The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (21) (Evaluation)

On the 16th we finally performed "The Flint Street Nativity" to a live audience. On the whole the piece went really well though there were definitely areas for improvement.

What generally went well:

• The lighting was effective for representing Miss Horrocks changing from satisfied to angry (white wash to red wash)
• The set looked realistic as a classroom and worked well for our play
• The majority of the jokes were well received with the audience laughing throughout 
• The majority of us projected well
• The songs were comical, and there were no major issues with timing.

What generally could have been better:

•  The trolley and chairs were noisy when being moved
  
  • The wheels should have been oiled, padding could be added to stop the trolley rattling and padding could have been added to the bottom of the chairs
•  We didn't always stand in the spot light correctly
  
  • We should have had more rehearsals with the lights or taped the floor
• The verse of Silent Night that we sang as adults wasn't great...
  
  • We should have rehearsed this more to ensure we all knew the words!
• The tension built to quickly prior to Sarah Bennet's breakdown in the adult scene
  
  • Should have had cue lines to build tension up further at different points
•  At times, some members of the cast needed to be louder
  
  • These actors should have projected more or we could have used radio microphone headsets
•  The joke of the adults thinking Hope's baby doll was a real baby was lost as she clearly used the headless doll
  
  • She should have used the other doll (which had a head attached to it!)

What I think I did well:

• I projected well so that I was audible all the time
• When I pretended to throw up it was apparently very realistic 
• I think I portrayed my character well as I fiddled with my dress to show my characters age
• I used my initiative by deciding to tidy the pens away on the table (during my scene with James) to make the table easier to move. This also avoided pens falling of the table and making a noise whilst it was being moved  

What I feel I could have done better:

•  My costume for Jenny Bennet didn't look right as I looked older than 7 or 8 due to my bust
  
  • I could have used breast binding tape or worn more of a frock style dress 
•  During my duet with Rhiannon, I was too loud as Rhiannon was quieter than I was and her part was the parody version

Cover-ups!

• The curtain wasn't open for my instructions to Robert's character so I said them from behind the curtain (which made sense as this would be what my character would do)
• Robert didn't sit on the apparatus before our duet so I changed my line to make sense in the scenario
• Robert made a mistake during our duet but he improvised and made the lyrics rhyme! Instead of singing "Hallo? No. We're only learning carols. No, you're interrupting nothing, Paul", Robert sang "No, you're interrupting nothing Paul; we are only learning those carols"
• Thankfully, I noticed that my doll's head had come off before it was supposed to, so I ensured I held the doll in a way that the head wouldn't fall to the floor too early
• Charlie stayed on the stage for too long after the birth of Jesus, but when he realised he left the stage in character and made it look as if it was supposed to happen
• I left Jesus on stage as I had to run off to find Ashley, but Hope picked it up in character during her scene with Cel. To make it look like a part of the play, she sat down next to Cel and fiddled with the doll's head!
• I didn't know where Hope had put the doll so I had to go on to the stage without it, but Katya passed me the "sheep"/wig for me to use as Jesus. Although this was not supposed to happen, this was actually very comical 

If we were to do the show again...

• Have more rehearsals on the stage with lighting and in costume
• Rehearse with props from the beginning 
• Get the sheet music and learn the songs properly
• If someone can't make a rehearsal, film it for them to watch in their own time

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (20) (Final run)

Today we had a full day off of our normal timetable so that we could rehearse on the stage.

The first two periods were spent setting up the stage and sorting set. Lewis, Charlie and I put up the artificial Christmas tree. This proved surprisingly difficult as we didn't have a stand for the tree! Therefore, we had to lean the tree up against the wall. Afterwards, I helped secure the "brick walls" flats. I supported the stepladder that Miss Cordell was standing on so there was less chance of an accident occurring (e.g. the ladder toppling over). Whilst I was supporting the ladder, the top of the flats was having wire attached to the top of it, connecting to the bar of the lighting, as to give the flat extra strength, making it more stable and less likely to fall over. I also noticed that there was a screw poking through the flat, and that this screw was not needed, so I ensured it got removed. If it wasn't removed someone could either snag their costume on it or, even worse, could scratch themselves on it. Afterwards, I drew stars on the "Who's been good?" chart and attached it to the wall. For each character, I put them number of stars I thought they would be likely to get (so Jenny having the whole chart filled and some extra, whilst Ashley only had two). I also cut out the letters spelling "OUR SPACE PROJECT" and stuck them to one of the flats along with drawings and "class work" related to space.

The second two periods were spent finishing the set, going through songs and working with the lighting. The set that was put up was additional staging and the "Home Corner". The additional staging was positioned at the back of the stage to add depth and levels to our play. The only people that stand on the additional staging are Lewis and James, as this level represents "Miss Horrocks' special cupboard". However, it will also be used to sit on by Cel and Hope (when Cel's character is crying) and by Rhiannon (when she looks through Miss Horrocks' bag. The "Home Corner" is a child's fabric playhouse. We positioned it on the far stage right of the additional staging, so it was visible and also so it didn't have to be moved throughout the show. With the songs, we decided not to use backing tracks as we couldn't find appropriate ones regarding length, timing and key. Therefore, we decided to do all of the songs a Capella. This also allowed us to end the songs whenever we wanted to do. We set up the lights in the correct place and worked out what parts of the stage the lighting would illuminate.

The final two periods were spent running certain parts of the play. We decided to run from the slow motion section to the adult section so we could all try our costume changes. This was important so we knew how long exactly we had to get changed and if we could all be ready in time. We also worked out where we would get changed (what wing was most convenient for each person) and how we could make the change quicker (if we could wear certain parts of our adult costume under our children's costume and vice versa). We also ran the play up until the slow motion section. We had a lot of trouble with the lighting as we couldn't find the spot lights when we were on stage, we didn't stand in the light. Therefore we decided to play a little game called "find the light"! This was where we had to run to the light and stop once we thought we were in it. We managed to stand in the circle of light on the floor but we didn't manage to illuminate our faces! We hoped that this wasn't going to be a problem in the actual performance.

Storytelling (13) (The Snow Queen)

15/12/15

Today I helped James with some of his scene (Scene Two).He decided that he wanted to use the idea of silhouettes. His narration will be live, and he wanted to have some music underneath. He told me what he wanted to portray in this scene and what sort of atmosphere he wanted to create, and then he asked me to help him choreograph this. Today, we choreographed a dance section, consisting of lifts and supported leans to symbolise the relationship between Kay and Gerda. The two lifts are very close and intimate which show the children's close bond. The supported leans show that they care for each other and look out for one another. Below is a video of what we have choreographed so far.

 17/12/15

Today I choreographed more of the dance and taught it to the other three. The new chroegraphhy involves more lifts, and even a short game of pat-a-cake (to show that we are representing children). As James wanted to use the idea of silhouettes, we decided that Lewis and I will be in front of the sheet (as we are Kay and Gerda), whilst Charlie and Oliver will be behind the sheet, so will appear as silhouettes. Next lesson, we shall complete the duet sequence and fit it with the narration, and also film it so we can watch it back and decided if we need to adjust anything.

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (19) (On stage)

Today was our first time of bringing "The Flint Street Nativity" onto the stage. We began today's rehearsals by sorting costumes and ensuring we have everything ready for tomorrow. My costume for Sarah Bennet was already sorted, but I have now sorted the costume for Jenny. Now I shall be wearing white lacy socks, pink ballet shoes, a white flowy dress, a blue head dress and a white blouse. The reason for the white blouse is to cover my shoulders as the dress has very thin straps. I shall also wear black shorts underneath the dress so when I sit down on the floor, I shall be covered. The only prop I still need is the "Jesus" doll (which the head will fall off of).

When in the hall, we decided to perform the adult section first (as this wasn't so good last rehearsal). The whole section went fairly smoothly, apart from the page leading up to my characters' breakdown. As everyone was focusing on getting there line's correct and in the right places, the tension didn't build enough to make my breakdown look realistic. Therefore we decided to try it again, but this time adding in whatever we wanted to say (that would make sense - for example "have you got a spare lyrics sheet?" or "does anyone want another mince pie?") at any point. This ensured that the scene got louder and busier and increased in tension, thus making a larger contrast when it goes silent and making my breakdown look realistic.

Afterwards, we ran the play from the beginning up until page 29, when we ran out of time. Overall, we were pleased with how this section went today as there was no need for prompts, and when there was issues with remembering cues, we covered each other well and got back on track. I found that the costumes really helped us get into character today as we fiddled with our outfits like children would.

What we have left to do is put the paintings on the wall, get any remaining props and costumes, work out the staging for the "apparatus" scenes and rehearse the play in full on the stage with lighting.

Commedia dell'arte (2)

14/12/15

Today we began making the masks. As we haven't looked at all of the characters yet we haven't decided who shall perform what role, therefore we didn't make the entire mask. All we did today was make the base of our masks using plaster of paris, so that our masks would only fit ourselves. Next lesson we shall look at the remaining characters, decided who is playing what role, and design and begin to make more of our masks.


08/01/16

Today we had a research lesson. We all broke off and did different things. Lewis, Rhiannon and Robert researched the stock characters of Commedia dell'arte whilst James and Ollie researched the history of it and I designed the masks. I decided to research the masks for each character and drew a version of each character to help us when we make our masks.

The characters were also given out this lesson. The cast list is as follows:

• Zanni = James
• Brighella = Lorna
• Il Capitano = Robert
• Harlequin = Charlie
• Pantalone = Lewis
• The Doctor = Ollie
• Columbina = Rhiannon
• 1st Actress = Rhiannon
• 1st Actor = James    

Brighella Research

• cunning servant - "master of servants and servant of masters"
• a brain character - worked hard to get to their position
• can be a great womaniser, can fall in love with people
• 1st actress can be tempted by him because he's cunning
• he thinks ahead to see how the situation can benefit him
• animal equals are rats, snakes or large cats
• he thrives on double dealings, intrigues and foul play
• he is sleazy, seductive and dangerous
• often cruel to those beneath him on the social ladder, would even go as far as to kill on occasion
• can make up spur-of-the-moment lies for any situation

• medium level and pace
• fairly low pitch voice
• leads with head, elbows out to the side with hands in front of chest

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (18) (Full run // Costumes // Research)

Today we did a full run-through, including songs and some costumes. Not everyone has all their costumes or props yet, but we rehearsed with what we have so far. Below is a list of everything I personally need/have for the show:

  Jenny Bennet:                                                                   Sarah Bennet:
  - White lacy socks (sorted)                                             - Black jeans (sorted)
  - White lacy blouse (sorted)                                            - Christmas jumper (sorted)
  - Grey school skirt (sorted)                                               - Same socks & shoes (to save time)
  - Black plimsolls (sorted)
  - Black shorts to wear under skirt (sorted)
  - Comb for Robert's hair (sorted)
  - "Baby Jesus" doll (still needed)
  - Blue dress (still needed, though back-up is sorted)
  - White headdress (still needed)

The majority of the child section went really well today. The costumes made us connect to our characters more and we got into and staged in role better. There were only a few occasions where lines were forgotten, but at these moments we improvised to get back on track. Although we didn't use backing tracks today (as we didn't have the speaker and not all of them have been sorted) the songs went quite well. The first song ("O come all ye faithful") was the best we have ever done it today as we all remembered our lines, the timing was fine, and we kept up our childlike movements throughout the song. My duet with Rhiannon would have been fine if we both remembered our words, though we shall work on this in form time on monday. My duet with Robert went well today; all we have left to do is sort out our movements throughout the song. "Silent night" was a lot better today too as we remembered our movements and the timing was a lot better. Unfortunately, the adult section was rather weak today. This was because some people didn't remember their cues or the order of the conversations in the scene. We had to run this scene a couple of times, which took up a lot of time, so we didn't have time to do the final song.

What I would like to do next lesson is run the adult section through once, and then do another full run but on the stage this time. I am worried about the staging and am unsure on how we are going to stage the scenes set around/on the "apparatus".

13/12/15

Tonight, I watched the 2009 film "Nativity". The reason I watched this film was to see how the children moved/stood when they sang. I also took note on how they behaved when listening to a teacher and when the teacher told off another child in the class. When singing, the children all did different things. The majority of the children looked around them or down whilst tugging at their clothing. Although this was obviously convincing movements for children, I will not be using this for my character as Jenny Bennet has been coached by her mum and taught to "do it like proper acting that you see at The Empire or on television". The children never sat still during the film either; they were always fidgeting. Some children fiddled with their clothing or hair, one picked their nose and others interacted with their peers. I think my character would do the latter as she would check on what everyone was doing and that they were doing the right thing. When another child in the class was being told off, they seemed to freeze completely and stare at the action, like rabbits in the headlights.

Commedia dell'arte (1)

This was our first lesson on Commedia dell'arte. We began by exploring Gromalot - the type of voice used in this form of theatre. We began by getting in a line and playing an improvisation game. For this, the first two people would improvise a conversation using Gromalot and then they would be stopped and then a different conversation is started between the next pair and so on and so on (A&B, B&C, C&D, D&E, E&F, F&A).

We didn't have time to explore all of the stock characters but we explored some of them. We learned what sort of pitch and tone each character would have. We looked at how these characters moved - so what part(s) of the body they lead from, what level they moved on and what speed they would travel. The characters we experimented with are as follows:

• MAGNIFICO - high level; slow pace; large movements; takes a lot of space; leads from the chest; deep voice; beckons and shuns
• ZANNI - low level; leads with nose and toes; quick pace; high voice; hands in and in line with shoulders; indirect
• BRIGHELLA - medium level; medium pace; leads with head; elbows out to the sides with hands in front of chest; voice fairly low pitch
• HARLEQUINO - very active; leads with pelvis; always dancing/moving; squeaky voice; excitable; fast pace

After exploring these characters, we got in to two groups and picked a character each: I picked Brighella, Charlie picked Harlequino and Lewis picked Magnifico. We were told to improvise a short scene involving the three of them to explore their interactions. Our scene consisted of Magnifico telling Harlequino and Brighella what he wanted doing, and Brighella trying her best to get Harlequino to actually do what he has been asked for once. I think our scene went well as our body language and voice was consistent throughout. 

Commedia dell'arte (Research)

Commedia dell'arte is a 16th century form of theatre that started in Italy. Every member of the performance (apart from the 1st actor and the 1st actress) wear masks. Each mask is different and tells you a lot about the character. The longer the nose on the mask, the more silly the character. A "pig snout nose" also represents stupidity in a character. Moreover, actual words are not used in Commedia, instead Gromalot is used. Gromalot is "emotional babble speak", so you can't understand what is being spoken, but you understanding the meaning and get an idea what is being said through the way it is spoken. This form of theatre is based on improvised scenarios between the stock characters. Below is a list of these characters and a brief description of each of them:

• MAGNIFICO: Most authoritative. Mask is like an eagle - he looks down on everyone. Leader of the city.
• 1st ACTOR & 1st ACTRESS: The lovers. Aristocrats. Grand movements. 
• THE WITCH: (20th century invention) Outsider. The Magnifico of the countryside. The supernatural element. Moves in figures of eight. 
• 2nd ACTOR & 2nd ACTRESS: Teenage pair of lovers. Children of Pantalone and The Doctor. Well educated
• PANTALONE: Master. Old man. Very needy.
• THE DOCTOR: Master. Old man. Man of learning.Waffles.
• COLUMBINA: The servant girl. As cunning as Brighella. As playful as Harlequino. Knowledgeable.
• BRIGHELLA: Master of servants & servant of masters. Very cunning.
• HARLEQUINO: Servant. Stupid. Thinks he's perfect. Amoral. Lives in the moment. Cheeky. Always hungry.
• THE CAPTAIN: From elsewhere. Often a soldier. Brags but is actually a bit of a wimp.
• ZANNI: Least authoritative. Peasant who's come to the city. Extremely curious. Wants to please. Magnifico's servant.

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (17) (Songs // Promotion)

Songs

Today we had a lesson on songs. We went through them in order and found appropriate backing tracks for them. The first song ("O come all ye faithful") we were all confident with, so we rehearsed it with movement too. My duet with Rhiannon ("A way to kill Mary") was altered today as Rhiannon was having trouble fitting all of her lyrics to the song. We decided to cut out the middle verse, which thankfully for me is the verse that I "la" and dance to! For my duet with Robert ("Watch how Mummy does it"), we decided to end the song on the line "and go!". This is because we are not sure how to fit the rest of the lyrics to the tune. Although the line "and go" is only Mary's line in the script, we have decided that both of us shall sing this line to add closure to the song.The ensemble song, "Silent Night", needed a lot of work today. Although we knew the tune, lyrics and the spoken lines, we were unsure on our cues and so we got confused, thus resulting in our movements not being convincing.

Advertising

I have set up a Facebook event to advertise the show to ensure we have an audience! As we have worked hard on this play, we would like to have a decent sized audience. The other reason why I set up this event was to get feedback. From other events I have been apart of, people often put feedback on the event page, so hopefully we might also get feedback which we would be able to use in our evaluation. Since this screenshot was taken, many more people have been invited and I am constantly getting notifications informing me that more people are attending.

Storytelling (12) (The Snow Queen)

Today we planned to work on the second scene, but as it wasn't prepared, we worked on the third scene. Lewis is in charge of this scene, and he had a Brechtian approach to it. Therefore placards are used throughout this scene (as this is a Brechtian technique).

• We begin this scene in a circle; this is because we want to begin and end each scene in a circle so we had a returning position to show the audience the development/change in scene/narrative.
• Rhiannon will hold a placard saying "Gerda". This is so the audience knows who Rhiannon is portraying without them becoming too emotionally attached to her.
• After we've divided into groups and shrugged, we all pretend to cry. We have included levels in this section to make the piece look more pleasing.
• When only Rhiannon was needed, the rest of us made a line at the back and faced the back.
• We all lay down, on our fronts, in a straight line to form the path of the river. To show the river is moving we lift our limbs alternately.
• To represent the shoe moving in the river, the shoe is passed from actor to actor and then thrown back.
• To represent the cottage, Charlie stands up holding a placard simply saying "cottage".
• To represent the old woman being in the cottage, I hold a placard saying "old woman" and I stand behind Charlie. When my character come out of the cottage, I just step to the side of Charlie.
• The narration for this scene will be pre-recorded, but I have been given a line in this piece. I have decided not to say this live; I shall also pre-record it. I won't mime this line, but I will present the emotion behind through my use of facial expressions and body language.
• To swap from "picture book" or "cherries" to "flowers" they will simply turn the placards around. The placards will be double-sided as to avoid having multiple different pieces of paper or card.
• On the line "the next morning" we perform a small full spiral turn (from high level, to low, to high). This is to represent a change in time.
• As opposed to making set for this piece, we have taken a minimalistic approach, and we multi-roll and become the trees.
• To end, we form the circle again to show we are moving on to the next scene, but also to show how Gerda feels lost and isolated.

Historical Context (1) (Elizabethan)

ELIZABETHAN & JACOBEAN (1562 – 1625) 

• Inn-yards: 
  • Performances held in private London Inns. 
  • Inexpensive (1 to 3 pennies) - but additional fees for balcony levels
  • Held indoors or the yard. 
  • Audience capacity up to 500.
  • Major inns had large cobblestoned yards.
  • Some Inn-yards were eventually converted to Playhouses.

•  Indoor Playhouses:
  • A small, private indoor venue with a roof. 
  • Small fee, but more expensive with more select audiences. (2 to 26 pennies).
  • Audience capacity up to 500.
  • Suitable for winter and evening performances.
  • Lighted by candles so suitable for the evening.
  • Good acoustics. Music and song was strongly featured.
  • Food and drink was served in the interval.
  • Beautiful scenery introduced.

Playwrights:

During this period was William Shakespeare’s work. He wrote many tragedy plays (including “Hamlet” [1599 – 1602], “Othello” [1603] and “Romeo and Juliet”) and comedy plays (including “Midsummer Night’s Dream” [1590 – 1597], “Much Ado About Nothing” [1598 and 1599] and “Twelfth Night” [1601 and 1602]. Shakespeare used levels in his work to show authority between people.

Also, during this period was Christopher Marlowe's work. His plays are known for the use of blank verse and overreached protagonists. His plays were tragedies and they included "The Jew of Malta" [1589-1590] and "Doctor Faustus" [1604].

John Fletcher was another playwright at this time, writing both comedy and tragedy plays. His work includes the tragedy "Valentinian" [1610-1614], the comedy "Wit Without Money" [1614] and the tragicomedy "The Wild Goose Chase" [1621]. 

Tragedy plays:

1.  The main character will die  
2. The death of the main character can not be by accident  
3. The audience must love the hero more than anyone else

Staging & Costumes:

Plays were normally performed in proscenium arch, though thrust was also used. Playwrights at this time wrote in a way to encourage the audience to imagine the sets. These plays were also written very practically as they didn't use blackouts to change sets; a way to clear the stage was worked into the narrative. As the plays were put together in a short amount of time, the actors tended to wear the clothing of their day. However, as women were not allowed to act at this time, young boys were used to play these roles. These costumes were very elaborate, consisting of many layers. The makeup used for these roles contained a lot of lead so was actually poisonous, giving the young actors unpleasant facial skin diseases.

Presentational Acting Style:

Plays at this time were more of a "performance" with clue the actors were aware of the audience's presence (instead of completely ignoring the audience). Prologues, epilogues and word puns were also to engage the audiences. Extravagant gestures were commonly found too.

How this era of theatre began:

Medieval theatre was the era of theatre before Elizabethan. Medieval theatre ended as the power of the Church and of religion in general decreased; it was the Church who had controlled theatre and put it in place during this time (as it wasn't around for a long time before this). 

How this era of theatre ended:

This era ended when both Elizabeth I and James VI died. After this, there was a period when the country did not have a monarch and was run by the government.  A group called the Puritans came in and demolished theatre. They disagreed with it as it distracted people from the Church.

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (16) (Evaluating progress)

Today we did a run through of the whole play up until midway through the adult section (as we ran out of time to finish). However, we didn't do all of the songs as we haven't got the sheet music yet for the songs we are unsure on.

WHAT WENT WELL:
-  Almost everyone remained in character at all times
-  Everyone remembered the blocking
-  Everyone knew their cue lines
-  Character interactions were stronger as we understand them better now
-  Children and adult characters had strong similarities where appropriate
-  Better understanding of adult section staging

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER:
-  All scenes were learned as opposed to just cue lines
-  Know order of the scene, as we muddled the order a couple
-  To not need any prompting at all

WHAT I THINK WE NEED TO DO NOW:
-  Learn and sort or cut songs
-  Practice on the stage in costumes

Theatre for Children (19) (Evaluation)

This afternoon we went to Thamesview Infant School to perform our version of "Fantastic Mr Fox" to 60 four and five year olds.

WHAT WENT WELL:
-  Transitions were smooth (especially regarding the lack of rehearsal in the space)
-  We used the space well and made adjustments to suit the performance space
   [We stood in appropriate places when not performing]
-  LF interacted with audience well, despite challenging responses
   [A few children put their hands up to say "I don't know", but Lewis had this covered]
-  CS covered the fact that his tail fell off early
   [Realised children were watching the farmers, so positioned himself in a way he could reattach it
   without anyone noticing]
-  CS interaction with audience. He responded well and used their suggestions
   [Gave suitable responses to the unexpected suggestion (e.g. "ask the other foxes for food")]
-  LC performed to audience and involved them
   [Made eye contact constantly and encouraged them to join in]
-  OK came down to their level and involved the audience
   [Had friendly body language and physically lowered himself to be more engaging]
-  The audience were so engrossed they followed where we were looking
   [They looked behind them for "The Woman", despite there not being one]

WHAT COULD HAVE GONE BETTER:
-  Some actors should have been lighter on their feet
   [Moments when some of us were too noisy on our feet]
-  CS had his tail fall off too early
-  RD needed to project more
   [Wasn't always clear]
-  Timing on the song could have been better
   [We should have rehearsed with this version of the backing track earlier and more often]
-  Could have got there earlier to set up sooner and discussed any changes needed
   [Audience arrived when we were still setting up]

WHAT WE WOULD DO NEXT TIME:
-  Get there earlier (to give us time to rehearse in the space and to make possible amendments)
-  Change some jokes to make them even more suitable for the age
   [E.g. change "X-Factor" to "Tweenies" or another programme they are more likely to watch]

Theatre for Children (18) (Practice performance)

Today we performed our piece to the Year Nine's as a practice run. We found this run quite difficult as our audience in this run was over double the age of the audience we were performing to later. However, thankfully the Year Nine's understood this and responded to the piece as if they were four or five years old. Our transitions were smooth and our characters were very exaggerated as we knew that we were going to have to captivate very young children's attention. Unfortunately, there were a few moments where some lines were forgotten and not covered up quickly enough. Our feedback from the Year Nine's was that they loved "The Race" scene and the journeys to the storehouses and cellar. This was because they loved the exaggerated facial expressions (e.g. the cross-eyed expressions).

Theatre for Children (17) (Preparation)

Preparing for tomorrow...

I have worked out how to make my individual transition from the "Cider Cellar" scene into "The Great Feast" scene smoother. As I need to get changed from Rat back into Fox Cub, it would make sense to have my costumes on the correct side. Therefore, as I pick up the stall from USC and move it to DSR and then walk offstage, I shall take the fox ears with me, hidden by the stall. As I am offstage to pick up the cider jar, I shall put the ears to the side. After the scene has finished, I shall take the stall offstage momentarily for me to take the rat mask off and put the ears on, and then go back on stage with the stall to put it in the correct place again. This means I would not have to go on stage in all blacks; I will be a character at all times whilst on the stage.

Furthermore, I have come up with an idea which I shall share with the group tomorrow. At the end of the performance tomorrow, I thought it would be nice if the children wanted their pictures taken with the characters. The school could either take them, or our teacher could take them (as she is CRB  checked but we aren't) and she could email them across. I thought this would be nice for the children, and the pictures could be put in their school newsletter or something similar.

Theatre for Children (16) (Dress run)

Today was our first complete dress rehearsal for FMF. Below are bullet points of what went well this rehearsal, what we need to do to improve and a list of what we need to take with us and what we need to wear.

What went well:
-  (Charlie) Engaged audience instantly with his character
-  (All) Costumes looked effective. Instantly understood who characters were
-  (Lorna) Characterisation of Fox Cub and Rat were convincing and contrasting
-  (Lewis) Characterisation of Rabbit was hilarious! Movement was very comical
-  (Lewis) Bean's voice was maintained throughout and was a contrast to the other farmers
-  (Rhiannon) Softer approach to Mrs Fox was refreshing and endearing
-  (General) All music worked effectively at creating the right atmosphere
-  (All) "The Race" scene was very comical and timing worked well
-  (All) "You Got a Friend in Me" song was a nice ending
-  (Lorna & Lewis) Good consistent focus

What needs improving/changing/adding:

• (Majority) No talking in the wings
• (All) Transition between Fox introduction and Farmer introduction needs to be smoother - as to ensure a seamless performance and to make the piece easier to understand
• (Charlie) "Fried chicken" section needs to be louder - so he is heard
• (Oliver & James) Learn lines - to ensure all of cues are there, both for cast members and for music
• (Oliver) Have more energy and involve kids more - to ensure their attention is kept
• (Oliver) Repeat farmers rhyme/song about four times so audience can join in - young audience will enjoy joining in
• (Robert) Eat food during the shooting scene to make it more comical
• (Lorna) Have a backpack for after I've been told to "get my things" - to make the narrative make sense
• (Lewis) Have a walkie talkie prop for Bean contacting Mabel
• (Charlie) More dad dancing during the song - to make it more comical
• (James)  Make fox cub more convincing and maintain Bunce stance - for continuity and entertainment

Costumes & Props:

• CHARLIE: Blue suit trousers, blue jacket, white shirt, black bow tie, black shoes, fox ears, fox tail
• RHIANNON: Dress, leggings (under dress), apron, vest top (under dress), fox ears, fox tail
• JAMES: Black joggers, black top, farmers hat, spade, gun, fox tail, fox ears
• LORNA: Black leggings, black top, fox ears, fox tail, rat mask, backpack
• LEWIS: Black joggers, black top, farmers hat, gun, shovel, necklace (to attach tail to later), rabbit ears, rabbit tail
• ROBERT: Black joggers, black top, farmers hat, spoon, food, inflatable belly, glasses
• OLIVER: Black trousers, white shirt, black waistcoat, glasses, smart shoes
• GENERAL: Three stalls, eight chickens, cider jar, speaker and Lewis's phone (for music)

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (15) (Character development)

                                                      

Today we did an activity for the whole of the second act: when we were supposed to be children we were our adult characters, and when we were supposed to be adults we were our children characters. We did this so we got an idea of how our adult characters would react around each other in a different scenario, and so we could see what the adult section would look like with our different interactions and relationships.

In the video above we are our adult characters performing the children's lines from the script. I decided to look around at the other characters constantly, as if I was checking that what they were doing was correct, as my character is a perfectionist. I also acted quite laid back, as I felt my character believed they had more important things to be doing. I also believe that my character would be too busy checking that everybody else was doing the correct things to be focusing on herself. Looking back, I feel like I should have intervened with other characters more, correcting them, and that I would have been more theatrical when saying the actual lines in the nativity (as Sarah Bennet is a perfectionist as she teaches Jenny to do "proper acting like what y'see at The Empire or on television").

I think that the adult section as children was more successful. I managed to maintain my voice throughout this scene as well as my body language. The interaction between mine and Rhiannon's characters was completely altered as we strongly dislike each other as children. Therefore, every line was more sarcastic and had more attitude as we are constantly trying to be better than each other. Although we learned more about the similarities and differences between our children character's relationships and interactions and our adult character's relationships and interactions, we did struggle to remember our lines. This was because we had to really focus on the whole new atmosphere and environment created by using different voices, body languages and interactions.

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (14) (Script work // Evaluating progress)

01/12/15

Today we ran the  beginning of the show up until page 53 without scripts but with the majority of the songs (excluding mine and Robert's duet, and Charlie and Oliver's duet as we are getting the sheet music for these two songs). This run went better than expected. I was relieved after Rhiannon and I had finished our duet as I had to improvise a little dance as my character "la's and dances" one of the verses. However, the class found it funny and complimented me for staying in character the whole time. Although some prompting was needed at times the majority of the piece ran smoothly. What we need to work on the most is learning our songs without our scripts, get our costumes sorted and rehearse with all costumes and props.

03/11/15

We began this lesson by filling out a worksheet. My questions and answers are as follows:

Discussing one activity or exercise, explain how this has developed your own skills and understanding as an actor. One lesson we ran the whole of the children's section at double the speed we normally do. I found this useful because I had to ensure I knew all of my lines in the correct order and my cues. I also got a better understanding of my characters development throughout the show, and how the relationships between mine and other character's change. Moreover, I had to really concentrate on my blocking - I had to be certain on where I was supposed to be as everything was sped up, thus we had less time to think.

What research have you done into the play itself? I watched the film version of the play to get a better understanding of character interactions and a better understanding of the play in general. I also learned that Tim Firth wrote the play after speaking to his friends who are teachers, who told him about certain children they have taught that they remember the most. From my research I also discovered that the Flint Street Junior School is based on Stockton Heath Primary School, where Tim Firth attended and where his mother taught.

What are your recommendations for developing the production further?
-  Rehearse on the stage
-  Get sheet music for songs we are unsure on
-  Rehearse with props and costumes
-  Practise the costume change in time
-  Time the piece as a whole
-  Develop the lighting plan and finalise it
-  Advertise the show and start making and selling tickets

This worksheet was very useful as we had to reflect on what exercise we have done in the past to prepare for the play that benefitted us the most. We also had to see what we remembered from our research about the play itself. Finally, we had to state what we would do next if we were put in charge of the play at this point.

After this worksheet, we ran the children section of the second act up to page 53, as we didn't manage to get any further this lesson due to time restrictions. Unfortunately, quite a lot of prompting was needed in this rehearsal, as this section is the section we have done the least in the play. However, I think I did well with my lines today as I only needed prompting once (although I did actually know the line, I just need to have more confidence and trust in myself).

Tonight, I did more research to help me with my characterisation of Jenny Bennet. I decided to watch an episode of "Doc Martin", as his partner in the programme is a teacher at a primary school. In this episode, the school caretaker had given himself carbon monoxide poisoning so was delirious. He therefore got cleaning products and fertiliser the wrong way round, and made many of the children ill. The children threw up in this episode, which was useful for me as my character is sick during the play. Therefore I focussed on their body language and their gestures. The girl in this episode held her hair out of the way when she supposedly threw up. She also wiped her face afterwards and stared at what she had just done. I shall include these movements when I perform the "vomiting section". I also paid close attention to how the children stood when waiting: none of them stood still; they all were fidgeting in some way or another.

Theatre for Children (15) (Props)

Today I almost completed the props for FMF. I cut out all of the chickens and the cider jar. I then went over the black pen to make it stand out more and to neaten the edges of the cardboard. I realised that it was important that I re-enforced the chickens and the jar as I didn't want them to bend and get weak whilst rehearsing with them and during the shows. If I didn't re-enforce them, they could bend and possible rip, making them look less professional for the next performance and also being an inconvenience to us. I re-enforced the props by sticking more cardboard to the back of all them, especially to the places where the cardboard is narrower and more likely to bend (e.g. the bones of the chicken legs and the handle of the cider jar). Originally, I wasn't going to paint the rest of the cider jar; I was just going to leave it brown, as the jars are normally a shade of brown. However, as it is a children's theatre piece, I wanted to make the jar stand out more and look a little bit more exciting, so I thought that yellow would brighten it up a little bit. It would also form a contrast to us actors as we are all wearing black.

Storytelling (11) (The Snow Queen)

Today we completed the first scene of "The Snow Queen". Below is what we did...

• "dashed in a hundred million and more pieces" - all lay down
  
  • represents the mirror being smashed into small pieces
• "as a grain of sand" - contract into a small ball
  
  • represents size or mirror pieces
• "evil" - get up
• "the very smallest bit had the same power" - CS is hoisted up by LF, OK, RA and RD. JBC and LC mime pulling him up
  
  • represents the mirror's power as a whole formed by all the little pieces
• "Some persons even got... for their heart became" - CS in centre with everyone else moving in towards him moving their hands in and out quickly twice on each step
  • represents the heartbeat of the people and death slowly encasing them 
• "lump of ice" - form circle around CS
  
  • represents an ice block encasing the heart
• "Then the wicked sprite laughed..." - everyone performs a backbend in accumulation around the circle, starting with me. We all come up to standing at the same time and remain there

The rest of this lesson was spent cutting down the next scene as a group. The scene was far too long so we started cutting out parts that we didn't think we needed.

Theatre for Children (14) (Full run)

In this lesson we did our second full run-through. We worked on transitions primarily and worked out what scenes needed amending. We are happy with the farmers introduction scene as it instantly shows the relationship between the farmers and engages the children straight away (due to the music and comedy routine). However, we were not happy with the next scene - the introduction to the fox family. This was because it was lacking in energy and didn't give a clear introduction to all of the characters. Moreover, we knew that the audience needed to instantly love the character of Mr Fox, so we needed to alter this scene to make him more likable from the very beginning. We have made Charlie's character a little bit less cool, but more cheeky instead, this instantly made his character have more energy and more comical too for our young audience. As we want it to be clear to our audience that Charlie is the main character, we are swapping the farmers introduction scene and the foxes introduction scene. This also means that less transitions are needed as the farmers are on the stage for two adjacent scenes.

The only other scenes we felt needed altering were "Bean's Secret Cider Cellar" and "The Great Feast". For the cider cellar scene, a bit of movement was added for when the animals (excluding rat and Mrs Fox) are hiding behind the cider jars. They form a line going from downstage to upstage (with Oliver at the front, then Charlie, Robert, Lewis and finally James) on the line "dashed behind". On the word "breath" they poke their heads out alternately at different levels, as so all characters can be seen. On the word "breathe" they swap what way they have peaked out to the other side, but kept the same levels. On the word "heart" they all come back in to centre. The purpose for this was to make the scene more interesting for the children to watch and would therefore hold their attention better.

Next lesson, we will be adding in a bit of dialogue between little groups of pairs of characters before "The Great Feast" scene. Rhiannon and I improvised a little section for us two to use, with my fox cub character pestering Mrs Fox whether dinner was ready or not. By next lesson, I hope to have finished making the props so we can rehearse with them. Also, our costumes should be arriving shortly for us to practice in too.

Theatre for Children (13) (Full run)

We began today's lesson by running our final scene of "Fantastic Mr. Fox", the song. Oliver and Charlie had already worked out their movement section last lesson, but James and I established ours today. We began our section by skipping in and being playful. We then did a turn to the left and then a turn back to the right. Charlie joined us both, putting his arms around our shoulders on the line "there isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you". On the next line the three of us do a little hand shake, then Charlie starts "dad dancing" so James and I look at each other and run to the side laughing. Everybody else worked out there little movement sections as well, whilst James and I choreographed ours. Whilst it is not our time in the centre, we stand at the sides and step from side to side smiling. The piece ends with a final position, as if it was a family photograph. We all end waving to the audience.

After this, we altered the farmers first scene. They shall now begin their scene with Bunce running on with a Boggis's chicken leg. Thinking that Boggis can't see him, Bunce begins eating the chicken. Boggis spots Bunce and is not happy. They are fighting over the chicken leg when Bean then enters. They then have a moment of bobbing up and down at different times to the music. The song we are using for this section is "I've got a brand new combine harvester" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjvffx-h2KM).

After developing this scene, we began our first full run-through. This run was used to see what scenes needed the most work, which ones we weren't confident on, what transitions needed sorted and to see if our music choices worked. The scenes that need the most work are "The Great Feast" and "The Chase". All doubts that we had have now been sorted (e.g. where we need to come in from, and how we are going to end a scene to go into the next one). The transitions were better than we expected today, despite a lot of them being guessed! The music we chose was very effective! We decided to have some eerie music for whenever we dig towards the farms and back and a choir singing the sound "ah" as if being enlightened/rejoicing whenever we arrive in the right place and see what we've been longing for (e.g Boggis's chickens!).

What we need to work on as a group is having more energy throughout our performance (as our audience is very young so have a short concentration/attention span) and getting off of scripts by next rehearsal. We would also like to start rehearsing with all our props and costumes as soon as we can as to get used to them and to sort any problems we may have with them sooner rather than later. We also set ourselves and each other some individual tasks and improvements. What I need to do is learn my lines for "Bean's Cider Cellar" scene, make my voice even more exaggerated as Rat to have a bigger contrast to the fox cub, and to finish making the props.

London Riots Devised Piece (Performance Evaluation)

On Monday 23rd November we performed our London Riots Devised Piece. Overall we were pleased with our performance, although there were areas for improvement. Below is an evaluation of what went well, what didn't go as well as planned, and what we would do differently next time if we were to do it again (and time and money were not an issue). The numbers refer to what scene the comment fits with (1 = "ill Manors"; 2 = Tom & Rhi duologue; 3 = Lew & Ash duologue; 4 = Emotional turmoil scene; 5 = Dan & Tom duologue; 6 = Toby & Lorna duologue; 7 = Consequences; 8 = MP speeches; 9 = "ill Manors" reprise; G = generic / the piece in general).

WHAT WENT WELL:

• 1) Lew's fall down the stairs was very convincing.
• 1) Transition from "chavs" to gorillas was very smooth, making the scene run more seamlessly.
• 1) I did this movement scene to the best of my ability. As my toe was still painful, I decided to stay sitting on the table, and use my upper body to show that I was acting as a gorilla. 
• 1) The whole of our performance space was used well.
• 1) Siren integrated into the music track was very effective. Gave us the cue to exit, so we all left at the same time, making the transition smooth. The siren also gave us a reason to leave, we didn't want to get caught by the police.
• 2) Tom & Rhi's body language was very effective and convincing. 
• 2) The contrast between moments of quiet compared to when they both spoke over each other added to the audience's feeling of being uncomfortable and confusion. 
• 3) Lew used his shuffling body language to portray that the police felt uncomfortable. 
• 4) Animation was effective and timing was strong between movement and lighting.
• 4) Mine and Tom's duet scene went well regards my broken toe. This scene was VERY painful, but I continued to the best of my ability. 
• 5) Tom & Dan's use of pauses were very effective. They allowed the audience to take in the situation and reflect on it themselves. 
• 6) I thought my questions made my character believable as I had researched these to make my character as believable and as convincing as possible.
• 6) Toby's use of breath was effective to show how difficult the situation is for his character and how much he is struggling. 
• 7) We were all still when the lights came on, rather than still moving into our freeze frames.
• 7) I think mine and Rhiannon's facial expressions were effective in this scene. 
• 8) I maintained my voice and attitude during my speech and used my body language to suggest that I am sympathetic yet am demanding action to be taken.
• 8) I managed to maintain a straight face during Toby's comical mini monologues. 
• 9) We achieved the combination of gorilla movements and MP voices. 
• G) The lighting was very effective, creating the appropriate atmosphere for each scene.
• G) The majority of our transitions were smooth.

WHAT DIDN'T GO AS WELL AS PLANNED: 

• 1) I physically couldn't do as much as I would have liked to in this scene because of my toe, but I did what I could to the best of my ability.
• 3) Lined paper (preferably that had been written on) should have been used to represent the witness statements, as from where I was standing (at the opposite end of the room) I could see that it was Lewis's class work (due to the ginger bread man outline!).
• 4) The music was played four counts to early, so the boys had to rush a little bit (and do weren't in time with each other all the time) as so the rest of the piece would be in time. 
• 4) During the duet with Tom, I ended up limping a little bit due to the amount of pain I was in, but I tried my best to continue without making my pain obvious. 
• 6) Although Toby put in so much emotion into this scene, he could have spoken a bit louder as to ensure he was audible at all times. I was probably too quiet as well as I got engrossed in his emotion and forgot about the volume. Although we could hear each other, the audience may not!
• 7) In this transition into the MP scene, Rhiannon's top came off as she removed her hoodie. Thankfully she was wearing my vest top underneath, but the idea of the top (that came off) was to make her look smarter.
• 8) Not everyone managed to keep a straight face during Toby's monologues. 

WHAT WE WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME:

• All wear zipped hoodies to make changing easier.
• Ensure we have all appropriate props pre-set before the performance.
• Ensure timings for music and cues are all written down.
• Make sure that we project enough so that everyone can hear.
• Not get injured before the performance!!!
• Keep rehearsing scenes we have a tendency to laugh in when we shouldn't.

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (13) (Songs)

Today we continues working on songs. However, this time we found some backing tracks to try them to.

Rhiannon and I sang through our song "A Way To Kill Mary". It is to the tune of "Away in a Manger", which my character sings the traditional lyrics, whilst the character of Gabriel sings/speaks her own alternative lyrics. I have to sing the first two verses, then I play the next verse on my recorder, and then the verse after that I "la" and dance to, and the final verse I sing again. We tried this to two different backing tracks, both in a different key, but I realised that it has to be the original key as I am playing it on recorder and can only place it in that key.

Afterwards, Robert and I sang our song "Watch How Mummy Does It". This parody is to the tune of "Once it Royal David's City". We managed to improve our song a lot from last lesson, as we managed to make sense of more of the song, and almost got the ending correct. However, we still aren't confident on the ending, so will go through this together.

Afterwards, we sang through the song "Massive Newt", which is to the tune of "Silent Night". We also staged it this lesson too. We didn't have much to do on this song as we did this last lesson.

Finally we did the adult song "I Wish", which has choruses from "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and the solo parts are to the tune of the characters child's solo. We managed this song okay last lesson, so today we decided to stage it. We worked out that during every chorus, the cast will move around, perhaps getting a mince pie or pouring another glass of wine. Whenever someone has a solo they move forward into a particular one of the three spot lights. When everyone leaves just before my solo, I end up on stage and sing my solo sitting down, depressed. The scene between Ollie and I then  takes place and then there is a little bit more of the song, however, we didn't have time to stage this part today.

Storytelling (10) (The Snow Queen)

Today we continued working on the first scene. We have slightly altered parts of the scene but I added a lot more to it today. We didn't manage to complete this scene as we had to ensure that we all turned the same way to make our piece look professional. Below is what the scene now consists of and the reasons I made these choices... (Seven masks are in a straight line at the front of our performance space for later use in the scene)

• Start in a circle, facing in. Right hand on the person on your left's right shoulder.
  
  • Intrigue audience. They have no idea what is going on and therefore may feel tense.
• "let us begin." - Move to random positions facing random directions.
  
  • Audience are confused as to what is beginning. Also, no idea who's voice is speaking. Adds to eerie atmosphere.
• "reflected" - Turn 180 degrees (over right shoulder)
  
  • Fitting, makes sense as the movement represents the word. Shows literal change.
• "poor and mean" - Two contractions.
  
  • Body shape become uglier and shows progression of power of mirror.
• "magnified" - Exaggerate last position.
  
  • Movement represents the word. Show increase/magnification of mirror's power.
• "In this mirror the most" - Walk to straight line at front.
  
  • We represent the mirror's face.
• "their faces" - Pick up mask.
• "distorted that they..." - Put mask on.
  • Represents how you can't tell who we each are. Identity disappears.
• "recognised" - Turn 180 degrees to face back (over right shoulder)
  
  • Even harder to tell who each of us are. Emphasises the idea of missing identity.
• "and if anyone had a mole" - Move to circle, facing out.
• "magnified" - Form levels and reaches in different directions.
  • Adds depth, magnifies weirdness. No longer uniformed and clean.
• ""That's glorious fun!"" - Walk quickly to line at front.
  
  • Represents excitement, yet has an element of being sinister and threatening.
• "If a good thought passed" - Cannon of left arm sweeping from right to left.
  
  • Symbolises the thought gradually coming to the sprite.
• "then a grin" - James smiles and points to his mouth
  
  • Little bit of humour to release tension momentarily.
• "All the little sprites..." - Move to formation (RD & JBC front / LC, CS & RA second line / LF & OK back line)
  
  • Represent school classroom. Formation specific to allow for next lift.
• "They ran about" - CS holds arms out strong, as LF & OK lift him, by his arms. RD, JBC, LC & RA split to make room for the lift to move forwards and back. CS moves legs to look as if he's running.
• "fly up to the sky" - CS lifted by LF (left shoulder and arm), OK (right shoulder and arm), LC (bottom) & RA (legs). RD & JBC mask lift.
  
  • Symbolises flying.
• "that it flew out" - Drop CS (safely!).
  
  • CS represents the mirror 
• "dashed" - Everyone lies down.
• Represents the mirror being broken. 

I decided to cut down certain parts of the script to make it more suitable. I cut out some lines whilst the lift was taking to place so we didn't have to hold the lift for so long, thus making the lift easier as safer too. I ensured that these lines were not essential so it didn't effect the story line and the scenes to follow. 

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (12) (Script work // Songs)

24/11/15

To begin this lesson we ran through the adult section of the play; this was so we could develop our characters further by adding in what we had picked up on from our "character swap" lesson. This section went really well as we now understand our characters better and have a stronger understanding of character interactions. What did need altering in this run through was our blocking in some places. However, this has now been sorted.

After rehearsing the adult section, we did "speed run" of the entire children section. We were allowed our scripts for this run, as we had no time to think, we had to say our lines as fast as we could whilst being clear and understandable. The reason we did this "speed run" was so we got an idea of our characters emotional development throughout the day of their nativity. We were also able to get a pattern in our heads of where we go, blocking wise, throughout the play. Our slow-motion section was very comical as it ended up being almost normal-speed reactions but with exaggerated movements.


26/11/15

Today we went through all the songs from the play. We split off into groups to rehearse our duet songs. I have two duets in the play (one with Gabriel and one with Ryan), but as Rhiannon wasn't in this lesson, I began work on the duet with Robert. This song is to the tune of "Once in Royal David's City". It describes how Mary's Mum is a very pressurising parent, whilst Ryan's Dad doesn't pay Ryan as much attention as he should. We found the first part of our duet fairly easy, however we found the second half more challenging as our lines overlap slightly and we are unsure on timing and melody. If we had sheet music we would have been fine, as we both can read music, but the play doesn't come with any sheet music, only lyrics.

After rehearsing in our pairs all small groups, we joined back as one group and worked on the ensemble pieces "Silent Night" (as children) and "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" (as adults). As children, our singing doesn't matter too much; we don't have to sing in tune all the time and timings don't have to be 100% perfect. However, as adults, our singing has to be slightly better and more mature to show our characters ages. We can use backing tracks for the majority of the pieces in the play, but we can't use a backing track for "We Wish you a Merry Christmas". This is because within the song, each character has a little solo but to the tune of a different Christmas song (the tune that their characters children sang earlier in the play). We still have a lot of polishing to do on the songs and they need staging, but we have made a great start on them.

Theatre for Children (12) (Scene work)

24/11/15

To begin this lesson we ran "The Race" scene (no pun intended!) again to ensure it ran smoothly with narration and music. We then started devising "The Great Feast" scene. We had already decided that we wanted this scene to include physical theatre - the Frantic Assembly techniques of Round-by-through. Furthermore, we knew that we wanted to end on a song as our young audience would enjoy this (we hope!). As my foot was very painful (from pushing it too far for my Triple PA performance of our devised "London Riots" piece) I sat down and continued painting the props.

I have made the third and final chicken placard. All I have to do to finish these is cut the chicken out individually. I managed to draw the outline of a cider jar on a large piece of cardboard. Afterwards, I painted a large strip "around" the jar in white. As the paint I used takes a long time to dry, I couldn't do any more painting this lesson. What I shall do next though is paint the rest of the jar brown, and add highlights of a lighter brown to give a three dimensional effect. I shall also paint on the word "Cider" in black writing across the white strip. 

As I didn't partake in the actual physical development of "The Great Feast" scene, Lewis shared with me his notes of what the scene contains:

• Rabbit, Badger, Mole (LF/OK/RA) enter with tables (little stools). RA centre, LF right, OK left.
• Mrs Fox and a Fox Cub (RD/LC) enter with trays and place them on the stools (LC goes to LF, RD goes to OK)
• OK/LF steps through RD/LC and then spins them around to face the front.
• OK gets on all fours and LF leapfrogs him, then LC and RDspin round him.
• Mr Fox and a Fox Cub (CS/JBC) enter. CS steps on the last stool in the centre and OK and LF flank the stage to get behind him and lift him from under his arms forwards. Meanwhile JBC runs to LC and RD.
• RA and LF go off to side as a pair. CS shakes OK's hand.

Whilst we performed this physical theatre we were planning on having music played underneath, however we haven't decided what music we shall use for this, but we have decided on the song we want to finish our piece with. Originally we were thinking of "Food Glorious Food" from the musical "Oliver!" as it was very fitting with the scene. However, we decided to go for a song that was more upbeat and probably more well-known (and therefore enjoyable) for the children. We thought it would be sweet to have every actor singing a different part each, and also it would be more pleasing to watch if we put some dance steps in the piece too. The dance moves will be arranged next lesson.

• Verse 1 = CS & OK (Mr Fox brightens Badger's mood) (Duet with chair)
• Verse 2 = LC & JBC (Fox cub's show their sibling bond) (Disco dance duet)
• Verse 3 = LF & RA (Friendship) 
• Verse 3.5 = CS & RD (Show their love by singing to each other)
• Verse 4 = Everyone

Theatre for Children (11) (Scene work // Placards)

Today we polished "The Race" scene, rehearsing it with the official narration and the music. The main things we had to focus on were making sure that our movements were all as slow as each others and making our facial expressions as exaggerated and over-the-top as possible, as this would really appeal to our young audience.

We also devised "Boggis's Chicken House" scene. To begin this scene Charlie, James and I dig our route to underneath the Chicken House. To show us "digging our route", we move our hands in circular motions at all times unitl we "arrive". We "travel" with Charlie at the front of the line, then me and then James. All movements are done in cannon, so when we turn round a corner Charlie would go first whilst I carry on, and then I'd turn when I got to the exact place he turned, and then the same with James. To make our "journey" look more interesting rather than just having narration saying "the foxes arrived", we made a movement sequence:
   -     travel from SL to C digging forwards
   -     travel sideways from C to SR (each actor turning sideways in cannon)
   -     travel forwards around a corner from facing SR to facing SL
   -     travel from SR to C ducking in cannon
   -     travel from C facing SL to C facing F (travelling slightly forward still ducking)
   -     * dialouge between the fox characters *
   -     Charlie jumps to stand up straight where he is
   -     I jump to stand up straight to the left of Charlie
   -     James jumps to stand up straight to the right of Charlie
Throughout this movement section, Oliver narrates to ensure the young audience understand what is happening. Once we arrive there is more dialouge between us three fox characters. We found out that Lewis can do a really impressive chicken noise impression, so he shall make various chicken noises when we jump up and stand in the Chicken House. We decided that when we "take the chickens home" we shall carry placards of pictures of chickens.

As my broken toe was extremely painful this lesson and it wasn't essential for me to be up and moving in the next scene we devised, I decided that I would begin to work on the placards. So this scene didn't upset the children, we decided to have pictures of what they would recognise as "food chicken" as opposed to "animal chickens". I began making these placards by getting some cardboard and drawing a pencil outline of chicken legs and roast chickens. I wanted two placards to be just chicken legs and small roast chickens (for James and I), but I wanted one placard (Charlie's placard) to be of one large roast chicken, as so Mr Fox looks a lot stronger than the fox cubs. The hardest part to making these placards was mixing the correct colours. So far I have done two of the placards, so by next lesson I will have done my third and final chicken placard.

Whilst I was painting the set, the rest of the group began work on "Bean's Secret Cider Cellar" scene. As my character of the fox cub goes home to Mrs Fox, only Mr Fox and the other fox cub go on this journey. On the journey they meet Badger, Mole (Robert) and Rabbit (Lewis). They have worked out another movement section to "arrive" at the cellar. This whole journey is narrated by Oliver again, but also has a creepy piano underscore. This creates tension suitable for our young audience. We didn't have time to go any further with this scene, but Oliver is scripting this scene ready for next lesson. He has told me that at the end of this scene my character of the Rat will end on stage shouting after the other characters in rage. As to make my insults appropriate and suitable for the young audience, I have taken my insults from the new "Insult Generator" on Matilda the Musical's website (http://uk.matildathemusical.com/insult-generator/#main-body).
The insults I found which I like are as follows:
   -     "You malicious evil termite!"
   -     "You foul little worm!"
   -     "You nasty-faced thick-headed stink bomb!"
   -     "You jumped-up nasty-faced newt!"
   -     "You horrible nasty-faced animal!"
   -     "You filthy malicious crook!"
   -     "You lousy vile cockroach!"
   -     "You slimy yucky filthbog!"
Obviously, I won't be using all of them as there won't be time, but I have given myself options, and the rest of the group can say which ones they like the best.

Storytelling (9) (The Snow Queen)

STORYTELLING:

-   Multi-media                                                  -   Music (live & recorded)
-   Projection                                                     -   Movement / Dance
-   Physical Theatre                                           -   Communal voice / Chorus Speaking
-   Monologues / Thought-tracking                    -   Sound effects / Sound scape
-   Placards                                                        -   Props
-   Dialogue                                                        -   Story-teller


THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A STORY:

-   Target Audience (Age)                                   -   Location of performance & set
-   Suitability to age and space                            -   Actors strengths & weaknesses
-   Access to sound & lighting


PROGRESSION OF IDEAS & DECISIONS:

Firstly, we had to decide whether we wanted to make an original story or do a classic story. We were tempted to do our own story originally but decided against it as we know that we are a very opinionated group and it would take a long time to make decisions and also we have a fast approaching deadline for this piece. Therefore, we decided that we would do a classic. We started discussing children stories but we knew we wouldn't want to do a children's piece (as we are currently working on our children's theatre piece) so we considered taking a more unconventional approach, and doing a twisted/dark version of a children's story. We did joke about doing a version of the recent children's movie/musical (or movical) "Frozen". We instantly decided against this idea but we did then think of the fairy tale "The Snow Queen", by Hans Christian Anderson. We read the first scene of the story and instantly saw potential in the piece, as we thought of ways we could engage the audience (the story could have lots of movement in for the audience to watch whilst listening to the narration). "The Snow Queen" tells the story of two young best friends, Kay and Gerda, who live opposite each other. They always spend time together. However, one day Kay gets a shard of the sprites magic mirror in his heart and eye causing him to see everything as horrible and he forgets those he loves. He gets manipulated by the Snow Queen and gets lead away from his home and is completely lost. Gerda goes out on a long journey to try and find him. On the way, she meets an old lady in a cottage, a talking crow and a princess. Eventually, Kay and Gerda meet again and they are so happy to see each other.


FIRST STEPS IN CREATING OUR PIECE:

We noticed that the story is in seven parts and we have seven people in our group, therefore we decided that we could all narrate a scene each. By constantly using narration, we would ensure that we were telling a story as opposed to devising. Whilst one person narrates everybody else would take part in a movement piece. This would give the audience the story to be told and to listen to, whilst having something interesting for the audience to watch. We decided that it could get boring having similar narration every time, so we thought that some narration could be live, whilst other sections could be pre-recorded. We have decided an order for who shall narrate each scene. The class voted me to narrate the first scene and Oliver for the final scene; the full order is as follows: Lorna, James, Lewis, Robert, Charlie, Rhiannon, Oliver. Each actor decided if they want to pre-record their narration or not and what they want to happen, movement wise, in their scene.


SCENE ONE

I decided that I wanted to pre-record my narration so I could be involved in the movement piece. I wanted to begin my scene with everyone standing in random places in the performance space, facing different directions. My idea for this was that I wanted the audience to be confused as to who was speaking but also to slightly build tension as they would have no clue what would happen next. We would all stand still until the word "reflected", when we would change our direction - turning 180 degrees. There we would stand momentarily until the words "poor and mean", when we would do two contractions, lowering our stance on each. Here we would remain until the words "magnified and increased", when we would then exaggerated the position we were holding (but making our overall stance higher). This was all we had time to stage during this lesson, but my homework is to continue choreographing this scene.

The Flint Street Nativity - Play, by Tim Firth (11) (Character development // Script work)

17/11/15

Today's lesson was spent making set.... aka, painting nativity scenes! We got some paints and made our nativity scenes as if we were our characters, therefore my one had to be fairly good, whilst Rhiannon's characters one would probably make Gabriel more important than Mary and Lewis's character's painting would have lots of stars on it. We made sure that our pictures matched what it said in the script; therefore we ensured that a couple of paintings had "John Burgeon" (but not mine as Mary asks who he is) and that one painting was a picture of a duck with an ice cream.

19/11/15

In this lesson, we did the adult section but all swapped parts. This was so we not only thought about other characters attitudes, but so we could see someone else's take on our characters. For this exercise Katya and I switched roles, so I was Shepherd's Mum whilst she was Mary's Mum. I thought Katya took a very interesting approach by making Mary's Mum's character more common. I liked how she gave the character a more sarcastic approach, however, I personally feel that Mary's Mum would be a little more caring and a bit more upper class.


20/11/15

Today we ran the play from the beginning up to the end of Act One. However, this time was the first time we did it completely without scripts. Although we obviously had to focus on getting our lines correct, we were told to focus on our movement and making it as convincing as possible.

Theatre for Children (10) (Forum Theatre // Script work)

14/11/15

Today, James was put in to the farmers scenes properly. We all took part in a forum theatre of the "Plan for the shooting" scene. Areas that we (Charlie, Rhiannon and I) thought could do with improving the most were James's stance, Robert's and James's reaction to Lewis's entrance and the slapstick section. I tried to help James with his stance, as I had developed my stance for Bunce when I used to play this role. James had a great stance when he was stationary, but when he had to move or interact with another character, his stance would go from Bunce back to James. I thought Robert's and James's reaction to Lewis's entrance was very comical (with James jumping up in to Robert's arms and being held by him) but not very practical; we didn't think this lift would be possible or safe when Robert has his costume on (which will involve padding). This lift was then changed into a hug as it was safer and more practical. The slapstick section was great but we have tweaked it a little bit just to make it that slight bit more exaggerated and more funny.

Whilst James, Robert and Lewis continued to work on their scenes after our feedback, the rest of us decided to re-script the opening scene for the foxes: "Mr Fox". We decided to re-script his scene because we hadn't rehearsed it in a long time so we had forgotten parts and so the scene didn't feel natural, but also so we could add in some narration. Furthermore, we wanted to make sure all the fox characters were introduced properly so the audience understand who we all are from the start. We feel this is essential so they connect with our characters.


16/11/15

Achieved this lesson:

• OFFICIAL COSTUME LIST
  
  • Established who has what and what we definitely need to buy
• "THE SHOOTING" SCENE
  
  • Accompaniment:
    • Drumming whenever there is no dialogue to create tension and atmosphere
  • Dance-based:
    
    • Farmers rolls and positions as well as use of cannon
    • Mr Fox uses back bends and jumps
• "THE TERRIBLE TRACTORS" INTO "THE RACE" SCENE
  
  • "The Terrible Tractors":
    
    • Narration and Fox cub used to establish the farmers have tractors
  • "The Race":
    • All in slow-motion to "Chariots of Fire" theme, with narration over the top
    • Begins with foxes putting on sweat bands and getting into a sprint start position
    • Foxes run in slow motion whilst the farmers mime driving their tractors in slow-mo
    • Foxes cross "the finish line" and celebrate, running away
    • Scene ends with the farmers being angry but Boggis crying.
• THE BEGINNING OF "THE GREAT FEAST"

Theatre for Children (9) (Scene work)

Today I shared my idea of who should be in each scene to avoid complications. Everyone thought this was a good idea and so we took it on board. Robert and Lewis took James to get it up to speed with the farmers scenes. They told him the synopsis of the scenes and focused on one of them (scene three), getting him in the blocking.

Whilst the three of them did that, Rhiannon, Charlie and I went into another room and started altering the "Starvation starts" scene. Our first step was to remove James from the scene, so any lines that were both of ours became just mine. Next we had to script a reason for James's characters absence, and how to bring him back in to the next scene. The reason would be that he has gone to bed because he's got a stomache ache through sheer hunger. To bring him into the next scene, at the end of this one, Charlie will say "Freya! Get your brother, we have work to do". Charlie decided that he wanted to name his fox cubs, we wanted them to begin with an "F" so he chose Freya and Freddie. We also thought that it was essential to script the argument between Mr and Mrs Fox sooner rather than later so Rhiannon and Charlie could keep practicing this scene. The reason for this is that we have to be careful with what we say, not only so it is appropriate for our young audience, but also so it doesn't upset any of them. We wanted to keep the argument light hearted so the children don't get upset and/or so they don't start disliking Mr and Mrs Fox (as we want them to like these two characters but NOT the farmers or the rat).We wanted to include a joke but then decided against it as it wasn't appropriate for their ages. We were going to have Mrs Fox say to Mr Fox "yeah?... well you've got little ears" and he would reply "I'll have you know I have average sized ears". Although we found this amusing, it was probably a good idea not to put this into our children's theatre piece!

As the three of us were scripting the argument, Oliver started scripting some narration for our physical theatre scenes. We agreed as an entire group that physical theatre would be a nice technique to include in this piece. This was because it would be something a bit different from the rest of the piece, creating some variety, and therefore helping our audience stay interested, as they have fairly short concentration spans. The four of us (Oliver, Rhiannon, Charlie and I) decided where in the piece physical theatre would work. We found three places which would be appropriate for purely movement with a bit of narration: "The Shooting", "The Race" and "The Great Feast". I thought to ensure the piece has variety (thus helping with our audience's concentration span) we could use three different types of physical theatre. For "The Shooting" scene, I thought this could be a little bit dance-based (e.g. back bends for Charlie when he dodges the bullets, and rolls for a farmer trying to get to the best position to shoot him). "The Race" scene could be all in slow motion. We could get sweat bands and be putting them on in slow motion and prepare in a sprint-start position whilst Oliver narrates and then the "Chariots of Fire" theme song could play whilst we start the race. For "The Great Feast" scene we could use the Frantic Assembly technique of Round-by-through to represent a busy and manic atmosphere.