Dramatic Scene Reflection

At first, my group really struggled to pick a dramatic scene. It took us longer than we wanted to find one, but in the end I feel that we chose a unique scene that we were able to  turn into our own. Our scene went beyond the norm and pushed the boundaries of decency. Each actor in the dialogue made a tremendous effort to become their character and achieve multiple levels of anger, sadness, and the feeling of being shell shocked. It was not an easy script to deliver, as it covered many disturbing experiences. However, Alexis, Dayna and myself pushed through the skit and tried our best to present it in a serious manner.  

Together we tried numerous acting strategies to achieve these emotions. One of which worked the most was when we pushed strongly against a wall and delivered our lines. This proves to be a successful exercise by forcing each of us to channel inner emotions of anger and even sadness. In addition, the exercise showed us how we could change our vocal range and tonality, something that we struggled with and was key in our dramatic scene. I was extremely impressed that Alexis and Dayna went along with my exercises that at the time, they thought were ridiculous.

When it comes to staging our piece, we tried numerous possible situations. However, when we reached our final division of where to place each of us and our movements, everything fell into place. We were able to limit our movements and even eliminated over head lighting to add emphasis to our speeches. Finally, the use of dramatic music and lanterns gave the piece an overall eerie feel. Each element of our performance was careful thought out and in my opinion, unique.  

I think that the other groups performed well. I loved Lisa and Duncan's scene selection. It was different from all other scenes that had been performed and their effort paid off very well.

John's and Jack's scene was interesting with its dark undertone. They did a fantastic job with altering the ending of their skit. I also admire John's willingness to listen to other's suggestions to improve his acting skills. Every skit was interesting and performed very well.

I really enjoyed doing a dramatic skit with Dayna and Alexis. Together I think we made a great team, even if we were off to a slow start. Throughout the process we stayed optimistic and engaged with our piece. So much so that we were able to effectively turn a poem-styled dialogue into a scene that was captivating to our audience. We planned out climatic parts and movements and had fun doing so together.

In the future, my goal is to pick a piece in a more time-effective manner and to be able to dedicate more time to it. I feel that if I do this, the piece will flow more smoothly and so will the process of developing the scene. I also want to pick a piece that is more challenging for me. I think that besides the Fantastic Mr. Fox monologue, I have not felt that I have pushed myself enough as an actor. I want to try new strategies in acting and continue to develop my abilities. I hope to achieve this in the next skit and during the remainder of our Acting Class.  


http://youtu.be/M9ZuMBCKlcs

Improv Group Video

https://youtu.be/Rw7f8PUVkp4

Peter Pan Reflection

When I read the email informing me that I was going to play Smee, I did not really know how to react. At first I was unsure of the part, because I had never had experience of playing a pirate who was constantly goofy and who was not very serious. But then I immediately thought that the role would be challenging for me and I got excited to be a part of Peter Pan. 

            I think that I did a good job memorizing my lines before the deadline (thanks to Dylan running them with me back stage). I think that the lines were easy for me to remember because I was allowed to act however goofy I wanted when delivering them. For example, one of my favorite moments in the play is when I start to hum out loud to Britain’s National Anthem. If I had not trusted myself to act silly and cared about what others might have thought, that little scene might never have happened. Personally, I think that that little bit tells a lot about my character and adds comic relief. 

            I think the trickiest part of the show to get down were the scene changes and staying calm backstage. However, every single cast member put effort into the changes and worked as a whole. People also learned to adapt to accidents, and how to handle their emotions well. This really helped the transitions to go smoothly and not too stressful. Also, everyone was extremely helpful with costumes and props. Especially Mrs. Monahan. She jumped right into rehearsal and would take on any task and complete it right way, which I, personally, really appreciate. 

            In addition to having a blast while playing Smee, I also received a lot of experience backstage while doing other peoples make up. I had gone to a stage makeup workshop, and I used what I had learned to make scars, contouring faces, and making bruises. I really enjoyed helping out backstage with make up.

            I think that Peter Pan was a wonderful experience to be a part of. We had ana amazing cast where everyone worked well together, and made the show an enjoyable experience for the viewers. Anna and Rachel were fantastic directors who paid so much attention to detail. Because they did this, every single aspect of the show was, in my opinion, the best it could be.

I learned from Peter Pan that in order to make the show live up to expectations, every single person needs to do their part and dedicate time and effort. In addition, I learned that listening to others opinions and collaboration is key.  I have truly loved working with such an outstanding cast, student directors and drama coaches, Mrs. G, and everyone. I know that we are truly lucky to have people as patient and talented as we did in order to put on Peter Pan. I highly recommend Peter Pan for a high school play; it is a captivating and fun show. I will miss being in this production, but I look forward to participating in the upcoming musical!

Olive

In this scene, I feel that my character is someone who has been a traumatic experience. I think that I want to show this by having her have outbursts, such as on the line "Don't go in there". I also think that she romantasises situations as a form of coping with her experience. For example, she describes the  falling mail from the plan crash as clouds. I think that Olive is someone who has never had anything really bad happen in her life, so this experience really threw her life through a loop. I don't think she lost anyone in the plane crash, but I think that the collision of the plane and the after math that she saw opened her eyes to the fact that bad things can occur on a drop of a hat. The crash acted as a reality check for her. I think that I can show these feeling in the dialogue by varing tonality and subtle yet important body and facial movements and expressions.