​Rosie Allen - BTEC Acting

REHEARSAL PROCESS EVALUATION

 

1) What were the reasons for the staging choices you made in your scenes? Please give specific examples for each of your scenes.

Due to the short amount of time we had to devise and create our piece, we thought it would be more time-efficient to allocate each scene to a different person or small group to stage and cut to their preferences. This meant that all of the scenes had different approaches, ranging from the naturalistic to the highly physical and abstract.

 

 

For the first scene, the taxi driver’s prologue, we thought it would be effective to simulate a taxi ride or journey by having Kai delivering the monologue (which is very conversational by nature) as he is escorting the audience from the initial meeting place to the site. We thought this would be effective as it set the tone for the entire piece and engages the audience right from the outset.

 

For my scene, the first section actually at the site, I wanted my text to be as naturalistic as possible, almost as if I was just thinking out loud whilst cooking dinner for myself. In terms of proxemics, I thought it would be effective if I behaved naturalistically, not acknowledging Justice, Izzy, Morgie and Charlotte H, who were placed in the scene as reflections of my inner self. I also thought it would work well for Izzy and Justice, who were representing the person I aspire to be, to do some very simple yet slick physical theatre alongside my text to show the juxtaposition between my character’s life and the life she wants to lead. However, it was also important to consider who to ensure that the four other actors were only enhancing my text, as opposed to dominating the entire scene, because I still wanted the emphasis to be on my character’s inner thoughts that are revealed within the monologue.

 

 

The next scene, performed by Charlotte W and Gigi was highly naturalistic and I think this worked well, especially considering that some of the other pieces in the performance had a more abstract feel to them. This served as a nice contrast which reflected the mundanity of the journey they were describing in the scene. As a group, we decided to place that particular scene in the kitchen next to the large glass window that looked out onto the road, as it made sense within the context of the piece, which often references looking out of the window and what the character sees.

 

 

The next scene, primarily performed by Justice and Izzy, took place downstairs, despite there being another kitchen upstairs that we hadn’t used. We made this decision based upon Justice and Izzy’s wish to include a large element of physical theatre that, logistically, needed more space and it therefore made more sense to use the downstairs space which would allow for this.

 

The final three scenes took place next door in the bar-like area. Rebecca and Beth’s scene worked well spatially as it was set in a bar and the space allowed us to make effective use of proxemics and have the other members of the group as ‘extras’ to create the atmosphere of a bar or pub. The configuration of the space (SEE IMAGES) allowed us to do this whilst still having room to accommodate the audience comfortably and safely. The same was also true for Morgie’s monologue, which was also set in a similar place (a fish and chip shop counter). There was room for the physical theatre that she did with Rebecca and the audience was able to remain in the same place for this and, mostly, for the next scene. The final scene was Charlotte H’s monologue which began with the audience looking into the laundry room behind the ‘bar kitchen’ before following her out to the room beyond as she delivered the text. This was very simply staged, which allowed the audience to really focus on the story she was telling. Finally, in order to get the audience safely and efficiently out of the building - as there was no entrance/exit downstairs - we thought the best way to do this was to have Kai speaking his Epilogue whilst escorting them upstairs and out of the building, much like he had done in the Prologue.

 

 

2) Provide an overview of the nature of the use of Schmidt Kitchens with detailed supportive evidence of the actual events/happenings there.

We chose to use Schmidt Kitchens as our site as it suited the domestic setting of East End Tales as a whole. The play as a whole tells the individual stories of the everyday lives of people living in London, providing an intimate insight into their lives. The nature of the kitchen showroom with each kitchen exhibit being separate from the rest, was highly appropriate to really give the audience ‘snapshots’ into the lives of each character, without having access to the backgrounds/contexts surrounding the stories being told. I personally believe that this was very effective as it left the audience intrigued as to what journey they would be taken on in the next scene.

 

 

3) Provide evidence of research into at least one of your roles. How did performing at the site enhance the role?

(SEE ABOVE DOCUMENTATION OF RESEARCH)

 

 

4) What initial ideas that you explored regarding the piece in relation to the site did you reject and why?

(SEE ABOVE DOCUMENTATION OF INITIAL GROUP DISCUSSIONS AND RESEARCH)

 

 

5) How did the use of props alter the work?

As a group, we wanted the main focus of the performance to be on the site and text merging together and this, as well as the limited amount of time we had before the final assessment, meant that we only used small, personal props to enhance our individual pieces, but only as was necessary. My piece, for example, relied more heavily than others on props, as I needed them to reflect the naturalistic nature of the scene and the conversational way I wished to deliver the monologue. I sourced some ‘fancy’ ingredients from home so that I had something to occupy myself whilst delivering the text. This differed greatly from previous rehearsals when I had had no props to use in this way for the scene as it meant I could create a more insular feel as if I were contained in my own world as opposed to directly addressing the audience and breaking the fourth wall, an effect which I didn’t want to achieve in my piece.

 

In terms of sound, I again kept this very naturalistic, only incorporating the diegetic sound of the radio news in the background as opposed to East End Tales 5, for example, which utilised music midway through the scene to accompany the physical theatre section, forcing the audience to break away from the naturalism of the scene and take a different perspective on it. I think that having this variety across the different sections of the performance made the piece engaging for the audience as they were not watching a piece confined to one specific style of theatre, whether that be naturalism or a more abstract, physical approach.

 

6) How could you draw your target audience further into the tale?

Upon reflection, I think that our audience (year 12 BTEC Actors) might have been more engaged and emotionally involved in the story we were conveying if we had had more time to add further detail to the site as well as the staging.

 

 

7) Consider your individual role within the ensemble. Reflect upon whether you were a driving force, a follower, a team player, etc. and give specific examples to justify your analysis.

I personally feel that my individual role within the ensemble evolved and changed over the course of the rehearsal process. Initially, I found it difficult to work within such a large company, especially when making essential decisions such as the text and the combination of sites we would use. I tried my best to very much be a team player and ensure that everyone was as happy as possible with the outcomes of the various discussions we had. I tried not to be too much of a leader in these formative stages as I thought that it would be counter-productive and inhibit the efficiency of the large amount of decision-making involved in a project like this. I did, however, contribute significantly to group discussions and felt that, due to the fact that I had made an effort to be as neutral as possible, I was listened to and the others were open-minded and receptive of any ideas I put forward.

 

 

Despite this, there was one particular discussion that ended in complete disarray with several people upset and at odds with one another’s opinions. This was during a stressful time in the rehearsal process as none of us were satisfied with the progress we were making at that point with the small amount of time we had left before the final assessment. We all had to work together as a team to sort out our differences and put them aside for the greater good of the final performance. I wasn’t heavily involved in the disagreement but definitely felt the impact of it along with the rest of the group and, even though it wasn’t up to me to sort it out as it did not directly concern me, I found that I, again, had to adopt the role of a team player to work alongside everyone else and sort things out.

 

 

8) and 9) What were the significant stages and turning points throughout your rehearsal process and why?

The first rehearsal was, of course, incredibly significant as it was the first lesson in which we knew exactly what text and site we would be using and, given the stressful process of selecting and securing these previously, it was a relief to finally be able to start rehearsing properly. For this reason, I think that the first rehearsal was an incredibly productive one, as the company as a whole reacted very positively to the news that we had finally secured a site to use and this gave us the motivation to move forward and start staging it and allocating lines to people (SEE REHEARSAL LOG 1).

 

 

Another significant point in my own personal rehearsal process was the lesson in which I was really able to focus on my monologue (SEE REHEARSAL LOG 3) and focus on the text individually. This put my mind at ease as I felt that progress was finally being made on my section of the performance and, by the end of the rehearsal, I felt much calmer about the looming assessment deadline.

 

 

10) What do you feel were your strengths and weaknesses in this project?

I feel that, overall, my biggest weakness in this assignment was my initial lack of familiarity with the genre of site specific theatre. I knew what it was but had had no previous experience of either watching it or partaking in it in any way, and, initially, this hindered me slightly and it took me slightly longer to fully get to grips with the nature of the assignment and, as my own personal research and experience grew, I was able to engage fully in the process and contribute ideas with confidence and knowledge. I also found it quite challenging working in a large group. This decision had its advantages and disadvantages, and it was a positive decision in many ways. However, despite this, I found it quite stressful making sure everyone was happy with the decisions being made and had to come to the realisation that, in a company that size, there will always be someone who is not one hundred percent happy with the final decision or outcome. This, again, was something I was able to get used to and overcome and it was much easier in this respect towards the end of the rehearsal process.

 

I feel that one of my main strengths was my organisation, and that, by bringing this to the group, the project ran smoothly as a result of everyone staying on top of things and working together to stay organised as a company. My contribution to this was, I think personally, significant and it definitely helped me individually with my own monologue, as being proactive and learning my lines as soon as possible meant that I had more time to work on it without being inhibited by not knowing the words and having to hold the script in my hands.

 

 

11) Did you feel you were successful in communicating your aims and intentions to the target audience in your final assessment?

I think that we managed to communicate our aims and intentions to the audience as effectively as possible, given that we had only had a short amount of time to devise and stage the performance. However, as stated in my answer to question 6, I think that adding further detail to the site and staging would have made our artistic intentions even clearer and engaging for our target audience.

 

 

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

 

 

Identify three strengths in your performance and provide a detailed example as evidence from your scene:

• One of my strengths was my ability to perform in a naturalistic style, creating a great intimacy between myself and the audience. I believe that the conversational way in which I opted to deliver my monologue drew the audience and set the tone for the remainder of their journey throughout the site in the rest of the piece. This reflected the overall intention of the original play, which was to provide intimate snapshots into the lives of everyday people living their lives and the stories they have to tell, leaving the audience with great curiosity regarding the unseen parts of each character’s life, having only seen one story out of context. This was very much my intention when delivering my monologue, and I feel that I effectively conveyed this sense of a connection with the audience.

• Another strength was my accent, which I felt was consistent and relatively strong throughout my monologue. I tried to keep the accent as authentic as possible and, through extensive research into the East End dialect, I feel that I was able to execute this with a fair degree of success. The reason I made such an effort with this aspect of my performance was to really immerse the audience into the world of London’s East End, setting the tone and the scene for the rest of the performance, especially seeing as mine was the first monologue to take place at the site itself.

• Another strength was my attention to detail. During the rehearsal process, I made sure to consider every aspect of my monologue, for example bringing in ingredients and food to use as props. I made sure to pay close attention to aspects such as this to make my performance as realistic and believable as possible.

 

 

Identify three areas in which you need to develop your performance skills. Provide specific evidence for each area.

• One area I need to improve on is my physical projection. I felt that, in my monologue, I was perhaps too insular, especially in my physicality as a result of trying too hard to keep the style naturalistic and internal like a soliloquy as opposed to a monologue. I think that I could have created a better balance of these opposing performance intentions and, therefore, maintain the naturalistic, understated style whilst also projecting physically. I feel that my physical ease has improved greatly since the beginning of the course, but I still find it difficult to fully physically commit to a character and I think that, in the future, I need to be even more aware of this facet of characterisation during the rehearsal processes of future roles that I play. I realise that I would have to work harder than some other people to ensure that I am totally confident in my physicality.

• I also need to improve on my overall commitment to my character, especially since the context of the piece was so far removed from my own background and, consequently, my natural way of speaking and moving. I made every effort to embody the character in all aspects as much as I could, but I still feel that there was room for even more confidence to fully commit to a character that is so different from me.

• Another thing I need to improve upon is my overall confidence when performing. I think that my lack of experience performing site specific theatre made the whole concept very new to me and possibly quite tentative when performing at the site for the first time. Hopefully, in the future, I will now have an increased knowledge, awareness and appreciation for the genre of site-specific performance and my confidence when performing will be much greater, leading to a more self-assured performance.

 

 

Consider all of your rehearsals. If you were to have the opportunity to continue rehearsing and workshopping your piece again, how would you further develop it, and why?

As previously stated, I think that, if we had more time to rehearse and develop the performance, we could have added much more detail and intricacy to all aspects of the piece. For example, more complex physical theatre could have been added to East End Tales 5 and maybe other scenes as well to give more variety. I also think that, as a company, we would be able to delve deeper into the setting and characters of the piece, creating a performance with more layers and a more complex exploration of the themes within the piece.

 

 

Following the performance, were you happy with all of the staging? Why/why not? Name two moments that really worked in terms of staging and why.

• One piece of staging that I really liked was in East End Tales 5, in which many aspects of the space were used including the sofa, the table, the countertops and the floor-space. This added heightened visual interest for our audience, engaging them and potentially drawing them further into the story we were telling. It also created an interesting aesthetic with the use of doppelgangers performing physical theatre in unison with the narrators at times and the mum and dad being completely naturalistic and I think this contrast worked incredibly well and made it one of the most interesting parts of the performance to watch.

• Another moment whose staging was very effective was, in my opinion, my own monologue as the first scene to actually take place in the site itself. Similarly to East End Tales 5, the use of doppelgangers and contrast of having some naturalistic characters and others that were much more abstract, doing physical theatre and choreographed movement to reflect what I was saying in my speech was very effective. In addition to this, I think that the fact that I entered from the street outside shortly after the audience had done exactly the same really made the piece more immersive for the audience and instantly engaged them in what was happening. Throughout the piece, it was simple staging decisions like that that really made the piece immersive and engaging for our target audience.

 

 

If you could do the piece again, would you change the staging? If so, why? State 2 or more examples.

 

• One moment of staging that could, perhaps, have been altered slightly was the transitions between scenes. For instance, there was a moment after my monologue where I had to walk through the audience, past the second monologue in the next kitchen and down the stairs to take my place for East End Tales 5 on the lower level. This maybe could have been worked more seamlessly into the piece itself and, if we had had further opportunity to develop the piece, that would be one of the small details we could tweak to enhance the piece. For example, we could have worked in each transition so it became part of the scene, instead of it looking slightly clumsy and breaking the illusion for the audience.

• Another piece of staging that could have been tweaked slightly was in Charlotte H’s monologue at the end of the piece. Given that all downstairs kitchens had been used, there was little room for movement in her scene and the audience was very much crushed together as the followed her to and fro between the two small rooms behind the kitchen bar area/room. This was inevitable due to the lack of space, and that was a compromise that we unfortunately had to make because other aspects of the site were so apt for our text and what we were looking for. I feel that this could have been avoided if the space was bigger, but there was nothing we could have done about that unless we performed it in a different space.

 

Name two things that you discovered in this unity about Site Specific Performance. Provide specific examples to support your answer.

 

One thing I learned in this unit is the importance of compromise both internally within the group and also externally when interacting with the owners/managers of potential sites. The sheer amount of teamwork required in both of these aspects of the process really enabled the group to become closer and work together so that the performance turned out the way we wanted it to. One example of a compromise that we had to make about the site was the size. Ideally, we would have liked the option to invite a larger audience, but the site we eventually secured realistically only had the capacity for a maximum of approximately 20 people, but this inconvenience had to be put aside and accepted in favour of actually having a site confirmed that was fitting for the text we had decided upon. In terms of the group, it was impossible for all ten of us to be completely happy with every single decision and we learned as a group that, in order to efficiently progress with the rehearsal process, some people had to accept that decisions had to be made that opposed their own contributions to the group in our collective discussions.

 

 

Another thing I have learnt about the genre of Site Specific theatre is the lengths a company has to go to in order to legally secure a site, gauge its appropriateness for the group’s needs, undergo a formal and thorough risk assessment and take into account uncontrollable factors such as temperature and weather. The process was a real learning-curve as I had not previously experienced anything similar to this before in terms of the detail one has to go into to even secure a site. Our company learned this the hard way, going through countless rejections from sites before finally securing the use of Schmidt Kitchens in Hammersmith.

 

 

STATEMENT OF ARTISTIC INTENT

As a group, we wanted to create a piece of site-specific theatre that really told a story, with each text and site linked by one common theme. When told that our target audience would be the BTEC actors in Year 12, we realised that this meant we were able to include darker themes such as domestic violence, poverty and profane language within whatever text we chose, which broadened our options and also appealed to the artistic interests of many members of the group. When we settled on East End Tales as our text, we really wanted to take the audience on a journey through the East End and aimed to achieve this by setting each scene (whether it be a monologue or a duologue) in a different kitchen set-up in the showroom with Kai as the taxi driver serving as a linking factor, guiding them through a series of intimate snapshots of the everyday lives of the characters in the play, each giving an insight into their own lives.