PMI's

Today we had our performances:- 

PMI on my character:- 

Plus- i think i maintained my walk well. 

Minus- I think i was stuttering a bit 

Interesting- My character, isabella is supposed to be a very nice character but I think this piece changed her and made her a bit nasty. 

PMI on my group:- 

Plus- i think our group went better than we normally do in class and each person maintained their walks and we all knew most of our dialoguge on stage. 

Minus- I thought it would be better if we had better use of space. 

Interesting- The flower gag was an interesting factor of this piece as it connected each character. 

PMI on the other group:- 

Plus- they had very clear characters

Minus- they had a bit of trouble delivering their dialogue on stage and were stuttering a little bit. Most of them 

Interesting- i thought that the lazzo of Isabella and Panteloni repetedly falling was a very funny gag. 

UNIT EVALUATION

What i enjoyed- i really loved doing the different walks of the different stock characters of commedia dell'arte. 

What was interesting- i loved watching the 'Fava' videos and watching people create very interesting scenes with commedia characters. 

What i found difficult- i found blending into commedia characters pretty difficult. 

MAFIA, NINJA AND REHEARSALS

2/3/14
Today we started off by playing mafia:-
Recounting- we all had to close our eyes and the teacher would pick someone to be either the murderer, detective or the doctor. Once they are picked, the teacher calls out the murderer and he has to choose to kill someone. Next she calls out the detective and he has to choose who he wants to interrogate someone. Lastly she calls out the doctor and he can either choose himself or someone else to be safe. Next the teacher makes up a story and the person who gets killed has to go out if the doctor does not decide to save him.
Reflecting- this game was fun and a bit logical.
Conclusion- i was voted by the people as the murderer but i wasn't it. So i had to go out. Overall i think this was a really fun game.
Ninja:-
recounting- in this game, we had to form a circle and strike a ninja pose. We go around the circle and each person has to do an attacking move and the person who he targets to hit can have one reflex move. The aim of the attacker is to hit someone's hand.
Reflecting- This game is mostly about focus and good reflexes.
Conclusion- Personally I find this game really fun to play and over the last few weeks, I think i have gotten a lot better at this game than i was before. :)

After that we had to do our rehearsals for the assessment. I think we are going really well. Even though we are aware of the fact that commedia is mostly improvised, we put in a lot of effort and practice into this piece.

REHEARSING OUR COMMEDIA PIECE

6/3/14
Today we talked about our upcoming drama excursion. We were told what to wear and what not to wear. We were also told about the play is little bit and that it was a farce- a play with in another play.

After this we practiced our commedia piece and Mrs. Daley gave us tips on what to do in our piece and how to make it better. I think we are going pretty well and we work very well and efficiently as a team.
Characters:-
Margaret- Columbina
Lauren - Zanni
Freddie - Capitano
Lewis- Panteloni
Me- Isabella 

BOB BILL MARY TOM AND LOGBOOKS

26/3/14
Today we started off by playing Bob Bill Mary Tom
Recounting- in this game, we had to all sit in a circle and there would be 4 people as Bob, Bill, Mary and Tom. The people after them are all numbered. Bob starts off the game by crating a beat and he has to say someone else's number or name. If you go off beat you have to got to the end. If you say someone's name on either side of you you are out.
Reflection- this came was about keeping focus and concentrating on keeping the beat constant.
Conclusion- I find this game very enjoyable and I think I go pretty well in this game. I also find this  fun because we work well as a group during this game.
After that we worked on our reviews and logbooks for the rest of the lessons. We could not practice today because some people were at the musical. 

CHARACTER PROFILE- ISABELLA

Character  name - Isabella

• Status 
• High Status 
• Costume
• she wears the latest fashion 
• usually very show-y clothes 
• exaggerated wigs 
• wore silk dresses (in renaissance style ) 
• expensive jewellery
• History
• well educated 
• loved by all classes 
• died during giving birth 
• Physical Appearance
• young 
• attractive 
• pretty 
• over dramatic 
• Mask
• no mask 
• heavy make up 
• character is played as though there was a mask
• Props
• fan 
• handkerchief 
• Stance
• lacks firm contact with the ground 
• feet in ballet positions 
• heavy chest 
• tall and proud 
• Walk 
• ballet walk 
• very float-y 
• very exaggerated
• Movements
• very exaggerated movements of the arms
• like flapping wings 
• minimal contact with the other lovers 
• Gestures 
• everything always has to be perfect 
• often seen fanning herself 
• manipulating the handkerchief 
• Speech 
• very refined 
• never at loss of words 
• very dreamy 
• Relationships 
• is the daughter of panteloni 
• lover of Flavio 
• good relationship with everybody 
• Relationship with the audience 
• extremely aware of being watched 
• often seeing manipulating the audience 
• makes the audience sympathetic 
• Characteristics 
• flirtatious 
• over dramatic 
• often teased 
• has a lot of mood swings 
• has an independent will 
• strong 
• beautiful 
• can get jealous very easily 
• self obsessed 
• selfish 
• primarily in love with herself 
• but no viciousness 
• Common Lazzo 
• lets out a very high coo as she jumps up and down in place 
• can loose temper - screams 
• a long dramatic sigh 
• dramatic mood swings 
• eye rolling 
• likes to go temporarily insane 
• kicks the ground when upset 

Doctor, Senora and the Captain

3/3/14
Today we worked on The Doctor also known as the Il Dottore:-

• He:-
• is a high status
• claims knowledge
• His mask has a big nose, white hair and no cheeks. 
• his walk :- 
•  like panteloni, knees out 
• stomach out 
• looks at things from the top because he is superior 
• he speaks with his hands
• elegant but violent 
• nose is up high 
• he has a slight jump in his walk 
• The contraction step:- 
•  very big hand and feet gestures 
• never has his weight on one side. 
• Basic Doctor step :- 
• knees bent 
• quick short steps 
• arms moving 
• chin up 

Then we looked at a new character called senora

• She is :- 
•  the feminine equivalent of Capitano 
• however she is courageous unlike Capitano 
• she is married to an old man so meeting Capitano is an adventure
• walk:- 
• not too fast 
• head free 
• flowery gestures 

Next we looked at the Capitano :-

• he is :-
• a narcissist 
• he exhibits himself 
• hates loosing
• is is however a coward. 
• His movements :- 
• his head is always high up 
• he has massive muscles 
• he is a little bent but not too much 
• his laughter is very unnatural. 

NOISES OFF AND BORRIS THE DOG

12/3/14
Today we started off by talking about noises off.
Then we watched a viedeo by Sam Stevens where he acted as 'borris the dog'
After that we got into groups and wrote 6 topic sentences.
The sentences from the video:-
1. In this tragic piece called boris the dog performed by sam Stevens, boris is explaining to the audience his traumatic experience with two dogs next door
2. The acting, although clear, was not dynamic enough in that his emotion was relatively constant
3. the lighting in this piece was very bright and emphasised on the character
4. The sound was only through the actors voice which was loud and set the tone of determination in the scene
5. For the dog character the makeup included a black, bruised patch around his eye which symbolised being a dog. And his costume consists of a punk rock dog collar, that emphasised the toughness and the strength of the character
6. In conclusion the piece was full of raw emotion and had powerful  and aggressive emphasis on the state of the character.

Drama- 'Noises Off' Review

I went on a school excursion to see Michael Frayn’s ‘Noises off’. This play is a farce and is portrayed as a ‘play within a play’. The farce managed to capture the audience’s attention without any difficulty. Personally, I have no experience of this writer but i think that he created a very good ‘first- impression’ on me. The play had several theatrical techniques used in it such as, staging, lighting, costumes and make up, sound, dialogue delivery and a combination of characters. Personally, I have no experience of this writer but i think that he created a very good ‘first- impression’ on me.

               

I thought that the space was very well made and set up as the audience could clearly make out that the set represented the inside of a house. The set was themed mostly in the 70’s except when they showed the back stage which was modernized. The actors used this space in a range of different ways. They had a set revolution in the middle of the play to show the backstage and the front stage. The lighting, I thought was very constant throughout the whole play, though they did have a time when all the lights started flickering- it was supposed to interpret that something had gone wrong on stage. They chiefly used very bright lighting. They had a range of sound effects that varied from non-diagetic background music to simple things like footsteps. They also had a ‘ God mike’ where the director in the play was talking from the box above the stage.

There were a lot of props involved in this play- the sardines being one of the main ones. The actors kept connecting to these props to make it more amusing for the audience. They used the props in a certain way so that the audience knows what to expect and when to expect it. Even though the costumes were all set in the 70’s, all the actors had their own colour that reflected on their moods and personality. Their make-up and hair were also done to represent the theme of the 70’s.

The work of the director in this play was fantastic and he had his own way to interpret things throughout the farce. He had a very dominant 70’s theme music playing in the background that straight away told the audience the time period of the play. The works of the actors were very well played. Each one of them had their own whimsical moment.  This piece had a mix of people in both age and in gender and each one of them had their own way of dialogue delivery, gestures, and facial expressions. The pace of the performance started off being a bit slow and then eventually moved on to a faster and faster pace. The actors had a pattern of when to do each thing and they did it three times. Somehow, the more they did it, the funnier it got.

The overall interpretation of the story line was great and very enjoyable. They clearly showed that this was a comedy piece and it did successfully manage to capture the audience’s attention. I definitely think this play is worth the money and I strongly recommend it to everybody.

                

DRAMA GROUPS!

5/3/14
Today we started off by playing Bang:-
Recounting- in this game you had to stand in a circle and there is a person in the middle who randomly tries to shoot someone. that person has to duck and the people on either side of him have to try and shoot each other. the person who says it last gets out.
Reflecting - this games requires your full attention and concentration

Conclusion- i think i went pretty good in this game and we worked well as a team


Next we got our groups for the assessment task. I was put into a group with Margaret, Lauren, Freddie and Lewis.
Our scenario:-
Isabella loves flavio and wants to marry him. Panteloni refuses their marriage. Columbina is in the market when Capitano walks in and goes off to flirt with him. He sees a mouse and jumps onto panteloni. the Zannia and Isabella have a talk and decide to steal panteloni's money. when they do, columbina find out who stole the money and he asks Capitano to kill the zanni. The Zanni gets stabbed but doesnt die, instead she kills everyone else. 

Sheep and Walks

6/2/14 

Today we started off by by playing ' Sheep and stones' 

recounting- in this game, there was one sheep and one wolf. and the rest of us were stones. the aim of the wolf was to catch the sheep. the sheep can however jump over the stone and once he does, the stone he jumped over becomes the wolf. 

reflecting - this game was mainly about focus and concentration. 

conclusion - i think i lacked focus and concentration in the beginning because i could not get the game and people kept jumping over me making me the wolf. however  I think I got it in the end. 

Next we did some walk as animals. This made us realize how some of the walks are in commedia. We were told to be a pig, stallion and a mouse. 

Props and the Zanni

26/2/14
Today we started off by talking about plagiarism and how it is illegal to copy someone else's work and portraying it as yours.
we then moved on to talk about commedia props.
So commedia characters are an example of 'stock characters (basic or stereotypical characters)

Panteloni- he carries a small money bag

Isabella- A high status character and is the daughter of panteloni. She is a lover and and is  so overwhelmed by the heat of her passion that she needs to carry a fan around.

Il Dottore- he carries  a stethoscope

Il Capitano- he carries a sword. he brags a lot but in reality he is a big wuss.

Arleccino- he carries around a slapstick

Columbina- She is a hight status zanni. she will often be seen to be ordering other people to do her work for her and she is very cheeky and sneaky. She carries around a basket.

we then formed into groups and each one of us had to be a commedia character. Our group chose cloumbina. we improvised a short scene where each one of us had a monologue and an aside. This helped us get familiar with the idea of an aside because we need ot have one each for our assessment.

 we then played a game of 21
recounting - we have to stand in a circle and count to the number 21. anyone caan randomly call out a number, but if two people say a number at the same time, we have to restart our counting.
reflecting- this game is very much depended on your focus and the focus of the entire group.
conclusion- I mostly maintained my focus, but i sometimes lost it. overall we worked very well as a group and almost got to 21 a number of times.


after this we watched a video on the zanni walks and took some notes:-

• the grand zanni walk:- 
• alternate hands and feet
• legs move sideways
• bent back 
• Zanni stance:- 
• very exhausting 
• shift your weight form one leg to another 
• Three times step:- 
• moves on your toes 
• one foot behind the other 
• feet aside 
• two times step :- 
• very fast walk 
• leaned back a bit 
• alternate hands and feet 
• Basic Zanni walk:- 
• light on feet 
• alternate feet 
• change movement when changing direction 
• Zanni Vain :- 
•  hands normally in the belt 
• like the grand zanni walk except you will have a straight back 

We then moved on to trying some of these walks.