Goodbye Brumas

Description:
This week, my contribution for the school play has been directing and collaborating with a couple of scenes. Unlike last week I didn't only helped with el "Sueño Morado", but with scene 8 or "Estacion 5". It was way easier since I had Nicole directing with me, since we had different ideas that worked together. As for the other scene, I was supposed to watch and give ideas since I was going to be in the following one.

Analysis:
Firstly, I would like to highlight how much progress there has been on el "Sueño Morado". It is amazing how the girls adapted to the Charleston theme so fast and that the scene is already done completely. The change was radical and unexpected, but we were able to manage it and finish it this week. To make this we were only missing the two last beats and fixing the other parts.
As always, we improved the flaws, and worked on the characterisation. We worked with the pitches and volumes and this idea of masses appeared again. For example, along the whole scene, the idea is the overwhelming effect the 'brumas' create on the man and transmit to the audience, but we worked on the contrast of voices and character personalities so the scene wouldn't get boring. We see this in the contrast of characterisation in the Form I girls: Daniela, Paula and Antonella. They make the scene have interesting variations due to the effect that it is achieved on the audience. Anyway on the 5th beat, we worked on a different proposal to transmit the overwhelming effect: when the line "Tu nos creaste. Tu nos haces crecer" was said, we were planning on making a lift. It was a new thing that could create some dynamism in the scene and we were excited about it. So we grouped them in threes according to their sizes and made the lighter ones be the ones lifted. The challenges we faced by doing this, were the instability of the girls at the top while being up and the way the other girls would grab their feet. To fix this, we set an example of how to do it and recommended to keep their feet and arms strong to create confidence in the girls at the top. Once this was done, it had a transcendent effect; not only it went along with the line said but it visually expressed it, linking this to the German Expressionist conventions. They not only grew psychologically (in "El hombre's" head), but physically (as small three people pyramids). Along the scene, as we corrected the mistakes, we worked on some of the basics; upstaging, coordination, postures, etc. The challenges we faced were that even though these were basics, the girls forgot or didn't do them. For example, when they were gathering around "El hombre" they upstaged each other and even showed their backs to the audience since they forgot about the technical aspects and focused on the overwhelming of "El hombre". We told them to remember how when they balanced the space, they looked for the empty spaces and should do the same there. As well, for the dance part at the beginning of the scene the coordination was not exact and it was something we had emphasised several times so we decided to change it to and easier sequence; instead of moving the arms and legs and then turning we made them come forward by hugging each other with their arms, and facing the front making a cabaret appearance. This was easier to do and we solved the coordination problem.
In addition, we designed a pattern for the lines in the scene. In every beat there were four lines said by the 'brumas'. We decided the first three lines were said by the girls in Form I and the last by all of the remaining 'brumas'. This made a collective sound which reflected the common aim they all had. It gave some kind of common link to all the beats in the scene, a different kind of order and dynamism.
For the last part of the scene, we created a part in which the girls told "El hombre" in a whispering voice how much of a failure and disappointment he was, this created a whole different level of the overwhelming effect we wanted to achieve. You don't need to be loud and crowded to be overwhelming, but you can as well achieve the effect in different tones and pitches. When we did this the first problem was that they said their lines on top of each other, which was part of the effect but the line that was supposed to be emphasised wasn't heard due to volume issues. So we made them say their lines group by group without making so loud you wouldn't hear the others. Overall, I believe the scene ended up really good and it is an interesting proposal due to the variations it has. It fulfils the aim of it; to overwhelm "El hombre" and creates that effect on the audience as well.

On the other side, I had to help and give ideas to scene 8 while being rehearsed. We watched the whole scene and saw the chaotic effect it was supposed to create inside and outside. They said their lines on top of each other on purpose but as well, they had to have an order so the scene would be structured. So the challenges they faced on this scene was the pronunciation of some words, the volume, they didn't know their queues, etc. To fix these problems they practiced the words several times to be able to say them. They worked on their volumes, since the scene was supposed to be with constant noise and action but different level of volumes. The emphasis was done on some precise lines that were important for the scene. For example, when Olenka said "Quieres mejor? Paga mejor" the emphasis was created by the lowering volumes of the rest of the characters so the audience could give special attention to it. It was really important for them to know their queues so even if there was constant noise they would know when to rise and lower their volumes, or when to say their lines guiding themselves by the others. Not knowing them was a problem because since there was a lot of noise, they couldn't hear the other saying their lines and some times they could't see each other; so they were supposed to know when to say them. Finally, as the first part of the scene was being ready, there were some corrections made in terms of lines, characterisation, body and voice.

Connections:
One of the biggest connections I have found, is between both scenes. Helping with scene 8 reminded me of how el "Sueño Morado" was first starting and showed several flaws but little by little it started getting better. As well, the idea of masses as a whole in the scene is present on both; the overwhelming effect they both try to create on "El hombre" and on the audience.

Also, the connection between this and play rehearsals from years before. Even though I see it from a directing point of view as well, the experience of rehearsals itself is similar. Scenes are getting ready and we are fixing the small flaws in each. We are working on different proposals to see what fits the  play better.

Reflections:
As the rehearsals pass by, I can see the evolution in the scenes so far; especially in el "Sueño Morado". I can see how from nothing we created a well-developed scene ready to present. It is interesting how the different proposals come and go and we keep the one that has the best fit. How everything separately is starting to look better. I know we have tried to pass Act I all together in one rehearsal, and it was good but now we have improved and made changes. We have all managed to achieve an effect in our scenes so it make me wonder, if things are looking good separately, will they do as well when we put them all together? Would it achieve the effect we want to transmit to the audience once we put all the scenes together, or will it create others?