In today's lesson, we got a lot more work done. Although we only got a few pages done, we went into such detail that they are now properly blocked to the point that we won't have to revisit them again until closer to the performance day.
Side Stretch
Again, we started the lesson with a side stretch. This time, the class were so much more focused so that when it came to the 'HA', everyone was really in sync, showing that they were really on the ball.
I like doing the side stretch as I feel like it really focuses me and gets my body into the mind set of a bloodthirsty fighter in Shakespeare. Today, I especially felt it when we added in the 'sphinx', before doing the press up, which included us going into a cobra and turning our head slowly from side to side. It looked like a very sneaky move therefore it really got me thinking about how fighters in the war had to be so sneaky and sly.
After the warm up, I felt fully warmed up and ready to start the rehearsal!
Rehearsal
Straight after the warm up, we went straight into rehearsals.
You could tell that the cast were a lot more focused after the Side Stretch. We went into the Maggot Pile, and then into the Haka. We were all doing slightly different movements in the Haka, although it worked quite well in some bits, however I now know that is something I need to work on. I kept forgetting the next movement so I was watching Jamilah in the corner of my eye for direction of what the next move would be.
I started feeling a lot more confident as Ben was directing us this time so he was making sure that everything we were doing was correct and what he had seen in his vision.
After spending the week trying to learn my lines, I felt a lot more confident in my line delivery. I wasn't exactly sure how to deliver my lines so I just projected the lines towards Titus (Katie) however Ben then taught us not to do that; as Mutius is a bloodthirsty brother who wants to kill a lot of people, Ben said to work with that. With this information, I then started to move around and direct my lines in the direction of the prisoners, as well as Titus. I also began to articulate and stress some of the sounds to exaggerate his lines to then show character through my lines. This made me feel like I was getting better at understanding my character and the situations in the scene. I still need to learn some of my lines and cues however I already feel that I will be able to do it for Week 10.
When I say the line, 'Let's hew his limbs 'til they be clean consumed', we all freeze in the scene and Aaron comes on stage, pulling a blood pack from the cauldron and placing it into my hand. The dramatic drumming then begins and I walk in front of Jamilah, killing her. I think a visible blood pack is a very effective way in killing someone, instead of hiding the blood pack, as it is a visible representation of the violence the fighters would use, instead of hiding it underneath clothes and making it burst, making it more realistic; the bursting of the blood pack represents the anger the fighters had.
We worked on the 'Love Dance' again. Gemma and I are partners and we have now got a good, repeatable routine, that we are not confident in performing. We have also perfectly synced our breaths in and out so it signifies unity and teamwork. When the scene restarts, we then all continue to do the Love Dance however we do it in very slow motion. This was quite hard, at first, to do as we were going at different tempos, and it is also very hard to do the movement very slowly as my body just wanted to hurry up and speed up although my I kept telling myself not to. This is something I need to work on.
Moving on to Mutius's death, we have staged it so that Titus holds me by the neck (holding the blood pack in the other hand), with the rest of the brothers surrounding me and lifting me up so that it looks like Titus lifting me in frustration, and then bursting the blood pack on my body and killing me (The brothers then place me back onto the floor). I really like this idea because it includes physical theatre into the death, which is really effective as it shows unity of the other brothers and Titus.
To finish off this rehearsal, we did a run through of everything we did that lesson. Shenay was on book for the lines however this really put me off because I was waiting for the appropriate time for pauses and she seemed to keep thinking that I didn't know my lines, which really threw me off so I ended up not knowing my lines very well.
I like doing the side stretch as I feel like it really focuses me and gets my body into the mind set of a bloodthirsty fighter in Shakespeare. Today, I especially felt it when we added in the 'sphinx', before doing the press up, which included us going into a cobra and turning our head slowly from side to side. It looked like a very sneaky move therefore it really got me thinking about how fighters in the war had to be so sneaky and sly.
After the warm up, I felt fully warmed up and ready to start the rehearsal!
Rehearsal
Straight after the warm up, we went straight into rehearsals.
You could tell that the cast were a lot more focused after the Side Stretch. We went into the Maggot Pile, and then into the Haka. We were all doing slightly different movements in the Haka, although it worked quite well in some bits, however I now know that is something I need to work on. I kept forgetting the next movement so I was watching Jamilah in the corner of my eye for direction of what the next move would be.
I started feeling a lot more confident as Ben was directing us this time so he was making sure that everything we were doing was correct and what he had seen in his vision.
After spending the week trying to learn my lines, I felt a lot more confident in my line delivery. I wasn't exactly sure how to deliver my lines so I just projected the lines towards Titus (Katie) however Ben then taught us not to do that; as Mutius is a bloodthirsty brother who wants to kill a lot of people, Ben said to work with that. With this information, I then started to move around and direct my lines in the direction of the prisoners, as well as Titus. I also began to articulate and stress some of the sounds to exaggerate his lines to then show character through my lines. This made me feel like I was getting better at understanding my character and the situations in the scene. I still need to learn some of my lines and cues however I already feel that I will be able to do it for Week 10.
When I say the line, 'Let's hew his limbs 'til they be clean consumed', we all freeze in the scene and Aaron comes on stage, pulling a blood pack from the cauldron and placing it into my hand. The dramatic drumming then begins and I walk in front of Jamilah, killing her. I think a visible blood pack is a very effective way in killing someone, instead of hiding the blood pack, as it is a visible representation of the violence the fighters would use, instead of hiding it underneath clothes and making it burst, making it more realistic; the bursting of the blood pack represents the anger the fighters had.
We worked on the 'Love Dance' again. Gemma and I are partners and we have now got a good, repeatable routine, that we are not confident in performing. We have also perfectly synced our breaths in and out so it signifies unity and teamwork. When the scene restarts, we then all continue to do the Love Dance however we do it in very slow motion. This was quite hard, at first, to do as we were going at different tempos, and it is also very hard to do the movement very slowly as my body just wanted to hurry up and speed up although my I kept telling myself not to. This is something I need to work on.
Moving on to Mutius's death, we have staged it so that Titus holds me by the neck (holding the blood pack in the other hand), with the rest of the brothers surrounding me and lifting me up so that it looks like Titus lifting me in frustration, and then bursting the blood pack on my body and killing me (The brothers then place me back onto the floor). I really like this idea because it includes physical theatre into the death, which is really effective as it shows unity of the other brothers and Titus.
To finish off this rehearsal, we did a run through of everything we did that lesson. Shenay was on book for the lines however this really put me off because I was waiting for the appropriate time for pauses and she seemed to keep thinking that I didn't know my lines, which really threw me off so I ended up not knowing my lines very well.
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