Glynis' Children's Theatre Journal (2006)

Week Eleven - Week Fourteen

20/5/06

It has been a busy week. Last Friday night I went to see the latest production by KADS. It was a mix of scripted and improvised pieces held together by a kind of Master of ceremonies. Some of the pieces were very good but a couple of the improvised pieces were abysmal presented by what were obviously local high school girls who in themselves were quite talented but whose pieces were far too long and lacked either purpose or humour. The master of ceremonies herself left a lot to be desired as well she seemed to fumble over what she was saying and failed to make any connection with the audience, which was a shame as her role had the potential to hold the whole show together. In such a small theatre it should be possible even with an amateur production to develop real contact with the audience. I am sure we are going to have great interaction with our audience.

The bump into Nexus was interesting. I hadn’t realised that we would have to do so much re blocking. It was great however to start to get a feeling for working in an actual theatre. I spent a lot of Wednesday watching others rehearse and also sticking holes in the backdrops for lights. (We all have to help out any way we can).

Thursday was much more satisfying just working our scenes with Darren and Mel. Both of them have worked really hard to take us from raw beginners to something approaching actor status and I really appreciate the help and support they have given us. It was fantastic to work on voice projection when there is actually someone standing at the back of the theatre to here you. It is very satisfying working with the fairies of the enchanted garden. Belle, Kita, Sandie, Jenny, Carol and Selina are a great group and we all work well supporting each other.

It was also good to get my essay back and I was quite pleased with my result. I hope to be able to use what I learned in the future. (For you Darren reading this I would have used Caballus as a visual image here for effect. As the children were only seeing a small snippet of the play I thought it would be a little more impressive and scary to show the purveyor of evil.

25/05/06

Our second go working in Nexus and every thing seemed to go quite well. Selina and I watched the first act run from the back seats of the theatre and even without costumes I was impressed with how well it came across.

30/05/06

We have now had two evening rehearsals one good one not so good. It concerns me that there are still a lot of people who don’t know their lines. It seems a bit unfair that these people have great parts which the rest of us would love but they can’t be bothered to get their lines right. I realise that learning lines is difficult but I wonder if some of these people find it so hard because very little learning by rote is done in schools anymore. When I was at school we often had poetry to learn as well as tables and dates and facts and this certainly taught us to memorize things. I thing perhaps memorizing is becoming a lost skill which is probably a shame.

Twice on the night of the first rehearsal Jenny gave us feedback and while feedback is very useful having to listen to it from four different people is sometimes too much as I think most of us were just tired and ready to go home. This is a lesson I will need to be mindful of when working with children.

I felt last night that I had finally worked out how to show Peaseblossom as tired and out of breath something I have been working on for a while without success. I was also given some extra direction for the scene with Titania and Oberon which I like and which really helps me to stay in Character. I was impressed on Monday night with the way Kita and Darren tried to keep in character between scenes. I would like to see more people doing this as I think it would benefit them.

It was good on Monday to work with the sets and props, particularly the mushroom house. I can’t wait to start working with lights and sound effects as these will really enhance the mood.

The set designers and builders have done some absolutely fantastic work. The circus caravan, Toadstool house and toadstool are just brilliant. The costumes are coming along brilliantly as well and I’m sure the show will be a huge success.

2/06/06

Wednesday morning’s workshop was quite a break actually. I expected it to be more run throughs but we spent a good half hour warming up a process which I always enjoy and then spent most of the time working on the final scene where there is still quite a lot to do. I can’t say that Selina and I were very impressed with the banners we have to hold. They are heavy and cumbersome and if we are not careful they will fall on someone and knock them out. They may look effective but I wish it wasn’t my job to hold it up. Since we have been working in Nexus I have got to talk to a lot more people. Being in such close proximity to everyone is really good for enhancing relationships and I think this may actually improve our acting as well. Mind you it is very difficult to stay in character when you are sitting around for ages not doing much.

Thursday morning’s school visit to Applecross was a great success even if a trifle chilly. We all looked fabulous in our costumes and the kids were delightful. We all had lots of fun talking and playing with the kids. Pingle (Danni) was really good talking to our group and nearly all of them thought her dress was gorgeous. Carol was a bit nervous and unsure what to say so she just sat quietly between us and stayed a shy demure fairy which didn’t seem to bother the kids at all. All in all I think it was a great exercise particularly for any education students. 

Wednesday night’s run went smoothly and we were let off early with the reminder that Thursday night would be the tech run and would be very long and boring. About that they weren’t wrong. The evening certainly dragged especially for those of us in the second act who had arrived at 6pm and weren’t needed till after 11pm. Maybe next time people who are only in act 2 could be given a later time to arrive as having so many people sitting around seems a bit pointless. When I finally got to the stage I was really impressed by Joe’s knowledge of the lights and the work that goes into getting everything perfect.  I was relieved when just after midnight Jenny said we could go home and come back at 5pm on Friday to finish the tech run. I think this was a wise decision as we were all getting very tired and tonight also looks like being a long night too. What we must sacrifice for our Art! Still I have to say I wouldn’t have missed any of it. It will be fantastic background knowledge if I ever have to put a show on with kids I will be able to tell them about the hassles of putting on a full scale huge production with a huge cast.

8/06/06

Friday night was indeed another long run.    Technical taking most of the night then a smooth run after that. Then it was great to have Saturday off but it still didn’t stop me waking in the night chanting tongue twisters. I guess it has reached the stage where we eat sleep and dream about the play. Sunday was dress rehearsal and we were complete with all costumes and make-up. What a difference! Here I’d like to comment on the work put in by so many different people. The props and costumes are fantastic. The Snottygobbles dressed in white Victoriana under cloaks of hessian end up looking so fantastic, with matching hessian covered shoes, dirty faces and hair teased and decorated with twigs and leaves. They look almost unrecognisable and some distinctly resemble gollywogs. The circus people in there traditional costumes and glittery make-up give just the right effect. The goblins look fantastic in red and fur with there dark black eyebrows and black lips and are completed to a T with their weapons of axe, sword and bone. Darren as Caballus with his black clothes fur and red cloak complete with black makeup and red contact lenses should scare anybody. And of course it wouldn’t be complete without the fairies in their beautiful outfits and absolutely stunning face painting. The make up artists work so hard each morning getting us ready on time it really amazes me the amount of work they put in to keeping costumes in order with running repairs and doing our makeup and surprised they haven’t reached screaming point. The girls working on props also have their hands full making sure everything is returned ready for the next show and all the backstage crew some of who are also actors who run around making sure everything happens just the way it should.

The show itself what can I say. It has just come together beautifully and even if as Jenny says some are not as good as others I can’t see it. The kids all seem to be loving it and I can see why. It is scary and exciting but also has the most beautiful fairy scenes the light in the mushroom house is divine and the smoke from the smoke machine really makes the whole scene enchanting. I would love to be able to see the swing scene but will have to wait for the DVD as I can’t see it while I’m in it. A couple of things I’m not happy with are the banners that are not only heavy to hold up but are extremely awkward to manoeuvre and dangerous to move around also the bubbles from the bubble machine which I think should come out a little bit sooner this is probably not possible however. I’m also not sure it truly displayed themes of bullying. It definitely showed good triumphing over evil but I think for the bullying message get through it would need some careful handling by parents and teachers. I don’t think this mattered I think it is a beautiful play that kid’s love. A message that theatre is fun the best message we can ever give children.

14/06/06

Well it is all over the final show has been and gone, we have bumped out of Nexus and had the cast party so what is left to say except a few thoughts on the unit as a whole.

This has been a fantastic experience for me. It was a chance for me to be part of a professional production. But not only this; it has shown me all the work that goes on behind the scenes from the writing or choosing of the play through all the stages to the final show and bump out.

What have I learnt?

That Jenny’s comments about it being an ensemble production are so apt. Without so many people all working hard, separately, but also together and with the same end in mind it couldn’t be done.

Even novices with little experience and not a great deal of talent can with the help of people like Darren and Melissa and Paul (our assistant directors) can actually give a creditable performance

That it takes time effort and dedication to put on a performance of this kind

A hundred skills and a heap of activities to take with me back into the classroom

My thanks at this stage go to all who were involved form the actors who made me feel a part of the group to the backstage people who were always there in the background making sure things when smoothly to Darren and Andrew who at all stages supported me through this unit and of course to Jenny for giving me the opportunity to have such a wonderful experience.

View other Glynis' Journal entries...     Week One - Week Four     Study Break One - Week Ten     Week Eleven - Week Fourteen

...or view other 'Your Work' entries...     2006 Ed Pack     Julian's Journal

Lauren Boon's Movement in Education   Nicole Pfeiffer's Theatre Production in the Classroom

...or view other 2005 Your Work entries...     Val's Journal      Jodie's Journal

...or view the...     2005 Ed Pack

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Contact Andrew @ thechaseison@optusnet.com.au