Tuesday 3rd May

Today in Titus Andronicus we started with exploring the spine and the side stretch.  Comparing to week one of doing these warm ups I have improved massively. The things I have improved is my connection to breath. My body and breath are becoming which is something I have noticed a lot in my everyday life. For example, when I go to the gym I can run on the treadmill a lot longer now as my breath is in time with my running paste. As well as this, I am paying attention to detail by fully connecting to every movement by moving each muscle / ligament. I am really happy that I am starting to see this difference in the warm up as I having beginning applying to my acting. A great example of this when I am a tree and I have to move one arm on the exhale.  However the reason why I am finding the warm ups more effective is because before the lessons begin at 9 I am in a theatre room at 8:30 stretching and warm up so I am read before the lesson has begun. I am find this helpful as well and it gets into the right for the side stretch.

After the warm ups we went though the physical pieces to the play which in my opinion are the weakest as we all have to be in sync with another which is difficult. The physical moments in the play is the Haka, the love dance and the second Haka. The first Haka has come along way since we first did it and everyone has started to come out of there shell a lot by creating their warrior. The only thing I would say that I need to improve is trusting myself that I know the Haka as at times I do tend to look at what other people are doing. In the show I cant do this as the audience will notice and it just looks weak. The love dance I think is fine and nothing really improving apart from to keep experimenting with how with move our body in time with the breath.    The second Haka is something I feel like does need improving as it looks messy by the way we our positioned and we are all slightly out of time with each other. I think the bit that looks messy to me is when we use place our arms to flow as some people have their knees bent but others are moving down similar to the first Haka which in my opinion looks better. Having said this is a really easy thing to change and I think we are in a good place with the show physical movements in general. I think it is helpful as we are all starting to trust each other from where we all know each other really well now. As we all worked really hard on theses movements Ben allowed to go for an early break.

When we came back from the break we did a run through of the show. The run though went okay but it was a bit stoppy starty which lead the play to be a running time of over two hours. Which got us all quite concerned as the play is only 49 pages.  The run through went well and I feel like I used the seven states tension really especially in monologue. I think when I enter for the first time is as quite as I took detail to step I was taking before I said my line. In addition to this, as Katie is Titus I feel like we already have this sisterly connection as we have been close friends for years. This is something I picked in the first weeks rehearsal as we fight like sisters and get along like sisters. I have used the Side Stretch in my attention to detail for when walk as this is introducing my character. The section I need to improve is my second line as I struggle to say and I am worried for the show as when I am nervous this may effect the way I say it. The part I think I did quite well is when Gemma and I stick up for Becky when Katie kills her as Becky is our brother.  I love the tension there between us and we can all really the atmosphere building through this.  However this is this scene I struggle to say' here in virtues nest that died in honour and Lavinia cause ' . I struggle to say the word 'Lavinia ' and I end up saying Vavinia. It is really annoying and frustrating when my head is saying one word but my mouth is something else. However it is something I that just need to improve as actor.   As well as this, I think I am improving my stammer as at the beginning I was quite weak at ensemble elements such as the tree and the giving birth section however now I am fully going for it and sustaining myself through out.  Overall , I think did quite well in the run though however I just need improve my technique in my voice and when it comes to performing outside the audience might not be able to hear me. 

At end Ben gave us notes and I found them really helpful and there were some things that I never noticed in my performance but now I do when Ben said them.

The Haka feet - The haka feet are meant to kick backwards however I am forgot and started kicking like my legs were in some sort of V shape. Small things like this make a big difference to piece and I am glad Ben pointed this out as I have never noticed it before.

Smiling - Basically in monologue I have this line that is "Alas , a crimson river of warm blood " and when we first did a run through blocking the scene Sybil pulled this face where coughing up blood as a joke and now every time I say the line I just picture Sybil doing the face which made me laugh so much. This is some thing I need to control and stop as its wretches my monologue and the scene.

Another really important note is my acting is internal and I'm not connecting to Sybil. I think this is because whenever I practiced my monologue I would do by myself and not with Sybil which I think has made me not realise Sybil's existence in the space. To overcome , I think I need to start practising with Sybil in my own time and making I am opening to the audience and to Sybil as I am quite closed off.

These were the only notes that I was given and I am was quite surprised of his as I though there would of been more to improve on.

Titus Andronicus Research

Titus Andronicus was written by William Shakespeare and is thought to of been written between 1588-1593. In addition to this people think it was Shakespeare's first tragedy. The play is famous of being such a violent and bloody, which was properly poplar in the 16th century as they still had laws such as capital punishment (which didn't get abolished till the 20th century ) .  I think this is why I am really excited to put on this play because we are doing an all female cast which would of never happened in Shakespeare time. 

The play is set during the Roman Empire. The play is about the life of Titus who is a roman general. The people of Rome love Titus and want him to be emperor,however he doesn't think he should be as he isn't line therefore he says Saturninus should be emperor. The main themes of the play are death and revenge and I really like how Ben is fully exploring all the ideas of how we can exaggerate the themes.  

From what historians can find the first performance of Titus Andronicus was recorded in Philip Henslowe's diary on 24 January 1594 and where performed by Sussex's Men of Titus and ondronicus. As well as this, a printer called John Danter published a book called a Noble Roman Historye of Tytus Andronicus.  Also at the end of 1594 another play was published which was called The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus. Learning  that there are different version of the play is really interesting as it makes think that Shakespeare may have got his ideas from somewhere else. I would love to actually read the one of these and compare to Shakespeare's to see this what is similar about them. Epically when some people believe that the play was written warlier in 1614 by Ben Jonson in Bartholomew Fair. Jonson said "He that will swear, Jeronimo or Andronicus are the best plays, yet shall pass unexcepted at, here, as a man whose judgement shows it is constant, and hath stood still these five and twenty, or thirty years."  As I haven't read the Bartholmew Fair I cant really comment on this however I would really like to read and compare it.

The play wasn't performed for over 300 years in England until 8 October 1923 where the it returned to The Old Vic and was directed by Robert Atkins. The show had stars such as Wilfred Walter playing Titus , Florence Saunders as Tamora , Jane Bacon as Lavinia and George Hayes as Aaron. From researching about the production it was viewed very highly which I am glad of as it must of been really exciting to see a play that hasn't been performed for over 3 centuries. The way Atkins presented the play was with a strong sense of Elizabethan theatrical authenticity with not many props.  This was a great success for the the Box Office and The complete Works presentation.

However, the best and most successful production of Titus Andronicus was directed by the one and only Peter Brook. at the RSC in 1955.  the show starred Laurence Olivier as Titus , Maxine Audley as Tamora , Anthony Quayle as Aaron and Viven Leigh as Lavinia.  The media actually thought that the show fail and end Brook's career but they couldn't be more wrong. However Brook did make some strange cuts such as removing Marcus's speech about discovering Lavinia and removed some of the scenes in act 4.  I was quite surprised When I found Brook cut Marcus monologue as I thought this is something is un cut able as it fits in to the storyline. However I haven't read the full version of Titus Andronicus it make work however it wont in our adaptation. The production also Titus hand being cut off was never and they used red ribbons to symbolise the blood wounds. Personally, when you think of Titus Andronicus the first I think of is Titus having his hand chopped off and this not being on stage most of been really strange for the audience as this something that they were properly expecting. Obviously I didn't production but the cuts must of been cleverly done for the show to be such a success.  As well as this, the production went on a tour around Europe due to popular demand.

Finally, learning about different productions of Titus Andronicus is really important and has made me realise how this isn't put on enough because it is a really good play.

Introduction To Yoshi Oida

As our version of Titus Andronicus is inspired by Yoshi Oida I thought it would be a good idea to a little about him.  Yoshi Oida is a Japanese actor , director and write. He was born 1933 in Japan (Kobe).  Yoshi Oida have taken part in all kings od art such as television , films and theatre. He then moved onto working with Peter Brook in France in 1968. I find this interesting that Yoshi worked with Peter Brook as he is another theatre practitioner who we are inspired by.  In 1970 he joined the International Centre of Theatre Research which was founded by Peter Brook ( shows that they got alone quite well. ) and then went on to participate in The Bouffes du Nord Theatre

As well as theatre in France Yoshi took part in films such as The Pillow Book and three theoretical books on theatre which has been translated into many languages. Personally, I have always known about Yoshi Oida however I have never study him at school so I think it would be really helpful for me to get a copy of one of his books as I always here people mention him. The three book  he wrote were The floating Actor , The Invisible Actor and The Cunning Actor. The floating an the Invisible actor as the two books that would properly benefit me as in them he talks about working Peter Brook  and the traditions of western theatre.


It is important to know a bit of background research of the practitioner  that are director is inspired so we can understand them and get ideas for ourselves on our characters and the show.

Seven States Of Tension

I have briefly already spoken about this but one of the comments I get a lot in my acting is that I build up and up the tension to the point where it just stays there so I thought it would be really helpful for me to go over the seven states of tension again as I found this a really helpful exercise when I did it in year 10.  As well as this I will mark the scenes that I am in with a level so I can experiment more when I am going over my lines.

The Seven States of Tension was intentioned by a  French practitioner called Jacques Lecoq. This technique has inspired other theatre companies such as Complicate and Told By an Idiot.

I found this really helpful image online that sums up each level:






From exploring each level I don't think Marcus is a laid back man and therefore he isn't 1-3 thought the whole play and I don think he has been 1-3 through out this whole life as he is the type of person who holds it all together. 

From doing this exercise has made me understand the difference between each level and has help me explore different way of portraying Marcus emotion.  However I did find it quite difficult to build from 6 to 7 as I felt like I couldn't push any more however I eventually did and I was knackered by the end of it. 

These are most of my lines where I have decided what state I should be in.  At the minute I have found it helpful to do each thought by its tension so I can transition into each state. However this is will properly change when it comes to rehearsals.

Costumes

On Friday 29th we got to try on our costumes. From what I can see the costumes look great and are really comfortable. Everyone has a similar with added accessorises to match their character. For example, my character will be wearing a red sash and Katie will be wearing a helmet which looks so cool!

The costumes are leggings and a leotard but with tea dye fabric sewed on o make it not look like a leotard and leggings. At first I was slightly worried about wearing a leotard on stage however after seeing everyone wear it has made me feel less insecure.

Finally, I think I so cool how the TTA are making the costumes themselves and I know they have a lot of work to do for the end of next week however but I'm sure they will get it done to a high understand.

Week 7 - Thursday 28th April

Today we got given our timetable for next week as we tech runs and plots etc. This has made me realise how soon the show which is quite scary as there is still a lot more detail I think we need to add.  I thought this would make us have a really productive rehearsal and we would run the whole second half this wasn't the case. We only got through two scenes, even though there is ensemble for these two scene there still is no excuse to why we only got this amount done and it is shame and we have no one else blame but ourselves.

Having said this I do feel more confident on the two scene we did.  the two scenes we did was after the second Haka and the end scene. This is the scene where I am Goth soldier and I am happy that we went over this scene because after seeing the theatre I am starting to work out how I can add move my body in the space. For example , at one point I have to help tie up Aaron but what I need to start thinking about is how would an Goth tie up Aaron because before hand I would just run and help tie him. For this I think I am going to think about the animal is a hyena and the Laban movement of slash so I can start to explore my character of a goth. 

In the last scene I am a roman soldier and I am finding it hard to connect to when Lavinia dies. I think it is because I am soldier who I think would be strong and use to seeing death and therefore wont cry. For scene to work I think I may need to look at how I connect to me playing Marcus and how I connect to Lavinia.

Overall, I did find this rehearsal helpful however the class could of definitely got more done and as we only have one week left of rehearsals we need to start focusing more.

Week 7 - Wednesday 27th April

In this week rehearsals we got the opportunity to work see our set in the new theatre and to do a run through of the show. Overall,  from what I have seen of the set I think it looks great and TTA are doing a really good job. The only small thing I would is the cauldron needs a bit evil. However having said this, the cauldron isn't yet complete so I cant say I don't like it yet. From looking at the space it is a lot bigger than our rehearsal space, which is good thing however it just means that we have to work a lot harder. Another thing I noticed was we need to vocally work harder as everything in the theatre absorbs sound.

Before we begun the run through TTA had to take us round all of the entrances and exits which is really important as now to need to start picturing us exiting though the doors and knowing where to enter next. We should of all ready known what doors we enter and exit but now we need to work how long we have to get to next queue. After we did this we started the run the show.

The Haka is the introduction to the show which did go well however there just wasn't enough room. We are all starting to make are own characters in this section which I think is really good as it means we are becoming more confident. The only thing we would need to do is rearrange the formation in order for everyone to fit. When we got to the first scene the blocking seemed to corresponded nicely and everyone knew what they were doing. The only thing that went funny was when  Katie takes Olivia into the corner of the stage  but Olivia has to walk backwards and over the muddle thing that surrounds the stage. I think small actions liked this happened a lot through out of the run as we have never worked in the space before. Things like this made the run stop and start due however this needs to happen so we can work out what to do. An important change to the opening scene is I exit after the Haka and come on when I first say my line 'Long Live Lord Titus....' . I spoke to Ben and suggested this idea as I felt like I was bit irreverent to the scene and I would get in the way when Samara gets carried off.  Furthermore it gives my character more of an intention to be happy and proud when I see Titus.

The show was stop and start like this however I wouldn't say there is much to change. The part I would slightly change is the love day could expand off the stage maybe and into the entrance A and B so there is more room on stage. Another element is the trees I think the trees just look messy as whole as it is so hard to stay still for 15 minutes in a good strong position. However, on Wednesday afternoon Ben redirected this section with the bamboo and it looks so much better.  From Tuesday rehearsals in the new theatre I was worried about this section due to the trees however now it has been changed I think it looks so much better.

Due to timing we only got up to when Katie and Esther which is shame as I feel confident on the first half of the show but not the second. I think we need to start focusing on the second half more because a lot of people feel the same way and the ending needs to be just as good as the beginning.  Even though I feel this way I think in about a weeks time it will be fine and everyone will be up to performance level.

For personally notes I would say is I was working a lot harder than I had in the theatre rooms. Which isn't bad thing at all I am quite this is something I noticed this because in the theatre is on three sides therefore we need to work three times harder in order for every audience member to see us.  Another element I would is I need to start saying thy like 'th-eye ' not 'they' as I have been pronouncing it wrong. However having said I'm not massively worried and I know I will get it and Shakespeare was something I feared as a theatre student because of the pronouncatnion of  words however rehearsing  Titus Andronicus has made me a lot more confident. 

Finally, I think the run in the theatre went really well and has got me a lot more excited about Titus Andronicus as I know its going to be amazing!