Rent

Today we had access to the backing tracks that we will use in the actual production. We spent the lesson singing through everything that we had set to the backing tracks. Considering we had not used the backing tracks before I think it went quite well and with practice it will sound good. The main thing we need to do is work on the timing with the backing tracks which will come with time.

We did I'll cover you reprise for the end of the lesson which we hadn't sung through before. Taking this into consideration it went well and we managed to sing the whole song through a couple of times and set it, with some very simple staging. So are main thing to work on now is just getting everything polished with the backing tracks and finishing off things we haven't yet done.

Rent

This week we have been working on the song Happy New Year B. We weren't particularly familiar with the song so at the start it was slow to get started but as we went through it, it became easier to stage and sing. It is a very bitty song in the way that there is a lot of over lapping speech and vocal which is complicated to do unless everyone is confident with the song. After we had roughly set the song we decided to move on as we could not perfect it until we are all more familiar with the song. We decided to make a note of everything we had left to do which actually was not too much as we had blocked a lot of the show already. For the remainder of this lesson we went through some of our separate scenes, so Dan Smith and I went through our Mr and Mrs Jefferson script.

Rent

Today we went off to do separate scenes again, so Tom and I went off to set 'Light My Candle'. It is quite a long song and almost tells a story, so we set it according to the lyrics, using them to help us with what to do. We tried to keep it simple so we can focus on the acting and singing as it is quite wordy and conversational in the way it is sung. I think we need a bit more time on this to perfect it but we have made a good start and at least blocked the whole song, we just need to work on the details like the blowing out and relighting of the candle which will be easier to do with an actual candle to use.

Rent

Today we spent the lesson doing the song 'Goodbye Love' which is everyone except from Angel as it is his funeral. We start coming out of the church and then it goes into the song. It is pretty simple with no dancing but with simple movement to highlight whoever is singing at the time. Half way through the song we all leave except from Roger and Mark who have a heated discussion which Mimi comes back to hear the end of. Mimi then sings to Roger basically saying goodbye forever because she doesn't want him to see her die, so we have kept this quite static with only a small bit of contact between Mimi and Roger to keep it as naturalistic as possible as it will hopefully affect the audience more this way. Then Roger leaves and Mimi sings out as if to Roger, accepts help from Benny and then leaves by herself. I think this song will be good once everyone knows there lines and is familiar with it as it is quite a wordy and rhythmical song so quite difficult so sing when you do not really know it.

Rent

This lesson we first ran through all of the scenes we have done so far as it was Dan's last lesson before he is off for two weeks. This went well, we have done quite a lot and it is all to a good standard it just needs polishing. For the rest of the lesson we split off doing separate scenes again. Dan Smith and I are playing the Jeffersons so we went off to work on their bit of sung dialogue. After listening to the track we decided that we would turn it into straight dialogue as there is no music to it and it is just a voicemail they leave. We rehearsed it so they are very the over top parents, my character keeps butting into hr husbands conversation with their daughters answer machine, adding in little details much like a normal mother would.

Rent

As Dan is going to be off for a couple of weeks we have been working to get all of the songs that he is in done before he goes away. The last one we had to do was 'Without You' where Angel dies. Roger and Mimi sing this duet. We decided as a company that we wanted to have each couple come on at a different time throughout the song and do some kind of contact improvisation/ short contemporary sequence that reflects their relationship during the show. I am really happy with the bit Tom and I have created as I think it is very interesting to watch and portrays the love hate relationship that Roger and Mimi have. The song ends with everyone looking at Angel to signify that he has died (he is on a bed in the middle of the scene that has also been made for him during the song).

Rent

This lesson we started working on Santa Fe, which I was asked to choreograph a section for during the lesson. This was quite difficult as I had not watched the song and was not sure what to do, so I watched the Broadway version. Although they do a dance it is pretty simple but big movements compiled together, so I tried to recreate my own version trying to stay with quite a contemporary feel. I found it difficult to make it not too 'dancey' as most of the people doing it are not dancers, so I had to simplify some of the steps after choreographing the section. I think with practice it will look good as it is simple, they just need to go with the flow of it and feel the music as the steps are quite slow and need to be exaggerated so they go with the easy, calm beat of 'Santa Fe'.

After watching the video of the dance there a few things I want to change to make it look more natural and easier for the non-dancers as it does not look quite right.

Rent

Today we were lucky enough to have Lorna in the lesson who is playing Maureen so we took the opportunity to put her into 'Tango Maureen', the opening 'Rent' and 'La Vie Boheme'. This took quite a while as we had to teach her all of it but it was also beneficial to us as anyone that was struggling was able to re-learn anything the needed to.

We split off to do separate things today so Tom and I went off to set 'Another Day' together. We decided that we would use the table that mostly features in the loft as Roger seems to spend a lot of time around it and sitting on it, also we thought it would be interesting to use. The song starts with Mimi kissing Roger and then Roger continually fighting with his feelings, not knowing whether to give in to Mimi or not. We used the table to sit on and move around trying to highlight this fight internally and physically with Roger and Mimi, with some intimate simple movement when Mimi is singing soothingly to Roger and then harsh sudden movements when Roger gets angry. We need some more time to work on the end of this but I think it is looking good so far and will be interesting for the audience to watch without it being a dance.

Rent

We have just had our first production meeting. These are very important to make sure everyone is on the same page with the style and direction of the show we are creating as well as organising everything and making sure everything is counted for. We were all assigned jobs such as lighting, costume, set and advertisement. I am part of the fundraising team, which we decided we needed after the discussion of mics and other things we want for our performance which we will only be able to afford if we do something to fund them. After this we went on to discuss the actual show, what the style and atmosphere was that we wanted to create, how we wanted the stage set out and the more creative side of things. We decided we want to extend the stage with extra, different leveled blocking as well as some platforms either side of the audience so that some things can happen down the hall. We discussed how we want the audience to actually be sitting and decided on more of an informal cabaret seating so that they are in a more relaxed environment and feel less like they are watching a show. For the tone of the show we have decided to basically stick to the original Broadway version, although without some scenes, but with some of our own influences so that you can tell it is a Revolution Arts piece.

Rent

Today we rehearsed 'Tango Maureen' a bit, working on the feet mostly, making sure that everyone was doing the same thing so that it looked neater. We then tried it with the backing track so that Ashley and Freya could try singing without the vocals.

Next we tried 'Will I' and 'Life Support' with the backing tracks. 'Will I' started to improve after a couple of runs as people started getting used to when they were singing and how it sounded against what everyone else was singing. I think it will keep improving with practice and now we just need to be more confident with it so that you can really hear the different groups and what they are singing, so it doesn't look like some people are just singing at the wrong time. 'Life Support' was not as good as the soloist parts were not very good without the vocals as the timing is very difficult but the chorus parts are sounding good so now it is just down to some people to go away and listen to the song and their specific parts, but I think we will get there eventually and it will sound good.

Rent

Today we started doing the dance 'Tango Maureen' which I was very excited about as Dan is choreographing it and it is a really good song. The choreography is really good ad although it is quite simple so that everyone will eventually be able to perform it well it looks really good and emulates a real tango without the hard technique. I am paired with Tom for the section of the dance that we come on for, we are in hold and do a short tango-inspired combination and then a travelling step. I think the addition of the pairs of dancers really adds to the song and makes it more of a performance rather than two people just singing a song. It also gives the audience more to watch while there is no singing going on.

Rent

We have been working on everything that we have done, running all of the numbers that we have done (La Vie Boheme and Rent). We also sang and set the songs 'Will I' and 'Life Support' which was nice as they are not to difficult songs as they are very static. 'Will I' was challenging to sing as it is in a round, with 4 groups singing over each other. Our class are not all confident with singing so this was quite difficult, in the end we changed it to be only 3 groups so each group was stronger and the song started to sound better. 'Life Support' was also quite challenging for the soloists as it seemed they were not particularly familiar with the song so were not sure what they were singing, but they did improve after a few runs, and I think with help will be able to perform it to a good standard.

Rent

Today we were working on the song 'Seasons of Love'. Most of the class was familiar with this song so we could all sing it through roughly together which was a good start. We spent quite a while working on who was singing what part and working on the harmonies as there are quite a lot in this song. Some people are struggling with the harmonies so we made need to simplify some of it or swap some people around but it is sounding good. I think with practice, especially on the harmonies, we will be able to improve the song greatly. A big factor holding us back at the moment is confidence with the song, once we have confidence it will sound better as everyone will be louder and therefore build the song up instead of only being able to hear a few people.

Rent

This is a video of our first version of La Vie Boheme. We have not completely finished it yet and have not polished it so it is a bit messy, but the foundations are there.

As a starting piece I think we have done very well to work together and create this choreography which is simple but looks good and everyone can do. We definitely need to practice this number and tighten it up, also we need to look at the solo and duet bits and work out what we are going to do so that we are not just standing still and there is still movement occurring, but we can easily add this later.

Rent

This lesson we spent most of our time singing through the song 'La Vie Boheme', making sure everyone knew what they were singing and trying to perfect the harmonies. As our class are not all confident singers I think this was important to do before trying to put the singing and movement we did last week together. After ensuring the song was sounding good we put the main movement we had done with the singing. I think considering we have only spent a couple of lessons on this song so far it is looking very promising and with more rehearsal, once we all know what we are doing, it will be a entertaining and strong number in the show.

Rent

As a class we have decided we want to do Rent the musical in our double lessons, I am playing Mimi. It is quite a lengthy show at about two hours, so we our cutting some of the songs that are not key to the story, so that we will be able to get it all done.

In our first lesson of rehearsals we started by singing through the song 'Rent'. As not many of us knew it we then moved on to start setting 'La vie Boheme' that most of us were at least familiar with. We have pretty much set the whole of the song. We all worked together to come up with ideas of what we could do, trying out different things for different parts of the song. I think this works better sometimes than having just one choreographer to create everything, it takes away the massive pressure from just one person and creates more ideas and variety within the show.

Once we had set La Vie Boheme we went back to the opening, Rent, and started thinking of how we would stage it. We were trying to think of ways to create an industrial looking loft, which is where a lot of it is set, and decided we would probably use the stage. People went off to find random things such a moving carts, lights, chairs, a bin and paper. Basically things that we can add to our performance stage to make it look a loft as well as giving us things to move around and interact with during the scenes. This is our main idea for the start of Rent, for people to be messily running around the loft, moving things and climbing on things creating a manic kind of atmosphere and sets the scene for the start of the show.

The Polka Theatre

This is the information off of their website telling you about them...

"Polka Theatre is one of the few venues in the UK which is dedicated to producing and presenting work for young audiences. Since the doors opened in 1979, this unique venue has been entertaining children with resonant, engaging and exciting theatre.
Over 90,000 children a year come to Polka and are inspired, stimulated and engaged by theatre, often for the first time. Polka strives to stir the emotions, spark the imagination and, most of all, entertain. Its two theatre spaces, the Main Theatre and the Adventure Theatre are designed especially for children so that their first taste of theatre is welcoming and relevant.

At Polka children aged 0 to 14 enjoy a wide-range of experiences designed to make theatre a natural part of their lives: from the powerful drama Stamping, Shouting and Singing Home; to hilarious family shows like Flat Stanley; fantastic world-premieres of new plays for children like Cloud Pictures; and adaptations of well-loved stories like We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.

Polka Theatre for the very young is a vital part of Polka’s artistic programming. Over the past few years Polka has developed its Early Years work and established itself as a centre for innovation in this field. Children as young as 9 months and their families are brought into a colourful and stimulating environment where simple stories are told in a sensory and visual way. Early Years shows also visit Polka from across Europe encouraging the telling of a diverse range of stories in a varied and exciting way.

Creative programming keeps Polka’s work fresh and relevant. Audiences can expect imaginative new writers, dynamic performers, inventive adaptations of popular stories and resonant subjects. Everything we do is focused on providing children with thrilling world-class theatre.

At the heart of Polka’s work is a programme of learning that encourages children to explore and develop creatively. Every Polka show is supported by a learning programme. Schools visiting the theatre can benefit from online free resource packs and rehearsal diaries, show-related workshops and after-show talks. Polka embraces family learning and encourages it through exciting family days, after-show events and show-related activities packs. It also runs a regular programme of out-of-school clubs and summer schools giving children the freedom to explore their creativity and learn a wide-range of performance skills from storytelling to puppetry.
Polka is first and foremost a local theatre, loved by the people of Wimbledon and the wider London community, but enjoys an international reputation, known the world over as a pioneer of theatre for children, consistently setting the standard and raising audience’s expectations.

It is playful, fun and interactive - Polka stimulates even the biggest child’s imagination and is a magical place where you can share a special moment with your children."

Unicorn Theatre

This is information about the theatre company from their website...

"The Unicorn Theatre was founded by Caryl Jenner as a touring company in 1947 with a commitment to giving children a valuable and often first ever experience of quality theatre, and a philosophy that 'the best of theatre for children should be judged on the same high standards of writing, directing, acting and design as the best of adult theatre'. 

Today, the Unicorn is the UK's leading professional theatre for young audiences, dedicated to inspiring and invigorating young people of all ages, perspectives and abilities, and empowering them to explore the world – on their own terms – through theatre. 

We strive to push the boundaries of imagination in everything that we do; welcoming families, schools, and young people for unforgettable theatrical experiences that will expand horizons, change perspectives, and challenge how we all see and understand each other. 

Our purpose built home at London Bridge contains two theatres, four floors of public spaces and two rehearsal studios; allowing us to work with some of the world’s most exciting theatre-makers to produce, present and tour a surprising, innovative and broad range of work that is honest, refreshing and international in outlook.

We serve over 60,000 children and their parents and carers every year through our extensive programme of work both on and offstage."

The Unicorn Theatre provides entertainment to children aged between 2-21. They also go into schools and run workshops for the children to get hands on with and learn key drama skills. 

2nd June

Today we worked on creating the rap for the Bean Man (Dan), we decided to use the song Magic. We have adapted the words so that he is singing about the magic beans he is trying to trade to Jack. I think this song is good because it is funny and lighthearted so should be entertaining for the children to watch. It is also a happy jokey song and is completely suitable for the ages we are performing for. 

22nd May

Today we started with staging the opening to Jack using the script we had already written. We are starting the piece with some music that's from the opening of Beauty and the Beast, when we create a market placewhere Jack goes to sell his cow. The added music in the background adds another level to the performance and I think makes it more professional and adds more of an atmosphere to the piece, helping the children to be entertained and keep interested. Staging the rest of the script was quite simple, having the script already written really sped up the process for Jack in my opinion and was a good thing to do. Now everyone just needs to learn their lines so we can run it with scripts down and perfect it. 

18th May

Today we spent the lesson writing the scripts for Jack and the Beanstalk so that we can get on quickly with setting it next lesson. We need to work on the description of the settings as we will not have set or backdrops so we need to help the children to imagine the places. Also in my part of the script I need to work on portraying the relationship between Jack and his mum in a way that the children will understand. 

12th May

11th may

Today we started planning how we would set the stage for each of the stories and decided where we would actually perform them. After contemplating whether to use the stage or not we decided we would per from on the floor and have the children sitting on the floor in a semi circle. I think a semi circle is a good way to make the children feel part of the performance, it means we can be centred in between the children and talk to them all in a more informal way. Also having them on the same level as us will make it easier for us to interact with them and make them feel like part of the story instead of just watching it. 

We then started planning what was gonna happen in Jack and the Beanstalk and thinking of ideas for how to create it. For the beanstalk I thought we could have some scaffolding we have covered in vines as the bottom of the stalk. As jack starts to climb up the lights could fade out as he descends up into the clouds. Then as the lights come up another world above the clouds is seen, which is the Giants Kingdom. 

8th May

Today we finished Goldilocks, made the house for the Bears to live in and planned the narration for Freya to say during the piece. Teamwork is very important in this piece as we have to work together to create all of the shapes, if one Preston is not in the right place it will not look right so we all have to concentrate. I think after the full run through we have just done it isn't looking too bad, but we need more work on the transitions between each part of it and making the shapes clear. Also because there are so many different scenes it is quite hard to remember what comes next and what we are supposed to be going in to, so we need to keep running it to get it in our heads. 

5th May

Today we started thinking about the story of Goldilocks and how we could make it interesting for the small children to watch. We decided to have Goldilocks as a sort of narrator to come in front of the sheet so the children still have some interaction so their attention is kept. We started by creating a forest for the initial scene, using small groups of people to make different things in the forest, such as trees, bushes and flowers/plants. Then we created the three bears using different combinations of shapes to create the head, ears, arms and body of each sized bear. We then carried on with the story by making the 3 chairs and the 3 beds in the three different sizes which was difficult at first trying to make them significantly different but we got there in the end. Now we just need to work on the transitions between the different scenes, making sure that it looks smooth and easy moving from one thing to another. 

1st May

Today we spent some of the lesson creating objects from the story of Goldilocks. So we tried to make the three different sized chairs and beds and then the house. They didn't look as good as they could as been so we need to keep working on making them look different in size and look fully look like the object they're supposed to be.
We then started to create a story about a relationship between two people that starts off as friendship and then later in if they re-develop it at a chance meeting, but it leads to the death of one of them because of the circumstances of the other person. By doing this and actually trying to create a piece we realised that sillouhette can be really effective when trying to tell a story. It also gave us chance to try out some transitions to get in and out of formations which is important otherwise it will not look proffessional. We need to keep working on making new shapes so we have more that we can use for Goldilocks.

21st April

Today we spent some time going over the song we had done the previous week. We then add movement to it so we were not just standing and singing, and so everyone could be involved. The dance is suitable for the piece because it is cheesy and fun and helps to tell the story as well as giving the children something entertaining to watch and something different to keep their attention.

We have also added a song to introduce the wolf, which is a song from the grinch which we have changed the words to, to make it relevant to the story. Having this song to help introduce the wolf will help the children to get into it and get excited about seeing the wolf. As well as keeping them entertained, because it is a funny childish song, it is also appropriate for their age as it is from a children's film, The Grinch.

27th April

Today we ran from the by top of our piece to the end as we finished it last lesson. I think it went well and does not need a lot of rehearsal as we have already spent quite a lot of time on it. We then started brainstorming ideas for Goldilocks and trying to think of different ways to do it. We have chosen to use silhouette as it is very different to the other style we are using at the minute and so will help to keep the children entertained and interested as the stories progress.

As most of us have not done silhouette before we started by workshopping silhouette so we could get used to what it's like and figure out how to create different shapes. It also gave us a chance to experiment making bigger structures together, woring as a group.

24th April

This lesson we ran through the whole story from the beginning including the opening. I thing it is really coming together and we know the first bit pretty well but I don't think it will be as good as it can be until we actually have children to talk and interact with. We then added on to the story starting with little red skipping through the trees but becoming lost. We then created a bit that depends highly on audience participation where little red asks what way she should go because she has become lost in the woods. The wolf is hiding behind the trees and the point is the children tell her to go away from the wold but he keeps moving so it goes backwards and forwards, a bit like a pantomime. The wolf eventually sends little red the wrong way to her grandmas house so he can get there first and then he hides her grandmother under the bed. Then little red enters and does the traditional dialogue of, "grandma how big your ears are!", and so on until he steals her cookies. The scene inside the cottage then freezes and the narrator becomes the woodsman and goes to help little red. We chose to make the ending happy without anyone being eating so it would not upset any of the children, so the wolf only stole the cookies because he was hungry and the grandma was safe, just hidden under the bed.

I think this ending is more age appropraite for our audience than the original ending where the wolf eats the grandmother and red and is then cut open by the woodsman, therefore making it entertaining and suitable for our audience. 

31st March

Today Dan was going over his narration while we were working on creating a forest for little red to travel through. Our idea was to have the trees made out of people, two with one on the back of the other to add height to the trees. To make it really easy for the children to tell that the wolf is not a good character I had the idea that the trees could change when he goes through them and become scary and unhappy trees. Part of my inspiration for this is from the film Snow White. As she travels further into the woods the trees become stiffer and have more jagged movements unlike the pretty nice trees at the start of the film. So when little red is skipping through the forest the trees are smiling and swaying along to the happy magical music that is playing in the background, but when the wolf enters and passes the trees they turn sad and scared and their arm (branches) become harsh and stiff. 

I think having the trees actually there as a visual is good because it will give the children something to look and help their imaginations when the characters are in the forest. It also means that the trees can interact with the audience because they are people and not just set, adding to the entertainment of the piece and helping them to keep interest. 

27th March

Today I wrote out the script for start of Little Red when I am interacting with the children.

Beginning - go round to each creature, talking and hugging them while the narrator describes the scene and introduces Little Red Riding Hood. Next we create a freeze frame that portrays the emotion of love and shows that the creatures adore him. Then I come out of the picture, climbing over Dom and Freya  and introduce myself to the children. 

Me: "Hello boys and girls, my name is Red"

Everyone else: "no it's little Red!" 

Me: "oh sorry, I'm little red. Today I am going to visit my grandma, she's not very well you see, so I am going to take her some treats to make her feel better. But I will need some help boys and girls. Will you help me... (Interacting with children). Now I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting, do you know boys and girls?... (Find basket). Now I'm ready to go! 

All sing song - 

We're off to see my Grandma, my Grandma who lives in the woods. 

I hear she's sick and feels a bit ick, oh what am I going to do?

I'll take her some treats right into the woods and make her feel better just like I should, because because because because because

My name is little red riding hood.

We ran through it and worked on the interaction with the children so it fits the purpose of the piece which is to entertain the children who are young, in primary school. Also the song helps to keep the children entertained and interested in the piece. I feel like little red riding hood is really coming together and I can see what things the children will enjoy. 

24th March

Today we refined the opening to our performance. We added some more that the children can join in with, when I say something like 'put your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care'. This gets them excited and involved in the performance, and physically moving so hopefully they will be paying attention at this point. 

To create an atmosphere to set the scene of the first story we thought of 5 things you would find in a magical forest. We came up with toad stools, trees, magical stepping stones on the floor, a stream and singing flowers. My group created the toad stools, using a person curled up into a ball with something on your back, a bit like a shield, decorated to look like the top of a toad stool to make a flat colourful top. This means they can then come out of being a mushroom and move easily. It also makes a good use of the cast. I also had the idea that the toad stools could move, and swap places everynow and then in a kind of dance, to add movement to the scene and make it more magical. 

After we had created each of our parts of the forest we worked together to create the river. I think actually making it makes it much better for the children to watch instead of just having sound effects, as it will bring it to life infront of them and hopefully stimulate their imaginations. 

20th March

Today we started researching the types of stories we could do for our performance. We had to pick three stories between the whole group, so we each selected two and discussed why they would be good and if they were suitable or not. 

Our first choice was Jack and the Beanstalk. This is a classic fairy tale that most young children should know. It will be easy to create and add bits to as the story line is pretty straight forward so we will be able to focus on things such as audience participation, as well as telling the story.

The second story we chose is Little Red Riding Hood. This is good as again most children will know the basic story of red riding hood. It also has surprises within the story which will keep the children interested, and we can create the different settings within the story in lots of creative ways, giving the children lots to look at.

The last story we have chosen is Goldilocks and three bears. This is a very simple story with lots of repetition which will be easy to get the children to join in with. It will also be very easy for them to follow the story and we can get them to help us with the story as they will all know it, this will make audience participation very easy to incorporate into our performance. 

We decided that we would have an opening to our performance to get the children involved and get their attention before we started telling the actual stories. To create this we used inspiration from the previous lessons when we had created a scene with a big story book. It now begins with two of the cast talking to the children about healthy eating and being overly boring, then suddenly two more of us appear, one carrying a massive story book and the other addressing the children directly, getting them excited. Then using audience participation, by teaching them a chant, we made the two boring people fun and took the children's attention to the book. After a group effort to open the book, I list out a few different stories which the other three on stage do comical actions for, and we finally choose the story Little Red Riding Hood which the other three get the children excited for. 

Audience

We started this lesson by telling each saying a couple of sentences of a story, not worrying so much about the content, but concentrating on how we were saying it, changing our target audience each time. We had to think about the tone of our voices, the language we were using, aswell as our body language and gestures. After this we tried telling the stories without using any faical expression or moevemnt, just using our voice to make it age appropriate. This was really difficult as we found isolating your voice from your face especially, when your trying to be over the top with your voice. Next we tried telling an inappropriate story in a way that was appropriate for young children by changing ther tone and language we were using. This was good as it showed you how much we need to think about the words we're using when talking to young children, making sure we use words that they can understand. 

We looked at creating the stmosphere for a scene, not just making the setting. By adding sounds, movement and music we brought many different places to like, creating an atmosphere for the audience, making it like they were there and bringing the story to life. The last thing we did was having one person narrate a story while the rest of the class created it and filled in the dialogue where it was needed in the story. 

Movement

This lesson we were focusing on how to interpret and potray a character through movement. We did a lot of thinking about how to play a character without literally acting like it, for example when playing a rabbit you would not hop around but act and think like one, adapting some of its characteristics and how it would be acting. Some very helpful examples that helped me to understand this concept is trying to act like a bit of lava in a volcano. Trying to bring out the energy and movement that a bit of lava would have was difficult at first, but once we got into it and started thinking less literally and just imagining how a piece of lava would move and react to different things. 

Voice

We started today by going through the pronunciation of vowels, saying them after one another working on our projection and the clarity of our speech. To warm up our tongues we then did some tongue twisters, futhermore we said them with different exaggerated emotions. I think this will help with our expression and gesture when story telling, to help portray the stories to our audience. Next we started actually creating the start of Little Red Riding Hood, taking everything we had done so far into consideration. We tried to make it captivating from the very start, interacting with the audience and breaking down the fourth wall to get the audience involved. Once we had finished them we then watched a video of a children's presenter and picked out aspects of what she was doing, like eye contact and the tone of her voice. We then went back to what we had created and improved it, taking the new things we had noticed into consideration. As a finishing task we had to each simply say 'Once Upon a Time' in a captivating way that would catch the audiences attention right from the start, which I think is very important to story telling especially when it is to young children, if you don't have their attention from the start the children won't listen to the rest of the story. 

Body

Today we were working on how to portray emotion not just through what your saying but through your body, especially your eyes. I think this really adds to a performance and helps to put across the emotion of the characters without it becoming to over the top and cheesy, which may not be appropriate for the audience. We did lots of different exercises using mime so we had to get across the emotion without speech, this will help us with our physicality and gestures when doing our story telling. To help us with this, we related the story or emotion we had to feel to what we have felt or experienced in the pass and so it is believable and we can relate to the story. Also we mimed a couple of scenes, for example being in McDonald's which I found quite difficult as I do not find it easy to act in an over the top manner just with my body and gestures. To get the feeling of emotion portrayed through our eyes we posed as statues and then had to show a random emotion just through our eyes without moving. I think this is a really useful skill as we can use it in many forms of acting and it will really add to the story telling.

Friday 28th November

We started creating our piece which is based on the story of the sirens. We decided to make it a bit different from Jason and the Argonauts and instead are doing the story of how the sirens became sirens and why they kill sailors. I had the idea of the sirens being changed into mermaids because they had drowned their husbands, for valid reasons, but Poseidon thought they needed to be punished anyway. The woman have been mistreated by their husbands which drives them to murder, and once they are sirens to drown passing sailors. 

For the main part of our piece we have decided to have a movement/dance to El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge which is all about desire, lust and betrayl which fit the theme. I really enjoyed helping to create this and everyone in our group was enthusiastic and tried to help where they could which made it quick and easy to create. Also as dance is what I'm good at I think this works to show my strengths and brings variety to our performance which will keep the year 7's attention. Within the dance we show the abuse that the women endure and the story behind their motivation which ends in the husbands' deaths. The song also helps us to portray our story which could be quite graphic, as it includes rape, in an appropriate way for the year 7's. 

Within our piece we have now included lots of different techniques and will add some dialogue at the beginning, as well as Carl doing a monologue to set the play and explain the transformation at the end.