Unit-12

AUDTION

Finding this monologue was relatively easy as I found it for a drama school audition a while back and I fell in love with the play and this monologue in particular since it was so immense and meaningful that I just choose to run with it. The way he knows his life is in jeopardy and begs the doctors to actually listen and emphasise him is so moving and you really see the rawness of emotion in it. I choose it because its such a touching and gritty scene and how he tries to be lighthearted about it yet deep inside is so scared is so powerful. Such a in depth emotional scene was perfect for really making a great audition and being able to show my skills as a performer . Choosing this monologue was also a new chance for me to show my more dynamic range of skills and knowledge as a actor. There where many choices after all it was a national theatre play so there was a wide array too chose from. This one caught my attention though just from glancing at the script you could see the rawness of the words sticking out at you. The process of learning it was very unique to me, I split every part into a objective such as him describing his problem, talking about the heart, his heart condition and then him researching online so I could learn each objective separately and really understand each point he tries to make this allowed me to mesmerise them as separate points so I could dedicate time to learning each one. This allowed me to learn it all in 3 days considering the length of the monologue I'm really proud about that. I researched into the play by reading through the plays story and Gus's personality so I could get a understanding of who I was playing this gave me an inside to who exactly I was. Most times I practised alone looking into the mirror so I could see myself and practised facial features. The audition itself was great I felt confident and compared to majority of auditions I didn't feel nervous I went in there fully confident I think was due to having a monologue I already knew. The panel of my audition said I did amazing and my growth as an actor is getting better and that although there was a bit of a buffer in December I've picked myself up and pushed even harder. They said my diction was great and overall portrayal was fabulous. However. my face should've been facing the audience and due to me facing away they missed a lot of good facial emotion. Somethings I would do different next time is to know where my audience is and speak out towards them rather than a small point in the room as it really reduces the impact as well as this a more clear angle would be greater to really capture the emotion on my face.

PRODUCTION ROLE

As the stage manager my production role has been important in ensuring the smooth coordination and execution of the show while also working in union with everyone else. My responsibilities have a wide range of tasks which have pushed me in my production roles and responsibilities from last year. From maintaining clear communication among the cast for progress, monitoring the progress of other production roles, ensuring that every production role is on track and up to date. Checking with each production role has been crucial. These involve conversations around their role allowing me to stay updated on any challenges or delays that might arise and to check with there current plans and progress.This has helped in preempting potential issues. By maintaining these logs I have made sure everyone is getting on. In addition to my duties Keiran and I took on the responsibility of creating an informative presentation about our production roles. We recognised the importance of educating the rest of the team on the intricacies and significance of stage management and the collaborative efforts required for a successful show. To achieve this, we made a PowerPoint and printed it off to compile comprehensive information about our duties, what we do and what we have done so far. Our presentation included key topics such as communication and keeping everyone up to date with roles. We also highlighted examples from our own experiences during the production process such as what we have already done. Overall, my role as stage manager has been a mix of , checking up on people, and proactive problem-solving. By keeping everyone on track and ensuring everyone knows what they're doing.

The following work was from the fight captains I reviewed over and checked it making sure it was suitable and up to date

Additionally, for radium girls I have partaken in front of house which has meant in taking care off all the preparations for the audience such as greeting and assisting people, preparing food and drinks, check everyone is happy with props etc, check curtains are all pulled and to help out with ticket sales when all audience is in then go backstage and let the cast know we are ready. I worked with my team of Beth, Milly and Elliot together we made show inspired preparations for the entrance by sticking up old-time newspapers and facts about radium this added to the whole aesthetic and vibe of radium girls which was a very nice touch and really immersed the audience as well as this we added glow sticks all around hung up and in jars as if they were like "radium". Furthermore, to support everyone I also helped in opening the theatre doors and welcoming everyone in and helping people who may have has difficulty getting to a seat or were lost and or redirecting them to non reserved seats. Our personal contribution to assisting and helping everyone has made everything so much better for our audience. Additionally, I and the rest of my crew welcomed everyone in ensuring to check tickets were purchased upon entry and warmly welcoming people in.

REHEARSALS 

During rehearsals in preparation for the show, I have been reviewing the scenes I think are most critical for improvement such as the basketball and party scenes, due to their complex blocking and heavy movement. Each cast has been taking turns working through these scenes. In Cast 2, I play Aide Williams, a character who appears frequently and has a decent number of lines unlike Ruckly, who despite being present for much of the play has minimal dialogue. Consequently, my primary focus during rehearsals has been on Aide Williams, as he is the most demanding character in terms of lines and attentiveness that I portray in either cast. We have went through scenes repetitively making sure to engrave the cues and blocking into the routine of the performance this smooths out any buffers or problems and allows us to progress faster and get through run throughs easier so we can be more confident knowing we are prepared for show day. Furthermore, all the rehearsals started to stretch out to as long as four hours, making it crucial to focus on pacing and time management for both scenes and the transitions between them. We begun worked on perfecting our cues, ensuring smooth exits and entrances, as well as refining our blocking and overall pacing. This attention to detail not only enhanced the flow of the performance but also significantly improved the efficiency of scene transitions, allowing for quicker and more seamless shifts from one scene to the next. As we approached the end stages of rehearsals we began dress rehearsals. Wearing my costume for Aide Williams allowed me to fully embody the character, immersing myself in his head space and mannerisms. This dress rehearsals helped  my performance resulting in more productive and effective rehearsals. With the date of our show coming closer our focus shifted to tuning the smaller yet important details. We worked on eliminating minor mistakes, such as ensuring we never blocked each other from the audience’s view and coordinating the movement of each patient. Attention to these intricate details added layers of depth to our performance, enhancing the overall production and ensuring that every aspect of our scenes was polished and precise. This detailed work not only improved our individual performances but also contributed to a more cohesive and compelling presentation. The same applied to Ruckly however my heavy focus on Aide Williams meant I was slightly behind in Ruckly so I struggled at the start with cues however this was quickly tackled and overcome through constant rehearsals and communication with one another. Furthermore, as we approached closer to the show date, I made the decision to re-visit Ruckly more frequently and repetitively during rehearsals. This increased practice was important in making sure that I was not only prepared well for it but also confident in my portrayal of the character. By consistently rehearsing Ruckly's role by visiting scenes and practising his lines constantly in rehearsals times it allowed me to stay ahead in my preparation, ensuring that I was fully in tune with the character’s behaviours and mannerisms.

 

EVALUATION

For the show I played the characters of Aide Williams and Ruckly. Both were equally amazing opportunities and have allowed me to express my acting abilities. 

For Cast 2 which was the first show on Wednesday I played Aide Williams. My objective was to be under the guidance of Nurse Ratchet and to assist her in her tasks all the while being in a sense of apprehension and fear from her all the while still maintaining a sense of hatred for her. My overall characters motivation I demonstrated was to help Nurse Ratchet, However, I felt as the story progressed this began changing as I began to favour Mcmurphy more and show a much more liking into him and his antics such as in the basketball scene when I joined in the game of basketball and partaking in laughing at his comedic behaviours and attitude. A theme I aimed to convey was that of a more considerate and tolerant Aide for McMurphy, in sharp contrast to the more  uptight demeanour of Warren. This deliberate portrayal highlighted the striking differences between the two aides for the audience. My intended impact on the audience was for them to see the transformation and portrayal of Aide Williams. Stretching it out from at the start when I was simply an assistant for Nurse Ratchet and a doormat to her to slowly being more lenient and on a level with McMurphy. As well as this my intended impact was to bounce of Warren being cohesive at times such as when we had duologues in which we showed our fear and apprehension of Nurse Ratched or when we found amusement out of making fun of the Chief. Emotional engagement was captured throughout my performance as Aide Williams whether it was more light-hearted and comedic like in the basketball scenes or duologues or more serious and heartfelt like in the death of billy or electroshock therapy scene. I conveyed my character’s emotions by bouncing of the ensemble's mood, such as bouncing off the excited and playful energy during the basketball scene or adopting a more sombre emotion during the death of Billy. Despite this, I also added to my performance with a unique emotional touch, ensuring my character's distinct feelings were shown for example showing alertness when caught red handed by Miss Ratched or showing my annoyance from McMurphy in scenes. My vocal performance for the show has improved so much and It's shown through this performance. My clear diction and pronunciation of words has allowed me to have a solid foundation for delivering and pronouncing my lines, which is given a clear performance. Physicality and movement played a big part with it whether it was doing small tasks such as cleaning up the ward or running after Mcmurphy and grappling with the chief it all played a big part. Utilising the space allowed for better blocking and this helped so much in progressing with scenes where I may need to do big actions such as when the chief was picking up Warren and I had to grapple the Chief of him or chasing after McMurphy at the start. We continuously rehearsed and blocked this, so we didn’t make any errors as physicality and movement was a big factor in this play. Ensemble dynamics for this cast was amazing we helped one another for cues and when to go on allowing for it all to flow well. Working with Ben who played warren helped so much as a lot of scenes required us to be in union on stage so we took time to help one another out. Maintaining such a cohesive and harmonious group dynamic allowed for such an amazing and beautiful show. Costumes was another key factor and what brought a lot of magic to the stage for Aide Williams. For my character I wore a white long sleeved button up, white jeans and black plimsolls this was formal asylum wear back in the 1970s so this is what we ran with. For prop usage I tended to swap out different props such as using a broom to sweep or give to chief or even when I was in the background using a cloth to wipe surfaces down. For artistic choices I choose to interpret Williams as one of the characters who grows throughout the script from being a push around and assistant of Nurse Ratchet to slowly and slightly siding with Mcmurphy at times. Other choices I made was to be more fluent by being more emotionally reactive based on those around me.

However on the flip side, I played the character of Ruckly in Cast 1 on Thursday which was such a great experience. My objectives as Ruckly was much more limited as compare to someone like Aide Williams the reasoning for this is that Ruckly is a patient who has been lobotomised so his mind is constantly on auto pilot and lacks majority of his brain usage which is why he is referred to as a “Potato” in the play. From character research and partaking in this character I can say his objective is less personal and more so relies on others as I’m a chronic I bounce off the others and I’m constantly used as an example of the lobotomy and a potato. The overall theme is that I’m a docile and random screaming out “fuck em all” at times which is my only line I repeat. The motivations of Ruckly is to just walk around and be lucid about everything and have emotional neglect for myself. My intended impact on the audience was to show the negative impact of the lobotomy and how how I’m just and example for McMurphy as when Harding shows McMurphy that the surgery Nurse Ratchet was addressing is a lobotomy. Emotional engagement for Ruckly was slightly more challenging than Aide Williams as a lot of emotions are taken away from him so I had to really push out whatever emotions he had in his lines “Fuck em all” for example when I take my medication my line is delivered more apprehensively and stressed similar to the basketball scene. Whereas when McMurphy releases my from my chords on the wall my line is more casual. The audience is meant to understand this and this builds that base of understanding of who Ruckly is. Thus being a “potato”. Vocal performance was key as all my lines where screamed to the max volume in a different emotional tone each time.  Physicality and movement were essential elements, whether it involved chasing after Sandra, running off stage, or even accidentally colliding with and knocking over one of the chronic patients' wheelchairs. These dynamic actions were crucial in enhancing my character's behaviour and bringing more depth to my portrayal. Just like cast 2 ensemble dynamics played a key factor as I was on stage a lot we all waited and took cues and guided one another on making sure we all knew when to get on and exit. For costumes and prop usage I wore the same as everyone else (Grey joggers and a white shirt) as well as this I wet my pants to give it the effect of pee which added to my character. This helped as McMurphy refers to my pile of pee on my pants as “slosh”. For props I didn’t have any set a lot was improvised in rehearsals such as fighting with other patients over a mop and etc and I eventually added these to the show. Artistic choices was another big role in adding character to Ruckly I choose to maintain a brain dead like aura and maintain it throughout as this is what was closest to a lobotomy patient in my character research.

Overall acknowledgement of key strengths for both shows is that for Aide Williams my overall skill and projection as a actor has improved so greatly and my volume and diction has really peaked this performance and I feel that as this is the end of year show, I really put my heart mind into it and thoroughly pushed through and managed to put a beautiful show on working along side others in a union. My dynamic use of physicality in both Ruckly and Aide Williams was so amazing as I really researched and looked through old notes to see how I could add more this time and do better whether it was as simple as spacing or going full out with physical expressions and mannerisms. Lastly a key moment for me was the duologues I performed and how each moment of them was so great and I really lost myself in the character and how me and Ben really had amazing character chemistry and progressed so well together. However there’s is always lessons and one thing I would do better and adjust is to be more active in the background and partake more in it as there where times when I was simply just pacing around slightly. However that’s a minor and easy fix. Peer feedback was that my diction has improved greatly and the portrayal of both characters was fabulous . Tutors said how as a group it was such a impeccable performance and everything was perfect and all though there were a lot of push-backs regardless we pushed through it and in the end came out doing amazing. Personally this whole journey has been amazing its shaped such a beautiful end for all of us.