15th February

My group evaluation Table:

15th February- Drama PLTS

15^th February

PLTS

Self Manager:                    

Be Organised,

Manage Emotions,

Go For It, Finish It,

Manage Risks.

Creative Thinker:

Imagine,

Question Assumptions,

Take Creative Risks,

Make Links.

Effective Participator:

Persuade Others,

Identify Issues,

Find Solutions,

Get Involved.

Reflective Learner:

Set Yourself Challenges,

Plan – Do – Review,

Invite Feedback,

Share Learning.

Team Worker:

Take Responsibility,

Evaluate The Team,

Build Team Strength,

Manage The Team.

Independent Enquirer:

Reach Conclusions,

Evaluate the Evidence,

Explore a Question,

Stay Objective.

Job Application

I think I am a very skilled and talented employee and think I would fit in well with your theatre company. I have lots of experience of working with other directors or companies and lots of experience of working within different roles of a theatre team. I can act, dance, direction work, sing, playwright, make costume, build set, be a member of the crew and I reckon I will be the perfect person for you.
Elaborating on the skills I have just said, I have played in several melodrama performances, extra improvisation workshops, played the White queen in Alice in wonderland, Played Mary Warren in the crucible and other self written work. I can dance and started dance when I was 6. I danced for 7 years and really enjoyed it but stopped because I was far too busy. I have taken on the directors role in my drama group (Masquerade Theatre) several times and really found it productive and enjoyable. I have sung in the Roman Amphitheatre In Italy as part of a choir I have been with for 2 years who I went on tour to Italy with. I had a solo in my school show in primary and high school.
My playwright skills are not as strong as my others but when I sit down and think about it, ideas flow into my head and I can create a amateur piece of work. I have had some experience playwright at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on a school trip for an Offstage choices workshop.
During my acting with the The Masquerade theatre I did have some experiences making costume and building set but not a lot. We had to make our costumes for a tribal performance we did and had to create the set and props ourselves. We then had to perform it at a carnival which was weird performing in your own made costumes.
Sadly I was ill and missed an audition for the school show 2011 of Cloud Busting. Although I couldn't be part of the cast I got involved in the crew and became a member of the crew, helped front of house and helped create some set. Even though I wasn't really doing what I most wanted to do, I still really enjoyed what I did as it was something different and something I never knew I could do.
I really am extremely versatile and will be involved in any role within the theatre as you need me to be because at the end of the day I am involved and that's all that matters. Once I am in I can then work to get into higher positions or different roles which may suite me better.
Above all my skills I have spoken about above, I can also add my personality to your company. I have a constant bubbly personality and believe that my people skills are incredible. I can relate to several social and political issues and think I will connect with our audiences.
I know lots of drama conventions that are useful if you do not already do them and believe that my new mind can bring new, fresh ideas to this already outstanding company and add my sparkle to your other employees.
Please do not hesitate to contact me about further questions you have. I really hope I have impressed you and hope you consider me a perfect applicant for this job.
I anticipate your response.
Thank you,
Yours Sincerely,
Bethany Kaye

8th February- Hot seating and Role on the wall

8^th February

What is hot seating?

What is good hot seating?

Why is it useful during rehearsals?

How could it be used in a TIE workshop?

What is role on the wall?

Why is it useful in drama rehearsals?

How could it be used in TIE workshops?

Hot seating is a drama convention where an Actor/ teacher or participant is interviewed using spontaneous improvisation in character.

It is used to find out more about the actors character in a performance. To do this you have to be good at improvisation and not come out of character.

Good hot seating is where the actor manages to stay in role for the required amount of time and answer the questions appropriately to their character. Good hot seating uses body language and facial expression to show the characters person. Using props and costume is really helpful as it helps you relate better and more efficiently to the character. Good hot seating should always be intense to watch and use a variety of drama techniques. Because it uses spontaneous improvisation it’s hard to know when the actor is going to answer, not to talk over somebody or if you have pushed it too far. If the actor makes you feel like this then he/ she is hot seating well making the scene believable and intense. During a hot seating task, if you do not know what to say pause and think in character as it makes it look so much more professional and makes it look like you are your character.

In rehearsals hot seating it effective to help students understand more about a/ their character. Leaving the room/ scene and re entering and then leaving again helps you come in and out of character easier and more professionally.

Used in TIE workshops can be helpful because it can really help a student understand the story, meaning and character of this production. If a student knows somebody that’s going through this issue or is going through it themselves then if we approach it right, we will be able to help that student come to terms with the issue or get through it easier. Hot Seating can also be a part of why an issue is dealt with differently as we may give advice or information that a student didn’t know before.

Hot seating rules:

Find a similarity to relate to you character or scenario because it makes the task seem so much more believable.

Don’t be worried about not asking a question just make sure you are involved in what is happening.

Don’t worry about speaking over people or your question sounding stupid; say it anyway because you may be surprised.

Ask a mixture of open and closed questions so the actor can have a variety of different answers.

Don’t worry about going down a different route just ask it anyway.

Hot Seating Tom: James’ father,

                          Mr Matthews,

His feeling whilst being hot seated...

He felt stuck with what to say,

He tried to think of past scenarios and personal experiences and used this to make a new character,

Weird. He said it felt weird being somebody else and having to think spontaneously as somebody else,

“As the questions grow you feel like you are becoming more like your character... It’s like you have a performance/ energy bubble around you in the world of your character... You have to allow your actors/ spect actors to commit... The set up is really important... Everybody in the hot seating activity has to commit to the performance world.”  Tom Willshaw

Reviews from everybody:

Imogen- It’s difficult to play an 8 year old.

Olly- Builds a lot of tension. I was worried I might run out of things to say.

Abi- It’s really difficult to convince your audience/ spect actors.

Frankie- My audience were laughing and it was really misleading for me as the actor.

Emily- I found it hard to stay in character and it was hard to be spontaneous.

Tom- I enjoyed this task and it was nice to be able to improvise.

Me- I found it challenging because my character has very little to say so I couldn’t think of many questions or answers about my character.

Francesca- I found it easy to stay in character but the questions were really provocative and I had to force a lot of reactions.

Role on the wall:

Role on the wall is a drama convention used to help an understanding or to get to know a character better. It is where a body outline is drawn and around the outside of the body you have to write words or phrases about what others think of your character. In the middle of your drawing you have to write words or phrases about your character from that characters point of view. For example:

 

An example of role on the wall from Miss Woffinden



It is useful in drama to help an understanding of a character and to help focus students and get them to think more widely about this character.

In TIE workshops it can be used to, again develop the student’s interest and understanding of a play and character and help their social/ political issues like I mentioned for Hot Seating.

The skeleton in my closet

The skeleton in my closet is a true story found by Imogen Hey on a forum blog. This story is the idea we are going with for our TIE performance.

Here is the story:

My graduation dress made a surprise appearance from the back of my closet last spring. The kids dug it out in an effort to supply vintage clothing for a fashion show the local high school was hosting.

The fabric was brittle with the accumulated filth of thirty years; the yellow chiffon muted under a layer of dust. The green velvet ribbon around the empire waste had faded to a melancholy gray, the elongated bow dropping like the ears of a well loved stuffed toy.

My daughters covered their mouths in mock horror as the dress slid off the coat hanger and slumped to the floor -- their guffaws echoed in my head as I reached for the gown. I heard the faint rattle of bones as the skeleton I had zipped into the folds of yellow chiffon was suddenly released. The secret I had hidden behind the wedding dress, bridesmaids gowns, out dated Christmas outfits, the 'large' clothes, the winter coats, and the maternity dress I couldn't bare to part with, lay blatantly at my feet.

"What's wrong Mom?" my eldest daughter asked as I felt the color drain from my face. I held my breath, and vainly searched for words.

My youngest daughter gingerly gathered the dusty folds of fabric in her arms, cradling them like an antique doll. "Can I try it on?" she asked.

I looked into the healthy faces of my two teenage daughters, at their cheeks faintly bronzed by sunshine...at their arms, muscled and firm.. their bodies, strong and feminine, and cursed the guilty secret that was not out-of-the-bag.

"You can 'try' it on," I said tentatively, "but I don't think you'll be able to do it up -- I was very thin in high school."

I stand five foot nine, in my stocking feet. The dress is a smidge smaller than a size six. Aside from a fading snapshot, safely tucked in a smaller than a size six. Aside from a fading snapshot, safely tucked in a photo album at my father's house, there is no evidence of what I did to myself in my grade twelve year -- except, of course, for the dress itself.

The dress reappeared in my doorway - draped over the slim frame of my fifteen year old daughter. She's much shorter than I was as a teenager, more fit, more athletic...prettier. Billows of material mounded around her feet -- but the back of the dress gaped open, the zipper strained. It was impossible to close.

We all walk with demons, of this I am fairly certain, but sitting face to face with one I had never acknowledged was as unnerving as anything I have ever experienced.

I have never admitted to anyone that I was bulimic...hell, the word hadn't even been invented when I discovered what I believed to be the ultimate weight control program.

My daughters eyed me dubiously, waiting for an explanation.

"I had an eating disorder in high school, " I finally whispered surprising myself with the frankness in my voice. "My mother had to have the dress specially made for me when I graduated."

My mother.........My mother had been frantic as she watched her healthy teenaged daughter melt away. She marched me into Doctor's offices....pounded desks with her fist, and demanded that they get to the bottom of whatever it was that was causing me to lose so much weight. They never did. I feigned innocence. My monthly cycles stopped. I exercised like a fiend, ate like a horse and quietly disappeared into the bathroom immediately following every meal. Then we couldn't find a dress to fit the skeleton I had become. I hated myself.

Twenty years later, when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I fought with the demon again. She died never knowing my secret or the fact that her grief stricken, painfully think daughter was starving herself again.

The room was suddenly static with disbelief -- my youngest daughter let the dress fall from her shoulders. It landed with a silent puff at her feet.

"Why did you keep the dress?" my eldest daughter asked.

I scooped the musty fabric from the floor. "As a reminder I suppose," I said, rocking it. She sat down beside me. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" The maternal tone in her voice laced with concern.

"It's not something I'm very proud of, " I whispered. "Or something that ever goes away."

I had confessed.

The appearance of the grad dress forced me to admit that bulimia has walked with me for thirty years. That I have wrestled with its powerful grasp through every major event in my life. That even now, when the world around me spins out of control, I look inward to the thing I CAN control and fight the urge to take its hand again.

As I eyed the soft fabric in my lap I realized that eating disorders never disappear, they simply shuffle themselves to the backs of closets and lurk. Whether mine was waiting for control or acceptance, I'm not sure. But now that the skeleton is out of my closet, I hope I can learn to accept the teenager who wore that dress, and perhaps forgive her the dark secret she's been hiding.

January 18th- Forum theatre, Resposibilities and to be Dramatised or not?

Jan 18^th

Devising a forum theatre,

What is Forum Theatre?

How did we use it?

What worked well and even better if...?

Forum Theatre Wikipedia Definition- Forum Theatre is a type of theatre created by the innovative and influential practitioner Augusto Boal as part of what he calls his "Theatre of the Oppressed." While practicing earlier in his career, Boal would apply 'simultaneous dramaturgy'. In this process the actors or audience members could stop a performance, often a short scene in which a character was being oppressed in some way. The audience would suggest different actions for the actors to carry out on-stage in an attempt to change the outcome of what they were seeing. This was an attempt to undo the traditional actor partition and bring audience members into the performance, to have an input into the dramatic action they were watching.

Origin and History- Wikipedia- Boal developed and practised an orthodox methodology for forum theatre based on the interaction between his actors and his so-called "spect-actors". The spect-actor attempts to overturn the oppression using some method unused by the actors, whilst the actors portraying the oppressors improvise to attempt to bring the production to its original, scripted ending. If the audience believes that the spect-actor's actions are too unrealistic to be utilized in reality, they may call out "magic!", and the spect-actor must modify their actions accordingly. If this spect-actor fails in overthrowing the oppression, the actor resumes their character, and continues the production until another spect-actor calls out "stop! or freeze!" and attempts a different method.
If and when the oppression has been overthrown by the spect-actors, the production changes again the spect-actors now have the opportunity to replace the oppressors, and find new ways of challenging the oppressed character. In this way a more realistic depiction of the oppression can be made by the audience, who are often victims of the oppression. The whole process is designed to come to a conclusion through the consideration of opposing arguments, rather than where an argument is one-sided and pushed from the actors with no chance of reply or counter-argument.



Augusto Boal


In this lesson we created a piece of forum theatre within our earlier social issues group. Forum theatre is where the audience can stop the performance, join in as one of the characters and have a say in what happens during the performance. Usually a joker stands at the side inviting the audience to take over. A member of the audience can be the reason why a performance has a completely different ending to before. In our Anorexia performance we created two different versions of how our performance could go. Then we tried it out on the class. Seb, Francesca and Tom went first and Emily and Frankie had a go at playing a role. Then Frankie, Olly and Jack went next and again we had to play a character after watching it once through. Unfortunately we ran out of time to perform ours but I still have a really good idea on what the term means and how to use it now thanks to performing the other groups several times. 

I think seeing the performance once or more times through really helped get to terms with it and using forum theatre several times with different audience members helped us see how versatile the two performances could be. I think it would be even better if we didn’t giggle, laugh or mess about but because we are all such good friends we find it hard to frame ourselves when working together. Even though we giggled and worked quite noisily I still think we were very productive.

Are there some subjects that shouldn’t be dramatised?

What are our responsibilities as a playwright/ deviser?

I think you can dramatise all subjects in drama no matter how sensitive they are, as long as you do it maturely and sensitively, taking the audience style into account. They shouldn’t take it too far and make it too dramatic eg. East Enders. Actors should research the topic first to get an idea of the seriousness of this topic. Then they should research their audience types relating to each one in a different way, broaching the subject differently to continue with the sensitivity for some audience members. They shouldn’t mock the subject or play around with it too much.

What are our responsibilities as a playwright/ deviser?
As a deviser my responsibilities are to act according to my audience. I should think about the audience and decide whether the materiel or topic is suitable and sensitive for the audience wither in age range or subject wise.

Does drama have the power to change opinions/ attitudes/ the way we see the world/ the choices we make?
A good set of actors do have the ability to change our perceptive on anything in life whether it just be that subject matter. I think they can change how a person acts and make the world a better place... (Cheesy or what?!) For example:

 A bully going to see a play about a bully (cloudbusting) and seeing just how much the bully regrets it and what the victim is really thinking.

A victim going to see cloudbusting and being in distress because of the bully (being able to relate to the victim).

I think the way an actor broaches a subject and performs a play can have a big impact on the outcome of it as broaching and performing it right can help you relate to the characters and how they feel.
Source of Foeum Theatre and Augusto Boal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forum_theatre - Wikipedia

January 14th- Brechtian

Jan 14^th

Splendid Productions did ‘The Trial’ by Berkoff,

The production used a variety of Brechtian Techniques,

http://www.splendidproductions.co.uk/

Splendid Productions began in September 2003 and has been growing speedily since then. Splendid create high quality, professional, political theatre with theory based practical workshops for young people across the UK.

I stayed behind at the end of school to watch this performance by a Theatre in Education Company. I wasn’t sure if I did or didn’t like this performance. It was quite entertaining and interesting to see the styles of theatre used but I wasn’t sure if it was my cup of tea or not.

Our specialty is bringing Brechtian technique to life for students, both in performance and by providing a workshop experience for them to explore it for themselves. Making Brecht relevant to our audience rather than a slice of theatre history, to understand and use the techniques in their own work.
Beginning September 2004 we toured ‘The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui’ by Bertolt Brecht. This was revived in Summer 2006 as part of The National Theatre’s ‘Watch This Space’ Festival, the first written play to be performed on the outside stage. Our one-hour version for 3 actors was incredibly successful within the education market and sold out in 10 days.
In September 2005 we began touring our Brechtian adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm ‘Four Legs Good Two Legs Bad’. In September 2006 our adaptation of Sophocles’ ‘Antigone’ went across the country finishing in March 2007, followed by 'The Good Woman of Szechuan', Autumn 2007 to Spring 2008 and 'Woyzeck', 2008/2009. After a successful run with 'Woyzeck' at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, we began our sixth tour, 'Dr Faustus'. In 2010 we released production DVDs of 'Woyzeck'and 'Dr Faustus', and kicked off our national tour of 'The Trial'.
We have provided workshops and performances to over 500 schools in 51 counties across the UK providing over 1000 sessions for schools in the last eight years.

Brecht:

German poet and playwright who developed "epic drama"; a style that relies on the audience's reflective detachment rather than the production's atmosphere and action. His works include The Threepenny Opera (1928) and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1948).



Bertolt Brecht



January 11th- Drama Skills

Jan 11^th

Drama skills and convention audit,

What did you know what didn’t you know?

How did it make you feel?

Today we were given a sheet from Miss Woffinden which had a lot of different drama skills on it. From here we colour coded these skills using Red, Orange and Green pens whether we understood the term, had an idea or didn’t know at all. Then we went through these terms and discussed who knew what they meant and if we didn’t what they did mean. I knew a lot of theatre styles for example Melodrama and Physical Theatre. I also knew what a lot of stage crew and management jobs were and what they entailed.

What did you research for homework?
 I didn’t know what the term role on the wall was but I realised once I had been told that I have done it a lot and just never known the right term for it. I also didn’t know what soliloquy and mantle of the expert was and so I researched these for homework. It made me feel quite relived that I knew what a lot of them meant but excited to learn the ones I didn’t.

Soundescape modelled by the teacher,
The Soundescape was really fun and interesting as I have never done this before and it was interesting to hear all the sounds made just by the actors. A Soundescape is where a group of actors create a piece of sound to make an atmosphere using themselves and body parts.

Conscience alley,

What is a conscience alley?

How did we use it?

What worked well and even better if...?
Conscience Alleys are something I have done a lot and really enjoy. I find them very effective and a really good drama technique to use. A conscience alley is where the actors form a tunnel/ alley shape in the way they are stood and one actor walks down the middle either getting their thoughts spoken by others, thought of other people about this actor spoken by others or a good/ bad (devil/angel) choice as why/ why not something should/ shouldn’t happen.  We used this in our anorexia piece to portray the woman back when she was anorexic, whether she should eat something or not. I think this worked really well and was very apt for our issue. I don’t think anything could make it any better to be honest; I really enjoyed it and found it very interesting and moving.

January 4th- Review

Jan 4^th

What you thought of people’s research?

Got into groups- What did you think of them?

Describe the presentations and what we learnt about each others topics?

Do you have to be passionate or interested in a theme to create a piece of drama?

Watching people present their work was really interesting to see what issues they chose and how they broached them. I thought everyone had researched really well and done the homework to very high standard. I thought Frankie’s was really interesting because it was so controversial. She really interested be with sexism and gender equality. I really liked her idea but everyone’s presentation individually.

I like my group because normally I would go with my best friends. I am still with one of my best friends Emily but I don’t work with Courtney or Imogen often so this project should be really fun and interesting.

Emily, Imogen, Courtney and I all researched anorexia or eating disorders for our homework so we all had a lot of different information to help our piece of drama.

I don’t think you need to be passionate in a drama topic to perform it but certainly be interested in this topic to deliver you performance with emphasis to relate to your character.

December 14th- Choosing the issues and why?

Dec 14^th

Which issues and why?

What you learnt?

What you chose to include in your presentation and why?

I chose these issues because they are the most widely performed and most common issue in England. According to a statistic website, which I am unable to view now. Also my Nana is anorexic and this issue is quite close to my heart because of this reason.

Surprisingly I found out that the percentage for racism in England is the same amount as the percentage of sexism in England. I truly didn’t think our country was bad for sexism but astonishingly it still is. Even more to that; not just the stereotypical sexism but women abusing men as well.

My presentation is about anorexia because of the reason above and I chose to include clever reverse psychology pictures for example a skinny woman looking in the mirror and seeing herself as much larger.

There are many more pictures like this and found on google after typing Anorexic woman in the mirror.

I also chose to include the theatre company that created a clever piece called Thinspiration, about anorexia. (Newfound Theatre) I got a video to show the class as well but when it came to presenting our work I ran out of time.

http://www.newfoundtheatre.com/ - NewFound Theatre Website 

http://www.newfoundtheatre.com/page4.htm - Issues dealt with

December 7th- Research

Dec 7^th

Researched TIE companies in Yorkshire,

Researched social and political issue,

Created fact/profile,

In today’s lesson we researched What TIE stood for and what it means. Theatre in education is the term for theatre companies that travel into in schools performing a piece of theatre about a social/ political issue. Most of these companies are situated in London but there are a surprisingly large number in Yorkshire too. 
Centre Stage Academy- LS19 7DP
Parklands Primary School- LS14 6SA
Artistic and Literary Creation- LS7 1AB
The Blah Blah Blah Theatre Company- LS16 5BE
University of Leeds- LS2 9JT
 We tried to find as many companies as we could and the sort of work they do with children and young adults.

Once we had enough information we created a fact or profile to display this information. I put each political/ social issue on a separate slide on a PowerPoint presentation. I collected information and pictures to do with Anorexia (eating disorders), Racism and Sexism and Child abuse/ neglect.
Unfortunately I cannot find my E factfile (on computer) but I do have my homework factfile (on paper)