ANTIGONE - Creon monologue

Monologue from Creon;

• Praising his soldiers for staying loyal
• Announcing that the traitorous brother Polynices will not have a proper burial
• Announcing that he will take over the crown

I need to:

• Think about where each though is in the monologue, where each thoughts starts and finishes and adapt my delivery and tone to suit, to improve flow and progression of the speech, and so the audience have a better understanding of what I’m saying and what exactly is going on.
• Consider my intonation and inflection in my voice to make the change of thoughts and, in some cases, my mood more distinguishable for the audience. 
• I need to get a better understand of the monologue so that I know how to deliver it, and get a better understanding of the character, thus giving a more believable and interesting performance.

To identify the different thoughts, I was asked to move from one side of the room to another each time I thought the thought changed. This put the text into better perspective and made each thought more identifiable.

ANTIGONE - Social, historical and cultural background of Antigone

• Antigone was the third entry in Sophocoles' "Theban" trilogy, based on the saga of the house of Laius.
• The other two plays in the trilogy are 'Oedipus the King' and 'Oedipus at Colonus'.
• Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus and Jacosta and brother of Etocles and Polynices, was an unusual protagonist in this time because she is a woman. Sophocles was warned that his play may not be as popular because mainly men went to the theatre. The philosopher Aristotle said that it is wrong for a female character to be portrayed as manly and clever. This reflects the opinion and they way women were treated in this time.
• Sophocoles challenged this statement because Antigone is both manly and clever. She is manly because she takes up the role of the man in her family, and clever because she does enough to satisfy the gods but in such a way that she is not caught. 
• Antigone is way ahead of her time - in an era of a mostly male dominated society, Antigone stands out as an independent woman who completely defies the system. In ancient Greek times, women would do as their fathers say until they are married, and then once they are married they do what their husbands tell them - they very little power at all. However, we see the blind King Oedipus as very dependant on Antigone to look after him in his final years. Also, when Creon decrees that Polynices will not have a proper burial due to his alleged betrayal of Thebes and his family, Antigone rebels against her uncle and sets out to give her dead brother the proper burial he deserves, despite the penalty being death (Creon then sentences her to buried alive).
• In ancient Greece, getting a proper burial was a big deal - it was believed that if you didn't receive a proper burial you were not allowed in the underworld and you were forced to wonder the shores of River Styx as a restless ghost.
• There have been many adaptations of this play, a very notable one being a version by a French playwright, Jean Anouilh, which is thought to have been adapted as a mark of protest against the Nazi forces in France. Similarly, the story of Antigone has been used to protest against apartheid in South Africa. In The Island by John Kani, Winston Nitshona, and Athol Fugard, two black prisoners in the notorious Robben Island prison perform Antigone as an act of protest.
• Antigone was performed around the year 441 B.C, and Sophocoles was one of the nine selected generals in the campaign against the revolt of Samos fought by Athens. These historical events reflect a lot of what happens in Antigone, and the themes and issues throughout the play. For example, the appropriate use of power by the state (Creon declaring that Polynices will not receive a proper burial, Etocles refusing to step down from ruler of Athens after it was agreed with his brother that they would alternate each year, and then exiled him) the possibility of justifiable rebellion (Antigone rebelling against her uncle by disobeying his decree and giving her bother a proper burial), and the duties of citizens to obey the laws of their government.

Classical theatre - Introduction to Greek theatre

Today’s lesson was an introduction to Greek theatre; we learned that the Greeks used a traditional ‘Greek Theatre’, which consisted of a Theatron (auditorium), Orchestra (stage) and two Parados either side of the Orchestra where the actors and chorus use to move on and off stage.

Tragedies and comedies were the most common types of theatre in Greek Theatre, and they used masks to amplify the sound and so that people at the back of the Theatron could see their facial expressions and emotion. They had a Dionysus festival where 3 playwrights would compete against each other.

There were three actors, who multi rolled, and there was no woman in the cast, the men played the women; there is a chorus and they sing and dance to put more life into the performance and help the story progress.

A Greek Tragedy

A Greek tragedy focuses on an event, and the tragedy occurs generally after an attack or a violent action (it is generally a death). Greek tragedies frequently use messengers to relate information, and they play takes place usually in one location over the same continuous time frame.

This is different to comedies whereby they focus more on characters rather than an event. Greek tragedies generally dealt with themes such as love, loss, abuse of power and the fraught relationship between Men and Gods. The main protagonist of the story would usually commit a terrible without realising how careless and arrogant he has been, then once he realises, his world crumbles around him. The three main tragedy playwrights were Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides.

A Greek Comedy

Greek Comedies were not admitted to the Dionysus festival unto 487-486 B.C, and they first comedies often mocked men in power for their foolishness and vanity. Aristophanes was the first master playwright of comedies and he wrote plays such as ‘The Clouds’, “The Frogs’ and ‘The Birds’.

Order:

1.     Prologue – a leading character would enter and put forward a ‘happy idea’

2.     The chorus would then enter

3.     There would be a debate amongst the chorus with people for and against the ‘happy idea’.

The chorus of Greek Theatre

The main role of the chorus in a ancient Greek play is to bring the play to life. They do this by:

·      Working together as one creating and portraying movement.

·      Reacting to the main action, as the playwright would hope the audience would.

·      Setting the mood and keeping the dramatic atmosphere.

Today’s task

We were asked to work as an ensemble on a chorus dialogue – we were taught that in modernised Greek theatre the chorus would have dialogue between them but it would be scripted as if it is a monologue for one actor; but there is often argument or change of topic or opinion with the speech, so it is broken up and shared between the chorus. We were given the task of splitting up a piece of chorus dialogue by change of tone, topic or opinion and then to bring it to life with movement and staging.

/Wonders are many, yet of all

Things is Man the most wonderful./

/He can sail on the stormy sea

Though the tempest rage, and the loud

Waves roar around, as he makes his

Path amid the towering surge./

/Earth inexhaustible, /ageless,/ he wearies, as

Backwards and forwards, from season to season, /his

Ox-team drives along the ploughshare./

He can entrap the cheerful birds,

Setting a snare, /and all the wild

Beasts of the earth he has learned to catch,/ and

Fish that teem in the deep sea, /with

Nets knotted of stout cords;/ of

Such inventiveness is man./

Through his inventions he becomes lord/

Even of the beasts of the mountain: the long-haired

Horse he subdues to the yoke on his neck, /and the

Hill-bred bull, of strength untiring. /

And speech he has learned, /and thought

So swift, and the temper of mind /

To dwell within cities, and not to lie bare

Amid the keen, biting frosts /

Or cower beneath pelting rain;

/Full of resources against all that comes to him

Is Man./ Against Death alone

He is left with no defence./

But painful sickness he can cure

By his own skill./

/Surpassing belief, the device and

Cunning that Man has attained,

And it bringeth him now to evil,/ not to good./

If he observe Law, and tread

The righteous path God ordained, /

Honoured is he; /dishonoured, /the man whose reckless heart

Shall make him join hands with sin:/

May I not think like him,/

Nor may such an impious man

Dwell in my house

Once we divided the lines up and shared them out between us, we began to block it. I found it very interesting how we were able to incorporate little movements to some of the lines as one, and it was very interesting to see how a simple piece of dialogue was brought to life so quickly. 

I think it could look even better if we considered facial expressions; this would entail us really understanding the text and possibly building a character around it.

For next lesson, I will look over the dialogue and think about any specific movements I could add in to do individually and/or as a company.

DNA - Character development/analysis and full run through complete

In today's lesson, we began by looking into our characters and sharing them with other members of the class. We were to share three interesting facts about our characters - I said Danny is generally just a bit lost and he can't really focus on too much for too long (i.e. his attention span is very poor, but in a comical way), and although he is constantly worried about dental college and getting references, I don't believe it is an arrogance or a self-centred thing about him, I think it is just him being stupid and not thinking of the bigger picture or the repercussions of what has happened. This is something that I missed earlier on in the unit was how important characterisation was going to be for Danny - Danny's anxiousness; this is an essential part of his character and since learning this about him, I have looked back at all of the scenes we've done and thought about how I could adjust my performance to apply this anxious trait. For example, in the first scene with Lou, John Tate and myself, I am now going to be pacing back and forth muttering to myself about dental college and trying work out ways around the situation that wouldn't put Danny's future in jeopardy. To the audience, I think this will come across as confusing to them at first purely by virtue of me just being in the background of Lou and John Tate for a whole page of dialogue. Then when I come in with "I can't get mixed up in all this, I'm gonna be a dentist." I have sort of given up trying to find a way around it and almost putting the responsibility on Lou and John Tate to get me out of the situation, or at least help me to get out; but from this it is easy to perceive Danny as arrogant, selfish and/or very dependant on others, but I don't think he is - I think he is just a bit stupid and he doesn't realise that everyone else is in the same boat as him, and that he really overthinks bad situations. To show this side of Danny I will still continue to show his 'lost' nature, being easily distract and amused by his surroundings and just generally show that he is a bit of a simpleton. For example, when John Tate announce the word 'dead' is "banned", I stop pacing immediately and stand in almost like a trance of confusion, and then when I finally speak and say 'Banned?' I think he is genuinely confused at how you can literally ban a word, and he genuinely isn't aware that you can't actually ban a word. Essentially, when showing these two traits I need to really focus on and consider my physicality and movement. Especially due to the fact that my character doesn't speak much, so the emotions I wish to give off will be heavily relied on my physicality.

I also said that he is one of the few characters who don't turn out crazy or mental - granted he does go on about dental college non stop throughout the play, and then end up hating it at work experience, but he doesn't go mental or crazy or any other form of what may be considered as 'insane' like Cathy or Brian does. I was in a group with Will (Mark) and Henri (Richard); when discussing Mark, Will said he could be speculated as being Jan's brother or girlfriend and I believe this to be dependant on how you play the character and how you interact with Jan and portray the relationship - from observing their performance over the rehearsal period so far, I see them more as brother and sister; they seem quite argumentative and petty, but you can easily tell they care for each other very much - much like a brother and sister relationship. He also that he feels like some sort of a narrator when playing Mark - which I definitely agree with, Mark and Jan open every scene with a duologue which I think kind sets the scene for the audience and soot explains to the audience what sort of topic they can expect in the scene, very much like a narrator, how he nor Jan ever address the audience. When discussing Richard, Henri said that towards the end he feels like a narrator because his monologue kind of ties everything together - he explains what happens to each character and brings everything to a close. We then were set the task of imagining we, as our characters, had been arrested for the crime of killing Adam and we were to act out what we would be thinking/saying to ourselves in the prison - kind of like an inner monologue. I talked about how it wasn't supposed to happen and that it was wrong. But then a sudden panic comes across me because I suddenly remember that being in prison will decrease my chance of dental college. This helped me to have an even better understanding of my character because I was able to think of what my character would do and say in an unknown situation. We then began a run through of the play, implementing our further character developments into our performance. For me, it suddenly made it a lot more interesting and enjoyable because I knew what I should be doing in terms of my thoughts and actions within the scene. I was able to interpret the scene and the dialogue in such a way that Danny would, thus improved my 'inner monologue' and my reactions.

DNA - Off-script run through 22/5/17

Last lesson, we were told to be off script by next week, so our job over the weekend was to learn our scripts. This entails not only learning our lines, but learning our cue lines, and stage directions and the order of the play. I am usually nightmare with learning lines, but this time round things are easier for me because I have very little lines. The only problem I had was a few slip ups on my cue lines.
That said, todays 'off-script' rehearsal went very badly because no one knew their lines. We began from the start and Mark and Jan knew their duologue mostly, with a few slip ups here and there but nothing major, Chloe cut massive chunks from her monologue. When we got to the part with Me, Lou and John Tate, that whole first page is just them two and they didn't know it very well at all; they were cutting each other off in and interjecting in the wrong places, completely losing the effect of the interjection, and they were dropping lines left right and centre. As a result of this, I was completely thrown off and I couldn't get my cues right, which then meant Lewis and Warren didn't get the cues from me either, so it all just turned into a mess. We were then sent away to learn the scene and work on it. We made sure we were not dropping lines and interjecting and the exact right points and getting our cues right. Also, another problem we faced off script was the fast paced dialogue we had with scripts which really brought out the comedy in the scene - we completely lost it when off script. So when we worked on the scene, we talked about it and made sure we were each fully aware of the cut offs and interjections, and cue lines. Once we sorted this, we ran through it a couple times and what we discussed seemed to have worked and had positive effect.

For next lesson, Mr Webb has told us to have our scripts learnt fully - including cues, cut offs and stage directions.

DNA - Staging and a strange run through of scene 1 complete

We began by observing our performance space and deciding on where to move the scenes and audience throughout the play. We ran through the scenes we set last lesson to show Mr Webb and he was happy with our staging. However only one aspect was altered. The part where Richard, Cathy and Brian enter has changed to a different place so they have a longer walk to the scene so the audience can acknowledge they are there.

After we discussed further staging, we read through scene 1 but all of us were spread around the field to work on our projection. Whilst we were running through the scenes before hand, we were told our projection was poor and we desperately needed to work on it because outside, the sound is taken very easily. When we read through it on the field, it was very comical but at the same time it was very beneficial. We were able to explore levels and volumes and somehow we were able explore our tones within ourselves and specific tones we have with other characters. For example, when i say "Shut up, Cathy." Mr Webb said that we done that bit very well and it resembled the relationship Danny and Cathy have so much better this particular time, though he didn't specify what it was that was different.

We were reminded of how each actor works well with their counter part and how they wouldn't work with other combinations of people. For example Mark and Jan, as mentioned before the chemistry between them is great, but Mark and Jan wouldn't have worked for Will and Chloe, or Tyler and Taylor.

Whilst rehearsing this scene, I took it upon myself to consider my character's objective in this particular scene and I then applied this to my performance. I think Danny is just trying to find a way to cope with this overwhelming stress and anxiety that has suddenly come upon him, and he is struggling to deal with it and thus driving him a little bit crazy and extremely worried. He is, in his head, frantically trying to find a way around the situation that would not put his future dental career in jeopardy. The application of this objective in my performance really helped to get further in to my character, and I was then able to apply method acting and think back to a time when I had this or a similar objective. This really helped my performance become more realistic, and it fitted into the naturalistic piece very well. For further lessons, I will consider my character's objectives for each scene and undergo the same process and apply method acting to make my performance more realistic.

DNA - Working on staging and energy (scene 3, the part with Adam) COMPLETE

We started the lesson by doing the end of scene 1 where everyone is on stage, but in a variety of strange ways. First off, we read through the scene lying down - we were soon told that it already looks more interesting than the way we have done before. We then done it running around, which definitely increased the energy levels, and Mr Webb again mentioned it looks better. We then we separated to either side of the room: Phill and Leah on one side and the rest on the other. We were facing the wall and each time we had a line we needed to turn and face Phill and Leah, and vice versa for them to us. I think this was to help us establish who our lines are directed at. We then stood up the two blocks and we all hid behind them and every time we had a line, we would pop our heads up to say the line. I believe this was to help us bring out the comedy within the scene.

We then began work on scene 3, where we meet Adam and find out he's not dead. My character has no lines in this scene, so Webb gave me Lou's lines because I lack lines throughout the play. This scene is all about some characters in shock that Adam is not dead (mainly Leah), some people not caring much (Danny, Richard, Cathy - who we see has turned savage and very scary especially towards Adam, and Brian who has literally gone mental), and Phill who won't let him come back to civilisation. This is the scene that shows how most Characters de-evolve (mainly Cathy), and/turn horrible and savage. I don't say much during this scene, so I have decided that Danny would still be worrying about chances of getting into dental college. We also sorted out the staging within the scene. We decided to have us all in a huddle right away from Adam, who is on the floor rocking back and forth, as if we are discussing what we should do about the situation. As Cathy continues to speak, she goes closer and closer to him very slowly and solemnly, and then when Cathy says "Terrified", Adam pushes backwards as if to get away from her in fear, she is right up close to him looking down on him. The proxemics here are very important to note because Adam is on the floor being towered over by Cathy, which makes it clear that she has clearly turned into someone crazy and dangerous.

During this scene, I have next to no lines so my acting and performance is heavily relied on my body language and physicality. I think throughout the scene Danny isn't really paying much attention - I think is so overwhelmed with nervousness and anxiety he is just not with everyone else. To show this, in terms of movements and physicality, I am at the back of the scene breathing fairly heavily but not too much to draw attention - I think that is an essential trait of Danny: he gets nervous and anxious but really doesn't want too draw too much attention to himself - I am also slowly but surely moving backwards towards the bush trying to physically get away from the situation. I am also frantically looking around at everyone, observing them, coming to the realisation that everyone has lost it; to Danny, nobody really seems to care as much as they should. Coming back to movement and physicality, to show that Danny is zoning in and out of the situation during this scene, when I come in with my line "Good?", I kind of jump forward as if I've been listening the whole time, but really I've just clocked on to when Leah says it's "Good". I think I portrayed Danny's anxiety and nervousness very well here, I think him being almost completely detached from the situation and 'lost' suggests that he is struggling to keep calm and focused; almost as if he has truly given up with solutions, he has just struggling to accept what his future may or may not be.

DNA - Work on characterisation 10/5/17

Today's lesson began with one of the duologues between Mark and Jan - I think Will and Taylor work very well together, the chemistry they between each other onstage is immense and their duologues are always very entertaining to watch. However in this particular duologue, they need to work on cutting each other off and interjecting each other at the right times, because sometimes we lose the effect of the cut off.

After this, Mr Webb had chat with us regarding our performances as actors - specifically in this play. He said we really need to look into our characters and the emotions/feelings our character would feel at each point. In a nut shell, he was basically just saying our acting, emotions and reactions need to be more in-depth and believable. He mentioned that when we first read through the script, we didn't know that Adam was never actually dead, so when we got to the part where it is revealed that Adam is not dead, our reactions were real and genuine; so we all just need to work on this. I believe it simply comes down to knowing your character inside out - I intend to do a lot of research on Danny over the course of the next few weeks. Mr Webb commented on how our character evolve (or in some cases, de-evolve) throughout the play. He said about the irony of Danny going out dental college and worrying about not getting in throughout the whole play, but then by the end he goes to do work experience as a dentist and hates it.

After this, we then ran through from the top with focus on our characterisation - I decided to mainly focus on what Danny would be doing/reacting to what else is going on in the scene when I am not in the main focus. for example, in scene 1 with Danny, Lou and John Tate, the whole first page of that part I have no lines so it is essential for me to be thinking of what my character would be doing. When we ran through this, I decided to be fiddling with grass or leaves or anything I can find to show that I have a short attention span and easily amused/distracted, plus also walking around in a very small area looking around aimlessly to come across as 'lost'. Once I start with my lines, I don't have much trouble. This scene went very well today, it was very loud and we were really able to bring out the comedy by interjecting at just the right points, and having correctly times pauses.

We got to the part where Leah finally finds out that Adam is dead, and we decided that the whole duologue between Jan and Mark where they describe what happened should be directed an Leah and we staged it in such a way where they are either side of her and they close in on her as they proceed through the duologue for dramatic effect. I think this staging works very well, it seems a lot more interesting to look at as a pose to the way they did before.

As I said before, I will focus on researching my character to further progress in my characterisation.

DNA - Cast list and first rehearsal 8/5/17

Cast list:
Mark - Will
Jan - Taylor
Leah - Chloe
Phill - Tyler
Richard - Henri
John Tate - Warren
Lou - Lewis
Danny - Cameron
Cathy - Alice
Brian - Owen
Adam - Olly K

I was very happy to find out I had been cast as Danny, since this is the I went for in the audition and I wanted this part from the start. I was told the part is a lot like myself: very slow, unaware, and always physically present but not really mentally. Although this is a lot like me, I think I am still going to be pushed far in my skills because a) I have never played this kind of character before, and b) it is going to be hard to think about the things I do every day because I don't take notice of my mannerisms, voice, stance and physicality.

We began rehearsals by trying the first scene from where John Tate, Lou and Danny enter (after Mark and Jan's duologue) and for a first attempt with movement and proper interactions (as a pose to our initial read through prior to the auditions), it wasn't bad at all. In this scene, we have just found out that Adam is supposedly dead, and Danny is absolutely solely focussed on dental college - whilst John Tate and Lou are arguing over his death and John Tate trying to convince us (and himself, I believe) that we are going to be fine, Danny is just randomly interjecting about Dental College and how the current situation "isn't part of the plan" - this can be seen as Danny being arrogant and selfish, but the challenge I have now is to make sure it comes across as his just being lost and unaware. There are 3 lines of mine where I'm talking about dental college the other two are yelling over the top of each other and we are all interrupting/shouting over the top of each other and it's very comical because I am just wailing on about Dental college whilst John Tate and Lou are shouting about Adam's death, then eventually John Tate cuts us all off with "Alright. New rule. That word is banned." and me and Lewis stop, pause, and both simultaneously turn in from either side of Warren and just look at him. This, I believe, really brings out the comedy because John Tate says something so stupid which causes us to stop instantly.

After this dialogue with Danny, John Tate and Lou, everyone else joins the scene. The last of the dialogue between us 3 is John Tate saying how the word 'dead' is banned, the when the others come in Richard abruptly says "He's dead" which makes John Tate lose it - things really brings the comedy. Throughout the rest of the scene, I don't have many lines so I need to work on my reactions and background acting - since my character is 'lost', I was trying out things like looking out into space, staring at the ground and tapping my feet and looking round aimlessly. I think I should just do small mannerisms though, because I think looking round aimlessly is too big and could take away from the main dialogue.

DNA - new play for live audience unit: Auditions 3/5/17

Today’s lesson was the auditions for ‘DNA’. As a class, we decided to scrap our devised piece purely because it just wasn’t getting anywhere – we lost our plot, characters eventually started becoming irrelevant and our scenes were pointless, boring and most of them had bad or no script so was pretty much improvised. This, I feel, is a shame because we had such a great and unique initial idea, but from there it all just fell apart; so we decided to take on a new play instead: ‘DNA’. I auditioned for ‘Danny’; I decided to play him in such a way that captured elements of worry, carelessness/unawareness and comedy, and intertwine them together and different combinations of the three, throughout this particular scene. By unawareness, I mean unaware/oblivious to the consequences and the repercussions and the level of seriousness the current situation is at – which again, I attempted to use this to bring out the comedy. I also wanted to show that this character is going through a stream of different emotions and he switches between them quickly, and do this by bringing out the comedy. For example, the line “How am I gonna get references?” is very sudden and unexpected, because prior to this they are talking about the man they have framed potentially going to prison, then somehow Danny is suddenly reminded of his desired path for dental college. To show this change and bring the comedy out, I very quickly and suddenly sped up my pace and increased my dynamics, and turned straight to the floor and turned my back on the others (literally, not metaphorically) as if I no longer care about the subject matter at hand, I’m now purely focussed on dental college.

I didn’t receive any feedback for my audition, but I thought it went quite well. To improve, I could possibly have used the stage space more and moved around a bit more – I think I was quite stationary and had little movement. However this may have been effective when taking the dental collage line into consideration because it shows more of a sudden change in my physicality as well and my voice, and could have helped bring out the comedy.

DEVISED - Running order and new scene ideas 22/3/17

Whilst others were working/developing on scenes, Alice, Owen and myself took it upon ourselves to discuss a running order (with relevant, purposeful and working transitions). It is as follows (working titles):

1. Greeting scene - Adam and Catherine welcoming the audience to the church (Elements of Brechtirian theatre). Adam very vaguely explains where they are and he understands their confusions. (Desmond, Catherine, Eve is present)
2. Desmond's intro - Desmond bursts in through the doors of the church and quickly faints - it is a character introduction scene, but not much is revealed about Desmond's background, more his confusions and Adam welcomes him to his 'placement'. (Desmond, Adam, Catherine).
3. TRANSITION - Adam calls out Henri (as the newest arrival to purgatory) for the WHAOA scene. Will (Benny), Alice (Molly) and Owen (Alex) are pre set somewhere else in the church and Adam tells Henri to follow (as will the audience do so too) and he'll take Henri to wherever the others are pre set.
4. WHAO scene - Another character introduction scene for Benny, Alex, Molly and Henri. We find out how long they've been there and an insight into who they are. Adam takes Benny at the end to another room where Catherine is pre set.
5. Hell scene - Catherine tells Benny of her experience in 'the infernal' (hell). During the course of this scene, there are faint noises and dialogue coming from Alex, Molly and Henri who are in attempts of escaping.
6. TRANSITION - Adam catches Alex, Molly and Henri, he sends Alex and Molly away and takes Henri somewhere for the next scene.
7. Banfield chronicles - Adam explaining to Henri that he needs to drop/give up his religion and culture in order to move on to 'paradise' (heaven). At the end, Catherine enters and talks to Adam, Adam then addresses the fact he "has a meeting with a subject" (subject being Tyler)
8. TRANSITION - Adam takes audience elsewhere for meeting with Tyler.
9. Tyler's meeting - Discussing Tyler's placement.
10. Tyler's intro - Desmond and Tyler talking about 'placement' and Tyler's past. 
11. Tyler's monologue 
12. Group scene - Discussion with Adam about our confusion - Eve enters (Desmond and Alex cannot see her) and lures Will into eating the apple, he eats then disappears to the infernal. Everyone leaves except Catherine and Eve.
13. Rape girl scene - Eve teasing her about her time in the infernal and her accusing Desmond of rape in their lives. Desmond overhears part of the scene which leads to the next scene.
14. Angry scene - Desmond angry at Catherine for her 'second chance' - Adam enters and tells Catherine to take audience away so that Adam and Desmond can have an anonymous discussion in which he gives Desmond a second chance for life (Desmond is then not seen again until the very end). Eve is present at the start to witness Desmond's rage, to which she smiles at.
15. Heaven Apple Scene- 

DEVISED - Improving dialogue/dominance 16/3/17

Today we had Tom come in and he had observed from previous lessons that our dialogue is very poor so he took it upon himself to take the lesson and work with us to improve our dialogue. He talked about dominance with a scene, which he explained was who has control with the dialogue, the conversation, calls where the conversation goes and leads the objective/subject of the dialogue. I feel I have a very good sense of establishment when it comes to establishing the dominance within a scene/dialogue, but when it comes to devising I never take into account the dominant person or people (sometimes there can be more than one dominant character, sometimes all) so my script writing ability deteriorates as a result. However when improvising, I can do it quite well.
The main exercise we did was an improvisation exercise like park bench, but we were given context and each one was set inside a church (to link in with our devised piece). I found this very hard purely because Henri was told to use a Jamaican accent so it then became a game of 'try not to laugh' which even still I wasn't very good at. However the explanation of the concepts behind dialogue, improvising and script writing was very useful.

DEVISED - Angry scene with me, Taylor and Warren 9/3/17

(Taylor pre set on the floor, Cameron storms in)

Cameron: Get up.

Taylor: What?

Cameron: Get up. (Goes to her, aggressively) You Heard me. Get up. Why are you here?

(Taylor is silent, showing expressions of guilt and loss)

Cameron: Answer me!

Taylor: (Realising the reason to his anger) Look just calm down, you shouldn't...

Cameron: Yeah yeah shouldn't shout keep calm...fuck that! (Muttering but audible) Telling me to calm down...What gives you the right to have a second chance?

Taylor: Listen, let me explain...

Cameron: Explain? Explain?! How can you possibly justify yourself? You were down there because of whatever it is you done, and now you're here. Why? 

Taylor: To change my placement. 

Cameron: (Almost mocking her) To change your placement...So that's why he treats you like his bitch, yeah? Well let me tell you something. People like you don't get second chances. You're done.

Taylor: (Offended, she gets up to his face) I may be his 'bitch' but if I have even the slightest chance to make things right then I'm sorry but I'm going to take it. 

Cameron: I don't think you understand. Why do you get the second chance. Why you? Why not Will? Will I get a second chance if I need it? 

Taylor: I don't...I don't know

Cameron: How convenient. Why can't I just get a straight answer in this god forsaken place?!

(Adam enters in rage, having heard the last two lines)

Adam: (To Taylor, almost accusing her of causing trouble) What have you done now?

Taylor: (Scared) Nothing I swear...

Cameron: (To Adam) Why is she here?

Adam: You need to calm down and stop asking so many questions.

Cameron: Why? I don't know who you are, where I am, what this place is. I mean for all I know I could have been drugged and kidnapped! I have a right to know!

Adam: Here, you have no rights. 

Cameron: What? What do you mean? Of course I have ri...

Adam: (Interrupted) Taylor, leave us.

Taylor: But Adam, I think he should kn..

Adam: (Interrupted, shouting) Leave us!

(Taylor reluctantly but obediently starts to exit)

 Adam: Wait....Take them. All of them. Leave.

(Audience don't know what conversation Cameron and Adam have, but at the very end after the audience have seen people at their graves, last thing they see is Cameron walking out of the church premises into the world, to show that Adam has given him his 'second chance' but this time, second chance at life)

I wrote this scene - for the intention of my character - to show a complete change in my character; throughout the piece I want my character to be fairly calm through all the confusion and then this is the scene where he finally snaps. This would have much more of a shocking impact on the audience to see such a sudden and unexpected change in one's behaviour. When we set it, for the majority of my conversation with Taylor she is on the floor and I am standing over her talking down to her to symbolise that I've had enough of the confusion, lies and vague information so I want to take control and the dominance of the situation. However when she gets up to my level, it shows that she also snaps and has had enough of me digging at her so she tries to match my dominance.

DEVISED - Plan/structure 20/2/17

1. Greeting scene - This is where Warren and Taylor's character greet the audience and invite them in, provoking confusion to the audience. This also adds to our idea of immersing the audience in the performance by making them part of the 'AA meeting' in which the performance is set. Talking about preparing for this wave of people coming from death, but talked about as if they were people coming to an AA meeting. 
2. Cameron intro - This is the scene we did last lesson with me, Taylor and Warren.
3. The 'WHA' scene - Between Will, Henri and Alice (hence WHA), and it is just an introductory scene of those 3 characters.
4. Hell scene - Will's character is a man who has done many a bad thing throughout his life (like arrogance, ignorance etc...) but the one good deed leads to his death (ironic), so the decision o whether he goes to heaven or hell is tough. This scene Taylor explaining to will that she has been to hell and why she knows more than everyone else.
5. Banfield chronicles - Adam talking to Henri about how he needs to throw away his culture.

DEVISED - Scene work with Taylor and Warren 8/2/17

We decided to make an introductory scene to my character, and at the same time an introductory scene to the whole piece. We started it with me falling of a chair as if I've just hung myself, and then i wake up in purgatory all confused and unaware - at which point I meet Adam (Warren) who very vaguely without giving much away at all tells me where I am (in fact, the most i find out from him is that 'this is my placement'). We decided to give purgatory some sort of code name, which is 'Placement' so that we don't give the twist away to the audience. Throughout this scene, my character has very disjointed and jumbled speech, he's confused and a little scared, and he begins to get slightly agitated by the vague and useless information he's getting form Adam. The also shows Adam's cock, arrogant and all-knowing nature, and we decided that Adam would be particularly interested in my case for some reason (not even he knows, people could speculate it's because he notices a fire inside of me when I first see Taylor) as a pose to the others since he has had this conversation probably millions of times prior.

New lesson - Help from Tom

Scene 2 – Cameron’s intro (Cameron, Adam, Taylor)

(Cameron suddenly bursts through the church doors and falls unconscious on the floor for a moment)

Adam: You all right there? I saw your fall. (Cameron jumps at the sound of his voice, he doesn't answer) Do you know why you're why you're? (No answer) No, of course not tsss... It's ok. Take a minute. I understand it's a lot to take in.

Cameron: What is this?

Adam: This? This is your placement.

Cameron: What? What's...'placement'?

Adam: This here. Everything you see before you. This is your placement.

(Cameron cannot find words, he is still confused)

Adam: Again, take a minute. I understand it's a lot to take in.

(Taylor enters)

Taylor: Adam?

Adam: Can you wait a minute please?

Cameron: (To Adam) Who is she?

Adam: Don't worry about her. She's from...some place else. Which I highly doubt you'll be going there.

(Pause)

Cameron: (To Taylor) Sorry but who is he?

Taylor: Adam.

Cameron: Great well that helps.

Adam: Again, I understand...

Cameron: No I don't think you understand; I don't know who you are or what you want with me in this...what ever this place is...Stop being so vague and give me something.

Taylor: It may be vague now, and confusing, and muddled, but give it time. It will come together very soon just relax. Trust us.

Adam: What I suggest you do, is take a minute and calm yourself. Take a seat and think. Try to remember.

Cameron: Remember what exactly?

Adam: I want you to try to remember why you may be here.

Cameron: (After a pause of thought) I'm sorry but I don't know.