Rehearsal

Theatre notes 2: 

We started from the beginning of act 1 in our Monday rehearsals and were told about our costume choices, Young Estella's being:

-black dress ( long and flowing) tight in some areas 

- some black shoes, maybe small heels?

-a locket(gold,noticeable) 

-curly hair 

Make up wise: 

-pale make up

-red lipstick

-no black eye liner

The show looks really good and there is a week until our show. Our rehearsals are coming together nicely and the energy levels are definitely higher. The only thing that I am worrying about is the translations between characters as we haven't looked over them yet. Sound wise the Christmas scene looks good as now all of the girls are singing 'holly and the ivy' and just after that scene everyone makes sound effects as the wind. Young Estella's character needs to be more of a bitch to be honest but it's a lot harder because estella is so quiet. This rehearsal I am going to try and be a bit bolder as all of Charles Dickens characters are. To see it all coming together is exciting and it came to about 45 minutes in the end. I have been watching and analysing chorus in depth as they are on scene all the time. They are all doing really well and their energy levels safe high but I think that they all need to focus on staging and how to perform on a thrust stage. On Wednesday we all need to make our own way to Charles cryer theatre. I just did my first scene and I think I need to tell a story some more with my lines. As the scenes go on, the energy levels 

drop sometimes but I think this will improve towards the play.

Rehearsal

Theatre Notes: 

Started back on page 31 in the scene where Miss Havisham is talking to joe. We are in Monday afternoon rehearsals for our first week rehearsing on a Monday. I'm starting to like how chorus are diagonal in most scenes. It uses the stage and you can see everyone on stage. I've been assessing Ben who plays joe and I think over the weeks he has definitely embodied his character we'll and has made some strong decisions about his posture and accent on stage. The energy is getting better and everybody on stage in a scene are constantly being their characters and never not doing something with their character on stage. I think this will work well with the props and set, as we only have one significant object each, I think each character should use this in their scenes because it gives them something to do when they aren't speaking and making the 'object' obvious. We have learnt today that we finish act 1 on page 41. Today we have run through our scripts and given chorus all of their lines. We have rehearsed from where we finished on Thursday and also we are going through other elements of the play such as sound and effects. We also set up the theatre room as a thrust stage with chair on two sides and the front to represent the audience. We set up every scene in the correct positioning and went through blocking once again. 

SELF observation sheet

Rehersals

Our last rehearsal was our final rehearsal before half term, leaving us only 4 weeks to complete and rehearse act 1. We all split up as normal, and act one were working in the space for this week. I really liked working the space as it gave us more 'space' and I felt like it suited what we were rehearsing. This week was particularly important as we were running through the middle of act one. This is a part in the play where a lot of my scenes come up. At times this was hard as because of chorus, there are so many characters on stage at one time, we all have to make sure that we are in sync with one another, and lines are delivered on cues. It was good blocking our own steps before we started rehearsing to give us an idea and to refresh our memories of the week before. Ben and Claudia were evaluating me this week and both gave back feedback saying I have made some bold decisions with my character but to be more of a bold character when delivering hurtful lines, and just generally be bitchier with it. We were told that we need to have learnt all of our lines for when we come back so that it is smoother and we can just focus on the acting. I’m really enjoying Great Expectations, and seeing everybody step out of their comfort zones in a way to make bolder characters. As marketing/ assistant stage manager (props) I am constantly keeping an eye out for any props or continuity changes in the play. I think week by week the rehearsals are improving and hopefully, when we all return and know our lines it will flow a lot smoother.

Self&Peer Assessment

Rehersals

We have rehearsed for the last two weeks, really well and all have been really focused and taken directions well. we have run through until page 20 now. We have blocked every scene, and will perform one scene over and over until everyone remembers the scene and then run through towards the end of the lesson. We have been confirmed that we can perform an evening performance at the Charles Cryer Theatre in Carshalton, which we are all excited about. Today, we ran through from where we left off last week, and whilst i was off stage, i was taking pictures and completing my self assessment and peer assessment, also learning my lines and developing my character. When i did go on stage we blocked what we all had to do so far in order to complete and continue next week. At the end we had to block all of our own movements not in real time, which helped remember where we were going and what we were doing.