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Creating a piece based on Remote's opening piece, we also learnt about choral work's origin and meaning. Originating from Ancient Greece, choral work helped to tell a story of a piece. In groups, we created shapes such as circles or squares. Doing this, a skill we had to use was communication as everyone had to be in the right position at the right time. After that we incorporated speech into choral work by going into groups and as a group listed things we liked and did a movement to match it. This was harder to do, but as long as we communicated well we could perform a synchronised and entertaining performance. The final step was to create a performance based on the opening monologue of Remote which we did by allocating lines and moving into a circle. This was challenging as everyone had to say their line at the right time as well as do the right movement. The whole workshop put us in the shoes of the chorus in 'Remote.'

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This process made us go through different levels, such as the catatonic, Californian, neutral, alert/curious, suspense, passionate, and tragic. We started by laying around in a catatonic casually, and then changing to a 'Californian' one which was still relaxed but we were interacting with each other. This made us friendly but reserved, and it was interesting how we all moved differently. The neutral was more natural, whereas the curious meant we had to explore the room more and look around and perhaps move quicker. The suspense state brought the scenario of there being something dangerous in the room, which quickened my pace and affected my reaction as I became more frantic trying to figure out whether it was there or not. The last two were the most fun to do, as it meant you could go all out and become extremely dramatic and maybe even run or hide away.

Overall it was interesting to see how we inhibit different states of tension in different situations, and was useful as we would be in those different states of tensions during different parts of the performance.

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For this activity we had to close our eyes and be read a passage in which we did actions. One was very detailed whilst the other one was brief, and the one that was detailed was significantly better to imagine. As an actor this meant that to fully create a detailed world for our characters we had to use part of our imagination and go deep into what our lives might look like or what it might look like before us (such as what the park looks like.)

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Me and another actor worked on text from the play Macbeth, which was the scene after which Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had just killed King Duncan. I already had knowledge of the play since I had studied it at school, and I really enjoyed going into the material. I portrayed Lady Macbeth's madness with my characterisation of her, and wanted to show the calmness and manipulation as she told Macbeth what to do. I also gave a hint of her using her sexuality as I maintained physical contact to Macbeth. We worked to give a clear contrast between the two, as Macbeth grew scared and nervous and Lady Macbeth was more calm and collected and the authority over Macbeth. Levels also helped show their power dynamic as I stood over the other actor to show my increased power.

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My first response to the play critically was that I didn't like the play and I found it archetypal and had weak story arcs and characters. I still held that opinion by the end about the story as a whole, but to really play my character to the best of my ability I had to explore the play deeper and find things that I liked from it or find more meaning.

The play's main aspects are about youth, and youth feeling disempowered - whether it be circumstances such as poverty or bullying or family issues. Antler really encompasses this as she childishly decides to protest to gain attention or to feel power in some kind of way. I think also a character like Skin feels disempowered which is why she turns to bullying as a defence against the world she feels afraid of. Protest also is a massive theme in the play, which may have been inspired by Gen Z as a generation who are active in this. I would argue that rather then making some big political point in the play with the lists of issues in the chorus's narration (such as about global warming), perhaps the author through the character of Antler is perhaps suggesting that protest is just another way for teenagers to make an impact, that it is a statement in itself and that teenagers may feel overwhelmed and disempowered by the world around them. The idea of having characters go on about with their complicated relationships and situations intertwined also was an interesting way for the story to play out, and the issues were relatable to teenagers. My intentions then as an actress was to present my character as fearful and hint at the vulnerability of being a teenager.

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As a group we collectively discussed character motivations, backstories and relationships.  Looking at the text also helped strengthen our characterisations. We also did a hot seat activity where the teacher would interview our characters. This really helped me step into the character on command and align with their thoughts and observations through improvisation.

Antler

headstrong, confident

emotional baggage

Brash

feels powerless, lacks control

impulsive

Wants to be seen and understood

fears what the world is turning to

Skin and Blister embodiment of what she doesnt like in the world

implied mental health

reactive

relationship to sister - love/hate relationship, but will always be there as big sister

relationship to oil - oil likes antler but she is preoccupied with other things, wants to be just friends

Sticks to her people, selective

Relationship to desk - defensive of herself, feels like she is being judged, quite similiar

Resents dad not being in life, wants attention

have to be independent as parents are not in picture, sick of sister controlling her

out of her control

CRYSTAL

laid back

12/13

lives with sister and mum, inattentive father, too young to understand parents relationship

stable, middle class home

crystal doesn’t notice why mum is like that , too young to understand

gets angry at finn for protecting her, independent

doesn’t like blister and skins group

Overall wants to find her sister, chance fo be independent

less problems with her emotions, more practical, more down to earth, more realistic

relationship with finn - don’t know each other, protective relationship like sister so doesn’t like her, kiss changes dynamic of relationship, finds it weird

doesnt like skin and blister

Finn

doing her own thing, chill

doesn’t see the point of going to school, hangs around with group for protection

friends with them for the protection from them

going on a moral journey

been part of the group for a long time

15 years old

wants to move on, transitional character

separates herself from blister and skin

protective side to her

good strong parent influence but maybe more like a friend then parent

Skin

Betrayal at Finn leaving

Pack mentality, relies on group “wolves” quote

Idolises Blister and sees him as hero, family relationship

15 years old

Live in a tough area so have survivalist mentality, street smart

Paranoid and always looking out for danger

Tomboyish

Lack of social skills?

Perhaps struggle with sexuality as they are key on insulting Finn’s kiss with crystal

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During this lesson we created a map of the park in Remote. This helped us ‘see’ the park laid out on the stage during our scenes, which would be an on site large performance space with an included tree in the centre. We took inspiration from real life parks, and added in details such as a play area or open dog walking area to make the place more believable to us as actors. This strengthened our actor's imagination and made the location more believable. Another activity that helped strengthened the world was to do hot seating, of which I had to use Stanislavski's 'Magic If' method.' I found the unpredictability of the questions was actually really helpful as I had to think on the spot what my character would say instead of having lines. I found Skin to be dismissive and closed off about her emotions, and resentful and aggressive when asked about Finn.

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Going over the whole script, we payed attention to staging the performance and where and how to come on. We had to bear in mind that we would be on stage at all times due to the location, and so would have to stay put on the stage. I wrote all of these stage directions onto my script so I could remember it and worked on how my character would walk and their physical movement during the production. I decided that they despite their power would lag behind Blister as they were the 'second in command.'

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We began by warming up during a movement game, which tested our minds as we had to do the right movement at the right time. Today the focus was on staging and the pace of the production. Because of the unique staging we would be on the stage at all times, and wouldn’t be able to go off stage normally. Some people were not present so others had to play their roles.

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https://www.masterclass.com/articles/character-development-questions-to-ask-your-characters#6-questions-about-your-characters-thoughts-and-emotions

These set of questions helped me dive deeper into my character:

8 Questions About Your Character’s Physical Appearance

1. How do they style your hair? Messy, runs brush through it occasionally

2. What kind of clothing do they wear? Tomboy clothes, streetwear like hoodies or tracksuits

3. Do they wear makeup? Some mascara occasionally

4. What’s their nationality? British

5. Do they have any birthmarks? Embarassing one on their leg, chicken wing shaped

13 Questions About Your Character’s Background and Lifestyle

1. Where were they born? City

2. Who are their parents? Emma and Joe

3. Where do they live? City

4. What do they do for a living? Mum is receptionist and Dad is Truck Driver

5. What is their greatest achievement? Being part of Blister’s gang

6. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to them? Falling on their face at school

7. If we searched their name on Google, what would we find? Their facebook account

8. When was the first time they fell in love? Hasn’t fallen in love

9. What is their biggest secret? They are very insecure and fragile emotionally

10. What is their greatest regret? Beating up a younger boy so hard he has to go to hospital, saw mother’s reaction

11. Do they have any bad habits? Smoking, bullying

12. Did they attend high school? College? Go to high school, don’t want to go to college

13. What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to them? Someone robbing them at knifepoint in the city

9 Questions About Your Character’s Interests

1. What’s their favorite movie? (Secretly) Toy Story but also likes horror films like The Exorcist and Halloween

2. What’s their favorite food? Chinese takeaway

3. What TV shows do they watch? Game of thrones

4. What do they like to do for fun? Hang out with her group

5. Do they have any hobbies? Has been taking up boxing recently

6. What’s their favorite color? Red

7. What is their most treasured possession? Her Air Jordans

9 Questions About Your Character’s Relationship

1. Who do they consider their closest friend or best friend? Blister

2. Do they have a romantic partner? No

3. Which family members are they close with? Blister, Grandpa

4. Who do they share your deepest secrets with? Blister and no one else

5. Who do they trust? Blister, but also the trust is being tested due to time. Suspicious of group because scared of them leaving her.

6. Who would they turn to for help? Blister

7. What is the relationship like with their parents? Distant, allowed to do what she wants because they are always busy

6 Questions About Your Character’s Thoughts and Emotions

1. What’s their spirit animal? Wolf

2. What are their biggest pet peeves? People lying

3. Do they consider themselves an introvert or an extrovert? Extrovert, slightly introverted

4. What does perfect happiness look like to them? Feeling part of a group and feeling protected

5. What is their greatest fear? What keeps them up at night? Everyone leaving them

6. Are they a glass-half-full or glass-half-empty kind of person? Glass half empty

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Writing Character Development: 45 Questions to Ask Your Characters - 2022 - MasterClass

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Do you know what your main character would do if all of their friends forgot their birthday? What about if they found a hundred-dollar bill on the ground? These kinds of questions (often called “character development questions”) are a great way to help you breathe life into your characters in the fi…

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In this lesson we split into our two groups, which gave us time to focus on our own tasks. We began with a game of Splat as a warmup which made us more energetic, and then set tasks of working on transitions and blocking and also characterisation. We ran through our material with an emphasis on our blocking and transitions, which really helped as we could discuss it and help each other out. After doing a more relaxed run through, we rehearsed the beginning and ending of everyones scene to perfect the transitions. After that, we did an improvisation tool of ‘hot seating’ in order to get into the heads of our characters. This was really enjoyable as I could really think on the spot and think deeper about my character and it tested my improvisational skills. We asked questions like “What are your opinions on this character?” which also has us thinking about relationships and linked to Stanisvlaski's aim of connecting to the character you were playing.

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During the run through I focused on enunciation of my lines and the meaning behind them. Lines where Skin would be interrogating other characters meant I had to be intimidating, so I experimented in saying them with different levels of edge or malice. As a group we went over the transitions of our characters and made sure it went smoothly technically and that everyone went in the right place (such as me and Blister being together and going through the audience.) Me and the other actress playing Skin decided to exchange a bloody pair of shoes as a hint to Skin's violent nature and the event beforehand involving the dog. The best way to control these transitions was to communicate as a group and synchronise our movement to a certain line or moment in the play.

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During this lesson I got to watch the second cast’s perform, which was interesting as I could think about my own character’s progression during the play after the first act occurs. After watching it, we went outside and I got to see the entire space for our performance outside. There were some technical things to consider during this, such as the proxemics (because the space was so large people would be more spread out), large size of the place and also outside factors such as passerby’s. Me and other cast members also figured out where would be our main area, which we decided would be several seated areas on the performance place. I also asked about costumes between the two casts, and I plan to keep the outfit consistent to my other cast member such as with colours or style.

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During a run through we did some hot seating to better understand character intentions in the performance. Me and the other actors discussed Blister and Skin’s relationship and personal history. I think that Skin and Blister come from a tougher background and have a shared history together and lack any long term goals. Skin also has a very anxious dependency style and is distrustful about everyone around her, especially Finn (who she might have had a relationship with before.)

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The most important target this lesson was to have a consistent run through where everything ran smoothly. There were some stops to the run through as we needed direction in some scenes, such as me being given direction to appear more threatening. Overall we needed to improve the pace of the performance so that it would be more entertaining - especially in high energy scenes such as Finn leaving the group or Skin with her bat. Me and the other actress playing Skin decided on our costume being a simple blue tshirt and jeans, and some shoes with bloody shoelaces in reference to what Skin and Blister do to the dog.

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This production inspired my performance as I liked the actor's performance of the bullies Blister and Skin. I liked their intense tone of voice, shouting and exaggerated characterisation, as well as the blocking for the piece such as how they cornered Oil.

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One of the biggest problems was people being off script as it held up the cast, so everyone including me needed to perfect these lines. During the bullying scenes we decided that we wanted to be more physically intimidating to make the energy of the scene to be more engaging. To do this, after the run through we went through the scene again with inspiration from another production, and shouted our lines more and used physical intimidation such as grabbing or pushing characters. It also improved the proxemics of the scene.

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During the day's rehearsal, we as a company had difficulties rehearsing such as the heat and some members not knowing their lines. To combat this we had to fight through the heat and revise lines, or continue on or improvise in case of any gaps. Also due to it being a site specific piece they were outside sounds we had to ignore such as Helicopter sounds or members of the public. Despite this, we vigorously rehearsed which led to an improvement in the fluidity, lines and overall performance.

During the performance, I did have an instance of speaking over someone's line by accident. A failure of the piece was that people were skipping lines which would make the performance extremely quick and leave entire pieces of dialogue out for everyone else. This confused me and meant I had to think quickly and make sure I was on the right line as we were missing some. One of the things I made sure to keep in my performance was to hold intensity in the performance such as in my stare or aggression. I found that despite the less amount of dialogue it still got the point across about my character and brought out the energy. Another thing that I liked in my performance was the interactions I had with Blister as the performance went on, such as having an arm wrestle on the bench. This helped show our characters interaction and was interesting for the audience. Overall  I would want to improve next time with certainty in my performance, but despite outside factors I still made sure I had a good performance. I also feel more confident after hearing the positive audience response, who really enjoyed the acting and story.