Unit 6 & 7 - National theatre connections assignment 2023

Task 2 

In the connections piece I play the role of Mr Emre who is the father of Stefi and Zafer. In the first appearance of Mr Emre in scene 3 it is shown that he is a miserly and affirmative character this is shown by Tom Joy entering the scene that Mr Emre has a strong distaste for him this shows the hatred of Mr Emre for Tom Joy. At the end of the scene Tom Joy is caught stealing which is one of the main reasons we can see why Mr Emre has strong feelings against him. The relationship between Mr Emre and his children (Stefi and Zafar) is dysfunctional its shown that Mr Emre lacks the decency and love for both of them. An example is Zafar who needs the funding for his cancer treatment. Mr Emre however invests this money into his shop this shows he is selfish and greedy. The relationship between him and his kids is seen in a way which tom joy gets in the way this is shown in scene 5. Due to Mr Emre's job a appropriate costume/outfit would be scruffs and a catering apron which he takes on and off as these clothes would be okay to get dirty.

Task 2 - FOR PRODUCTION TEAM ONLY – It’s all about the Design

In the production team I worked on props I made a list of items that were required. Many of the props like the casts and fake organs were already sorted so this made my job a lot easy luckily many of the props were already in the college e.g. in the prop room and art department. When the props were eventually all got we used them during rehearsals this allowed us to move things around for the sake of making it more better and realistic for instance I played the role of Mr Emre so I moved the tubs and cans behind or on top of my counter. Some skills I used were team working which allowed us to make tasks easier and gave us an advantage for example me and ash inquired on a lot of props around the college which helped us equip them before the performance.Furthermore Laura who was our leader made it easy for us and me by supplying us with a list of what is needed.

Task 3 

The National Theatre is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. Internationally, it is known as the National Theatre of Great Britain. Many well-known actors have performed at the National Theatre. Some of the work they do is National Theatre Connections which is the annual nationwide youth theatre festival run by the National Theatre. The festival was founded in 1995, and features ten new plays for young people written by leading playwrights. Productions are staged by schools and youth groups at their schools and community centres, and at local professional theatre hubs. One of the productions of each play is invited to perform in a final festival at the National Theatre, usually in the Olivier Theatre and Dorfman Theatre. Some other work they do is Public Acts which is a community participation programme from the National Theatre working with theatres and community organisations across the UK to create large-scale new work. The first Public Acts production was Pericles in August 2018, at the National Theatre, in the Olivier Theatre. The Guardian described this as 'a richly sung version with brilliant performances from a cast of hundreds. The second production was As You Like It performed in August 2019 at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch. This year the connections piece we will be doing is Old Times by Molly Taylor its about a group of friends who are all like a normal friend group till theirs a stabbing of the police officer. This project shows the older and younger versions of the character and shows how the killer (Tom Joy) is framed and gets released and portrays the apprehension of the characters who framed him.

Task 4 

In rehearsals, my understanding of the script allows me to portray my character of Mr Emre to the best of ability. At the first appearance of Mr Emre we are shown he is a assertive and has a hate for tom this lets us get into the right mindset. This encapsulates the power and attitude of Mr Emre and makes us realise why he dislikes Stefi and Zafar hanging around with him. To fully experience and express my character of Mr Emre I worked as a ensemble the importance of this is that we can give constructive criticism and really engage with others in our characters this creates that sense of understating of what Mr Emre would be around certain characters for example around Tom Joy for instance when he is mentioned he becomes bitter and agitated. Furthermore, the benefits of working as a ensemble is that it allows us to analyse other characters and realise what works and what doesn't thus working as a ensemble allows us to work together and grow and better our performances together which allows for us too get to better and improve as a collective. Working as a collective allows us to all bring each other up and help one another this creates a bond which really improves and accentuates the connection and work energy. Feedback I received is that my movements and projection were spot on and it was obvious to the audience I disliked Tom Joy. Furthermore, it proved how well and comfortable I was at playing the role of Mr Emre thus showing my progression of performing on stage. Additionally, some more feedback I received is that I maintained the energy of my character showing how I really got into the mindset of Mr Emre. I feel proud with the feedback as it shows my positive progression as a actor and how my progress has improved. 

Task 6 – EVERYONE - Evaluation of your work

Throughout my journey of connections I played Mr Emre this was such a fun and unique role which helped me grow as an actor and develop my acting abilities much more. The help of the understudy definitely helped as they gave me constructive criticism which definitely helped with my progress as an actor and more portrayal of Mr Emre. When I gained this character I was curious as to how i would play a father who works in a kebab shop but I began to learn and adapt I learnt my bad habits such as low voice projection and breaking character with the help of my team and personal analysis I worked on this and it made my performance much better. Additionally, some positive notes i received is that I got into character very well and the way I played Mr Emre was amazing and as Kelly said she was flabbergasted which honestly made me proud too see how much as a actor I have progressed. Secondly, I made use of my environment by making the stage as close to Mr Emre's kebab shop as possible this put my mindset into that atmosphere which helped so much with getting into character. With the help of constant rehearsals it allowed me to see my errors as well as my strong point's as a actor this helped maintain the energy of Mr Emre and perfect the role for the show and smooth out any knots in my performance working as a ensemble definitely helped as we had a chemistry and it blended all together thus allowing us to get better as a team. Working as a ensemble also helped with me getting in character as it showed me how Mr Emre would be with other characters this allowed me to develop a contrast in how I treated each character for instance the comparsion of how I am with Stefi and Zafar as compared with Tom Joy who I dislike.