Performance Blogs- SHOUT / Camp Phoenix

10/01/24 Within today's session, we began our academic term with a full company read through of our National Theatre Connections entry piece for this year; titled 'SHOUT', a piece which covers the struggles of a teenager whom has selective mutism- as the story follows her journey through her final year in college, and how she learns to communicate with the people who have surrounded her for most of her life, without always relying on her voice. Within this read through, I became attached to the character of Dana, the protagonist of the story- as I believe it would be a challenge to construe a character's emotions without the use of vocal techniques for some aspects within the performance.

11/01/24 During today's session,  we began preparations  for our upcoming National Theatre Connections piece titled 'SHOUT'; we investigated an aspect of one of the protagonist's pivotal scenes within the show- a scene where the protagonist, Dana, uses the medium of music in order to let go for the first time, verbalising herself to another character within the show for the first time within the show, rather than just speaking to the audience; this activity consisted of the entire company bringing in a pair of headphones and choosing a song they strongly resonate with, in order to experience the same freedom in which Dana feels within that exact moment without judgement- in order to feel this aspect of freedom without judgement, we closed our eyes, in order to keep to ourselves, which I believe broke me out of my shell, in order for me to grow into the surreal environment of the show. After this activity, we began to explore specific scenes within the script in an assortment of groups; my group was selected to do the library scene, a scene which Dana verbalises in front of a large crowd of people for the first time, to the influence of another character within the script- Tristan- which then leads into aspects of physical theatre' which our group struggled with immensely, as we couldn't come to an agreement of a high enough quality that could create the impression of waves, without it seeming too saturated and uninteresting to watch.

15/01/24 Throughout the midst of today's session, we began to study the individual characters in which we would be auditioning for, in order for all those who are auditioning for that character to share their perspective of the character, and how aspects of the character resonate within themselves as people- I joined with all of those interested in the role of Dana, similarly to me, and we began to discuss the concept of selective mutism, and how we have experienced points within our own life when our voices weren't heard- which helped to understand people's interpretations of the character; we would then decide, individually, a segment within the script that would best portray the character of Dana- I selected her first verbalisation within the world of the play, with the headphones scene, which I believe shows a pivotal moment within her character, whilst also being able to demonstrate her communication without words.

16/01/24 Within today's session between just our second year academic group, we began to revisit previously covered practitioners within lengths of details, discussing the concepts of their methods and how they are incorporated into modern theatre; specifically that of the teachings of Constantin Stanislavski, within his methodology of characterisation, and his involvement of emotional memory, in order to create a strong sense of realism throughout theatre during the conception of his methods- which still remains in most theatrical pieces within our modern time scale; as well as his methodology on how to create an emotional memory within your character, when the actor- yourself- has not experienced the circumstance which your character, using the method of the 'Magic If'. I addition to these teaching, we also learnt those of Bertolt Brecht, who focused within the surreal aspects of theatre- such as 'epic' theatre, a style of stage pieces which included the use of exaggerated expressions and characters, as well as more modernised concepts, which are still used today- that being the breaking of the fourth wall, as well as choreography and singing within theatre; we then began to watch the trailer for a modern adaptation of 'The Threepenny Opera', in order to identify Brecht's techniques within an adaptation of his own play; these practitioners were covered in order to conceptually understand the surreal aspects within our current Connections script.

17/01/24 Within today's session, we began the auditioning process for our National Theatre Connections entry titled 'SHOUT', in which myself and my peer, Connor, auditioned for Dana (the protagonist) and a character named Tristan respectfully- both working together as scene partners, in order to encapsulate the essence of a scene in which Dana, a selectively mute character, verbalises through song for the first time in front of the character of Tristan, which leads to a spike in tension during the end of the scene, in contrast to the rest of the scene, whilst Dana cannot speak, where the tension is slowly deescalating as each character gets more comfortable around each other- which was a balance I found difficult to portray- I felt as though I fore fronted the tension within the scenes too harshly, rather than focusing on the characters emotions, therefore construing my interpretation as too angry.

22/01/24 Within today's session, we received the information regarding the callback information for our segment of our audition process, for our National Connections entry this year titled 'SHOUT'; I was not chosen to continue my audition process for the role of Dana, whilst disheartening, I am completely accepting of this and chose to continue my auditioning process for a role in which the casting directors believed me a better match to- a comedic relief character referred to throughout the script as the Admission Advisor, which- whilst being a much smaller character- is a pivotal driving force within the plot, to plant the seed of anxiety in Dana's brain regarding further education, within the form of a monologue, which relies of comedic timing, which I believe I was able to pick up quite quickly- not in a overtly refined fashion, yet rather a rough framework of how the character was expected to be played. Once completing this callback audition, I began work within our second year group, with an external companies (Zest Theatre) touring new musical, as a metaphor for the transition from primary to secondary education- titled 'Camp Phoenix'; we began this session with a brief introduction to the entire touring cast and members within Zest Theatre, then we quickly moved forward into the process of learning the first few opening numbers, which I have already began to research prior to the rehearsal process, whilst the backstage team quickly began to cast the larger within the parts with show- I was selected as an ensemble role,m which acts upon my challenge within this year to work within an ensemble, since it's a process from my previous academic year which I failed to touch upon- we then continued with basic blocking, and assigning those within the ensemble specific tasks within the show, for example, I and a small selected group of my peers were selected to pull the ropes within the beginning of the performance, in order to prepare the set for the opening number, as well as a supporting artist within the first full 'main' company meeting within their first night within the camp- acting as a shadow within the background of a tarp, which will act as a tent. 

23/01/24 Within today's session, we began to delve into the choreography of our work with external company- Zest Theatre- including that of the first two central numbers within the play, titled 'Jump Into Adulthood' and 'Cross It'; 'Jump Into Adulthood' is the opening number within the show, demonstrating the high energies and low risk within this pint within the play, in which we connote our characters through how we begin the song- which I chose to make my character a much more confident character, with the belief they are above needing to participate within the camp and its activities- however this resolve dissolves through until the finale of the final number, in which every member of the cast literally jumps ins cyclical structure around the space, in order to show the enjoyment of the attendee of the camp, foreshadowing the togetherness and the teamwork of the company later within the show. Within this session, we also began to block through our second number within the show, titled 'Cross It Once'- a song following the first task within the camp to tie an excessive amount of knots- which this song is used as a method to engage the audience within the anxieties of the characters, especially that of a character named Amelia, whom has an invisible disability which makes it difficult for her to complete the task; this transforms the song into a reflection of Amelia's mindset, from her enclosing panic, transitioning to her acceptance of needing to take a step back from the physical task and rather act as a form of emotional morale.

24/01/24 During today's session, we continued to block through the script within it's entirety, from our current point of progress, including that of the work which we did on our second musical number 'Cross It Once' within the show, which would be the first time in which this was demonstrated within the performance, rather than a separate task, which meant we were also thinking about the transition between the prior scene to this number- especially myself, as I am a key aspect of the prior scene, and adapting set in preparation for this number within the show, meaning I must not only balance that transition, yet also leave myself enough time to acquire my prop rope from the side of the stage. 

25/01/24 Within today's session, we began to study our most fruitful endeavour within the show within the aspects of movement- that being the choreography for the 'Caberet' sequence within the show, which acts as a pivotal moment that clearly demonstrates the bonds each camp mate has made with each other over the course of the short time they've made together, as they embrace each other and tackle the unfortunate situation they faced head on, opposing the oppression of the Tannoy; this is portrayed through a choreographed dance with repeated choreography, halved through a solo section, in which the characters and people onstage can show their true personalities and skills- this proved to be an intimidating challenge for me as an actor, as movement was one of my most daunting challenges I set to overcome within this academic year, which this complex dance forced my to fully confront, with me being placed in the front row- which is an uncomfortable yet welcome stretch to my skill set as an actor.

29/01/24 Within today's session, we began our first ever full length run through of every aspect of our adaptation of the touring musical 'Camp Phoenix', including all transitions, as a fully interrupted run, which meant embracing the mistakes within the show, and accepting them as an aspect of that specific run of the performance- as long as the mistake didn't subtract from the energy and the atmosphere, it was difficult for the younger demographics within the audiences to construe the errors; this run through included all our previously rehearsed musical numbers, which- I will admit- left me quite perplexed, trying to decipher which choreographed movement was which within a song, however I believe I didn't allow this confusion to blur the efforts of my participation within the play- the next large step to make within this contemporary piece of theatre is to fully transition it into the staging area, which will include set, in order top gauge the lengths of each transition and how they can be improved. 

30/01/24 During today's session, we began the first of our two segmented halves within the stage area within 'Camp Phoenix' will be shown to the general public, in order to plot the technological aspects within the show, such as lighting, sound cues, and even other unique elements such as confetti within the opening number; this aspect was expected to be a much more lengthy process, however most lights used within the shows were presets from within the venues own lighting cue board- as well as cues from the last play which was performed within that space- that being our interpretation of 'Peter Pan: The Musical'.

31/01/24 Within today's session, we concluded the second segment of technological process, in order to be able to have our touring version of 'Camp Phoenix' prepared for public audiences within this coming week; having a final opportunity before the days of the live performance in order to rehearse specific segments of the show which need specific polishing, such as the final campfire scene, which features an audience interaction feature, in order to promote the ideology of the transition between primary and secondary education, especially children who are planning on making that transition within their next academic year.

05/02/24 Within this session, we began to block the beginning of our annual National Theatre Connections entry titled 'SHOUT', up until the opening scene of the Admissions Advisor- which is the character I was selected to portray within this piece; the surreal elements within the show are immediately prevalent from the introduction, with the use of many Brechtian techniques, such as the breaking of the fourth wall- within this scene, my character devises amongst the other teacher characters- which immediately caused a challenge as I had no prior opportunity to develop my character- which was evident within my first interpretation of my Admissions Advisor scene, besides the unpolished and cluttered physical theatre following the scene, I felt as though my scene led nothing within comedy nor in terms of furthering the narrative; I must independently do extensive character study in order to encapsulate the existence of this character.

07/02/24 During today's session, I was called to audition for our second occurring student-led project- an adaptation of the John Goberman contemporary piece titled 'Teechers 22: Scenes From Our School' or, most commonly referred to as simply 'Teechers'- which follows three drama student's recollections of the final triage of years within their secondary education; within this piece, I have chosen to go for the character known within the script as 'Hobby'- a boisterous student with a mask of faked confidence, in order to create an illusion of a larger stage presence than she actually has- which challenges me as the three students within the script morph into a vast array of characters, so I believe it would be a challenge to morph into these characters in a way that the three students would morph into them- adding an extra layer of acting on top of an already fictional character.

12/02/24 Within today's session, we began to explore an ensemble led scene within our annual National Theatre Connections entry- 'SHOUT'- revolving around the eccentric Therapist character, who delves into the concept of 'Fading In', in order to encourage the protagonist, Dana, to speak within the session, which causes her to have a panic attack, whilst having this attack portrayed through the metaphors of snakes, using aspects of physical theatre and puppetry; whilst I am not an aspect of this scene, watched my fellow peers explore this scene, as I believe spectating the characterisation within this scene will not only aide my own process of characterisation, yet also give me a new perspective of how the play is meant to be portrayed from the audiences viewpoint.

13/02/24 During today's session, we began to discuss sensitive topics within the world of acting- varying from practitioners to the argument of how far inclusive the industry has come- in order to prepare for our Unit 11 task, in which we prepare a small length dissertation regarding a topic of our choosing, which links to the art of acting in a certain aspect; I am writing my essay on the ideology for relaxed performance- and if a neurodiverse audience is accommodated for adequately within theatre- however hearing everyone else's questions and stances on issues within the acting sphere has truly opened up my mindset and has given me a more open perspective going forward with my own essay.

14/02/24 Within today's session, we began to investigate our third of the triage of independent student directed pieces being held within this academic term- that being a past National theatre Connections entry titled 'Hunt'; a narrative which follows a group of children who play a game of extreme hide and seek, including stealing items, in order to get point to 'win' the game, however a past friend they connote as dangerous raises the stakes of the game, leading to a highly dramatic, yet slightly comedic, turn of events. In order to prepare for this, we began with a read through amongst those within our lessons who had their interest piqued by the project, including myself- despite not yet having a clear direction of which character I would like to portray, I am sure I will find an indefinite character to resonate with once investigating the script further independently. In addition to this, I also began a chemistry read for yet another independently directed student piece- that being 'Teechers 22: Scenes From Our School'; giving me two separate opportunities to rehearse the opening audition section again, with an assortment of those also auditioning for the other two students within the play- this extract not only showcases the base personality of the characters, yet also investigates their satirical interpretations of the teacher stereotype.

26/02/24 During today's session, I partook in the final section of our callback process, in order to receive a cast for the independently directed piece of  'Teechers 22: Scenes From Our School'- the callback process consisted of grouping both myself and my two peers, who were also contending for the role of Hobby, sitting within a room- removed from the influence or chemistry emitted from other characters- with the two student directors, and performed the same audition extract, in order to gauge who understood the character the best, and who could portray the exact energy they were looking for from  the character of Hobby, which I believed I failed to deliver- it seemed a lot more challenging to get into the mindset of the character when you have the influence and perception of your competing peers.

27/02/24 Within today's session, we began to expand onto considering our final show within our college education- that being the physiological horror of 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', following the story of a man escaping legal conviction by pretending to be insane, landing him probation within an asylum, where he meets a vast array of men who aren't insane, yet rather to choose to stay there by choice, via the influence of a character called Nurse Ratched; as this play is heavily male orientated, we began to experiment with the prospect of rehearsing the gender roles within the play, in order to potentially serve as a play idea for the feminine company within our class- within this session, however, I played the traditionally feminine prostitute character within the script titled Candy Starr, whose a service worker which the protagonist, McMurphy, brings into the institution, in order for the residents of the institution to interact with her; which immediately piqued my interest, as the aspect of lust surrounding her character leads to, what I feel, is the final challenge I must face before continuing onto further education. I believe that my interpretation worked well within the context of the script, given the short amount of time to develop the otherwise unfamiliar character- whereas the character of Candy Starr was shown to be a pivotal misstep in terms of the gender reversal interpretation of the script- the masculine approach to the role made the implication of Starr's presence a lot more uncomfortable to watch from an audience experience, which caused the idea to be completely scrapped .

28/02/24 During today's session, we began to develop a vast array of ensemble focused scenes within our annual National Theatre Connections entry 'SHOUT', which included both the entire selection of the 'Freak And Geeks' characters (which are an ensemble dynamic group within the play which acts as a representation of  the adversary and discrimination that those with disabilities and neurodivergnce face within education), which my character is not included within, as the leader of this group is very neurotypical and authoritative- despite being an authoritative figure within the group himself- therefore, my character would not organically fit into these scenes- as well as the full ensemble assembly scene- which is a scene which has been previously touched on whilst I was preparing for auditions for the various independently directed projects, therefore I simply spectated for this session, in order to not clutter the scene, as well as being able to decipher the stagecraft within the scene; however, i believe, despite this inspection, that I will find it difficult to immerse myself within the environment within the group of teachers, as I believe their eccentric performances will, in turn, make it so my more saturated performance, will derive from the scene.

29/02/24 Within today's session, we began to prepare for the audition process for the third of our triage of independently directed student led performances, also known as 'Hunt'- as we investigated our selected audition character of choice, in addition to our second selection, if we are not fit for the role which we first select- the character in which I have selected as my primary choice being a character named Lisa- who acts as a caricature of a typical estate child, being very gullible and easily indoctrinated within gossip, believing it to be real- I believe this character will allow me to stretch my comedic abilities within acting. In preparations for this audition, I selected a scene partner, in order to build chemistry within the audition space- I selected fellow second year peer Emily H, who is going for Lisa's foil within the show- a character named Niamh; the audition material consists of the two snidely insulting each other, as they recount the prior times they have played together, from two different perspectives, which leads to a comedic clashing, which I believe myself and my peer portray quite well- if I was to build upon this scene further, I would go the further mile by making sure to fully immerse myself within the character through props and a basic costume.

04/03/24 During today’s session, we began to revaluate the beginning sequences of our National Theatre Connections entry titled ‘SHOUT’; the opening of the show was heavily disproportionate within the weights of cast members which distributed within the stage area, as well as the lack of choreography creating a lesser expecting for an audience member- whilst also not creating a sharp to engage the audience entirely- this led to us reimagining the scene with reference to a sequence of derealisation within the academy recognised film ‘La La Land’, in which the ensemble choreograph key movements, which they then execute in a slower motion,  along the protagonist starkly contrast with the company- which worked effectively within the beginning scene, as it immediate shows a distinct difference between the main character- Dana- and the attendees within the school. Following this development, I began my audition process for the independently directed project titled ‘Hunt’, which I auditioned for the character of Lisa, which led to a great deal of challenges, such as auditioning with a different peer also auditioning for Lisa’s scene partner, which led to an imbalance within my chemistry, which took me out of the immersion of the character; in spite of this, my audition with my initial scene partner maintained the same quality from prior rehearsals, which led me to the impression that the progression within the audition process has already been successful, despite my casting within the show.

05/03/24 Within today’s session, we, as second year academic students, looked into certain prospects within the industry which will advocate for us to gain access to agencies, as well as auditions, and- most imperatively- work; our tutors introduced us to the basic feature of a acting profile publishing website, which is the most common source for companies and agencies alike to scout for actor whom fit their demographic of who they may searching for in order to fill slots within their expectations- this lesson also told us of the basic budgets of surviving as an actor, including the usual pricing for the following: professional headshots, tax returns from jobs within agencies, as well as Spotlight subscriptions- not to include the extra expenses such as equipment and travelling bursary; in conclusion, acting is a lengthy and heavily priced process, however this is only to encourage us to learn the more challenging truths within acting now, to promote good habits once in the industry- rather than attempting to scare us off the industry all together.

06/03/24 During today’s session, we were given the officially released cast list for the independently student led director’s project of past National Connections entry titled ‘Hunt’; the casting was split into two casting lists, as a way of separating those who are suitable to learn the Irish accent present within the play (which is a prevalent aspect of the play’s culture, as Irish dialect is evident throughout the lengths of the productions), as well as a cast which struggled with accents- I was selected to play the role of Lisa within the first cast, the cast whom of which are expected to portray the Irish accent, which is highly relieving, as I believe the extra challenge of adding complexity to her vocal nuances will increase the amount this project will stretch my abilities as an actor.

07/03/24 Within today’s session, we began to execute a full run through of our National Theatre Connections project, titled ‘SHOUT’- with consisted of fully immersing myself within the character of the Admissions Advisor throughout the entire duration of the show, which- despite within this segment of the progress, being very few scenes in which the Admissions Advisor is actually present- proved to be a strenuous challenge; even within the progress of this project, I still heavily struggle with finding the balance between character and comedy, as well as being distinctive enough from the other teacher characters, whilst finding methods to be able to engage with them further, which I believe will come naturally, once I discover an articulate way of demonstrating my character’s personality; a genuinely intentioned, person, with very unfortunate execution through her methods.

11/03/24 During today’s session, we began to focus on refining certain aspects of our National Theatre Connections piece for this year; this session focused mostly within more specific ensemble scenes, which utilise a more concentrated amount of the ensemble- mostly those playing different cliques within the student body, leaving very little practical help I felt I could do to help develop the scene- so, in order to make use of my time- I began to experiment within the aspects of my character, in order to further develop  my character further, rather than allowing my lack of characterisation to saturate the performance; in spite of this, I still couldn’t balance the character within the terms of the comedy, which is becoming a reoccurring issue, which I will aim to improve within my next run through.

12/03/24 Within today’s session, we began to polish transitions between the scenes within our annual National Connections entry- ‘SHOUT’; with the highly physical aspects within the performance, ourselves, as a company, began to expand on the ideology of choreographing a certain path and flamboyance when moving the furniture within the set- in order to create a sense of order within the world building we have created within the play- for example, within the introduction to my own scene, I carry a chair into the space, which I have experimented moving within differing ways throughout the process today: I have decided to move it in a figure of eight, as I believe this encapsulated the Admissions Advisor’s lack of coherent planning and overstimulation within her work.

13/03/24 During today’s session, we began to fully encapsulate our focus into the heavily ensemble reliant scenes within our National Theatre Connections entry this year titled ‘SHOUT’; the workings within the ensemble, which involve the full company, were the aspects which our tutor and director had decided to polish within today’s session, in order to enhance the environment of the created world within the play- in order for less vocal and prevalent characters to be able to have an equivocated personality that is as equally as evident as those within more vocal roles, such as the protagonist; for example, within my own character, this included developing my relationships within different members of the company from a narrative standpoint- such as that of a member within the ‘Freaks And Geeks’ group named Holly, whom has an overarching character development of wanting to go onto further education, which- within this self inserted narrative- was a direct affect of my character’s interference.

14/03/24 Within today’s session, a notable focus within the most central characters- being that of the selectively mute protagonist Dana, and a male accompaniment named Tristan- within our National Theatre Connections annual entry titled ‘SHOUT’, which, as a result, led to myself and the peer within the cast, whom is playing the character of Holly using this spare time in order to develop the relationship between our two characters, and how we are to portray our background narrative coherently within ensemble aspects of the show, whilst not having the narrative conceited and lost within the main narrative of the show; which we plan to construe throughout aspects of the play which contain extremely low levels of tension, so that the narrative can still have focus drawn to it without it subtracting for the imperative aspects of the plot.

18/03/24 Today marked the technological run through of our annual National Theatre Connections entry piece ‘SHOUT’, which included implementing a staggered run throughout the process of the day- despite the fact that we could not fully expand upon our scene and have chance to polish and develop them further- it still acted as a helpful crutch to my performance, as I believe the lighting and sound adds to the ambience of the play, not only for audiences, but for myself as a part of the acting company- in order to immerse both spectator and spectated alike; this, within my own opinion, was a true opportunity that I have been granted into the world of ‘SHOUT’, and that I am severely grateful to be a part of this process, and forever- within certain aspects- a part of this world.