Unit 1 Principles of performance Part 1 – ‘Developing a well formed character’

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Unit 1 Principles of performance  Part 1 – ‘Developing a well formed character’

Circle freeze frame

One warm up we have done in class that has helped improve our improvisation skills is when we stood in a circle and we all had to take it in turns going into the middle of the circle, and choosing what our character or object was in the piece. 

What have i learnt from this? 

The purpose of this was so that we could improve our impov skills, what i learned from this was to think quickly, and be able to improvise on the spot. As an actor, i find this important because it helps us to improve our improv which is a very important skill for an actor to possess.

The Bus Game

Another warm up we did was the bus game, the bus game is where someone pretends to be the bus driver, and everyone else takes it in turn to be a passenger getting on the bus, they have to get on the bus, each with a different emotion and the bus driver has to feed off the emotion, once that person is done, they sit down and they then become a passenger who also has to feed off of the emotions, and so on until there is a full bus with passengers.

What have i learnt from this? 

the purpose of this was to help us learn to bhe able to feed off of other peoples emotions and how they act, this is good for when we are on stage and have to work together and have to feed off of each other, what i learnt from this was how to feed off of other people in a scene and how to interact with them better. 

My own warm up

A warm up that i found was, where you have to start walking round a space, as yourself, and then gradually you start to build up different things about your character, you think about how they would walk, then how they would hold themselves, facial expression and then how they would think, you then walk up to someone else in the room and introduce yourself as your character. 

What have i learnt from this?

I feel like this would help develop our skills because it would help us to be able to develop our characters easier, and how to interact in character and how to become the character, like how we should feel as the character, what they would be thinking, and how they would be feeling, and also how they would interact with peiple and act around people too. 

Character Study

In the Stockton Globe Ghost Light Tours, i played the character Annie Chapman, the second victim of Jack the Ripper, She had three children, she was separated, but not divorced from her husband John Chapman, after his death, she gave herself away and fully let herself become a prostitute, that is why Jack the Ripper killed her, because she was a prostitute and a drunk. 

I portrayed this character after doing my research on her and other 1880s Prostitutes i learnt that they act very suspicious and that 9 out of 10 times they are alcoholics, so i used this in how i portrayed her, the way i walked and the way i held myself. 

The staging of our piece, was just the eight girls on the stage, randomly followed about by Jack the Ripper, we had spot lights on us and we moved about the stage, but we did not have any other set. 

Promenade and immersive theatre

Promenade theatre is when the audience move from place to place during the performance. This is a popular device used by various modern practitioners. Immersive theatre is where the audience is surrounded by the actors and the performance, rather than the actors or stage being surrounded by the audience. 

The Stockton Globe was first built in 1913, it was later demolished in 1925, and first rebuilt in 1926, it was then rebuilt again on the same site in 1935, it closed its doors in 1975, to then reopen as a bingo house, until it finally closed in 1997, in 2010 it was announced it would be rebuilt, and in 2021 it reopened.  

Performance evaluation

I feel like my performance was effective because, i personally feel as if i portrayed the character in the correct way, i also feel like i did well because for the first time i sang a solo on stage, and this was something out of my comfort zone, but i managed to do it which gave me confidence to believe i would be able to do more on stage, and have more confidence in myself to do things, as a group i think we did well, the performance was also effective because we managed to scare people, after our piece, everyone walked on the stage past us, and we stood staring at them until they got closer to us then we started screaming and pleading for our lives, we were shouting at them, "help me", "why wont you help us" and "please" an old lady walked first on the stage and she was staring at us, and when we started shouting she screamed, this was effective because what we hoped would happen did happen and we scared people. Family in the audience told me that our piece was amazing, it really captivated the audiences attention, and it really brought the message of the fear the victims would have felt. One thing that was said to me however was that i need to work on my breathe and breathing control for when i'm singing. One thing i feel that could have been better, would be that i think i rushed off of the stage when i had finished my part in the song so it was very rushed and i was off stage too quickly. I feel like this piece has helped me improve as a performer because, i learned how to sing better on stage and this built up my confidence which will help me be a better actor. Personally i feel that as a group we worked really well together, we went from having a few ideas on a piece of paper, to writing a song together and performing it in front of people, we had to work as a group to work out the lyrics, work out 'choreography' and the music we would use, we did group research and shared with each other who our characters were, this helped us all understand who each of us were playing and how to interact together in the song. Goals for my next performance would be, to work on my breathing when singing and acting, and to slow down on stage and not rush what i am doing, this is because i realised that during the piece on the first night, i seemed like i was in a rush to get off of the stage, and i walked very fast because i was in a panic and wanted it to be done. Another thing i aim to do in my next performance is to really pay attention to how the character acts and is as a person, so that i can really become the character.