Circles of Awareness:
The 'Circles of Awareness' is a technique at which requires you to essentially focus your awareness at a particular point of a stage, maybe even a person and from there you expand your awareness to the spaces neighboring you and then even beyond that point to the people sitting at the back of the stage. This technique of being aware of the positions of objects around you and other actors helps you to create those memory neurons and become accustomed to standing in the same position each time this will also aid in you executing the same actions too. As there is a limit to the actors perceptive awareness they will not be distracted by that family member in the audience watching them.
Monday 08:
On the first lesson back we began the lesson by sitting in a circle and caught up with one another about the holidays. Once we had done that we were informed of how we were going to act out The Three Sisters and study the York Realist. Rob had then set up a table and two chairs and he got two people (Malcolm and Jeremy) to sit at this table pretended it was a coffee table, and got Malcolm to act as if he was both waiting for his girlfriend to come to sit with the at this coffee table they are both at and act annoyed at the other person for not moving. They also were not allowed to speak to one another. Everyone else was not aware of any of this so we had to guess through their actions what was going on. Some people thought that one guy was gay and he was trying to start a conversation with the other person, some thought that one people wanted to try to start a conversation and become friends with the other person, and some people believed that one was waiting for his girlfriend and the other was getting in the way which was correct. This exercise got those who were watching to communicate their ideas to one another and become comfortable to do this in their environment, and those in the act to try to use and exercise the Circles of Awareness technique to ignore the audience and really be in the act.
Then four chairs were set up and seven people and I volunteered to come up and four people had to sit on chairs and four had to stand up and we had to pretend we were on the London Underground minding our business. Then the people in the audience had to guess what each character was doing and could completely make it up. This got people to debate and remember how everyone in our group is very different and how people may approach problems. After this we switched and the other 8 people all got their own chairs and sat around the room almost as if they were in an exam as they all sat apart from one another. The teacher then asked as to say how we think each student is doing in the test room and some students looked bored, we all agreed that the one looking relaxed and asleep clearly had already finished, and there was even a student cheating.
After this we got into pairs and told one another about a specific day in our holidays which may have been slightly eventful. Then we got into different pairs and talked about our previous partners holiday and picked which holiday we were to pick. Jeremy and I decided on Abdul's holiday which was about him waking up, going to brush his teeth, and then hearing an unfamiliar voice down stairs in his house. When he gets downstairs he sees his cousin that he hasn't seen in years and they have a bit of a reunion. We were given two options in how we were to present out pieces and they were either in style of a Western or a silent movie and we had decided on a silent movie. As we acted in front of everyone we would hold up a sheet of paper telling the crowd what we were doing i.e when I walked down the stairs I held up some paper saying I was going down stairs. After we performed, Sharon had asked us whose holiday was that based of off and it was Abdul's to his surprise, but we had to explain that silent movies were usually quite over dramatic and exhaggerated. We then went into a circle and read through an extract of the Three sisters. We learnt it was some sort of Russian Drama and we stopped the lesson there.
The second lesson on Monday was with Sharon as we started the lesson in a circle discussing this term and what was in store for us like workshops. We then discussed (image below) about the "I live here. This is where I live" quote and who could be saying it. Some people thought it's maybe from a war scene where there is a fight and someone shouts that at invaders, but I was thinking more along the lines of a psychopath talking to themselves or a nursery rhyme. We then got into groups of twos and one three (my group) and had to make a act implementing the use of the quote. Dillion, Abdul and I worked quite well and made a scene where us three are at home and Dillion and Abdul are my older brothers and I ask them to play with me but they say no. Then I keep bugging them saying mums not home let's play but I get slapped by Dillion and run away from home in tears. Then Abdul and Dillion get a call from our mum and lie to her saying i'm in bed asleep and she says she'll be home soon. They soon figure out I am not at home as the front door is wide open and that i've escaped into a forest. They eventually find me there playing games with imaginary friends and they say let's go home but I say the quote. Then they eventually persuade me to come home and I do and Sharon thought we worked quite well as a team.
Tuesday:W Wednesday: We spent the beginning of the lesson reading through some of the York Realist. Afterwards Shamzul and I were picked as directors and Shamzul being assistant. We then were told to set up the cottage that the characters in the play inhabit using the script and then show the other young actors around the stage. We then sat down and casted the characters and watched the play unfold. During some points a character may be in a different room to the person they are talking to and they were talking too quietly so I had to tell them at times to project their vocals more. There was also some hand gestures and signs that one of the character used as they spoke which weren't common at the time so I had to instruct that person to stop. There was also a bit of bad acting at times for example when the mother and George spoke in the play as the actors made the relationship seem very awkward, almost like two ex's speaking after a breakup. I learnt that when being a director you need to be sharp and harsh at times with your cast in order to try to portray the characters in a much clearer fashion which Sharon told me I was successful at doing.
Thursday: Monday: Spent first lesson with Sharon
Thursday:
We began our lesson with Rob by him asking the class which characters they have decided they wanted to be. After casting some of the characters we read through some of act one and proceeded to create the room which everything in the play is set in. Rob then asked several of us to get up as volunteers to be casted in a quick scene that he wanted us to do and I was picked to do Solyony. During the scene there was a part when I was acting in a bit of a cocky way against my friend Tuzenbatch to Chebutykin. After Chebutykin and I exchange some words I am no longer speaking for a bit of time and I was instructed to walk around the scene in a comedic fashion looking at what people are doing. I nearly forgot about that and thought it would be much better if I just stood there without making interactions with anyone. I learnt that at all times you need to make your character busy and really embody the character and think what they would do in a specific scene. I also found Robs simple explanation by just walking up there and doing what he liked me to do. So I also learnt from his skills in directing.
The 'Circles of Awareness' is a technique at which requires you to essentially focus your awareness at a particular point of a stage, maybe even a person and from there you expand your awareness to the spaces neighboring you and then even beyond that point to the people sitting at the back of the stage. This technique of being aware of the positions of objects around you and other actors helps you to create those memory neurons and become accustomed to standing in the same position each time this will also aid in you executing the same actions too. As there is a limit to the actors perceptive awareness they will not be distracted by that family member in the audience watching them.
Monday 08:
On the first lesson back we began the lesson by sitting in a circle and caught up with one another about the holidays. Once we had done that we were informed of how we were going to act out The Three Sisters and study the York Realist. Rob had then set up a table and two chairs and he got two people (Malcolm and Jeremy) to sit at this table pretended it was a coffee table, and got Malcolm to act as if he was both waiting for his girlfriend to come to sit with the at this coffee table they are both at and act annoyed at the other person for not moving. They also were not allowed to speak to one another. Everyone else was not aware of any of this so we had to guess through their actions what was going on. Some people thought that one guy was gay and he was trying to start a conversation with the other person, some thought that one people wanted to try to start a conversation and become friends with the other person, and some people believed that one was waiting for his girlfriend and the other was getting in the way which was correct. This exercise got those who were watching to communicate their ideas to one another and become comfortable to do this in their environment, and those in the act to try to use and exercise the Circles of Awareness technique to ignore the audience and really be in the act.
Then four chairs were set up and seven people and I volunteered to come up and four people had to sit on chairs and four had to stand up and we had to pretend we were on the London Underground minding our business. Then the people in the audience had to guess what each character was doing and could completely make it up. This got people to debate and remember how everyone in our group is very different and how people may approach problems. After this we switched and the other 8 people all got their own chairs and sat around the room almost as if they were in an exam as they all sat apart from one another. The teacher then asked as to say how we think each student is doing in the test room and some students looked bored, we all agreed that the one looking relaxed and asleep clearly had already finished, and there was even a student cheating.
After this we got into pairs and told one another about a specific day in our holidays which may have been slightly eventful. Then we got into different pairs and talked about our previous partners holiday and picked which holiday we were to pick. Jeremy and I decided on Abdul's holiday which was about him waking up, going to brush his teeth, and then hearing an unfamiliar voice down stairs in his house. When he gets downstairs he sees his cousin that he hasn't seen in years and they have a bit of a reunion. We were given two options in how we were to present out pieces and they were either in style of a Western or a silent movie and we had decided on a silent movie. As we acted in front of everyone we would hold up a sheet of paper telling the crowd what we were doing i.e when I walked down the stairs I held up some paper saying I was going down stairs. After we performed, Sharon had asked us whose holiday was that based of off and it was Abdul's to his surprise, but we had to explain that silent movies were usually quite over dramatic and exhaggerated. We then went into a circle and read through an extract of the Three sisters. We learnt it was some sort of Russian Drama and we stopped the lesson there.
The second lesson on Monday was with Sharon as we started the lesson in a circle discussing this term and what was in store for us like workshops. We then discussed (image below) about the "I live here. This is where I live" quote and who could be saying it. Some people thought it's maybe from a war scene where there is a fight and someone shouts that at invaders, but I was thinking more along the lines of a psychopath talking to themselves or a nursery rhyme. We then got into groups of twos and one three (my group) and had to make a act implementing the use of the quote. Dillion, Abdul and I worked quite well and made a scene where us three are at home and Dillion and Abdul are my older brothers and I ask them to play with me but they say no. Then I keep bugging them saying mums not home let's play but I get slapped by Dillion and run away from home in tears. Then Abdul and Dillion get a call from our mum and lie to her saying i'm in bed asleep and she says she'll be home soon. They soon figure out I am not at home as the front door is wide open and that i've escaped into a forest. They eventually find me there playing games with imaginary friends and they say let's go home but I say the quote. Then they eventually persuade me to come home and I do and Sharon thought we worked quite well as a team.
Tuesday:W Wednesday: We spent the beginning of the lesson reading through some of the York Realist. Afterwards Shamzul and I were picked as directors and Shamzul being assistant. We then were told to set up the cottage that the characters in the play inhabit using the script and then show the other young actors around the stage. We then sat down and casted the characters and watched the play unfold. During some points a character may be in a different room to the person they are talking to and they were talking too quietly so I had to tell them at times to project their vocals more. There was also some hand gestures and signs that one of the character used as they spoke which weren't common at the time so I had to instruct that person to stop. There was also a bit of bad acting at times for example when the mother and George spoke in the play as the actors made the relationship seem very awkward, almost like two ex's speaking after a breakup. I learnt that when being a director you need to be sharp and harsh at times with your cast in order to try to portray the characters in a much clearer fashion which Sharon told me I was successful at doing.
Thursday: Monday: Spent first lesson with Sharon
Thursday:
We began our lesson with Rob by him asking the class which characters they have decided they wanted to be. After casting some of the characters we read through some of act one and proceeded to create the room which everything in the play is set in. Rob then asked several of us to get up as volunteers to be casted in a quick scene that he wanted us to do and I was picked to do Solyony. During the scene there was a part when I was acting in a bit of a cocky way against my friend Tuzenbatch to Chebutykin. After Chebutykin and I exchange some words I am no longer speaking for a bit of time and I was instructed to walk around the scene in a comedic fashion looking at what people are doing. I nearly forgot about that and thought it would be much better if I just stood there without making interactions with anyone. I learnt that at all times you need to make your character busy and really embody the character and think what they would do in a specific scene. I also found Robs simple explanation by just walking up there and doing what he liked me to do. So I also learnt from his skills in directing.
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