The Pitch Planning

The sound on this video is all retarded so sorry about that. Here is all the planning for all the pitch stuff, we clarified the plot line and scene breakdown, so that we could really get it all across to the panel 

The longest warm up in history

Here we have the longest warm up known to man and some mucking around, after a bit of faffing we eventually did what we set out to achieve and got some brilliant physical theatre set. After really getting into the chair duets that Rose helped us set up, we decided that this would be a great opening to the whole production. Also as there is lots of entrances and exits in the piece it would enable us to do quick costume changes and represent each and every character that would turn up in the production by repeating the motif. This would give an audience a quick glimpse into the characters that they will see and establish the overall style and physical theatrey nature of our devising project 

The Bedroom Scene

Here we have a Amy and Georges original motif that they worked on after college to go in the bedroom scene. This is a great starting point and i think can really be developed and pushed further. 

Here if the videos that we talked about in the second part. P!nks try incorporates great physical theatre and movement as well as acting into the performance and is deffinatley something to look into with the development of this dance section. 

The 5 stages of grief outlined

The stages of mourning and grief are universal and are experienced by people from all walks of life. Mourning occurs in response to an individual’s own terminal illness or to the death of a valued being, human or animal. There are five stages of normal grief that were first proposed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book “On Death and Dying.”

In our bereavement, we spend different lengths of time working through each step and express each stage more or less intensely. The five stages do not necessarily occur in order. We often move between stages before achieving a more peaceful acceptance of death. Many of us are not afforded the luxury of time required to achieve this final stage of grief.

Many people do not experience the stages in the order listed below, which is okay. The key to understanding the stages is not to feel like you must go through every one of them, in precise order. Instead, it’s more helpful to look at them as guides in the grieving process — it helps you understand and put into context where you are.

1. Denial and Isolation

The first reaction to learning of terminal illness or death of a cherished loved one is to deny the reality of the situation. It is a normal reaction to rationalize overwhelming emotions. It is a defense mechanism that buffers the immediate shock. We block out the words and hide from the facts. This is a temporary response that carries us through the first wave of pain.

2. Anger

As the masking effects of denial and isolation begin to wear, reality and its pain re-emerge. We are not ready. The intense emotion is deflected from our vulnerable core, redirected and expressed instead as anger. The anger may be aimed at inanimate objects, complete strangers, friends or family. Anger may be directed at our dying or deceased loved one. (Idea one)  Rationally, we know the person is not to be blamed. Emotionally, however, we may resent the person for causing us pain or for leaving us. We feel guilty for being angry, and this makes us more angry.

Remember, grieving is a personal process that has no time limit, nor one “right” way to do it.

The doctor who diagnosed the illness and was unable to cure the disease might become a convenient target. Health professionals deal with death and dying every day. That does not make them immune to the suffering of their patients or to those who grieve for them.

3. Bargaining

The normal reaction to feelings of helplessness and vulnerability is often a need to regain control–

• If only we had sought medical attention sooner…
• If only we got a second opinion from another doctor…
• If only we had tried to be a better person toward them… (idea two)

Secretly, we may make a deal with God or our higher power in an attempt to postpone the inevitable. This is a weaker line of defense to protect us from the painful reality.

4. Depression

Two types of depression are associated with mourning. The first one is a reaction to practical implications relating to the loss. Sadness and regret predominate this type of depression. We worry about the costs and burial. We worry that, in our grief, we have spent less time with others that depend on us. This phase may be eased by simple clarification and reassurance. We may need a bit of helpful cooperation and a few kind words. The second type of depression is more subtle and, in a sense, perhaps more private. It is our quiet preparation to separate and to bid our loved one farewell. Sometimes all we really need is a hug.

5. Acceptance

Reaching this stage of mourning is a gift not afforded to everyone. (Note 1) Death may be sudden and unexpected or we may never see beyond our anger or denial. It is not necessarily a mark of bravery to resist the inevitable and to deny ourselves the opportunity to make our peace. This phase is marked by withdrawal and calm. This is not a period of happiness and must be distinguished from depression.

Loved ones that are terminally ill or aging appear to go through a final period of withdrawal. This is by no means a suggestion that they are aware of their own impending death or such, only that physical decline may be sufficient to produce a similar response. Their behavior implies that it is natural to reach a stage at which social interaction is limited. The dignity and grace shown by our dying loved ones may well be their last gift to us.

Coping with loss is a ultimately a deeply personal and singular experience — nobody can help you go through it more easily or understand all the emotions that you’re going through. But others can be there for you and help comfort you through this process. The best thing you can do is to allow yourself to feel the grief as it comes over you. Resisting it only will prolong the natural process of healing.

Ideas:

1) In the bedroom scene it is definitely important to really get across Claudio's anger of the whole situation, I do like the idea that we originally had of having several heros coming out and being a different part of her but I think what is really key if this is going to be the scene where we see Claudio's rage. I think at the end of the section Claudio should accept the love of all the heros and then suddenly break, snap and demonstrate of furious he is with hero for committing suicide. The motif a can then end with each hero getting upset with what Claudio has said to them and leave Claudio with the original loving part of Claudio. I think it might be quite nice if Amy represents the love they have between them and Beth the actually act of the suicide, so that at the end of the piece after all the other heros have left there can be a bit of a stand off between the love hero and the suicide hero, this is where Claudio can do some dialog and really get across how livid he is with her for killing himself. 

2) I know we are pretty keen on the other side idea and I do absolutely love it, but one thing possibly that we could look into is a flash back of the actual moment Claudio leaves and shames her at the altar. This would then give the audience a chance to see why she did kill herself and why Claudio feels so guilty about it. This would really be usfull as it could help pad out the scene if we need more to show the bargaining section of the piece and also give us more of an opportunity to use some of the original text. 

Notes:

1) I really like the idea that that Claudio never reaches this stage of acceptance and in order to leave his hotel of guilt he has to kill himself. If we are going to go this way I think that it is really important to make it clear that this is what is happening and if suicide hero is going to haunt him them I think we should possibly have snipits and motifs that hero can do in order to demonstrate that she will never leave. One idea that I had for this is if Beth does say the line throughout the piece 'I will never leave'. This at the begging can be interpreted that she will always stay with Claudio in a loving way but as the audience finds out more about Claudio the line will change it's meaning and demonstrate that Beth simply is not going to let him forget what he did 

The Other Side

Megan, Becca, Both, Amy, Beth, Girls, All, Jess, George

Don't you disrespect me little man!
Don't you derogate or deride!
You're in our world now
Not your world
And we’ve got friends on the other side!
They’ve got friends on the other side...
That's an echo, sir. Just a little something we have here in the bingo hall, a little parlour trick. 
Don't worry...
Sit down at my table
Put your minds at ease
If you relax it will enable me to do anything I please
I can read your future
I can change it 'round some, too
I'll look deep into your heart and soul
(you do have a soul, don't you, Claudio?)
Make your wildest dreams come true!
I got voodoo
I got hoodoo
I got things I ain't even tried!
And we’ve got friends on the other side.
They’ve  got friends on the other side!
The cards, the cards, the cards will tell
your past, your present, and your future as well!
The cards, the cards, just dot these
and we can take you to Hero just see!

The Opening

Here is the link to Nicole's page which will take you the videos of the physical theatre movement piece that we did with Rose this afternoon, these we liked so much that we actually are thinking about putting them at the beginning of the piece to establish all the characters, we are possibly going to loop the movement round and then change costume as each one of us exits to represent a different character that will show up at some point in the production. The next step I'd like to take in developing this would be to set that characters and give a clear intent but more importantly clear characterisation of the characters so that we can react accordingly during the movement motif.

About Nothing Nicole : Rehearsal 21st March:

The Originals

Here is some basic knowledge about frantic assembly, who they are and how they work, we chose to look into them as it is the kind of style that we would be interested in looking into further and trying out for the majority if not some key scenes in our piece. 

Frantic Assembly creates thrilling, energetic and unforgettable theatre. The company attracts new and young audiences with work that reflects contemporary culture. Vivid and dynamic, Frantic Assembly's unique physical style combines movement, design, music and text.
 Frantic Assembly is led by Artistic Director Scott Graham. Scott formed the company with Steven Hoggett and Vicki Middleton in 1994 and continues to collaborate with many of today's most inspiring artists. Having toured extensively throughout the UK, Frantic Assembly has built an enviable reputation as one of the most exciting companies in the country. The company has also performed, created and collaborated in 30 different countries across the world. In addition to its productions Frantic Assembly operates an extensive Learn & Train programme introducing 6,000 participants a year to the company's process of creating theatre, in a wide variety of settings. Frantic Assembly also delivers Ignition, an innovative vocational training project for young men, particularly targeting those with little previous experience of the arts.

The 18th of March

Here was our first chat with johno, explaining our main ideas, themes and styles to him. We have been told about loads of different companies and productions that we have done similar plot lines and styles to the one that we are trying to achieve, and also have been given a shed load of research opportunities to think about, i'm going to look into more about mental health and how that we have effected both claudio and hero and also try and get to grips better with the source text and see witch scenes and parts of dialog could be used effectively in this way. I also want to watch inception again so that you can see the motifs that run through the feel and drop hints through, and also get to grips with only drip feeding the audience information so that it only pieces together at the end. I know as well that there is some really nice symbolism throughout the film such as the elevator holding different memories and parts of the characters mind, which is exactly the kind of thing that i want to explore. 

The 17th of March

Here we looked at a bingo motif for one of the scenes and just talked and developed some of the ideas of which we had for when claudio really starts to loose it. We also touched upon some of the minor characters and how they could slot into the production and also shared some of georges research of PDS

The Bedroom

Today was really interesting, we looked more into frantic assembly and have decided that we really do want to take forward a more physical theatre approach to some of the scenes, particularly the bedroom scene where we want hero to be latching onto claudio, we did some improv physical theatre and had it so that George was claudio and we were all hero trying to get to him. We liked this and then moved forward with each of us representing a different emotion/part of hero which was interesting however we decided that it was rather cluttered and to be honest a bit to gropey, so i think if we do use this type of this we would just have one of us doing it, as focus mainly on the love that hero had for him, as this was by far the most effective emotion that we used in the task.

The Initial Ideas

First Picture up at last, here is the very first recap that we went through of the kind of ideas that we had and the type of style that we wanted to go for. 

The 9th of March

woooo, first rehearsal video up :)

The Annoyance

Hi guys just to say that there have been some issues with the videos but they will be up as soon as possible :) 

The Best

In my opinion this is the best version I have seen, check it out guys its the clearest one if your having trouble understanding what the hell goes on in the original ... not to mention it stars the awesome Catherine Tate and the rather delicious David Tennent :) 

Keep scrolling until you find digital theatre plus

Username: library.hh@centralsussex.ac.uk

Password: libraryhh

http://moodle.centralsussex.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=22

The Beginning

So today way the first session we properly had for looking into our Shakespeare pieces and it was incredibly interesting. We recapped what we had done in the very first few talks about much ado and decided to come up with three ideas that we would want to talk forward in the next rehearsal. Two ideas we had previously come up with so we went into a but more detail on how we could make this a piece of promenade theatre and what aspects of the ideas we though would work well and what parts needed more development. We then wanted to try and come up with some lovely random settings as suggested by Amy, so that we could find something a bit different to work with. From this one idea that came up was that it would be set in the London Underground and that the characters but particularly the lovers in the story only ever meet while commuting, this I thought was a great idea and had real potential as each person could go into all the characters different houses and lives and there for a different spaces in order to tell the rest of the story. The thing I think we should take forward into the next rehearsal is to continue with coming up with more random settings as it really worked and quickly as well for coming up with the London Underground idea.

1 ) What important discoveries were made during the rehearsal?


The possible ideas that we can potetially develope the story line of our piece from

2 ) What led to those discoveries?


Brain storming and mind mapping any ideas/directions/key events tha we wanted to share

3 ) Towards where do those discoveries lead?


The overall style and direction that we want to take our piece and also the actual storyline of it 

4 ) Consider questions No. 1-3 except focus on important roadblocks/dead ends.


No roadblocks really, we just wrote down any ideas that we had and commented on wether they have potential. We didn't dwell on what we thought was the 'better' idea or not so that we limit ourselves later on

5 ) Reflect on dramatic action and conflict.  How’s it going?  What actions does this suggest?


Not to sure what this one means but i don't think there has been any conflict going on as of yet, i'm really  happy with how the group dynamic is working, were all listening to each other really well ... possibly because there was only 4 of us today but hey ho

6 ) Reflect on transformational leadership.  How’s it going?  What actions does this suggest?


Leadership wise I took the lead with writing things on the board, however I'm rather consious that i was more of a director than a proformer in the Romeo and Juliet piece, so I want to try and sit back in the next rehearsal as I not only want others to feel like they have control and responcibity over the piece but also to make sure that everyone has a go at taking the lead ... Bassically I need to shut up a bit and let people get a word in edgeways

7 ) Reflect on the journey of one or both of the actors with whom you are working.  How’s it going?  What needs to happen next?


Everyone today was really on form, Becca was positive and gave off a really great energy today which enabled everything to tick along nicely, Nicole was organised ... as always and had the notes from the very first talk that we had about the piece so that was great to refresh and get the rehearsal moving to the next important task, but Amy today I would say was shit hot today, she not only helped us think outside the box, stay on track when it came to coming up with more strange settings, and come up with one interesting obsqure idea of the London Underground setting, but also came into the space with a beautifully and well thought out idea/story line for the piece which had been reworked sinced the last talk we had about it.

8 ) What is the most important thing that happened (or didn’t happen) in your recent rehearsal?  Unpack its importance.


We really got to grips to some great ideas 

9 ) What is the most important thing that could happen in your next rehearsal?  How will you shape the rehearsal in order to increase the odds of that “thing” happening?


10 ) Consider where you’re at in the grand scheme of all rehearsals.  How’s it going?  What actions does this suggest?

The Roots

Heyyyyy, might wanna have a look at BBC 1 there's a show on called the Brittish, about Shakespear and the political history behind alot of the stuff at the time. Might Be helpful .... Also loving the blogger app .... This shit is awesome, deffo the way forward with log booking johno xxx

The Discovery

Herrow Blogger, please excuse the stupid name of the post ... I have decided for my own interest that I shall call posts dramatic and theatrey names :) 

So today although not much happened, we wrote down a list of skills of which we possess and it was interesting to think about all the different and wide variety of stuff that we can offer in our Shakespeare pieces. We also wrote some random stuff that we like to see in theatre, telly and in movies. 

Wooo first entry done, hope I keep up with this one ... liking it so far :P  

Production Meeting

On Blogger ... what is going on