Suitcase Exercise

This was one of my favourite exercises because it was really interesting and i totally got lost in the character i had created. The level of focus within the room was so intense but it helped drive my character forward. At first i had o solid idea of who my character was. With the bag i had chosen the first thing that came into my head was an old lady but once i was given the book i thought charity shop. As more and more factors were thrown into the mix my character changed and changed until everything fell into place and made sense.
           I think the main factor for choosing my character was when i had to leave a place and i wouldnt return that was the key in creating my final character. From then i new exactly what i would right on the letter and who it would be too.
         When i was being hot seated as my character i think it was vital to keep the concentration and not loose the characters thought process at all. In doing this  when asked questions the answers just seemed to flow out without thought. I was completely that character and everything i did seemed so natural.
         After the lesson i reviewed my performance and i loved the idea of the unreliable narrator. Or the idea that the audience no more than the character. This is something i would like to investigate further and develop.
         This whole exercise was definately worth while and an approach to improvisation that i think i will use again in the future as i felt the outcome was very good.

Hands

The first thing i did for this section was draw a spider diagram of anything that came to my head when i thought of the word hands. I would of loved to have experimented with shadow puppetry but i wouldnt have had a clue where to start or how to do it but it got me thinking about different things hands are used for and how they are a form of communication. From that i thought of sign language. I fi have a basic knowledge of sign language and it is only very very basic. So that was pretty much where that idea ended.
          After that i just typed in hands in to google and one of the first results was hand disorders. I followed the link and came across a list of information about OCD. This got me thinking about how controlling the hands can be. Further research lead to ideas that a simple thing such as hand washing can have a lot of physicality to it especially if the hand washing is frantic.
            After performing the piece i realised that i had naturally added quite strong facial expressions which added more power to the piece creating almost an animalistic snarl which complemented the movement of the hand washing as it was becoming more violent.
           If i were to develop the piece further it was suggested that i look at developing the use of the towel and how i dry the hands. Previously i hadnt given that idea much thought and had focused on the water. After this was mentioned i like the idea of adding the drying to the ritual and the idea of the rough towel constantly being rubbed on the rare skin is definately an avenue to explore further. 

Childhood Bedroom

This exercise was really facinating as i found myself going on a journey and creating a story without really thinking about it. Remembering my childhood was great especially focusing on my bedroom. It held a lot of memories both good and bad and i found it really weird that the strongest memory i had was something as small as a screw being loose on the door handle which made it wobble.
           Thinking back to the room how it was then and how i thought it was now was really easy because i still have access to the room as my sister now owns the house. This triggered a whole different set of emotions and thoughts because of the whole idea of sharing that room with my sister to her owning the entire house was incredible because we had always had that kind of sibling rivalry.

From the lesson i wrote a small monologue:

Its strange that something so small, so insignificant would be left unchanged and trigger so much. Its as if you new and you left it as a message to me. Not to forget. As if right now your standing here with me reliving the moment. Its strange, all you had to do was fix it and this memory would be gone. Along with all the memories linked to it. Its almost like a portal to your new family. Connecting the generations.