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Rehearsal Checklists

Refining

Todays session consisted of refining aspects of the performance that weren't as clean as we would like. We concentrated most on the masquerade scene and looking at the group choreography within this scene, consolidating timing to ensure unison, adding accompaniment and making sure all were confident in the movement.

Over the course of the next sessions coming up to the performance we conducted a full dress rehearsal and tech run using costume and set design, in the venue. 

We continued to make amendments where necessary using post show discussion methods, focussing particularly on scenes that were soley movement based. 

PMD3/4 Developing Material

The above video depicts material generated as a group, based on the previously generated ideas of creating a masquerade ball, yet replacing elegance with grotesque movement. The suitcase, placed in the centre of the room, whilst of course only standing in place of a better suited prop, was meant to represent the idea of social media, and the contagion we wanted to draw upon within it, using the idea of human and digital viruses. The performers are not to take their focus from the suitcase, and gradually distance themselves from it, getting increasingly close to the wall, however the suitcase acts as a force pulling the performers back towards it, causing the laughter to turn to distress.

I would develop the material further by aiming to almost choreograph how to move during the "dancing" section of the scene, and am also aware I need to become much more confident in facial expressions and creating the soundscapes. It would also perhaps be interesting to explore what would happen if the screams were made more obvious, perhaps within the gradual change, one person shrieking sharply above all others to startle the audience and more clearly indicate the change.

The next video shows the company working on an idea generated by myself, based around the idea of Contra Dance which often features in Masquerade Balls. Once the dance finishes, the formation creates a corridor of which Iyla walks down, and will recite a monologue. In the video we used an extract from the text, however we will later devise our own extract which will be more fitting. 

We then added the idea of infection we added soundscape and actions to present the idea that all ball attendees are ridden with sickness, however I feel it was not clear due to all of us doing this at once.A development could be to only react in this such way when Iyla passes one person,  so that the intention is more potent to the audience.

PMD3/4 Run Through and Structure

These videos show us running through scene 8 and discussing ideas for how to develop it further. 

Here we make suggestions as to different ways we could portray the death of our characters. 

PMD1/2 Monologues

In a session from which I was absent, the group set out to write a monologue for each character to give an insight to the attendees of the masquerade ball, written in the style of Beckett. My character was a pirate:

"Cannons perfectly aligned... do they know they're about to die? ... Ahh, I can... can taste the gold... urgh... smell it.. *deep inhale* wealth... money... power....victory is mine.... *vigorous coughing* Captain Morgan... richest pirate to ever *about to sneeze* ever *again* sail the Atlantic.. so much money.. wealth... power...beautiful ship... now mine...*painful cough*"

I was not entirely convinced as to whether this character was relevant to the performance, as other monologues were much more generalised and could be linked to both the Victorian period (during which our stimulus was set) and also modern day, whereas a pirate less so. I decided to create a new monologue which may be deemed more relevant, using the starting point of the author of the Mask of the Red Death (Edgar Allan Poe)'s life. I also developed the idea of disease in the monologue.

Poe's mother died and later his father disappeared leaving him to live with a family friend. He became addicted to gambling and withdrew from university to later join the army, where he became Sargent Major. He married his 13 year old cousin Virginia, who later became ill with a disease which eventually lead to her death. He died mysteriously, with multiple theories as to how, some claiming it was in a drunken accident, others by contracting rabies.

To create this monologue I used gambling terminology, alongside quotations from his poems "Raven" and "Tell Tale Heart"

"Ah, I remember it... November... what? No?December...All in... mother...*gasp* father... each separate dying... nobody left.. just me... *scream?* ghosts upon the floor.... Add on... 

True!-- nervous--very, very nervous.. that November.. what? No? December... Add on... Only this and nothing more... *coughing* Attention! Add on.... Her dress- white... Skin-white... weak and weary... *gasp* Chills, sweats *coughing*... blood... each separate dying... just me... then the bird said never more... a groan of pain.. grief -oh no! darkness there and nothing more... *yelp of pain* nobody left... each separate dying... ghosts upon the floor....nobody left..."

PMD2 Dance Development

The video above shows our development to the end of the choreography we created to portray infection. Whilst initially there were only some moments alluding to illness, we created this section using the structure created in a previous session to further emphasise this concept, whereby we used four movements (scratching, falling, sickness, coughing) strung together in random orders to create a sequence to be repeated. From this we then included contact work to show the idea of us all trying to help one another (for example, I scratch Charlotte) but in fact result in spreading more germs and only assist one another's deterioration.

Transitions and Full Run Through

Having now created all of the scenes we had planned, we then revised the performance in order to consolidate transitions between each scene. Once this was done, we were able to do a full run through of which we timed to ensure we were meeting the targeted 30 minutes. Doing so also allowed us to highlight areas of which needed the most work and we also discovered some naturally occuring moments of which we decided to include, for example; rather than cutting the music short following the dance scene, there is a change in the accompaniment, which when left to run behind the transition into the next scene actually added to the soundscape in making the grotesque laughter more discomforting.

Our teacher gave us a list of improvements following watching our run through, of which we worked on the following day:

Pre-show was rushed
       Each create motifs in order for the performance to last five minutes
       Slow down the spread of the plague to become more realistic
       Stay on stage for next scene, partly alive, twitching occasionally
Keep props on stage
Develop still images
Music for dance scene
Consider putting all tracks into one 30 minute track to ensure timing
Facial expression
Learn monologues
Consider movement to monologues/overlaying monologues
Learn the nine steps of washing hands
Find projections
Clearer ending
Pace needs to vary more
Performance skills
Happy with the structure
Refine everything
Give Courtney a monologue
Reduce amount of aimless walking

We were able to extend the preshow by adding a concept to the scene, of which we had not done before. We came up with the idea of the set being in the street, allowing cast members to play pedestrianised roles associated with this, and also provided more of a link between the idea that themes in the play were applicable to both Victorian society (when the stimulus was set) and modern day.