Research Governers Inspector

Jade Ward Mcfarlane
The Goverment Inspector
Research

The Government Inspector, also known as The Inspector General (original title: Russian: Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by the Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition. Based upon an anecdote allegedly recounted to Gogol by Pushkin, the play is a comedy of errors, satirizing human greed, stupidity, and the extensive political corruption of Imperial Russia.
According to D. S. Mirsky, the play "is not only supreme in character and dialogue – it is one of the few Russian plays constructed with unerring art from beginning to end. The great originality of its plan consisted in the absence of all love interest and of sympathetic characters. The latter feature was deeply resented by Gogol's enemies, and as a satire the play gained immensely from it. There is not a wrong word or intonation from beginning to end, and the comic tension is of a quality that even Gogol did not always have at his beck and call."
The dream-like scenes of the play, often mirroring each other, whirl in the endless vertigo of self-deception around the main character, Khlestakov, who personifies irresponsibility, light-mindedness, absence of measure. "He is full of meaningless movement and meaningless fermentation incarnate, on a foundation of placidly ambitious inferiority" (D.S. Mirsky). The publication of the play led to a great outcry in the reactionary press. It took the personal intervention of Tsar Nicholas I to have the play staged, with Mikhail Shchepkin taking the role of the Mayor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Inspector

Actor Directions


THE GOVERNOR.—A man grown old in the service, by no means a fool in his own way. Though he takes bribes, he carries himself with dignity. He is of a rather serious turn and even given somewhat to ratiocination. He speaks in a voice neither too loud nor too low and says neither too much nor too little. Every word of his counts. He has the typical hard stern features of the official who has worked his way up from the lowest rank in the arduous government service. Coarse in his inclinations, he passes rapidly from fear to joy, from servility to arrogance. He is dressed in uniform with frogs and wears Hessian boots with spurs. His hair with a sprinkling of gray is close-cropped.
  
ANNA ANDREYEVNA.—A provincial coquette, still this side of middle age, educated on novels and albums and on fussing with household affairs and servants. She is highly inquisitive and has streaks of vanity. Sometimes she gets the upper hand over her husband, and he gives in simply because at the moment he cannot find the right thing to say. Her ascendency, however, is confined to mere trifles and takes the form of lecturing and twitting. She changes her dress four times in the course of the play.
  
KHLESTAKOV.—A skinny young man of about twenty-three, rather stupid, being, as they say, "without a czar in his head," one of those persons called an "empty vessel" in the government offices. He speaks and acts without stopping to think and utterly lacks the power of concentration. The words burst from his mouth unexpectedly. The more naiveté and ingenousness the actor puts into the character the better will he sustain the role. Khlestakov is dressed in the latest fashion.
  
OSIP.—A typical middle-aged servant, grave in his address, with eyes always a bit lowered. He is argumentative and loves to read sermons directed at his master. His voice is usually monotonous. To his master his tone is blunt and sharp, with even a touch of rudeness. He is the cleverer of the two and grasps a situation more quickly. But he does not like to talk. He is a silent, uncommunicative rascal. He wears a shabby gray or blue coat.
  
BOBCHINSKY AND DOBCHINSKY.—Short little fellows, strikingly like each other. Both have small paunches, and talk rapidly, with emphatic gestures of their hands, features and bodies. Dobchinsky is slightly the taller and more subdued in manner. Bobchinsky is freer, easier and livelier. They are both exceedingly inquisitive.
  
LIAPKIN-TIAPKIN.—He has read four or five books and so is a bit of a freethinker. He is always seeing a hidden meaning in things and therefore puts weight into every word he utters. The actor should preserve an expression of importance throughout. He speaks in a bass voice, with a prolonged rattle and wheeze in his throat, like an old-fashioned clock, which buzzes before it strikes.
  
ZEMLIANIKA.—Very fat, slow and awkward; but for all that a sly, cunning scoundrel. He is very obliging and officious.
  
SHPEKIN.—Guileless to the point of simplemindedness. The other characters require no special explanation, as their originals can be met almost anywhere.
The actors should pay especial attention to the last scene. The last word uttered must strike all at once, suddenly, like an electric shock. The whole group should change its position at the same instant. The ladies must all burst into a simultaneous cry of astonishment, as if with one throat. The neglect of these directions may ruin the whole effect.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3735/3735-h/3735-h.htm

Themes
Russian Bureaucracy
As was readily apparent to Gogol’s contemporaries, The Government Inspector is a satire of the extensive bureaucracy of nineteenth-century Russian government. According to D. J. Campbell, writing in the forward to the The Government Inspector, Gogol once stated that “In the Government Inspector I tried to gather in one heap all that was bad in Russia.” Through the regular practices of “bribery and extortion,” according to Beresford in his introduction to Gogol’s The Government Inspector: A Comedy in Five Acts, most public officials “tyrannized over the local population” of Russian towns. Beresford goes on to characterize Russia under the yoke of this vast bureaucratic system: “The whole of this immense empire was strangled by red tape, cramped by administrative fetters, and oppressed by a monstrous tyranny of paper over people.” Nigel Brown in his Notes on Nikolai Gogol’s The Government Inspector states that, in The Government Inspector, “Gogol was the first Russian writer to examine the realities of the official world in literature, exposing it to hilarious satire.” In Gogol’s play, Hlestakov, the young man mistaken for the government inspector, belongs to the lowest of fourteen possible levels within the hierarchy of the Russian civil service. The fact that he successfully poses as a public official occupying a much higher level in the bureaucracy thus demonstrates both the ignorance of the townspeople he has duped, and his own sense of self-importance. The chaotic atmosphere of the office of the governor in the opening scene immediately establishes the image of small town Russian bureaucracy as ridiculously inefficient and unprofessional. Nothing of any value seems to get accomplished by the masses of paper and the proliferation of characters holding official government titles. The lack of communication between the small town and the government center in Saint Petersburg also indicates that the Russian bureaucracy was so geographically extensive there was no means of regulating the behavior of civil servants or the effectiveness of local government offices

Deception and Self-deception
The Government Inspector is a story of deception and self-deception. The townspeople deceive themselves into believing that Hlestakov is the government inspector, whereupon Hlestakov takes advantage of the case of mistaken identity, further extending the deception to his own advantage. Hlestakov takes such a liking to his assumed role that he almost appears to be convinced by his own deception, imagining himself to be the venerable high official he pretends to be. The townspeople attempt to deceive the government inspector as to the true corruption within the local government, but find that they have only deceived and cheated themselves in the process. Beresford comments that Gogol made use of the plot motif of mistaken identity “to reveal a fundamental state of chaos in human life.” Beresford continues,

It is no accident that the plot of most of his works hinges on a deception, because for him deception was at the very heart of things. He saw human beings as enmeshed in a web of confusion and deceptions, misled not only by appearances but also by their own delusions and lies. …

http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-2693700016/government-inspector.html

Here is a video I found online of the Goverments Inspector performed at college, I recieved a much better understanding on the play after watching this.

Mask Rehearsal, Quick snaps

Story Plot.

We worked in a group of four and decided to keep the story plot simple for the audience to understand through mask. We decided to base the story on bullying in school. Myself and Sarah playing the bully and Emma playing the victim along with Sam playing the teacher. We start the scene with Emma walking on in a sad mask her body language is very intimidated and worried then entering myself barging past following Sarah throwing paper and finally sam entering as the teacher. We show bullying through our body language and movements towards Emma with our fave fixed on the audience still never loosing the mask magic. In the end the bully's get caught as Emma confines in the teacher leaving the two excluded. 

(Emma on the far left playing victim and Sarah on the right followed by me next to her on the far right both playing bully's)

(Me and Sarah both playing bully's myself starting the roumor) 

( sam playing the teacher standing up) 

( here is a short right up evaluation I had done in class)

FMP - The Governers Inspector

Jade Ward McFarlane
FMP - The Governers Inspector
Rehearsal progress.


Plot- The Governers inspector is a classic Russian play from 1836 It is a contemporary play written by Nikolai Gogol The play is about a small village run by the mayor, with many secret problems and hidden damages done to the town; the 'inspector' makes a sudden visit to the village making everyone turn upside down to try and impress this visitor all to find out the 'inspector' who secretly frauds the town with his stay and takes their money as a 'loan' wasn't a inspector at all and the real inspector has just arrived; leaving the town in complete distress and misery.


First lesson - The first lesson on the Governers inspector was given by rob, we sat down and firstly done a read through of the script, line by line to have a better understanding of what the plays about and also to see the potential characters come to life! I personally dislike this step, I find it takes extremely long and can be quite boring if people are not lifting of the page, however this process has to be done in any play given and as a actor I have accepted this. When I first started getting a understanding of the play i wasn't too 'keen' I felt that for a comedic play it didn't sound very funny, i think this is because of the time era difference. Back then humour was very different it had to be less blunt and more hidden in a sense. I've grown to like the character Anna her role seems a lot funnier than the others and I believe I could play the role flirtatious and 'bitchy' quite well, it will be a challenge if I get given the role but I love nothing more than pushing myself to the limit to gain more knowledge of the acting world I'm entering into.

After doing the line throughs we discussed as a class what we thought, and expressed our understanding of the play. I could already see a spark in some of my class on which characters I thought fitted their characters; Tutu & Hangela would make the perfect 'Bobchinksy and Dobchinsky' two land farmers living in the village. Tutu and Hangela are practically twins as it is and are very humorous in just their daily activities in class I personally feel they'd make PERFECT Bobchinksy and Dobchinsky.

Staging-
After receiving roles, after a bit of persuasion I was given the role ANNA! And I am ready to blast this character with energy. We had come into lesson with chairs placed in a strange persisuon "this is our stage layout" exclaimed rob. I was slightly confused on how this would work, Rob continued to explain that this is a traverse stage layout played to the audience at all angles. I began to wonder how this layout would fit with this play, I'm not used to stage layout to be anything different but your average theatre layout Proscenium stage, and with such a classic old play i would personally think that the Proscenium stage would fit better. I started to think about each scene and how the traverse staging would fit, and i think it will be a struggle to work the scene with anna, mayra and dobchinksy when he delivers the news as myself and fru ( Anna and Mayra) have to run up to the window and see dobchinsky run with a letter from the mayor; how will this work? how will the audience see dobchinksy? as there is four entrances/exits on the stage which one will make sense for him to enter without breaking the 'realistic' feel of theatre.
However im quite excited on having the stage layout like this as i think it will be a challenege for myself and class to be able to adjust to a different staging as we more or less always do Proscenium staging.

Coming to Grips with character-
I have started to realise exactly what I've let myself in for.. a POSH (well spoken) character. Something that has to be a extremely big challenege for me, my dilect is very 'street' as I have been told with a unusual 'eye widening' accent, some people would say its very 'east londoner' with a mix of something you cant put your finger on. I have struggled since the first year with my articulation in some areas; one being the biggest, the dreaded 'th's. Consistently pulled up by Rob on these pronounciations this has to be perfected for the show! I decided to do some research into other sketch shows with well spoken women such as Honor Blackman who originates from Plaistow, not to far from my hojme town Westham, The show I studided her in was called 'The Upper Hand' a sitcom.
This gave me some inspiration as i thought a woman with much similarity in dilect to me and comes from the same area can pull of a 'buckingham palace' accent.. then i can do the same; with practice. Everyday to prepare myself for the show I would practice my th's making sure my tounce tip touches my teeth. I would practice on the train reading overhead posters to even text messages on my phone. I also had a look into the flirtaciousness of my character and realised shes a very 'saucy' character who i believe is just craving for attention that is not being given by her husband.. this instantly rang bells to me. 'Of mice & men' a classic novel worldwide and now made into a film; curlys wife is just the character I need to inspire off to create my own Anna Andrevna.

Day in the life of Anna Andrevna-
Dear Diary,
Today has been like any other day in this horrid village that is not St Petersburg.
Im forever telling Anton we need to ditch this town and its provinctial people, im bored of fresh bread and soup! I need caviar and salmon sticks like 'good old' Vershina does in her kingdom palace in the wonderful, maginifivent and classy St Petersburg. Ohhh St Petersburg how I would love to step into your precsence, how I would love for my diamond pointed heeled shoes to step on to your perfect layed brick flooring. Diary I'm So excited today! a new comer has enetered the horrid village, believe it or not a inspector.. a handsome Aubern tonned sophistacated young gentlemen; how i would love to get my claws into his milatary jacket oh my! but I've been watching our Mayra with her twinkly eyes running up and down his perfected body, oh yes im watching you Mayra you may be my daughter but this one is mine, mine all mine. And Diary the servant isnt to bad looking for an old man either bit of a crooked back but he can make do whilst anton is off sorting buisness, I think he was slightly intimidated by my proposal for him to come to my room tonight, I dont think he is used to such a fiesty woman but I know for sure that handsome inspector is.
That is all for now Diary until tomorrow I must get some beauty sleep not that I need It.
Goodnight Anna.

Tech Rehearsal Week-

27th April/4&5 is a 'bummer'- The start of tech week and I don't think anyone is ready for this show, i feel as if everyone is just tired and not feeling the play as much as we have with others; the class has not clicked with the governers inspector. everyones under severe pressure to get this final play to the up most it can be and lines are not even one hundered percent learnt. I'm fearing for both Khelstakovs at this present moment along with the rest of the class as both don't know any of their lines at all, this is a big fear as its just a week away but knowing both of them through previous experience they are very skilled actors; I know they will pull themselves together.
Act 4&5 seem to be the biggest downfull in the play at the moment, it can easily be a boring scene if its not quick in speed it needs to be sharp and snappy!

28thApril/The class has completely lost It'- We started the second lesson of tech rehearsals with a short warm up as myself and the class agree that this is the perfect way to get us focused as a group. Our favourite warm up vocal game has to be 'fe fi fo' a warm up we learnt from Naomi during movement workshop from the donmar theatre. after this warm up we are full of energy as we have been running around the space with high voices, loud voices, quiet voices and even down to tiny whispers we then had one run through of the show and then it was time for independent learning rehearsals for Act 4&5; the scene we are not getting. It all kicked off. A big argument accured between the class due to lack of team work, people consistantly in and out of the class and not supporting eachother, i think this is very important as an actor to be able to work with your group at a 'family like' level we are all one in this show. Once everyone had cooled down after lunch we had one last run through inside the theatre changing lighting and seeing how music fit with louis. As we are all directors in the class i advise3d the group that i think their should be orange lighting throughout the play rather than bright white lights as most scenes are set inside the mayors house it needs a cosier feel inside the theatre with dimmer lighting to repersent a home. I also made another directorial note of Myself Anna and Mayra (Fru) to surround Osip (Sam) with chairs in Act3 as a sign of interrogation, persistance and obsessiveness of the pair; Rather than surrounding him standing up and leaning on him as this may distract the audience when Osip is talking through too much movement on stage or as we call it (Dancing).

29thApril/COSSSTUMESSS' - We was told to pick costumes; it all started to feel so sorrel now. Having a brief conversation to Rob before about costume I remembered him saying how he would like the play to have a bit more of a modern costume as the play is very back dated. I chose a green emerald dress with a gold shall to cover my shoulders with small black heels, i think this costume instantly tells the audience that I am a high classed character compared to other costumes being worn on stage, this dress is a royal colour and was only worn by people with moeny. It was quite a struggle to pick the costume due to my own body shape as a curvy actress i find this is always a diffuclty as most costumes are bought in the department for smaller built people and i think this needs to be changed and renewed. I first picked a black tasseled dress however this was slightly short for a mayors wife with high elegance i then asked Sarah who's playing Anna also but in the second show what sort of costume she was going for her character. A bright red 'poofy' dress, i did not agree. everyone was going for a very modern look in the play to bring vibrance to the stage in this old tale and this was a back dated dress, i began to wonder how this would fit in with the Annas and the major contrasts between the same character. I guess this shows the contrast in the Actors and how each actor has their own perception on a character and how they make the character their own, this is a very important skill to have as an actor as it makes you your own and unusual. This makes you stand out.

30thApril/'dragging'- Act 4&5 STILL hasn't picked up, and It had become very, very, very Annoying! The lack of energy in the scene is what was killing it you could see the uninfusiasm in the class for this play even more.. we was tired. Act4&5 doesnt have a lot of Anna in the scene and this became fustrating as I was spending near enough the whole day watching a act that I was hardly even in and effortless people who weren't bothered if the scene was even going anywhere. You could see the fustration on even Rob & Sharons face and I don't blame them the show was in a few days time and this was the attitude we was getting monotous dragging. Finally it picked up by the end of the day but we still wasn't there, i could really see a great imput from Emma who plays the postmaster and enters midway in the final scene you can see a burst of energy in her precsence on stage uplifting the other characters.

1stMay&5th/Last touch ups- Each tech rehearsal starts off with a warm up and then full run through. I  think the run throughs are beginning to become better apart from a few slight line hiccups and unfortunatley the khelstakovs this is now a BIG worry, Francis has started to pick up some lines and has a better understanding on the play from what I  can sense but there is still loads of para phrasing however Conor has brought a big stress on not only himself but the show as he doesn't know a single line yet and all he has is this weekend to learn them! i don't know how this is going to work and the class is even thinking about using francis as khelestakov on both days if the lines aren't learn this would be such a shame as Conor is such a fantastic Student with so much potential, he is a very unusual in his acting style and has a spark to make it big. I really hope this doesn't ruin it. After Run throughs after Run throughs we got given our final notes,

• Learn Script
• Play the moment
• Eye Contact uplifted to the audience
• Act 5 & 3 still needs work
• DONT TOUCH THE CURTAIN
• Avoid 'ohh' In the play on improvisation lines
• Not enough discpline - Leave scwabbling

I think its extremely neccssercary to get notes from the director after every Rehearsal this dictates whether youy are a flexiable and adapative Actor as you can acknowledge your notes and take on board what you have to do to improve your character in scenes during the next run through to make yourself comfortable and to perfection for show time. My own personal notes was having a 'Nice Energy On stage' which i was very happy with as I have been trying my hardest to be vibrant and outgoing on stage dispite lack of energy overall in the performance. Another note given by Rob was to play a bit more 'Kat Slater' in certain lines Anna gives to Mayra to show the audience the real side of the mother; she is not the sophistcated classy woman she makes out to be, but a common woman with an east end cheap dilect.

(Start of Rehearsals myself playing Anna Andrevna on the right and Fru playing Mayra Anna's daughter on the left).

( Rob giving notes to class on run throughs in the drama studio) 

(Sarah playing other Anna on the right along with other actors in second group doing act 3, myself giving directorial notes) 

(Actors rehearsing Act2, rob filling in for student)

(Dress rehearsals, Sam (Osip) on stage/ day I chose the orange lighting demonstrated in picture) 

(Myself doing line learning in the canteen on breaks) 

(Actors on stage doing act 4) 

(Second group on stage, dress rehearsal final image.)

(Myself in costume - showtime in 5)

Under Milk wood - Sharon

Jade ward Mcfarlane 

'Story telling' 

Under milk wood.

'Under milk wood' is a Poem written by Dylan Thomas a Welsh poet An omniscient narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of a fictional small Welsh fishing village u (buggerall backwards).

Poem

To begin at the beginning:

It is Spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and- rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea. The houses are blind as moles (though moles see fine to-night in the snouting, velvet dingles) or blind as Captain Cat there in the muffled middle by the pump and the town clock, the shops in mourning, the Welfare Hall in widows' weeds. And all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are sleeping now.

Hush, the babies are sleeping, the farmers, the fishers, the tradesmen and pensioners, cobbler, schoolteacher, postman and publican, the undertaker and the fancy woman, drunkard, dressmaker, preacher, policeman, the webfoot cocklewomen and the tidy wives. Young girls lie bedded soft or glide in their dreams, with rings and trousseaux, bridesmaided by glow-worms down the aisles of the organplaying wood. The boys are dreaming wicked or of the bucking ranches of the night and the jollyrogered sea. And the anthracite statues of the horses sleep in the fields, and the cows in the byres, and the dogs in the wet-nosed yards; and the cats nap in the slant corners or lope sly, streaking and needling, on the one cloud of the roofs.

You can hear the dew falling, and the hushed town breathing.

Only your eyes are unclosed to see the black and folded town fast, and slow, asleep.

And you alone can hear the invisible starfall, the darkest-before- dawn minutely dewgrazed stir of the black, dab-filled sea where the Arethusa, the Curlew and the Skylark, Zanzibar, Rhiannon, the Rover, the Cormorant, and the Star of Wales tilt and ride.

Listen. It is night moving in the streets, the processional salt slow musical wind in Coronation Street and Cockle Row, it is the grass growing on Llareggub Hill, dewfall, starfall, the sleep of birds in Milk Wood.

Listen. It is night in the chill, squat chapel, hymning in bonnet and brooch and bombazine black, butterfly choker and bootlace bow, coughing like nannygoats, suckling mintoes, fortywinking hallelujah; night in the four-ale, quiet as a domino; in Ocky Milkman's lofts like a mouse with gloves; in Dai Bread's bakery flying like black flour. It is to-night in Donkey Street, trotting silent, with seaweed on its hooves, along the cockled cobbles, past curtained fernpot, text and trinket, harmonium, holy dresser, watercolours done by hand, china dog and rosy tin teacaddy. It is night neddying among the snuggeries of babies.

Look. It is night, dumbly, royally winding though the Coronation cherry trees; going through the graveyard of Bethesda with winds gloved and folded, and dew doffed; tumbling by the Sailors Arms.

Time passes. Listen. Time passes.

Come closer now.

First lesson- in today's lesson we was given a poem called under milk wood. We sat in a circle reading the poem line by line to its full stops so each of us in the class would have a understanding of the play, and how each of us would read it in a different tone allowing us to see what atmosphere for the poem was best. Most of us read the poem in a soft, suttled textured approach but this was wrong, oh so wrong. After reading the poem I then began to wonder who the person was watching the village as the person speaking was awake whilst everyone is silent asleep. Who was this person? Were they spiteful or nice? What was their motive? After this we discussed as a class what we thought about the poem, the opinions ranged and I was excited to start devising! 

Getting to grips with the characters of the poem- fisherman, policeman, priest and 'lady of the night' was the characters mostly spoke about in the poem. We started the lesson of with a traditional warm up done by most professional actors "walking in the space" this exercise is to gain focus in the room and within ourselves allowing our bodies and mind to take on any characterisation about to happen. Sharon then exclaimed that each character called out in the space had to be demonstrated; "policeman" my posture instantly changed into a head high straight body figure with my hands firmly placed behind my back inspecting the area, a stereo typical point of view most people would think of when portraying a police man. Sharon then said that we was allowed to use short phrases when showing our characters in the space, I then called out "allo allo allo" another stereotypical phrase of a police man. I began to wonder why this exercise allowed us to instantly be so stereotypical, was it because we didn't know the characters in depth enough or due to the fact that in an audiences eyes this would be most obvious for them to understand? As the lesson went on we went through each character; my favourite character would have to be the fisherman as this was a challenging charCter that wasn't as stereotypical as the others, this character allowed me to think of my own interpretation. I imagined this character to be old a fisherman who has been in the job for generations I also imagined the fisherman to be hunched backed and foul smelled making him outcasted from the village. 

After this exercise Sharon then asked us to line up equally in two lines across the room making the centre space empty, she then asked us to choose a character each then step into the centre two by two allowing the two characters to greet. My partner for this activity was Sam, Sam had chosen the character 'priest' and walked  into the space with a soft stroll with his hands folded In front of him and a small smile with the phrase "God bless you", I then walked into the space quickly but struggled with a hunched back and a doubtful face at Sam, grunting and wincing i then ignored Sam and started exiting the stage with the phrase "I don't believe in God". I believe this instantly gave the class something to talk about with this character and already delevoped some hate and allowed the character to become outcaststed just as I imagined him to be in the poem by the villagers.

Devising- in today's lesson we started the lesson by re'reading the poem to remind us and also to allow us to think about how we was going to create this into our own. After reading we was then put into groups of four, I was working with Sharney, Hangela, Elliot and Francis I was excited to work with these class peers as I like working with different people and seeing how each idea would create an explosion in our devising. We got given a short paragraph "Young girls lie bedded soft or glide in their dreams, with rings and trousseaux, bridesmaided by glow-worms down the aisles of the organplaying wood. The boys are dreaming wicked or of the bucking ranches of the night and the jollyrogered sea. And the anthracite statues of the horses sleep in the fields, and the cows in the byres, and the dogs in the wet-nosed yards; and the cats nap in the slant corners or lope sly, streaking and needling, on the one cloud of the roofs" I already had some ideas to input. Sharon then said to each group we had 20 minutes to interpret the poem however we wanted putting movement into the piece but each group must read the paragraph given to them. 

I had the idea of this paragraph being a dream sequence. Hangela beginning the scene with herself pretending to be a little  girl walking down the isle, something every young girl would relate too; whilst everyone else layed still on the floor awaiting their turn to speak their line it then lead into Francis and myself jumping up as two young boys sword fighting, rolling on the floor and coming back up quickly to show movement and to keep the poem active and lively, I imagined in my head the Classic Disney film "Peter pan" and how the young boy and goon the evil pirate would have sword fights on the Pirates boat this instantly gave me a child like feel allowing me to get into depth of a young boy dreaming in this poem. As each of us spoke our lines with movement all of us ended back in the same position showing that we was still asleep dreaming away in this silent village . I think the class enjoyed our piece as it was a lot more outspoken then some others, I think we had great energy as a group and really become the characters inside this poem our ownly feedback was to slow down when doing the movement as we wouldn't want the audience to loose distraction from what the words are saying by the movement but not only that but to emphasis the childlike movements. We could improve this by doing the movements in a slower pace maybe so slow that it could freeze to create more impact in the scene and even in the poems words. I really enjoyed Mihahlis group as I loved the way even though their chosen paragraph was quite harsh they spoke and moved in a suttle tone moving as if they were the night wind each person standing behind each other in a single filed line moving their arms and then moving to the back when they had read their line. Ending the piece with them all fluttering to the floor like autumn leaves. I think they could improve by not all speaking in the same tone as it had a monotone approach although it allowed them to be one instead of individuals this may have been what they were aiming for as a group. 

Devising part two- in today's lesson we continued to learn about under milk wood poem and its was time to start creating from a different point of view "stereo type" we was told to create a short scene to perform in front of level 2 performing arts acting students using the characters police man, priest, lady of the night and the fisherman. This was a challenge as all characters would have to enter the scene at least once and I was beginning to think how this was going to work realistically. My group was Eliott, Danielle and Sam we decided that the scene would intale the lady of the night having a affair with the police officer later to discover that the fisherman was also paying her for her duties the police officer outraged kicks off a fight with the fisherman only to leave the priest to deal with the violence with calls and praises from the bible later to be arrested by the police officer when the priest turns mad and curses the lady of the night. I had a genius idea of Eliot playing.. The lady of the night! I thought this would not only challenge him but allow there to be humour in this performance. I played the police officer approached by Elliott with rolled up trouser legs and top standing in a deductive position, "allo allo allo" was a great sentence to include in this specific moment as not only does it relate to being a police officer but has two meanings one being slightly cheeky. We had great support from the level 2s with a lot of giggles and Claps however I still think there was a lot of work on this scene I felt as if the time we had to put it together was a little bit rushed and this gave us a bit of confusion and nervousness on stage making the scene slightly overwhelmed and unorganised however even though we had a few difficulties the scene overall went well with lots of energy and a great responsive audience. 

Conclusion- overall I really enjoyed working on this poem as there isn't one overall explanation for this poem on how it should be read and what is really going on.. I loved making this poem my own and allowing my own imagination to discover its own interpretation of the nights in the cobbled village. It was fascinating to see how each of us has our own stereo types on characters even though most of us exclaim to not have any, discovering our inner stereo types to ourselves. Even though many questions are unanswered about the poem I feel as though I have learnt valuable knowledge in devising but the poems speaker will forever be a mystery..

Masks Project - reasearch

Jade Ward McFarlane
'Using Masks'
10.03.15




Research

Greek theatre/Noh theatre//Commedia dell’arte Masks

Greece
The mask first emerged in Western civilization from the religious practices of ancient Greece. In the worship of Dionysus, the god of wine actors tried to impersonate him using goatskin and wine this then developed into the early stages of masking. They used a white linen mask hung over the face (a device supposedly invented by Thespis, a 6th-century-bce poet who is credited with originating tragedy), he enabled the leaders of the ceremony to make the god manifest. Therefore the actor was inspired to speak in the first person, giving birth to the art of drama and masking. The Greek mask seems to have been designed to exaggerate the features, to make clear at a distance the precise nature and the characters power in the piece. The mask made it possible for the Greek actors to play more than one character in the tragedy productions by simply changing masks and costumes.

Here are two types of masks

Tragedy: Tragedy dealt with the big themes of love, loss, pride, the abuse of power and the fraught relationships between men and gods. Typically the main protagonist of a tragedy commits some terrible crime without realizing how foolish and arrogant he has been. Then, as he slowly realizes his error, the world crumbles around him. The three great playwrights of tragedy were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.


Comedy: The first comedies were mainly satirical and mocked men in power for their vanity and foolishness. The first master of comedy was the playwright Aristophanes. Much later Menander wrote comedies about ordinary people and made his plays more like sit-coms.

Japan

Noh is an art form that uses masks,There were originally about 60 basic types of noh masks, but today there are well over 200 different kinds in use. noh performers feel that the noh mask has a certain power inherent which makes it much more spiritual than a prop to change their character or its appereance. The noh performer will carefully choose a noh mask, known also as a noh-men or omote. In most cases, the exact mask is not predetermined, depending on the person performing the noh and what energy they are feeling then they will choose their mask.

developed from the mid to latter part of the Muromachi period (1392-1573).As Noh masks started to become more popular the performers thought more about yūgen (mysterious beauty) and profundity,and didnt really care for their own beauty and felt they had to hide their imperfections through the mask and concerntrated on making the noh mask even more beautiful and stronger. Its very hard to to tellwhat actual feelings are being expressed from the mask this is due to the fact that the performer does this through dance and minute actions; it has been made purposly “neutral”. One of the techniques used in this task is to slightly tilt the mask up or down. With terasu (tilting upwards) the mask appears to be slightly smiling or laughing and the expression lightens somewhat. While kumorasu (tilting downwards), produces a slight frown and can express sadness or crying. Basically, by using minute movements, the performer is able to express very fully.

 

 

Here are two types of Noh masks

 

Onryō (Ghosts and Spirits)

These masks are used for spirits of the dead who have regrets of some kind. In this category there are both male and female masks. Examples of male types are ayakashi, yase-otoko and kawazu. Examples of female types are yamamba, deigan and the famous hannya masks.

Kishin (Demons)
These masks were developed early in noh’s history and are used for portraying demons, goblins or other worldly creatures. This category is divided into two main parts, tobide (fierce gods or demonic spirits) and beshimi (goblins and other creatures).

http://www.the-noh.com/en/world/mask.html


Italy
Commedia dell’arte Masks emerged in the second half of the 16th century in Italy. It is a masked form of physical theatre that involves comedy and a lot of improvisation. It is a style that emerged during the renaissance following the plague, “Black Death” at a time of, death, starvation and economic upheaval. The major themes of the Commedia to be based on death, love, hunger and greed. The commedia is a style that, although comic, rests essentially in tragedy and revolves around fundamental themes such as fear: fear of death, fear of life, fear or everything. It is cruel, in the present, and without remorse. have the exaggerated, strong features that make room for all the grand human emotions i think this is done to exclaim loudly what type of character is being played, this is compeletly opposite to the noh masking as the performer shows the emotion where as greek masks and commedia dell'arte use the masks to tell the emotions.

here are two types

Pulcinella: Always dressed in white with a black mask (hence conciliating the opposites of life and death), he stands out thanks to his peculiar voice, whose sharp and vibrant qualities produced with a tool called a swazzle contribute to the intense tempo of the show. Pulcinella often carries around macaroni and a wooden spoon. According to Pierre-Louis Duchartre, his traditional temperament is to be mean, vicious, and crafty and his main mode of defense is to pretend to be too stupid to know what's going on. In some versions Pulcinella has a brother Cucurucu.



Scaramouche: entertains the audience by his "grimaces and affected language". Salvator Rosa says that Coviello (like Scaramouche) is "sly, adroit, supple, and conceited". In Molière's The Bourgeois Gentleman, Coviello disguises his master as a Turk and pretends to speak Turkish. Both Scaramouche and Coviello can be clever or stupid—as the actor sees fit to portray him.

http://themaskery.com/commedia_dell.html

Devising for children - Dreams / final essay

I shall start this essay with the words 'mystical mindsets' something myself and my group have, to have created such a amazing yet creepy production for secondary school children. 

Ideas popped up in the class whilst sitting in a circle discussing what each of us would like to pick as a topic to use as our stimulus. It ranged from drugs, sex, peer pressure to even hair styles! But my idea was out of the ordinary; I wanted to do something completely different 'outside of the box' something a little more challenging. From my own experiences every production brought to a secondary school has to do with peer pressure or sexuality/sexual activities and it's BORING! I wanted to torment the audience mentally and bring 'Dreams' to the table.. 

I thought the topic dreams was such a wide ranging topic and so magical but sorrel because everyone can relate to dreams; everyone gets them.

And the group was formed.. Conor, Elliott, Keylhlar, Sharney, Abigal, Hangela and Justyna, we was now the 'Art Wonderers' they all agreed with me and the topic I was so interested to do ideas exploded on the page 

'efil' which is life spelt backwards was the characters name. We had a male version and a female Conor and Keylhlar was to play this orginally, the first ideas were that it would be a Alice in wonderland back drop (inspired from) when the character was in dream world and efil would always come into her dreams and remind her of 'life' outside of her dreams to destroy her hope and faith we decided we could link this to the other groups such as Francis's as Kurtis was playing a homeless person so efil would come and reminds the dreamer that in reality they are homeless and there's no escape ( linking to Francisis group) eventually the dreams get darker and scarier ending in a dramatic crisis. We presented our ideas to the class were we got 100% support. 

Now, this is were the fun and games began after Christmas we was told that we had just about two weeks to devise, light, 'musicate' and direct a professional performance.The pressure was on. 

Unfortunately when the roles were assigned to my group I was unable to attend and wrote a short summary of ideas of what could happen in the play

Director was given to Conor, I was slightly disappointed with this, as I felt that most of the ideas and topic was me and I directed the group from start, however I got over this hurdle and agreed that Conor would make a excellent director as he's full of creativeness himself and is cool, calm and collective. I was assigned the role assistant director which still played a big part as eventually In some scenes I took main control and we was able to work as a team and not all stress was taken by one person. 

To start the process of gathering firm scenes, we decided to sit in a circle and discuss what we would like in the beginning, middle and end. Myself and Hangela decided we would like a dance/movement scene in our performance to reflect on previous work we've done with josh and put it to practice. I really enjoyed devising a short dance piece with Hangela for our performance we didn't revive 100% confidence when we told the group however every individual gave it their all and still participated. I think it gave it a very dark edge to the performance and allowed the audience into the mind of my character 'Jade' who is suffering from the disorder schizophrenia and is confused between a dream and reality and is 'pupitized' 

(Myself running through the maze of mystical dancers before 'pupitized' into dance). 

Here also are some of myself and groups ideas I had noted for scenes we are going to do

Here is a final script Elliott had wrote.. 

Conor: Have you ever had a dream? Not yourstandard waking up in school naked or reliving an old memory you didn't even know you remembered. No. This is not that kind of dream. This is more: you're in a dark forest... You're walking around, your only companion: a small torch. It's batteries are obviously running low. A flicker and you see something or someone move through the branches... It's just a small animal you think to yourself... not fully believing it... A loud growl from behind... Much closer... Okay maybe it's a big animal... With hot breath... You feel it on the back of your neck... You don't bother to look you just run but your legs won't move as fast as you command. You try to move your hands to help with moving forwards but it's in vain... You wake before it gets you. You don't know what it was that chased you but, dream or not, you're scared. Why are you scared?... Because dreams aren't random. They happen for a reason and everything in it in some way, shape or form is real. Do you know what nightmares are? They're the realist kind of dreams. Because real life... Life is the real nightmare.

 

 

[Scene 1]

[Nights]

 

{noise}

[minions dance around Jade]

 

Jade: {scream} Ah!

 

[offstage]

{knocking}

 

Abigail: /Jade!? Hey Jade!?

Justyna: /Jade!? What's wrong!?

[enters]

 

Abigail: Hey what's wrong?

 

Jade:... {mumbling}

 

Justyna: What?

 

Jade: I said!... It was just the dream again.

 

Justyna: [exasperated] oh my god! Again? Really!?That's like the third time this week!

 

Abigail: Will you please tell us what this dream is about?

 

Jade: ...It's not important

 

Abigail: It most certainly is if it's waking me up at...[checks time] 6:00AM.

 

Jade: ...I'm fine.

 

Abigail: You're really not-

 

Justyna: Just drop it. Oh god I'm never gonna get back to sleep. Would the Café be open now?

 

Abigail: By the time we get ready and go down it might.

 

Justyna: Great. [to Jade] Come on. Get up.

 

Jade: I don't wanna go-

 

Justyna: [drags her up] Nope. No arguments. You're coming.

 

Jade: ...fine.

 

 

[Scene 2]

[Days]

 

{Abigail and Justyna mindless chatter}

[Jade obviously not listening]

[minions do scary stuff]

 

Justyna: Hey! Are you listening? Jade? Jade? JADE!?

 

Jade: What?

 

Abigail: Jade will you please tell us what's wrong?

 

Jade: No.

 

Abigail: Please tell us. We can help you.

 

Justyna: Yeah

Jade: No you can't! You can't help me! [to Abigail] You can't help me! [to Justyna] No one can help me! You don't know anything!

 

[Jade leaves]

 

[Bus Stop Sequence]

(Should Justyna and Abigail say things and make noise. Kinda ruins the atmosphere ?)

 

 

Scene 3

[Life]

 

 

TV presenter: Operations are underway to refloat a stricken -Jade- which ran aground in rough seas off the coast of north -Jade- The ship hit rocks near -Jade- on Tuesday evening after it was battered by gale force nine winds and five -Jade-

 

[changes channel]

 

Cooking show host:...and today we will be making a delicious tray full of cookies for -you Jade- with aadded ingredient of -Jade-

 

[changes channel]

 

Minion: Jade. Jaaaaade. [Jade frantically trying to change the channel] What are you doing Jade?...Trying to get rid of me? Hahahaha (possibly a cackle with lighting fluctuations ?) I think we both know that's not going to work.

 

Jade:...please go away...

 

Minion: Hmmm. I'm gonna go with: No. Come on Jade, without us/ who would you have? No one.

Other Minions: /usssss

 

Jade: Thats not true.

 

Minion: Now you're just being ridiculous. Come on Jade/ Join us//+ (repeat)

Other Minion: /Jaaaaade //Join us+ (repeat)

 

[minions melt out of tv repeating "join us"]

 

Jade: I said go away! [breaks tv]

 

(Will have to sort out way of showing a melting tvbreaking ?)

(Also way of flowing into next scene ?)

 

 

Scene 4

[Dreams]

 

[dark forest]

[minions play with wings attracting her attention every so often](sound effect would help ?)

(Some minions could be being trees doing things behind Jades back ?)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(Keep it small though if we do that!)

 

[Jade eventually sits on ground]

 

[Conor enters](through minions maybe ?)

 

Conor: Little lost?

 

Jade: Yeah... A little...

 

Conor: Not a good place to be lost in. Well... Not all the time. Sometimes it's really nice here. But most times it's not.

 

Beat

 

Jade: ...I don't know how I got here.

 

Conor: Me neither. Maybe you've always been here but have only just opened your eyes to it. Or maybe a bump in the road set you off course your original path and now, here you our. But in all honestly; I don't know.

 

Jade: oh...

 

Conor: How do you think you got here?

 

Jade: [stares into distance] Gradually.

 

Conor: Are we still talking about the forest?

 

Jade: Where we ever?

 

Conor: [amused] Hmm.

 

Jade: So... Who are you?

 

Conor: Who do you think I am?

 

Jade: I don't know... Some kind of guardian angel?

 

Conor: Not... Exactly.

 

Jade: So what then?

[Conor thinks intently then nonchalantly shrugs]

 

Jade: You're not very helpful. I haven't gotten a single solid answer out of you. Just speculations and more questions.

 

Conor: Thats because I don't know anything... Well anything more than you.

 

Jade: What's that's supposed to mean?

 

Conor: I have no outside information to provide. I know only what you know. No more. No less. See I'm just a figment of your imagination. An apparition to represent your mind created by your mind.

 

Jade: ...I'm still confused.

 

Conor: Don't worry. I understand it. So on some level you do to.

Jade: Ok. So do you- sorry, I mean: do we know how to get out of here?

 

Conor: I don't think you'll like the answer... You have to wake up. Assuming you do want to wake up?

 

Jade: I don't know.

 

Conor: Well you can't dream forever.

 

Jade: Why not?

 

Conor: Because ignoring your problems isn't the answer.

 

Jade: It's easier than facing them.

 

Conor: "easy" doesn't equal correct. There's no point arguing with your own mind.

 

Jade: I've decided I don't like my mind. It's annoying [in Conor's face]

 

Conor: You'll get the chance to choose... In due time.

[Conor exits]

 

Jade: Hey! Where are you going!? HEY! 

{twig snap}

[Scares Jade. Runs away]

 

[minion dance sequence]

 

Jade: ...are you like that guy from before?

 

Hangela: Yes... And no.

 

Jade: Can I ever just get a straight answer?

 

Hangela: I am here in, your mind, but I am also in the minds of many. I am the darkness that hides in the deepest corners of the subconscious. I exist only to wreak havoc and chaos to others. In some ways, I'm like a ghost. I haunt until my host until pain is brought upon them and there loved ones. The more you give in the more powerful I become. I. Am. Your. Fear.

 

Jade: [backing away slowly] no... No!

 

Hangela: Yes!

 

Jade: No! I don't want this. I want you gone! I want live a normal life. I'm going to get help. I'm going to-

 

Hangela: You'll do no such thing. Do you want people calling you a freak!? Calling you a mental case!? Looking down on you for having a disorder you can't help!? Your friends turning their backs on you and no one caring about you?

Jade: I just want it to end.

 

Hangela: [takes out knife and offers] ...here you go then. End it.

 

[Jade is hesitant about taking the knife]

 

Hangela: What are you waiting for?

 

Jade:[tears?] ...I don't know...

 

Hangela: Don't worry. You will see reason... In time.

[Hangela leaves]

 

 

Scene 6

[Help]

 

 

Jade: It happens every night. The fascinations have become stronger. I'm scared all the time. Etc. {ramble a bit} and I-I-I-I-

 

Sharney: -Okay... Okay. Calm down, it's okay. This is good. Getting it all out of your system is healthy. How often do you see these "creatures"?

 

[minion stands behind doctor]

 

Jade: [looking at minion] All the time.

 

Sharney: Ok. Sorry, I'm afraid we're out of time but this has been a good first session. I'll just bring in my secretary to book another appointment.

 

Jade: Ok.

 

[enter Conor]

 

Conor: Hello again, Jade.

 

Jade: ...what are you doing here?

 

Conor: I don't know. You tell me.

 

Jade: I don't- I-... [inspects room] how did I get here? Unless... No. No! No don't tell me I'm still dreaming no! I'm not dreaming. I'm not dreaming! No! No no no no no!

 

Conor: Jade you need to wake up.

 

Jade: How can you expect me to wake up when I don't know what's real anymore!?

 

Conor: it's ok. You just need help. But first you need to wake up.

[blackout]

 

 

 

Scene 7

[Awakening]

 

[Jade is asleep on floor]

 

Abigail: ...do you think she's dead?

 

Justyna: She's not dead, she's breathing.

 

Abigail: What do you think happened to the TV?

 

(V.O.) Hangela: [hushed] They're mad at you.

 

Justyna: Maybe someone broke in- That's not really what we should be worrying about right now!

 

Abigail: [attempting to wake up Jade] Hey. Jade. You still in there?

 

(V.O.) Hangela: They think you're crazy.

 

Justyna: Hey, you okay?

 

Abigail: What happened?

 

Jade: Um... I'm not sure...

 

Justyna: [looks around room] ...Did you do this?

 

(V.O.) Hangela: They hate you.

 

Jade: ...I think I did...

 

Justyna: Will you please get some professional help now?

 

(V.O.) Hangela: See. They want to send to the looney bin.

 

Jade: No! I don't need it!

 

Abigail: Yes you do!

 

Jade: No I don't!

 

Justyna: [moving towards Jade] Jade-

 

Jade: Don't get any closer. I've been trying to hide them. I've been trying to hide the truth. But there'sno more places where we can hide. Look in to my eyes! Can you see them? Can you see the darkness in me? I want them out of me. I want to rip them out of my soul. But they cling to me. Holding on so tight... so tight that I can't breathe. Can you show me how to get rid of them? Can you help me? No! You can't! -You're getting too close. I just wannabe left alone. I'm lost. I'm so weak. Please... I can't take this much longer. I can't do this anymore. How can I live with this pain inside me? There's no place I can hide. They always find me. They are a part of me. They can never be taken from me!

 

Beat

 

[Justyna and Abigail share a look or worry then exit]

 

 

Scene 8

[Descent]

 

[Jade sits alone on stage]

 

Beat

 

[Conor enters one side]

[Hangela enters another]

 

Jade: [to Conor] is this that time you spoke of?...When I would get to choose?

 

[Conor nods]

[Jade stands]

[Conor offers Jade his hand]

[Hangela offers Jade a knife]

 

Beat

 

[slowly]

[Jade takes knife] 

[turns back to audience]

[holds knife up in air with both hands ready to come down into her stomach]

[she strikes once]

[lies on ground crying until she dies]

[blackout and then immediately lights up with everyone stepping forward]

 

 

Conor: Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Mental illnesses often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life.

 

Elliott: Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income. Mental illnesses are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. They cannot be overcome through "will power" alone.

 

Abigail: 1 in 10 children and young people aged only 5 - 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder - that is around three children in every class.

 

Sharney: There has been a big increase in the number of young people being admitted to hospital because of self harm. Over the last ten years this figure has increased by 68%. And has shown no sign of decreasing anytime soon.

 

Justyna: The number of young people aged 15-16 with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and the 2000s. 

 Hangela: More than half of all adults with mental health problems were diagnosed in childhood. Less than half were treated appropriately at the time.

 

Keylehr: The good news about mental illness is that recovery is possible. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan. But you as people can help as well. If you have or know someone close to you with any kind of mental illness, you can help by supporting them in any way you can.

 

[Jade stands up and joins center]

Jade: Thank you, for listening.

 

[blackout]

[lights up]

[bows]

[blackout]

 

 

END

 

 After receiving scripts we had 3 days to put it to action before performance day, the group was under extreme pressure. Sharney was creating posters and leaflets for the show whilst Hangela was creating the music and lighting to match, Myself and Conor directing with the others imputing ideas as we both decided we'd like our group to all have their own say. And finally Abigal finding schools to perform and do a workshop on a later date..

 

On performance day at college to students from all classes and some outsiders, we was all very nervous and I don't believe anyone felt they were ready.. But we were. 

We opened the show with a scene we had previously done with Naomi from the Donmar, 'kingscross' was a busy abstract/contemporary scene with us wondering in and out of each other as average people; on the phone, eating, bumping into each other and people on a train. This was to show that the performance was about everyday people who we don't recognise or acknowledge their problems but only ours. 

The performance went fantastically well considering we only properly started rehearsing three days before, I really loved how there was a contrast in each performance comedic, heartfelt and creepy; with the art Wonderers ending the show. The audiences reaction to the piece was jumpy and quite freaked out by the performance especially when the music would play as it had a mystical but weird feeling to it something that would give you goosebumps.. However on my final monologue which was quite a intense piece and overly dramatic I had a few laughs, this was unexpected but I think the audience may have laughed because they felt slightly uncomfortable or awkward at the characters emotion. 

After the performance we done a workshop with level 3's year 1 drama students to put it to practice before the school. 

We started off with a short introduction of ourselves and each other and then our classic well loved game 'fe fi fo' to break the ice and get us vocally warmed up and energised. Elliott then took over and demonstrated the game ninja, this game is to gain focus. The aim of the game is to attack your two components who are standing each side of you with one 'ninja' move touching their arms until they loose both and are out but still watching yourself as you can be attacked back and your move can be used against you. 

Our group then decided it would be great if we separated the class into groups of 5 and for them to create a short scene about a nightmare or good dream inspired by our play.. All of the groups were amazing and different my two favourite groups was one about two guys playing a video game (mario & luwege) when the two boys are sucked into the television and now have to become characters themselves fighting the overgrown mushroom hurdles and turtles whilst being chased.. They acted this out so well that I could visualise the game itself with their awesome sound effects. 

Unfortunately a week before performance at the secondary school we had a disappointing email from the teacher explaining that the school is busy and would not be able to fit us in as its a difficult time. I think this affected the group slightly as we all lost a little bit of hope into going to a secondary school and putting all our hard work into nothing.

But fortunately! I contacted my secondary school 'Eastlea Community School' and was able to fit us in with 50 year 10/11 GCSE drama students. 

This was fantastic news but very nerve wrecking for myself as I hadn't been back since I left and know that the school had high expectations for me and my performances. 

We performed the show straight away not giving a introduction first as we didn't want to loose our theme of 'mysticalness' after the performance we recieved a big round of a clause and recieved the same reactions through the show as performed at college besides my ending monologue on which they took slightly more dramatic as there was silence so I felt that we achieved the right outcome this time round.

Here's a few pictures of the performance at Eastlea.. 

(Cafe scene, mystical's in mask tormenting jade.. Abigal and Justyna oblivious to their existence as its jades illness) 

(Forest scene dream one, jades first meeting with conscious male efil played by Conor) 

( schizophrenic office, jade talking to Sharney playing doctor about her dreams and mystical's.. Keylehr playing mystical in background) 

(Final scene Jades ending monologue of death approaching mystical's who hand her a knife with a blackout to leave audience with a cliff hanger) 

Workshop time! My group decided we wasn't going to split the 50 students and was going to do the workshop altogether as one as we felt we would be able to handle it and achieve a better more effective workshop. We started the workshop with 'fe fi fo' I decided to do the workshop with full energy and shall we say loudness to show the younger students how confident I was and to hopefully bring them out of their shells. The group decided we wasn't going to play ninja as we wasn't expecting such a big group so we decided to play the number game, this game is to show them how to work as a team, feel tension, and go from gut instincts. After this we went onto the devising of dream scenes we separated them into big groups of up to 10 to see how challenging it would be for them and how they would create a scene involving everyone. Some groups decided to make a chorus and some made each other objects. It was interesting to see that every group had chosen to do a nightmare. It made me think that it's easier to do this as its easy to think of a crisis and make it look interesting rather than a happy dream which can be boring and not very energetic if played in the wrong way. I also found it interesting that every group adapted my scream into their scenes. 

After watching each performance we asked the groups how they felt about the play, if they knew what mental illnesses are how to spot the signs and how common it is, also how to seek help. We then asked them if they had any questions about college life and what they would study in college also giving advice for future college life.

We had a lot of positive feedback from the group and plenty of questions. 

Overall I enjoyed devising and creating a workshop for secondary schools, it really showed me how long it takes to develop a well structured performance and the efforts and patience practiced. It's all about team work and dedication. If you give up on yourself you've ruined it for your team. I loved directing this performance with Conor as I saw my ideas come to life and was following my own thoughts and opinions rather than my teachers. However for next time I think my group could improve more on discussing things less, most of our time was taken by discussing our ideas rather than doing them. I also think the performance could have been improved more if we had more time to perfect it, I felt very rushed in creating this piece and felt with more time we could have pulled something even more out of the ordinary from the bag. 

In conclusion I loved devising this performance and loved seeing my own ideas come to life following my own opinions and experience and am looking forward to creating more performances in the future. 

(Myself giving final words to students on the studying life of acting)