08/02/16
Today was our last lesson before we filmed our piece. Therefore, I
couldn't add any more to mask (which isn't a problem as it is one block
colour and is in the shape I wanted it to be, also I cannot see any of
the paper underneath it). As Tom missed a couple of lessons, the
majority of today's lesson was spent teaching him the choreography he
had missed. We then ran the piece a few times to ensure we were all in
time with each other. We also worked out our contact improvisation duets
with Ashley so we were more confident with these (as we need to ensure
we come back to the group safely so we don't crash in to each other).
Our next issue was our chorus speaking parts - the problem was that we
couldn't stay in time with each other and therefore or speech sounded
messy and you couldn't understand what was being said properly. To solve
this, two of us decided not to join in with the chorus speaking. We
thought it would make sense for Tom not to speak in this piece as he
hasn't run the piece that many times so was unsure of when these
dialogue sections were and what they consisted of. The other person who
we decided wouldn't join in with the dialogue was me! As I am female,
this would fit with the Greek convention as the women not having as big
as a role as the men. Although they would be in the chorus and would
join in with the speaking parts with the chorus, they wouldn't have as
big as a job as the men, so we decided I wouldn't join in with the
speaking. This also meant that I wouldn't need to hold a script, which
is useful as I am confident with the choreography so can make my
movements clearer to help the others follow me if they need to.
10/02/16 We have now completed our piece of Greek theatre adapted to appeal for a modern audience. By doing this piece I have learned about Greek conventions of theatre (about masks having big mouths, and women only being allowed to be chorus members and having a lesser role than mean in theatre). I think Lewis was very clever by making this piece a physical theatre piece, as it is fits the conventions of mask work and having to use large gestures (due to the very large audiences they would perform too), as well as creating an opportunity to use more modern music (that the audience would recognise and appreciate, as opposed to watching a piece in silence). I personally think our piece went well today as the chorus speaking was clear and everyone remembered the choreography. If we were to perform this piece again I think we would alter the part of the choreography where we swap places (as this became untidy as we almost trod on each other's feet), spend more time on our masks (as I could have added a lot more to my mask) and perhaps have the same style of mask (to represent unity and show uniform amongst the soldiers).
