Devising Log - Week Three

Log - 

What activities did we do today?

Today we looked at bring all the devised pieces together into one play. We did this by weaving all the scenes together as if they had all been broken up and thrown into one piece. We spent a lot of the time teaching the rest of the class our scene so the whole cast can be a part of it. However, this meant we had to develop our scene during this process as changes needed to be made in order to accommodate the amount of people present in our scene.

What ideas did you/your group come up with? 

As a group we came up with the ideas of having a section where we show how boring and miserable people who don't dream are. One of the ways we showed this was by the way we walked with the music into the next scene. Every single person in the room would get up very slowly and trudge as miserably as possible into their place along to the slow beat of Benji's guitar. The guitar and walking in rhythm was added because we needed a simpler way to show how miserbale everyone was due to the amount of people who were going to participate, it would have been very difficult for everyone to have been doing very complicated choreographed physical theatre routines on stage without anyone getting hurt or it becoming to messy and difficult for the audience to understand. We also had the idea of the dream team entering on scooters and whizzing around the stage sprinkling watering cans full of fairy dust onto the boring non dreamers heads. This also goes with the idea of using random everyday objects as something significant and completely unrelated to its actually purpose. Such as having a colander as a hat. 

Why have you chosen some of these ideas to develop further? 

The idea of sprinkling glitter onto the non-dreamers head was chosen because of its visual effects. Glitter, even at a young age, is associated with happiness, this idea of fairy tales and mythical creatures and everything to do with being uplifting and creative. If these ideas are easy to identify within glitter than it helps the children to understand and enjoy the play more. Every young child loves glitter because of the shear amount of sparkle and colour, making the play visually interesting. Glitter is also very closely linked to dreams as it is often associated with fairies and other creatures from fairy tales, these are exactly the kind of images that The book encourages the children to dream of, making the message a lot more clearer. Putting it in a watering can is just another random thing to do that enhances the play by making it different and not boring. It may also add a sense of humour to the play.

Why did you reject some of the ideas? 

We rejected the idea of of having the dream super heros enter at the beginning of the miserable scene and be present on stage until its their time to come in and cast dreams around the room. Originally this was going to be how the scene was set out however in todays lesson this was changed. Instead they enter onto stage in the middle of the scene and go directly to the non dreamers to spread their dreams. This was to outline the change in emotions and atmosphere from when they enter, showing a clear contrast between the dull side and vibrant bouncy side making the conceot easier for the children to understand. If the dream team had been on stage from the beginning the connection between the dreamers and making people dream happy dreams may not have been made defeting the point of that scene. 

What acting skills/performance skills are you using? Explain why these are suitable for the piece and the target audience.

In the play there is a choreographed sequence of repeated movements that we preform in lines all at the same time. For this you need to be able to preform in unison and to a certain rhythm for it to be effective. This requires team work skills and the awareness of what other people are doing. This is important because if your not aware of everyone else's movements then how are you supposed to move together as one body and in time to the music? It cannot happen endless everyone is aware of the beat and the movement. You must also be able to find the rhythm of the song otherwise it will be very difficult to move a long to it. These skills are important as they help the children pick out distinctive feature of the play. For example, if everyone is moving in unison then the idea of everyone doing the same thing and following everyone else becomes a lot clearer and doesn't involve as much speech. If we aren't moving in unison then the audience may find it hard to be drawn into those features as they focusing on all that is going on on stage. The footsteps also make a sound that becomes a nice beat to the song, this helps the audience enjoy and pick out the rhythm better. If they are able to pick out the rhythm then maybe they will be able to understand the song better and clap along or tap to the beat. This interaction between the music and the audience helps them to be engaged. 

Evaluation

What did you think about the overall performance? 
I think overall our performance went really well as it flowed all the way through. The transitions between al the different scenes were really quick and slick with I thought was very important as the younger audience may loss interest if there is a lot of dead space on stage. I also felt that everyone put in all the energy they had making the piece a very lively and buzzing one which is perfect for a younger audience. I even had really good feedback from some of the other teacher who watched it, saying that even as an adult they found the piece entertaining and enjoyable. This shows that even though the play was aimed at 3 - 4 year olds it still works for an older audience, possible because of the themes about following your dreams that run through the piece and also because it is very refreshing to see such an energetic and creative piece that can be perceived as silly due it being targeted at a younger audience. 

Was it suitable for the target audience? 
I have mixed feelings about this question. I think that despite our efforts to make it suitable for the target audience some, yet not all, of the children may have gotten a bit lost within the play. For that age group seeing this play with all the bright colours, music, dancing and energy can be a lot to take in and I feel as if some of the kids may have been a bit overwhelmed. Not all of the kids, it depends on the personality, there are some children that are very outspoken and lively which this play would have been perfect for. However, there are also some kids who are very shy and introverted. For these kids I think it may have been nice to have a moment of contrast within the play where it became very intimate and we drew the audience in by bringing the voice and liveliness down, as if it is just you and that one child to draw out the part of them that is very outspoken and confident. However, having said that that doesn't mean that everything we did wasn't effective and should have been cut. I think on some kids who were more energetic and confident they would have really loved the play and engaged really well with all the music, dancing and bright colours. Also, even if some children feeling overwhemed meant that the message was lost on them, the visuals of the piece alone would have been amazing and hopefully inspiring to watch even if they didn't quite understand. 

Which piece of our show worked the best and why?
I think the piaret song done by Eric was really effective as we directly addressed the audience. This meant that the children could directly engage with eric and could feel a part if something. I think this would have made the kids really excited and feel special as they probably believed Eric was a real pirate and to have a real pirate sing a song directly to you as a young children is amazing. I also though the guitar and the fact the speech was in a rythme to a song was really effective First of all it was call and response which already makes it easy to join in as you only have to repeat what Eric says, the language in the song was also very simple such as 'Eye Patch' making it easier to understand, visualise and therefore engage with. I think because this was so effective there should have been more moments like this.

Which devising skills were used to make the piece?

I think trial and error and improvisation was a large part of devising. We would start of by bouncing around ideas untill you have a shape and a clear idea of where you want your piece to head. We would then act on these idea by improvising a scene and taking parts you like and then improvising it again, so slowly you start to build up a scene and develop it. Being able to have an open mind while devising is also very important as it means you are not restricted to only one possible outcome. During devising or when improvising a scene you need to let the scene flow and take it where it wants to go. If you are very closed minded and refuse to look at other ideas other than the one you have in your head you block this out and limit yourself. Having said that I do think it is important to have rough idea of what you want the final outcome to be so you don't get lost within the work and go off task. We also used a lot of physical theatre and music when devising, this heled get the flow and create and atmopshere for the play. 

What character(s) did you play and how had these been developed? 

Through out the play I played many different characters. At the beginning I played a fairy princess that was actually a toy for little kids. This character was developed by really trying to push it as far as it can go and exaggerate all aspects of the character to get it across to the children. It was also developed by looking at the stereotypical type of toys for children such as action men, barbies or soft toys such as a lion. These gave me clear images of what my character would look and act like allowing me to develop my character accordingly. I also played a character in the 'I want to be...' sections, as a group we became things like astronauts, fairies, dinosaurs and racing cars. I think with these characters, in order to develop them you had to let go of your age and become a child. This was quite hard for me because as I was playing these characters thought such as 'You look really stupid right now' kept running through my head. As i developed my characters I had to let go of that voice and just go for the character. I also developed my characters by looking at different ways you could be that one thing as I think if everyone played the same kind of dinosaur or fairy then it wouldn't be very interesting. So i looked at how everyone else played their characters and tried to look at different ways that were completely different to the way they did their character. At the end of the play I played a character that was a part of the dream team. This character I felt that in order to develop it you had to raise how much energy you were putting into the character. I also developed it by looking at how i made my entrance and how i scooted around the stage, looking at how that could be interesting and things I could say while scootering that matched my character. To make this character really work I made everything seem as if it was the best thing in the world, things like scootering were suddenly the most fun thing you could do. 

What have you learnt about devising? 

I have learnt that in order to devise effectivley you have to work as a team and bounce ideas between you. The devised piece needs to be a collective of ideas so its balanced out and has lots of different takes and themes running through it. However I have also learnt that there is a balance, as well as there being an input from lots of different people there needs to be group desicions so everyone is on the same page. Otherwise it can get a bit messy with people wanting this and someone else wanting something completley different. The group must learn to compromise with each other. I have also learnt that in order to devise you need to think outside the box and come up with may different ideas. Devising doesn't work as well if you come up with one idea and use that straight away, there needs to be a process of discussion and tossing ideas around. As you do this the ideas start to develop and you left with a a lot of ideas that have been well thought out. This allows you to carry onto the next stage of trail and error a lot more easily as theres more ideas to play with.

What could have been developed further and why? 
I think we could have spoke more directly to the audience and made it so their a part of the play rather than some one whos watching the play from the outside. Erics pirate song is a really good example of interaction with the audience and i think we should have found different ways to connect with them. Maybe we could have even gone up into the audience and moved though them, speaking to the kids as we go. Interaction like that would have been a lot more effective not only because possible it would have helped them to understand the play better as they now have a more personal connection but also because it makes watching the play that much more special and therefore a lot more enjoyable. This would then lead to the play having a larger impact on the audience and making it a more memorable moment. There was however, the 'hey world guess what im dreaming about' song that interacted with the audience. Yet i felt that it may have seemed slightly intimidating to the younger audience, thus my conclusion for a more softer approch for some parts during the play. 

Devising Log - Week Two

Log - 

\What activities did we do today?

Today, we focused on developing the short scenes we devised last lesson. We developed our piece by choreographing another set of rhyming speech and actions to go with it, this is said in groups of three. An example of this is 'Have you fed the cat....Carol where's my hat...I really really really want to eat that.'

What ideas did you/your group come up with? 
We came up with another set of rhyming phrase that go like this 'Whats on TV...I really need to pee...Anyone for a cup of tea...How many sugars 1..2..or 3.'  We also looked at a movement each person can do while they say there lines. This was a very basic and exaggerated movement to just outline action, an example of this was crouch down as if you need to pee during the line 'I really need to pee.' We also looked at a guitar piece to go under the acting and movement, this was done by Benji on the guitar. We looked at various little strum/finger picking patterns to fill in the silence after each person says their rhyme. This gave the whole piece a clearer aatmosphere and makes the piece easier for a younger audience to engage.

Why have you chosen some of these ideas to develop further? 
We chose the movement and rhythms to develop furtherr in order to look at interesting way to preform, this as the more interesting it is the more a younger audience can engage as theres a lot more happening on stage and you are using your whole body to convay emotions. As a younger kid the idea of subtle emotions that are enter twined with with many other emotions is hard to grasp, therefore the physical aspect means they are more willing and engaged as they dont have to only focus on a very long and drony speech. The physical also means they have more to look at as even if they dont understand they will enjoy looking at the physical theatre and bright colours. Just like in the book, the page is filed with so many pictures with such bright colours to draw the read (young child) into the book this is exactly like our piefce that were devising.

Why did you reject some of the ideas? 
 We rejected the idea of having the two sets of ryhming lines alternating between each other, instead we have one set said as a whole and then the next set is said as a whole. We did this because if you alternate you lose the effect pf ryhming as the ryhmes are no longer said one after the other. The ryhming makes the lines easier to understand and engage with, it also makes it a lot more interesting to listen to as theres more of a flow. 

What acting skills/performance skills are you using? Explain why these are suitable for the piece and the target audience. 
Today, we need physical theatre skills in order to preform our piece. We were aidede in this by the workshoip we did with Frantic Assesmly, in this workshop we learnt how to preform some basic lifts. These were then used in our npiece to show happiness and give and uplifting atmosphere. This was then contrasted with a sharp change to a slump to the floor. Without these physical theatre skills we wouldnt be able to have done these lifts and therefore the contarast between happinessw and unhappiness is seen more clearly and understood better. 

Devising Skills & Children's Theatre

Devising Skills

What devising skills did we discuss today? Which of these skills are you most confident in using?
We talked about a lot of different devising skills such as improvisation. This seems to be a

key skill in devising as its extremely difficult to plan right down to every movement you will make during that scene, so instead of that we get up on your feet and try things out. Sometimes scenes take unexpected turns and go down different routes and often the new ideas develop as you try it out through improvisation. We also talked about soundscapes, movement skills and being open minded while devising. I find that improvisation is the area I'm most confident in terms of devising as I do enjoy just getting up on my feet and doing the scene. It is hard work but when you get into it I find the ideas start to flow and your able to bounce of other people during the scene to develop more ideas. I also think i feel confident in improvisation as you don't have to put loads of thought into it. I mean most times you do need a basic structure the scene to work around, but while in that scene you aren't thinking about how you interact or act you just play it out and see what works. Its a very free method of devising because you don't fully know what will happen during your scene.


Children's Theatre 

Why is theatre for children so valuable?
Watching theatre at a young age can be extremely inspiring and eye opening. As a young kid it opens your mind up to a whole new world that didn't exist before that show. I think one of the most important things about seeing theatre as a children is the creativity your exposed to, children brought up in a purely academic family and who aren't exposed to creative things like theatre are going to find it difficult to run with their creative thoughts. I feel that although academic things are great, its a balance as with academic subjects for most of the time theres only one right answer. In theatre anything is correct as your free to run with your thoughts and follow them where ever they may go. Some of these children may even be inspired to think creatively and may even grow up to want to be an actor/actress. 

Unicorn Theatre -

One Little World

 The Unicorn Theatre is the UK's leading theatre for audiences aged 2–21 (younger audiences). Their work is designed to push the 'boundaries of imagination' and present this to children. A lot of their work explores cutting edge issues that are very relevant to the world we live in. At the moment the Unicorn Theatre is showing 'One Little World'. This is a show for children that revolves around dressing up and changing characters. From what I can gather from the website it also revoles around pirates and what happens when only one person only wants to be one thing, in the case of the play the leader. This company will help us with our devising as it can give us ideas for different ways in how we can devise our piece. It also gives us ideas on how we can preform children's theatre while still pushing the 'boundaries of imagination' and exploring the emotional depth, something which seems quite hard to do as children's theatre is often associated with mind numbing stupid and boring plays for older people.

Polka Theatre - 
 The Polka Theatre is a space completely dedicated to putting on shows and events for children. Not only do they do theatre shows but they also organise workshops where children can come and produces some art work, read and take place in creative activities. Their theatre shows/workshops focus on children from the ages from 0 - 14. At the moment, among other shows, they are putting on a show called 'Puss In Boots'. This play features a range of puppets and is done for children aged from 4 - 8. This theatre company seems to focus a lot more on children that The Unicorn Theatre. It seems that its soul purpose is to entertain children and there isn't much of the pushing of boundaries that the Unicorn Theatre tries to do. Nevertheless its still helpful as it shows exactly how to get children engaged and what feature,like puppets, you can use to help make it more interesting for a younger audience.

Log -

What activities did we do today?

In today's lesson focused on devising a short scene for our 10 pages. The lesson revolved

Ideas sheet

around coming up with ideas and bouncing of each other. Before we devised our scene we did some short exercises that helps us with the devising, visualising and producing ideas. One of the exercises was to produce a image in your head of what the future play look like, we then went round the room say out loud what we saw. This helped to vocalise your ideas and get a glimpse at everyone elses ideas, some of these ideas even influenced your own ideas.

What ideas did you/your group come up with? 

As a group we came up with the idea to make our scene fairly relistic. The children who dream creativley beame 'The Dream Team'. The Dream Team was a group of people who went around attacking anyone who refused to dream creativley and turned them into creative dreamers. In our scene an evil mastermind had caputured a group of helpless dreams and had taken their dreams away from them. We created a physicalised routine for the 3 captured dreamers to preform on a loop to show how misurable and boring they are without their creative dreams. The evil masterming then entered and stated that it was 'Your houraly misery hour.' This was where all 3 captured dreams repeated the phrases said by the evil mastermind, this was stuff like 'I can't dream.' Throught the scene the dream team had be edging ever near to the theme tune of mision impossible, at this point they burst in and projected creative dreams into everyones head, turning them all into dreamers.

Why have you chosen some of these ideas to develop further? You need to explain why?

I really liked the idea of the Dream Team against the non-dreamer evil genius. By using this dynamic you can make the piece very physical as spys (dream team) are very physical and use a lot of movemnt. It also seemed to provide a lot of comedy as we made the evil genius become quite silly. Ie - he had a very silly voice. For a younger audience this would probably be quite funny meaning they will engage and enjoy the preformance a lot more. The physicalisation and the clear divide between the dreamers and the non-dreamers makes the play a lot easier to understand for a young audience. It means that the context isn't all in the text and instead the concpets are shows in a visuale way, the clear divide also makes it easier to understand as its very obvious who is the badie and who is the goodie.

Why did you reject some of the ideas? You need to explain why?

One of our original ideas was to pull the non-dreamers out of the circle instead of blasting them wih dreams as we did in our preformance. We chose not to do this as it became very chaotic an the definining line between the dreamers and non-dreamers became very blurrer as all of a sudden everyone was just grabbing and puling onto each other. I think we could develop some choreographed momvemt that we could do for each non-dreamer we blast with dreams but this would have to be very controlled and clear. The idea of jut grabbing and pulling people around and off stage is confusing and a younger audience wont get the concept of filling them with dreams and the happiness that follows. Also yanking someone out of their position is quite violent and this then loses the impression of the dreamers being good and gentle.

What acting skills/performance skills are you using? Explain why these are suitable for the piece and the target audience. 

One of the acting skills were using is the ability to exagerate every movement, facial expression and voice. This is sutiable for a younger audience as it makes the cncpets easier to understand. If we were to act everything out in a very subtle and natural way the young children woudnt pick up on these emotions and characters. It also wouoldnt very very interesting for them to watch, so we exaggerate everything we do. However, we must do this while still matintaining the line between exaggerating and just being stupid. It an be difficult to stay within the bounday of just exaggerating and not letting yourself get carried away and just start being stupid. It is also difficult as we are so much older than our target audience, therefore we must get past the point where we feel silly and shy from our characters.

References - 

https://www.unicorntheatre.com/whatson/79/one-little-word
http://www.polkatheatre.com/whats-on/puss-in-boots 

Opinions On An Awesome Book

What is your first opinion of the book?

From the moment I watched the video version of 'An Awesome Book' I fell in love with it straight away. The book seemed so easy to connect with even though its aimed at younger children. The idea of having dreams with no limit no matter what age you are was so relevant to our society, a society where the focus is on material objects just as the book points out. Instead of dreaming of creative inventive creations that have no end, you dream of new phones or cars. This really moved me as its something that has crossed my mind, there are people in our society who have hardly any sense of creativity or imagination because thats been drilled out of them. Often people who work in jobs they hate do lose this sense of endless dreaming as there not really being stimulated creatively and instead focus of things of no value. To present such an interesting topic in a children's book was amazing, the idea of dreams became so clear and it really made me reflect on the values of today. The illustrations also added to it as they were so creative and out of the box  they were inspiring. They made me think about how closed your mind can become and how when I sit down to draw, my mind draws a blank. This book really did inspire me and made me so excited to continue with this project.


Why has it been selected for our 'Little People's day' audience?
As it is a childrens book it seems appropriate to preform for a younger audience. It also feels like a book with a lot of emotional depth although its written for childern. I think the message of the book, that theres no limit to your dreams, is a particulally important message to show to kids. At such a young age they can be influenced easily, maybe the message of endless dreams and not letting society take that away from you will stick with the forever. I know that after reading that book, I have definatly taken something from it that was influenced the way in which I look at things. The book its self is also something that posses a lot of wackey characters, the story seems as if it has a lot of potential for a childrens theatre show as in the illistrations alone in the book theres a lot of vibrate colours and interesting characters. The story of the book as fits with physicalisation quite well, making it a great choice for a childrens theatre show.

References - 
http://gweb-awesomebook.appspot.com/index.html