Shorter Evaluation

Discuss your exploration and development of TTWCTT taking into consideration key factors and relevant ideas and input you to the process. 

Evaluate the skills and techniques in used in rehearsal and discuss how you responded to direction and feedback to develop work.

Our project this term was to perform a piece of children’s theatre working with the other strands, which was a new experience for me. Our aim was to introduce the children ages 2 – 5 to the story 'The tiger who came to tea.'

Children's theatre involves the use of different types of media such as dance, music, art, theatre and movement to educate or entertain. To engage children, interaction and colour is used. Many people believe that children's theatre comes across as basic and simple but good children's theatre often has a deeper meaning and is for both adults and children to enjoy. It is there to give them a better understanding of life and the world they live in so that they can be taught about issues and learn lessons which may add to the child's knowledge. Children's theatre should be accessible to all, they often have a short attention span but by using your voice in different tones and positions, your body to portray movement and by delivering words clearly to the whole audience whether to the side or front will create a piece of theatre that is exciting and interesting to watch.

To enhance my performance I needed to become a total artist. I worked on my pronunciation by exercising my mouth regularly and I learnt all my lines so when it came to rehearsal I knew exactly what I was supposed to say and do. We chose a jungle atmosphere in order to demonstrate the use of different types of energy and interaction with the children. During this project we had to work as an ensemble which I found difficult at times due to others not learning their lines. This was challenging however it allowed us all to have an input and experiment using our inner child. "To be an actor you have to be a child." - Paul Newman.

During our early rehearsals we were trying to lift Fenton so that he could be seen clearly. We began with a shoulder stand which was unsuccessful due to the stability and structure. Later we began to discuss constructing a pyramid.  After researching pyramids I presented a picture that I thought we would be able to construct. The pyramid we created was very strong and was able to be built and dismantled quickly and safely. I believe the pyramid was very effective by the use of different levels and it gave the children a structure to focus on. It was very important to work as an ensemble because we all had to trust and support each other. Here is a little video showing how working in unison can help:

 At the beginning of the term we began to explore the use of voice and body as one. To practise this skill we followed the slimy frog technique which allows us to explore sounds of words alongside the movement of our body in a safe environment. This exercise was extremely helpful because it taught me how to tell a story through movement and I was able to use this skill when becoming a tiger at the beginning of the performance and during the song. In addition we also had to project our voices to the audience when saying our lines. We improved this by focusing on the person who was speaking so all attention was on them. I also believe my line was effective because I moved my body with the line to make it more interesting and I followed Mr Hughes breathing workshop tips as well as the tips below, so that I could project my voice:

Furthermore our voice was extremely important when singing the song. One of our first steps to the development of the piece was listening to William Blake’s Poem sung by Patti Smith. On hearing the song I found it to be dreary, haunting and difficult to understand. After learning the song we tried to adapt the tune however we found it difficult to remember because we had already learnt the original. Therefore if I was to learn it again I would learn it without the rhythm. The song was useful because it gave a starting point for our piece, however I believe this song was not child friendly. Cicely Berry once said 'If you can feel your breathing, and get pleasure in the sounds of the words, you can build your confidence.' This inspired me to embody the tiger and perform with energy, when I sang the song I showed I understood the lyrics by the expression and amazement in my voice so that if I had to I could perform it as a monologue.

During our process of creating the performance we focused on energy and tension. "Acting is a sport. On stage you must be ready to move like a tennis player on his toes. Your concentration must be keen, your reflexes sharp; your body and mind are in top gear, and the chase is on. Acting is energy. In the theatre people pay to see energy." - Clive Swift. As this quote explains we needed to keep a constant high level of energy so that every scene was a chase scene, otherwise the children would lose interest. We studied Jacques Lecoq’s Stages of tension exercise so that we could become familiar with energy levels. I think this was very useful because it helped us when changing our energy levels in the torch scene and it was also useful for transition periods. When entering the stage we were all at a high energy and came in group by group so that the stage could build and we could create a jungle atmosphere. The end transition still had energy but was calmer so that we could keep the children focused for the other theatre class’ performance by singing the song as a soft lullaby. I found the exercise quite difficult and was advised by my peers to keep a higher energy level by feeling the energy in the room and responding to it. Vsevolod Meyer believed the energy flowed in a cycle from intention, to realization to reaction. I improved by having an intention to search for something completing the action and then discovering something else so that my movement was telling a story to the children. Jason Bennet comments on how 'Audiences receive an energetic "feeding" while attending any kind of performance event' therefore throughout the performance we had to keep feeding them with new movements and new actions so that they can fully visualise our jungle scene. I believe, in this section, I responded to direction well because in the live performance I varied my speed and dynamics.

We took part in a three sided workshop during rehearsals, the focus was on both body and voice. We completed the rapier and dagger exercise, which means having our chest and feet face in a different direction to our head. I found this exercise difficult and unnatural because I was thinking about it too much, to improve I needed to practise this technique so that I could reach the final stage of consciousness - unconscious. Also it was difficult because I often bumped into other people so we needed to practise working in unison, being aware of each other and balancing the space. Pretending to have a rapier and dagger in opposite hands did really help me change the direction of my head and chest because it allowed me to picture the weapons and become more confident with the exercise by thinking about attack and defence. In addition it allowed us to work with our angles on stage and allowed energy to travel to all parts of the audience. Jean Sabatine talks about exploring the space and working with others around you so that you can slot in, filling the space in every direction, similar to the filling the space exercise we did with at the beginning of the topic. In the live performance I managed to use the three sided technique quite well because I tried to direct my facial expressions and lines to all three sides of the stage, I found it a bit easier than when I first learnt the technique but I think I still need to practise.

The performance overall was successful as the children enjoyed it. The strengths included the beginning because I decided to interact with the children, being only at arm’s length, so the children became part of the performance. The ‘A Tiger?’ section was very effective because it allowed a smooth transition into the pyramid. It also was very theatrical because it was similar to a pantomime moment when they are saying 'he's behind you' which the children were able to relate to. I believe it was very appealing to the 'Little People' because it was a catchy rhythm. In the pyramid I was directed to use my facial expressions and not fall into neutral so that the story was still being told, I followed the feedback and I think it really helped my character. Another strength was entering the stage in phases because this allowed the audience to gradually take in the characters and props which really helped bring out my character and gave me the freedom to experiment with my explorer’s movement.

The weaknesses of the performance were mainly due to technical faults. As there was only a non-technical dress rehearsal - the cues were not on time, the butterfly nets were incorrect, the piano did not turn on and the blackout did not occur. If the blackout had occurred the torch section would have been really effective because the beams of light would have been exciting and our scared faces would have looked funny for the children. During the torch section I was directed to put the torch nearer to my face I found it difficult because the light was hurting my eyes however I followed the feedback so that the children were more likely to see my facial expressions. I also received feedback from the other class saying that the song was quite dull however we did improve this by changing the tune.

In conclusion, to improve the performance it would be a good idea to watch or look back on our performance, so in the future I would film the performance. I would also consider watching more shows so that I can gain more ideas for devising a piece. Scott Adams once said "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." Although we did make quite a few mistakes which I have learnt from, we also made a really good piece of theatre for children which I am really proud of.