Order & lines

June 9th
Description:
This week, like most of the past weeks, we have been putting the scenes together and rehearsing Act II. Specifically what I did was:
1. Helped in the changes of scenes during Act II.
2. Created my character's lines and started to develop my character for scene 8.

Analysis:
I would like to start by saying that I have been doing number 1 for a while now. I now understand and face the pressure of sometimes not having enough hands to move the scenery and what it is to be in charged. For example, we have been rehearsing scene 8 the most because it is apparently the weakest. This is because of the lack of energy the actors have, they are not putting the same amount of effort as they did before. Their animal sounds were not working as before, their energy and volume were low, etc; so the overwhelming effect has decaying. As I was saying, the change of scene from the scene before is being continuously rehearsed. It is supposed to be slow in order to create a transformation effect to achieve a more Expressionist view. The team work is really important since we are supposed to collaborate and move everything. By helping in this area, I realised the changes of scene are not only something technical but something as a part of the play that creates an effect. This means that unlike the plays before in which the scene changes were fast and tried to be as objective as possible, with no intended effect (or maybe not as notorious); these changes of scene are slow and are not aimed to be rushed. They are slow and transmit the effect of metamorphosing since it converts from one state to another. They are a essential part of the play because it demands actors not only to act but to be involved in other things since we were making the 'backstage' job as well.
To overcome the obstacle of having to move everything in a small amount of time we organised ourselves for each to move a specific piece of the scenery. For example the people in the office are supposed to carry their own tables first, then their chairs and finally their typewriters. This established an order and would make things easier behind scenes. At first, it was way to messy since people just moved any object and left it anywhere, but when we decided who was moving what then it improved. Another obstacle in the scene was that when "El hombre" started banging on the white panels so they would open and he could then bang on the tower; there was no one to move one of the panels and it was hard for Eduardo to move it alone. So one of the actors that didn't appear in the scene helped to move the panel. This was to create dynamism in the scene, so the movements were smoother and didn't seemed too forced. As for the desks in scene 8, "La Oficina", they were not aligned correctly sometimes. They were supposed to be aligned in a zig zag form to create monotony and order, but as the desks were carried in, there was not some kind of coordination that didn't allow the symmetry in the scene. To avoid and improve this, we ordered the desks and practiced the scenes in order to make them symmetric without going back to disorganised.

As for my characterisation, I had already created my lines but didn't learn them. Even though I wrote them myself, it was hard to know them by heart already. So in my attempt to remember my lines on the scene I was leaving behind my voice and body characterisation and focused on the lines only. It was hard to be able to remember and at the same time put the same effort in acting, so I kept on losing the voice and got it back when I remembered. It was the first time we blocked this part of the scene, so I had to use my creative skills to create this part. During this rehearsal I learned how important it is to be able to internalize your lines and know them really well; this makes you focus on your body, voice and actions rather than what you are going to say. It's not only what you say but how you say it. I improvised some of the movements on the scene in order to see which would stay; they weren't perfectly done but as I said, it was the first time.

Connections:
I can connect these rehearsals with the ones on the last school plays. Not only because we are really close to the premier but because they differ in several ways. Even though we already know that we make a different Theatre practice each year, this time with German Expressionism we have followed its conventions strictly. It is not a play you have watched before. The conventions such as straight lines, bright colours in technical aspects are something we have managed very well by alternating the scenes from dream to reality and also by incorporating its characteristics in the scenery and props. It is interesting the jump we have made from black and white to colour since it as well add dynamism to the play since it is pretty monotonous when it is on 'reality'. As well, this play is trying to reach the audience by two specific feelings: overwhelming and oppressive which differs from the past school plays in which the effect on the audience was up to them to feel as it progressed.

Another connection I could find in terms of characterisation is with 'Miyuki y los tres demonios'. During the mentioned play, my character was one of the feudal lord's geishas, we were four. This meant that we said our lines in unison and they were short and straightforward. If you didn't know the lines very well, you would remember them when the other ones started saying them. This gave you reassurance of the line you were going to say and also as we were four the volume was way higher. As for this play, specifically in this scene I was by myself and had to raise my volume and know by  heart my lines.

Lastly, a connection I could find in technical terms was with 'Shadow Queendom'. One of my responsibilities during that play was to move the ladder and place the banner on it during the scene transitions with Nathalie. This was the first time I had something to do with the scene transitions; and I remember every member was responsible for a piece of scenery. This means that everyone had to move something specific and nothing was left randomly. Just like in this play, everyone was assigned to move a specific object during the scene transition. Anyway the transitions in this play are way slower than the ones in 'Shadow Queendom' which gives more time for things to be settled.

Reflections:
During this week I learned several things. Firstly how important and basic can team work be. I remember in my last school plays in which I only acted but had nothing to do with the scene transitions; I didn't know how hard others worked for things to be organised. The interesting aspect in this play, specifically regarding the scene transitions is that even the smaller kids had something to do with it. I believe it taught us all how to work as a big group. Even if we were not strong we would help to move the objects around, to receive them while we could. In this way we were achieving the goal. We still had to work on it anyway. I learned that the characterisation process could be fun if you want it to, it could be enjoyable. I mean, this week it was frustrating for me because I could do two things at the same time (say my line and characterise) but I realised I could put more effort in learning my lines sooner so I could specifically focus on my characterisation. There are several ways I could try for my character in this part of the scene, it had to have some relation with what she acted like in the previous scene she appeared on; but the mood was different as well. I learned that even though there was a relation in between the scenes, a character could as well act different in another scene due to the different circumstances just like us; how we react to a situation could have many different possibilities. This lead me to the question, why do we try to have every characteristic of the personality of our character so well defined? Why do we want to know how he or she is during certain situations if it is just like us, everyone has different reaction to a certain situation. We could never know how our character would act in a situation. And to what extent can a character be different on one scene according to another? Which factors affect it apart from their mood and the situation?