Unit 8 assignment collaborative performance project - One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Mia

Candidate Declaration - I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself

Audition week,

 Today on the 15th of April till the 18th will be our auditions for auditions for One flew over the cuckoos nest were held, ready and prepared after the Easter holidays to dive into auditions. Over the past week I have searched and searched for a monologue that would suit my criteria, it had to be dramatic, a touch comedic and completely insane. I came across a monologue that did exactly just that, from a contemporary version of Anton Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya, simply titled "Vanya". This play was put on by the national theatre and differs from the original play as all 9 characters are played by just one, an insane character that is spliced into 9 different characters like a crazed lunatic preformed by Andrew Scott. 

The monologue I transcribed, apologies for the terrible handwriting 

The context of the monologue:

In this Monologue he is having a conversation with Ivan and Michael as they are both the same person. He is switching between two people, rambling about another one of his personalities and talking about his mad mother who is also one of his personalities. Its chaotic, funny and dramatic it was perfect for me. Most importantly I enjoy this monologue, I am interested in it and ready to perform it, it stuck with me through the time off so I decided to go for it.

Evaluation:

I was the first to start the audition however, I wasn't feeling nervous. I was fully prepared and actually quite exited to show it off. Kelly and Abigail sat in to watch the auditions and make notes. they asked me about my monologue and I answered well talking about how it shows new skills and abilities but also something I know I can do well, the comedic side. I performed my monologue really well in my opinion, I took time to get into character and to really get into the world of the character. My diction was good however I could of improved in some areas but I felt my projection was a strong point. I showcased a range of emotions very well and I felt it showed, I was confident and exited to do this which I also felt showed. I used the space around me well and my movement help emphasise my emotions, for example in one part he freaks out over someone writing at there desk all day as he mimics him doing it, in his frustration he throws his sunglasses down on the ground and smashes them. As my monologue was quite unique as i was speaking to imaginary people my dynamics had to be spot on. I felt, although I could of Incorporated that element more, i think i defiantly reached that aim to make myself look as mad as possible.   

feedback from Abby:

       Noah – CV would be great in colour. Lots of preparation shown here. Great commitment to character. Be mindful of your eye focus and who you are talking to, would his eyes roll up when he speaks to himself, or would he aim this at the chair? Would love to see more of a switch into the other character? I feel like you could let go a little more and really connect to the words he is saying. Well Done Noah. 

With this feedback I defiantly need to remember where my audience is so improve my stage craft and eye contact to make sure i have the attention of the viewer. Maybe even take an even bigger dive into  character experimenting with different elements and character features (and obviously put my CV in colour). 

Project proposal:

 

Rationale:

My journey through these past units has been very fruitful. I have thrived on this course, finding new skills and building on existing ones. I can tell I have grown with my acting abilities. Such as improvisation, concentration and how to fully develop a character. I Know what I am capable of and I feel more confident to stretch myself even further. This has influenced my pathway as I want to continue to stretch myself, I aiming for a challenge. I know what I can do and now I want to prove what I haven’t done yet to become a more well-rounded actor.    

 

Project concept:

My aim for this project is to fully develop this character to make the most convincing, layered performance possible. I know what research I need to do to make this character real and convincing on stage. For one flew over the cuckoo’s nest I know I need to studied scrips, a book, many examples of existing plays and even a film. As well as research the time period, background what it was like in insane asylums and certain character breakdowns. Using these resources, I feel confident to develop this character fully as well as using my own impression of the character. I defiantly have time to fully research these characters as well as having time to experiment with new movement different tone and creative decisions. With this in mind also aim to successfully showcase these new emotions and characters that I have not done before on stage to so yet again I can become as more well-rounded actor. This research will also definitely help me with this aim as it will make me become more in depth with the character as well as helping me to get into the character more easily by knowing how they would react and deal and develop in the story.

 

Evaluation:

I will be using photo and video evidence as well as documenting my time through this journey. Through this journey to I will be documenting decisions made and how I feel the characters development is going. I will reflect on my aims to see if I am achieving them or not.   

Moving on with auditions and coming close to the end of the week, we were asked to sell our selves to Kelly, bring her a piece that shows we understand in a particular character we are interested in. I am interested in the character Billy Bibbit. A troubled deeply layered character with a lot of depth to dive into. Billy is the type of character that has to be understood to play him, this is why I think it will be an amazing character to stretch my acting abilities. I decided the best way to show my understanding of this character is to showcase his breakdown at the end of the play. I did it twice Infront of Abby and then Kelly, I believe I showed off a good understanding of the character, I didn't stray far I kept the vision correct with his character. Now all that's left to do is wait and see!  

Production diaries

Monday 22nd April,

A very exiting opportunity today, we have auditions from an outside production called theatre space north east. This came to us from someone at the national theatre who came to see our production of shout. So we had to complete a workshop and then perform a Shakespeare monologue off script. I spent all weekend practicing a Shakespeare monologue, one of Mark Antony's from Julius Caesar "friends, romans, countryman lend me your ears". I found it quite interesting and I understood it well which helped me perform it better. The workshop consisted off singing and new interesting vocal warm ups, some team work games like "ball in the bucket" and a lot of stage combat. While putting people through the monologue auditions they got us to create a scene in the most imaginative way possible. My monologue went okay, feel I could of done a lot better. I think this was just down to being nervous so I didn't do to much with my movement. my diction and projection was clear however. I enjoyed this experience a lot and it definitely gave me a good look to external production an what to do in an audition.        

Tuesday 23rd April, 

today we started off by doing a run through of shout To refresh ourselves for tomorrow, where we would be performing it at York theatre royal. The run through went well just trying to smooth it out one final time so we can put on the best version of it at the York theatre royal. 

The cast list: 

After waiting incredibly patiently for the cast list of one flew over the cuckoos nest, we finally got it today. I was so pleased to find out I got the role of Billy Bibbit. I am so incredibly exited to play this character it feel like it will be such a new and exiting experience. I was a hard little process were I was up against some very hard competition and so I feel incredible grateful to have this opportunity.

today we also filmed at my house for a few scenes. This is for Kenz Day's new film "Mia" where I have been casted as a main role "Sonny" who falls in love with Mia played by Charlie Harper my other Peter Pan. Its never fun being the host of a party, luckily we were only shooting a pretend one, filming went great and i got all my mates to be extras and then shots turned out very well. afterwards we had to shoot an emotional scene with Charlie where a few tears landed on my chest. 

Wednesday 24th April,   

Today we are off early to York theatre royal get get this tech run of shout done so we are ready for our performance at half 6. We have had a good run with shout and we were all really exited to get this performance nailed so we have the best possible chance to get through to London. We did a small workshop with the people there at York theatre royal that consisted of two different games. The one that stud out the most is the "salad soup or sandwich" game. Someone would suggest a food then we would all have to argue if its a salad or a soup or a sandwich, it forced us to get creative which was quite fun. Anyway back to shout, It is going great, we have familiarised ourselves with then space and blocked it fully with the tech run. We are ready to take this show on again. The performance we put on this time in my opinion was better than the one we did at collage. I took a different approach this time and it felt better. 10/10

Thursday 25th April,

 today we had a run through of hunt to keep it fresh in our minds for 13th of June, when we plan to put the show on, I feel pretty confident with it I just need to remember my ques. First day of blocking one flew over the cuckoos nest which is really exiting, my first chance to play Billy Bibbit. I can feel myself diving deeper into the character already. Asking questions about his backstory and what makes him as a person. 

Monday 29th April,

more blocking today for one flew over, everyone is finding there characters and where they fit in, the chemistry is getting there and everyone is pulling there weight. Now is the time where we can start to embrace our characters, I watched my peer Adam Levick who is also playing Billy Bibbit in cast one just to get an idea as to the blocking and just out of my own interest to see his take on the character. As well as this we where given a mini research task to complete as to give some context of the time period and the environment. We had to find 5 facts, since I am in One flew over I was looking at 60s mental institutions. What treatments did they use? what was the environment like? Where are real examples of these wards? I found out these facts,

1. The asylum depicted in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" may have been inspired by Morningside Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Portland, Oregon, operational from 1904 to 1960. 2. Shock therapy, a prevalent treatment in such asylums, often involved submerging patients in cold water for extended periods. 3. Asylums in the 1960s were infamous for patient mistreatment, prompting at least ten major and numerous smaller inquiries into neglect between 1960 and 1980. 4. The notorious lobotomy procedure was performed on over 50,000 individuals. 5. At the time "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was set, the largest mental institution was Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia.

Tuesday 30th April,

More blocking for one flew over, we are making really good progress on getting the first act blocked, we know outline and the direction. Pretty soon will be starting act two. I am beginning  to gain more depth the more I play Billy, there is certain characterisations I am starting to slip into when playing him which I feel like he would do. The way I sit and play with the bandage on my wrist to how I walk and hold my arms are starting to become more "Billy-ish". 

First draft of the poster:

Wednesday 1st May,

Act one is nearly out the way with, good timing as well as on Thursday, team one flew over and team radium girls (our other end of year project) get to shear our progress together. We are most feeling confident with the end of act one where we all take an act of defiance over miss ratchet by pretending to watch the world series. We are also very strong with our scene with Candy Star, since the boys in the ward don't meet many outside women the reactions and dialogue are pretty interesting its the funniest scene in my opinion. The end of year film is gong very well! I got to get a sneak peak at some of the edit.

Thursday 2nd May, 

This morning I came in early with the fellow cast and crew of "Hunt" our student lead production by Callum Gordon. This play has been in the bac of my mind for a while and I feel pretty confident about my character, I have had plenty of time to think about my character and plenty of time to experiment. I feel like I always want to try something new with him. The rest of the day was spent shearing the work we got up to through the week. We decided to show our two strongest scenes, end of act one and our scene with Candy. 

Monday 6th May,

From our rapid success of last week we got a head start on polishing off act one before starting act two. Anywhere we felt needed improvement we went over. I had a big think about costume today, especially his necklace. In the film and the novel he holds a necklace very close to himself. He's always fondling it like he holds it dear or perhaps an attachment. At first I assumed it could be a dog tag as the play is set after the Korean war in which McMurphy is actually a veteran of. However, I did some research and Billy defiantly not fight in the Korean war, fair enough. The necklace is just a necklace but the importance of it comes from what it represents, it is a symbol of Billy's oppression and struggle for independence and then breaking free of this with his "sexual wakening". However this attachment, struggle and oppression still stains him, shown by the necklace. After collage we did some filming for Mia, where we shot of sight in a pub called the Three Horse Shoes so special tanks to them.

Tuesday 7th May,

Today we got started on act two, In particular the first scene where all the people on the ward play basketball (very much agenised ward policy). Its an important scene that shows how far McMurphy has pushed the limits of the ward and miss ratchet. I have been struggling with now billy would act in this scene actually. Its harder for me to act him being happy and fast paced which as a character he does show just not a lot of it at all.

    

Thursday 9th May, 

Production roles are starting to kick in as today in my team of accent coaches we helped out with tongue twisters some vocal warm ups and explaining some of the problems we are facing with the accent. I'm glad to announce that when the class got split into three with one of each accent coach leading, I won the accent challenge...

Friday 10th May, 

A lot of filming done today for Mia. Very busy as we shot 5 scenes in one day. It was such a fantastic day of acting and it was great to work with my on screen girlfriend Charlie Harper. We both have a big respect for action and a passion for naturalism, we work really well together on screen. I am really happy with what I have done for Mia.

Cast and crew of Mia:

Saturday 11th May,

Today I did even more filming for another film project where I have a fight with a dead person. It was quite brutal actually I but had fun though and a new found love for screen combat. I did this all without knowing I had tonsilitis. 

Monday 13th May, 

The tonsilitis really got to me, I was off sick today 

Tuesday 14th May,

Yeah not getting any better, off sick today again 

Wednesday 15th May,

I managed to come in today but I was practically useless, I decided to sit and watch Adam Levick's Billy Bibbit to catch up on blocking. Turns out I didn't miss out on much, I can easily slot back in. They have made amazing progress with act two now blocked.

Production role

Thursday 16th May,

Today I had to be useful as it was the presentation for our production roles. while I was dying I came up with my part of the presentation to explain what I was doing as an accent coach and how I am helping out and pulling my weight. My team consisted of Charlie Harper and Callum Gordon which both I have worked very closely with so we make a good team. Along with the efforts we made on Thursday 9th May and helping people out individually with accents we believe we have contributed a lot.

Here is the link for our presentation, 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MFN2GoxOepD3voOo-fOmtdqFqM87txKiZxAw3dpAdEE/edit?usp=sharing

 

Monday 20th May,

One more week till half term so this week will be spent trying to do as many run throughs has possible until the tech runs on show week. We are thinking of alternating the casts every time we do a run through. We started with cast one, this give me time to block my other character who is an extra. I named him albert and he's a very fun character to play as I just have to be insane. I can dance, wander, sleep, anything I want really as along as its not to big. It does help with making the asylum look like an asylum. I made a mock up of Billy's costume today. We wanted to all go for a dress code look of the asylum, so grey joggers, white t-shirt and plimsols. The person in charge of costume, Paige, suggested a pale blue t-shirt. I liked this idea cause the baby blue could represent his innocence and childish ways. However I feel like billy needed something more than that so I made him wear a sweatshirt, an extra layer of protection, one more thing to hide with. I feel like it could comfort him, so I decided to get a pale blue jumper and role up the sleeves, a quirk that shows he's comfortable in his sweatshirt but also to show his bandages on his wrist from is attempts at suicide. Under the sweatshirt I decided to wear a pale blue polo to emphasise the innocence. I managed to secure a necklace as well, its across necklace which I thought adds another layer of depth.

Tuesday 21st May, 

Our cast run through today which I am very exited about, I know all my lines now and all the blocking. I am enjoying this end of year project so much and I love to play around with a character that is so layered. Billy suffers from paranoia and hallucinations, the most oppressed on the ward, he's been there for 10 years longer than a lot of people on the ward, oppressed by his mother which the novel suggests had been performing incestuous acts upon him. He is all together a suicidal wreck who cannot escape nurse ratchets oppression. The run through went incredibly well it very nearly feels like a finished piece.

My Billy and Candy scene:

Wednesday 22th May,

We nearly managed to fit two full run throughs in today, this play is quite long so it is a triumph. Billy now feels really fleshed out for me, I have done the research and had plenty time to experiment with this character, I now feel very confident with what I am doing here, I am ready to take on this show on the 5th June.

Thursday 23rd May, 

Last day until the half term. We stated of the day with Hunt rehearsals which has taking a big push back with when we are going to do the show. I am pretty much set with my character and have been for a while, we just need to all the cast to pull there weight now and get some lines learnt. We finished of my casts run through today which is all we had time for. Again, it want really well I feel like I haven't had chance to act this dramatic before on stage and I am really enjoying it. All that's left to do now is to keep my lines learnt over the half term and ready for show week when we get back. 

show week,

Monday 3rd June,  

Its show week for One flew over and everyone is feeling confident about it. The set is almost complete, and costume is sorted. We have all had enough time to experiment with our character and we are now comfortable with what we need to present.

Costume design, I will go further into detail in my evaluation: 

Tuesday 4th June, 

Today the set has been fully painted and set up, so we decided to get a run through in with everything together. It’s amazing how it is turning out, perfect characterisation and everyone is bringing something to the table. The run through went very well I felt like a really played my character, very in the moment. 

 

here is the set:

Today was also the premiere of Mia, a film by Kenz day. I enjoyed this experience so much and I am glad to of worked with such a committed cast and film crew. I have to commend cheeky bugger productions (the group of film makers who helped produce tides and solely made Mia). They are such a talented group with a lot of great ideas and a keen eye, I had an absolute blast and I am glad I have had the pleasure to work with them. 

 

Cast of Mia:

Wednesday 5th June,  

My cast today and I am very confident, I am prepared and quite exited to show of this character. Most of my family and friends are coming to see and its a change up as they have never seen me play a serious character before. It feels good to expand my range of emotions and to play such an amazing role that I know will never leave me makes me feel so grateful. It was great to be taken seriously handling such a dense role. I will speak more about today in my evaluation. 

 

Thursday 6th June, 

Today was our alternative cast's time to shine and what an amazing job they did at that to. Me and a few others from the other cast played the cryonics in the background to fill up the asylum and what fun we had doing it. As long as it didn't pull attention away from the important parts (except for a few times when the attention is on us) then we can be as crazy as we want to be. My character I named Braham, I have no idea why but I thought even his name has to be weird. He uses a wheelchair which he obviously doesn't need and as some odd moments interacting with the world around him. 

this was me and Keiran, an almost duo but they have no idea they are even in the same room:

Evaluation,

When i started out on this journey I knew I needed something to expand my skills, to show of a different side of me, to become a more well rounded actor. I knew the character Billy Bibbit was was the most layered character so when I started to research more into his character. I found him to be completely interesting and the more I uncovered such as his sexual abuses from his own mother, being oppressed by nurse Ratched for Ten years on the ward to his hallucinations and paranoia I knew that this character needs to be played right I knew this would be a good challenge for me. I studied the script and the film and used my research to develop my character. I based my appearance such as hair and posture on what I saw in the film, it also helped my develop my movement and how he composes his self. 

movement and character, 

I used my movement very will on the night, I stuck to his posture the whole show, he has a very poor posture which makes him look upset and sometimes scared. He is a very limp character who picks at himself because he feels he deserves it, he picks at his bandage when he feels uncomfortable which is pretty much all the time. I used my movement to create levels when the group is sat at the table I sat on the back rest of the seat with my feet planted on the base of the chair. Not only does this show how he observes everything around him, looking around to see if there is any trouble to stay away from or if there is anything to right down in the log book but also how he is more familiar with the ward because after all he has been on there for 10 years. A good example of my movement is Billy's final moments on stage where nurse Ratched confronts Billy about his sexual encounter with candy. Billy at this point has almost found his confidence and when I was presented with candy to the audience I showed this through my movement, i improved my posture and stopped picking at my bandage. Almost like I was bowing down to nurse Ratched. 

I realised I needed to put a lot of effort in to make sure the stutter was executed well. To differ from the film I used my diaphragm to stutter on my words. It sounded more Harsh and it also made me shack a lot which added to my character. I relished that in the script Billy had a bit more of a back bone, he does stand up for himself and even mocks Harding at one point. I tried to experiment with this using different attitudes during scenes to try stay true to the script.

On stage dynamics, 

I really had fun with Billy’s dynamics as I had to interact with a-lot of people in different ways. Billy is absolutely terrified of nurse ratched but he also find protection under her power, being oppressed once again, it’s all he knows so that’s why he stays on the ward. I had a very good dynamic with Cheswick, an on stage rivalry which was subtle but worked very well. I believe I captured the relations with candy star as I understand how it impacts his character. I admired Mcmurphy a lot on stage becoming almost a sheep after Billy is exposed to this new way of life. I even had a good friendship with Harding, we would even discuss what dreams we had the night before. 

Costume, 

Costume was a very interesting part for me. We had a very good play around with it and we decided he should wear a sweatshirt as he is thin character, maybe he would get cold? We also think it adds another layer to him, another layer to shield him from the world. We decided a baby blue jumper would work as it shows his innocence. The bandage then obviously showed his suicidal tendencies. 

What I could of done better,

I realise my projection could’ve been better on the day. I know he’s a very quiet character, but for stage I should’ve projected my voice more. I felt I could’ve amplified Billy’s characteristics more on the night and possibly had better reactions to nurse ratched. 

What I did well,

I felt that even tho I could have shown off Billy more, I know I handled it well. He is a very heavy character and it takes specific skills to pull him off. I felt so in the moment and so in character, I have never felt so confident for a role in my life I was so set on being Billy Bibbit and I can confidently say I did that.