'Silent Places' using Edward Hopper Paintings.

           The painting i had was of a women on a beach. alone. isolated. they were the first things that came into my head.i was instantly drawn to this image because it seemed to stand out from the rest. This could be because it demonstrated more space than the others and the colour scheme was lighter. When deciding what to do for this section i instantly though message in a bottle because the women was at the shore alone looking out to sea. I started thinking why, what drove this women to be in this space and where is she intending to go? How does this message help her story move forward. The majority of letters associated to messages in bottles are usually from a loved one or some one deciesed, therefore i wanted to avoid going down that route which is when i came to the idea of writing a letter to myself. The idea of relieving the character from any emotions and pain that the character was hiding and holding in. The idea that the bottle was being used as therapy to move forward in life. I had previously seen a documentary on people with depression using a technique similar to this in order to face there main problem. Themselves. So this was where the inspiration came from for this piece.
           When actually performing this piece i felt that i could have maybe focused more time on the dialogue i was using. i didn't actually script a piece because i wanted it to be naturally. Place myself in that situation and think what would i say. However, in doing this i think it limited the performance because afterwards i kept thinking of other things that i should have said that could possibly been more effective. Then i toyed with the idea of using some sort of rhythm to the dialogue as the individual and setting in the painting suggested a carribean theme and adding rhythm therefore may have complemented that origin. Below is some dialogue that i wrote after the performance:



Script idea 1:

For you,
A letter for you,
For only you,

For me,
A feeling of relief,
Relief from me,

To the future,
Moving on and forgiveness,
forgiveness of the past.



I felt that in using this style of writing it was simple dialogue that left it open for the audience to create there own interpretation of the story behind the message.

Stories from the News (Megan Stammers)

News Article on the story of Megan Stammers

        The brief this week was to create a devised piece based around the recent news story involving school girl Megan Stammers. The devised piece should show how this story has effected others around it and create a piece from their perspective. I decided to choose the mother figure as i felt this character had the biggest scope for a story. I didn't want the piece to be really cheesy however so originally i considered the idea of playing the mother totally different to what everyone would expect. My initial idea was to portray her as uncaring, stereotypical chavy mother who is very self centred. After playing with this idea though i came to the conclusion that this created very limited ideas for a story because if she didn't care that much there is no story.
        After thinking about it further i started to think of it literally, if i were in that situation how would i feel? This opened up a personal connection with me and the story. Prior to this my partner had in actual fact ran off with the intentions of commiting suicide. I had no contact with them and could do nothing but wait around while the police dealt with the situation. I started to think how i felt. How i coped. and from this a piece developed. I decided to take away the dialogue and let the emotion lead the piece. I needed to portray the many questions that would have been running through my head. What if i never see her again? What if she is hurt? Was it my fault? I need to stay strong for everyone else? I felt that through leading the audience through those they would engage in my emotion and feel the pain.
          I felt that using silence was a key element to this piece because silance always creates an atmosphere be that discomort or sorrow, adding the sounds of crying and sobbing i wanted the audience to feel deep sympathy for the character and start to think in there own minds questions about the situation.
          I added the single line at the end to show the panic and hope that was building within the character. That idea that she was willing so much for it to be her daughter on the phone and that utter disappointment when it wasn't. I did feel however that i got a bit too carried away and didn't create a realistic enough beat before aswering the phone. If i were to develop this further i would consider the thought process between the phone ringing and me answering it and how long that process would take.
          Overall, i was rather surprised with the performance as i usually take the comical route which i feel would have been the outcome if i had gone with my initial idea. I was surprised by the intensity of the piece and how well i felt that i had created an atmosphere. I think this is an area i have not previously explored and should perhaps develop it further.



       

my first experiance of solo

The first ever lesson of solo i was completely nervous not only had i never done solo before but i had also never done practical with that group of people before, it was so daunting. i was constantly wondering if i was doing it right, was i of the same ability as the rest. i felt a huge amount of inhibitions were holding me back from performing to my best ability. i new in my head however that i was accessing the rest of the group aswell to try and find my comfort zone within them . the first practical task we had to complete was based on a piece of text about an individual making toast. it seemed a perculiar task to begin with and had no odea where i could begin. should i use dialogue of my own should i read the text? i feel i was being more observant of the others around me to constantly reassure myself i was doing things right. However, when individuals started performing thier pieces back tothe group i was worried because they were all of a similar style and nothing like what i had done. instantly i decided i would change my idea but without time to think i was called upon next. my version of the extract was ok but i didnt feel satisfied with what i had done at all. this was a good thing however because it made me more determind to do better and be more prepared for the next lesson. i wanted to show the rest of the group that i can do better.