Logbook 17

THE VARIETY SHOW / UNIT 60 SITE SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE 8 February 2015

At the start of the week we divided the company into 3 different groups to find interesting locations around the collage campus. I found this task interesting because I discovered new places that I had never seen before. I got a lot of inspiration from locations such as the old construction building, the woods and the music venue. After I visited various ares of the campus, I realised that I had developed imaginary scenarios from these specific locations. For example, in the music venue I imagined a bar with lots of drugs being passed around, I then imagined someone being chased in the woods by a mysterious creature which I felt at the time had more of a horror theme to it and then finally for

Amber-Lily Foxon �1

BOX OF THE UNORTHODOX


the construction building I thought it would be ideal for a secret hide out/base. I decided to choose these 3 specific locations on the college campus because I felt they all contained an element of mystery and character about them and I believed they would all have a huge influence on a scene or scenario.

In my group we chose to work with the music venue as a location and go with the theme of music and drugs. We also wanted to go for a more 1950s feel but then realised the location was too modern. As a group we devised a short piece about people dealing and picking up drugs. I really enjoyed creating this because there was no dialogue it was just body language and eye contact. I thought the mystery in what we created worked well and left the audience wanting to see more. I also experienced a zombie invasion and a tea party which were both very contrasting to our piece in terms of approach and what we wanted the audience to feel from it. I felt like my groups piece out of the 3 ideas was more educational and insightful because it was based on reality and it showed the corruption in today's society.

Initial Site Specific Ideas: Lewis/Levi/Amber - Locations: music venue, the woods, the canteen, the abandoned construction building, the open field, the Miskin office and the secret garden. ‘Tease Theatre Company’ Music venue: Drug, upper class people, Pre 1950.



Originally I thought, I knew what site specific performance meant but after writing a script for the music venue, I soon realised I didn't fully understand the meaning of it. Therefore, I did some research into what site specific performance actually means.

This is the definition that I found:

'Site-specific theatre is a performance which overtly uses the properties,qualities, and meanings found at/on a given site, be it a landscape, a city, a building or a room. This form of theatre emphasises particular images, stories, and events that reveal the complex relationship between ourselves and our physical environment.

’http://uregina.ca/weyburn_proj...

At first I was confused but now that I've established the real meaning and purpose of a specific site location. I feel more confident and excited about working on location because I see it as an advantage to help create a more realistic scenarios. I also feel coming together as a company during this task was a good decision because it meant we could all help each other to create something a lot bigger and better, which I feel we did with the zombie invasion. However, I do think at the moment were missing the link between the story and the location. I think the next step is to work on the script to make sure everyone has a vital role and create a connection between the location and characters.


http://uregina.ca/weyburn_project/pages/sitespec.html


I really enjoyed today’s physical theatre workshop because we got the opportunity to play around with space and different parts of the body. I focused on using my breath to relax my body and different vocal techniques to help engage my body with my mind. At first, it felt very strange because I had never used my body in this way before but I liked it because it almost felt therapeutic at times. Mentally, I felt lost in a trance because I was so in the moment and truly believed in what I was doing. I think interacting with others members of the company was interesting for me because I was subconsciously resisting and holding back from some of them and then I felt more free and comfortable with others. I found it hard to put my trust in others because I always want to take control and lead but for some reason it never worked and I didn’t understand why. However, as soon as, I let go and started going with the flow it automatically made my movements more fluid, organic and natural. There were defiantly moments where I felt uncomfortable but I think that was down to different peoples energies and the trust/relationship I have with them individuals. Overall, I thought it was really beneficial for the company because it was refreshing, it brought us together and I think it taught us some valuable lessons for the variety show. What I mean by this is,



remembering to let go and have fun experimenting with different people or objects but most importantly trusting each other decisions. I hope we do more work like this because as a company I feel there is so much more we could explore with and I believe it has really helped me be more aware of myself and others around me.

I thought the 'Zombies in NWK' went well considering the time we had to prepare it. Despite some miss communication, I thought we worked well as a team to find interesting locations. I enjoyed working with our specific locations to create a traumatic experience and a scary atmosphere for our audience. I felt like there was some confusion within the company about what we were doing over in the secret garden but I put that down to lack of imagination and again communication. I really liked the theme we went for because it was like nothing I had ever done before and I feel like the locations we chose defiantly enforced the story we created. Although I think, if we had more time we could have improved it by changing the order of certain parts of the journey because I don't think it made much sense. However, I do feel the confusion helped us create mind games and mystery so,



therefore overall I thought it was a success. The feedback we received from the people who experienced it was positive so I was pleased about that.

Feedback: I thought the mini musical was great because it was so creative and different to anything I had ever seen before. I found the harmonies and the choice of lyrics very clever because they fitted in with the story. Overall, It made me laugh and I thought it was a good performance from all of them. I feel like they have inspired me to want to try something new and be a bit more creative when it comes to singing.

I thought choosing the NWK college campus as our specific location was a great idea because it didn't restrict us and we were able to use more than one location which I felt made it more interesting. I think using two contrasting locations worked well because one was dark and indoors whereas the other one was outside and light. I think the use of space we used worked because it was very confusing and scary for our audience especially when we made them use blind folds. I felt the music we incorporated inside the theatre had a huge impact on our audience because it created tension. I thought the snowy weather and the cold temperature outside in the secret garden created an uncomfortable feeling for our audience. Therefore, I feel like both locations helped us create the perfect experience.

This week I started my first piece for the variety show, which is a dance routine based on ‘Beyonce’ with Alex, Levi and Julia. Original, Harriet and Daniella were involved but they changed their minds so we had to readapt the routine to fit 4 people instead of 6. This wasn’t an issue for me, I’m just glad they made a final decision in the early stages because I'm actually feeling really positive about this routine. I'm excited about



adding more choreography and working with props ie. Chairs. However, I do think this style of performance is a risk because none of us have ever done anything like this before but I think we have made a really good start with the choreography. I think working together as a group to create choreography has given us lots of material to work with and a strong starting point. I think finishing the choreography as quickly as possible is the next step so that we have more time to work on perfecting it. I was thinking of wearing character shoes in partition because, I think they would really suit the theme of the dance. I would also like to have a costume change in-between Yoncé and Partition but we need to be careful because we need to be able to move around easily.

After watching ‘Expedition’ the dance show this week, I feel like they have really inspired me to want to bring so much energy to my performance. I thought the show was amazing and technically very challenging. However, I do feel like most of them were lacking character and facial expressions



because, I was automatically drawn to the ones who did show character and personality. Therefore, I think it’s really important they we express lots emotional and character into the Beyonce routine. Other wise, I do fear it would just look like a typically dance routine.

Audition prep: This weeks audition prep was beneficial for me because I noticed, using a different space changes your performance dramatically. For instance, this week in the studio I felt a lot more open because spatially there was a lot more room compared to the grey room, which is very small and intimate. Therefore, I found it difficult to project in the studio as I have very little experience using a big space. My problem is that I find it hard to keep it believable when I project. This is a weakness of mine that I want to work so, that I am able to adapt my performance to my surrounding. I plan on improving this but practicing more in the studio and by making my performance a lot bigger and larger than life.

Director’s note: ’It's vital that you bring as much as you can to your performance because a director can always pull you back but they can't pull you forward.’

Connecting with your audience:Small and Big:

- This exercise meant you had to find the balance within the monologue. For example, how you deliver it and knowing the distance between you and your audience.



- I felt this exercise was all about finding the soft and loudness in the dialogue.

- Yet it was still about finding the meaning and the energy within it by putting everything into a different context.

- However, I noticed that a character is rarely the same throughout a monologue so you need to find the different levels of emotions.

Volume: - I feel like little expressions and just chatting to the audience

brought out the sensitive parts of the speech. - Whereas large expressions felt like there was a 4th wall.

Gestures: - When walking around the studio, I found it difficult to find

gestures without feeling uncomfortable. - I think, I need to focus more on my character and what I’m

doing rather than thinking about my next move.

Speed: - Made it feel more realistic - In the moment rather than acting - I thought it helped discover rhythm.

Keeping Busy: - The need and the want to act will naturally come out. - It takes away the attention of the acting. - I felt like a different character because it brought a lot more

energy out.


Logbook 17

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