Developing Act 2- Act 3 in 'Blood Wedding'

Today, we are developing the staging demands for Blood Wedding more. The Scene we pick is the Wedding Party to the Dark Woods where they are looking for the runaway bride. We challenged the staging of this act by using different lighting effects, music, and backgrounds for the staging process. Both of our groups started with our own interpretation of the Acts, and were taking turns of doing with the lights, the space of the stage, and music.


For the group that I was on we did the interpretation of olden times for the wedding and dark forest scene. At first we didnt use any lights and colour of the background that would made the atmosphere much more interesting, but as we developed it we added the lighting by adding a blackout, different filtered colours, the music that would suit each acts, background image, and even the staging of the performance using props and use of space.

Double lesson on Blood Brothers

Today, we were continuing on our interpretations of social statuses in blood brothers. We had Delia in our group, as her group weren't in today. Our group worked about nature and nuture social statuses and we had the script of when the Johnstone's family are leaving the town and everyone of their neighbours are happy that they are leaving. In this play, me and Anicia are the people who are ALL, as we are the least important character that we're get to say what they feel when this family is leaving and all their problems will decrease.


We also used the techniques of Bretch to perform our scene. And in our performance we used masks to show that we have one expression and to show that we cannot be distracted,  used placards to show what the characters feelings and emotions are. Also, we used breaking the forth wall to make sure the audiences know that this is a Play and not real, as we are using song too.


After our performance we looked at the character 'Linda' and her lifetime. We did 4 different stages of her life to show how she matures and how her changed on the different stages. I learnt that on her 1st stage she was playful, carefree, then 2nd is they became flirty and more mature, 3rd is when she starts to become depressed and sad bcause of her boyfriend Mickey and University, and finally 4th is when Linda was torn between Mickey and Edward, as she loves Mickey, but she can't take him anymore and Edward is always on her back.


This lesson showed us how her changed over the time and make us feel what she felt.

Learning about Bertolt Brecht

Today we had a double lesson for Drama, and today we started to learn about Bertolt Brecht. Here are some information that we got taught and learnt earlier:


Born: 1898 in Germany where he have a middle class family
Studied: He studied Drama and Theatre Studies

              He became a playwright, poet, and a director

Also, he had his own Production company which is called 'Epic' that started in 1927.

In 1935, Brecht started to use the term Verfremdung in Moscow.

This is his work:

His work is called Brecht, which is a reaction to Stanislavsky's 'Naturalistic' work

• Stanislavsky's work - Naturalist - it is when the play is very realistic and with emotions.
• Bertolt Brecht's work - Brecht - it is when he makes his audiences THINK about the play rather than feel.

Brecht is mostly targeted to political views, he wants to use this tool to communicates to the society, and also to send messages to the politicians.

His works looks at War, Poverty, Injustice, etc.

Also, we wants to freed the theatre contraints (melodrama and naturalist)

• Verfremdungseffekt
• It is a term used in 1935 and backs up Brecht's ideas
• This term means 'to make strange' or 'to alienate'
• He wants to alienate his audiences and distances them to be aware of the performances
• He wants to connect the audiences and the performance and to judge the events
• They want to make them be aware of the whole performance, just like in the news
• He wants to show you how bad certain events are

Brecht HATED emotional plays

Plus, we learnt about Brecht's techniques and they are:

• Breaking the forth walls
• this is when the actors/narrators would sometimes address the audiences directly- to make them metally involved
• to use 'half curtains'- so the audiences see the changing of costumes and scenes, and to show that they're really watching a play
• Narrating
• when the narrator tells the story, makes comments, and breaks the reality
• can tell a moral story after the performance and speak the stage and directons
• Speaking in 3rd person
• an actor would use his technique helping the audience not to become emotionally attached
• Explanatory Placards
• placards are used to indicate the place, time, comments on events
• to show the emotions of the characters
• Masks
• to put certain masks to fit into the role/emotion of the character
• scary mask -  evil characters
• it is also a good way for hiding emotions
• Song
• songs, poems to interpret the situations

Interpreting our own version of the Wedding scene to the Dark Forest Scene

Today, we were in 3 different groups that showed different intrepretations of 'Blood Wedding', we had to direct the other people to do the certain Act for our own interpretation of the performance. For the group that I was on we made an Olden Version of the Act of this particular Act, and we made a lot of people dance around the family of the groom and the bride which are in the middle of all the dancers.

For all of the groups I think that the Olden Version and the Urban Version of the Acts are the best, because the staging was smooth and everyone know what they are doing for the performance, as for the other group the people that they've picked do not know what they are doing.

For this lesson, I have learnt that the staging for any performances are relly important, as everyone participating needs to know what they are doing and when they are likely to show this. Also, the use of space is also important. This will make the audiences think that the main reason of the staging is to show that the Bride runaway and the family for each side are angry, and the bystanders are shocked that the bride  left the groom, which if it is for Love or not.

If I had £1000 to spend for the staging, I would add a smoke for the forest scene to make a scary atmosphere that the forest can be dangerous and mysterious.

Use of Mise-en-Scene

Today we focus of the term VISUAL AURAL AND SPATAL, we took this particular scene at the end of Act 2 for 'Blood Wedding'. We split into 3 groups and think if we want to look for the staging, audience space, sounds/lighting, and performance/cast. We picked a time aura that we want to interpret the scene.

At the end of the lesson we picked to do the Olden time aura to see what will be like in that era.

Use of Space and Movement- Non-Verbal Communication

Today, we started to look more at our understanding of Non-Verbal Communication and to link it with a wide use of space.


We did exercises like the Shoal fish and the Levels of tensions, to warm up our movements and space. And in the shoal fish we moved as one pack of fishes according to our "leader". In the Level of Tensions we did movements that will be the same as tension level and to match it with our characters.


We applied these techniques to perform as a whole class withour talking and just using movements and space. We performed the end of act 2 (when the Bride runaway) and at the end we all have to freeze as one.

Developing Our Monologues

Today I was told what happened in our Drama lesson and what they did while I'm gone.

They looked at some rehearsing techniques to explore more of our characters in our monologue/dualogue.
They looked at:

• Miming- when characters use a lot of movement and to not to talk, to explore Non-Verbal Communication
• Saying what they feel (emotions) after every line they say- Vocal
• To add what the character thinks every line they say- Characterisation

Monologue and Dualogue

Today we started on our Monologue and Dualogue. We went into pairs and decide if we are doing dualogue or not. We had to extract a dialogue from our play (script) and had to performe with our partners and after that we had to change our lines into modern. We watched some performance in our class, and i think Jennifer's monologue as a Mother in modern day is really good, because she changed all the lines, added expressions, and gestures as if she's a cold person and looking at the audience as if they are the one she's talking to.

After, we were told to learn a line in our play in a minute, then we walk around in class expressing this line in different ways secretive, angry, shouting across the class, greeting, etc. I think that this way is really important and helpful, because it help us to express in different ways.

The 2 Groups' Interpretation

Today 2 performing groups perfoemed their 2 minutes of their own representation of the play with all the scenes (1-6).
The first group showed an interpretation as if their the real character, however they changed their representation when the scene changes according to the atmosphere. They changed the lights according to the way they move and the mood of the scene, have backgroud to make it more realistic.


The second group showed a modern representation of the play as they put some "slang" words in there. They did their performances much more differently than the first group.

Where was each set?
Each groups' were set differently from each other, because the first group is kind of from the book and they represent their attitudes on the characters that are similar of what kind of character they were, but the second group shows a more modern set with modern words (slang) that have different attitudes and accents whis showed that their set aren't from the 1930s.

How did lighting and projection help to communicate the intention of the group?The lighting and the images projected in the performances were good.
The first group that showed their performance had both lighting and projection and it really boost their performance, because with the different lighting showed that there are different people that need focus on and to set up the mood, the projection made the atmosphere feel much more into the scenes.
The second group didn't have lighting and projection, so it made it more less realistic and less feel of the mood.

How did the decisions made about vocals and characterisation help?Both groups' decisions about their vocals and characterisation hepled a lot, because it really showed what kind of characters they want to show to the audiences and these made it more interesting.

What about the use of space?The use of space throughout the stage were good as they move about the space and used it correctly with the help of the lightings.

How were the demands of act 3 met and why?
Were the intentions of your group met?

What moment or moments would best illustrate your interpretation and why?

What new thoughts and ideas do you have about the play as a result of this lesson?I think that there can be many different interpretations of the different characters in the play, vocals and good characterisations boost up the attitude of the character and make it more realistic.

If you were directing this play what ideas would you definitely keep?

Blood Brother's Script Reading

Today we had our scripts that we can keep throughout the section of the course. After getting our scripts we started reading the script together and we each have to swap characters so that everyone has a turn. This class made me understand that we had to have the "accent" for the play to make it more realistic that we are from that era. Also, sometimes we had to read the same dialogue together and in sync, like for the kids' dialogues. We continued to read this to let us get to know what kind of characters there are in the play. Plus, made us understand that Ms. Lyon changed her attitude after she got what she wanted.

Working on different social classes

Today, in our lesson we started on acting different social classes. Like, how an Upper, Middle, and Working Class acts in their work or not. We started doing this so we know how the different social classes in the play 'Blood Brothers', as in that play has different social classes which are Middle Class and Working Class. This task we done in class helped me understand how a stereotype of the different classes are.  

Continuing our 'Blood Wedding' with Characteristics

Today, we are continuing on our opening sequence for 'Blood Wedding' with only 2 characters which are the bridegroom and the mother. We looked at one of the 8 elements which is Characterisation, we looked at this by being in 2 separate groups which is 1 group is only for the bridegroom and the other is for the mother. In the groups we get to brainstorm what kinds of character does our play character is (bridegroom) e.g. honest, confused, mad/short tempered, annoyed, etc. then we chose what characteristic we should use each and choose a line. To show what kind of characteristic it is we had to do a still image, then to act out the moving image and chosen line.


In the lesson, I was in the Bridegroom's Group and I chose to have the 'annoyed' characteristic and my line is "Have you finished?" to show that the bridegroom is annoyed. The rest of the class watched our perfomance for 3 times and they chose to develop my character's characteristic with Delia's 'short tempered' character, so my character has annoyed and short tempered characteristics and my movement was the same but became much more angry and more movey. I learnt that a character has to have different characteristics and the actor has to be 3 dimensional rather than 2 dimensional.

Introducing to Unit 1

Today Mr Mills introduced 'Blood Wedding' to us for our Unit 1 coursework bit. He showed us the opening sequenced for it, but first he introduced to us the 8 elements to consider when analyzing a Theater Play which are:
Verbal
Non Verbal
Characteristic
Language
Visual
Practitioner
Context
Style
We discussed what some of the elements mean before going to pairs and try to act it out. We saw 3 groups that performed their acts. Paula (calm and respectable mother), Andreea (a mother that comes from a old year), Cerise (needy mother) and all of them had an evaluation about their characterization of the character.

Lesson and Performing

Today in the lesson we first start the lesson with a warm-up acting by ourselves as if we are a different type of people or creature. We got to walk around the class and act as if we're either an astronaut or an alien in the moon, used sounds too. After that warm-up we get to play a game were we had to act a totally different scenario than the last person who get a go. Ms Mac introduced to us what play we are analyzing for Unit 1 and the play is called 'Blood Brothers'.Then after everyone got a go, in our groups we had rehearsal about our film trailers and show it in front of the class, and last thing I get to join a new group as I wasn't in school when they started this task and its with 3 people and 1 will be the suspect (innocent), doctor, and police interrogator and the groups had to act their different types of scene.


Overall, I think the class is really good, because we had warm ups to get ourselves together. And we get to work in groups and perform.