Newspaper and Schools Projects
23rd November 2014
LET IT GO!
Games of the week:
- Bulldog
- Musical Chairs
- Musical Statues
- Musical Bumps
- Stuck in the mud
- Bing, Bong, Name
- Hep
- Magic letter
Strengths:
- I was pleased with what I'd
done in the research task as
Patsy Rodenburg, as I found
her so interesting and I
think that's a good sign
because the research really
inspired me. I loved
watching her videos and not
only listening to what she
said, but also studying the
way she talked and moved.
It was great to get some
first hand information from
Amber at Guildhall who
works with Pasty and hear
about what she's like to
work with.
My Journey
Credited Google Images
Another busy week! We're really getting
the ball rolling with the schools project now and it makes me
so excited!
We finally handed over the Newspaper Project - hooray! This
has not happened to me before at Miskin, but I was glad to
see the back of this process. Working with them on Monday
and Tuesday to finish the piece was hard, as we had to get the
physical section done to complete it, but felt so much
resistance from the actors when trying to do this. When
asking the actors to spend some time devising a little routine,
which we would then work with them on it was painful to
watch. They just couldn't be bothered and there was a real low
energy about it, so in the end Levi, Charley and I ended up
teaching them the majority of the routine. I was so pleased
when Gav and Carleigh backed us up and said that the
stylistic side of the piece really works and the naturalistic
doesn't, as this is what we've been trying to get them to trust
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Newspaper and Schools Projects
Strengths continued:
- I thought it was a success
because I've remembered
what I learnt whereas with
the writing I don't.
- I was very nervous about
the mock audition this
week, but as soon as I'd
done it I was really glad I
had because we're going to
get so many things to work
on from it and I found I
quite enjoyed it, so it's made
me more confident about
auditioning.
- My practice workshop
opening with the 'children'
went really well. I didn't
know what to expect from
them and was lucky they
were eager, but because I
love magic and fairies and
superheroes, so things kids
find amazing, I think that's
why it went well because I
was able to add that
exciting element into it.
Weaknesses:
- I've really run out of
patience with the
Newspaper Project this
week and was dreading
working on it, so it was so
nice when it was finished. It
hasn't been a good process
for me, but I tried my best
and think the actors'
attitudes got to me and I
just couldn't deal with the
handful that they are.
- Although I got a lot out of
the mock audition in terms
My Journey
23rd November 2014
us on throughout the whole process, but the notes just aren't
being taken on. It really frustrates me when we're there to help
these actors, try and teach them something and use our
knowledge and experience to put into their piece and they just
don't want to know. When Levi and I finished choreographing the
rest of the piece and put it all together with the cuts in the
dialogue from Carleigh and Gav it did look good. The robbers'
scene was finally snappier now it just needs energy and
commitment from the actors not this lazy 'playing tough' they
keep doing. I think the bankers' scene works and it has comedy
moments in it, which makes what happens next such a change in
dynamic. Also, after the cuts we're not spoon feeding the audience
that there's going to be a robbery anymore, it's more unexpected
which I think adds tension. I feel it really is down to the actors
now to finally take on the notes they've been getting and ACT!
On Tuesday afternoon we did our research task of taking on the
characters of the directors we'd looked at. Everyone was quite
worried about this, but I felt it was two reasons - the boys either
hadn't researched at all or done very little, but the girls were
worried because we didn't want to forget information and miss out
things we had looked at. Due to this, we just didn't know how the
afternoon was going to go, it was already a split company because
not everyone had thrown themselves into the task, so there was a
negative feeling around it. Once it started and we realised we were
all in the room at the same time, it seemed to relax things a bit,
because it was a conference rather than one on one interviews, so
I found it helped to have the other Patsy's and directors to react
to, as well as being able to hear what the other directors do. The
two quiz show esque games of naming the practitioner and putti
theatre movements on a timeline were fun and really tested our
knowledge because we have researched a lot of these practitioners
and movement in our first two years, but the way in which we did
it (just writing things down and not taking it in) meant I'd
forgotten most of it. The way we're starting to do research tasks
now is so much more eective because instead of just researching
and writing, we have to do something practically too and I feel
that gives me more motivation and interest in the subject, because
I want my work on the floor to be the best it can be, therefore I
need the research and it's nice to know it's going to be out to use
not just stuck up on tumblr just to pass the unit. It was useful to
realise our mistakes in the quiz and have the timeline stuck on the
wall as it encourages me to find out more and remember when
these movements began. It was a surprise to find that the majority
were in 1900-present, as I think we got confused with when this
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Newspaper and Schools Projects
23rd November 2014
Strengths continued:
- of noting for myself what I
need to work on, however, I
did improvise most of my
monologue and was worried
about it beforehand, so for
an actual audition I need to
make sure I go in feeling
confident, then hopefully
that will show.
- We've got our tutorials for
the Newspaper Project next
week, but I'm not happy
with my written research
that we did at the beginning
of the process and I don't
want that to let me down,
so I'm going to go back to
that and go into more
detail.
Action Plan:
- Go back over research and
make sure I've gone into
enough detail.
- Finish the new pages I've
started in my scrapbook.
- Chase up the schools I've
emailed as I haven't heard
anything back from them.
- Keep working on the
options I've got for
character songs.
- Begin working on a classical
monologue.
My Journey
Credited Google Images
theatre would've been done
and when it was actually
given a specific name and movement. For example, there must've
been some kind of physical theatre back in the olden days, but it's
only recently it's been given it's own form of theatre. I found it
better to do this first in character, as it gave me a chance to settle
into the character and get the hang of how Patsy sits and talks
before going into the questions. I really enjoyed the conference
part of the task, Daniella kicked it o as Pia Bausch and she was
so interesting. It was clear she knew a lot about her and listening
the the character talking about her work was very engaging, much
more so than if we'd done it as us talking about the directors. I
thought Julia, Alex and I got all our points across about Pasty and
explained the three circles well, it was interesting once the debate
got going about what circle the other directors thought their work
would be in. It was here I found it quite challenging because we
were asked by the other directors about impulse and shouldn't our
actors work o that instead of studying the script and finding out
for themselves how they feel about each word. I've never heard
Patsy talk about impulse before, she talks about presence and the
words of the script, so I was having to use the information I knew
to debate and clarify our points. I decided to chuck in a story I'd
heard her tell about a man she was talking to who heard an actress
make the same noise he'd made when he found out his son was
dead when she found out hers was dead in stage and the story was
so touching and powerful that I thought it could work to enforce
the points us three Patsy's had made. The atmosphere did turn
very awkward when some of the boys were asked questions they
struggled to answer or didn't answer at all in Lewis' case and I felt
it spoilt things because the rest of us were annoyed that they
didn't make any eort. The excuse of 'I didn't have time' is
absolute rubbish because we all have the same amount of time and
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Newspaper and Schools Projects
23rd November 2014
it's the same people that don't do the work, not because they don't have time but I know for a fact
that instead of staying at home to research and get things done, they're out enjoying themselves and
there needs to be priorities. The task for some of us I felt was a success. I felt intrigued by these
characters and found the work they do very interesting, it's so much easier for me to really
concentrate and listen to what they're saying as a workshop like this where we're having an active
input. An enjoyable afternoon!
We had a chat with Alan, the mental health nurse Gav was telling us about as he wants us to take on
the characters of mentally ill people to train his new nurses. We were all very excited about this, so
actually getting to meet him and talk about what he does and the dierent illnesses was great. He
seems lovely and is so knowledgeable about all the conditions - I didn't realise there were so many
with so many dierent types of each one! This is all research for our roles and will enforce our choices
in these characters because there will be a specific ness about them due to their condition. I feel this
is a big, but great challenge for us, as it's a very serious subject, so I want to do it justice and not just
be a stereotype of whatever mental condition I'm portraying, there's so much more to it than that.
In the afternoon we were working with Innes and preparing for our mock auditions. It was good not
to spend the whole afternoon working our monologues, as I think it would've over done it and got us
more anxious about the whole thing. There is so much more work to be done but in a way it was
exciting to take in the piece we have already without it being rehearsed to death and get feedback on
it. However first was some exercises to take our kind o it, starting with Commedia dell'arte. We
haven't done this for so long, but it's something I don't always thoroughly enjoy. I feel it takes me a
while to get into the mindset of creating a character starting with a physicality, as I don't really think
that way, I feel I'd go for more personality traits and things they say to influence the physicality
instead of the other way around. However, by third or fourth 'lead with...' I felt immersed in it and
was making interesting discoveries. Leading with the hands was my favourite, as it reminded me of
Frozen where she has the magic powers in her hands, so in my head I was creating this spectacular ice
world every time I moved, which was so exciting. I felt this was the one where I had ownership over
the character I was creating and I was doing something original, as with Commedia I feel that the
characters are very generalised to start with, but I suppose you have to go much further into it and
work on a character for longer to make it your own.
My Journey
Credited Google Images
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Newspaper and Schools Projects
23rd November 2014
The soundscape work we did was fun, at first I was slightly confused as I'm sure Innes said we were
copying the first person to make a noise, so at first we were all doing the same thing - laughing for
happiness and heavy breathing for anger - so it wasn't really a soundscape. However, when he said to
do our own thing for the Haunted House one, it went really well. I got into it quickly and it's fun to
get carried away and believe the situation. I could imagine smells and what things might look like.
Innes said it was eective because we didn't all go for stereotypical things like ghost noises, there were
clocks, creaking, wind noises, footsteps etc, so the variety made it much spookier.
When it came to the mock auditions I felt very nervous, but the waiting to go in is the worst bit. It
was a very good experience to have. My introduction was terrible as there was an awkward moment
when I wasn't sure whether I supposed to sit down or just start. I'm so glad I didn't just begin because
it was my name they were waiting for! What a wally! Also, when asked what my monologue was called
or where it was from, my mind went absolutely blank and then I said it was from 'The Garden
Centre', which I completely made up on the spot as it gave me an answer to the question. What I
really meant to say was that my monologue isn't from a play, it's from a comedy book of short one
woman plays/speeches, but my story for it was that it's set at a flower show and she's at a conference
with the garden centre type experts asking her question. I thought my monologue went ok, I did
improvise a bit when I got lines mixed up, but I actually had fun doing it and I think that's important.
However, I wasn't entirely sure where I should direct it, as last year we were told to pick a point on
the wall or the room where the character we're talking to would be, but fixing my gaze on the wall
seemed very strange when there was a panel to my left watching me talk. I felt like I should be
directing it at them, but some drama schools don't like that. I was a bit thrown at the end of my
speech, as I hadn't quite finished but got cut o and redirected, but I hadn't yet wrapped up what I
was on my mission to say and it made me feel a little annoyed, so I don't feel I gave myself long
enough to regather my thoughts and start again from the beginning with this new note in mind. In
front of a panel time seems to go so fast and what is probably only a second in real time, for me felt
like a minute, so I always feel I have to rush into things and not take my time. I felt I waed in the
interview and didn't quite express my answers to the questions as I had intended in my head, but I did
feel a bit flustered after the monologue and with the nerves I didn't answer the questions as well as I
could. However, it was a fun experience I thought and one that's so beneficial for us to realise what we
could've done better and get proper feedback. I understand why we're waiting for the feedback as
that's what it would be like at a proper audition waiting for the result, but I just can't wait to get it and
know what I need to work on, or if the monologue is wrong for me altogether.
Thursday was a hugely productive day working with Becky, as we all learnt a lot and realised what
we're in for when going to the schools and running workshops! It was a very energetic day, which is
what's needed for children, so luckily we'd done a good warm up including musical chairs and musical
bumps - such fun! Becky started us of with a movement game where we had to cover the whole space
by the count of 8 using our bodies. I can find some of these movement exercises covering the space in
creative ways tricky sometimes, as I get stuck in a rut with my moves and tend to get bored of doing it
after a while, however, because this was a competition and a game, I found it much more engaging. It
definitely got us very sweaty! These workshop beginner games, such as bing bong name, she taught us
are great for getting to know the children and learning their names in a focusing way. When we all got
to try out coming in and setting up a workshop with children, it was great practise of the things we
had just learnt, such as coming down to the level of younger children, whispering to get them to listen
and setting it up as you're going to tell them a secret, but standing up and being more authoritative
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Newspaper and Schools Projects
23rd November 2014
with older children and picking up on them being naughty. It was fun to get to be naughty for each
other and not listen to the person unless they were super engaging and also to clock the dierences
between working with dierent age groups. I remembered how tough kids can be. They really aren't
generous - if they're not interested, they will show us. Coming into the room one by one was slightly
worrying as to what we were going to be faced with, I feel I got let o slightly easier as they were all
very eager, so it was easier for me to engage them, however the hanging o my arms and legs was a bit
disturbing! I hate that anyway, so my natural instinct was to push them o, but you can't do that with
children! It was so good to learn how to deal with dicult children and to diuse things when the kids
kick something o, as I feel that if we went into a workshop with children without knowing this we
would have been so lost or made things worse by shouting at them. I do feel though, that a lot of the
things we learnt went along with the naughty children and made them feel special, which I don't
always agree with. If a kid's naughty they should be put in their place, it's not our job, but I don't
know how much patience I'd have with a child who keeps playing up. That's something I need to work
on, I wasn't faced with it in my practice workshop earlier, so it'll be in the real thing. Oh dear! It was
good to be able to make mistakes now in front of not real children, where we got to test out our
reactions to situations we might find ourselves in. It really was so useful to have someone come in and
work with us who works with children in TIE a lot and really knows her stu, as we got some outside
information and it's just nice to meet other people who are working in the industry and get to
experience the way they work. The company members that weren't in really missed out and it's getting
on my nerves that they keep popping in and out. If they don't want to be part of the company then
don't, but I'm sick of having to wait for things like the concept and the first bits of script, because
people aren't there. What does worry me is that they're going to come back in thinking they know
everything and completely take over these workshops we lead with the children, which has happened
before in our first year workshops, when actually they now don't have the knowledge we do, so I feel if
they don't out in the eort to catch up with us, they have no right to do that.
Friday Alex, Levi, Daniella and I went on a trip to the Excel Centre to promote the Miskin at Skills
London. It was quite exciting to be going on a little day trip, getting on the bus and going out and I
feel we represented what we do well. The morning got a bit boring because we didn't have our Miskin
sweaters or leaflets, so were just promoting the college in general as there wasn't much interest in the
theatre side of things. However, after lunch when Nikki came with our stu, it was much better
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Newspaper and Schools Projects
23rd November 2014
because we had our theatre leaflets and people could see what we do, therefore it created more
interest. It was fun to look around - we met a snake and a dragon at the animal stall and were talking
to people, such as Channel 4 Talent who could be of use to us, so it was a good day and will hopefully
generate some new recruits to the Miskin!
I'm very excited to continue on our schools project mission next week and start putting all our ideas
into action. I can't wait to get our concept! Hopefully the company will be back together next week,
but if not we can't wait any longer, we need to crack on without them.
My Journey
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