Rehearing: THRUST STAGE: Advantage: The play can be viewed from more than one angle, an intimate atmosphere is created. Having one end which is visible to all provides a ‘back’ to the stage. Disadvantage: Sight lines can still be an issue. Question: As an actor the challenges that I will have personally being directed in this space is the dilemma of having my back to the audience, of course it is okay for most of the scenes as we have a big cast and so the chances of someone else facing that member of the audience when I am not is very high.However I still feel like this comes as a challenge. Stage directions: The prologue has been staged so that there a multiple groups playing the same role, it's almost like the taxi driver skips from one journey to another whilst conveying the same story. We create this affect using lights to ensure a sharp and modern fluidity that moves around the space (the audience don't know where they will be looking next until it is lit). Tale 1: My role is a young typical East End kinda girl. The piece has been staged in a symmetrical formation in which we interact with neither the audience or each other. Staging choices were made by our director however we had to choose what we wanted to say, how we say the lines and particular poses we do e.g. selfie, phone call, texting etc. My strengths on this piece so far has been line learning as I have already learned my lines in this Tale. I need to develop the ending transition because we all stand up however it is straight after my line and so I don’t forget to stand but I feel as if I look messy and almost like a delayed reaction. I need to practice the transition and my speed at which I do things.

Rehearing:

THRUST STAGE: 

Advantage: The play can be viewed from more than one angle, an intimate atmosphere is created. Having one end which is visible to all provides a ‘back’ to the stage.

Disadvantage: Sight lines can still be an issue.

Question:

As an actor the challenges that I will have personally being directed in this space is the dilemma of having my back to the audience, of course it is okay for most of the scenes as we have a big cast and so the chances of someone else facing that member of the audience when I am not is very high.However I still feel like this comes as a challenge.

Stage directions:

The prologue has been staged so that there a multiple groups playing the same role, it's almost like the taxi driver skips from one journey to another whilst conveying the same story. We create this affect using lights to ensure a sharp and modern fluidity that moves around the space (the audience don't know where they will be looking next until it is lit).

Tale 1:

My role is a young typical East End kinda girl.

The piece has been staged in a symmetrical formation in which we interact with neither the audience or each other. 

Staging choices were made by our director however we had to choose what we wanted to say, how we say the lines and particular poses we do e.g. selfie, phone call, texting etc.

My strengths on this piece so far has been line learning as I have already learned my lines in this Tale.

I need to develop the ending transition because we all stand up however it is straight after my line and so I don’t forget to stand but I feel as if I look messy and almost like a delayed reaction. I need to practice the transition and my speed at which I do things.

Taxi Partners:

Today we continued to explore the text in a bit more depth and tried to get a better understanding of the East End.

Here are some of the exercises we did in class:

Working on the Prologue.

We created the prologue in pairs by adding in responses to the other character’s lines. I found this task a bit difficult as I was slightly confused and not too sue of what we were meant to be doing, and so that most likely reflected on the overall product. 
Also I didn't actually realise that the Prologue was a conversation between a Taxi driver and the passenger, which probably half explained my misunderstanding of the task. My partner and I first created the conversation between two friends just talking (and as we were asked not to have scene look like a static driver and passenger sat one behind the other,  the driver holding an imaginary steering wheel,we did it so that I was sitting down with my legs crossed whilst my partner had her head on my lap, responding to what I had to say).  
Then just before we were asked to perform we looked around the room at some of the other actors work and realized that we were doing the wrong task completely and so we started over. 
We decided that we were now going to have one of us (me) standing, facing one direction, and then the other one of us (Nina) to be sitting, facing the other direction so that we were both back to back. We did this so that we could incorporate levels into the piece and also to try and show status (there was hardly a difference in the status but it showed the audience that the driver didn't really have a choice, the driver had to reply to the passenger. And by having the passenger standing up it let the actor have a bit more freedom and leverage to move around the space. It also showed that the passenger was the character that had more to say whereas the driver was merely listening and only spoke occasionally).

What questions is the taxi driver asking and answering, what lines aren't in the text?

You needed to think about staging this with imagination (not sat one behind the other, with the driver holding an imaginary steering wheel).

We all got the chance to perform our pieces which was good as it gave us all the opportunity to see what the other actors took form the script and the decisions they made in order to portray a realistic piece.
My favourite pair were in fact not a pair but a three which I think it its self makes the task harder to complete but was taken on as a challenge and performed as a truly creative piece. The group (Ella, Sarah and Alex) managed to use levels, movement, improvisation,  characterisation and a high level of focus, this made the performance effective because it meant that the scene came to life. The East End accents used, truly giving the illusion of the setting, the actors all swayed and bounced ever so slightly to give the idea of a moving vehicle which also contributed to the setting. 

The group placed the taxi driver on a box in the middle and the two passengers on either side of the driver, I liked the staging as all actors where clearly seen, I also think the fact that the driver was in the middle and higher up was a good staging choice as the drive (Alex) has a lot to say and was the main focus point, having her own improvised monologue to perform.

We had time to create, rehearse and then share some of the pieces created before discussing what we liked about others scenes. 

Nina and I first created the scene as a normal conversation between two people, Nina was lying down with her head on my lap because we were told not to create just a boring conversation between a static taxi driver and  its passenger. However when we realized that we were doing the wrong thing with next to no time left to come up with a super creative scene, we settled for Nina standing up and me sitting down to create different levels and we added movement to make it look like the vehicle was moving by bopping ever so slightly and rocking from side to side when necessary. 

We also did a whole class hot-seat.

We continued to explore the taxi driver using a technique called hot seating, this involved putting the actor on the spot and asking them questions to which they answer as the taxi driver. This is an effective technique as it enables the actor to truly get an understanding of the character as well as help them build a realistic background story (this technique is especially useful for improvisation as you are forced to think on the spot creatively). For example I learned that the driver has 2 young daughters that attend Rosemarie Primary school Mel,aged 7 and Ria, age 9, his wife is called Savita and they all live in a 3 floor apartment flat at number 23 a. When I was the one asking the qustions I asked things such as: How old are you?  How much does it cost from Whitechapel Road,Shadwell,London,E1 1DB to the O2?  What times are your shifts?  Is there ever any commotion at night?  What's the worst/weirdest thing that has ever happened during a shirt.

Ensemble taxi driving:

The whole class explored being a taxi driver.

We all became taxi drivers and created some improvised movement and thought of some lines that the driver might say. 

As a taxi driver I leaned forward in my chair, had a bad posture, spoke in a deep cockney accent and constantly sat with my legs wide open, moving the steering wheel with not a care in the world. I made this choice because I decided to be a taxi driver that had had that job for a long time and so yes drove well but was quite relaxed and would quite happily multi task whilst driving. 

Other people chose to maybe not be the typical norm, they decided to sound slightly camp or had a habit of scratching their chin which I thought worked well as it was more realistic and thought out.

We worked as an ensemble by starting off just doing our own thing, what we thought a taxi driver to look/act. We then gradually were told to copy a certain persons taxi driver which included listening to their voice and then all repeating the same line back etc.

TALE 8 

In groups we read through TALE 8. 

We then underlined anything that suggested a location, weather, or atmosphere.

Here are some examples:

CREATE/REHEARSE

Once we'd done this we went through anything we'd underlined and created a series of sounds and some movement to develop the scene. 

we were asked to focus on creating the atmosphere and think about being the buildings, the weather, and the atmosphere.

We were allowed to use some of the lines from the text – however we might have decided to just use your sounds and movements to tell the tale.

We were then meant to shared our work with the class and reflected on it however we didn't get a chance to do this.

My group's rehearsal was a bit shaky at first but after a bit of encouragement we managed to work together as team. The sounds we used were effective because they created imagery for both the characters and the audience. My group decided to take a chunk of the script and use that as our script and use the rest as a stimulus for the soundscape. We used sounds such as, echoes, ghostly whistles, whispers, animal noises, rain drops, scratching, screeching, drumming and we also used animal movements. Everyone apart from me scattered themselves out and I, playing the role of 'Queen of the Concrete Jungle' went through, around and under the rest of the actors in my group whilst trying to stay dry from the rain (there was a constant soundscape throughout the performance). They then formed a sort of tunnel  and whilst making bird and spooky noises I sheltered myself from the rain. On the line 'Queen of the Concrete Jungle' our whole group became animals and Jamie took my hand and led me onto a chair where I was then fanned as if I were royalty.
I didn't really enjoy this task and found it difficult to work in a group whilst creating something that used next to no lines as I found it hard to work with something that held next to no substance. The piece made me feel empowered a bit but apart from that I didn't really enjoy this task. Our group could have developed a bit more of a physical theatre type of scene but I think overall our group didn't work to well together although we did try. I'm not sure if there were similarities in what groups did as we didn't share performances. Using a soundscape makes it easier to tell the story, it gives the piece an effect, makes it dramatic and creates an atmosphere, in our piece we created an eerie and intimidating soundscape as that is the kind of affect that 'The Queen of The Concrete Jungle' would have on the audience.

Mr Worden set us the following for homework:

He put us into groups and asked us to come to class next week with ideas, character research and drawings of the characters you are exploring. However the following week we didn't have Mr Worden and so we didn't share anything but here are some of the characters below:

Developing Characters:

This week we started off the lesson with an exercise that consisted of multiple things happening at once, this turned out to be a difficult task for the class at first but after a while it just became natural (I think the beginning problem was lack of understanding the task which then was clearly reflected. Sir was confidently dishing out negative comments which also didn't help put the class in a positive mood which I think was clearly shown through the next few lessons). This week I managed to develop my understanding of the play by focusing on certain scenes such as ‘Tale 6’ which we looked at in depth during the lesson. We were told to pick a character out of Tale 6 and write about what that character looked like on the in and outside.

By looking at the play in more detail we were able to notice the themes that were becoming more visible, for the play contains many dark and grim stories however it also contains hope. Hope that doesn’t get answered (e.g the hope of something happening however it never does) and then there are things such as the boy helping the old lady, it represents hope in society and humanity. Overall I think that ‘Hope’ is a key theme in the play, whether that hope is ignored or if they get lucky and what they wanted comes true, it depends on the tale, just as it would in real life.

We were given the marking criteria for DEVELOPING for this project. We completed the sheet, Here it is:

 

Task 2 (45/60 mins)

This week we did not:

    In groups you shared your homework. What had other people in your group done?

    You then created a response to the tale you were working on and including the research you had completed for your homework.

You were asked to continue to be guided by the style of the play – it should feel physical – you couldn't use any props/chairs etc.

·                     What did you develop and create? How?

·                     How did your homework help you develop the tale practically?

·                     Explain what you did as your character. Why did you make these choices? (Think about character- voice/physicality.)

Task 3

In new groups of 5/6 we re-read Tale 6. We had to underline all the people mentioned e.g brother, landlord, mother…

Here is what we underlined:

Individually we chose a character from the Tale and we used the underlined words to create a role – on – the – wall.

INTERIOR: Things the character thinks and feels.

EXTERIOR: Things that people say about them, what they look like.

As some of these characters only exist in a mention by another person we had lots of creative freedom to develop the roles. 

 Using the roles we developed and created some scenes that show how these characters exist outside the play. 

Our group developed a scene on the character that is waiting for his brother at the bar, we named him Barry and chose to create a line drama piece that contained the warm woman and her daughter having a phone conversation, sly man and his fight and my mini group was focusing on the boy waiting for his brother, this was mainly in the form of line drama. Whilst we were all still in freeze frames, one of the stories would come alive. The first two scenes were done in a realistic form whereas my mini groups section was a mixture of naturalistic and physical theatre, we started off the scene with a naturalistic monologue which then ended with words from our role-on-the-wall that described how the character was feel physically and mentally whether that be by taste, feel smell or sight.

Nina and myself both stood behind but either side of Danielle to form her conscience, this enabled us to be able to deliver the characters story and their feelings as well as things they would be unlikely to say. The use of freeze frames was also highly effective because we were able to start the scene off with happy expressions but end the scene with annoyed or saddened expressions. We made the decision to use freeze frames in order to get the message across that all the characters feel the same way, they share something.

We then SHARED the work with the class and reflected:

Roseby's monologue was very effective, it told the story of the pub owner, an older woman, it showed how she loved her pub and how she see' the stories of other people, how she gets the same lads in every night and how some just come to simply rot away. It was a nice twist from just picking one of the character, instead her group chose to create the pub owner even though they had nothing to work with about her from the text. The scene gave me an insight of the view of a character that has watched thousands of stories in one place, bad ones, sweet ones, powerful once, simply memories that she owns and shared with us. After the monologue the rest of the group performed some of the stories which was a perfect ending.

The East Side

A taste of the East End:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W9o4YX9fyc

I love the text layout (how the writing is set out in a lyrical style), overall I think it's great that there are no set characters as it means that the director and actors can be truly creative and use as many actors as desired. The piece could use one actor or a hundred which I think makes the play quite unique, versatile and free flowing.

The play is about individual’s stories in the East End, stories that would otherwise go untold. These include themes such as, domestic violence, drudgery, petty crime, murder and everyday life. 

Here are some notes on each individual tale:

The Prologue - Strange and immediate. The play starts straight away and wham bang the audience should be engaged and know straight away that the play is no ordinary play.

Tale 1:
Is one of my least favourite tales however is a good example of the language and age of the character being portrayed. I think that the voice of the character's age ranges between 15-21 years old, I got the impression of a young and bubbly female because the character describes the East End as a man that is sexy, mixed raced with stubble etc. Sticking to the stereo typical/norm relationship status of most females, the character would be attracted to the opposite sex and since the character is talking about a male, you can only assume that the character is a female (well that's what I have imagined her to be anyway however because of the fluidity of the script and the freedom given to the actor, it could be either sex). Along with the added vocabulary that a young child or adult would most likely use.

Tale 2:
I absolutely love tale two, it is brilliant and is also one of my favourite tales. The text alone can create a strong image of a female version of The East End, whilst I read through the script I could image stage directions, voices to use, special awareness etc. I think that's what made me love the tale so much, because I was able to create the image of a genuine girl that would be a representation of The East End and how I would then portray that story to an audience. With added characters and a mixture of mime and speech, I think the scene could really be explored in further detail and with a unique twist.

Woman during the day

What she has to become in order to get attention from her boyfriend

Tale 3:
Rhymes a lot and refers to a big and built man as a lost little boy which I personally find really powerful. This scene is not one I particularly like however I will give it credit for being cleverly worded and meaningful. If I were to create a performance with tale 3 then I would make the piece very ensemble, not all of it but a good deal of it. I also think that whilst one person is reading the words it would be nice if everyone else mimed the scene i.e the pub fight and only joined in for certain words and then to just have little boy Jack left on stage to let the powerful message sink in for the audience.

Tale 4:
I think this was quite a cute scene that showed the closeness and unity of the community as well as the shaking and harsh reality of East End life. The tale highlighted the kindness of a very young sweet man that helps an old lady cross the road however also picked up on the reality of the lack of care or concern of this poor old lady’s safety whilst crossing the road. It also gave me the impression of The east End being quite a busy place with cars and not many pensioners (which also gave me the idea that it may not be the quiet and peaceful place that old people choose to retire at usually, suggesting that The East End could be quite a busy and noisy place full of excitement.

Tale 5:

My favourite tale was the story about the lady being abused and the neighbours hearing the bangs and smashes through the wall, evidently a week later the woman is found dead along with her twin infants. I feel as if the tale could hold an abstract twist when performed, hopefully capturing the essence of the East End and its hidden stories.

The scene is probably one of the longest scenes in the play; it highlights a bit of the attitude of some people in the east End. For example when the script talks about bangs coming from their next door neighbours apartment (they live in a flat, or that is what I imagined it to be anyway), pretty much at the beginning of the play it stated that the character(s) didn't think too much of it...that it was 'just a domestic' and it also became a habit for the TV to be turned up to drown out the screams. That kind of came as a shock to me but also made me a bit more aware of the normality of abuse in the East End, or at least in this area. And of course there would be people that would help, call the police, try and actually make a difference, but for many its just the same old story, they just get forgotten or ignored.

A true story about a four year old that starved to death in his crib and was left there for just under two years:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24388175

When we read the script, I was immediately reminded of this story and the terrible abuse that people of all ages have faced, are facing and will face.

If you or anyone that you know is being affected by abuse then you should contact someone. If you don't know what abuse is then click the link below and learn more about what it is and whether you are experiencing it.

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/domestic-violence-and-abuse.htm

Here is also a video of a lady that was a victim of domestic abuse, she took a picture of herself everyday. On the last photo of  herself taken, she holds a piece of paper that reads “Help me, I don’t know if I’ll make it ’till tomorrow.”. 

Now I don't know whether this woman still is alive or whether she has ever been abused since the video was posted, or even if she posted it but I do know that this is a very disturbing and powerful message that I wish wasn't reality. The matter of the fact is that she looks happy in the first few pictures but as the video goes on, her face looses its glow, her smile disappears and bruises appear on her skin, before long she starts looking less like a happy human and more like a lifeless corpse. You can watch the video by clicking on the link below:

http://www.atsciences.tv/2014/08/this-woman-took-photo-of-herself-every.html

Tale 6: 
The story of a man and woman at a pub told through the eyes of a 15 yr old boy in my opinion (I make this presumption because the text says he is drinking orange juice and in a pub you would expect a East End lad to be drinking an alcoholic drink such as beer). The scene talks about a man and woman meeting at a bar with a bit of a rocky start but once the characters look at each other...like really look, they realize that they both share something, the pain of loosing someone close. For the man it's his mother, and the woman looks like his Mother which stops him from hitting her at one point. And the woman has lost her daughter, she was luckier than him though because her daughter simply moved to collage in America whereas his Mother actually died but they both possess the same pain. Anyway so eventually they both sit together, having a pint of beer and sharing their pain which gives them both comforts.

This story shows the Eat Ends community at its finest, it is where ends meet, everyone is at the pub for the same reason, they have all had a shit day at work or they have had a pretty shitty life. With this understanding of life and level of experience everyone can relax and rely on each other to a certain degree. It is this kind of warm hearted closeness that most people would call 'The Real East End', or 'What The Eat End is all about'.

I think this scene in particular can create a really intimate relationship between both themselves and the audience if performed correctly, for example it’s not so much words as actions and just genuine generosity that creates the intimacy and trust that is required.

Tale 7:

 An insight of the typical stereo type corner shop, owned by an Asian family. I don’t particularly like this scene but it does show some importance in the play. It contains racism which conveys awareness but then also shows how the victim stands up for himself with the help of his family, creating a scene of ‘domestic bliss’. For me the scene shows unity as a family and gives off a positive message of ‘sticking together’ even though it uses a negative stimulus to help convey the message. The scene should not simply be a boy standing at a till serving customers but something more, maybe using line drama at one point but I feel like it should be explored using multiply techniques rather than just one.

Tale 8:

 At first I didn’t like this tale but after further analysis I have become quite fond of this scene. I love how cleverly the scene has been written, it is interesting and creative. For example Michelle is described as ‘Queen of the Concrete Jungle’ and a bag being snatched from a robber is described as ‘An apple being plucked from a tree’, this shows a more imaginative view on the text which uses metaphors and similes to its best advantage. The scene would be great if it used a various amount of sounds to form a soundscape (e.g rain, jungle noises, bangs, ghostly whistles etc.) ensemble pieces of this play could mainly consist of the soundscape, Michelle’s scream and everyone could become animals when they talk about her being queen of the concrete jungle.

Epilogue:
I love that the play starts and ends with a taxi driver. In fact in a strange way I image all of the tales in the play, to either happen whilst this taxi driver is on his shift, or that each of the characters have been in this taxi and their story then later unfolds. I know that that is a strange way to think of it and would be extremely hard to show in a performance but it is how I imagine the play in my head, a series of unfortunate events that no one really notices or cares about, but how somehow all manage to be connected in one strange way or another.

My favourite tale had to be tale 5 because it was one that I feel strongly about and although I have never experienced abuse or known anyone that has been abused/murdered, I did feel like I could connect with both the text and the character. Having a connection tends to also helps me build a connection with the audience so I think it is an important skill to develop. I think the fact that I also have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject from news etc. makes it more able to understand. I n fact where I live there is a lady up my road that we sometimes hear screaming and my family constantly have to call the police, the thing is that no one else where I live tend to call the police because they seem to live in fear of this lady which sounds crazy to me but I suppose like in the play ‘it is none of their business’.

At the start of the session we were asked about what we thought of the East End.
I knew absolutely nothing apart from the fact that it was most likely where Eastenders is set. Luckily for the class Jake and Mateo were up for talking to us and discussing the East End and what it is all about since they live in that area. From them we got a better understand of the fact that the East End isn’t as loud and crazy as many presume or learn from Eastenders, it’s actually quiet most of the time. And sure you get your fair share of creeps and excitement but not everyone speaks like a chav and is 21, pregnant with five babies, all of which have different dads. We learnt that the stereo typical Eastenders tended to be a made up version of the real Eastenders.  The East End is actually a tight community that has lads that love to watch football in the pub and girls that don’t necessarily have a face full of make up, 2p hoop earrings on and a boyfriend that is a part time drug dealer.

Thanks to Jake and Mateo, I now know that people in the East End are pretty similar to everyone else, they just have a bit of an accent and are known for having a bad reputation for no reason.

We were also asked to explore one of the tales in groups but got so wrapped up in the text that we didn’t actually have time to get onto this task.