Rehearsals

 First session - Read through 

In our first rehearsal we done a read through. This was to familiarise ourselves with the script and our understanding of the play.

When speaking we had to stand or walk into the space to help us engage with the text and to be aware and know who were talking to. After each scene we discussed the events taken place try and summarise and make sense of the text.

I found the read through useful to hear each character brought to life through the interpretation of the other actors. I found it difficult to engage with the text because of the language. I have a lot of lines that are like monologues in itself. Some of the words are quite tongue twisters.     

 Synopsis table 

ACT	SCENE	CHARACTERS	LOCATION	SUMMARY
I	Prologue	Chorus		They ask the audience to forgive them for the use of only humble actors instead of real kings and queens and ask for them to help by imagining what they are asked.
	1	Canterbury, Ely	London. The ante-chamber in the King’s palace	The two discuss King Henry’s old habits of drink and partying and how well they think he’ll do as the new king. They also mention news of a visiting French ambassador.
	2	Henry, Gloucestor, Bedford, Exeter, Warwick, Westmoreland, Canterbury, Ely	The same. The presence chamber.	They discuss that Henry has a right to France due to the Salique Law. France has sent ambassadors from the Prince Dauphin who gives the king a box of tennis balls which angers the king.
II	Prologue	Chorus		Now all the young men have been inspired to join the army and are travelling to Southampton whilst three of the Kings Lords have committed high treason.
	1	Nym, Bardolph, Pistol, Hostess, Boy	London. A street.	Pistol and Hostess have married, although Nym loved her. Hostess returns to tell them that Falstaff has died.
	2	Exeter, Bedford, Westmoreland, Henry, Scroop, Cambridge, Grey	Southampton. A council-chamber.	The King tricks the traitors into sentencing themselves for their act of treason and they are sentenced to death.
	3	Pistol, Hostess, Nym, bardolph, Boy	London. Before a tavern.	Hostess bids her husband and friends good bye, giving them all a kiss as they leave to war.
	4	Charles, Dauphin, Constable, Exeter,	France. The French King’s palace.	The French King worries about the English attack.  Exeter tell them that if they don’t surrender it will bring them bloody losses, to which the king asks for a day to decide.
III	Prologue	Chorus		The English have travelled to France, ready for battle at Harfleur. The Kings is told that Charles offers him his daughter and some small dukedoms, which he disagrees to.
	1	Henry, Exeter, Bedford, Gloucestor, Soldiers	France. Before Harfleur.	Henry gives a big inspirational speech to encourage the soldiers.
	2	Nym, Bardolph, Pistol, Boy, Fluellen, Gower	The same.	The three are reluctant and ushered on by Fluellen. The boy talks about their abuse of their position to steel.
	3	Henry, Governor	The same. Before the gates.	Henry enters Harfluer without any opposition.
	5	Charles, Dauphin, Constable, Bourbon	The French King’s palace.	The French monarchy are angry at England’s progression through France and asks for a message to go to Henry wanting him as their prisoner.
	6	Fluellen, Gower, Pistol, Henry, Gloucestor, Montjoy	The English camp in Picardy.	Bardolph’s to be hanged, his friends plea to Fluellen. Henry gets the message from Montjoy and is outraged.
	7	Messenger, Constable, Orleans, Rambures	The French camp, near Agincourt.	The French court talks about the close proximity of the English to their tents.
IV	Prologue	Chorus		The French are confident compared to the English and the battle is about to begin.
	1	Henry, Bedford, Gloucestor, Erpingham, Pistol, Gower, Fluellen, Court, Bates, Williams	The English camp at Agincourt.	Henry disguises himself and goes round the camp talking to the soldiers. He argues with Williams who makes a deal with him to punch Henry (whoever is wearing the glove) if they both survive the war.
	2	Dauphin, Orleans, Rambures, Messenger	The French camp.	The English are attacking.
	3	Gloucestor, Bedford, Exeter, Erpingham, Salisbury, Westmoreland, Henry, Montjoy, York	The English camp.	Talking about the king going in to view the battle. Montjoy offers the king one last chance which he denies.
	6	Henry, Exeter	Another part of the field.	The English have won but they discuss the deaths.
	7	Fluellen, Gower, Henry, Exeter, Gloucestor, Montjoy, Williams	Another part of the field.	The French are humbled by their loss and ask to bury their dead. Williams is set up by the King to punch Fluellen.
	8	Williams, Gower, Fluellen, Warwick, Gloucestor, Henry, Herald	Before King Henry’s pavilion.	Williams punches Fluellen who is outraged tells the King of the act. Henry lets Williams off because he was only keeping to his word.
V	Prologue	Chorus		The Kingis headed to Calais and prepares to go back to London but is invited to the French Palace.
	2	Henry, Charles, Isabel, Burgundy, Katherine, Alice, Westmoreland	France. A royal palace.	The two nations sign a peace treaty and Henry talks to Katherine about their proposed marriage.
EPILOGUE		Chorus		Refers to Henry VI who will follow this story which will cause them to lose France and make England suffer.

Character: Factory Worker WW1
(women working male roles)

Name: Anna

Age: 24

Status: Working class

Current situation: She is married to the man of dreams Johnny Smith. they were childhood friends and he promised to marry her as soon as they were old enough. once the news broke that a war was approaching, all the men in her family were sent off to join. Unfortunately her family have only heard back from her cousins Malcolm and Anthony. But Anna hasn't heard from Johnny in months and its worrying her. Anna doesn't speak much any more which is out of character for her. So pretty but lifeless. She is quite detached from the other women in the factory because she feels as though there is no hope or guaranty of the men's return, where as a lot of people are still hopeful. She likes to just work and keep busy to distract her from her true feelings.

Doing this character profile and work enables me to have a deeper connection to not just my character but the other women, because you think of the collective pain and suffering that women and families went through at the time. Women's lives changed so much during this period and created a path for women quality and empowerment.  This exercise makes the women real and makes you want to give justice to the the representation of women. Knowing her story and the pain she carries means that i can apply her characteristics into existence by the way that she walks, talks and the way she holds herself.        

How was this exercise useful?

The exercise was useful because it allowed us to change the way we were seen. For our performance were women putting on a play but at first it looked like we were women instead of pretending to be men. We were to comfortable. Doing this exercise allowed us to detach ourselves from our feminine ways. 

What did you learn from the exercise?

Applying the correct physical mannerisms and social attitudes makes it easier for you to have a clear representation of the time for both the women and the men. Learning the correct body forms allows you to transition fr one bender to the other because clear physical differences. Also being aware of the types of clothes worm at the time helps you to remember things like excellent posture because the women were very restricted in movement that it almost comes across as more robotic. 

What did you discover about your characters?

Anna 

• Great posture and sense of direction
• Hard worker 
• Doesn't talk much
• Elegant 

Soldier (has no name)

• He has no sense of direction
• Young and naive
• He follows instructions and does as he is told

I feel as though a lot of men and young boys felt obligated and pressured because of the propaganda within the media and the young boy i was embodying was a victim of his situation. 


Session 2 

The session began with a model box presentation from the set and design team and a discussion of hair and costume. 

After the presentation we done an exercise were we had taken the open sentence from the chorus. We stood I'm a circle and each said a word until the sentence was finished. The second time round we gently pushed the actors next to us to pass the energy and line on. The third time we had to walk into the circle before our line began to ensure we stuck to the beat and make sure we kept up the energy. 

What was the effect of the reading? 

I personally think that we did this to make sure that we were constantly working together and taking care of each other. This is because it effects the atmosphere of our piece and slows the energetic feel when when working for ourselves and by ourselves. We should have a continuous poetic flow because that's the natural rhythm of Shakespeare's work. 

Season 3 Rough Blocking 

Were working on our opening scene with all the women working in the factory. 

My group

Andrea, Jasmine, Shayde, Tia, Stevanie and Claudia 

We have a set sequence that we all follow. We are cleaning weapons and passing them on. These actions are repeated and done in a restricted way, keeping in mind the types of clothing the women would wear. The whole cast has a continuous sequence until Imogen walks on stage and gives Sophie a letter informing her of a loved ones death.

- The only advice Rachel gave the group was to make sure that all sides of our audience could see us. but our director Simon liked our original idea so we stuck that that instead.

The sequence is roughly ten minutes long or longer depending on how quickly everyone gets seated in the theatre. 


Working on the blocking was easy for  because it was writing down on my scripts and no changes were made. however it became difficult to move to one scene to the next smoothly because people weren't focussed and listening to directions well or not taking correct notes. Things are bond to changes throughout the rehearsal process and you need to stay on top of it. I think when everyone is confident with their lines then it'll be an easy process because its hard to stay committed in character when your worrying about your lines.

Note to self

Make sense of the lines and words which will allow me to have better understanding of the text.

Have to figure out my timings to come on and off stage quickly and efficiently  because I have to keep in mind my injury and to not put a lot of pressure and weight on my foot. My scenes tell me were I come on and off. 

Song

keep the homes fires burning 

(Till the boys come home)

They were summoned from the hillside,

They were called in from the glen,

And the country found them ready

At the rallying call for men

Let no tears add to their hardships

As the soldiers pass along,

And although your heart is breaking,

Make it sing this cheery song:

Keep the Home Fires Burning,

While your hearts are yearning.

Though your lads are far away

They dream of home.

There's a silver lining

Through the dark clouds shining,

Turn the dark cloud inside out

Till the boys come home.

Overseas there came a pleading,

"Help a nation in distress."

And we gave our glorious laddies -

Honour bade us do no less,

For no gallant son of Freedom

To a tyrant's yoke should bend,

And a noble heart must answer

To the sacred call of "Friend."

Keep the Home Fires Burning,

While your hearts are yearning.

Though your lads are far away

They dream of home.

There's a silver lining

Through the dark clouds shining,

Turn the dark cloud inside out

'Til the boys come home.

Within the opening of our play we begin to sing this song. Which highlights the unfortunate tragedies taken place during world war one and shows the hope and strength that the women had. lauren begins singing the song and the rest of the cast join in on the chorus and rest of the song. In a way the song reunites our unity as women and helps us to carry on working in the factory despite our current situations and feelings. This allows us to channel our characters deep thoughts and reflect on our own lives and journeys. How we sing the song. how expressive we are with our actions and gesture and facial expressions. The tone in which we sing is quite gently, soft and low which is a contrast to the lyrics and the breaking news that Sophie receives from a telegram informing her of a loved ones death. 

self observation/ per sheet 

Session 4

Physicality workshop - Working with Rachel Lincoln (movement director)

The session started with a simple exercise with us working with our jackets. exploring different and interesting ways to put on your item of clothing. changing the conditions each time affects our actions. Using personal experiences and memories can play apart, being that you make this exercise personal or experimental it doesn't necessarily matter as long as  you allow yourself to be fully be immersed with the task.

The different conditions

- Freezing cold
- Hot
- At speed
- Slowly  

Then the coat became uniform and with anything item being classed as a uniform means that your expected to treat it differently compared to other items. that being said for the lot of us we cannot personally connect to that. the closest thing to us would be our former school uniforms or work attire and people have different attitudes towards that. Personally i was very gentle with the jacket and had a lot of respect with it, putting it on and off because i know that a lot of people view a soldiers uniform with honour,pride and respect.

We had a brief discussion on the effect that the different conditions had. We spoke and demonstrated the  differences of the male and female body. We all spoke about common cliches and stereotypes to make it easier for us to embody one gender to the other simply, smoothly and correctly. Having clear distinctive physicality, ensures that were able to separate our selves from our own comfort and feminine ways and take on something that isn't necessarily first nature to us. this also ensures our audience of our characters and their status.  For example i really had to concentrate on how i carry my weight. it is said that men carry more heavy with their movement and naturally take up space with their wider stature. where as Im more light on my feet and i more my hips as i walk.  



Session 5 

We worked briefly on the opening scene tightening things up and changing things that didn't work.

Our director had an idea of a strong pose/ image to signify the beginning of the first scene.

The chorus - "O for a muse of fire,that would ascend..." indicates to us these women are trying to convince us to put on a play. of course we act confused and startled because our situation.

The chorus - "princes to act and monarchs to behold the swelling scene!" i have to move out the way for the chorus to bring jasmine and Zoe forward to signify that they will play our kings.

During this time we all must take our own journeys or partner up with people and show that were slowly being swayed by the chorus into actually taking part. We must use the whole space efficiently, otherwise well wont look aesthetically pleasing from our audiences viewpoint.

The chorus - "Admit me chorus to......our play" as soon as we hear "our play" we must all be in our places and frozen. hold the pose for a little bit then slowly one by one leave the stage as the first scene beings.


Session 6

Working on the battle scene (i wasn't in any scenes) which i wasn't in due to my foot injury. But the cast were separated with mostly who their characters were. The English and the French separated. They had to work in sync and move at the same time. I found this very interesting because it allows someone to just view the soldiers and fighting countries as one.


session 7

Going over scenes.

NOTES

(General notes for cast)

• Pick up past with lines 
• listen to the song 
• listen and respond to others 
• what are you doing when not speakig on stage 
• proximity with others 

- Make sure a ASM or DSM rings the bell for me to allow myself to quickly get on stage 

- Me and Mia need to do something amongst ourselves quietly because were too static and not interesting from different angels



Session 8

The Tech Rehearsal

The tech run was very interesting because it allowed us actors to figure out things like our entrances and exists. But to also get a feel for the space considering its our first time performing in the new theatre.

it was quite annoying at first because theirs a level of professionalism that we have to keep and some people seemed unaware of that. when people mess around and aren't foccused everything takes longer to complete which isfustrating. some factors couldn't be help like we had a lot  of trouble with our costumes not fitting and being lost that that prolong us getting straight into our work.

Performance Evaluation
both ours & the other two productions

I believe that our performance in the new theatre was our best performance so far. As i truly believe that we all worked incredibly hard to give our best performance. I think that we were disciplined and focussed through out. sticking to the intentions of the play i think we done a true representation of performing the play in the historical version. I proud to say that everyone remember their notes from previous rehearsals and executed it brilliantly on stage. Down to remembering lines and being professional and on point to carry on if a mistake was made. I think the most important thing was that many people were working as an ensemble and not for themselves meaning you could see the true connections between the actors. It was a highlight for me to work with such amazing actors. I feel that to push us even further we could work on the relationships between characters even more.

Our performance in Brighton was very interesting because I've never had an experience like it. It was quite challenging but with initiative i was able to over come things such as the different staging by taking a minute to work out my adjusted entrances and exists. The layout was a bit difficult because there was obstacles in the way or people surrounding you that made it hard to get from each position quickly and efficiently. Voice work was hard because you weren't sure wether not not people could hear you or if you were shouting and this resulted in some us over acting wether thats a good or a bad thing. the uncertainty of projection was nerve wrecking back stage but i feel that it made a lot of us seem more important and that our characters were of a higher status. The experience is excellent for us to gain as an actor because it helps prepare us in the future, being able to focus and be able to work in different types of situations.

I loved the adaptation of Coriolanus being the Coriolanus brothers living in a post apocalyptic time. I think that Daniels characterisation was amazing. I liked the way he made his voice deeper for the most part and shouted his lines because it brought across the anger and power of his character that correlated with the adaption of the play. The discipline that Robin had was very admiring because of her ability to be so vulnerable on que which is probably very hard. Actors like Troy and Ethan amazed me by by their presence. They were physically and emotional engaged throughout the play and had strong characterisation, they made simple but effective choices that were memorable. For example there was a bit were Ethan was shaping knifes i believe and the sinister look i his face was captivating. you could tell who really put in the effort and it pay off. However i do feel that to strengthen there production they need to work on their lines and the intentions behind them as i feel at time people weren't sure about what they were saying and it was hard as an audience member to be fully immersed. Stronger and bolder choices could be made to make things clearer for example the mother interacting with her son I'm not sure of the plot wether or not it was incest between the to but that may be intentional.    

Watching Comedy Of Errors I can say that there performance was amazing. The up keep to the rhyme and beat of Shakespeare's language was correct and pleasing to listen to. Every line had meaning and purpose and each scene had a smooth flow and never dragged throughout. The dedication of the actors was clear and consistent.  

I dont believe that any of the pieces could be compared because there all different in adaptions.