28th May

During the week off some of the lovers decided to meet up and run lines. We chose to rehearse in a park because then we could get the feel of what it would actually be like for the lovers in a forest.

We recapped scenes that we had already blocked and also changed some of the blocking for act 1 scene 1. We decided rather than having the couple run together straight after Theseus left, but have Lysander walk towards the middle and Hermia slowly walk towards the exit. I think this works best because she would be worried if her father is going to walk in on her and she wouldn't want to be caught with Lysander.

22nd May

Today we focused on Act 3 Scene 2. I watched a YouTube video and was inspired by the lifts they used. Click here for the video I think these lifts work because I am still able to kick my legs or move my arms while they are holding me safely.

We decided to break up the drama and action by adding in some comedy moments with the competition between Lysander and Demetrius. It's also quite comedic the different ways that they treat Hermia and Helena, they are very rough when moving Hermia but they are very gentle and slow when moving Helena. This clearly shows the relationship between the characters.

20th May

Today we started by blocking Act 3 Scene 2, we decided to play an improvisation game to help us understand our characters feelings and the intentions of the scene. I thought it would be good if at the start I push him when I say 'thou' this shows how angry I am at him and also adds movement to the scene. I thought it would be good if during the scene Demetrius could sit down, this not only plays with levels but also shows that he is bored with the conversation because I am angry but he seems quite calm like he isn't bothered.

We decided to take out me entering from behind the stage because there will only be one entrance and the rest will be blocked with set. I thought it would be better rather than running and jumping on Lysander to run and hug him this shows affection and it is also easier for him to push me off. During most of the scene I think it looks effective if I keep looking over at Lysander but he doesn't look at me, this shows a contrast to the first scene because in that scene we kept looking over at each other. We added more movement to the scene by having me being pushed around and spending most of the time on the floor, this shows statues because I am seen as being very low because nobody likes me.

8th May

For this lesson we looked at the fight scene, we started by talking about the intention of the scene and what are characters would be thinking. I think my character would be very upset,confused and angry because the love of her life has fallen in love with her best friend and now she has no one because she was planning on running away with him.

We thought it would be effective if Lysander and Demetruis are trying to fight to get closer to Helena. I think it works really well when they stand in a triangle far apart, because you can see them clearly and it also builds tension especially when the boys stand opposite each other. I thought it might have been a good idea if Hermia came on from behind one of the seating blocks because this shows that she is lost in the woods without Lysander helping her, then when she find him she runs up and jumps on him. During rehearsal we played around with different ways of movement and fighting. We looked at different lifts we could do, were I was kicking my legs trying to get to Helena but Lysander and Demetruis were protecting Helena. I think this works really well because it shows how chaotic the scene is and also it works well visually because people can see the drama and know what's going on even if they don't understand Shakespeare's language.

6th May

Today we looked at the blocking for scene 1 and also blocked more of it. We decided to change my position when I speak to the Theseus, so that I am stood in front of the exist and everyone in the audience can see me. Also I am kneeling, this shows the audience that I am begging, because I am a woman I am inferior especially to Theseus so by kneeling it is a sign of respect.

We then looked at Helena and Hermia's scene and what intentions are behind the scene. We decided it would be good if we staged it so Helena was walking in on Lysander and Hermia. I think during this scene Hermia is wanting to be alone with Lysander and Helena just wants to rant to Hermia. So during the scene I keep standing near Lysander but Helena keep standing between us and trying to keep us apart. I think this works best because it not only shows how much I love Lysander but it is also comedic.

1st May

We started the lesson by reading through the last scene. Once we had read it though we started blocking and staging the scene. Because my character doesn't have any lines, it's important to focus on my reactions to the scene.

We decided to stage it as the lovers sitting together. I thought it would be best for Helena and Hermia to sit next to each other with our husbands next to us, because it shows the audience that Helena and Hermia are still friends. Also I decided that my character would sit with her feet crossed rather than her legs, this is more of a royal way of sitting and shows that I am from a higher class.

29th April

Today we worked independently and looked at how to block one of our monologues. We started by answering some questions about our character and about the setting of the monologue.

We then used a technique created by Max Stafford Clark called Actioning, this is when you act out the words of the monologue. We did this by pointing at our selves or other characters in the scene, this helped me visualise the scene and work out were people are stood. And also which words I should emphasise. We used a technique called Walking the Line, this helped me focus on the punctuation in the monologue. When I should pause or slow down to emphasise words. Overall I found these exercise really useful for working out how to perform my monologues, and how to block them when I am at home and don't have the other actors with me.

We then briefly looked at Egeus monologue in scene 1. We made it more humorous by keeping in his pointing actions because he is constantly pointing at different characters in the scene. We also added in some looks between my character and Lysander, we then received feedback from the audience saying that the looks between us was very effective and cute because it shows that we are madly in love with each other.

24th April

Today we started be getting into groups and roughly blocking scene 1 and 2. My group was given scene 2, we decided to shorten down scene 2 and perform it in Modern English so that the class can understand what the scene is about. I think our scene could have used a lot more enthusiasm and movement, because the characters weren't very strong, however the audience could clearly see the intention of the scene.

We then as a class looked into how to block scenes in the round. Because we will be performing in the round we need to think about how we perform so that people can clearly see at least half of the faces of the performs who are on stage. We used an exercise that the Royal Shakespeare Company use called balancing the plate. When blocking scenes we need to think about standing in triangles so that the audience can see the majority of the actors on stage.

After that we looked at some themes that run through a Midsummer Night's Dream.

Then we split off into groups and talked more in-depth about the most common themes in the play. My group was given Order and Chaos. I think the main part in the story were there is order is at the end, when Puck gives his monologue telling the audience that he has restored order to Athens. I think this because he is clearing up all the chaos that he has coursed during the play.

We then blocked scene 1. When Egeus, Lysander, Demetrius and Hermia walk in, we decided because Theseus is a Duke that when we enter we should bow, this intimately shows the audience that we are a lower statues than him. Then when Egeus introduces us we stand up, this clearly shows the audience who we are.

22nd April

We started the lesson by reading through scene 1 and 2. As a class we all discussed what was happening in each scene and a bit about each character. We also jotted down some words that we didn't know and put them into a list so we could look them up for homework.

We then played an improvisation game called the shed game. What we had to do was go into the middle of the circle and ask if we can help to build a shed, but we all had to do it as different characters. We created these characters by using our voice and body, then the people in the middle of the circle had to copy your characters mannerisms. I decided to take inspiration from an animal and walk into the middle like a penguin. This game demonstrated a variety of different performance styles that we could use within classical theatre. For example, Bottom turns into a donkey therefore he is going to have to research different animal gesture that he can do to physically show the audience that he is now a donkey.  

Then we split off into groups and blocked the scenes. Fran and I worked on the part of scene 1 when Helena walked in. We started by performing the scene a few different ways and seeing which way looked best and felt best. The first way we tried out was acting it out like an argument, I think this way was very strong however I thought Helena and Hermia were more friendlier than that. So we tried out doing it very overly friendly but that wasn't as strong as the first time we did it. However we started the scene by hugging and that did work really well. So we tried doing it as Helena was quite angry and I was trying to calm her down. I think this worked best because the scene was very strong but also portrayed to the audience that we are friends. We then decided to play around with movement and levels to make the scene look more interesting, for this we used a chair. When Fran is ranting at me I sat down on the chair, this shows that she has the power. Then when I say Take Comfort, I sit her down on the chair and I kneel down next to her, this shows the audience that we are on the same leave and that I am trying to calm her down and comfort her.

3rd April 2014

We started the lesson by playing a game where we were given many different actors and we had to put them in groups, we decided to put them into categories of different genres. Then we had to decide which actors had performed Shakespeare, we were correct because we guessed that all of them had. From this exercise I learnt that anyone can do Shakespeare no matter what type of acting background they have.

We then rehearsed and performed our Reduced Shakespeare piece. I think by making the language simple and clear the audience could really understand what we were doing and what the storyline was. We spent the rest of the lesson rehearsing and showing back our monologues.

2nd April

Today we learnt about putting emotion behind words. As Shakespearian language is quite hard to understand sometimes, it is important to use emotion behind words. So that the mean comes across clearly to the audience. We started by splitting off into pairs and shouting insults at each other. We started to add movement and physical theatre, in my pair Fran and I decided to circle around each other, this will work well if we were to perform the scene in the round because it allows all the audience to see our facial expressions and also built a lot of tension.

We then used the insults we had collected as homework to make a scene. For our scene we decided to have 2 rival families that have trespassed on Fran and I's land. I think after showing it back that our scene needed more emotion and movement which would have helped the audience understand the insults and story line.

We used the Reduced Shakespeare Company as stimuli and devised a 5 minute long version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, this helped people understand the story line more and also how the characters are related. I suggested that we keep it very Brectian and we discussed wearing signs with our characters name on it so that the audience can clearly see who we are.

1st April

We started the lesson by writing down all the general knowledge we knew about classical theatre and discussing common themes and characters used in classical theatre. 

We then split off into groups and were given story lines and had to put them into categories for which TV show we thought they were from. In the end we found out that all the story lines were used by Shakespeare. From this activity I learnt how transferable Shakespeare's story lines are, I also learnt that the play they are performing in A Midsummer Night's Dream is based on Romeo and Juliet. 

We then learnt to count to 10 in Turkish. By doing this exercise we learnt how to pick up a different language, because it is harder to learn Shakespearian lines than regular British lines. So you have to learn them as if you are learning a different language. 

Then in a group we wrote down 10 different techniques we use to learn lines. 

We then picked which method we used and found most effective, doing this exercise helped me see what other techniques I could use for when I am learning my lines. Because when I learnt to speck Turkish I used the Sequence Method and I found that really effective, so maybe when I start learning my lines I could try out that method.