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Week Twelve: But it's not allowed to be over...

#auditionprep

Week Nine: Sight Reading Extravaganza.

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Portfolio Entry Three

What type of audition is the piece suitable for? Drama school/University auditions Brief synopsis: The play looks at all sides to the argument on the war on terrorism. It features true-to-life experiences with how people became terrorists, how people were affected by terrorism, and how government officials tried to deal with the situation. A brief breakdown of characters and their relationships: Which character/ characters have you chosen as your monologue audition piece? SS1 Who are they? The Secretary of State, a middle-class woman responsible for talking to the terrorists and trying to figure out why they have done what they have. What has happened to them up to this point? SS1 has spent several years talking to terrorists, and has been trying to convince others that talking to them as normal people is the best method of getting information.

What is the piece about? SS1 talks about her view on the whole situation to other officials, and discusses her reasons for treating them as normally as she does. What happens next? The other officials respond, and their conversation flits between them discussing terrorism as a whole, and a ‘normal’ conversation about their accommodation and current situation. Acting skills the monologue allows you to portray with some examples: The piece requires a more official-sounding voice, as well as confident body language and stance. Despite having a well-educated style of speech, she also mocks people for this exact thing, “I didn’t have a voice like ‘wonderful to see you’”, which is quite difficult to do. Style of monologue? Reminders for yourself? Different ways of performing? I could either perform this quite casually, as she is talking to people she is comfortable with, or quite fiercely, as she is defending her own personal opinion. Casual would be more of a challenge, as I’d have to do an RP accent, but not sound too formal.

#auditionprep

Portfolio Entry Two

A brief breakdown of characters and their relationships: Antipholus of Ephesus, one of the rich twins. Dromio of Ephesus, one of the poor twins/slave to Antipholus of Ephesus. Antipholus of Syracuse, one of the rich twins. Dromio of Syracuse, one of the poor twins/slave to Antipholus of Syracuse. Egeon, father of the rich twins. The Abbess, mother of the rich twins. The Duke of Ephesus, a nobleman in Ephesus/responsible for keeping order and deciding punishment. Adriana, wife to Antipholus of Ephesus. Luciana, Adriana’s sister. Angelo, gold merchant. Dr. Pinch, deems Antipholus of Ephesus insane. Courtesan Which character/ characters have you chosen as your monologue audition piece? Adriana Who are they? Wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, sister of Luciana. She is unaware of Antipholus of Syracuse, and believes her husband to be mad. What has happened to them up to this point? Adriana, new bride to Antipholus of Ephesus, has begun to worry that her husband is having an affair and so vents her frustrations to her sister, Luciana. When she unknowingly interacts with Antipholus of Syracuse, she becomes worried when her husband has no memory of this. She eventually locks Antipholus of Ephesus in their house and, upon seeing Antipholus of Syracuse and thinking it is her husband, begins pleading with The Duke of Ephesus to spare him from imprisonment on the grounds of insanity.

What is the piece about? Adriana pleads with The Duke to tell The Abbess to release her husband, goes a bit hysterical, and generally has a bit of a tantrum as she believes Antipholus of Ephesus has gone a bit mental. What happens next? The Abbess reveals her true identity as the twins mother, the twins are reunited, everyone realises they’ve been a bit silly and no-one is punished or imprisoned. Acting skills the monologue allows you to portray with some examples: The piece requires a great deal of emotion, generally just progressively getting more hysterical, and this therefore requires careful consideration of physical movements. Style of monologue? Reminders for yourself? Different ways of performing? Adriana is talking to The Duke, it is not a soliloquy. She is also standing next to the abbey, use this in gestures. The more outrageous her emotions, the funnier it becomes – she is a woman, women are clearly bad at dealing with emotions. She is hurt by the thought that her husband is cheating, don’t neglect the more subtle/sadder emotions just because the play is a comedy.

Research on the play: The Comedy of Errors was one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, and is also one of the shortest. It draws a lot of humour from the use of wordplay and puns, as well as the clear theme of mistaken identity. Despite writing numerous plays, The Comedy of Errors (along with The Tempest) are the only Shakespeare plays to follow the Classical Unities: The unity of action (having one main plot with few or no subplots), the unity of place (being set in one place only), and the unity of time (the play taking place over a time period of no more than 24 hours).

Monologue:

#auditionprep

Portfolio Entry One

Which Character/ characters have you chosen as your monologue audition piece Jessie Smith

Who are they? Jessie was the youngest in her family and, following a mistake at a party, the mother to two girls and married to a man who doesn't do anything. As a result, she cleans for hours every day, until her excessive cleaning leads to two heart attacks.

What has happened to them up to this point? Jessie has lived a hard life, full of struggles, is a mother to two teenage girls she is losing control over, is married to a man who doesn't contribute to anything, and has been a cleaner for many years.

What is the piece about? Jessie is explaining to Colin how she wound up in the Between Worlds Hotel with such rambling detail and lack of point that is is clear she has very rarely talked about her life to anyone.

What happens next? Jessie talks to Doctor S..., who lets her know her decision has been made. At this point, she gets into the lift and it is revealed that she has died.

Acting Skills the monologue allows you to portray with some examples This monologue allows me to use a range of emotions, from pride "at least it was clean, I'd seen to that", to complete sadness "I'd been working all my life, and my heart was exhausted". This monologue therefore requires the ability to switch between emotions quickly, with it seeming completely natural.

Style of monologue? Naturalistic

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Group (A)wesome, 17/10/12

#TheoryProject

First assessment: Over!

#auditionprep

12/10/12

9/10/12

I am not showing these very well at all at the minute. I desperately need to sort out what I'm doing with my hands and, possibly even more critically, what I'm doing in terms of movement. I've spent so much time learning the monologue and considering the emotions, I've reduced myself to swaying on the spot and gesturing randomly at nothing. And I hold my hands in front of myself far too much, which is very clearly Amy winning the character-actor war in terms of physicality. I keep smiling as well, which I need to sort out. So to sum up, I need to work on my characterisation, vocals, gestures, facial expressions, emotions, and movement. But hey, I know the lines. So I've made plans to work with Kerry on Friday, because it's obvious that I will NYA if I assume I can waltz in and get any sort of acceptable grade. Because if I know that I've put the time into learning this horror of a monologue but I still don't pass, I may actually cry. So until next time, enjoy a accurate gif representation of how I'm feeling about the upcoming assessment:

#auditionprep

Royal Shakespeare Company hierachy and things

Artistic Director - Gregory Doran Executive Director - Catherine Mallyon Director of Finance and Administration - Andrew Parker

Associates

Gregory Doran (I'll from here on in be calling him Greg, for ease) works closely with the directors, writers, actors and designers to work out the artistic policy and programming. Basically, Greg talks to them and makes sure everything's running smoothly, I think.

Steering Committee and Steering Group

I saw this and just froze because I had no idea what they are, so a few minutes of research later: They support the Executive Directors and develop and implement the strategy plan. The steering group meets more often and manages the day-to-day activities and discuss any issues.

Company

The actors, permanant and temporary members of staff, and freelancers.

Board and Governers

They work closely with the RSC senior management team in leading and steering the company. Board members are drawn from a wider group of Governors. Governors act as advocates on our behalf and come from a wide range of backgrounds. They meet at least once a year at the Company's AGM, chaired by the President.

Patrons and President

The Prince of Wales is their President, and the Queen of England is their Patron.

Their roles actually sound more professional than ours! But here's the comparison (I'm only putting the titles down because the descriptions are in the folder/the bible)

Artistic Director, Stage Managers, Educational Director, Health and Safety, Marketing, Financing, Technical Directors, Set and Props Design, Costume, Hair and Makeup, Front of House.

#TheoryProject

I probably should've pointed this out sooner, but I'm not the best at this whole organisational thing. All my Big Event stuff can be found at www.amys-secondyearwork.tumblr.com/tagged/theoryproject

All my Audition Prep stuff can be found at www.amys-secondyearwork.tumblr.com/tagged/auditionprep

Just click the link and, because I'm attempting to make this blog look neat, click the Read More to see the post. Okay, that's all, I'm going to stop rambling now. Bye!

2/10/12 Audition Prep/Real Life Eastenders

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