Monday, I had Alexander, Brenton, Andrea and Sebastian. We worked heavily on fight scenes because I foresaw problems in this area. I knew we didn't really go over them so I really tried to work on them.
Tuesday I had Alexander, Brenton and Sebastian again, and we just worked on finalizing stuff.
And Wednesday during lunch and afterschool I had Sebastian, Brenton, Dylan, Josh, Alexander and Evan JM. We just tried to get through the script as much as possible, because Thursday was performance day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Performance went well. I was surprised that it went over as well as it did, to be perfectly honest. You could tell from the performance who had been to practices and really worked at this, as compared to those who I had a hard time getting a hold of. There were no major flaws - at one point Andrea was supposed to be on one edge of the stage than the other, and i had to go up and remind her, but she really recovered in the last scene. Sebastian forgot he had a line as he was dying, and she stepped up to the plate and improvised until he remembered what he was doing. Other than that, it went off without a hitch. I would have preferred to have someone to help with changing the stage, instead of doing it myself, but ah, c'est la vie.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday Rehearsal: March 8th, 2009
Oh no! I was only able to get Hannah, Brenton and Andrea today. That was the saddest thing for me. I was really hoping to get ALL the cast together and instead I got basically NO ONE. SO AGGRIVATING!
We didn't do much more than just run lines and work on memorization, because there really wasn't much TO be done.
We didn't do much more than just run lines and work on memorization, because there really wasn't much TO be done.
Final Full Week of Rehearsals
Thankfully, I actually got Andrea in this week! This week I worked with Brenton, Sebastian, Andrea and Dawn using the neutral masks. I thought this was really really important, because it forces the actor to use their body to express the plot and the emotion, instead of relying on the words. I think the person who had the hardest time with this was Brenton. That would be because his part is rather monotonous and doesn't do a lot of moving in the first few scenes of the play.
I purposely wrote this part like that, to show the character's lack of enthusiasm for the lightening his little sister is so interested in. The character in the beginning just generally shows a lack of interest in life, and it's not until he starts to tell this elaborate story that he comes alive physically.
They really took to the activity after I explained it to them and described the process. I would have liked to work a bit longer with them on it, and really explore it more indepth. However we ran out of time, and had to move on to really getting down to rehearsing scenes that had'nt been rehearsed.
I purposely wrote this part like that, to show the character's lack of enthusiasm for the lightening his little sister is so interested in. The character in the beginning just generally shows a lack of interest in life, and it's not until he starts to tell this elaborate story that he comes alive physically.
They really took to the activity after I explained it to them and described the process. I would have liked to work a bit longer with them on it, and really explore it more indepth. However we ran out of time, and had to move on to really getting down to rehearsing scenes that had'nt been rehearsed.
Sunday Rehearsal: March 1st, 2009
I held an extra rehearsal Sunday at my house. I hoped to get the entire cast together today, and I ALMOST DID! Rehearsal was supposed to run from 4-6 P.M. In attendance were Brenton, Sebastian, Dawn, Josh, and Evan JM as well as Hannah, my self-declared assistant director. Evan Taylor came to practice around 6:30, so by that time I was down to Hannah, Evan JM and myself.
It was actually relatively productive, although putting 4 teenage boys in a room together and letting them fight under the guise of it being a rehearsal for some sort of play can be total chaos...once everyone settled down no one was hurt and we actually managed to be productive. Using stand ins we tried to go over the epic battle scenes, however we had more stand ins than actors in that scene, so it may or may not have been useless. We'll find out!
I'm glad I called this rehearsal though, because I do honestly think we accomplished enough rehearsing. If given the chance I would have made it start earlier, so that we could get even more done. However I have decided to hold another one of these practices next week, because we perform on Thursday! Yikes!
It was actually relatively productive, although putting 4 teenage boys in a room together and letting them fight under the guise of it being a rehearsal for some sort of play can be total chaos...once everyone settled down no one was hurt and we actually managed to be productive. Using stand ins we tried to go over the epic battle scenes, however we had more stand ins than actors in that scene, so it may or may not have been useless. We'll find out!
I'm glad I called this rehearsal though, because I do honestly think we accomplished enough rehearsing. If given the chance I would have made it start earlier, so that we could get even more done. However I have decided to hold another one of these practices next week, because we perform on Thursday! Yikes!
Fourth Week of Practices: February 23-27
I still haven't gotten the Evans and Alexander to rehearsal! I am really starting to worry because we perform in two weeks and i still haven't managed to get my cast together in one room. I suppose its partly my fault, I haven't been very demanding that they come. I need to step up to the plate and start holding them to their commitment.
A week has gone by since our last practice because of February vacation. I was happy to see that they didn't TOTALLY forget everything we had been working on - in fact they did quite well. This week Andrea will not be able to make it, so I really focused on Brenton, Sebastian, Dylan and Dawn. The more I rehearse the happier I am, and the more I wish I could just scrap everyone else and use them! Their dedication means a lot.
Brenton was having trouble getting into character this week, so I went through a series of questions with him about Neil. Who he was, what his middle name was, how old he was, what he wanted in the scene, his favorite color/band/sport, etc. Just things to help Neil seem more real to him. I hope it helped.
We did more improv work this week as well. A lot of like, milling and seeding, and then improv games such as gibberish/english, freeze, and more. They are getting really good at thinking on their feet and making the scene what it is. I remember in the beginning of the process, they were reluctant to even participate. Now, however, they are really confident and just dive into the game. They have really grasp the idea that you don't act, just be. Or not to say no to your partner.
A week has gone by since our last practice because of February vacation. I was happy to see that they didn't TOTALLY forget everything we had been working on - in fact they did quite well. This week Andrea will not be able to make it, so I really focused on Brenton, Sebastian, Dylan and Dawn. The more I rehearse the happier I am, and the more I wish I could just scrap everyone else and use them! Their dedication means a lot.
Brenton was having trouble getting into character this week, so I went through a series of questions with him about Neil. Who he was, what his middle name was, how old he was, what he wanted in the scene, his favorite color/band/sport, etc. Just things to help Neil seem more real to him. I hope it helped.
We did more improv work this week as well. A lot of like, milling and seeding, and then improv games such as gibberish/english, freeze, and more. They are getting really good at thinking on their feet and making the scene what it is. I remember in the beginning of the process, they were reluctant to even participate. Now, however, they are really confident and just dive into the game. They have really grasp the idea that you don't act, just be. Or not to say no to your partner.
Third Week of Rehearsals
This was the first week I had the chance to work with Dawn and Brenton on stage together. I am happy to say that they have excellent chemistry and aren't nearly as distracting. Monday was mostly just Brenton, Dawn and Sebastian and I. I am very confident that the three of them are going to play their parts very well.
My biggest concern runs with the fact that I'm having trouble getting the rest of my actors to commit. While both Josh and Dylan have come to a few rehearsals, both Evans and Alexander have no attended a rehearsal at all. I'm worried they will not be prepared when it comes to performance day.
During lunch and after school this week I worked with Brenton, Sebastian and Dawn on developing their characters using the Stanislavski method acting techniques. They developed their characters by relating them to an animal and then portraying the animal techniques in human form. I think the actors weren't really sure how to do this; Dawn seemed to be the most confident in this practice. Had I had the chance, I would have looked back on Stanislavski more and gone into further explanation of the technique.
My biggest concern runs with the fact that I'm having trouble getting the rest of my actors to commit. While both Josh and Dylan have come to a few rehearsals, both Evans and Alexander have no attended a rehearsal at all. I'm worried they will not be prepared when it comes to performance day.
During lunch and after school this week I worked with Brenton, Sebastian and Dawn on developing their characters using the Stanislavski method acting techniques. They developed their characters by relating them to an animal and then portraying the animal techniques in human form. I think the actors weren't really sure how to do this; Dawn seemed to be the most confident in this practice. Had I had the chance, I would have looked back on Stanislavski more and gone into further explanation of the technique.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Second Week of Rehearsals
The second week of rehearsals was a hard one.
Monday we had rehearsal as usual. But I had some difficulties with keeping people focused and in control. Practice ended a good twenty minutes earlier because one of the actors was upset, and it distracted and stressed me out as well as the other actors.
Tuesday I planned for lunch and afterschool rehearsal as usual. The difference was, between first and second period, I fired Angela. This is hard for me, but things just weren't working out. There were regular distractions and temper tantrums, and she seemed generally unenthusiastic about the entire production. Instead I asked Dawn to take the part of Lucy, and she agreed. Unfortunately, there was a snow storm coming causing school to let out at 11:45, meaning no proactice this day.
Wednesday I did not attend school, so I did not hold practice.
Thursday was the first practice where I had Brenton and Dawn work together as Neil and Lucy. They have very good presence on stage together, and Dawn brings a freshness to the production. We worked thoroughly on the first scene, because with the change of casting I wanted to make sure it was worked intently. We also worked on going through the first five scenes in real time with the cast I had that was present - Dawn, Sebastian, Brenton, and I.
Friday was lunch practice with Brenton and Dylan. We worked on the second half of the play.
Monday we had rehearsal as usual. But I had some difficulties with keeping people focused and in control. Practice ended a good twenty minutes earlier because one of the actors was upset, and it distracted and stressed me out as well as the other actors.
Tuesday I planned for lunch and afterschool rehearsal as usual. The difference was, between first and second period, I fired Angela. This is hard for me, but things just weren't working out. There were regular distractions and temper tantrums, and she seemed generally unenthusiastic about the entire production. Instead I asked Dawn to take the part of Lucy, and she agreed. Unfortunately, there was a snow storm coming causing school to let out at 11:45, meaning no proactice this day.
Wednesday I did not attend school, so I did not hold practice.
Thursday was the first practice where I had Brenton and Dawn work together as Neil and Lucy. They have very good presence on stage together, and Dawn brings a freshness to the production. We worked thoroughly on the first scene, because with the change of casting I wanted to make sure it was worked intently. We also worked on going through the first five scenes in real time with the cast I had that was present - Dawn, Sebastian, Brenton, and I.
Friday was lunch practice with Brenton and Dylan. We worked on the second half of the play.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)