Final Evaluation

Throughout this unit I have had to use many different performance skills, especially in our final performance, however before even stepping foot on stage some of the most important work I did was on the text. Breaking down the script and analysing each line gave me insight into the complexities of the role I was trying to fulfill. I found once I marked out my breath marks finding the character voice of Mau was much easier as I now could tell his breathing patterns and how the writer wishes to create emphasis on particular lines. Knowing my objective was seminal to creating interesting scenes onstage. If I knew what Mau was trying to communicate with each line it become way more straightforward to portray his thought processes and emotional transitions. It also gave me the ability to up the stakes of the scene; The most interesting theatre comes when a character is desperate for something so by knowing what I truly wanted on every line I could fight for it. Also knowing my objective helped to shape my vocal work. I could no figure out what inflection to use at the end of lines and what modulation was required to have the greatest effect on my scene partner moreover creating more depth in my relationship with the other characters. Likewise during ensemble sections of the play the best work was created when we as a collective shared the same objective.

Another performance skill I demonstrated well was my adaptability. As we chose to seat the audience in the theatrical configuration I had to concentrate on where I focused my energy throughout the piece. I used thought back to the final unit of Year 10 and I remembered the workshop we did on working on three sides. So throughout the performance If I felt like I was directing too many lines to the left side of the audience I would turn to the other side, I would put myself in positions so that both seating banks could see me but most of all I tried my best to keep my chest facing one way but my head and face another. This made sure that both sides of the audience were getting some of my performance whether that be physically or vocally. In addition to adaptability using my instincts as an actor was critical in creating effective theatre. Experimentation and imagination where two big factors that were emphasised during this project; in order to do those things I had to rely a lot on my actors instincts. When my scene partner gave me something new or decide to change their intension on a line I could easily find a way for my character respond within in the confines of the scene. Sometimes I would get it wrong though but that was okay. If I went for a character choice wholeheartedly but it didn't work it was alright because it was all a part of discovering what works within the performance.

Research was a fundamental part of creating and sustaining a 3 dimensional role. Without research I wouldn't have been able to dive into the role and analyse the character that Terry Pratchett presented me with. I discovered off my own back that Mau transitions through the 5 stages of grief throughout the piece; it doesn't say so in the text but it is quite an important factor in creating the psychological mind state of Mau. This research also helped me to find the truth within my representation. I didn't want to feel like I was just going through the motions so I made sure to surround myself with the world that Mau inhabits so I could always found new stuff to bring to my performance each time. It also helped me to unearth the historical context of the play. I find this very interesting not just from an acting perspective but from a living human being perspective. It's awesome exploring different time periods and learning about different cultures. I believe this develops the way I look at the world moreover opening up my eyes to new acting possibilities and deeper outlooks on the way I execute my roles. Finally research allowed me to find new subtle nuances within the conceit of this production. Research into tribal movement and dance made it easier for me to improvise elements of the piece. When ask to become the ocean I could utilize the videos I watched when first began to research into the play.

Costume was another way we made this play so alluring. When using multiple actors in order to keep the connection and show the audience that is the same character we used significant pieces of clothing or prop to show this. The three Mau's all shared the same crab necklace; the five daphne's shared orange ribbon; all the Locacha's dressed in black. Also we try to co-ordinate another piece of Mau costuming by wearing an extra shirt over our tribal clothes to symbolize our slight lean towards civilisation, We chose to use Hawaiian shirts to represent the island heritage and I thought it would also read quite well with the audience. Not only did we use costume to represent the "native" characters of the play but also vintage clothing to give the audience a taste of victoriana. It really worked how all the bright colours created a fun and magical atmosphere. This paired excellently with the powder paint we use in the final run. I hypothesize that this is a reason why our adaptation was slightly more captivating than the original production at the National Theatre. On the other hand I feel as if we could have refined our costumes even more to fit the concept of out performance. Shirts could have been ripped, everyone should have been bare-foot, beads, necklaces more traditionally tribal elements could have been hidden under our normal clothing.

Yet in my own performance I can find a lot that I could improve. After a while I could feel my vocal patterns were stuck in the same rhythm. Even if I was making different physically choices and using altered facial expressions I would still find myself using the same old intonation. Even though I did learn my lines cold I still found myself going back to the same pattern. I think this was because I found comfort in knowing what I was doing. In order to change this for the next project I am in I need to, (whenever I begin to fall into the trap) stop and force myself to change the way in which I am saying a line. I also desperately need to work on my singing, I am very self-conscious when it comes to being loud with my singing voice as I am most the time very out of tune and off key. Nevertheless for my performance I could have been louder and just acted through the song instead of shriveling up. Another way I could have fixed this was by getting singing lessons are asking one of my musically gifted friends to teach my song singing techniques. Finally in my performance I felt myself lose focus when playing a soldier with no lines. At one point I just noticed I was staring off into space instead of actively engaging in the scene. Even if I had no lines and my job was to just kneel for 5 minutes I still should have been offering interesting reactions. If an audience member happen to look at me at that particular moment it would have ruined the illusion for them,

Working as a 50 people strong ensemble presented us with quite a few challenges. It was quite difficult finding the balance between not blending into the background of the scene but not pulling focus. Sometimes I felt I wanted to react to something or have a physical reflex I would be distracting from the main action; On the other hand I also sometimes felt like I wasn't offering anything up and I was boring to watch on stage. It helped when we went in performance mode because people had more energy thus they wanted to give something on stage. I also recognised that you had to find the correct mix of Selfish vs. Selfless. There were moments on stage for instance when I was monologuing about the unimportance of my people when I wanted all the audience to only be focusing on me. This however was paramount in communicating the story and what I was saying was imperative information in the story so it was okay to be selfish. Nonetheless there are moments on stage where you must give your energy into making sure that another actor's performance is seen. You do this by giving your eye contact and unadulterated concentration on them. Your eyes are just miniature spotlights.

I have learnt many things about acting during this unit. Some of the most important are; being hot on your cues and physically cutting people off on cut off lines. If we didn't do this it would have killed the energy of the piece and made it a painful 2 hours to sit through. In order to work on such a colossal project I must have patience. If another actor is messing up their lines instead of getting angry and shouting at them I need to take a moment and help them learn their cues instead which will be more productive to the process. Even when you're exhausted you still have to give 100% . It's not fair on the other actors that just because you aren't feeling it today that it should impact on the entire room. It's okay to be grey! If you find yourself losing the zest in your performance it doesn't mean you are a bad actor it just means you haven't hit the technicolor. You just need to keeping trying to find new ways to make the peformance interesting for yourself. When inhabiting a big space you must use expansive movements and gestures as small performance do not read as well. Coming into the rehearsal room with multiple ready thought out ideas makes the directors job ten times easier as they can pick which options work best within the piece.

Performance night was when it all came together. I think at some point everyone consider the reality that the show just wasn't going to work however we managed to pull it off with aplomb. During the performance a lot of things went wrong but as an ensemble we always managed to fix them. My crab necklace broke as soon as I put it on and I didn't have time to fix it so during my highly active scene swimming through the space as soon as I got to a chair I held it up to the light like I was inspecting it and then hid it in my pocket. Behind stage I got someone who's good with knots to fix it for me before the next scene and boom! problem solved. I also identified that no matter how well you know the piece nerves will still affect you. Instead of saying "people live in fear fetch the canoe" I said "people live in fanoe". I have no idea why said that but because I didn't let on that I made a mistake I'm pretty sure the audience didn't notice. We worked for a full day with only one 45 minute lunch break so by the bow I think everyone was pretty fatigued. I discovered just how resilient and the level of endurance an actor must have. I didn't let this change my energy in my performance though, On the contrary I feel like the tiredness allowed me to unlock further emotional depth. During the dress run I was directed to adlib an entire scene because previously it hadn't been working. I felt it was very important to keep these improvised lines coming as if there was any dead space it would kill the scene. Finally I grasped how important it is to take care of your fellow actors. If they come in with the wrong line there is a collective responsibility to adjust the scene so the audience don't discover the error has been made.

In conclusion, This has been a long unit filled with exploration and challenges but it has definitely developed and shaped me as an actor and as an art maker. It has been quite a journey since the first unit of year 10 to the end bow of Nation but it has been one that was worthwhile. I am glad we chose such a difficult text and I look forward to using these skills on my next production!