UAL Level 3 Diploma Performing Arts {Acting}

The Three Sisters [The script we are using is translated and adapted for a modern audience by Benedict Andrews.] Week One We started to read through the opening scene as a group. Our teacher told us about the events of the play, and the characters. Of the three sisters, Olga is the eldest at 28, Masha is 23, and Irina is the youngest at 20 (at the opening of the play). We decided that some of the themes in the play are: Family Conflict Relationships Politics Dissatisfaction (of their own lives) Class We read through the first scene a couple of times, discussing potential blocking for the scene. We then decided to get up and figure out the blocking of the scene through trial and error. We discussed characterisation, so when I read the part of Irina, using the stage direction 'Irina staring out the window' to decide to give her a faraway, almost vacant look in her eyes. I also played the line 'why bring it all back?' as irritated. I chose this bec...

The York Realist Week 1 We were given the following quote from the play: 'I live here. I live here. You can't see that, though. You can't see it. This is where I live. Here.' We discussed what we thought about this quote as a class. A few people agreed that the way it was written is a child-like way of speaking. One person suggested that it could be an immigrant child talking to a bully, because of the phrase ‘you can’t see that’. I mentioned that the use of short sentences and repetition suggests that the speaker is desperate and/or panicky. We talked about what sort of situation, or conversation it would be said in. We all agreed that it would be said in a conflict. I said that I thought it would be said near the end of an argument because of how exasperated the speaker seems to be. Next, we picked a partner and devised a short scene that had to include this quote. We thought that the quote could be said in an argument with a landlord, threatening t...

First day back Morning We briefly went over the definition of circles of attention, which simply means where the actor's attention, or focus, lies on stage. We did an exercise where we focused our circle of attention on small things, such as a water bottle. We then expanded that circle to a bigger area, and then the entire room. This is useful because it can help us make decisions for our characters for how observant they are (if they are unobservant or oblivious, the actor's circle of attention would most likely be smaller), or if they are paranoid the actor's circle of attention would cover a larger area. We also did two exercises on observational skills: With a partner, we took turns looking at the other for 30 seconds and trying to remember as much as we could about them. After 30 seconds we closed our eyes and said everything we could remember.  Half of the class acted as if they were on the tube, they were not allowed to talk or interact with each other. T...

Warm Ups Warm ups are important so that we don't harm ourselves during rehearsals or performances. We also do physical warm ups to prevent us from pulling a muscle. For example, we stretch our arms and legs and warm up our facial muscles by lightly tapping all over our faces, and massaging our jaws to release tension. An example of a vocal warm up would be the following. Warming up our voices by doing exercises where we hum and pretend to chew gum. Tongue twisters, such as 'she sells sea shells on the sea shore' and 'the lips the teeth the tip of the tongue'. This helps articulation, dictation and overall clarity when speaking onstage. Work on projection by choosing a line from the play and saying it across the space as if a hill were in the way. ___________________________________ Health and Safety Risk Assessment College Theatre The wings backstage are very small, and have thigs like a ladder, desk and boxes to bump into in the dark of backstage so...

Context There are many differences between modern and Shakespearean theatre, with differences in technology and acting style and so on. One key difference is that women were not allowed to act in the Elizabethan era so all the actors would have been male, even the female characters.  In modern theatre we use a blackout, and sometimes a sound effect, to get the audience's attention and show that the play is about to begin. However, in Shakespearean theatre they did not have this, so the actors had to draw attention themselves. This meant that their naturalistic acting had a melodramatic tone as they needed to project and use grand gestures to maintain the audience's focus. Shakespeare's audience was a lot less respectful of theatre than the modern audience, who will sit quietly throughout. Shakespeare's audience, especially the ground-lings who had to stand in front of the stage for the entirety of the play. They were loud and did not always give their full atte...

The Performance Evening and evaluation At the start of the day we had an hour long tech-run at the Shaw Theatre in full costume and props. We ran our piece cue to cue with someone from the Shakespeare School Festival Company telling us when to stop and where to skip to. Following this, we had a dress rehearsal in front of one of the other schools performing 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (we also saw their dress rehearsal). Once this had been done, we were allowed to leave for the afternoon and returned to the theatre for a warm up at 6 pm. All 4 performing schools did a vocal and physical warm up onstage to get the energy levels up and to warm our voices in order to project and fill the space. We were told the running order of the evening, starting with 'Macbeth' and 'The Tempest' with an interval before 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and our piece. The show began at 7 after the audience arrived. We sat at the very back of the auditorium and watch...

Evaluation of music performances I saw a series of performances from the music students at my college. The use of a combination of old and new songs that are well known was interesting to watch as the audience felt included, and created a fun atmosphere. I really enjoyed the performance of 'Billy Jean' by Michael Jackson, because I think the group of singers' voices complimented one another, especially with the harmonies. I also thought that choosing to sing 'Stand By Me' half in Spanish and half in English is a unique and effective idea that worked well in the performance. As an audience member, I thought this was effective because this performance stood out from the others. As an audience member I enjoyed the blend of musical instruments because they were effective in complimenting the singers' voices. _____________________________________ Evaluation of musical theatre performances I thought that the dance moves in the interpretive dance pie...