Double - As you Like it monologue analysis

This is Jaques monologue in the Shakespeare comedy, 'As you like it'. I've gone onto the Internet and was able to find a website which translates Shakespearean language into modern language. I then found the right section of the play in which thekmolgue is given and I have then written down what the translation is next to the monologue. I believe that this will help learn the monologue as it gives me a better understanding on what is being said. 

Double - Writing in character (Jaques)

So I wondered off in the woods and I bumped into this complete and utter fool! He was rather magnificent though, I must say. He suddenly made me think about time. And how one hour you're young and full of energy etc, then the next it's like that part is worn away and is rotting away. Like i had never realised it but I mean, how wonderful. What a wondeful kind of fool this man is, what a glorious day.

Double - DNA, Richard in role writing prt 2

I never really used to like Phil. I mean for god sakes he left me with Brian. He told me to take him to the police station to make up a false accusation. That has ruined that poor mans life. Like sure i'm glad that they never found out about Adam him being killed by Brian but part of me wishes that the truth was out. It's slightly inhumain and Adam was a nice guy. It's just a shame that it's affected Phil so much, he came up with the idea and I just think he beats himself up for it. It was his idea for sure, however it wasn't his fault that everything went up and completly went wrong.

Double - the right plays for me

This is a photo of how I was able to select the right monologue to practice. This is the like the elimination process as such. What I done was found 6 (As you like it wasn't included at this stage) monologues from plays or musicals and done a process of:

1.) Age (how old the character is)

2.) Gender ( the gender of the character)

3.) Strength (does it fit any of my strengths?)

4.) Places (do the university's I study accept these as plays)

In the end, I decided that Richard's monologue at the end of the play would be a good piece to do as I know the play rather well and it also meets most of the criteria.

I then chose 'As you like it' because it is something that one of my university's were looking for and asking people to prepare for as an audition. It also met my criteria as it is a Shakespeare comedy and one of my strengths is a silly type of comedy so I instantly decided that it would be an interesting piece to do. However as much as I'm good at comedy, I don't like Shakespeare that much. But by doing this I believe that it shows that I'm willing to try a piece that I don't like. 

Double - As you like it plot summary

These are the notes that I have made for the plot summary of 'As you like it'. I decided to make this plan as I've never really studied the play before however by doing this, I can learn the basic events that take place and also I get to know the characters.

Double - DNA Researching the script.

In this photo, I have re-typed the dialogue that Richard uses in this monologue. I have highlighted the words that he says and then made annotations around different parts in which I think will help me get into the character of Richard. For example, I have annotated the location or the beginning of the scene as I believe as an actor you need to know the setting and location as it is rather crucial to the story. I've also drew a bubble on the first page and wrote the names and key words that link with the names. This is to help me remember what Richard says people are up to and what they are doing in the current day. 

Double - As you Like it Reasearch

For my research, I was able to find this video on YouTube and it gives a good analysis of the character 'Jaques' who gives the monologue, but also gives a summary of the entire play which is good as it gives you the knowledge of what happens in the play up to the point in which the monologue begins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiTbr7rSnWU

Double - As you like it

"A fool, a fool! I met a fool i' the forest,
A motley fool; a miserable world!
As I do live by food, I met a fool;
Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun,
And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms,
In good set terms, and yet a motley fool.
'Good morrow, fool,' quoth I. 'No, sir,' quoth he,
'Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me fortune.'
And then he drew a dial from his poke,
And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
Says very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock;
Thus may we see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags:
'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine,
And after one hour more 'twill be eleven;
And so, from hour to hour we ripe and ripe,
And then from hour to hour we rot and rot,
And thereby hangs a tale.' When I did hear
The motley fool thus moral on the time,
My lungs began to crow like chanticleer,
That fools should be so deep-contemplative,
And I did laugh sans intermission
An hour by his dial. O noble fool! A worthy fool! Motley's the only wear."


The Shakespeare play "As you like it" is a classical comedy and a play that the university I wish to attend would like to see in this years auditions. Personally I believe that I would have a good chance at doing this as it's genre is a comedy however, I do really struggle with Shakespeare a lot of the time and am personally not a big fan of his work. 

Double - Writing in role (Richard, DNA)

I feel like I'm the only one trying to get Phil to come back down. Everything has changed so much since the whole Adam situation. Everything was fine. We had it all planned out and then it fell apart so easily and so quickly. And now look at whats happened. I just can't bare to see Phil in this state that he is in all the time. He doesn't eat. He doesn't speak. He just sits there, staring into the distance and it hurts to see how someone who once was like some sort of leader has now gone to a nobody. I just want for Phil to come back and be the person he once was. 

Double - We Will Rock You

This is the monologue for the character of Pop in We Will Rock You. It's the first bit of dialogue in the play and is fairly interesting an engaging. Personally I feel that I would like to do this monologue as it seems prettyt taught forward and easy to learn, also I like the musical and have a strong knowledge on what happens after this monologue. However one thing I am worried about if I do choose this for an audition piece, is the fact that I don't know how I would do the voice of Pop as he's a bit like a hippie and I'm unsure of my ability to do that. 

Double - The Forigner

Don't tell me you've never seen a knife. Knife. That's a knife. Use it to cut things. Cut things. (Mimes) Like - ham. If we had some ham. Or bacon, or sump'm. I can't believe you don't -. (Looks around for help. There is none.) Or butter. If we had some butter, you could use it to spread it on - . You don't really need it. No, you don't need it. (Demonstrating.) Put it down.
Bad Uh - . (Charlie now holds a spoon.) Yeah, now that's your spoon. Use that to put sugar in your coffee, if you had some sugar, here. And you had some coffee - shoot. I don't really know why we got all these things. But your fork - man, I wish somebody else'd help you with this, 'cause I don't know anything, but - I think that your fork - your fork'd be the main thing you'd use. 'Cause you got your eggs, and you got your grits. Y'see? Eat 'em with a fork, just like we been doin'. Can - you - say - 'fork'? 'Faw-werk'? 'Faw-werk.' Two parts. 'Faw-werk.' . . . Right. Put 'em together. 'Faw-werk' . . .Good! That was great!'

I think that this monologue would be good for me as it is suppose to be a comedy and with the right accent and movement, I believe that I could pull it off. However, I don't actually know this play and I'm not too clear on what's happened so far.  

Double - Dna

This is Richards monologue from the play 'Dna'. Richard has gone through a lot of hastle to try and make sure that the 'mysterious death' of their friend Adam is kept as low as possible as the group of friends are responsible for his death. Richard is threatened by John Tate towards the beginning of the play and shortly after is told to look after Brian who is emotionally unstable and is mental. Richard then talks to his friend Phil who is haunted by the events that have taken place and in result he just sits there in the woods looking in one direction all day. I think that this would be a good monologue for me to do as it's pretty straight forward and also it can be told in many different ways.

Double - A mid summer night's dream

Thou speak’st aright.

I am that merry wanderer of the night.

I jest to Oberon and make him smile

When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,

Neighing in likeness of a filly foal.

And sometime lurk I in a gossip’s bowl

In very likeness of a roasted crab,

And when she drinks, against her lips I bob

And on her withered dewlap pour the ale.

The wisest aunt telling the saddest tale

Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me.

Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,

And “Tailor!” cries, and falls into a cough,

And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh,

And waxen in their mirth, and neeze, and swear

A merrier hour was never wasted there.

But, room, fairy! Here comes Oberon.

This is the monologue from Shakespeare's "A mid summer night's dream". In this part, Puck, Oberon's assistant is telling his rival fairies about how his friendship with his King and how he jokes about. Personally I believe that this monologue isn't really for me as I find it hard to read and act Shakespeare, however for universities it would be good to have as it shows a change in time eras of performing arts.  

Double - Blood Brothers Monologue

"I wish I was our Sammy
Our Sammy's nearly ten.
He's got two worms and a catapult
An' he's built a underground den.
But I'm not allowed to go in there,
I have to stay near the gate,
'Cos me Mam says I'm only seven,
But I'm not, I'm nearly eight!

I sometimes hate our Sammy,
He robbed me toy car y' know,
Now the wheels are missin' an' the top's broke off,
An' the bleedin' thing won' go.
An' he said when he took it, it was just like that,
But it wasn't, it went dead straight,
But y' can't say nott'n when they think y' seven
An' y' not, y' nearly eight.

I wish I was our Sammy,
Y' wanna see him spit,
Straight in y' eye from twenty yards
An' every time a hit.
He's allowed to play with matches,
And he goes to bed dead late,
And I have to go at seven,
Even though I'm nearly eight.

Y' know our Sammy,
He draws nudey women,
Without arms, or legs, or even heads
In the baths, when he goes swimmin'.
But I'm not allowed to go to the baths,
Me Mam says I have to wait,
'Cos I might get drowned, cos I'm only seven,
But I'm not, I'm nearly eight.

Y' know our Sammy,
Y' know what he sometimes does?
He wees straight through the letter box
Of the house next door to us.
I tried to do it one night,
But I had to stand on a crate,
'Cos I couldn't reach the letter box
But I will by the time I'm eight."

This is the monologue for when we first meet the character of Mickey in the musical Blood Brothers. So far in the musical we have seen that the two twins have been separated from ther birth mother without knowing. We see Mickey (a young boy played by a man) sitting center stage, stretching his jumper, telling the audince about things he gets up to when he's bored etc. Then the monologue begins. Personally I think that this monologue is a great one to perform for soemeone like myself as you can be really mellow dramatic with it and you can make the audience laugh as it's an middle aged man/ oldish man playing a child. As much fun this is to perform, the problem with it for me is the liverpudlian accent because I have a problem trying to do northern type of accents.

Double - University Research

UEA (University of East Anglia)

We operate an initial shortlisting process for this course on the basis of the information an applicant provides on their UCAS form. Candidates who are shortlisted will be invited to interview and audition and offers are only made after a successful interview and audition. These take place on Visit Days and include an opportunity to look around the campus, view accommodation, meet current students, talk to staff members and find out more about the course. The interview and audition itself will be with a member of our Drama team. Candidates are asked to perform a short monologue from a selection provided and there is also a discussion which generally covers topics such as your current studies, reasons for choosing the course and your personal interests and extra-curricular activities.

Portsmouth

For Portsmouth university, you will be invited for an interview and then providing what you want to do (musical theater or contemporary), you will be invited in for an audition (singing or monologue). For the interview process, they prefer you to have grades however if you were unable to do performing arts at a collage or sixthform, then you can still have a chance of getting in (providing that you have a background and experience in theatre). With the 3 years, in every year, the course is split into theory and practical.There is 3 of each.

Opinion
I personally believe that UEA is a better option due to the fact that you are able to discus options and opinions and also given guidance by students that were once in the same place as you.

Double - jatb part 4

Once Jack reaches the top of the bean stalk, he can see a massive castle in the distance. He's unsure on how to get there so he asks a stranger who is waiting for a sky bus. When Jack asks on how to get to the castle, the stranger warns him about how dangerous the castle is because it has a big giant. The stranger then asks Jack if he is new there. When Jack says yes the stranger cheers and call on other residents on the sky and they sing and dance him a song based on the sky.

The song is from the first Shrek film and we tried to make that but rather funny and hope that younger children would get the refrance. When rehearsing and performing the song, I tried to be melodramatic as I could as it needs to be as over the top as it can because the audience can feel this strong energy coming from the song and dance and therefore finding it a bit funny.

Double - jatb part 3

At the end of the market scene, Jack trades the beans for his cow, his best friend. When he gets in he is told off by his mother and is forced to clean up and go to bed, as he slept the beanstalk began to grow. When he woke up it was ready for him to climb. Before Jack climbs it, we get the audience to say 'climb that stalk' as a type of chant. This is a good use of interaction with the audience as it gets them engaged with the story and also makes them feel involved with Jack. 

Double - Jatb park 2

For when Jack had to take his best friend (the cow) into the market, I was thinking of how people would approach you in busy market places and also what kind of objects that they sell. As this is a fairy tale, I thought that whatever my object may be, it should be magical, so it would seem normal. The market that I thought of in which I thought would be a good idea to use as a type of stimuli is the market place in Camden, located in London. I thought of it as its a very busy area and also there is a huge divers culture there. Many different objects and valuables are bought or sold there in a day. It was ther perfect location to try and recreate.

Just after the market place scene, the bean man and Jack exchange some dialogue which results in Jack taking the magical beans (which he doesn't think are real once he gets home). However once Jack decides to take the beans, we came up with a dance to show the excitement of Jack, all because of his magical beans.

Double - Jack and the Beanstalk (Jatb) part 1

Our last and final story is Jack and the Beanstalk. For this story I am the narrator and also I am random characters that appear in and out of the story. When narrating this story in my head I had a Morgan Freeman type of narrating style which I think tried to add American accents and a deep voice to. Eventually as a group we decided that it would be easier and more replicant to narrate in an American accent. It was decide as the we wanted the dialogue to be as clear as possible for the young children. 

For the introduction we set the scene by having people doing farming activities. For example Freya's character was picking fruit from trees and handing it to people. As originally the narration was going to be pre recorded, I thought of a character that I could have played whilst the narration was going on. I thought of a 50 year old man who was plowing his potato field on a hot and sweaty day. By doing a repeating motion and pulling the right facial expressions, I believe that the audience would have understood who the character was. 

Double - Childrens Theatre resech

Is one of the very few drama companies that produce and perform for children. Polka Theatre was originally opened in 1979 (36 years ago). It has as many as 90,000 child audiences that come to see the performances per year, in many cases introducing many children to the world of theatre.

“Polka strives to stir the emotions, spark the imagination and, most of all, entertain.”.

- http://www.polkatheatre.com/editorial/about-us (Polka Theatre’s website)

The theatre company seem very dedicated and very determined to interest young children so that hopefully one day those children can be performing on a stage. It’s rather interesting to see how many children go to the theatre in a year and also how many children can be inspired by the theatre that they see at Polka.

In the theatre there are two performing spaces, the main theatre and also the adventure theatre. The Adventure theatre is there so that younger children (3– 6) have a pleasant introduction to theatre and also that they feel comfy watching the performers.

“Our mission is to spark the imagination and fuel a sense of discovery in children from every background. We do this through thrilling world-class theatre and a creative programme of learning, in a welcoming and stimulating environment.”

This goes to show that Polka have such a huge determination and a huge goal to interest the younger generations and I think that it’s good to see that there are companies that exist today that allow children to be interested at such young ages. Personally I think this because I didn’t go to anything like this when I was younger and I believe that the more successful the company is then the more they are allowing younger people to become intrigued with the industry.

Little Shop of Horrors - Improvents for future rehearsals

In our previous lesson we spent half of the lesson doing doing vocal practice and then we ran through the songs in a chronological order. When doing this we sung along with the cast version and then we sang as a company to the instrumental tracks which we found were a lot more fast and upbeat so it meant that we had to speed up the dialogue that was included in the songs. Then we ran through Act 2 in which we came across songs and dances that we have recently been rehearsing which meant that we are maintaining the dance moves and not forgetting them.

One thing that I want to work more on is dances that we haven't done in a while as I want to try and keep them as fresh in my mind as possible because when we last ran through skid row some people had forgotten some of the moves which meant we had to just had to do a walk through if the dance and then we ran through it as if we were going to perform it and I think that it has helped quite a lot. So one thing I want to do in a future rehearsal is to just through all the dances we have done.

Little shop of horrors - Finale (Don't Feed the Plants!)

revolutionarts2016: Finale (Don't Feed the Plants!) rehearsal



 Here is the video for the song 'don't feed the plants' which is the finale song to the production. This is one of my favourite songs to sing/perform to as it has a lot of cheesiness in it which I find really funny and amusing. I've found that learning the lines for this song has been a lot easier than the others as I think that this song has a catchier tone to it so therefore I remember more of it

Little shop of horror - Vocals

In our last lesson, as a class we ran through a few of the songs and dances that we have covered ('Da Doo' and 'You never know') we worked on our vocals by going through the songs with the cast version and then afterwards we would sing them without the cast. This helps us as we can then allow ourselves to hear how well we are singing along to the song, how we need to improves our voices (weather we need to project it or change harmony etc).

Little Shop of Horrors - You never know

revolutionarts2016: 'Ya Never Know' Choreography


Don't it go to show you never know

For last weeks lesson we worked on finalising the dance 'you never know', for the process of learning this I thought it was very difficult as it has a lot of foot work and I find it a bit tricky as I'm not used to dancing in this face paced style, however I feel that it is a rather jolly song and I feel that once I get into the hang of it the moves then I'll feel more confident with the moves.

Little Shop of Horrors - Character Idea

In our last lesson we worked on developing our character as there were too many people thinking of similar characters, so I decided that I would be a school child that is doing homework/work in an alley way and is friends with a homeless man called Sunny, which makes him look intimidating however he's actually quite caring and gentle. He also goes skateboarding as a hobbie and he tends to just sit on his board and work. He doesn't like to go home as his  parents abuse him and he oftend spends nights in the alley way with Sunny.

Little shop of Horror - Finale

For the staging of the finale I think is actually and quite cheesy but I believe that is what the audience would want to see after seeing this kind of production. The bits I like in this is when we have to say 'this theatre' and we all jump up in the air to really show off the cheesynes of the show. I also like the movements that we do, such as whenever we say the name of a location like Peoria or New York ,we point in one direction and from the audience point of view it would look quite funny just to see if one kind of point and then like a freeze-frame.  Personally I actually quite enjoy singing this song because of the amount of cheesiness they can go into it, but also the vocals aren't actually that difficult for me.

Little Shop of Horrors - Closed for Renovation / Dentist

For the song 'closed for renovation', the purpose of the chorus people coming on is to show the transformation of the shop and show the success that they are having due to the plant. When we come on (chorus), my side of the stage have gone for a really slapstick way as Liam carries Ali at one point and then goes around pretending to be watching people and telling them what to do. When we all come off Liam tends to forget about me as I'm at the front on stage left. This adds a slight slapstick entrance as I tend to leap up and chase after everyone as they leave the stage.

For the Dentists song, I am playing a character who is getting his teeth sorted by the dentist. For when the audience first see me as this character I try and act different to the one that I maintain (school child), this is to show the audience that I am playing a different character and therefore my movement and facial expressions are different. When I sit on the chair, I sit up straight with my hands on my lap, twitching a little in the legs, I look around the space in a more interesting way as my eyes are more open and I feel more like someone who hasn't been there before (which is what I'm aiming for). 

Little Shop of Horrors - Da Doo

For this song 'Da Doo' we were put into groups and separated into different rooms to see what we were able to come up with when listening to the song. We had watch the film version to see what kind of things we should be looking out for and to also see if it would give us any fresh ideas on what we could include in our group piece. Myself and Liam were put into a group of two and we found it rather difficult to come up with something as there is usually more than just two people that are included in that scene.   So we paired up with another group and we then decided that we would do this Russian style dance to the song however we would make it quite slapstick and melodramatic and it works well as we keep it in time with the beat and the rhythm.

Little Shop of Horrors - Little Shop of Horrors

 At the beginning of the song this is where my dialogue begins. I am doing the voice of god and for this voice I tend to lower my vocals so it sounds like I have athority. One thing I have learnt from the rehearsal process for this song is that I need to project louder so the audience can hear my voice.

A challenge that arose in this rehearsal process is the dancing for the song as the choreographer was using terms that I had never heard or used before (boxstep etc). As I am someone who does not tend to do anything dance related I was put quite out of my comfort zone so I found it more of a struggle than others, however I have managed to put in all my effort and I put in 100% into what was being taught to us and when looking back over at the video of how it looks, you can see how enthusiastic the dance is.

Over the course of the two weeks that we had been learning this dance I would end up using my free periods to try and learn the dance off by heart and that has paid off as I am able to do the routine very casually instead of having to pause and look around and see what other people are doing.

Double - Goldilocks part 4

One way we made this appealing to the audiene is by changing the narrator half way through and turned it into  game show styled scene in which the audiene have to guess what size the bed is, wheater it is too high, too low or just right. To make it appealing to the audience I would put on an a cheesey american accent and try to be as over the top as possible. I would also ask members of the audience what bed they think is behind the sheet which would keep them engaged with the piece. The purpsose of having this small scene inbetween is because it's different to what we have done in our other two stories and it could make the audience feel as if they are apart of the story meaning that we are breaking the fourthwall.

Double - Goldilocks part 3

So far I think that as a team we have worked very well together and we have remained focused throughout the whole task. It has been challenging as it is very difficult to plan out silhouettes and we may not have remained fully focused but we all have always paid attention to what we are doing and we have always discussed and shared our ideas together.

Little shop of horrors - Skidrow (Downtown)

For the introduction of SkidRow we all remain in a FreezeFrame of the character that we have made up in our head. My character is a young boy who is homeless as he sings the words 'when your folks are broke', meaning that there is no one to give him money and therefore he has a poor standard of living. For my costume of this character I think I will have ripped shorts and possibly some ruined trainers as it kind of shows the audience as to how long he's been homeless and possibly why he is homeless.

For the dancer for Skid Row I was a bit confused at first as I'm not particularly good at dancing and I don't do any type of dancing outside of school but I put a lot of effort into learning the dance and now that I know what I'm doing, I feel a lot more confident in the dance and how we progressed as a theatre company. One thing I find challenging is that I find it hard to stay in character some times as I get to into the dance and don't really think like how my character would.

Double - Goldilocks part 2

As a group we decided that Freya should be the narrator as it means that the children will then get some sort of guidance throughout the story telling and understand what's coming on. We have also changed where we are going to perform this piece. Originally we were going to perform in three different primary schools, however it then meant that it would be a challenge for us to move the sheet around so we have decided that we will perform it at our secondary school and will invite two of the nearest primary schools to see it.

Double - Goldilocks Part 1

In last weeks lesson we finally finished the rehearsals of Goldilocks and three bears. We done this by using silhouette which would be engaging for audience as they are very young and it is a different technique of storytelling.by using silhouette which would be engaging for audience as they are very young and it is a different technique of storytelling. I am doing the silhouette of the first mother bear  in which Carl stands behind me and then I clench my fist and put them up at the side of my head so it looks like it is thr Bears ears.  And then I form a bed in which I tuck up into a small ball and I am placed near the sheet as it then looks like I am a really low down mattress.

Double - Little Red Riding Hood part 4

After the scene in which we meet the wolf we then the audience see me as the old granny in bed in her cottage. To play this character I slightly squinted my eyes so it was harder to see and also walked a lot slower to show that my character is rather vulnerable to what happens later on in the scene. I thought that I should also act a bit clumsy in this scene as it means that the audience can call out to my character to not open the door or to not talk to the wolf.

Double - Research into Silhouette for Goldilocks

This is some research i have done into silhouette dances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1rx0eN29gs

Double - Little Red Riding Hood part 3

After the introduction we then run into groups and make ourselves some trees, we do this by balancing someone on our backs and also by wearing a black sack wih paintings of leaves on them. Then "Mr Wolf" is introduced by him sneaking behind the trees, giving that aerie kind of look to him. An instrumental version of "Mr Grinch" is used and we have adapted some lyrics to the song. We decided to use this song to sing for the wolf as it is a child friendly song and it can be sang in a slapstick and/or melodramatic way, therefore making the audience engaged even more, keeping their excitement as full as possible. After the song ends we get back into a tree like pose and Red then interacts with the audience, she asks them what way to go and in the background we can see Mr Wolf lurking about, looking up to no good. As red asks what way to go and starts walking off one way, the wolf out paces her in the background and then by pointing in the opposite direction, this will cause our audience to shout out what way she should go, this is also another way to keep the audience engaged and a way to have their full attention. Shortly after she meets Mr wolf (he is planning to eat her but he misses as she crouches down to pick up some flowers) and we see that he is mean and sends Red on a long route to her grannies house. Shortly after the Narrator gets the audience to “boo” at the wolf so that it is a clear way to show that the wolf is the bad character in the story for anyone that didn’t quite realise it.

Double - Little Red Riding Hood part 2

The narrator tells the audience where she is aiming to go (her grandma’s house) and we then interact with the audience when she asks people where her basket (we all point at the basket that the narrator is holding). Shortly after we adapted and re wrote lyrics to the main theme song from "The Wizard of OZ". This will create an energetic mood for the children as the more mellow dramatic you tend to be, the more engaged they will be, so by doing this in a very over the top way it would mean that we get the best audience response. The purpose of doing this song/version of the wizard of oz is so that the audience feel that "Little Red" is portrayed as the good and innocent character through the story.

Double - Little Red Riding Hood part 1

In our Story telling, we are telling the tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the three bears and Jack and the Beanstalk. We have now finished now the story of Little Red Riding Hood which was challenging however I believe that we have managed to pull it off. The story starts off with a narrator telling the audience about Little Red Riding Hood, as he describes her, she acts out the action that he says e.g. "She was friends with the animals, they would say hello", and then someone would be an animal of their choice (one that's found in a forest) and then whoever is closest to her, they would say "Hello" to her. I feel that by doing an exercise of just doing what we think a certain object would do helped as it then meant we didn’t really mind crawling on the floor looking a bit weird.

Stage Design - Part 1

This is a diagram of the stage. In the diagram of Mushnik's shop, I have drawn out a rough estimate of the stage using paint and I have added the colours that is seen in the stimuli below however I have made it more interesting as I have flipped the paint over on each walls. The measurements in this diagram are the exact same as the actual stage (the side panels and back wall). For the actual performance I might have to make a smaller version of the back wall and attach the two small walls to it as I want the back wall to have paintings of different buildings to show it's in a city. 

This is the stage design that was used for a “Little Shop of Horrors” in the American Community Theatre, Hong Kong in 2007. I'm using this real imagine as a stimulus in order to help me achieve the right set. The colours of the shop is very bright and looks rather flouriest like. 

Double - Research into Little Red Riding Hood

                                                                     FILM

This is one way in which the story of little red riding hood is told. Even though it is not telling the full story of little red riding hood, it has the characters that are involved with the story and some of the events that occur are also related to the story of Little Red Riding Hood. The way it is told is very different as each of the characters are interviewed and questioned in which it shows us different stories within the actual story however they all link together. The film can be accessed on Netflix. The use of them singing in the film makes it friendlier for children and also the songs that they sing are fairly catchy for younger people so it might engage them even more.

This is a song in which a goat sings about being prepared and shows red all the types of horns he has in a comedic and melodramatic way.

                                                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNAbb7vKjY

This is another way in which Little Red Riding Hood is told. It is told through the way of some sort of puppetry which can be very attracting for a younger audience (ages 5 to 6). The use of puppets is a good idea as it allows children to visually see a character and therefore imagine the characters in certain scenery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOVxx2Ak0Jw

Styles of acting - Vaudeville Evaluation

With Vaudeville I thought that it was good but I thought it was quite challenging. I thought that it was good in the fact that I was able to be mellowing dramatic and that the movement could be over the top. However I didn’t like it as it has to have a pace to it and it has to be speedy and I don’t feel like I can’t move fast enough and in a way slightly kill the mood/ atmosphere for the this style of performance. When reading the lines for the script I thought that it would seem more like a kind of sketch from a TV show. I thought that the character “milkman” was quite a gullible character and was slightly comedic.   

Styles of acting - Vaudeville

Pre -Vaudeville (1881 – 1920)

·         Was before the civil war theatre was dominated by burlesque and had many risqué things.

·         Theatre was not only a place to entertained, was for men to have a drink, aimed at a male audience.

After the civil war

·         1881 – tony pastor said that theatre shouldn’t be just for men and shows having a wide variety of different performances in one evening are missing a completely separate audience. 

·         He banned drinking in the theatre

·         He then started to perform Shakespeare, acrobats, singers, presentations of dance and comedy all at in the same evening.

·         He removed all the risqué and inappropriate content and aimed to make it for everyone.

What he found out

·         He could make a huge amount of money if they kept putting on performances like this.

·         As the years went on more amusements became available to choose from (circuses/mimes/singers etc)

·         Performances in saloons and burlesque houses still continued

The purpose

·         The sole purpose of Vaudeville was to entertain the audiences.

·         Over the years (1880 to the early 1920s) the easiest was to this was to make people laugh.

·         There was an increase in Comedy Sketches which was full of slapstick comedy e.g.           Charlie Chaplin

The Demise of Vaudeville

·         Over years it became more and more popular appealing to many different audiences, and for the first time Irish performers and black performers.

·         When Silent movies started to be released for cheaper prices , meaning Vaudeville started a big competition.

·         Vaudeville in theatres became less common as they could not support themselves as ,uch as they once could.

So what is Vaudeville now?

·         Shows like Britain’s got talent and the Royal Variety performances.

·         However we also have kept the comedy sketches that were bought to life by Vaudeville  (Laurel and Hardy).

·         This is called New Vaudeville .

What makes it new Vaudeville

·         Over the top physically

·         Comedy sketch type performance

·         No character relationship with the audience

·         Often recognise your audience. Acknowledging the they are there. 

Styles of Acting - Shakespeare Evaluation

I had the role of “Bottom”. The character is presented as stuck up actor who thinks he is superior to the other actors in the upcoming play. The way I made him seem stuck up is by having a mellow dramatic British voice and I tried to make my body movement as big as possible as it would mean that the audience would look at me more than any other person, meaning I’m thinking more like my character. When analysing my script I looked at ways in which I could say certain and when Bottom says “the raging rocks, the shivering shocks…”etc, I thought it would be comical to do it in a monologue style and rather over the top as it would be funny.

Style of Acting - Shakespeare

Shakespeare

·         In 1576 James Burbage (father or the actor Richard Burbage) bought a lease and permission to build “The Theatre” in Shoreditch London.

·         The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (A theatre company led by Richard Burbage, performing Shakespeare’s plays) were the company in residence from 1594 1596.

Theatre Shakespeare Style

·         Writers began by presenting their ideas for a plot. The actors and managers then decided whether they liked it or not, and offer a down payment for its completion.

·         Writers created their characters with certain actors in mind. For example knowing that Richard Burbage was the Chamberlin’s leading man, and that he had a good memory for long scripts, Shakespeare created the parts for Richard III and Hamlet for him. And as the actor grew older, Shakespeare made his characters more mature.

·         This meant that he would not see who else was going to be on the stage until they actually rehearsed the scene.

·         Rehearsals were used to sort out the details not specified in the script. Entrances, costumes, and songs were filled in by actors.

1593 London Theatres close due to outbreaks of the bubonic plagues in England

Moving across the river

·         From 1596 to 1597 the city of London authorities ban the public performances of plays within the city limits of London.

·         1597 Dispute over the lease of “the theatre”. The puritan owner, Giles Allen. Disapproved of the theatre and the acting troupe. Burbage opens negotiations to re – new the lease of “the theatre”

·         1597 Shakespeare Company of actors moved to the Curtain Theatre after failed negotiations for a new lease for the theatre.

·         1598 Timber from the “theatre” taken to use for the building of a new venue you be called the globe

·         1599 The globe theatre is opened on bankside, London.

1603 The bubonic Plague returns and killed 33,000 people. In 1608 Theatres closed

·         In 1613 June29th, Fire at the globe during a performance of henry VIII

·         1614 Is rebuilt

After Queen Elizabeth

·         After Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603, King James took the throne. This is known as  the Jacobean period and ran until 1625.

·         Jacobean theatre was dark and disturbing – Grotesquely violent and often shockingly obscene.

·         Sexuality was very prevalent in Jacobean performances, along with a heightened sense of violence and General immoralities

·         As the economy declined, so did the delicacy of theatre performances moved from outdoor to indoor, because of the changeable weather.

Jacobean Dramas

There are two types of Jacobean Theatre : Revenge Plays, Tragicomedies

Revenge Plays

·         Revenger plays were very obscene and violent

Theatre in decline

·         1642 The English civil war broke out between the parliamentarians and the Royalists

·         Parliament then pulled down the globe theatre and was replaced with council houses

·         All actors were to be arrested and anyone who went to see the plays was fined

·         King Charles I was executed by Parliamentarians

·         Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England