TASK FIVE: Evaluation of Performance- Ghost Light Tour

  From the first day of trying to come up with phobias we could incorporate into our ideas, to my final performance, I have loved the journey that this project has taken me on from beginning to end. I feel this project was highly effective to start my year here as it really brought me out of my comfort zone while exploring one of my passions- horror. This is evident through my development of my character from the audition process to the actual performance- and how I started to channel that confidence into the classroom in general- when auditioning for Mrs Chadwick, I wanted an opportunity to show that I had the ability to interact with an audience effectively and truly invest them into the story that was being told; which initially posed as a weak-point for me- a notable example of this was my actual audition, which I feel, now reflecting on it after my performance, could be greatly improved (I originally froze up before starting my audition piece, which is still a key area for me as a performer- letting my initial fears at the beginning of a performance hinder my confidence for the first segment of a piece, not to mention how overly stale and non-conversational I delivered my piece, my fixation on trying to perfect the story in the end reduced the quality of my storytelling- which was the core of the audition, in my opinion). Despite this- later in the audition- after I had received a draft of the script, I felt I could connect with the character of Mrs Chadwick, up to the point where I became so lost in the character, the storytelling aspect became for naturalistic for me, which I believe led to me getting the part of Mrs Chadwick. 

  In the lead up to the performance, I faced many obstacles in being able to fully articulate the character of Mrs Chadwick within my performance- some of these obstacles remaining for the entirety of the time I played the character, which are points which I must work on as an actor after the performance. One of these obstacles was the space in which me and the cast rehearsed; since the actual tour was a sight specific piece, and we could not get access to the building until the day of our performance, it was a struggle for me and my cast members to get a clear outlook on the blocking, which led to complications for me and the other actors playing the tour guides, as it was quite hard adapting how much improvisation we would need to do between scripted sections of the tour. Speaking of improvisation, that was another aspect of the rehearsals which I felt was a boundary between a better outcome to my performance- as I researched my character, I found the person whom the character is based off of has very little substance to be found and to mirror to make my performance to seem more authentic and immersive. In addition to this, I found it hard for my character to bounce off of other characters, especially the other tour guides; not only was it easier for the other tour guides to have chemistry together, as they were playing the Lewis Brothers, who were related and would have interacted whilst alive, it was more of a stretch for my character to seamlessly incorporate into that dynamic in a way that would be believable and relatable for an audience. For this problem, however, I had to alter my view of my main dynamic with the Lewis Brothers to a more subjective dynamic with my work, and the runners- having myself fixated on my relations with characters when I was initially aiming for the direction of my character to steer away from being warm enough to create any in work relations at all seemed like a slight waste of time. Despite this path I set up for Mrs Chadwick to go down, development wise, I still found when actually in the theatre and in my costume, I could adjust to the environment in such a way that I could show that Mrs Chadwick was mainly cold and headstrong by just her relations to the audience, and still had room for playful interactions with the other tour guides. This not only helped improve the immersive nature of the piece, as it actually connected a key point of my character to the presence of the audience, but it also made it more enjoyable to play Mrs Chadwick as a whole- it gave Mrs Chadwick a whole new layer of character where I could play around and make her come across as more playful to other characters, which was a very enriching contrast for me, as it not only strengthened my emotional range, it also made my performance much more believable and gave it a larger impact on the audience, in my opinion- the public seemed to enjoy parts in the tour where I evidently showed this contrast (for example, in the beginning sequence when Mrs Chadwick is introduce I believe I portrayed this very well, as the harsh shouting juxtaposing to her addressing the Lewis Brothers gives an audience an immediate impression of her attitude, and solidifies her as a believable character from the very start).

  Despite my weaknesses from rehearsals being worked on, new problems arisen during the live performances- one key example was the stage scene. After the Vaudeville Performers finished their segment on stage, and we took the tour up on stage, we missed a cue which hindered the entirety of that scene- a whistling sound was supposedly meant to play, signalling for me and the Lewis Brothers to go backstage, giving other cast members- such as the witches- the time to enter without the audience seeing them. On our first show, this cue wasn't played, making Morgan, who played Alfred Lewis, lose track of the part of the scene we were meant to be doing- causing me to panic, and similar to my audition, freeze up. Moving forward, I need to change my approach allow myself the space to improvise my way around it.

  Overall, I believe this performance was highly effective in exploring my character and making the audience invested in my character's journey , while also making the members of the public feel unnerved and intrigued by the very presence of my character. However, in future performances, I feel like I would benefit from working on my improvisation, in order to work around mistakes that me or other cast members may make, without derailing and ruining a scene.