvising in our own way but the audience seem oblivious and really interested at the emotions that were being spilled in the scene. In face I forgot the audience were even there, it was just Benji and I,  Callum and Sephy…until the door screeched (or something did) but I just ignored it and carried on, as if it were one of my siblings.

Three actors that stood out for me tonight were Jamie, Roseby and Jake, as for the two girls I wasn’t actually sure whether either of them were actually crying at one point which really shocked and confused me in a good way. I wasn’t expecting it and the emotion came out of the blue which was exactly what I was hoping for after watching the play in the rehearsals repeatedly. Jake on the other hand really managed to get into his character and didn’t portray himself; he portrayed his character and pronounced most words with articulation which really impresses me.

I managed to incorporate quite a few gestures which I’m quite proud of because I have been trying to nail gestures for weeks now and I guess it finally paid off because I managed to do it. Although my strengths were probably my facial expressions as both my parents and a few other parents gave me positive feedback about them. Overall I had loads of fun with amazing actors and managed to convey a clear and important message to the audience, which meant that I did my job as an actor, so I am extremely proud of myself, my peers and my supportive directors.

If I could do the performance again I think I would be less nervous and just trust myself more because now I know I can do it, and I know that I have a team of supportive actors. So next time I would just go for it, and try my best as always.