Drama is Canadian

[excusemeimcanadian]

Culminating Activity - Part 2 - Arms And The Man

The character I like best is Petkoff because he seems like a harsh man at first but, when it comes to the photograph of Raina in his jacket pocket he is understanding as everyone explains their who loves who situation.

The character who is most like me is Catherine because she is very successful when it comes to calming down people. She is also understanding, like her husband, when Blunschli appears in her daughters room. I try to be understanding towards others and I try to keep calm in situations where most people would become stressed and likely to make mistakes.

If a director were to cast me in this play I would probably be cast as Louka because we are both very snarky and I think that a director would be able to recognise that very quickly.

Plot Summary

Raina stands on her balcony when her mother comes to tell her of a battle won by her betrothed

As Raina prepares to sleep she hears the voice of a man who has taken refuge in her room. Raina shows him kindness and she and her mother allow him to stay for a while.

Louka and Nicola speak about the family secrets when Petkoff returns from the war announcing peace.

Sergius comes to see Raina and announce his resignation from the army. Tells of a story of two women who assisted a Swiss soldier of the Serbian Army.

As Raina goes to get her hat Sergius speaks to Louka about the "Higher Love". Louka is having an affair with Sergius behind Raina's back.

Sergius grows angry as Louka says that Sergius is not the only one having an affair. She tells him of hearing a mans voice behind Raina's door. As Raina comes out of the house she asks if he has been flirting with Louka, Sergius takes offense at the intended joke.

A Swiss soldier (Bluntschli) comes to the door to return a coat that was given to disguise him. As Catharine and Raina attempt to get him to leave Petkoff and Sergius come to greet him.

They all have lunch and congregate in the library afterwards. Petkoff makes a bet with the others that the coat he is looking for in not in the blue closet. He loses.

Others leave room leaving Raina and Bluntschli alone together. Later Louka reveals that Raina is in love with the Swiss.

Sergius challenges Bluntschli to a duel, Raina hearing, wants to know why. All secrets of affairs come out.

My favourite moment of the play was when Sergius became protective of someone he had betrayed as he heard that the man Raina was in love with was the Swiss soldier.

The climax of the play was probably when Petkoff comes into the room and tells of the photo in his jacket pocket which causes the truths about everyone's love lives come out.

If I were directing this play I would direct act 3 in a way that resembled the comedy of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

[excusemeimcanadian]

Culminating Activity - Part 1 - The Crucible

The character I like best is Abigail Williams because there was a lot of character development for her. At first she is a young girl living with her uncle and cousin Betty then it becomes apparent that she and her friends have been participating in voodoo ceremonies led by her uncle's slave. Due to this she is accused of being a witch. In turn she claims she was possessed and begins to accuse innocent people of witchcraft. It is later learned that she was a maid in another household and had an affair with the man of the house, John Proctor, the husband of one of the falsely accused women.

I don't really think any of the characters are like me. Abigail has the same mindset as me on one occasion. She becomes angry that John Proctor denies their "love" and seeks out revenge. If I were in a situation like that, which would be unlikely as Proctor was married, I would go to certain lengths to get back at him. But I don't think I would go so far as to accuse him and his wife of witchcraft to see them die.

If a director were to cast in in The Crucible I think I would most likely be cast as Elizabeth Proctor. I would need to convey grief due to my "husband" having an affair and also being executed for witchcraft as he is falsely accused. To do this I would probably imagine the embarrassment that would come along with having a husband that was unfaithful and accused of being a "witch".

Plot Summary

Betty is in some kind of slumber

Rev. Parris asks Abigail about the incident in the woods

Abigail attempts to seduce John Proctor but fails

Rev. Hale interrogates Abigail who accuses Tituba of witchcraft. Betty awakes. They both accuse others they have seen partake in witchcraft

Elizabeth Proctor begs John to show people Abigail is not who she leads them to think they are. Elizabeth is then taken into custody

More women are accused

Mary claims girls are lying. Girls fake being attacked by yellow bird. John tells of affair with Abigail

Abigail denies affair. Elizabeth says her husband is not currently committing adultery.

Mary then says John Proctor forced her to testify. John arrested.

John and others are led to the gallows to die after Elizabeth refuses to save him

My favourite moment of the play was in the courtroom when Abigail denies the affair. This is because she leads the other girls into such a believable denial of witchcraft and how Mary was trying to attack them with an unseen yellow bird.

The climax of the play was probably when Elizabeth refuses to save her husband from the gallows. He has obviously scorned her in such a way by publicly announcing his affair with his former maid that she has felt betrayed by him.

If I were directing this play I would ensure that all actors became emotionally invested in the story and their characters in such a way that would have the audience cheering or booing the characters they like or dislike. I would want the audience to agree on which characters they like and which ones they dislike.

[excusemeimcanadian]

I convinced you to linedance

The first day I led warm ups I had intended to do something different to get people pumped up and, possibly, out of their comfort zone. So, I broke tradition of the circle and had everyone form some staggered lines.I worked slowly step by step confusing your brains with an occasional switch of direction or feet. And once you were ready I added music.

Two days it took to get it perfect and it was brilliant.

I was quite pleased with myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeFg

[excusemeimcanadian]

Commedia 3..2..1

3 Things I learned

- The stock characters of Commedia are the basis for many of the characters existing in the media today. - Little problems can be seen as forest fires in these scenes - Not all characters are masked as I originally assumed

- I grow impatient when things go too far off task - Portraying a servant often means assisting "Pantalone" up from falling on the floor. This means being prepared for physical labour. - I terrify myself with the sarcastic wit that was cut from our actual performance

- The six of us were a little like the Avengers but instead we cause mayhem -We all work really well together when we're on track -We all have a sense of dry humour

2 Things I still want to know

What materials were the masks originally made of

1 thing you should know

I will probably continue to use this experience as an excuse to channel Columbina everyday of my life

[excusemeimcanadian]

Commedia Reflections

While we were being introduced to the characters Columbina really stood out to me because of her sarcasm and the way she didn't take flack from anyone. She was her own person and anyone who tried to take that from her would be put in their place.

I put some of myself into my portrayal of Columbina. I am a naturally sarcastic person and I've worked hard to ensure that people understand this. So I like that I was able to perform in such a way that would allow me to be a sarcastic person and hopefully drag a little bit of dry humour (Gah tumblr.. Trying to tell me humour doesn't have a u in it.)

Step by step outline

Pantalone accepts Capitano's marriage proposal to Isabella

Isa. and Lilio go to Columbina for help

Columbina recruits Signora to assist them in calling Capitano out as a fraud

Signora gives Lilio money to impress Pantalone

Columbina gets Capitano drunk so he tells Pantalone himself

Pantalone agrees to Lilio and Isabella's marriage

[excusemeimcanadian]

Shakespeare

*Insert phony English accent here and continue reading as such*

Shakespeare and I are friends. I can't say he's the only writer I admire, for I admire the works of Tolkien, Rowling, C.S. Lewis and that horrible, horrible George R.R. Martin and Stephan Moffat who all write amazing characters, allow me to become emotionally attached, and then kill them. (Doctor Who companions, Moriarty, "Sherlock", Eddard Stark, Fred Weasley, Lupin and Tonks, Boromir, Fili and Kili, etc.) This only leads to my complete emotional instability, how my mother looks at me like I'm insane.

But I digress. I admire the boldness of Shakespeare's plays and how he made light of situations, so being able to perform a much shortened version of one of my favourites, I was excited.

During our rehearsals, one thing I noticed was that when the whole class gets together to put on a performance, we really do band together. Lots of fun is had but the whole class really works hard to make something special. And that is something that is beyond amazing.

Having an audience for any performance can be unnerving. I think in think in this case having the audience was brilliant. It made me focus on the performance completely. I like having an audience from outside the class present because they have probably never seen me preform before, and they might never again, so I don't feel like I need to worry about them or what they'll think. Obviously, I hope they'll enjoy it but I realize I don't need to worry about it.

*End English accent here*

[excusemeimcanadian]

Mask Presentations

The mask presentations were terrifying. I loved watching others in their presentations but actually being onstage was beyond words. The thing I learned while working with the mask I used was that I had to try not to let the idea of being claustrophobic get to me. That was the hardest thing. To try and stop one of my biggest fears from causing me to panic during our rehearsal and performance. I was nothing but scared.

During the performance, I did what any self respecting girl with roots in small town Newfoundland would NOT do. I had a small and brief panic attack where I heard my own breathing and felt like I needed to get out of the mask. The thing that pushed me through was knowing that we were nearly finished our scene and that it would be over in moments, all I needed to do was forget I was wearing the mask. Unfortunately, due to my claustrophobia I felt like I didn't do as well as anyone else or as well as I could have done. Due to this I felt like I let my group down in some way because I wasn't fully understanding of my mask. I realize now, I wasn't fully understanding because I was afraid of my mask. Afraid of something that was intended to be a fun learning experience.

With regards to others' presentations, they were done amazingly. They had insane elements to them. I never would have thought of using a chair to incorporate the mask. It would have helped in stopping any panic attacks but, nonetheless, I never would have come up with that idea on my own.

[excusemeimcanadian]

First Performance Reflection

During the planning process, our group was usually on topic, although we did sometimes stray a little. For example, a comment about Dr. Oz being on a t-shirt when it was clearly the 10th Doctor. Something that could have been done differently was ensure that everyone was ready to work everyday and we had started an outline of where we wanted to go, on the very first day of preparation.

I felt that our performance went fairly well. It went pretty much as expected, except for a missing member but even then it still went very smoothly. I did not expect to forget a few lines of my monologue while onstage, so I attempted to smooth it over by quickly replacing them before moving back to my scripted words. I think our group handled these things very well, we had someone stand in as our missing member and I don't think anyone was confused by my mistake.

This year in drama I would like to play a different role instead of the sarcastic and angst filled teenager who allows herself to be pushed around by others. I would also like to contribute more during group preparations. 

While onstage, I like to try and forget what's going on beyond the stage. I like to think that the people onstage are the only people there and that the performance is just another rehearsal. Only without any mix-ups. Hopefully.

During this performance, I gained back the confidence to perform on stage, which I had achieved last year. It felt like walking after sitting for hours. Shaky at first until you gain a rhythm and it gets easier.   

[excusemeimcanadian]

We Looked At You, and You Looked At Us

During this activity when I was not onstage I noticed that those who were, appeared a little bit uncomfortable. This in turn made me feel uncomfortable watching them. I was caught between looking at them and making brief eye contact and then quickly looking away.

When it was my turn on stage I understood why they seemed uncomfortable. They were just standing there. We weren't in character on stage. We were ourselves, left exposed to the audience. It was different to stand on stage and not play a character but instead allow yourself to be studied by your peers. I felt judged. But then I remembered, this is Drama. We don't judge. That made me feel better, standing on the stage, and I tried to remain as neutral as possible knowing that they were not judging. They were only observing, as I had done to them only minutes before.

[excusemeimcanadian]

Walking Observation

The walking observation was strange. I've never before had people trail along in a line behind me attempting to mimic the way I walk. I didn't know if I should be self-conscious or confident. I received interesting feedback about my walk. I was told that my shoulders and back don't move much but that my lower arms move in time with my legs. Also that rather than my hips moving side to side, they move up and down while I walk. This was my favourite observation that was told to me because I myself had never noticed this although I had noticed everything else about my own walk.

Attempting to walk like someone else was difficult until you really got into the rhythm of their walk. I felt strange at first but as I followed them around it became easier, more fluid, and more natural. It was different to take away the way you walk and take on the walk of another but it was fun none the less. 

[excusemeimcanadian]

Trust Walk

During the trust walk I found it, at first, difficult to trust my partner. But then after we got out of the classroom I found it easier because I realised that if my partner was able to steer me out the door then she would be able to lead me around the hallway without injury. It was interesting to be led around without being able to see where I was going. I didn't really like the idea of not being able to see where I would be walking but it was still fun to do. I couldn't decide if I should close my eyes behind the blindfold or not and it was even more awkward without my glasses. I wouldn't have even needed the blindfold if I had only taken my glasses off, my eyes are just that bad. All in all, it was still a fun activity and one that was a good learning experience.