Where I Am- An Evaluation of My Second Year

   Within the extent of my first year academic evaluation, I relayed points that I could extend upon within my second academic year within this course, in order to develop my skills to a point where I feel I am prepared for the transition into further education; this year began with challenging myself within different areas I hadn’t even thought to develop further- such as accommodating acting for different age demographics- we began the first segment of our second academic year journey with a similar project which developed the beginning of my first academic challenge: the ‘Ghost Light Tours’, yet revised with a different overarching plot, and different tour guides (the show expanded its views to national bouts of horror and mystery, as opposed to just the history of the venue and the local area), which lead to us beginning the challenge of this performance before the audition process; the extensive research of events, rather than character within an ensemble dynamic greatly heightened my perception of world building in a way that I could have never conceived in my brain within my previous academic year- using the events that happened as the foundation to the characters we devised, rather than the opposing direction, which led to a more immersive research process, which ultimately resulted in a deeper involvement within the project, even before the audition process. In addition to this, we began an array of opportunities within our second academic year in which we were not able to indulge in within our prior year’s education- these being an exploration into contemporary and Shakespearean monologues, alongside duologue investigation- as well as an independent directors project of contemporary plays that are moderately popular for their obscure themes and portrayal of their respective themes; to begin this academic string of contents, we began with a short exert from the critically acclaimed musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’, exploring the complex relationships within the title characters family dynamics within the play, especially that between himself and his biological mother, Heidi- which already begins to build on a personal goal within this year- building a convincing yet strained bond between son and mother; which laid a clear foundation  in order to expand upon this within future projects; this duologue follows the events of the title character- Evan Hansen- lying to another family about his mothers lack of care for him, which deeply upsets Heidi, creating a rise of tension, creating a rift within their relationship throughout the duration of the scene, which expands off the dramatic realism I have begun to stretch within my final stages of my stage career from the prior academic year- which this project continues to develop within a different format, which in itself poses a challenge- as we have yet to fully embrace and research a duologue this in depth, as we have with other projects from our previous year. Yet another aspect I was not expecting to strengthen within my acting curriculum is independent directing; I have decided to take on a directing role within our independent directing project, adapting a shift extract from the beginning of ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime’, a play based on the life of an autistic teenage boy- a subject which I felt I could easily indulge into- due to personal experience within autism and neurodivergence- and be able to guide my peers and fellow actors through in a sensitive, yet realistic way, which in of itself is a challenge I never expected I could be capable of within my short journey within my education within this course; the most challenging aspect, however, came from organising the audition process, in order to cast the sample of the show- the auditioning process feels a lot more daunting when of the opposing side of it for the first time, and trying to slot my peers into roles without the implication and fear of bias was an extremely heavy burden to carry- as well as finding an actor within the class that could not only accurately portray an autistic teenagers on stages, yet also understand why is portrayed the way he is- which was a difficult balance to search for within each candidate, as they all enquired one strength that the other didn’t- however, this altered perspective of the auditioning process has gave me a broader and more clear understanding of the process of auditioning as a whole, strengthening my concepts of the production within theatre, rather than just the aspects of performance. In addition to this, we also began preparations for our further education auditioning process, with our tutors introducing us to the expectation of most drama school and universities which teach theatre to an undergraduate level- one of those expectations being a classic Shakespearean piece of literacy; a staple to demonstrate that actors are capable of performing pieces which are not in traditional contemporary prose- such as Shakespeare, which was commonly wrote within iambic pentameter; we then performed these within a traditional physical audition and a digital self tape style audition, which also expanded on the vast array of audition styles we will encounter within our acting careers beyond education.

  In regards to the audition process for our academic renovation of our ‘Ghost Light Tour’ promenade performances, I initially began the process wanting to audition for the tour guides suited for the performances showcased to the primary school children watching the matinee performance, rather than repeating my character types with the evening tour guide, however my scene partner, being a first year, persuaded me to steer towards the more gruelling evening tour guides, being based on the notorious British body snatchers William Burke and William Hare, which is the characters we adapted into our devised audition piece; in spite of this, we were granted the role of the matinee tour guides instead, which actually granted me a sense of relief, as I knew it was imperative to challenge myself within each aspect of my education and acting career on a whole- which I knew wouldn’t be the case being the exact same style of role from my previous academic year within a similar piece, this piece helped me adjust my improvisation skills in order to accommodate younger audiences, so that I am constantly stimulating and engaging their easily distracted mindsets, whilst also keeping the performance moving forward, whilst also making sure that my scene partner has ample opportunity to improvise as well as myself- this project feels more of a means of balance rather than last year; our previous project was the beginning of the process, whereas the aspect within this performance is to refine the process, in order to refine the performance- so that we can keep our network with our local partner theatre. In spite of my character within the previous years adaptation, this interpretation of the tour guide steers away the view of an intimidating authoritarian figure, yet rather as a safety net, especially within the fragility of the younger demographic we catered towards- which already expanded upon the challenge for myself to play more jovial and less heavy characters within shows- which caused the tour guide persona to be turned from the ideology of the spirits from within history leading you through the crevices of time, to an ideology of a pairing of time travelling detectives; not only does this make the characters less intimidating, this also gives a refreshing experience, especially because of its presumably similar nature to my role within the previous iteration- to completely retcon the initial aspects of the world building behind the tour guides, in order to accommodate to the younger demographic, in turn led to the experience becoming an interesting yet stretching experience for myself- as the focus began on devising a completely original character, whilst also being able to concave to the expectations of the audience’s views of a ‘time travelling detective’ within prevalent pop culture figures, such as that of detective characters such as Sherlock Holmes, combined with the science fiction elements linking to time travel, such as that of Doctor Who and  Marty McFly- if I was to do this specific style of performance again, I would really put these aspects within the forefront of my character, to add to the surreal inclinations of the character, as I feel these could have been developed further within my final performance, however these aspects come from more developed research into media rather than history.

  To account for the preparations leading to our Christmas performance- ‘Peter Pan: The Musical’- and its extensive audition process, which consisted of four separate segments, we began to stretch our vocal abilities with the aide of our singing tutor, especially those including acting through song, given the circumstances of the performance being a musical; this brought a welcome challenge, as I feel a skill that was heavily under-utilised within our curriculum within our prior year of education was the opportunity to act through the medium of song, most specifically musical theatre- with only our brief inclusion in a Christmas concert linked with our partner theatre, following a heavily abridged version of the Muppets interpretation of ‘A Christmas Carol’- I felt this choice was one that would benefit most of those within our course, not excluding myself especially- since the means of performance have severely varied from that of our prior musical performance; the play we are currently doing is a lengthy two acts, rather than an abridged 10 minutes synopsis with songs linked between- which greatly excited me, as singing is one of my stronger skills that I wished had more facilities in order to develop that skill further. Within the audition process, I had set out to audition for the classic mothering femme fatale protagonist within the show- Wendy Darling- as I believed that both the childlike relationship she construed herself to have with Peter, as well as her mothering tendencies would greatly tie into my main opportunities I wish to expand upon throughout the course of this academic year- which I stuck with throughout the duration of the auditioning process; the auditions lasted the span of three total days, and consisted of four immersive sections, beginning with the traditional acting segment- for the Wendy Darling auditions, a short segment of a duologue between herself and the character of Peter Pan, when they first encounter each other, and the emotions they both feel, most notably Wendy’s smitten affection towards Peter: I used a range of interpretation of Wendy Darling to draw inspiration to incorporate into my version, including that of the classical Disney representation, to more modern interpretation, including stage adaptations and the classic novel itself- which helped me construct the main inclinations within the gracefulness of her physicality, paired with her soothing yet childlike Received Pronunciation English (RP) accents- which was the first aspects of the character I began to build upon, especially that of her physicality, as that aspect of performance coincides with one of my staggering goals that I have set for the duration of this year, which included incorporating a walk cycle, in order to delve into the physicalities of the character, such as to reference her graceful yet fortunate upbringing, along with her longing for adventure, which has be subconsciously planted by Peter- once that had developed into a comfortable position, I began to focus on her personality, and how each line would construe her change in emotions, whilst balancing this with the previously mentioned vocal nuances, which is believe balanced in a a natural way within the audition. Continuing our audition process, we began to explore our second segment of the process, being chemistry reads within randomly designated groups, in order to show our chemistry and dedication to the character, so that it can interlink within the show with a wide variety of actors; I had two separate opportunities within this segment of the auditioning process to develop my character- one of these consisted of performing my previously performed audition section from the prior segment of the auditioning process, yet with the opportunity to perform it as an authentic duologue scene, rather than adapting it to fit a singular person audition, and the other opportunity within a much larger session towards the finale of the Neverland sections of the play, which was the introduction and the choreographed sword fight between Captain James Hook and Peter Pan; whilst in the original context of the script, Wendy isn’t actually present within this section of the script, it was a creative choice within my group to include her as we all agreed that it would show my exceptional understanding of the character if I was able to portray her without the need of dialogue- I felt as though my interpretation of Wendy was highly immature within certain aspects of my performance in contrast to other interpretations, especially through my way of her vocal nuances, however each interpretation brought a differing interpretation of the character, which eased my mind slightly within the process- especially leading into our final segments of the audition process, being that of our choreographed movement and vocal sections respectfully; to begin the movement segment, we were required to follow simple choreography from the final ensemble sequence within the show titled ‘We’re Going Home’, following the ambitions of the Lost Boy characters once they leave Neverland- which posed a large challenge and stretch towards my goal of improving my physicality within my characters and acting in general, which I believe was construed in a moderate manner within this audition- whilst my choreography was not completely verbatim, I believe my characterisation within the movements helped add excess energy to the performance of the song, which already shows monumental progress, even before the end of the audition process- we then continued and concluded the auditioning process with the vocal aspect of the auditions, singing a key solo that marks a significant moment for the selected character, in this case being Wendy, and her solo during the beginning of the show titled ‘Peter’, which shows her yearning to finally meet him- which I felt I lost the character throughout in sacrifice for stronger vocals; I believe I allowed my mature vocals to condense the character of Wendy, which was unavoidable, as it’s my style of vocals that has been adapted for power ballads, however I feel this was in detriment to the audition.

  With the conclusion of the audition process, I received the role of Mrs Mary Darling, mother to the Darling children, since my tutor believed that, within this level of my acting journey, I was not currently ready to explore romance not acts of affection on the stage fully, which I completely agree with; hence her decision on Wendy’s mother; not only does she have ample opportunity to express aspects of motherhood within her character, she also is in a form of an intimate relationship, within the means of her husband within the show- Mr George Darling- whilst also fitting my more maturely toned and more powerful voice, which I believe still has enough sustenance to grant surplus opportunities to stretch and grow as a performer, whilst keeping me to a realistic expectation for myself within this prospect of my journey, as to not out me in a role that’s inadequate for me in order to stretch myself- as it would be in detriment to the performance- the character of Mrs Darling still served as a monumental change from my role from the prior years Christmas play of the ‘Wizard of Oz’- the Wicked Witch of the West- such as from their types of stage presence- as the Wicked Witch induced a more intimidating and threatening sense upon the atmosphere of the performance, acting as a device to forebode constantly through her sheer presence alone, Mrs Darling construes an entirely different aura, whilst remaining a vital character; her stage presence is that of her motherly authority, and how she promotes an image and reflection for Wendy later within the play, promoting a sense of duty and care for her children, whilst having a fair concept of authority- leading to Mrs Darling being a near foil to what the Wicked Witch of the West represented within our prior project, the ‘Wizard of Oz’- in opposition to the Wicked Witch and her claims of control, it almost juxtaposes with how little control Mrs Darling has over the events within the story. Within this performance, my original ensemble role was as Nana, the family dog and trained nurse- which would have highly pushed my physicality within the use of puppetry- however, I was the only actor within the company who was allocated Mrs Darling that actually accepted the role and leashed her fully, therefore leaving me without an extension of my skills within my ensemble work, as I had no opportunity to work within the larger extent of the company, such as the Brave Girls not the Pirates- however I feel the repetition within the role of Mrs Darling led to enough involvement with collaboration within the company; each interpretation of the other members of the Darling household varied between cast, which led to me adapting my characterisation between each performance slightly, in order to suit each interpretation; which I wished I would have more focus into making each performance unique between casts, as I felt the repetition from the basic formula of my character could have been altered more intricately between differing casts, in order to create a more realistic family dynamic.

  Within the next, and as of currently, segment of this year, we began to investigate a vast range of projects; from an assortment of independently directed stage pieces which are currently with rehearsals processes- such as an interpretations of the play ‘Teechers’, as well as past National Connections entry titled ‘Hunt’- to audition opportunities this year’s feature film of a past stage play adaptation retitled ‘Tides’, to our current year National Connections entry, as well as the opportunity to work on a touring new musical with Lincoln based company- Zest Theatre- based on the transition from primary to secondary education, in a singular act, interactive play titled ‘Camp Phoenix’- which further stretched my capabilities of not only networking with external companies, yet also providing additional to the skill of collaborating within an ensemble, ands whilst not a lengthy process- it was a refreshing experience to offer a reinvented perspective on theatre from a southern director, and thoroughly prepared me for working within professional companies in future prospects after education. Within this journey, I have also experienced severe rejection from a professional standpoint, not being granted a role within two ongoing projects from throughout this academic term- one being the feature film project hosted by film students within our campus, and the other being a student led adaptation of a past National Connections entry titled ‘Stuff’, following the story of a dysfunctional friendship group trying to host a party for their grieving friend, but whilst they make preparations for the party, certain events, or stuff’, happens to the characters within the play- however the character in which I auditioned for was written for a predominantly male voice, which was the reasoning for not acquiring the part- which taught me the aspect of carefully selecting parts I wish to go for; and that most directors cannot cast you as the part the the part isn’t written for an actor within your style- it would be in detriment of their piece, making it more lacklustre. Within the remaining student directed project- ‘Hunt’- I was cast as the role of Lisa, a comedic relief character who is a caricature of a clueless popular teenager, who lives within a quite extortionate noise of what is otherwise construed as a ran down estate filled with the other characters within the show; this characters presents a stretch to my acting abilities as it gives me an opportunity to develop my comedic values within a younger character, whilst avoiding depositing the character of personality outside of their comedy; which acts as an extension of my character within this academic years National Theatre Connections entry titled ‘SHOUT’.

  My character within our most recently performed piece of theatre, and our current entry into the National Theatre Connections project, I portrayed the role of the school’s Admission Advisor- a role which subverts the audiences expectations of a typical miserable image of their education providers further education advisor, by being a comedic relief within the show, as she attempts to navigate the protagonist with selective mutism through the process of university applications, without finding a common ground in order to effectively communicate with her, causing her to appear out of touch, which, in turn, adds to her comedic values as a character; which exponentially contrasts to my previous adaptation of my character within our prior National Theatre Connections performance, being a quite heavy aspect of the show- severely creating a much richer and dark atmosphere to the piece- the Admissions Advisor severely juxtaposes this expectation, and rather sets a more satirical take on the topics the play is attempting to portray; whilst still keeping the topic prevalent throughout the comedy- a balance which served as an extraordinary challenge to execute within the show, which I believe translated well within my character to a moderate extent- however if I were to repeat this performance, I would ensure that my characterisation stays prevalent, throughout all my stage time, rather than allowing it to become more frontal in certain scenes, rather than keeping it at a consistent rate throughout. 

  In preparation for our end of year performance of the infamous physiological drama titled ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, I have decided on focusing my attention within my audition process onto a character in which has vast extents of initiate acts within stage acting, specifically stage kissing; I believe that my vast array of characters I have portrayed over the course of the last two academic years has led me to having this remaining as my final outstanding challenge, one I hope I am able to tackle within the role of Candy Starr- who gives an interesting subversion of intimacy within stage acting- however, if I am not selected for this specific role, I would like to experiment with any traditional means of intimacy within acting, as I believe that as long the roles stretches my skill set further, then it’s worth every ounce of effort I force into the character; every challenge within this course thus far has strengthened my resolve, not only as an actor, but as a human being, which I believe has prepared me to begin delving into the depths of our final performance within my Level 3 education- to begin preparing, I have been researching stage monologues which deals with topics of love as an entire concept, ranging from graphic fantasies to a simple recounting of a past childhood sweetheart, in order to gauge what would be most beneficial to demonstrate my journey as an actor, and how I would like it to conclude within this chapter of my education. I am pensive yet excited with the protest of our final project, and I am prepared to face any challenge my tutor presents me with, within the latter mentioned project, or any other that she feels I suit to- I am prepared for whatever role I need to complete my skill set as an actor, in order to prepare me for my further education.