Evaluation

I am so pleased with how these performances have went! The feedback sessions, the rehearsals, the great directing, the work we all put in as an ensemble... it's contributed to a successful performance!

The beginning really set us off. I liked how Tuwaine is the first to stand and speak, and one by one we gradually get up and contribute. I think this represents the war and the feelings of soldiers in itself - how at first everything was normal and calm and clear, and then suddenly out of no where everything comes at you at once and you're not sure where to focus. I think we took on board the feedback as this section seemed longer than it was in rehearsals, which meant we all, as actors, took time with our movements and really put effort into what we were saying. It was important to remember - as reminded by our directors - that although everyone is speaking at once and you may believe no one can hear you, at least 1 person is focused on you so it was important to actually speak words of sense and follow the object, as opposed to just talking to yourself about your plans for weekend because you thought no one can hear you.

My favourite section is the pub scene with the soldiers, although I am not in it. I think it's a really light and comical relief from the other emotional and heart wrenching scenes we've incorporated into the performance. I think it's been a good opportunity for some of the boys to show of their talent as a tighter ensemble, like when certain groups leave the bar and show their own devised pieces as groups. Many audience members laughed when lifted me, and I think this gave us all more motivation and energy to continue with the performance.

Our rehearsed box scene went equally as good. Considering the "wives" group spent most of the time up until this point watching the rest of the performance from on stage, this was the time the audience really got to engage with us in the moment. The music and the words we read out individually from our letters created an emotional atmosphere which was calming after the more chaotic sequences performed beforehand. I loved the emotions in the words most of the girls spoke, after a reminder that these were letters from supposed loved ones and not just words on paper. The waltzing was the part I usually found most difficult in rehearsals, but I think it went well. Ignoring the fact that I seriously cannot dance even simple movements, the structure of this part made it harder too, all of us girls dancing in a tight circle and spinning endlessly, it was easy to bump into those dancing close to you. However, without any casualties, I think we managed to hit our objective and get the right reaction from the audience.

During our third and final show, we did have a problem with our soundtrack during the final scene, which was interesting to know didn't put the actors off. We were suppose to have a sound track of a world war 1 veteran talking about his experience of the war, following by some moving music. It was disappointing that this cue failed, as it was my favourite part and it was the final scene and the final time we'd ever do it. However, I still think the performance was just as effective and the audience didn't know any different.

Overall, I am unbelievably pleased with this term and our final performance. Honestly, I spent the entire of year 12 loathing physical theatre because I was just convinced it wasn't for me, but I have actually felt excited and enjoyment for this year. I feel blessed to have had such an amazing director, cast to work with and an opportunity like this.

The feedback session was really useful today after doing our first tech run. At the moment it's going really well and I'm appreciating as an actor the different parts of the war we are exploring. It's been suggested by our directors that we need to portray the emotions through our facial expressions as well as our body movements, which I agree with completely. I think that Amaya is doing a good job at this already. When she does her sequence movements with Jack, it really is beautiful. The way he lifts her and her elegant graceful moves - her face too shows pain and love and the fear of separation.

 I have taken this into consideration myself and believe the wives part with boxes is such a good opportunity to really... act. When I open my box, I completely put myself into the position of a WW1 woman who's just lost their husband in such a tragic event. The facial expressions are crucial in this scene because it's the best way to portray the emotions to the audience.

Another key part in the feedback was how we had to take our time during the performance and every section. Our piece as a whole isn't very long, and the choices we have made, we can afford to appreciate and make our performance longer. At the moment, I wouldn't say that we rush it but especially in the opening sequence, we could enjoy it and chill out with it all. For now, it seems like we all get up to say what the war means to us, and once the music kicks in and people fall silent one by one, no one wants to be the last one speaking so it leaves the music playing for a long amount of time before the couple's begin their sequence.

Personally, I'm going to use this feedback and improve myself within this performance. I'm going to take my time when I perform myself and focus on the acting in this performance, not just the the movements.

Today we put all of the sections together with the other groups and this has left me feeling so excited and feeling like this performance has a lot of potential! I was especially impressed at one of the solder sections where they join in pairs and use chairs to create a sequence of 5 different movements and repeat them. As there are so many different people on stage, you get chaotic vibe and as an audience member it’s exciting because you’re thinking: “oh wow, where do I look now!” But the length of time this section enabled you to take in each separate sequence and appreciated each actor on stage. The choice of music I admired too, as it fit well with the scene and created and emphasised the chaotic vibe further.

I was really moved by the sections the ‘couples’ group made also. They began doing such mundane activities and managed to portray love through them all, and when the chaotic vibe was introduced it was a stark contrast to this scene and the atmosphere this created.

I think that it was a good idea to have our section based on the experiences the war had on different people, not just the men fighting. At the moment this piece is showing a real potential and I’m excited to see where this will lead.

Working Wives

We then decided to explore the part women had in the war, as opposed to just their reactions and feelings towards the soldiers going off for duty. We did this by revisiting Liyah and Britney's piece, which heavily featured the women and their jobs during the war. I like this a lot, as it was a gentle reminder that women also had their own responsibilities and work within this period of time, not just the men. We copied their actions and in unison we all began on our knees with another girl on top of us, and they controlled our hands as we appeared to wring out wet clothes or a wash cloth. This was interesting as being controlled represented the women being controlled by the crippling responsibilities they were left with once their loved male went off to fight. They had to serve as nurses for the wounded soldiers which must have been traumatising, they had to work in factories AND they had to look after their homes and their children. Adding this into our piece worked well as it contrasted our other sections; this was a set of fast moving aggressive actions in contrast to more slow and gentle sequences we have.

This is me doing the Waltz and the National Waltzing Association 2012. There I am right at the back, like you can't really see me but I am there, I promise. Squint your eyes and tilt your head to left like, I am there.

Waltzing

I am now a professional waltzer and wish to go on Strictly Come Dancing now. Thank you.

Today we had a dance teacher come in and teach us how to waltz, as the next step from our Director's touching idea to incorporate this into our performance. He thought it would be nice to for us as mother's and wives to dance the famous periodic Waltz whilst clutching hopefully onto our partner's war jackets. Jodie - the teacher - could not spend a lot of time teaching us the beautiful dance so we had to grasp it as quick as we could. As someone with 2 left feet, I found it hard to do at first. And second. And third. To be honest I'm still not very good at it but the idea of all of us girls joining together and waltzing in a big circle, the jacket representing our lost loved one, is touching and beautiful enough for that to cloud the fact I'm no dancer.

Maybe Strictly can hold on for a few more years

Term 2

After the success of (some) of our solo and duet performances as a strand, Term 2 consists of us devising a whole strand performance still based on World War 1 and using some of our individual performances to build on. The directors separated the strand into 3 different groups based on the foundation of our individual performances.

Wives and Mothers of soldiers.

Soldiers.

&

Couples.

I was not initially placed into a certain group at first, as my performance explored more of war as a whole as opposed to different reactions and opinions from those involved. I eventually decided that the Wives and Mothers group was something I personally wished to explore further and I could relate more easily to my performance in comparison with the others. This made me a part of an all girl's group, which I thought was interesting. Our first rehearsal was spent each explaining our performance and the reasons and stimulus' behind it, and having some actors re perform their pieces to us, and taking down bits we liked and bits we thought could be improved.  When watching Saffron and Megan's piece, I personally really enjoyed their choice of music. When dealing with a stimulus as periodic and as significant as the war, it would be easy to choose a song that was heavily related to that period of time, but their choice was different... more modern and tempo.

We all agreed as a group that Immie's piece had a lot of potential to incorporate into our whole performance. She portrayed the wife of a deceased soldier who had just collected a box of his belongings from the war office after his tragic death. Inside were pictures, letters, personal items ect that she wept over whilst doing some other physical stuff on the floor. It was very moving. Our director decided this would be a great place to start and a good foundation to build our piece on, so we were asked to bring in a box with letters, a jacket and other personal items for the next rehearsal.

I'm looking forward to this term and the devising of our piece. I think it'll be interesting to explore such a historical subject in a completely different way than I have ever before.