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Social Issue: Teenage Development – Puberty
Directors: Lauren Jamieson, Kaushal Puran
Group Members: Arin, Manife, Anshu
Theatre for development was a very interesting phase of our course. It was absolute fun to work in and the way that everyone contributed to the final show product was truly inspirational. That’s not without saying that we didn’t have our difficult times, like people not turning up for rehearsals on time, or not turning up at all, even for the final performance. But let me begin from the beginning…
We started our rehearsals with an in class session of brainstorming various ideas on what social/environmental issue that we could work with. We came up with several different ideas like:
Suicide Prevention
Peer Pressure
HIV/AIDS
And the one that we picked was: Puberty. We had come up with a lot of different ideas that we could use to tie in our issue. I had several stories from personal experience. The one that Lauren and Kaushal found really funny was one where a friend of mine had her first period in class and she thought that she was going to die from all that blood loss; she kept screaming over and over again, “I’m dying!” at the top of her lungs. Our form teacher had to take her out of the class and explain to her that what she had was her first period and that she wasn’t dying. Lauren thought that we could use that story very well. N.B. we all decided to tryout a comedic approach to the play. It wasn’t going to be funny all through out; it would all come to a point where the audience could see the point to all our stories. But I’m rushing ahead of myself.
When we sat down as a team after all the brainstorming, Lauren and Kaushal came up with the idea of pre-arranging our rehearsals to work around our collective timetables. I was fine; I had no classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays so I didn’t have much to worry about. Our timetable was like this:
Mondays – 4 to 6pm
Tuesdays – In class
Wednesday s – 4 to 6pm
Thursdays – In class
Fridays – 11am to 1pm
There were no weekend rehearsals because we decided to have the weekends as a break from work. After we had planned our timetable for rehearsals, several things happened that we couldn’t have prepared for. Like for one, the Performance Space was booked from Monday to Wednesday in our first week of rehearsals during the hours we had wanted to use it. It was hard, especially since we only had three weeks to work through our concepts, get our blocking down and sell the issue to Ian for approval. He did approve only that we needed to focus on what it was we were presenting. One good point he emphasized was that in doing developmental theatre, one must always be precise; in movement, blocking and speech. If we aren’t precise about what it is we’re doing then the audience will only be left confused and we would’ve lost the whole plot.
If there was one thing that made it a little tough for me, it was me having to be the one to carry the performance through. Of course there were others in the group but Ian had reminded Kaushal and Lauren that I could be the X-factor they needed in the team. Well, I did get a major ego boost from that statement but it also made it a little difficult for me to focus on my characterization. I had to play several characters in the play:
1. The closet homosexual
2. An Indian father of two
3. An English teacher
4. An over enthused P.E. teacher
The others in the team played the following:
Anshu – A skinny girl who thinks she’s fat
Manife – A geeky loner in need of friends
Arin – A wannabe who wants a girlfriend badly
One of the hardest things about working with my team mates was trying to get them to stay in character and visualize what their characters could look like or should act in real life. Arin was the worst. Not only was he late for a lot of practices, he also has this irritating habit for disappearing in the middle of rehearsals to check his email or bebo somewhere and then return like nothing happened. Then there’s Anshu. I don’t know where to begin with this girl. She’s got great potential to do well in acting, she just isn’t using her full potential and she can’t raise her voice louder than normal conversation level. The one thing I found irritating with her performance in the rehearsal level was the fact that she never wanted to change or add to her lines once she had memorized them. I tried to help her clean up her lines so she’s not so repetitive but she didn’t want to change her lines because to her it would be too difficult to remember the new lines. Here’s an example of a change to her lines:
Old line: You think I’m fat don’t you? I know you all think that I’m fat!
New: You think I’m fat don’t you? Look at me! I’m fat!
Now is that so difficult to remember? Anyway, back to the case at hand, it didn’t matter how bad she was, she didn’t make it for the final performance assessment. She fell sick with the flu in the final week of rehearsals and so missed the final changes to our script and then there was a death in her family so she couldn’t perform, which left Lauren no choice but to step into her place. I couldn’t have asked for anything better! She helped me get back into focus with my characterization. This only left one irritation left to me: Arin.
Arin had added a new chapter to his acting, constantly laughing; at nothing. Lauren and Kaushal would often be left exasperated at him. It didn’t matter how many times I threatened to do bodily harm to him, he just wouldn’t stop laughing. Then there’s the case of him not being able to speak out loud because it wasn’t normal for him. Lauren and I tried several techniques we knew of but none of them worked. One of the ideas was to talk out loud to him and get him to respond at the same level as you were. Here’s an example:
Me: ARIN! WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR LUNCH TODAY?
Arin: I had roti
Me: WHAT?
Arin: Roti
Lauren: I CAN’T HEAR YOU?
(Arin laughs yet again)
But despite it all, the one thing I was grateful for was being able to watch Manife grow and develop her character. She pulled off an amazing rendition of the dorky loner. Out of all of us, I think she did the best considering that we only had three weeks to work and she’s always on time for rehearsals and sends her apologies to either Lauren or Kaushal if she’s not able to be there on time. Manife did real good on this performance, better than all her other performances I think.
Speaking of performances, this play has to be the most improvised play I have ever done. Of course there were lines that we had rehearsed along with the blocking but they were only cues that we needed to use so that we can move along with the story. Our first public performance gig was a dress rehearsal on Tuesday (3/06). It was an absolute blast and real fun too, the only downside to it was me fumbling and laughing at my own jokes in the middle of performance (a big no! no!). The best part of it was getting the audience feedback for our work. I had several friends come to watch our performance and give me some pointers on what I could clear up. It really helped. I was definitely prepared me for our Thursday performance.
The final performance assessment was an absolute sell out! We were five minutes to show time and the space was filled only with theatre students and 3 extra people. So Fabiana ran out and pulled people in to watch our performance. We had a full house that day. The space was packed out! There were even people standing at the doorway watching our performance. It was awesome!
Pretty soon, our group performance came up. It was fun, crazy at some points and scary even! We got so caught up with how big the crowd was that we had forgotten most of our cues and everything had to happen by improv. It was especially hard for me; I was trying so hard not to laugh at my own jokes that I lost concentration and missed out some important lines and cues. The whole experience was exhilarating and totally mind-blowing! I felt such an adrenaline rush performing; it was a performance like no other.
Overall, the final performance assignment was a real learning experience for me and for my team mates. I learned that sometimes it’s not easy working with others in a play, sometimes I had to learn to accept the fact that I can’t do everything for everyone else and that I had to focus on what character I was playing. Precision is everything in developmental theatre and that’s one thing I will always remember. It was a true privilege to work with Lauren and Kaushal and alongside Anshu, Arin and most of all Manife.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Time to go to work
TUESDAY 22 APRIL 2008
We're in class today, all the groups, and of all the groups here, ours is the only one with a working script. YAY! Pritina was so excited by the idea that we were way ahead of the other groups by way of preparation... i don't understand why they didn't utilize the mid-semester break to do some work like we did. I'm just glad that we can use the coming weeks to work on our blocking and memorising our lines.
We started work on our first scene, trying to work out some of the blocking issues, like how we enter on stage and how we introduce our characters. Pritina explained every step to us and she encouraged us to work out for ourselves how our characters should act in space.
We couldn't do much because the other groups had to do some work in space too so we lef it off to continue tomorrow.
We're in class today, all the groups, and of all the groups here, ours is the only one with a working script. YAY! Pritina was so excited by the idea that we were way ahead of the other groups by way of preparation... i don't understand why they didn't utilize the mid-semester break to do some work like we did. I'm just glad that we can use the coming weeks to work on our blocking and memorising our lines.
We started work on our first scene, trying to work out some of the blocking issues, like how we enter on stage and how we introduce our characters. Pritina explained every step to us and she encouraged us to work out for ourselves how our characters should act in space.
We couldn't do much because the other groups had to do some work in space too so we lef it off to continue tomorrow.
Humpty Dumpty
Thursday 10 April 2008
Well, what I had forgotten to mention in my previous entry was the two exercises that Apete took us through in order to prepare us for our work on Story Theatre. The first exercise was on how to work as a group. The monologue was a solitary piece, where we worked on our own with our respective directors; story theatre on the other hand was group work and it required us to work together as a group. No matter how easy that sounds its one of the most difficult things for us to do as peers of roughly the same age.
The first exercise was a machine game. We were broken up into groups and then each group had to work out how to better represent a machine. My group was given the task of acting out a “Drive-Through Car Wash”. It was fairly simple; we only had to work out who was going to act out the different cycles of the machine, i.e. Wash, Soap, Rinse, Dry and Wax. Me? I was the car.
When each group was ready, we acted out our individual machines and the other groups had to guess what the machine was. You could say that ours was fairly obvious. But that was just the first round, the next round we got back into our groups and had to work out another machine that requires everyone working together as one. So we came up with a train. Each of us made up a segment of the train and then we had to move together as one. Siteri and I made up the end bit of the train while the others made up the rest of the train body and we all moved together with a chug and a toot!
We had a pretty good train going but Apete said that we had stuff working against us, like why was Ellen in the front of the train when the train controller sits in the middle, not hanging out front of the machine. That was a fairly good point and even though Pritina fought the issue, I decided to concede the point. I understood what Apete was saying; if you’re gonna act out a machine, you have to do it right and make sure that its understandable, especially when you’re working in Story theatre where an actor may be asked to become a prop like a chair, or an inanimate object like a tree, and in the most extreme cases if the play demands it, a complex machine.
The second exercise was one where we had to act out a nursery rhyme. Arin, Koushal, Lauren, Judy and I were grouped together to do Humpty Dumpty. First we had to recite the rhyme as a chorus, and then from there, act it out while reciting it. It was pretty good. The next part of the exercise was for us to work out a story to the rhyme. Why did Humpty want to get on the wall? How did Humpty get on the wall? What made him fall off? What were the Kings Soldiers and Horses doing there?
This is a general idea of our story:
In a Kingdom far, far away, a special day was arriving; it was the Spring Festival! It was the biggest festival in the entire land with a circus and even a parade of all the Kings Horses and Men.
Humpty Dumpty was a jolly egg man who loved festivals; the spring festival he loved most of all. He was truly excited by all the preparations happening all over the land. The only problem was that he always missed the parade because he was too short to see above the people’s heads; he desperately wanted to watch the parade.
He saw a tall wall, newly built and strong. He tried to climb up the wall but still he was too short to reach up and grab a handhold. Just then a bunch of knights on their horses came by and saw Humpty’s plight. They offered to give him a lift up to the wall so he could watch the parade and afterwards bring him down again. Humpty agreed and they hoisted him up onto the wall. Humpty Dumpty was so happy and excited by what he could see from on top the wall; he could see the whole Kingdom! The parade began and Humpty watched the whole thing from his perch on the wall. Once things started getting exciting, Humpty started to stand on the wall and move about so he could get a better look of the parade, but he craned out too far and fell off the wall with a sickening crack! He was an egg after all.
The Kings men saw what had happened and immediately tried to piece Humpty back together again but it didn’t work; he was too broken up to be fixed. So they buried him and on his tombstone were written the words of the rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the Kings horses
And all the Kings men
Couldn’t put Humpty back together again
R.I.P
Yeah, so that’s how our story turned out and I have to say I was pretty proud of our feat, because Ian and Apete agreed that it was a good story with all the elements of a good story.
All in all the two exercises put me in the right frame of mind on what we could do for our story theatre. It has to be a group initiative with good chorus work and most of all, we have to tell a story.
Well, what I had forgotten to mention in my previous entry was the two exercises that Apete took us through in order to prepare us for our work on Story Theatre. The first exercise was on how to work as a group. The monologue was a solitary piece, where we worked on our own with our respective directors; story theatre on the other hand was group work and it required us to work together as a group. No matter how easy that sounds its one of the most difficult things for us to do as peers of roughly the same age.
The first exercise was a machine game. We were broken up into groups and then each group had to work out how to better represent a machine. My group was given the task of acting out a “Drive-Through Car Wash”. It was fairly simple; we only had to work out who was going to act out the different cycles of the machine, i.e. Wash, Soap, Rinse, Dry and Wax. Me? I was the car.
When each group was ready, we acted out our individual machines and the other groups had to guess what the machine was. You could say that ours was fairly obvious. But that was just the first round, the next round we got back into our groups and had to work out another machine that requires everyone working together as one. So we came up with a train. Each of us made up a segment of the train and then we had to move together as one. Siteri and I made up the end bit of the train while the others made up the rest of the train body and we all moved together with a chug and a toot!
We had a pretty good train going but Apete said that we had stuff working against us, like why was Ellen in the front of the train when the train controller sits in the middle, not hanging out front of the machine. That was a fairly good point and even though Pritina fought the issue, I decided to concede the point. I understood what Apete was saying; if you’re gonna act out a machine, you have to do it right and make sure that its understandable, especially when you’re working in Story theatre where an actor may be asked to become a prop like a chair, or an inanimate object like a tree, and in the most extreme cases if the play demands it, a complex machine.
The second exercise was one where we had to act out a nursery rhyme. Arin, Koushal, Lauren, Judy and I were grouped together to do Humpty Dumpty. First we had to recite the rhyme as a chorus, and then from there, act it out while reciting it. It was pretty good. The next part of the exercise was for us to work out a story to the rhyme. Why did Humpty want to get on the wall? How did Humpty get on the wall? What made him fall off? What were the Kings Soldiers and Horses doing there?
This is a general idea of our story:
In a Kingdom far, far away, a special day was arriving; it was the Spring Festival! It was the biggest festival in the entire land with a circus and even a parade of all the Kings Horses and Men.
Humpty Dumpty was a jolly egg man who loved festivals; the spring festival he loved most of all. He was truly excited by all the preparations happening all over the land. The only problem was that he always missed the parade because he was too short to see above the people’s heads; he desperately wanted to watch the parade.
He saw a tall wall, newly built and strong. He tried to climb up the wall but still he was too short to reach up and grab a handhold. Just then a bunch of knights on their horses came by and saw Humpty’s plight. They offered to give him a lift up to the wall so he could watch the parade and afterwards bring him down again. Humpty agreed and they hoisted him up onto the wall. Humpty Dumpty was so happy and excited by what he could see from on top the wall; he could see the whole Kingdom! The parade began and Humpty watched the whole thing from his perch on the wall. Once things started getting exciting, Humpty started to stand on the wall and move about so he could get a better look of the parade, but he craned out too far and fell off the wall with a sickening crack! He was an egg after all.
The Kings men saw what had happened and immediately tried to piece Humpty back together again but it didn’t work; he was too broken up to be fixed. So they buried him and on his tombstone were written the words of the rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the Kings horses
And all the Kings men
Couldn’t put Humpty back together again
R.I.P
Yeah, so that’s how our story turned out and I have to say I was pretty proud of our feat, because Ian and Apete agreed that it was a good story with all the elements of a good story.
All in all the two exercises put me in the right frame of mind on what we could do for our story theatre. It has to be a group initiative with good chorus work and most of all, we have to tell a story.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Script Draft #1
It's done, it's finally done. the first draft of our script it done and we're all pretty excited about it. Today, we worked out the kinks in the blocking and Pritina and Farrah walked us through some of the basics like:
1. Talk to the audience and not to each other.
2. Speak loud, don't shout, just be audible
3. Visualise the character you're playing (esp for Judy and Lauren)
4. Listen to your DIRECTORS! (very important)
Now, i just realised that i haven't told you who the characters are, so here we go, in order of appearence:
JUDY - HAZEL
LAUREN - GRETEL
NATASHA - WOODCUTTER FATHER, TREE, COTTAGE, CAGE, OVEN
SAILOSI (ME!) - STEPMOM, BIRD, TOAD, TREE, COTTAGE, WITCH
Yes ladies and gentlemen, i am the witch of the play. Pritina and Farrah are a little skeptical about me playing the witch, but i'll show them. They don't know that i've played the role of a witch several times.
If you have to know, when i was growing up in Malaysia, my school did a production on "The Wizard of Oz" and I was an understudy for the Wicked Witch of the East. You should hear my cackle! God i'm evil...lol
Yeah so, that's about it for today's rehearsal, we're meeting again next week Tuesday in class for some more work on our blocking with maybe Ian or Apete's help.
1. Talk to the audience and not to each other.
2. Speak loud, don't shout, just be audible
3. Visualise the character you're playing (esp for Judy and Lauren)
4. Listen to your DIRECTORS! (very important)
Now, i just realised that i haven't told you who the characters are, so here we go, in order of appearence:
JUDY - HAZEL
LAUREN - GRETEL
NATASHA - WOODCUTTER FATHER, TREE, COTTAGE, CAGE, OVEN
SAILOSI (ME!) - STEPMOM, BIRD, TOAD, TREE, COTTAGE, WITCH
Yes ladies and gentlemen, i am the witch of the play. Pritina and Farrah are a little skeptical about me playing the witch, but i'll show them. They don't know that i've played the role of a witch several times.
If you have to know, when i was growing up in Malaysia, my school did a production on "The Wizard of Oz" and I was an understudy for the Wicked Witch of the East. You should hear my cackle! God i'm evil...lol
Yeah so, that's about it for today's rehearsal, we're meeting again next week Tuesday in class for some more work on our blocking with maybe Ian or Apete's help.
Working in space
THURSDAY 17 MARCH 2008
Today, I was a little late; it took my bus ages to get out of the city traffic and even longer to get to school... some bus drivers just don't understand the meaning of a person in a rush! GOSH!
So, we did some work in space today on our script. It was pretty fun for me, I mean like it's a totally new experience for me to work out the script in space, as opposed to sitting in front of the computer and actually thinking out the lines. Definately something new for me. But it was a really good experience.
Standing in space, my thoughts were flowing and soon we were done with one scene and moving on to another. We constantly had to work out how to establish certain issues with characters and then from there, try and figure out a blocking for them. Judy and Natasha were an absolute wonder to work with. We couldn't do much for Lauren because she was out of Suva ~ HELLO! it's called the MID SEMESTER BREAK... i only came here because i had nothing to do at home except for watching a few dvd's and trying to look after my niece.
Back to the work at hand, we did a lot of work, soon we had completed 3/4 of the script. Tomorrow we're meeting up to finish off the final scene and we can start working on our blocking and getting the timing right.
YAY! I"m so excited about this performance assessment.
Today, I was a little late; it took my bus ages to get out of the city traffic and even longer to get to school... some bus drivers just don't understand the meaning of a person in a rush! GOSH!
So, we did some work in space today on our script. It was pretty fun for me, I mean like it's a totally new experience for me to work out the script in space, as opposed to sitting in front of the computer and actually thinking out the lines. Definately something new for me. But it was a really good experience.
Standing in space, my thoughts were flowing and soon we were done with one scene and moving on to another. We constantly had to work out how to establish certain issues with characters and then from there, try and figure out a blocking for them. Judy and Natasha were an absolute wonder to work with. We couldn't do much for Lauren because she was out of Suva ~ HELLO! it's called the MID SEMESTER BREAK... i only came here because i had nothing to do at home except for watching a few dvd's and trying to look after my niece.
Back to the work at hand, we did a lot of work, soon we had completed 3/4 of the script. Tomorrow we're meeting up to finish off the final scene and we can start working on our blocking and getting the timing right.
YAY! I"m so excited about this performance assessment.
Brainstorming... i feel a headache coming on
TUESDAY 15 MARCH 2008
It's actually mid-semester break and we've been called in by our Directors - Pritina and Farrah to do some brainstorming on what story we'll do. They came with the idea of us working on Hansel and Gretel, since no other group in the past years has ever done that story. We all agreed to try it out and well it's stuck.
we had to do some brainstorming in space to work out what could happen in each scene; it's stuff like: how do we introduce each character? do the characters have to be "as they are" or can we change them around? what's the moral that we want to present to the kids?
we came up with the following ideas:
1. The true story of Hansel and Gretel ~ it's not hansel and gretel, it's HAZEL AND GRETEL.
2. Since we didn't have a male actor to be Hansel, we switched it to Hazel just for fun
3. The morals of the story have to do with healthy eating... e.g. TOO MUCH CANDY IS BAD FOR YOU!
We worked out a few lines to the script but time had caught up with us, so we planned to meet again on Thursday at the TA space at 4pm for another round of script work.
It's actually mid-semester break and we've been called in by our Directors - Pritina and Farrah to do some brainstorming on what story we'll do. They came with the idea of us working on Hansel and Gretel, since no other group in the past years has ever done that story. We all agreed to try it out and well it's stuck.
we had to do some brainstorming in space to work out what could happen in each scene; it's stuff like: how do we introduce each character? do the characters have to be "as they are" or can we change them around? what's the moral that we want to present to the kids?
we came up with the following ideas:
1. The true story of Hansel and Gretel ~ it's not hansel and gretel, it's HAZEL AND GRETEL.
2. Since we didn't have a male actor to be Hansel, we switched it to Hazel just for fun
3. The morals of the story have to do with healthy eating... e.g. TOO MUCH CANDY IS BAD FOR YOU!
We worked out a few lines to the script but time had caught up with us, so we planned to meet again on Thursday at the TA space at 4pm for another round of script work.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Introducing... STORY THEATER
THURSDAY 10 APRIL 2008
Today's class we were separated into groups yet again for the next assignment, Story Theater. Once, again to my great relief, Pritina is my director along with Farrah, and my team mates are Natasha, Judy and Lauren. We're a team of four compared to the other groups who are teams of five.
We had to discuss what story we were going to act out as a group. Our directors had to decide upon what style of performance to use. Ian told everyone that the story theatre had to incorporate a bit of chorus work (which includes singing and sound effects). We didn't have a very long meeting, Pritina and Farrah want us to go home and think about what it was we wanted to do.
As for me, i was thinking about something like hansel and gretel or jack and the beanstalk... those are some of my favourite fairy tales. Too often when people say fairy tales they think, cinderella, snow white, sleeping beauty, they forget the good ones like those two or even something like Puss in boots... i like that story, it's short and sweet with a nice ending.
I'll write out a list of stories that i think we should do and then take it up to the next team meeting which has yet to be decided because we have mid-semester break next week and Pritina will let us know by text when we'll meet up.
That's about it for now. Keep in touch for more stuff about our story theatre work.
Today's class we were separated into groups yet again for the next assignment, Story Theater. Once, again to my great relief, Pritina is my director along with Farrah, and my team mates are Natasha, Judy and Lauren. We're a team of four compared to the other groups who are teams of five.
We had to discuss what story we were going to act out as a group. Our directors had to decide upon what style of performance to use. Ian told everyone that the story theatre had to incorporate a bit of chorus work (which includes singing and sound effects). We didn't have a very long meeting, Pritina and Farrah want us to go home and think about what it was we wanted to do.
As for me, i was thinking about something like hansel and gretel or jack and the beanstalk... those are some of my favourite fairy tales. Too often when people say fairy tales they think, cinderella, snow white, sleeping beauty, they forget the good ones like those two or even something like Puss in boots... i like that story, it's short and sweet with a nice ending.
I'll write out a list of stories that i think we should do and then take it up to the next team meeting which has yet to be decided because we have mid-semester break next week and Pritina will let us know by text when we'll meet up.
That's about it for now. Keep in touch for more stuff about our story theatre work.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Class debrief
TUESDAY 8 APRIL 2008
Today for class, we did our debrief of the monologue exercise from last week. It was
a very interesting session. Apete and Ian talked us through how we felt as we were in the space, what emotions were running through our mind. How did we get into character? How did we feel about our monologue after we performed it.
The questions got me thinking like this:
1. How did you feel as you went into the space? What emotions were running through your mind?
I was nervous as hell, but once i took off my glasses, it became so much easier for me to focus on what i was doing. I was eager to have it over and done with. It was pretty nerve wracking for me to wait my turn. Lucky enough i was the fifth person to be called out. I felt sorry for those who had to perform last or towards the bottom end of the list.
2. How did you get into character? Was it easy?
I got into character by taking a few deep breaths and letting my anger build up through the performance. To feel angry, i focused my thoughts ona fight i had with my brother and then i had to feel sadness for the audience's ignorance, so i thought about all those people out there who never realised that their words had an impact on a gay person's life. It was not easy for me to get into character in the weeks leading up to the performance. ON the day, i realised that i could do it easily, the hard thing from there is staying in character and not taking it way over the top.
3. How do you feel about your monologue now that you've performed it?
I feel that i can give it a lot more justice if i had a chance to perform it again. I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise and i hope to do more in the future. After i performed, if i could i would try to make changes again with the way i presented it. This was a hard monologue to work but it was very good and absolutely fun to work. My directors help with the monologue was truly great and i appreciate all the hard work she put into making me perform with everything i had.
So that's about it for today's class... next up we're doing story theatre.
AND IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT I GOT FOR MY MONOLOGUE, I SCORED A "B"... thanks Apete.
Today for class, we did our debrief of the monologue exercise from last week. It was
a very interesting session. Apete and Ian talked us through how we felt as we were in the space, what emotions were running through our mind. How did we get into character? How did we feel about our monologue after we performed it.
The questions got me thinking like this:
1. How did you feel as you went into the space? What emotions were running through your mind?
I was nervous as hell, but once i took off my glasses, it became so much easier for me to focus on what i was doing. I was eager to have it over and done with. It was pretty nerve wracking for me to wait my turn. Lucky enough i was the fifth person to be called out. I felt sorry for those who had to perform last or towards the bottom end of the list.
2. How did you get into character? Was it easy?
I got into character by taking a few deep breaths and letting my anger build up through the performance. To feel angry, i focused my thoughts ona fight i had with my brother and then i had to feel sadness for the audience's ignorance, so i thought about all those people out there who never realised that their words had an impact on a gay person's life. It was not easy for me to get into character in the weeks leading up to the performance. ON the day, i realised that i could do it easily, the hard thing from there is staying in character and not taking it way over the top.
3. How do you feel about your monologue now that you've performed it?
I feel that i can give it a lot more justice if i had a chance to perform it again. I thoroughly enjoyed the exercise and i hope to do more in the future. After i performed, if i could i would try to make changes again with the way i presented it. This was a hard monologue to work but it was very good and absolutely fun to work. My directors help with the monologue was truly great and i appreciate all the hard work she put into making me perform with everything i had.
So that's about it for today's class... next up we're doing story theatre.
AND IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT I GOT FOR MY MONOLOGUE, I SCORED A "B"... thanks Apete.
Monday, April 21, 2008
The day has finally arrived
THURSDAY 3 APRIL 2008
Ok, my pre-monologue jitters took me by surprise. I met up with Pritina way before the class began and we just sat outside and talked about how things might turn out. I was feeling ok, not too nervous. We ran through my monologue just one more time, and also through Elizabeth's and Anshu's. We've all got our work to pat, it's just a matter of performing it right and getting the marks we're all aiming for.
Apete came in early and reminded us that monologue presentations begin at 4.30pm and we'd all have to draw numbers to see who performs first. I picked the number 5 before me is Siteri. Now, to be honest, I was feeling pretty calm and confident in my ability to do justice to my character. The only hint of how nervous i was feeling came from how bad i was coughing. I mean, my throat was dry and with the air conditioning on, it just made it worse... i was coughing badly! Even when i drank water, my throat still felt dry. damn it!
Pretty soon, it was my turn. Now, i never said this yesterday but as part of my costume, i had to take off my glasses to complete the look, which was totally fine with me because it made it sooo much easier for me to not look at the crowd but focus more on a range of spots so i can feel more relaxed in my character.
It was amazing to me how once i started, i flowed through with my thoughts and my lines just came naturally to mind, even my blocking was good! Stepping into the spotlight, i realised how far i had actually come from when i first started working on this monologue and i've come to appreciate the work that my director put into shaping me and working through the roughness of my character. Even the support of my friends and fellow group members helped a lot!!!
Once i had finished my monologue, the applause i received at the end made me feel like i was on top of the world. But now that obstacle was cleared, my only worry was how much i would receive from Apete and Ian for my performance.
Once again, my fingers are crossed for a favourable response.
Ok, my pre-monologue jitters took me by surprise. I met up with Pritina way before the class began and we just sat outside and talked about how things might turn out. I was feeling ok, not too nervous. We ran through my monologue just one more time, and also through Elizabeth's and Anshu's. We've all got our work to pat, it's just a matter of performing it right and getting the marks we're all aiming for.
Apete came in early and reminded us that monologue presentations begin at 4.30pm and we'd all have to draw numbers to see who performs first. I picked the number 5 before me is Siteri. Now, to be honest, I was feeling pretty calm and confident in my ability to do justice to my character. The only hint of how nervous i was feeling came from how bad i was coughing. I mean, my throat was dry and with the air conditioning on, it just made it worse... i was coughing badly! Even when i drank water, my throat still felt dry. damn it!
Pretty soon, it was my turn. Now, i never said this yesterday but as part of my costume, i had to take off my glasses to complete the look, which was totally fine with me because it made it sooo much easier for me to not look at the crowd but focus more on a range of spots so i can feel more relaxed in my character.
It was amazing to me how once i started, i flowed through with my thoughts and my lines just came naturally to mind, even my blocking was good! Stepping into the spotlight, i realised how far i had actually come from when i first started working on this monologue and i've come to appreciate the work that my director put into shaping me and working through the roughness of my character. Even the support of my friends and fellow group members helped a lot!!!
Once i had finished my monologue, the applause i received at the end made me feel like i was on top of the world. But now that obstacle was cleared, my only worry was how much i would receive from Apete and Ian for my performance.
Once again, my fingers are crossed for a favourable response.
Monologue production week
WEDNESDAY 2 APRIL 2008
Well, there's one day left to go before the big monologue presentations and I'm such a nervous wreck! I had a dress rehersal with Pritina today. She wanted me to look boy-ish yet maintaining some of my fem charm. So I wore my black long trousers, black bula shirt, with my shell beaded necklace and a pair of studs; on top of that, i had my hair braided for the occasion.
The whole group is feeling the nerves, we're forgetting lines and missing our blockings. I'm fairly confident that i can do well, i'm just not sure that i can pull off the character as well as i ought to...u understand?
I've got my fingers crossed for this monologue. Wish me luck!
Well, there's one day left to go before the big monologue presentations and I'm such a nervous wreck! I had a dress rehersal with Pritina today. She wanted me to look boy-ish yet maintaining some of my fem charm. So I wore my black long trousers, black bula shirt, with my shell beaded necklace and a pair of studs; on top of that, i had my hair braided for the occasion.
The whole group is feeling the nerves, we're forgetting lines and missing our blockings. I'm fairly confident that i can do well, i'm just not sure that i can pull off the character as well as i ought to...u understand?
I've got my fingers crossed for this monologue. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Class interrupted
THURSDAY 27 MARCH 2008
Today we had a much interrupted class. First of all, I was about a half hour late for class. The reason I was late is because we had a workshop for my journalism class and it too absolutely forever. It had finished at half past four and as I was rushing off to class, Ian Gaskell our course coordinator met me along the way and reminded me that I was late. What an embarrassing moment for me.
So I get to class and it’s like a cyclone blew through the TA space. There were cubes everywhere and flower pots, media centre sound system and tables too. All the monologue groups were scattered wherever they could sit, in the Space. Pritina was working with Anshu at the time so I just sat down and waited my turn, while running my lines through my head.
Speaking of that, a most interesting thing happened to me last night, I actually lay in bed for half the night because my monologue was constantly being replayed in my mind, line after line, I was trying to envision myself within the character and well, it actually worked!
So after Pritina was done with Anshu, she had her way with me. It was a bit weird doing my monologue in front of not only my fellow TA classmates but also a group of women who were setting up the space for a Gender Mainstreaming workshop that’ll be held tomorrow. You know how loud I can get? I had a few people staring at me during the class, I felt a little uncomfortable. Is this how you feel when you’re in the performance space, with the darkness all around and the spotlight is directly on you?
I think it was because I was so nervous and uncomfortable that I fumbled my lines. But despite it all, Pritina said that I was making headway with my monologue. She had me stand in front of the mirror to see myself and watch what I do within the character. She reminded me of the places that I had to emphasise words and other places where I had to variate my voice pitch to suit the line. I’m actually starting to get somewhere with this!
Our monologue presentation is next week Thursday so I’ll have to work extra hard to work it out and be within my character.
Today we had a much interrupted class. First of all, I was about a half hour late for class. The reason I was late is because we had a workshop for my journalism class and it too absolutely forever. It had finished at half past four and as I was rushing off to class, Ian Gaskell our course coordinator met me along the way and reminded me that I was late. What an embarrassing moment for me.
So I get to class and it’s like a cyclone blew through the TA space. There were cubes everywhere and flower pots, media centre sound system and tables too. All the monologue groups were scattered wherever they could sit, in the Space. Pritina was working with Anshu at the time so I just sat down and waited my turn, while running my lines through my head.
Speaking of that, a most interesting thing happened to me last night, I actually lay in bed for half the night because my monologue was constantly being replayed in my mind, line after line, I was trying to envision myself within the character and well, it actually worked!
So after Pritina was done with Anshu, she had her way with me. It was a bit weird doing my monologue in front of not only my fellow TA classmates but also a group of women who were setting up the space for a Gender Mainstreaming workshop that’ll be held tomorrow. You know how loud I can get? I had a few people staring at me during the class, I felt a little uncomfortable. Is this how you feel when you’re in the performance space, with the darkness all around and the spotlight is directly on you?
I think it was because I was so nervous and uncomfortable that I fumbled my lines. But despite it all, Pritina said that I was making headway with my monologue. She had me stand in front of the mirror to see myself and watch what I do within the character. She reminded me of the places that I had to emphasise words and other places where I had to variate my voice pitch to suit the line. I’m actually starting to get somewhere with this!
Our monologue presentation is next week Thursday so I’ll have to work extra hard to work it out and be within my character.
Getting it right
WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2008
Well, I missed yesterday’s class and most definitely would get in trouble with Pritina for not showing up. We had to meet today for one hour but because Elizabeth didn’t show up, I worked with her for two hours. Since I still hadn’t learnt my lines properly, she had me stand in the middle of the performance space and read, then recite, my lines over and over again, until paragraph by paragraph I knew them by heart. She also cut out a few lines that she felt were unnecessary to the monologue. She also did this to make it easier on me when I started my memorisation.
It was long and hard work. By the end of two hours, I could remember four of the five paragraphs. Which was pretty good, Pritina felt that finally she was making headway with me. She reminded me that we would work some more in class but I told her that I had a dental surgery appointment tomorrow so I wouldn’t be able to come for practice. So she gave me the extra long Easter weekend to study my lines thoroughly and also try to work out who the character is talking to and what the monologue is all about.
This was going to be a truly LONG weekend.
Well, I missed yesterday’s class and most definitely would get in trouble with Pritina for not showing up. We had to meet today for one hour but because Elizabeth didn’t show up, I worked with her for two hours. Since I still hadn’t learnt my lines properly, she had me stand in the middle of the performance space and read, then recite, my lines over and over again, until paragraph by paragraph I knew them by heart. She also cut out a few lines that she felt were unnecessary to the monologue. She also did this to make it easier on me when I started my memorisation.
It was long and hard work. By the end of two hours, I could remember four of the five paragraphs. Which was pretty good, Pritina felt that finally she was making headway with me. She reminded me that we would work some more in class but I told her that I had a dental surgery appointment tomorrow so I wouldn’t be able to come for practice. So she gave me the extra long Easter weekend to study my lines thoroughly and also try to work out who the character is talking to and what the monologue is all about.
This was going to be a truly LONG weekend.
I'm in deep trouble
FRIDAY 14 MARCH 2008
Well, I met with my director Pritina today at the TA space and well, despite all the time I was given, I still hadn’t learnt my lines. You could say she was a little disappointed in me. I showed a lot of promise especially with the monologue I chose but I still don’t know my lines.
So Pritina had me read my lines out from the page while trying to get into character. To be honest, I lack the ability to truly understand what my character is all about. When I try to variate the way I say it, I still sound monotonous. It was truly a frustrating thing for me.
We didn’t have much time because she had to go over the monologues of my fellow group members. So Pritina did some work with Anshu, trying to get her to speak loud enough to be heard with the quiet space of the TA room. After a few tries with Anshu, it was back to work with me and my unlearnt lines.
This meeting was a truly difficult thing for me and maybe too for Pritina, I don’t know but I’m sure she must’ve felt frustrated with me for not learning my lines despite the fact that I had the whole long weekend to learn them. I know I can do better next time, my homework from Pritina was to learn my lines by heart and practice in front of a mirror so I can better understand my character and also work out a few facial expressions that might work with each line or sentence.
This is going to be a truly difficult exercise for me.
Well, I met with my director Pritina today at the TA space and well, despite all the time I was given, I still hadn’t learnt my lines. You could say she was a little disappointed in me. I showed a lot of promise especially with the monologue I chose but I still don’t know my lines.
So Pritina had me read my lines out from the page while trying to get into character. To be honest, I lack the ability to truly understand what my character is all about. When I try to variate the way I say it, I still sound monotonous. It was truly a frustrating thing for me.
We didn’t have much time because she had to go over the monologues of my fellow group members. So Pritina did some work with Anshu, trying to get her to speak loud enough to be heard with the quiet space of the TA room. After a few tries with Anshu, it was back to work with me and my unlearnt lines.
This meeting was a truly difficult thing for me and maybe too for Pritina, I don’t know but I’m sure she must’ve felt frustrated with me for not learning my lines despite the fact that I had the whole long weekend to learn them. I know I can do better next time, my homework from Pritina was to learn my lines by heart and practice in front of a mirror so I can better understand my character and also work out a few facial expressions that might work with each line or sentence.
This is going to be a truly difficult exercise for me.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Monologue work Day one
Thursday 13 March 2008
Well, today I was very late for class, and i found out i was assigned to Pritina who is to be my director for my monologue. I must say, i couldn't have picked a tougher one to do...
In our group there's myself, Anshu and this other chick Elizabeth who hasn't been to a single TA 101 class and so we're like wondering who she is... wonder upon wonders, she actually turns up for the class and well i think she's pretty cool. we ended up sitting down and working through some stuff with Pritina.
First Pritina had us look each other in the eye and tell them how much we loved them, my partner was Elizabeth and so i was like: Elizabeth, you know that we've been friends for a long time and there's no beating around the bush with you. there's something i have to say and well, it's not that easy to do... I LOVE YOU."
OMG!!! i never knew it could be sooo simple, but then later i would find out how hard it can be to keep yourself in character... Elizabeth had to do the same thing to Anshu who did it then to me... the exercise was pretty good and it got me a thinking about how i could work out my character for the monologue and also how i could better play that character.
We finished class early with plans to meetup and also Pritina reminded us to start working on memorising our lines for the monologue. God i hope i can do it.
Well, today I was very late for class, and i found out i was assigned to Pritina who is to be my director for my monologue. I must say, i couldn't have picked a tougher one to do...
In our group there's myself, Anshu and this other chick Elizabeth who hasn't been to a single TA 101 class and so we're like wondering who she is... wonder upon wonders, she actually turns up for the class and well i think she's pretty cool. we ended up sitting down and working through some stuff with Pritina.
First Pritina had us look each other in the eye and tell them how much we loved them, my partner was Elizabeth and so i was like: Elizabeth, you know that we've been friends for a long time and there's no beating around the bush with you. there's something i have to say and well, it's not that easy to do... I LOVE YOU."
OMG!!! i never knew it could be sooo simple, but then later i would find out how hard it can be to keep yourself in character... Elizabeth had to do the same thing to Anshu who did it then to me... the exercise was pretty good and it got me a thinking about how i could work out my character for the monologue and also how i could better play that character.
We finished class early with plans to meetup and also Pritina reminded us to start working on memorising our lines for the monologue. God i hope i can do it.
Meet your directors
Tuesday 11 March 2008
Ok so like, we had a quick class, and it was pretty good... today we got to meet our directors... YAY! and wonder of wonders, my director was Pritina... she's pretty cool and i hear she's a straight A freak or something, she works hard to score A's... which is pretty good cause i'm hoping some of her hardwork and dedication will rub off on me. My partners in the team are Anshu and Elizabeth who we haven't seen at all.
Pritina wanted us to have a look at the monologue list and pick out three that we liked the most, or that we felt that we could do... we didn't talk for long, casue i had already printed out the whole monologue list and picked out the one i wanted... which was the one from the previous post...
after that, we decided to meet up later and start work on our monologues, once we had picked them of course.
Ok so like, we had a quick class, and it was pretty good... today we got to meet our directors... YAY! and wonder of wonders, my director was Pritina... she's pretty cool and i hear she's a straight A freak or something, she works hard to score A's... which is pretty good cause i'm hoping some of her hardwork and dedication will rub off on me. My partners in the team are Anshu and Elizabeth who we haven't seen at all.
Pritina wanted us to have a look at the monologue list and pick out three that we liked the most, or that we felt that we could do... we didn't talk for long, casue i had already printed out the whole monologue list and picked out the one i wanted... which was the one from the previous post...
after that, we decided to meet up later and start work on our monologues, once we had picked them of course.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
My monologue
Original Piece by Linda Richards
Character: Taylor Gender: Male
Age (range): 16-20 Style: Drama
Length: 3 minutes
Background Info: It is about a homosexual teenager talking about his childhood and his need for acceptance.
I didn't mean for it to happen. It just did, I mean does anyone ever really decide for themselves who they would like to fall in love with? I just saw them and I knew. I didn't understand it then, didn't know who I really was, but even then I was changing. My life was taking directions that I couldn't understand the impact of at the time. I didn't understand all the oppression that I would have to endure over something as trivial as this.
I never knew until I was in the seventh grade. All the "cool" guys were coming to school hand in hand with their girlfriends. Everyone wondered where mine was. I've never had a problem getting girls to notice me. I've been asked out plenty of times, but I just wasn't interested. I even tried to go out with a few, but there was no feeling in it for me. All the guys began to talk about me. They all suspected that I was different, but I tried to hide it from all of them. I didn't understand what there was to feel ashamed about, but I was ashamed.
I started trying to dress like the rest of them, tried to talk about hot girls, tried to pretend that I wasn't dying inside. They made me hate who I was, hate myself for being different. I would lie awake and cry, hoping that when morning came, I would be what they all wanted.
To this day I hear people’s harsh words as I pass by, "Freak! Fag! Gay." These words all hurt so much, yet I hear them all the time. Why does it matter who I have feelings for, so long as I am capable of loving, the same as you are capable of loving others. I hear people use the word gay in the meanest ways. I hear you say "That’s so gay!" As if being "gay" is something bad, stupid, or ugly. I know that every one of you out there has probably said something like that at one time or another, and I urge you, think before you say something like that. It’s hurtful.
I'm a person just like you. I bleed, I cry, I laugh, I love, and hearing hateful words and being attacked because of my beliefs hurts just as much as when it’s done to you. My sexuality is just one part of me, just as yours is only a small part of the person you are.
Next time you hear someone use "gay" or "fag" or "queer" in a derogatory manner, please remember, it hurts. I don't ask for you to believe what I do, I don't ask you to choose the path that I have been given, I just want you to accept me for the person I am inside. Look beyond this and see a person that is just like you. (thinks to self) . Is that the problem? Am I a little too much like you for your comfort? Do you hate me because you see a little of me hiding in you?
Character: Taylor Gender: Male
Age (range): 16-20 Style: Drama
Length: 3 minutes
Background Info: It is about a homosexual teenager talking about his childhood and his need for acceptance.
I didn't mean for it to happen. It just did, I mean does anyone ever really decide for themselves who they would like to fall in love with? I just saw them and I knew. I didn't understand it then, didn't know who I really was, but even then I was changing. My life was taking directions that I couldn't understand the impact of at the time. I didn't understand all the oppression that I would have to endure over something as trivial as this.
I never knew until I was in the seventh grade. All the "cool" guys were coming to school hand in hand with their girlfriends. Everyone wondered where mine was. I've never had a problem getting girls to notice me. I've been asked out plenty of times, but I just wasn't interested. I even tried to go out with a few, but there was no feeling in it for me. All the guys began to talk about me. They all suspected that I was different, but I tried to hide it from all of them. I didn't understand what there was to feel ashamed about, but I was ashamed.
I started trying to dress like the rest of them, tried to talk about hot girls, tried to pretend that I wasn't dying inside. They made me hate who I was, hate myself for being different. I would lie awake and cry, hoping that when morning came, I would be what they all wanted.
To this day I hear people’s harsh words as I pass by, "Freak! Fag! Gay." These words all hurt so much, yet I hear them all the time. Why does it matter who I have feelings for, so long as I am capable of loving, the same as you are capable of loving others. I hear people use the word gay in the meanest ways. I hear you say "That’s so gay!" As if being "gay" is something bad, stupid, or ugly. I know that every one of you out there has probably said something like that at one time or another, and I urge you, think before you say something like that. It’s hurtful.
I'm a person just like you. I bleed, I cry, I laugh, I love, and hearing hateful words and being attacked because of my beliefs hurts just as much as when it’s done to you. My sexuality is just one part of me, just as yours is only a small part of the person you are.
Next time you hear someone use "gay" or "fag" or "queer" in a derogatory manner, please remember, it hurts. I don't ask for you to believe what I do, I don't ask you to choose the path that I have been given, I just want you to accept me for the person I am inside. Look beyond this and see a person that is just like you. (thinks to self) . Is that the problem? Am I a little too much like you for your comfort? Do you hate me because you see a little of me hiding in you?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Things to look out for
Keep an eye out for my journal on the work I went through with my Director for my monologue.
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFO!
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFO!
Day Two of WAC workshop
THURSDAY 6TH MARCH
Well, its day two of our workshop with the team from WAC and I have to say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and I’ve definitely learnt stuff that I could employ in the future, especially when considering our story for Theatre for Development and the art of Storytelling. But then I’m getting ahead of myself.
We started the class with a few Yoga stretches. To be exact, we did the Salutation to the Sun moved down to do some leg muscle stretches before moving into the cobra and down into the cat, finishing off leg stretches, body twisted and our heads looking upwards into the ceiling. We did that about 3 times before we moved into doing some games.
First off, we played the zoom game, which I’ve played several times over, and I’d have to say that this round of zoom was the fastest and funniest ever. We ran this through several times until Penny started handing out slips of paper that we had to read and keep to ourselves, not divulging anything to anyone. My bit of paper read: Take all the chairs to the windows at the right. Everybody was divided into 3 groups. The first group was mine; we had to take all the chairs (15 in all) to the windows on the right side of the room. The two other groups had to do the same thing, only one had to take it to the centre of the room, the last team had to take the chairs to the doors on the left side of the room.
Now, the thing about this game is that all fifteen chairs have to be at the window, door and centre of the room at the same time, which was impossible to say the least. Everybody fought for the chairs. Some stole whatever chairs were laid for the other teams; others fought, pulled, screamed and laughed their way around. It was a very challenging, tiring and yet fun game. In this game, there were no winners or losers – just a bunch of tired people trying to work their way around the problem.
From playing that game, I’ve learnt to think outside the box. There are instances when I can’t see my way through a problem, and I would need the help of others to work out a solution that might work or it might not, but at least we worked out something. If you wanted to know, we thought of arranging the chairs in a big circle that encompassed all three areas: the window, the door and the centre of the room to complete the game, although it seemed right to us, it was only a possible solution to the problem of the game.
After that game, we sat down to watch WAC do their first performance, a theatre for development piece focusing on Suicide.
The play was about a young couple; the girl was from a typical rural Indian family and the boy was of Fijian and Part-European (?) origins. Their names were, Preeya and Jerry. Preeya’s parents wanted her to have a traditional arranged marriage with another respectable Indian family, but she wanted to marry Jerry instead. Involved in the story is Preeya’s want to complete her education and become a teacher but her father wanted her to get married and then let her future husband decide whether or not she could complete her teaching courses.
In the course of the story, Preeya was pressured by Jerry to run away and elope with him, but she wanted to remain on good terms with her parents. In the end, she took her own life. After her funeral, her brother left the family and started drinking, losing himself until Jerry found him and took Preeya’s brother to his (Jerry’s) place to sort himself out and do something with his life. Preeya in the afterlife was given a chance to see what consequences her actions had on each member of the family and on Jerry.
Overall, I thought the play was ok. To be honest, I thought the storyline could do with a little more brushing up. The actors were in the right emotional setting for their characters but some, e.g. the mother, were a little over-the-top with the way they presented themselves.
Well, its day two of our workshop with the team from WAC and I have to say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and I’ve definitely learnt stuff that I could employ in the future, especially when considering our story for Theatre for Development and the art of Storytelling. But then I’m getting ahead of myself.
We started the class with a few Yoga stretches. To be exact, we did the Salutation to the Sun moved down to do some leg muscle stretches before moving into the cobra and down into the cat, finishing off leg stretches, body twisted and our heads looking upwards into the ceiling. We did that about 3 times before we moved into doing some games.
First off, we played the zoom game, which I’ve played several times over, and I’d have to say that this round of zoom was the fastest and funniest ever. We ran this through several times until Penny started handing out slips of paper that we had to read and keep to ourselves, not divulging anything to anyone. My bit of paper read: Take all the chairs to the windows at the right. Everybody was divided into 3 groups. The first group was mine; we had to take all the chairs (15 in all) to the windows on the right side of the room. The two other groups had to do the same thing, only one had to take it to the centre of the room, the last team had to take the chairs to the doors on the left side of the room.
Now, the thing about this game is that all fifteen chairs have to be at the window, door and centre of the room at the same time, which was impossible to say the least. Everybody fought for the chairs. Some stole whatever chairs were laid for the other teams; others fought, pulled, screamed and laughed their way around. It was a very challenging, tiring and yet fun game. In this game, there were no winners or losers – just a bunch of tired people trying to work their way around the problem.
From playing that game, I’ve learnt to think outside the box. There are instances when I can’t see my way through a problem, and I would need the help of others to work out a solution that might work or it might not, but at least we worked out something. If you wanted to know, we thought of arranging the chairs in a big circle that encompassed all three areas: the window, the door and the centre of the room to complete the game, although it seemed right to us, it was only a possible solution to the problem of the game.
After that game, we sat down to watch WAC do their first performance, a theatre for development piece focusing on Suicide.
The play was about a young couple; the girl was from a typical rural Indian family and the boy was of Fijian and Part-European (?) origins. Their names were, Preeya and Jerry. Preeya’s parents wanted her to have a traditional arranged marriage with another respectable Indian family, but she wanted to marry Jerry instead. Involved in the story is Preeya’s want to complete her education and become a teacher but her father wanted her to get married and then let her future husband decide whether or not she could complete her teaching courses.
In the course of the story, Preeya was pressured by Jerry to run away and elope with him, but she wanted to remain on good terms with her parents. In the end, she took her own life. After her funeral, her brother left the family and started drinking, losing himself until Jerry found him and took Preeya’s brother to his (Jerry’s) place to sort himself out and do something with his life. Preeya in the afterlife was given a chance to see what consequences her actions had on each member of the family and on Jerry.
Overall, I thought the play was ok. To be honest, I thought the storyline could do with a little more brushing up. The actors were in the right emotional setting for their characters but some, e.g. the mother, were a little over-the-top with the way they presented themselves.
Day One of WAC workshop
TUESDAY 4TH MARCH
I’ve spent like forever, trying to figure out whether or not I’m going to buy a notebook and create a journal or am I going to work out something online and type it out… as you can see, I’ve opted for the second option. Part of the reason why I’m doing this is the fact that I actually think better when I’m typing (for some obscure reason, its true) and my thoughts flow on paper much quicker this way.
So, back to the main topic of the day, it’s what I experienced today in our TA 101 class. Well, obviously you’d know what happened but I’m supposed to write about it so here I go, typing out what you already know about what we did today.
We had the theatre group from WAC (i.e. Women’s Action for Change) come over and do the first part of a two-day workshop for the TA 101 class. Under the leadership of Penny Moore, they had us doing Yoga stretches. Now speaking about those stretches, they were really simple and basic stretches that got me feeling all relaxed and loose, ready to head into the class. Before, I used to think that Yoga was like this seriously complex meditation thing that had people bending and flexing in ways unheard of, except if you were a Yoga enthusiast.
After we did our stretches, we played four games: the first was a name game. In this game we had to call out our names and then say the name of a city that shares the same first letter as our own names, here’s an example of mine which was “Sai from Sydney”. The second game was a shoe game. Everybody had to bring their shoes into the centre of the space and then pick out two mismatched pairs of shoes. Our job from there was to locate the other pair of the shoes we were wearing. I had a black sandal on my left foot and a penny loafer on my right foot. I had to find the people who were wearing the other pairs to my shoes. This was a pretty interesting game cause for some people there was a long line of people connected by the different shoes and for others, it was only a group of two who shared the same pairs of shoes.
After the shoe game everybody had to get into partners, of roughly the same size and hopefully weight, and then link arms standing back-to-back. My partner was Sinu. We had to sit in that same position; legs stretched out and push ourselves up to a standing position. This had to be the funniest game ever for me, especially if you were a spectator watching what was happening, you’d have been laughing your head off seeing me and Sinu trying to support each other and taking into consideration, I’m obviously twice her size and weight. It was absolutely hilarious! But do note that, we eventually did manage to stand – with some help and coaching from Penny.
We had to play that game twice and each time we played it, the number for each group grew; from two to four and from four to six. The final group count was the final straw; we just couldn’t do it anymore. If you had looked at our group, you would’ve noticed that we were made up of three big people and 3 small, skinny, light weighted people. Let’s just say that the big ones were truly the anchors of the team.
Our last game was the alphabet game. Everyone had to bend and twist their bodies into the shapes of the alphabet that were being called out, the only letter I had trouble with was, the letter H. After the first time, we had to get into pairs and work out ways of making letters.
Getting into the thick of things, we turned on a more serious note into discussion groups. My group was to discuss the ways that decisions are made in the family home; both traditional and modern. The basic run down of what we discussed is that, the traditional family is male dominated and therefore, decisions are made by the fathers or patriarchs of the family. In a modern family, however, we see a different case; one where the mother shares an equal say in all decision making processes and children too can question what their parents decide. With that in mind, we had to come up with a freeze frame or body sculpture of whatever points we raised in discussion.
For our body sculpture, we first depicted a scene (from a traditional point of view) of a father dictating to the family with everyone listening and not doing anything adverse to what’s happening. The second scene, we had the parents come on and watch and listen as their children argue or fight amongst themselves for their parents attention, each eager to voice their opinion on what’s being decided.
That exercise, helped me think outside of my usual sphere of what I think Theatre is all about. I mean, when you say theatre, the first thing that pops in my mind is: Julius Caesar or something like the Phantom of the Opera. I never knew that Theatre could be so invigorating, fun, and free-styled. It gets me thinking about ways and means I could use to send a message across to a fellow peer about any situation, awareness or ideal. The exercise also helped to break the ice between those of us in the class who still don’t know each other that well.
After that, we had to sit and listen as Penny read a Malaysian folktale of the clever Mousedeer and the Giant. Penny only read until a certain point in the story, our job as a group was to come up with an alternative ending to the whole story and act it out using characters from the story. My group tackled that head on and came up with a scenario that people didn’t really expect. It was also fun to watch the other groups perform their depictions of what could have happened to the Giant and the Mousedeer.
I learnt a lot from this exercise. It got me thinking about how we have different perspectives on what could have happened but then we also shared several common traits to our story – the one recurring point was the fact that the snake knew the rabbit was a double crossing backstabber and quickly made note of that to the other animals in the forest. I also learned that improvisation played a major key in keeping the story lively and exciting. Another point you can take into account, is that I realised that while the Theatre Space is small, one still needs to raise one’s voice if one wishes to be heard, especially in a funny scene where conversation is happening over the laughter.
All in all, I enjoyed the first day of the WAC workshop. I’ve learnt a lot from it, most of what I’ve learnt I can apply in future to whatever it is I’m doing whether it’s in Theatre, Music, Dance or just plain old mucking around.
This Thursday, we will watch WAC perform and also round off the week’s workshop with good fun! I can’t wait for it. Keep reading for more updates on Week Two’s activities.
I’ve spent like forever, trying to figure out whether or not I’m going to buy a notebook and create a journal or am I going to work out something online and type it out… as you can see, I’ve opted for the second option. Part of the reason why I’m doing this is the fact that I actually think better when I’m typing (for some obscure reason, its true) and my thoughts flow on paper much quicker this way.
So, back to the main topic of the day, it’s what I experienced today in our TA 101 class. Well, obviously you’d know what happened but I’m supposed to write about it so here I go, typing out what you already know about what we did today.
We had the theatre group from WAC (i.e. Women’s Action for Change) come over and do the first part of a two-day workshop for the TA 101 class. Under the leadership of Penny Moore, they had us doing Yoga stretches. Now speaking about those stretches, they were really simple and basic stretches that got me feeling all relaxed and loose, ready to head into the class. Before, I used to think that Yoga was like this seriously complex meditation thing that had people bending and flexing in ways unheard of, except if you were a Yoga enthusiast.
After we did our stretches, we played four games: the first was a name game. In this game we had to call out our names and then say the name of a city that shares the same first letter as our own names, here’s an example of mine which was “Sai from Sydney”. The second game was a shoe game. Everybody had to bring their shoes into the centre of the space and then pick out two mismatched pairs of shoes. Our job from there was to locate the other pair of the shoes we were wearing. I had a black sandal on my left foot and a penny loafer on my right foot. I had to find the people who were wearing the other pairs to my shoes. This was a pretty interesting game cause for some people there was a long line of people connected by the different shoes and for others, it was only a group of two who shared the same pairs of shoes.
After the shoe game everybody had to get into partners, of roughly the same size and hopefully weight, and then link arms standing back-to-back. My partner was Sinu. We had to sit in that same position; legs stretched out and push ourselves up to a standing position. This had to be the funniest game ever for me, especially if you were a spectator watching what was happening, you’d have been laughing your head off seeing me and Sinu trying to support each other and taking into consideration, I’m obviously twice her size and weight. It was absolutely hilarious! But do note that, we eventually did manage to stand – with some help and coaching from Penny.
We had to play that game twice and each time we played it, the number for each group grew; from two to four and from four to six. The final group count was the final straw; we just couldn’t do it anymore. If you had looked at our group, you would’ve noticed that we were made up of three big people and 3 small, skinny, light weighted people. Let’s just say that the big ones were truly the anchors of the team.
Our last game was the alphabet game. Everyone had to bend and twist their bodies into the shapes of the alphabet that were being called out, the only letter I had trouble with was, the letter H. After the first time, we had to get into pairs and work out ways of making letters.
Getting into the thick of things, we turned on a more serious note into discussion groups. My group was to discuss the ways that decisions are made in the family home; both traditional and modern. The basic run down of what we discussed is that, the traditional family is male dominated and therefore, decisions are made by the fathers or patriarchs of the family. In a modern family, however, we see a different case; one where the mother shares an equal say in all decision making processes and children too can question what their parents decide. With that in mind, we had to come up with a freeze frame or body sculpture of whatever points we raised in discussion.
For our body sculpture, we first depicted a scene (from a traditional point of view) of a father dictating to the family with everyone listening and not doing anything adverse to what’s happening. The second scene, we had the parents come on and watch and listen as their children argue or fight amongst themselves for their parents attention, each eager to voice their opinion on what’s being decided.
That exercise, helped me think outside of my usual sphere of what I think Theatre is all about. I mean, when you say theatre, the first thing that pops in my mind is: Julius Caesar or something like the Phantom of the Opera. I never knew that Theatre could be so invigorating, fun, and free-styled. It gets me thinking about ways and means I could use to send a message across to a fellow peer about any situation, awareness or ideal. The exercise also helped to break the ice between those of us in the class who still don’t know each other that well.
After that, we had to sit and listen as Penny read a Malaysian folktale of the clever Mousedeer and the Giant. Penny only read until a certain point in the story, our job as a group was to come up with an alternative ending to the whole story and act it out using characters from the story. My group tackled that head on and came up with a scenario that people didn’t really expect. It was also fun to watch the other groups perform their depictions of what could have happened to the Giant and the Mousedeer.
I learnt a lot from this exercise. It got me thinking about how we have different perspectives on what could have happened but then we also shared several common traits to our story – the one recurring point was the fact that the snake knew the rabbit was a double crossing backstabber and quickly made note of that to the other animals in the forest. I also learned that improvisation played a major key in keeping the story lively and exciting. Another point you can take into account, is that I realised that while the Theatre Space is small, one still needs to raise one’s voice if one wishes to be heard, especially in a funny scene where conversation is happening over the laughter.
All in all, I enjoyed the first day of the WAC workshop. I’ve learnt a lot from it, most of what I’ve learnt I can apply in future to whatever it is I’m doing whether it’s in Theatre, Music, Dance or just plain old mucking around.
This Thursday, we will watch WAC perform and also round off the week’s workshop with good fun! I can’t wait for it. Keep reading for more updates on Week Two’s activities.
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