Evaluation- Ghost Light Tour

   Throughout the duration of the course, I have had the privilege to expand on my acting range and portray a range of numerous characters form different backgrounds, with different goals and ambitions; every role has been a challenge used to fuel my abilities as a training actor- the role of Ineda Clue in our second year of our horror promenade immersive theatre piece for a local partner theatre Stockton Globe Theatre is no exception- whilst I have portrayed the role of a tour guide within this style of performance, this years interpretations has wrought a fresh new set of challenges: we were not only required to use our devising skills developed from the previous year to write our own segment in order to audition, I was also challenged to play the character suited for a younger audience of primary school attendees- leaving me to fathom a balance between the horror aspect and the limit in which a younger child could handle the intended impact could not leave the audience members too uncomfortable, otherwise this could risk the entire performance feeling tarnished and unsafe for the younger, vulnerable audience members (whilst the horror was still vital to the essence of this performance, my job within my role was act as a control variable to accommodate to younger minds and create a lower stakes environment)- this created a much more complex overarching goal for my character throughout this performance in juxtaposition to last year, which seemed to have less boundaries, however these boundaries within different types of performance create the immersion that is necessary without creating too heavy ambience, which subsequently gave me more depth to understand my role within my show, as well as my character. In addition to this overarching goal, Ineda Clue experiences her own unique set of situational objectives which enhance her character, such as her aid in helping younger audience members to find clues that helped to solve the impending word riddle (which gave the children motivation to peruse through the experience), as well as her devised interactions with other actors, such as her associate, Jean Ius- who was portrayed by a first year actor, which lead to an extended challenge of keeping to their pace- and their assistants, Johnnie Walker and Casey Closed- adding an extensive cast to the touring aspect of the tour. In regards to the character’s progression and development, I believe the audience were able to digest the character of Ineda Clue without much over complication- Clue is a eccentric, yet the more collected of the time travelling pairing that is my character and that of Jean Ius- I feel the body language which I utilised throughout this performance helped to enhance this specifically; whilst Clue isn’t as sporadic within movement unlike her counterpart, I still made a point to give her a physical attribute to show her experiences and the more unique quirks of her personality- I made it a point with my character to lead my body with my shoulders, not only to show the knowledge that Clue holds on the subjects that were imbedded within the show, but to also to construe emphasis on her presence as a safe figure, one who is clearly outlined as a more approachable actor as oppose to the brash movements of other actors, including those of Jean Ius themselves- I made this creative decision in order to bolden the characters objectives and purpose within the show in a way that the children within the audience would be able to understand without feeling the character is too washed out, as I feel a level of desaturation would have completely derived from not only my own performance, but also my peers performances as well- which I believe was executed well to a certain extent, however when actually executing this ideology within live performance, specific intentions get lost in the rush of all the scenes that happen- I feel I could’ve made more of a point to perhaps saturate my performance higher so that Clue wouldn’t seem as lost within the audience as she was; though not the ideal creative experience, it has given me a valued lesson on enlarging my character to move with the size of the space, even from room to room.

  Despite this, I believe my vocal performance was an aspect of this performance that I believe was successful for the circumstances of the performances- vocal projection was an imperative aspect of the process once performing in front of a live, large audience of stimulated children, as volume could easily be lost, as well as the weight the words would carry- henceforth the focus I had whenever I had an opportunity to speak was crucial to cementing a form of presence for the audiences; which I believe was a highlight within my performance- every word within the show was articulated with precision and clearness, in order for audiences members regardless of factors could coherently follow the story being presented, and so that every child had an equal opportunity to indulge in the performance as each other, and that no event within the show was brushed past them, without them realising; the only improvement I could continue to improve is the nuances of the character throughout my vocal performance- although I don’t believe it subtracted from the performance, I am adamant it could have brought a lot of more, and gave Clue a more memorable vocal affliction to make her voice as bright as I wish I construed the feast of her personality. In my personal opinion, the aspect of Clue that had her personality translated the most coherently, as briefly mentioned previously, was the physicality- though subtle with how her body is lead across the many spaces of the theatrical space, I believe that this aspect of the character was best digestible by the audiences within small mannerisms- for most of the show, I wanted Clue to feel as relatable to the audience as possible as such a pivotal role, and I feel this approach kept me down to earth enough for them to feel comfortable with me walking alongside them, whilst seeing me as someone who is still linked to the performance without feeling as intimidated- in some circumstance, Clue’s smaller presence in juxtaposition to that of Jean Ius, and even that of Johnnie Walker added a level of contrast that felt natural to indulge into Clue through this chemistry- it gave more of an organic dynamic to experiment with, rather than having an even scale; I feel it gave the performance more texture, which elevated both mine and my peer’s acting. This, however, was not the only physical attributes to my character which elevated my performance- I feel my positioning within this performance perfectly elevates and compliments that of my peers, through a much more complimentary approach, as appose to a larger personality- linking to my goals for this year to work with a lot more actors as supporting roles, in juxtaposition to a smaller cast as a larger role- I mainly utilised Clue’s more approachable and, in aspects, more reclusive presence to act as a crowd control nearer the end of the crowd, to ensure the performance can continue- not only did this help the logistics of the performance as a whole, this also increased opportunity for more audience interaction, as well peer interaction, leading to further character development- which helped me lean into certain aspects of Clue that I would consider more eccentric with my peers; it would have been more conventional to make this more apparent to the audience, however this is in regards to my unfortunate desaturation of the character past the limits I had hoped.

  To further develop on my character’s relationships within this performance, I feel my connection with my fellow cast mates amplified the tone of the piece, whilst also leading each member of the ensemble cast, including the central touring leaders, to have a heightened character experience; everybody’s characters worked as well as they did within the piece as a direct result of the chemistry between each character- each member of the cast intertwined with another in some form within the show, and within the character of Clue, she gets ample opportunity to integrate with fellow cast mates throughout the entirety of the show through many styles of performance, including traditional stage segments, such as the musical segment of Jack the Ripper’s victims, as well the live execution of those who were found guilty for their crimes; whilst the tour guides rarely interact one to one with the acts through time, I believe that reactions through character alone were enough to support actors whom were essentially performing for the younger audience. This aspect within the performance highly posed a challenge for me, however- it was difficult to feel so subtracted from the scenes and felt I was just stealing space from my peers, due to my own weaker characterisation; however this did not subtract from my peers performance- it is, again, rather something that could have added a lot more- which is unfortunate to admit, however it is imperative to note this for future amplification of my skill within my own craft, not only for myself, but for the quality of performance for my fellow actors I share the space with: ensemble work is one of my challenges present within this academic year, and I feel I could’ve reached for more in order to achieve this in order to better the experience for the audience and my fellow actors alike. However, these weaknesses are detriment so some poorly executed artistic choices I had made within the character of Ineda Clue- the desaturation of my character in order to let already larger than life characters dominate the space was a poor decision on my part which I feel left very little to be imagined about my character; whilst it aided the performers around me, I felt sacrificing such an interesting character in order to amplify characters which I feel could have potentially benefitted more to someone who matches close their energy was a choice which I would be demonstrably foolish to repeat in future projects. In spite of this, I feel that in what was portrayed within the live performances, and that wasn’t too subtle to be unnoticed; for example, I had always wanted  Clue to be the more levelheaded of the two; a voice of reason between two people with little to no reasoning for their ambitions to travel through history- a subversion of the audiences expectations of a classical partnership of detectives whence one is overwhelmingly more intellectual than the other- both Clue and Jean are what a normative audience would consider to have loose screws within their mental state due to both of their quite unpredictable behaviours, yet due to matter of circumstance, they are the most normative people to lead them through a domain of insanity- from a character who was nothing more than a blueprint for a basic child’s entertainer with an obscure name, to craft them into someone linking with post-modern sci-fi, as well as the caricature of detectives made infamous by Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as their own individual being; it truly shows the progress from this time in my previous academic year, and how my knowledge of world building and improvising has significantly heightened my abilities as an actor permanently.

  In denouement, I believe this performance was a significant turning point within my journey as an actor, teaching me that it’s perfectly acceptable to struggle to enjoy a performance once reflection, and seeing the many flaws- as long as they are learning points, not a point to wallow on- and although a great length away from my goals before the end of this academic year (there is much to reflect and improve before I believe I am prepared for a university level continuation of my acting career), the prospects I must focus on for my next project is to sustain character depending on the atmosphere of the scene- our next project has an array of larger characters, yet I feel characters within these categories who are constantly large won’t aid me within this mission; a smaller character whom of which has moments where their true character can shine would be a benefit to myself, such as a more gentle character: for example, Wendy Darling.