Unit 1, part 1 - developing a well formed character

Task one:

Ninja,

Over the course I have tackled many warm ups that help develop a lot of skills such as, concentration, improvisation and diction. One familiar warm up that we all know and love in our class is, ninja, a game focused purely on concentration which is one of my areas to improve, which makes this game the most sense to talk about. To play the game, everyone must stand in a circle taking one movement each to get another player out. to get a one player out, you must slap, tap hit or punch their forearm. These movements must travel round the circle clockwise or anti-clockwise and should have a fast even rhythm. You can also use your turn to move out the way but you can only take one step, however if you do decide to attack you must keep you arm heled out. This free-for-all game requires you to keep full attention of your surroundings, if you take your eye off the game for even one second you could end up losing. It really does help develop skills like concentration and being aware of your surroundings.

Question WA,

This is another concertation game however instead of being aware of your surroundings, you have to be more focused on thinking on the spot. Yet again everyone must stand in a circle while one person stands in the centre and will randomly point at a play and yell a question at them. the play must crouch down while the other two players beside them must turn to each other and answer the question as quickly as possible, the person who answers it the slowest is out. This game is really good at catching people out by making them over think. On stage at least one time someone is going to through a curve ball which requires quick thinking. This game helps develop sharp natural responses,

a warm up I made on my own,

Duck Duck what,

To further improve my concentration I have come up with this active warm up which I think will develop listening skills and concentration. It is essentially a souped up version of duck duck goose which already is a listening games. Instead of just saying duck duck goose, you can also use other command words instead of goose which effect the game in different ways, which are.

duck duck rabbit - the player three persons behind the person you landed rabbit on must chase you

duck duck hare - the player three persons behind the person you landed on must chase you back around the other way

duck duck Fox- both players can run anywhere 

duck duck cow - both players can not run and have to speed walk

I think this is a fun take on many peoples childhood game that requires much more focus, listening and concentration. I believe its good way to develop these skills

Task 2: 

production diaries,

Over this half term I have developed more skills that have increased my ability to act. The lead up to the globe was all about establishing our abilities and where we can all grow from there. A lot of effort into mostly improvisation and characterisation which was two main factors that where to help us on out journey up to the ghost lights tours. One task that stud out for us 1st years was the "lonely hearts" section, where overtime we had to develop a character down to very small details such as relatives, accent and even if they own a car or not. This was a very big step into how people develop characters overtime and was exactly the steps that we took to developing our character for the ghost light tour. To develop our improv skills we would do a series of games focused on accepting, quick thinking and concentrating. 

Originally at the start of the process me and and one of my friends auditioned for the role of Sherlock and Watson, one of the the tour guides for the primary school showing. They were a much more relatable and much less scary tour guide for the younger audience. Unfortunately these roles were scraped as we couldn’t get enough primary school showings to make an alternating cast. However I believe the audition I did for Sherlock was very good, I spent a lot of effort drafting a small script for me and my friend to perform. I had a good understanding of the character while also trying to put my own spin on it, I put in a lot of effort. Then came the immersive audition which went horribly wrong, I was very new to the collage and I got everyone lost which didn’t really help and my effort to immerse the audience could have been better. Eventually I got the role of Jonny walker who was a Stockton inventor who created the match. My initial thoughts was to play this character like he was scary given the theme of the tour. but then I thought, why would he be scary? Why would he be trying to frighten these people? So I thought, As he does appear out of nowhere every now and then, I could used my character as a brief comedic relief like it was safe when I was there and to relate to the audience as I feel like in real life he would of been that joyful local person to other local Stockton folk. 

Throughout rehearsing I would try different attitudes towards the audience, are they my friends? do I have to be scary? How would I interact with them? All this improved my understanding of an immersive audience and how to act in one. Obviously my improv skills needed to be very high for this part as most of the time that is what he would be doing, then speaking to the audience about any information needed to carry on with the tour. This adds depth to the experience as it’s not just the two tour guides conveniently carrying us through a tour, there are multiple interesting characters with different motives and properties that guide us through the tour, a much more fitting and engaging experience. I pulled off what I wanted my character to be like and how he would add to the tour and yet again I think I really did understand my character with the little we know of his personality. My improv was well done and I was definitely quick thinking at times. However I thought at times I did get carried away with certain scenes. Especially in one performance, I thought I got carried away and I spoke out of character just to get a few laughs. This showed I needed to concentrate more on my character and how sometimes quick thinking can be a bad thing. We worked very well through this process as a team and we put together a compelling experience.

Task 3,

So the character of Jonny walker that I portrayed was a prideful, local and funny character the audience could relate to. However this character is frustrated as he actually did not patient the invention of the match meaning nobody actually knew it was him who created it. He does take pride in his name and “pretends” to know that everyone does actually know who he is. A lot is known about his invention and his life but I struggled to research into his personality and what he was like as a person so I did what I could with the information provided about his journey into inventing the friction match. he gained an interest for obtaining fire quickly and easily, this as the time was a very big convenience that needed to be filled. I would imagine he was doing this to be helpful and caring but also how he was smart as he realised this problem but it could also be capitalised on but not to smart that he didn’t patient it. I also gained the impression that he was prideful and routed into his home town meaning he could of been very friendly, I thought this because he continued to peruse his chemistry on the Stockton high street after he studied at Durham and York. Maybe he did that cause he felt more comfortable there? could of it been he was apart of a close-nit community? was he doing this inventing to bring a helpful commodity to the area?     

This links in with the first scene I was in. This was a chance to introduce his character and his contribution to the tour. I started out my first lines and movement as joyful confident and like he's ready for anything. the scene carries on with the tour guides unaware of who he is, his reaction to this is to completely deny this and play it off like they are joking, I would then hand them my lantern which explains my being there to help guid them through the tour. The frustration of my character is then shown when the tour guides make fun of me as they leave which leaves me upset (for the primary school showing I would tag along the whole time).  My next scene I appear again out of nowhere again with more of sense of urgency as my purpose being there is to check up on the lantern which then leads me on to telling the audience some information about there next visit, I felt there wasn't much to be done in this scene because I was their for a relatively short time. As the tour moves on to jack the ripper and the plague victims I leap out once again out of nowhere to warm the tour of the dangers and how they should use the light to keep them safe (a nod to it actually being a ghost light that is keeping them all safe) meaning I came off increasingly more urgent and becoming more agitated by the tour guides snide comments. After the jack the ripper monolog I speak directly to the audience and tell them the lantern all along was a ghost light keeping them safe. At this point I have pulled off a relatable nonthreatening persona using some comedic relief which hopefully showed the audience I am telling the truth. My last scene was one that actually concluded the tour. It ends with an execution gone wrong with me stopping the madness by ordering everyone to stop. which was quite funny as of my non threatening persona I already set up. I used this scene to like it was a way for Jonny walkers built up frustration to spill out into a pathetic rage and using it to justify why he didn't patient his invention. 

Me practicing and experimenting with a set of tour guides: 

Task 4,

Promenade theatre and immersive theatre are often mistook for being the same thing as they sometimes link into each other.

Promenade theatre - this is where a performance is shown in an outdoor public space and the audience moves from place to place as they "follow the action". These performances are mostly site-specific in interesting and unusual locations, usually about the history of the place or something that links to it such as the theme. Since promenade shows are directly shared with the audience and the performer they can sometimes be very unpredictable and a main disadvantage can be blocking, where people miss out details, mishear and stray because they are not restricted to a typical theatre seating.  

immersive theatre - this is a performance that breaks the fourth wall and involves the audience in the drama (the fourth wall meaning a fictional barrier that separates the viewer from the story and breaking it meaning it is severed and the story is directly speaking the audiences). This includes performances such as murder mysteries and highly theatrical escape rooms. 

These are easily mixed up as immersive theatre mostly site-specific such as promenade.

Task 5, 

My evaluation of my performance, Jonny Walker  

This performance has really improved My acting abilities as an actor, it has shown me a new way to perform and a whole new way on how to develop a character. It really is interesting to see such an interesting take on acting and how to tune myself to a new set of skills. I Believe my character of Jonny Walker had a big impact on the tours dynamics and depth. He was a fun character to play, and I pulled off what I wanted him to be and how he effects the tour, I wated him to be a break from the scare as I believe it lowers the audiences guard and makes them more vulnerable to what happens next. Sure, A constant cycle of being scared works at first but it does not always work to frighten as it goes on and it in fact just shows what the audiences what more to expect. This is why I almost used Jonny walker as a tool, like he had the control to tune the fear down and lower the audiences guard, even if it came off as unintentional coming from his character. He was very useful to the tour and to the group as well with the gimmick of the lantern with some scenes directly linking into the lantern (mostly towards the end). This is why I think I have improved as an actor after this, I learned the impact of a character’s personality and how a performance adds depth to an immersive experience. With it being immersive my improv skills have also developed because of how many factors an immersive experience and throw at you, you must think quick but not as yourself but as your character instead. I received feedback from the tutor/teacher Kelly Fairhurst who said she really enjoyed what I was doing with my character, and I was pulling off the comedic relief. I defiantly feel I can learn from the globe as I believe I did make a few mistakes in quick thinking but as myself just trying to get some laughs, I did lose concentration in one of my performances and almost completely came out of character in the heat of the moment. I have learned from this and is another goal to develop for myself, to develop my concentration skills. Apart from that I think I did a pretty good job with this prosses, I developed a well-formed character using creative ideas and a good understanding of Jonny walker and also how I could use this to the effectiveness of the tour. I acted professionally throughout my time rehearsing at the venue and worked as a team player with many of my friends and fellow actors while listening and responding well to feedback given and constructive criticism. We put on a great immersive show me and many others are happy with. now I have come out of this process with new acting abilities I can add to my next performances, games and overall ability in the course.