Antigone
Monday, the 24th of September 2018
Today we worked in the Theatre, the first time we did that, besides our audition, of course.
We started to warm up our facial muscles with some amazing exercises Rob showed to us. They really stretched our face and mouth, but if someone would have seen us, would have thought that we have some mental and/or physical illness. However, I want to specify that this thing doesn’t bother me at all.
So, we stayed neutral in a circle and Rob’s instructions were that we had to watch the faces of each one of us doing this:
*we started stretching our neck and shoulders by rising our shoulders to our ears and keeping them there
*we massaged our face with our hands
*we chewed gum, even though we didn’t have actual chewing gum, taking our tongue out, producing noises
*we pressed our tongue to our inferior teeth, trying to take it middle out at the same time
*we took out our tongue, making circles with it and licking our lips, stretching it at maximum
*others exercises implying our tongue
The next game was an imagination one. We were at work and left earlier with the excuse that I don’t feel well, but the real reason was that I had two tickets at a play, for me and my lover. I am on my way, going to the underground, but at this time it is very busy that I barely have place to walk. I check the time and I am a little late, so I try to hurry up. While running, I see my boss close behind me and I get panicked. I try to hide from him, but at the same time, to hurry up. Finally, I get on my train, ready to meet my boyfriend. I have to admit, this game kind of woke us up and I, personally, love this kind of exercises.
“Get in pairs!” this is what Rob told us and yep, we were doing a trust game. I paired up with Elena, I was A and she was B. A’s had to close their eyes and let themselves be guided through the space by E, who had some clear commands gestures :
-touching you back means you start walking
-touching your shoulders means you have to stop
-touching your left/right shoulder means you have to turn to left/right at 90°
I was the first one to close my eyes and after me, Elena was the next one. I must say it was the first time I played this game, but I liked it.
Enough with the games, now we have to get to work. In the photo below you can see Rob explaining to us some notions he wrote on the board about acting.
-“subtext” = “hidden” meaning
-“objective” = playing this means behavior change
“Acting is behaving truthfully in imagined circumstances.”
Monday, the 8th of October 2018
On 8th, we rehearsed in the Theatre and we found out that we were going to be shared in two groups, one that will perform the next day and other that will perform Wednesday.
After setting the chairs like in the picture below, Rob called some of the groups to sit on the chairs among which my group too. He had already established an order, the way we were sitting was the way we were performing on stage and we all thought that we were going to do it the next day, but surprise! We were on Wednesday, exactly how me and Elena wanted. In the theatre were also the students from the Technical Theatre Class and we linked up our pieces in a mini-show, using music. We told them the final line of each piece and they wrote them down, this way they knew when to play the songs and change the lights.
Rob made sure everyone understood that we need to have our black colour on when performing and we finished for that day.
Tuesday, the 9th of October 2018
Here you can see the other group getting ready for their show.
Even though their show didn't have a big audience, it was really good and their days of work could be seen on the final result.
Today we worked in the Theatre, the first time we did that, besides our audition, of course.
We started to warm up our facial muscles with some amazing exercises Rob showed to us. They really stretched our face and mouth, but if someone would have seen us, would have thought that we have some mental and/or physical illness. However, I want to specify that this thing doesn’t bother me at all.
So, we stayed neutral in a circle and Rob’s instructions were that we had to watch the faces of each one of us doing this:
*we started stretching our neck and shoulders by rising our shoulders to our ears and keeping them there
*we massaged our face with our hands
*we chewed gum, even though we didn’t have actual chewing gum, taking our tongue out, producing noises
*we pressed our tongue to our inferior teeth, trying to take it middle out at the same time
*we took out our tongue, making circles with it and licking our lips, stretching it at maximum
*others exercises implying our tongue
The next game was an imagination one. We were at work and left earlier with the excuse that I don’t feel well, but the real reason was that I had two tickets at a play, for me and my lover. I am on my way, going to the underground, but at this time it is very busy that I barely have place to walk. I check the time and I am a little late, so I try to hurry up. While running, I see my boss close behind me and I get panicked. I try to hide from him, but at the same time, to hurry up. Finally, I get on my train, ready to meet my boyfriend. I have to admit, this game kind of woke us up and I, personally, love this kind of exercises.
“Get in pairs!” this is what Rob told us and yep, we were doing a trust game. I paired up with Elena, I was A and she was B. A’s had to close their eyes and let themselves be guided through the space by E, who had some clear commands gestures :
-touching you back means you start walking
-touching your shoulders means you have to stop
-touching your left/right shoulder means you have to turn to left/right at 90°
I was the first one to close my eyes and after me, Elena was the next one. I must say it was the first time I played this game, but I liked it.
Enough with the games, now we have to get to work. In the photo below you can see Rob explaining to us some notions he wrote on the board about acting.
And these are the things Rob was explaining to us.
-“objective” = playing this means behavior change
“Acting is behaving truthfully in imagined circumstances.”
And here we are, before rehearsals, listening to Rob.
We, then, started rehearsing, keeping in mind and trying to apply as much as possible the notions our tutor wrote and explained to us. That day we could get familiar with the text, establish how we can use the place and rehearse at least five times. My play is “Antigone” and it is a part of two characters: Antigone and Ismene. I am Antigone and my Ismene is Elena.
Thursday, the 27th of September
Our second rehearsals were on 27th, but this time they happened on the 034 room.
That day every group was going to perform their parts in front of the class. But, first of all, we started rehearsing. Me and Elena were trying to memorize the lines and Rob came to tell us that it would be great if we could introduce Romanian between English, translating some of the lines into our language. Firstly. we both started laughing because it is weird to perform in front of an audience in a language that they don't even know exists and because we never thought we will ever be using our native language here.
After that, we became serious about our work and translated some of the lines. We decided to alternate the languages to make it possible for the others to understand the story, because if we would have share the script, like half and half, then they might not understand the story behind our piece.
We were the second group to perform and after everyone went through the pieces, we received feedback from Rob.
My feedback was that I need to remember that I hate Creon and I have to act like it. Before entering the scene I need to know why am I coming to Ismene, what is my objective and what I hope to accomplish by coming to her and while I am on the scene I need to take my time. Rob also told us that to stay in your character while you don't have lines is as difficult as assuming what you are saying, so we need to listen to each other, to think about what the other is saying and to react. Also, with our scene being a conversation, I used to face Elena and forgot to look at the audience. I will keep my fourth wall, but I need to let them see what is actually happening on the scene.
I realized that having another language introduced in the scene, unknown by the others, makes you, as an artist, focus on the other ways of expressing emotions, like facial expression, the tone of your voice, your intonation, your body language and not on what you're actually saying.
A funny moment during our performance that Rob told us about was when I said the first line in Romanian, because our classmates were confused and they were like: "Huh? What are they saying?".
Here you can see other group performing.
Monday, the 8th of October 2018
On 8th, we rehearsed in the Theatre and we found out that we were going to be shared in two groups, one that will perform the next day and other that will perform Wednesday.
After setting the chairs like in the picture below, Rob called some of the groups to sit on the chairs among which my group too. He had already established an order, the way we were sitting was the way we were performing on stage and we all thought that we were going to do it the next day, but surprise! We were on Wednesday, exactly how me and Elena wanted. In the theatre were also the students from the Technical Theatre Class and we linked up our pieces in a mini-show, using music. We told them the final line of each piece and they wrote them down, this way they knew when to play the songs and change the lights.
Rob made sure everyone understood that we need to have our black colour on when performing and we finished for that day.
Tuesday, the 9th of October 2018
Here you can see the other group getting ready for their show.
Even though their show didn't have a big audience, it was really good and their days of work could be seen on the final result.
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