This was the second play we were given for the week and I was very excited when we were told it would be more physical and movement heavy. There would be lots of scene changes and multi-rolling which made it even more exciting, and I was really looking forward to be challenged even further after yesterdays performance. It's a very heavy play with a dark subject matter and reading the play as a group made me realise how important it would be to keep the play on its feet rather than how static yesterday's performance was, it was nice to experiment with different techniques and ideas to make sure the audience didn't seem bored throughout this performance.
When we first read the play as a group, I felt like I didn't understand it's message and as much as I enjoyed playing around with the lines, It meant I couldn't really piece the play together until I read it alone that same night. Once I read it to myself, I realised how relatable it is to us as a younger generation and it was nice to have a play that everyone could find some kind of similarity inside, which for me was the opposite of 'Superglue'. I loved how the chorus and other students were commentating on what was happening and came to understand why Grace was facing this issue after mocking her, and I particularly like the last monologue about how she isn't alone in feeling this way, and the IT lives in everybody. I also liked being given the chance to cast it as a group so we could combine our cast lists and it wasn't just one person deciding it for us, it felt much more collaborative. I think our recent experience with castings and being on the other side of the bench has made me feel very confident with being able to cast confidently, and that showed in the casting of this piece. However, I wasn't too sure of the outcome of this casting, I personally didn't think I was right for Grace and I wanted to try out some more roles outside of my typecast and work on the movement for this piece, but the company felt I was the right person for this role. I did end up enjoying being on the platform and trying out new things with my voice for this performance, and using the microphone felt like I was the voice of the IT looking down onto the normal world which was really exciting.
I loved the way this show was staged and it was really nice getting to experiment and throwing myself into the deep end for this role, and I really liked the metaphorical meaning behind this play and I hope this came through to the audience. When thinking about how the IT would feel, I used my emotional recall to think of moments when my anxiety has taken over and I can't let it show, I thought of it as a very daunting feeling making its way through the pit of your stomach all the way through your veins, recalling these memories was very challenging but they made my performance so much stronger and realistic, It was at that point that I felt connected to Grace and that final monologue made me realise that the IT is in all of us, and sometimes we just have let it go. I think this performance went very well and it kept the audience engaged with the scene changes and the music to accompany them, and I hope everyone watching took something away from our reading, I really liked this play and I eventually grew close to Grace as I learnt more about her and saw the similarities between us, and this character really pushed me to try new things and to not be afraid to put myself out there, which is something I've struggled a lot with this term.
I was really proud of the whole company for creating such a heavy movement piece with such little time, and I think we worked really well to create a mostly realistic cast with a different set and impulsive character traits. I really liked how both of the shows we've done so far have been opposites in many ways, and it's been really helpful to see two different kinds of theatre and how well we work in either one, and I hope we can continue this onto tomorrow's performance!
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