- develop characterisation on the theme of guilt
- to dedicate parts to the cast
- do a read through of the script
As me and Alex had already discussed what we would do we just now had to successfully follow through on it.
We started off with the game 'zip zap boing' and this raised the energy levels with in the room creating a positive atmosphere. It was clear at the beginning that they seemed tired and had a lack of focus so we used this game as a way for them to connect with each other, having fun whilst developing their awareness and focus. It is from this experience that we have decided to do a game at the beginning of each session and this is something that we will let them also decide on so they can feel more included on the sessions and what happens in them.
We then wanted to start our work shop on characterisation when dealing with the emotion of guilt. I took the cast outside whilst Alex set the room up to be more atmospheric, he also placed 9 chairs in a circle with a spot light in the centre. Whilst outside, I gave the cast a slip with their a name and personality traits of this character that my alter how they behave when dealing with guilt, I also wanted them to know that they were playing their own ages which is 15-18, this means they can also take on aspects of life that they are familiar with and use them in an advantage when placed in those shoes.
Alex then called them in, after giving them the instructions to lay down and think deeply of how this character would feel in numerous situations, whether they were happy or sad. To think about how they associated themselves with and how that affects their behaviour. By doing this I was slowly dropping in Stanlavski's "what if?" method, allowing the cast to consider 'what if' they were that person. Alex then told them that they had all been accused of a crime, one that they did commit, one that they refused to admit too and due to this, felt overwhelming guilt. They were also told to create the whole story in their head, so that if they were questioned they'd be able to answer anything. Me and Alex wanted to see how the casts view on how their characters felt when being interrogated, because it is these aspects of panic and guilt that are evident in many places throughout the script.
I then asked them to each sit on a chair, myself was sat on one. I greeted them all as if we were at a support group, saying that they were all there for the same reason, I did this to let them know it was the safe place for them to be their character, and by starting in a group it would make it easier for the difficult situation when placed on their own with Alex in the next part of the workshop. I asked them that when they were ready, if they could discuss why they were here, to tell me what happened. But as reminded at the beginning, they all knew they weren't allowed to tell me, this is where the panic of guilt would show through their character. It was interesting to see, as I gave them all a character from the script, how they would play it, and it actually gave myself some more idea's. Such as Lea, at first I thought Lea should we a shy girl apart from when she's with Phil, slightly geeky due to her monologue where she admits she doesn't have any friends. But, India portrayed Lea as confident in a self assured way, and I think this might be a good way to show that Lea's character has developed as being part of the group.
We then isolated one chair, from this Alex asked one person to come up onto the chair and he interrogated them as shown in the image above. He had been watching the types of guilt that they put across and he created a counter emotion in order to stir their guilt and bring more of it through. It was interesting to see how the cast developed this guilt into the inability to discuss what they had done. It was helpful to see who could create and stretch the personalities that we had given them and we felt like they all suited the character we gave them. This workshop not only helped the cast get to grips with one of the major themes within the script, but gave me and Alex ideas for the variety of ways that different people deal with guilt. From this were able to Cast our group, something we felt we should do as soon as possible in order for them to start learning lines and come to grips with their character.
The Cast
Lea - India Allatt
Phil - Felix James
Jan - Daisy Veysey
Mark - Jake Spence
Cathy - Daisy Waugh
Rachel - Freya Turton
Brian - Zack Bland
Adam - Sam Clugston
From this we were able to move onto a read through, something we felt highly important to do so that our group knew what the play was about and knew what they would be working on for the next few weeks. It also meant that we knew everyone would have read the script before the next rehearsal and we could clarify any confusion with plot or lines, such as Rachel actually being named Richard in the script as well as taking up Lou and Danny's lines as there are very little and don't have people to play them. They were also able to define their character, what a person says can have implications on the character and I felt that the read through really helped them identify the type of person they were. This is an essential feeling that we want the cast to have in order for them to follow Stanislavsky's naturalistic methods.
We wanted to give them a quick taste of how the rehearsal process would be, so we focused on blocking Scene Five, as this requires the whole cast. We went through giving them ways to adjust there tone, also showing how the proxemics relate to the script in certain places. As we only had around 10 minutes it was a vague outline, but I felt the cast did a lot during this session and due to the amount of characterisation work the were able to perform an extract from the scene five with the delivery of their character.
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