Performance Blogs- Peter Pan

06/11/23 To begin this academic term, we were tasked with the responsibility for partaking in the first section of a three part audition process for our upcoming Christmas musical at another local theatre and cinema: ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- which was the acting segment of the process being during today’s session; when I auditioned for the female protagonist and eldest of Darling children; Wendy Darling, when she first encounters Peter Pan whilst fully awake, instead of believing him to be a dream. Within this audition I made sure to account for Wendy’s emotions including, yet not limited to- her childlike wonder and her inclinations of her first love: which is a common theming throughout the play- which I hope to bring light to, if I am honoured enough to play this role; I also managed to bring these feelings into aspects such as her physicality with how she floats across the room whilst talking to Peter- as if to keep up with his frantic notions. To add to the world building, and to have me immerse myself within the world, I had brought in a pillow and a duvet to act as a bed- as a guideline of a set in order to immerse me further into the world of the Darling household; which was highly beneficial in regards to the audition process as a whole- I believe this new format has been the most enlightening aspect of this experience thus far: each auditioning group had a separate panel randomly selected to judge and assess their acting which is one of the most common way actors are usually chosen from a large selection- which I believe promote fairness, and reduces- if not, diminishes- complaints, in regards to casting through this technique.

07/11/23 To continue with the auditioning process, those auditioning for the parts of Peter Pan, Wendy Darling and Captain James Hook, were selected to perform an array of scenes- which shows the chemistry between the characters; in which I was selected to perform in two scenes with two different sets of actors: one to perform my audition piece once again from the previous audition process the day prior, and the other being a scene from the end of the play, in which Wendy had no lines- however was present throughout the scene, and relied on her reaction to ensure her character’s presence, which allowed me to involve myself within the world of the character without having to stress on my vocal performance within this point of the audition process. Later into today's session, we began to draft rough groups of those who would make up the ensemble- we're not playing their ‘major’ roles within the show; the next logical aspect within my acting career was to act as a Brave Girl- a pocket of girls within the mystic world of Neverland- that rely heavily on the use of physicality and choreography, which gave me another aspect of the show to think about as to involve myself further within the process.

08/11/23 Within today’s session, we finished both the second- and third- round of auditions for our Christmas musical feature of ‘Peter Pan’; the first of these two sessions being that of a dance audition- to our most rehearsed and refined song to date,  that being the Lost Boys closing number of; ‘We're Going Home’- usually I struggle quite severely with physicality- and any form of movement in choreography- as a result of my poor coordination, however I feel through the means of characterization, I was able to demonstrate the fundamentals of this dance- albeit with a few mistakes- in order to connote the fundamentals of Wendy Darling through movement. Continuing the audition process, we summarised the day with the vocal section; I sang the beginning phrases of Wendy’s solo piece, titled ‘Peter’, which I believe has been an aspect of my audition which has been the furthered removed from my character; despite the vocal clarity and quality of my performance, I feel it was demonstrably evident that my voice was too mature to play such a gentle, childlike character- indicating that there may be another role within the show with can take themes of motherhood which may suit me better, such as the mother of the Darling children- Mrs Mary Darling.

09/11/23 Throughout the duration of today’s session, we were relayed feedback on our extra curriculum playwright task for the ‘National Theatre: New Views’, nationwide competition- when a member of the National Theatre, within this case being a woman called Tess, will read our singular act plays and will assess the literacy behind them; including my play titled ‘Happy Now?’, following the story of a child who lives within a reality that makes everyone a caricature of happiness after she takes the incorrect medication. Tess’ feedback was imperative to developing my play; not only did she help verbalise ideologies which I struggled to implement fully into the show, she also helped to steer the plays ending away from the niche and cruel demise of death- not every story needs a heart wrenching ending, which I feel doesn’t fit the themes of the story.

13/11/23 Within today’s session, we received the cast list for our Christmas musical, being displayed at a larger theatre and cinema within our local community, the Arc, titled ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- in which our tutor decided on a more personal approach on telling those their roles, by taking people individually to explain the reasoning for their roles, which felt more genuine and reassuring, rather than the daunting task for all involved, including my tutor, of a long list of names next to characters to the entire cast at once. I was selected to play the character of Mrs Darling, not only to ease me into romantic chemistry within a stage setting, but to also given an opportunity to lean into the themes of motherhood, which I believe to be the perfect choice within my acting journey.

14/11/23 Within today’s session, we began to officially embark on our rehearsal process for our Christmas musical feature in our partner theatre of ‘Arc Stockton’- via the process of beginning to rehearse the large extent within the show, from start to finish, in order to develop harmonies and to fill out songs which may have not been covered before, such as reprises; this process only required me for a singular song- the opening number titled ‘The Darlings’. This song follows the story of Mr Darling’s struggle to prepare himself for his and Mrs Darling’s (myself) dinner reservation, because of his lack of capabilities when tying ties- which I promptly fix within my solo verse, which then transitions the song into a showcase of the Darling household and their way of life- which I believe works within the vocals of the song being quite jovial, with the exemption of the stress of the actors playing Mr Darling; for the aspects of a first run through, I believe the family dynamics and vocals pair together to a moderate extent thus far, I just hope to push these ideologies further as rehearsals continue.

15/11/23 Today’s session marked the beginning on the physical focus on the stagecraft of our Christmas production of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- the ensemble Lost Boy elements were the first to be brought to focus, leading to me being given an opportunity to work on my solo vocal section within the show at my own pace, in order to experiment with the tonality of the character without the distractions nor time constraints whilst working within my individual families which led to obscene amounts of progress within such a shirt amount of time- I was able to improve upon my general vocal technique, growing in confidence to adjust into a head chest belt on higher sections, rather than fully relying on my head voice, which I believe will help with the weight of the noted switching too quickly within segments.

16/11/23 Within today’s session, I began to study the ensemble workings of my fellow cast mates, whilst not having the facilities nor members within my scenes to continue with vocal work within this current state; I rather watched the workings of the Lost Boy ensemble segments from the prior day, and made note of the choreography, in order to fill in if needed at a later date; in the absence of a Lost Boy, I now have the basic knowledge in order to delve into the dance, without ruining the weight of the current cast in either side of the stage.

21/11/23 Within today’s session, discussions within the production aspect of the show went underway, for our Christmas production of our seasonal performance of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- mainly focusing in that of costume for characters, most specifically our ensemble roles; in spite of this, I lack an ensemble role, as I am tasked with playing Mrs Darling in all three casted shows- this led me to involving and helping the Brave Girls ensemble group- the feminist empowered replacement of the racially controversial ‘Indians’ within the traditional adaptation- which included recommending thing costume attributes between members without deriving from their characters; the conclusion came to brightly coloured camouflage cargo trousers, to show their more feminine traits whilst also showing their fighting prowess.

22/11/23 Throughout today’s session, I began to indulge within my own production role; that being of operating sound cues within our Christmas production of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- with a pairing of previously experienced students (Sophia and Elliott) that have worked within our college funded venues to work on the technological segments within pieces of theatre; the piece of equipment we needed to operate, however, differed greatly from the outdated sounding systems within our college facilities- we were granted access to the Q-Labs programming software, which complied all sound cues for the show into one simple interface, where they could be trimmed and began and finished at any inclination you choose- which would help with adjusting tracks which need sever changes, such as the Brave Girls introduction number within the show, which must be adjusted to fit more narrative fitting lyricism.

23/11/23 Within today’s session, I was- once again- tasked with working independently on my segments within of Christmas musical production of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’; within this session, I had decided to derive my efforts into the non-vocal elements, and rather extended my attention onto the lines which my character says throughout the duration of the play- in order to make progress towards my goal of being entirely off script by the time we transition to our off-campus rehearsal space within the local area- being ‘Bobby Dazzlers Dance School’. I made monumental progress, leaving me to no longer be reliant on my script for the majority of my first sequence, whilst knowing most lines verbatim to the original script- I can on,y hope this sticks with me to the transition to the new facilities next week.

27/11/23 Within the first session within our new facilities off campus, we began to look into the stagecraft of the opening of the show, imperatively focusing on the first Darlings scene- which we have yet had a chance to rehearse as a full cast within our previous sessions whilst on our college campus- within the ‘Faith’ cast of our ‘Faith, Trust and Pixiedust’ casting lineups for our Christmas production of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- which led to a demonstrable issue; most cast members, who have higher priorities within other segments of the show, had failed to attempt to participate within this scene off script, most notably that of the actor whom plays Mr Darling- Will- failing to, which severely stated our chemistry and onstage connection as a whole, drastically bringing the scene down; whilst I don’t blame my fellow peer for this, as he has been tasked with playing two characters within this one show (the other being the infamous pirate sidekick Mr Smee), it still felt as though my previous efforts were lessened, as a result.

28/11/23 Throughout today’s session, we continued our session revolving around the focal point of the beginning scene in which is set within the Darling family household, however turning the perspective onto that of our ‘Trust’ and ‘Pixiedust’ casts respectfully, in order to prepare for our Christmas performance of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’, which be showcasing within our largest local theatre and cinema group; this session contained a large variety of positives and negatives- we began our rehearsals with our ‘Pixiedust’ casting, as this cast would be the next cast to perform, following the performance of the ‘Faith’ cast the prior day- and the results were of lesser quality than that of our previous day of rehearsals- with only myself within the scene being off script entirely- which left the scene feeling highly jaunty and out me in a difficult position to act off if anybody’s chemistry when they were all glued to their scripts- especially with my my husband within the show, it challenges me greatly to create a convincing bind when your scene partner isn’t fully immersed within the scene themselves. However, when transitioning into the ‘Trust’ cast of our performance, my hope was restored within the scenes- as the difference in which all cast mates being primarily off script can impact the quality of the scene- I was able to focus on my stage partner and my my own relationship, which finally gave me energy to be able to full reciprocate and bounce off of, which was relieving- however this has taught me that I too have improvements which could be made within my own performance, such as my stagecraft- most specifically, adapting it to adjust to cast mates stagecraft, in order to avoid blocking them.

29/11/23 Throughout the duration of today’s session, I began to independently evaluate my performance as a whole, as to also continue my progress within my knowledge of the script; I moved onto Mrs Darling’s final scene, when the Darling children return, in order to be fully have no reliance on the script when we continue to block this scene with our tutors- this proved a challenge, as the phrasing within the first sequence of this final sequence was so similar to one another, that it was hard to discern each phrase from each other, leading to most phrasing being out of order- however I feel this will improve with the prompts of the other characters within the scene.

30/11/23 Within today’s session, a cast from our triage of companies was randomly selected to perform a full run of the entire performance, in order to view the current cast selected within its current state (whilst this notion did not affect my own personal performance, as I am Mrs Darling in all the casts within the larger company, it still led to large tension through my peers)- and the ‘Pixiedust’ cast was selected, which was my previously most worrying cast to rehearse my scene- which, unfortunately, carried into this performance; perhaps as a result of nerves, however everyone felt disconnected from the performance within my beginning scene, most notably the actor playing Mr Darling and the actress playing Wendy Darling- both actors heavy reliance on script and prompt drained most sustenance from the scene, leading to a very desaturated and cluttered opening, which led to my character suffering as a result.

04/12/23 Within today’s session, we continued with our ‘Pixiedust’ run throughout the show, leading to my first performance of the final sequence, including all those included within the final sequence; despite the sequences freshness to all those involved, including myself- the stagecraft was the only factor that may have made the final product seem unpolished- most queues within the cast were met with precision: although scripts were still prevalent, the sight reading portrayed through the cast made the performance feel more energised, which gave me a fair opportunity to develop my character within the scene- which allowed me to focus on my own character within the scene without feeling removed. Once this run was finished, we continued forward to the ‘Faith’ company of this production, from the very beginning to the finale; this gave me another opportunity to rehearse my opening sequence- which saw ample improvement from the first rehearsal within this specific cast- especially in regards to the chemistry between myself and my stage partner: he has made improvements to immerse himself within the character- despite relying in prompts in some places of the performance, nobodies own performance was derived as a result, which led me to focus on other aspects within the performance, such as my use of stagecraft, and small aspects of my physicality, which I feel could be made more gentle, rather than stern and brash.

05/12/23 Within today’s session, we continued and concluded our performance of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’, from the ‘Faith’ company, in preparation for the opening performance of our Christmas production; this led to the opportunity that I could rehearse the ending segment once again, with the chance to develop this challenging scene within this cast- which proved challenging, as a result of personal factors I was facing at that current moment in time in relations to my health, which, unfortunately, subtracted from my immersion within the characters, leading to the performance feeling more deprived, which I feel immense guilt for, as my fellow actors and audience members had a lessened experience as a result of my inability to focus; this ailment continued further into the session, when we began our final run through within our selection of companies- with the ‘Trust’ cast being the final cast to perform. Despite this, within this performance, I felt slightly more connected to the character during this performance, in direct parallel to my previous performance from today- whilst still ailing the quality of the performance, I believe that the performance was of a moderate standard, regarding the circumstances- however my ,ack of concentration left margin for simple error, such as lines being occasionally dropped, however I believe this was situational, and should not be a reoccurring theme within the official performance. 

06/12/23 Throughout the duration of today’s session, we concluded our final run through of our ‘Trust’ companies interpretation of our Christmas production of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’; giving me an ample opportunity to redeem my lacklustre performance due to my personal reasoning from our session the previous day- which I feel I managed to salvage my characterisation within this performance- whilst cast members were still not entirely cemented of this section, we managed to congregate together and create a decent finale to a long and tiring play to perform. In spite of this, I still feel there is opportunity to improve within my own performance, including when the Lost Boys are introduced to my character- making it so my stagecraft allows me to engage with these characters more, in opposition to just staying stationary with my biological family on the far side of the stage.

07/12/23 Within today’s session, we marked our final rehearsal opportunity before we transfer to our partner theatre hosting our Christmas performance of ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- which consisted on polishing, primarily, ensemble scenes- such as the ample fight sequences throughout the performance; this gave me an opportunity to rehearse my own segments entirely independently, in order to ensure that all my lives and choreography is cemented, and prepared for the transfer to yet another new space, which will detriment the stagecraft further, if these issues of changing spaces aren’t address before the transfer- which I believe I executed in a way I am satisfied to develop once in the space.