Almost there

June 16th
Description:
Being this the last week before the premiere we are all very excited. The rehearsals have been much more intense since we are staying from Tuesday to Saturday. This week we have rehearsed once again  Act I and some specific scenes of Act II. We rehearsed with our costumes on and try to get to pass the whole play so we could get a general idea of what it would look like. What I did specifically this week was:
1. Improved and kept working on my characterisation on scenes 3, 4 and 10.
2. Worked on my production task (scenery).

Analysis:
As we rehearsed scene 3 which belonged to Act I, I started refreshing my mind on what it felt like. This means, I had lately been focusing on scene 8 so much that I had to remember what it was like to do the 'Family scene' again. For this time Micaela and I knew we were supposed to make a divided technique, in which I was going to say the lines of her character while she did the mimics and vice versa. It was the first time we were trying it so we didn't know the lines each was going to mimic. This made it look not so realistic because we were not prepared to make gestures and movements to interpret what the other was saying. So we decided to learn the other's lines and worked mainly on voice characterisation. As I have mentioned on previous entries, my character and hers are opposites; physically and vocally. Hers is distorted and spider-like movements while mine is elongated, large posture and slower movements. While her character's voice is high pitch mine was low. So we as well exchanged that during that part of the scene. I was supposed to stay at a still picture while I said her lines and vice versa. We worked together to learn our lines and we finally did it. Also we added some movements to our characters because the scene itself was very static so we had to make it at least a little bit more dynamic. We did this, during the dialogue between the father and his son; we weren't a part of it but we were still on stage and it was really long. Here it was important for us to know that even though you might not alway be he main part of the scene, you are still on stage and you should be acting all the time on it.You should be in character and belong to the scene in a way. Knowing this we knew that even having fade light on us we were still being watched and had to stay in character. As I mentioned, our small movements gave dynamism to the scene; making in a way the audience have a break during the dialogue between father and son.

Another appealing aspect after the scene transition, was the introduction of the 'brumas' on scene 4. Basing ourselves on the concept already mentioned, the family had a small part in this scene (could be seen as the background) but we were all on stage and kept our characterisation. As an attempt to belong to it in a technical way, we were told we were going to wear something purple, so we can define when the dream started which would as well give a heads up to the audience.
Going back to the 'brumas', it is interesting the effect they created, because even though they were kids and are supposed to be innocent, they were aiming to be creepy and overwhelming. They were dressed in a Charleston cute way , but scared the protagonist. They wanted to oppress him. I believe this appeals to an interesting proposal, as we have been working on opposites, (at least my character and Micaela's) the fact of them being kids and symbolising the joyful of life (the actresses, not entirely sure if the characters; even though it could be assumed as the protagonist calls them sisters) against the fact of them being creepy and moving in a slow pace. In addition the light and shadows in this part of the play helped to emphasise this effect. This means that since it was a dream scene (this automatically means that the lights and scene in general changed to another colour) it was supposed to be a little more joyful than the real life scenes. So there were shadows and purple lights to make the overwhelming and playful effect bigger. As well as creating mystery of who were those characters which were not exactly well defined.

As for scene 10, my characterisation had improved now since I had already learned the lines I had to I was now focusing on the characterisation. I worked on voice and tried to make it as similar as possible to the one in previous scene I appeared. But it varied, it was sometimes similar and sometimes not so I also considered that my character might change her voice during some situations. Obviously, not so much but still. Furthermore on scene 10, we were working on how the play would conclude. As for the technical aspects, Eduardo would go down through the trapdoor standing while the characters on scene would act as if they were burning. For this to be represented, there were some proposals considered such as red plastic bags, maybe red cloth, etc. We decided for the bags, because it was easy for each character to hide during the scene until they wore them. They were cheap and pretty much represented the fire we wanted to be shown. I was given a giant wig, which for me was an obstacle. It meant for me to be much more careful when acting. And with the rough movements while threatening Eduardo I planned to do it became much harder. The wig was really large and hard to maintain in the same place, it kept on falling. I manage a way to introduce it so it wouldn't fall anymore. I learned that even though it was an obstacle for me, it helped me as well to get in character. Such a prop would make me feel like my character a little bit more than usual. As well, it helped me to adopt posture I would have to do during the scene so it wouldn't fall that had to stay for the aunt.

For my production task was scenery. Being so close to the premiere, I had to establish some order of it. For this I took note on where were the things placed on stage, where they should be and who should place them there. This took me a while since there are several things that are supposed to be done, even more since we don;t have 'backstage' people. I had to see which actors were available to move something, which were strong enough. By taking note, I believe that it made everything much more organised, so everybody that could would be moving something.

Connections:
I can connect this rehearsal with the one of school plays years before in general. Not only because of the nervousness we felt every time, but how we are successful at each theatre practice we are trying to represent. Each one in a different way. Some are more liked than others, but in a way they are all successful; what I mean with successful is we all feel good with them, we feel complete. Because we know we have put a lot of our effort in something that would only last 3 day, it gives you satisfaction.

Reflections:
During this rehearsal I notice how fast the time has passed. The premiere is next week and I had never seen from so close what is it like to be in the play and have more responsibilities than the others. You get to do things you've never done before, and be ready to replace anyone if they are absent. I had to organise myself in order to organise the people I was  in charge. I was pretty proud of the 'brumas' scene and how it evolved, since I was in charge of it for a while. We were adding the final touches for it to be ready and perfect. We had our costumes and the scenes ready, as well as the transitions. Next week we had the general rehearsal and the premiere. I was anxious to know what would people think and how it would finally turn out. This all made me think of how important it is to have something to say in theatre, I mean, it would be pointless all of this if we didn't. As well I started thinking if I was personally ready and also in general. I began to think when can we decide when a play is completely ready? Or how? Is there a certain way to know? Is it once you begin to feel comfortable on how it looks? Or maybe when you feel you have expressed well what you wanted to say? Is a play ever ready?