Voice Study Week Work

Introduction

After putting together my CV I have noticed some faults in my vocal skills. I feel that improving these skills would open me to more employment in this tough industry. Therefore I will reflect upon different plays and performances I have been in recently and Feedback from these projects.

My Voice: 

What kind of Tone is my voice?: Baritone

How Fast or Slow do they Speak?: Quite fast

Do I pause a lot?: No

Do I find it difficult to project?: No

Do I articulate my words?: Yes, but I find the Th sound difficult

What is my Pitch like?: I have quite a deep voice

Do I emphasise certain words?: Normally after I take a pause or I think I start the first word with emphasis

Do I speak in one tone?: No 

Do I have specific difficulties when pronouncing certain words?: Yes, when pronouncing an R sound

Do I like my voice and why?: I don't like my voice because of my posh accent, I also wish my voice was a bit higher as it sounds quite deep and I don't like how at points I can sound monotone.

Is my voice loud?: Yes

Is my voice quiet?: No

Is my voice deep?: Yes

Is it high or low?: Low

Is is strong or weak?: Strong

Is it shaky?: No

Is it husky?: No

Is it crisp?: No

Is it clipped?: Sometimes

Is it drowning?: No

Is it nasal?: A little

Is it squeaky?: No

Is it crackly?: No

Is it raspy?: No

Is it distorted?: No

What are the characteristics of your voice? (describe and explain - use feedback from previous performances, your voice in general and your own analysis)

I would say I have quite a posh sounding voice. I think is due to the fact that I was brought up in quite an upper class town in England. I would say I speak quite quickly at times but I am usually still able to articulate. However, sometimes my 'th' sounds get lost and I have a very difficult time when pronouncing words that either start or have the letter 'r' in them, saying Ferrero Rocher is a nightmare. From previous performances I have been given feedback such as good intention and good support however my articulation could be better. I feel I excel when supporting and I think my breath control will on stage is good. My adaptation to a scene is also good as I can recognize how my character would talk with different people. For example when I played Stephen Crossley in '13', the level of volume would change considering who he was with and which environment he was in, for example when he was talking to his friend Ruth he would speak in a soft voice that was reassuring to show how he was her friend. However, when Stephen is doing a lecture he would use a voice that would be more empowering and louder to persuade the students that came to his lecture. A hindrance in my voice is emphasis. I find it difficult to emphasise the right words but I know how to use the skill of emphasis. I find myself putting emphasis on the wrong words. 

In what ways do these vocal qualities benefit or hinder you as a stage performer?

As said before I think I have quite a lot of work to do on my articulation and I think if not worked on it could hinder my performance as an actor on stage as 'th' sounds may sound like 'f' and will become an annoyance for the audience to watch and may find it difficult to get lost in the story when the actor can't articulate properly. When performing plays done by playwrights like Shakespeare the articulation needs to be to an even greater standard as the words are difficult to the audience and so with them being said wrongly it would make it even harder for the message to be portrayed. Another hindrance as said before is my emphasis on certain words, I tend to put the emphasis on the wrong words and when an audience member is asked to talk about the scene it is easier for them to get the message portrayed if the right words are being emphasised, for example if I am trying to portray that I hate the actor Tom Hanks, and I say 'I hate the actor Tom Hanks', I should emphasise the word hate to get the feeling across to the audience and to help provoke a reaction from the other actor on stage, whereas if I emphasis the word actor, the message would be lost.

What vocal exercises (at least 3) might be suitable for building on your strengths and to address the issues mentioned? Please explain the exercise (use words and images)

Considering I find articulation difficult I will do exercises that will increase my articulation as they will help my vocal muscles. 

Finger between teeth exercise:

The first exercise which is great for articulation is the finger between teeth exercise, you first start off by placing your finger in between your teeth and putting your tongue on your hard palette which is located at the roof of your mouth. By saying a line your mouth will try to move more as you want to make words that make sense instead of sounding stupid. After this you take your tongue off your palette and keep your finger in the same place, you'll make more sounds this time as you have your tongue and your lips will still move as much. After this you take away your finger and you will start to articulate as your lips are a muscle and will remember how much they moved and will move like this, muscle memory. 

Tongue Twisters:

There are many tongue twisters, that can help articulation. Saying tongue twisters can help the movement of your mouth and most importantly your tongue which is a key component in Articulation. Different tongue twisters are based on alliteration around certain letters, for example 'Sister Susie sewing shirts for soldiers' is based around the S sound. 'Peter Pepper picked a pack of pickled peppers', is based around the P sound. I feel that my articulation is weakest when pronouncing 'th' sounds so I will use a tongue twister like 'He threw three free throws', this tongue twister helps me immensely as I find the fr and the th sound difficult to differentiate. 

Jaw warming exercise:

Another exercise that will help my voice would be to loosen my jaw by warming it up, if my jaw is stiff it is difficult to articulate properly. The way to do it is to take where your thumb and your hand meet and to place it at the side of your eye and to bring your hand down to where your mouth is while your mouth is open in a comfortable position. This will help warm the jaw up as its a big component in the vocal system.

Week 7 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Actioning

To start off this week I really wanted to develop my monologues, and so I started using a technique called Actioning which was created by Max Stafford-Clark. The technique is based around thoughts and what the character wants. This link to the actors objective which was first introduced by Constantin Stanislavski. An Actors objective is what the character wants by the end of the scene, for example Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing wants to confront his feelings for Beatrice and show his love, I feel his obstacles in this scene is mostly himself. An obstacle is what is stopping the character from getting to his objective, and so Benedick is stopping himself from getting to his objective as hes scared he'll be scrutinized for saying how he feels for Beatrice. Both monologues that Benedick has are juxtaposed, in the first monologue he preaches how he is against live but I believe he is in love at this time with Beatrice but won't show it because he is scared that Beatrice won't feel the same. In the second monologue he professes how he loves Beatrice as he has found out she loves him to and so Benedick is not scared to show his love.

To give a more descriptive and detailed performance, I'm going to incorporate Actioning. This technique will help me portray what Shakespeare wanted and how this character feels. Actioning is what your character does to someone else, you find out what your character wants by looking at each thought and thinking of the adjective that best suits the thought. For example if I was to say to my friend 'Lets go to the shops?', I would most likely be trying to persuade them, so before I would deliver this line I would say in my head, 'I persuade you' then deliver the line and it would help me to say the line in a persuasive way. The way the line is said could change though, if I fancied my friend then I could use the Actioning of 'Charm'. So the line would be said in a charming way I would say 'I charm you' in my head then say the line 'Lets go to the shops?' I did this for Benedick as I believe this is the best way for me to get a descriptive emotional portrayal.

I actioned my lines and I will show a part of my first monologue as an example, 'One woman is fair, yet I'm well, another is virtuous, yet I'm well, another wise, yet I am well, but till all graces come in one women, one woman shall not come into my grace'. For this I put the action of assure, so 'I assure you'. In this I am assuring the audience that I will never fall in love, I am also trying to assure myself as it is easier to push this love away then be the hypocrite and fall in love.

I enjoyed actioning this week, next week we are performing and I will get all my feedback together and go over notes before the show. 

Week 6 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Costume Vibe

Mumford and Sons

A man at a festival

We all started to think about what costumes we would wear considering we have decided to go forward with the festival vibe. We thought about what band we could try to look the same as, to try to get the festival vibe, we thought about Mumford and Sons as they have the sort of vibe we are going for. The tie, waistcoat and shirt look I think is very folk which is what we are also trying to achieve as the song 'Sigh No More' has been covered by Mumford and Sons which is in Much Ado About Nothing. The idea of a hat is also a good idea as it shows the festival sort of look. As shown on the left, I don't think however that the band will wear hats as it seems to be more of something festival goers would wear. I was also thinking about sunglasses but I don't think I will as it will cover my eyes which is a key asset of my facial expressions. I will also chat to Matt and Lewis who also play Benedick to see what ideas they have for the character. A lot of people have also suggested Wellington boots however I don't think that the band would wear wellies as they wouldn't be getting too muddy and they aren't very stylish.

Notes and Run Through

After this we observed each others and made notes for feedback. I observed Sophie and made notes that she could look back on to improve. I said how I wanted to see more of a relationship between her and Donna, as Beatrice who she is playing is best friends with Donna's character Hero, I also felt like Sophie was rushing her lines a bit and was losing the meaning behind them, one of the reasons is because she is yet to know her lines. In the scene there is a part where Sophie is turned around while Benedick enters, she has her back to the audience and is reacting over her shoulder. I felt that it would be more effective if Sophie was towards the audience as we could see more of her when reacting to what Benedick had been saying. I feel like that having her back turned isn't the right blocking, I also said how she could be tightening the bunting or playing with a prop so she doesn't look frozen on stage. I also looked out for some rhetorical devices that as her character she could play on in the scene, for example Beatrice uses a metaphor when talking about Benedick being Claudios friend 'he will hang upon him like a disease', this metaphor is also a place where others in the scene can laugh and subtly mock Benedick. I think Sophie has a good presence in this scene but I feel she has a way to go before its good.

After this I watched Act 1 Scene 2, I observed Nathan, in this scene Nathan doesn't have a massive part but I believe plays it well when reacting to Beatrice as he is Leonato. When watching people that aren't the main part in the scene I always think of a quote, that if you're character isn't talking 'you're thinking of what to say, but you choose not to say it'. I think this is a brilliant quote as it keeps the other characters active and listening to what the main character is saying as well as reacting. I felt at point that this scene was quite flat but I think this will be helped if Frankie can keep the pace of the scene going as she is the focal point. There are some points where the lines said by Frankie can be quite breathy and makes it hard to understand, I like the act that Frankie plays as Beatrice when she imitates different people, as it brings more energy to the scene however her voice needs support when reading in different voices and making big gestures in the scene.

I then got notes on my scene as Sophie was observing me, she said that I lacked focus in the scene, this is true as I felt we all broke character as people were trying to find there lines, however I am annoyed at myself that I broke character and lacked focus throughout the scene as I prided myself on giving my all on stage and staying in character. Sophie felt that I was still putting on a projected voice, I didn't feel that I did this as much but apparently there was still a different voice, I felt that I practised enough to find my own voice but I see that I still need to work on it. As Sophie gave me good constructive criticism I was also given points where I performed well, Sophie said how she could see the thought process when I am thinking about my dream lady's hair. I think this is because when I was thinking about my dream girl I had a picture of a girl that I felt was perfect. I felt it was good I did this because I got more of a genuine reaction. Sophie said that I also had a good reaction when the lid of the box fell on my head. This bit of slapstick in this scene is brilliant because it mocks Benedick and I feel I can give a good reaction as it doesn't hurt too much but I pretend that the pain is times by 10. Sophie felt that I had a brilliant reaction when Beatrice enters, I felt that this was good as well, I played it partly over the top so I could get a funny reaction and this big reaction would of been quite real to Benedick as he is excited and would act over the top or hyper as Beatrice enters.

This week was brilliant for me as I got closer to what I need to achieve with Benedick, I also enjoyed giving feedback on scenes as I like to see the progression of our work as a class as its satisfying to see the final product. 

Week 5 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Wedding and Shaming of Hero Choreography

To start off, we were given the challenge by Sally to devise a short physical theatre piece, we were told what we needed to create it round and what we were trying to portray. We were told that we needed to show that there is a swap between the characters of Hero and Margret and how Borachio sleeps with Margret thinking it is Hero and shouts her name while Claudio hears him. Claudio then shames Hero at the wedding. 

In this scene we tried implementing a box step where the two girls could get mixed up there. The box step is simple choreography which I learned from my Youth Theatre group, the way in which I wanted it to be done was that there were two lines where one line would step backwards and the other forwards so they would cross over each other, the line going backwards would step backwards with their left foot, step to the left with their left foot, step forward with the left foot and step right with their right foot and the other line would do the opposite. The second line would step forwards with the right foot, to the right with the right foot, back with the right foot and to the left with the left foot. This would of allowed the two to swap and for the audience to see this swap with it being realistic, this took quite a long time to figure out as I think as a class we find devising difficult as we are not open to other peoples ideas and this is a shame as a lot more could have come out of this rehearsal. After Sally came back, she liked our ideas of having quite a claustrophobic setting while the swap happens, she envisioned the idea that three guys would carry Hero and three guys would carry Margret on their shoulders. We still haven't figured out how the swap will happen, I have an idea with a blackout that could work and I said it to Sally but she didn't want a black out, I said that a black out could happen and then the girls could change sides and people who's shoulders were carried on. After this scene it will go into Matt and Phoebe's scene which is a perfect transition because this scene is about Hero being disowned by Claudio and Beatrice asking Benedick to kill his best friend.

Emphasis

I was told today about how emphasis is so important and I knew this to be true. I looked at my scenes and noticed how I was putting the emphasis on the wrong words. I started to look at the script and looked at the words I should be putting emphasis on, most words that are meant to have emphasis are verbs, so ' I ....', walk or the words for Bendick I think more personal pronouns are used as he is very arrogant and believes everything is about him, for most contemporary pieces its a rule of thumb that not many personal pronouns are used as it starts to sound un-naturalistic but for this script I think this is the right words to emphasis.

Overall I think this week went well as we got a lot done and we got closer as a grou thrugh a devising exercise.

Week 4 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Constructive Criticism

This week we did a full run through and filmed it. I was excited to perform but also a bit nervous which doesn't happen to me often. I think I was nervous because I feel this character is the biggest challenge I've had. I think this is due to the fact that its a completely new language to me and it doesn't feel like I would say these words, as I would say it in a much more modern way. This I will get to grips with and I will look at the translation and understand where Benedick is coming from. 

I did my scene and I was nervous, I felt I started to overact a bit and tried to project my voice so I could be heard, at the time where I was reacting to what Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio was saying I felt I could have been more over the top, however I think that these reactions would come more naturally if the dialogue was quicker and the cues were natural, this will come from rehearsing this scene a lot and doing independent learning of lines. After the scene had finished I and the rest of the boys in the scene got feedback. I got feedback how I was playing it very over the top and my voice was very loud and didn't suit the character. I have noticed how I put on a voice for when I am on stage as I feel like I wouldn't project with my natural voice. After doing this the feedback I got was that I was saying the word 'love' as 'lav' which is out of character for Benedick. I hadn't noticed I said love like that, but I had noticed that I was over projecting. Sally said how I should tone down the character as the voice wasn't right for the part. I worked on this criticism and started to work with Matt on my voice, we tried many different things to get the right voice for the character. Firstly I wanted my own voice for the part so I suggested that I'd talk to Matt in a normal conversation and then go into the monologue. This helped a lot as I started saying the monologue in my own voice and the word love sounded right and the thought process came along more easily. Ever since then I have been practising the monologues in my natural voice and this has helped a lot. I thought I wouldn't of been heard in my normal voice but I projected well. I am happy that I got constructive criticism as it helps me to grow as an actor and continue to work hard to get the best performance I can, I believe that there is always room for improvement for any actor. 

There was also feedback for the others in my scene, they were told how they needed to make more of an act of how they were talking about me but knew I was eavesdropping. They were told to laugh more and look for the lines where they are emphasising different words to show to the audience that they are tricking Benedick. I think this will come easier when the lines are learnt and also the cues. I also feel that if my first monologue has a lot of energy there scene will be more up beat as well as they can feed off my energy. I feel that there are a few bits that are excellent in our scene for example when Joe mimicks Beatrices character and when Milo is performing his song and the boys are dancing apart from that I feel that this scene can deliver so more and so we will rehearse this to reach the potential we know it has. 

On Thursday I performed again, this time I was a lot better however I was told to look at the emphasis and find the words that should be emphasised. I also tried messing around in the scene more where I was reacting to finding out about Beatrices love, I did many different things like big facial reactions and even rehearsed with Nathan that the lid of a box would fall on my head, luckily the lid didn't hurt too much so I was able to use this as slapstick comedy and show the audience how much of a fool Benedick is. 

Context 

This week I decided to research the context of this play and the main plot and story before its set. Much Ado About Nothing is set in Messina which is in Sicilly near Italy, Don Pedro and his men are arriving home from war as a messenger tells Leonato, who is the governor of Messina. Benedick and Claudio are best friends and were companions to Don Pedro in war. Don Jon who plays the Antagonist in the comedy is the brother to Don Pedro and is jealous of Don Pedro and then goes on to plot that the wedding between Hero and Claudio is ruined which will embarrass Don Pedro. 

I also looked into some facts about Much Ado About Nothing as it interested me about the histroy and who had portrayed characters in it. I found out that it was written in 1598-1599 by William Shakespeare, it amazes me and is a massive testimony to Shakespeare that his comedy is still contemporary due to its themes today over 400 years after it first came out. 

I really enjoyed researching Shakespeare this week and getting constructive criticism. 

Week 3 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Class members feedback

This week I found that Phoebe would be playing the part of Beatrice, as Kennedy had left and that role needed to be filled. I was excited that Phoebe was Beatrice as I haven't had the chance to work with her much before and I think she is a wonderful Actress. To start off I hadn't learnt my lines for the part where I am with Beatrice (Phoebe) as I was focusing on my lines. I quickly started to learn my lines with Phoebe. We would run through the short duologue and every time I got a bit wrong she would tell me to do it again, this approach to line learning helped me learn the lines as I would be reading them over and eventually it would stick. 

After finally learning the lines, me and Phoebe went through the scene, at first I found it difficult to be confident when addressing Beatrice in a flirtatious manner as it was awkward, I quickly got past this and started to play the scene more and more confidently. As this started to happen, me and Phoebe gained a bond and the scene started to become more fluent and started to experiment with the scene and deliver the lines in different ways. For example at the end of the scene, where I am confident Beatrice is in love with me, 'If I do not take pity on her, I am a villain, if I do not love her, I am a Jew, I will go get her picture.' In this I tried many different ways of delivering it to see which worked best for the character and for where it is placed in the scene. To start off with I said the lines very naturalistically as if I was thinking over what I was going to do about this love that I perceive. I then tried saying the lines as if I was really excited and that I was going to rush and show her love as soon as the line ended. This delivery I felt was much better and much more fitting to the character and where it was placed in the scene. I feel like Benedick firstly acts cool in front of Beatrice but then gets really excited when she is gone because it all comes out at once. I think that it would give my scene a greater impact if I played it excited because it is the end of the scene and so I want it to end with a big impact of emotion.

After doing this scene I got feedback from Nathan and Frank, Nathan said that he enjoyed the way I delivered it, he said I needed to slow down in areas and gather the thought process, overall he said it was about a 6 out of 10, which I'm happy to get considering its Week 3. Frank also gave me some feedback, he said that I should make Benedick more of a lad, and also bring him down to earth and make the lad elements more naturalistic but still keeping it funny, he also gave me some great advice to say the double meaning line 'there's a double meaning in that', really excited as if Benedick is completely blinded by love and is getting excited. He also showed how its the first time that Benedick believes this love has been proven by Beatrice so he needs to be very animated.

Much Ado About Nothing Adaptation

We watched David Tennant and Catherine Tate take the stage to adapt Much Ado About Nothing, Tennant played Benedick and Catherine Tate played Beatrice. I enjoyed the modern adaptation it was set in Gibraltar and Benedick and Claudio have just got back from the Falklands War. This adaptation of Beatrice and Benedick was much more over the top and this may have been because it was an on stage adaptation. Compared to Kenneth Branagh's version and adaptation seemed slightly more naturalistic and memorable. I preferred Branaghs adaptation as I found it more believable. When watching the David Tennant version I didn't enjoy how Beatrice was portrayed by Catherine Tate, I feel that she didn't really give a brilliant adaptation as she was playing herself. After looking back at Branaghs version I enjoyed the chemistry Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh had. I hope to achieve this same chemistry when portraying Benedick as it is a massive part about this character. This is probably due to the fact that at the time Branagh and Thompson were married.

I enjoyed looking through my monologues this week and getting feedback that I can act on. 

Week 2 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Festival Setting

To start off Week 2 we started to think about what setting we wanted to put our contemporary play in. Sally first said how she'd enjoy setting it in a festival type setting. We all liked this idea and we started to talk as a group about what we could do. We thought about how we could have a band and different sorts of acts. For example there would be a band with Benedick, Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio. Balthasar would also be an act as he sings a song later on in the scene I am in. For the character of Benedick I am playing I think he would be a guitarist, this is because I think he is someone who tries to look cool in front of his friends so he would play guitar to boost his reputation. I'm enjoying the festival sort of vibe because its something completely new and unique to me and I think it will make it easier to me to perform Shakespeare as its in a modern setting and it'll be easier for me to get to grips with.

Analysing Monologues

As I have recently said, I have been casted as Benedick in Act 2 Scene 3, in this scene I have two monologues both of which are Juxtaposed, this is great as it I will be able to show my emotional range as an Actor, as in the first monologue I am completely against the idea of love and almost despise my best friend Claudio for falling in love, when I have known what a strong independent man he is. In the second monologue my thoughts on love completely change as I find out that Beatrice loves me, I enjoy playing a loved up character as I can use one of my favourite and in my opinion most effective methods, 'emotional memory', a device created by Constantin Stanislavski in which the actor uses memories from his own life to give a more genuine and descriptive portrayal. For example if I am in love with Beatrice, I would think back to a time where I felt I was in love with someone else and would pretend to talk about them. 

First Monologue

In my first monologue I talk about how Claudio is a fool for falling in love, "I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to love...' he then goes on to say 'and such a man is Claudio.' Straight away we know that Benedick is not happy with Claudio, as he calls him out by mentioning his name and talks about him as a 'fool'. Throughout this scene Benedicks objective is to vent his anger towards Claudio. Benedick is in a tricky situation and is always first to speak his mind, however in this situation Benedick doesn't confront Claudio about his love because Claudio is his best friend and I think that secretly Benedick has feelings for Beatrice but doesn't show these feelings in the earlier acts and scenes. This is somewhat showed in this monologue but only briefly, "May I be so converted to see with these eyes? I cannot tell; I think not." that is translated to 'will I be changed like that, and see the world through a lover’s eyes? I'm not sure, but I don’t think so.'  This I believe has been placed here by Shakespeare to foreshadow what Benedick would feel towards Beatrice in the later monologue. It also shows how Benedick feels love but quickly dismisses it as he would be a hypocrite and because he is unsure whether Beatrice feels the same way. 

Second Monologue

For the second monologue the message is completely different, Benedick who once despised love is now in love with someone he once despised Beatrice. In this monologue, Benedick has just heard Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro talk about how much Beatrice loves Benedick loads, and how Hero has told them. 'They have the truth of this from Hero.' I believe this line shows how happy he is, considering that the love that comes from Beatrice must be real as Hero knows of it. I think I will deliver this line with complete excitement, I could also deliver it as if I was playing it cool but I don't think I shall as the line is at the beginning of the monologue and I believe Benedick goes through a journey in this monologue where he is excited at first but calms himself down and plays it cool for when Beatrice meets him at the end to bid him to dinner. This monologue I will approach in a way where I can use emotional memory. This will allow me to give a more genuine delivery. For example, when I am talking about Beatrices qualities 'They say the lady is fair, tis a truth, I can bear them witness, and virtuous, I cannot reprove it, and wise..' I will think about the perfect woman or a celebrity I like to get a descriptive emotional delivery. 

Globe Trip

This week we got to go the Globe, take part in a workshop and look at the Globes museum. I was very excited for this outing as Shakespeare interests me loads as he is so renowned as the best playwright from England. I was also excited to look at stage at the Globe to see where greats have stood who have once performed Shakespeares fine work like Laurence Olivier and Benedict Cumberbatch. This actors like myself had an ambition to study Shakespeare and perform his work. After going to the Globe I found out how Much Ado About Nothing would have been staged. The scene which I am, would have been staged very different to how a modern interpretation may be staged, this was due to the lac of resources they had back in the Elizabethan times. In the original Benedick would have probably hid behind the pillars at the globe to eavesdrop on the conversation between Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio. This would of been very funny to the Elizabethan audience as they would of found the trick funny that Don Pedro and the others were playing along with the melodramatic reactions of Benedick. I'm sure there would of been many 'aside' directions in the original. An aside is when a character talks to the audience that the other actors on stage can't hear, this would of been used a lot for the dialogue from Benedick as he doesn't want anyone to hear except the audience, breaking the 4th wall which was also a big technique in Shakespearian times. 

I really enjoyed the Globe trip, next week I will be talking about feedback after performing my monologues to my friends in class. 

Phoebe is now beatrice, doing bits to monolugue thinking about festival vibe Globe trip watching shakespeare with Tennant and dother adpatation with damien lewis

Benedick Character Profile

General Information

Name: Benedick Mountanto.

Age: 35.

Nationality: Italian.

Social Status as a child: Benedick was a popular kid and always craved attention.

Economic Status as a child: Rich and spoiled.

Social Status as an adult: He has some close friends always a clown, seen as immature.

Economic Status: Rich and spoiled.

Occupation: A soldier under Don Pedro.

Other Actors who have played Benedick

Many other characters have played Benedick and I will look at how they approached the character before I approach the character in order to get a better knowledge of this character.

Kenneth Branagh played the character in Much Ado About Nothing (1992):

I felt Branagh played the character in a very cowardly way when approaching Benedick and also in a pompous way, this may have been due to the well spoken English accent of Branagh. I feel that Branagh plays this character well, I enjoyed his delivery of Benedick's monologue when professing his love towards Beatrice, which I in fact will be playing when adapting this Shakespearian play. Branagh would change the tone of different lines to give a whole new meaning to the character. In the video below I think its brilliant at 4:57, after Benedick has said 'I will horribly be in love with her, I may by chance have some odd quips and remnants of wit broken on me', in this short space of time the mood of the place dynamically changes to show how Benedick is so excited to hear Beatrice's love to him, to questioning himself.

Damien Lewis played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (2005):

I felt Lewis played the Benedick in a much more flirtatious manner, when confronted with Beatrice. I feel throughout this adpatation Bendick is shown to have a love towards Beatrice but only reveals so when finding out about Beatrice's love. This Modern adaptation shows Benedick as a cocky news anchor who believes in himself to have a winning personality. This is much like the cockiness shown in the Branagh adaptation. I enjoyed this modern interpretation as it helped me to bring this character that was born in the Elizabethan era to a present time. Along with the modern language I also got a better understand for Benedick's view on Beatrice relaying his thoughts on her.










David Tennant played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (2011):

Another modern adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing is a staged version that I recently saw on Digital Theatre, it contained David Tennant and Catherine Tate. I love the comedic way Tennant plays this character and I thoroughly enjoyed the difference between when we first see Benedick to when we find out later on that he is in love.



I think I will mostly model my character after Branagh's version but as its the funniest in my opinion while still staying faithful to the meaning of the script. I will however only look at things Branagh has done as I want to bring a fresh interpretation to Benedick.

Scenes

Throughout Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick appears in many scenes, I will be splitting the part of Benedick with Lewis who is in the Act 1 Scene 1. I appear in Act 2 Scene 3 and Matt appears in Act 4 Scene 1. Within these scenes we first see how Benedick is completely against Beatrice in Act 1 Scene 1 as he is insulting her 'what my dear lady disdain! are you yet living?' This translates to 'look its my dear lady disdain! aren't you dead yet?' This shows how Benedick is so sick of Beatrice that he tells her that she is irrelevant. There is then a argument between Benedick and Beatrice where they continue to throw insults at each other. 

After this is my scene where at the start I am against the idea of Beatrice and then by the end I profess my love for her. In my first monologue I am against Claudio even though he is my best friend as he is in love and I profess against it. I think the reason Benedick is so against love at the start is because he was bullied as a kid as being spoilt. I think Benedick also has had bad relationships from the past that he views woman as all the same. 

I'm going to go into depth into my monologues to understand what my character wants and the meaning behind each thought:

'I do much wonder that one man, seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicated his behaviours to love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the arguments of his own scorn by falling in love; and such a man is Claudio'.

In this line Benedick mocks Claudio and says how he is wrong that he has fallen in love and that he is a fool for doing the thing he once despised. This is funny as this is what Benedick does later on in the scene.

'I have known when there was no music with him but the drum and the fife, and know he had rather hear the tabor and the pipe'.

For this thought Benedick misses his old friend and is saying how he has changed. I think I will deliver this line as if I believe the tabor and pipe are terrible by saying them in a higher and fairy type voice which isn't seen as manly.

'I have known when he would of walked ten miles afoot to see a good armour, and know he lies ten nights awake carving the fashion of a new doublet'.

Much like the line before, Benedick still is annoyed that Claudio isn't a man like he is and is staying up to play with clothes instead of wear armour into war.

'He was wont to speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier, and now is he turned orthography; his words are a fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes'. 

Benedick at this point keeps harping on about how Claudio is now a completely different man, and saying how he is dishonest, this also shows how being in love is this strange thing and fantastical thing that is a mystery. 

'May I be so converted to see with these eyes?'

At this point Benedick wonders if he will ever fall in love foreshadowing his second monologue.

'I cannot tell; I think not'.

He is being very one minded at this time and is not thinking towards the future, he truly believes that he will never fall in love. 

'I will not be sworn but love may transform me to an oyster; but I'll take my oath on it till he hath made an oyster of me, he shall never make me such a fool'.

Benedick swears how he will never be made a fool and will never fall in love, as he has seen Claudio fall for that trap. 

'One woman is fair, yet I am well, another is wise, yet I am well, another is virtuous, but till all graces come into one woman, one woman shall not come into my grace'.

I will only ever love a woman if she is perfect otherwise I do not want her near me is what Benedick is going along the lines of. This is the first bit of hypocrisy in this scene that we see from Benedick as he just said how he would never love any woman. For the delivery of this I will say 'yet I am well', in a different way each time to give a comedic element to the scene which Shakespeare most likely envisioned. 

'Rich she shall be, that's certain; wise, or I'll none; virtuous, or I'll never cheapen her; fair, or I'll never look on her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel; of good discourse, an excellent musician, and her hair shall be of what colour it pleases God'.

In this thought Benedick is describing his perfect woman, for this part of the scene I will use emotional memory to really capture the love that Benedick has towards a special woman that Shakespeare would have wanted. I will picture someone who I fancy myself and who I believe near to be perfect to think about while delivering this line. 

'Ha!'

At this point Benedick can hear that Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato are approaching.

'The Prince and Monsieur Love!'

Benedick mocks Claudio by calling him 'Monsieur Love', I will deliver this in a way where I will elongate the word 'love' to humiliate him.

'I will hid me in the arbour'

The final line of the monologue points to how I will hide away from the men coming.

In the second monologue, Benedicks view of Love completely changes. We can see at the end of the first monologue that Benedicks view on love starts to change as he says he will fall for a woman that is perfect which I think is out of the ordinary for Benedick and he starts to think him and Beatrice may have love. The thought for the first monologue is that Claudio is a fool for falling in love. His view of love however completely changes and he hears from Don Pedro, Leonato and Claudio that Beatrice loves him. Thus turning into a hypocrite and a fool himself. In the second monologue he triess to comprehend his actions for being a hypocrite, 'doth not the appetite alter?' 'When I said I'd die a bachelor, I never thought I'd live till I where married'

Relationships

Claudio

Claudio is Benedicks best friend. They have been friends for a long time and both were under Don Pedro in war. Benedick and Claudios friendship is proven when in the first scene Claudio goes straight to Benedick before anyone else to talk about how he has a love for Hero. Their friendship is also proven as Benedick is so annoyed when he hears that Claudio loves Hero that he calls him a fool however he still sticks by him. Benedick is also the best man when its Claudios wedding which shows there friendship, however Bendick is willing to kill Claudio when Beatrice asks Benedick to in a later scene, 'Kill Claudio'. 

Beatrice

Benedick and Beatrice have a very juxtaposed relationship throughout the play. At the start of Much Ado, Benedick and Beatrice fight and say how they hate each other 'Well you are a rare parrot teacher'. These type of arguing between the two is funny as later on in the play they are in love. Later on Benedicks thoughts on Beatrice start to change as Benedick is led to believe that Beatrice likes him, as Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio play a trick on Benedick, 'I should think this a gull, but Leonato speaks it'. Benedick has a feeling that he might be getting tricked but he hears Leonato speak so and is shocked as Leonato is a much more mature character. 

Throughout this play Benedicks feelings towards love changes throughout, I'm looking forward to playing this character as I feel like a detective tryin to work out how Benedick is feeling at given moments. 

 

Week 1 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing

Previous Knowledge and Anticipation

I was really excited to get the Shakespeare unit started, as I knew little about him and wanted to know more about one of the World's best playwrights. From doing a course at GSA I already knew a brief bit about Shakespeare, I learned a little about Iambic Pentameter and difference between verse and prose, but I was ready to learn more. We first started off by all writing two things on a post it note that we know about Shakespeare or something that relates to him. I put down about how I knew about Iambic Pentameter and simply put a couple of Shakespeares plays that I knew, like Hamlet and Macbeth. I really enjoyed this task as it enlightened me about Shakespeare and I got to view the brilliant playwright in a different way that I ever had before. 

Practical

Our first practical lesson was a brilliant one as Sally showed us different elements in Shakespeares language as well as we got to shout Shakespearian insults at each other which was a lot of fun. It would come apparent to us later on that these insults meant a lot as we would be studying Shakespeares play Much Ado About Nothing which would often show arguments between Benedick and Beatrice the two main protagonists which despise each other at the start of the comedy. We were given different sheets which showed us loads of different insults and what they mean. I never knew how much language Shakespeare created and was used in his time and how different it is to todays language yet most of his plays are very contemporary. We also we're given a sheet that had other day to day words on it that were translated into Shakespearean, I enjoyed looking through this words to see how different it was in the Elizabethan times. What also interested me was how words that were used in the Elizabethan era are still used now like minx and cousin which still carry the same meaning. From two of the handouts we were given there were common words that were used on one sheet and less common words. The uncommon words were still very descriptive. For example one word that wasn't used much but would of been great for Much Ado About Nothing was the word fancy-monger which meant a lovesick man. I could see Benedick using this against Claudio after he finds out he has fallen in love.

For the next bit we got into lines and started to shout various insults at each other across the lines, I enjoyed this exercise because it showed me how Shakespeare isn't all about posh speaking and rhetorical devices which I foolishly first thought.

Inflexions and Thou/Thee

From the lesson and my own research I found the origins of why Thou was used and how it was used. Thou used to be singular and you was plural. You was then used as a singular term this was most likely due to the fact that they copied the French language. As vous means you. You would mostly be used when a servant addresses a master and thou would mostly be used when a master would address a servant. After looking at the script I saw how this would be used in Much Ado About Nothing, in the scene where Benedick and Beatrice talk about killing Claudio, Benedick would change between Thou and you this may show how Benedick changes his thoughts on Beatrice throughout the scene, not looking at the script too in depth I should think that Benedick starts to refer to Beatrice as Thou after Beatrice has asked for him to kill Claudio as Benedick is disgusted by such a question. Beatrice always refers to Benedick as you this may show how  Beatrice looks up to Benedick or how she wants to have a more casual conversation.

Research

I have recently found out that next week we would be visiting the Globe and doing a workshop, I can't wait to go and learn about Shakespeare and the illustrious Globe Theatre so I thought I'd do some research before I went, to give myself a taster on what was to come. I think this is a good idea because it helps me get a better understanding of this great playwright and to learn about how Much Ado About Nothing would have been performed in Elizabethan times. This is an important issue as we have to respect what Shakespeare would of wanted as it is his material. I believe that once you start to respect the playwright then you respect his work and you get a greater meaning for what he wanted to accomplish writing it. I learned how The Globe was built in 1599 and how it burned down but was rebuilt some years later in 1614.

Casting

Today I found out that I would be portraying Benedick in Act 2 Scene 3 in which Benedick has 2 monologues and some odd lines while hiding away from Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio. I'm glad I got this part because the two monologues show a lot of variety and both have very contrasting objectives and features. 

I'm looking forward to next week as I'm going to the Globe theatre, this will be shown in blog post 'Week 2 - Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing'

Classical Theatre Performance Context

Introduction

After finding out I would be performing exerts from 'Much Ado About Nothing', I thought it was only best that I research the Social, Historical and Cultural backgrounds to how this successful comedy was first showcased.

'Much Ado About Nothing' is a comedic play by the English playwright William Shakespeare. 'Much Ado' first questioned people about the poems or sonnets at the time. Sonnet 116 which is read by Benedick to Beatrice (two main protagonists of this comedy), says how love isn't really love if its not loyal. This is a main theme to this play as we see a love between Hero and Claudio that looks like it may not last as it doesn't seem to be as loyal as the love Beatrice and Benedick have at the end. This is due to the fact that Hero's marriage to Claudio is an arranged one and even though they like each other they don't know each other well, whereas Benedick and Beatrice have know each other for a long time and know what makes each other annoyed and happy.

Original Staging and Performance Style

Recently I watched a modern version of 'Much Ado About Nothing'. I enjoyed this adaptation as it brought a modern comedy element to it with the wonderful facial expressions of Catherine Tate, along with slapstick comedy like the smudging of Benedicks face with paint. Even though we have these slapstick elements like a tub of paint these props and different parts of staging wouldn't of been used for the original version that was showcased at The Globe. This was due to the limited resources at that time. After watching a modern version of Much Ado About Nothing with the cast of David Tennant and Catherine Tate I noticed how many things they adapted from the first version. For example in the original version Much Ado is set in Messina which is located on the island of Italy called Sicily. The version I saw was set in Gibraltar. The original version  was set in Messina. In the original staging they would of had trapdoors. This would of been used to make special entrances. For Much Ado About Nothing, the trapdoor may have been used for when Benedick is hiding from Claudio, Lenato and Don Pedro when they talk about Beatrice loves him. I feel that they could of had Benedick come up for his line while the other character on stage could be in a freeze frame. This could also be the same for when Beatrice eavesdrops on Ursula and Hero. The trapdoor could also be used for when Don John enters to show that he is the villain in this comedy as it is as if he is coming from the underworld. The Globe was open air, as they didn't have the technology to have lights so they used natural lighting. This meant that they would have to continue to work even if the lighting wasn't right for example, if it was very sunny it would of been difficult to portray a tragedy like Macbeth. For Much Ado about Nothing, I think the actors would of wanted a sunny day for their lighting, as it would represent Messina in Italy well. With the Original staging going back to when Benedick is eavesdropping to Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio. They would probably be pillars on the stage, and this would of been what Benedick would have hid behind in the original staging, this would of probably been the same for Beatrice. The actors on stage would of performed quite quickly to get the audience entertained so they weren't standing in the pit too long, this was one of the reasons the aside was used so much as it kept the audience involved.


The Performance style in the original would have been very melodramatic due to that naturalism wasn't popular till the late 19th century and naturalism if tried in the Elizabethan era probably wouldn't have been well received. The Actors would of said the words in a very dramatic way to convey there emotions to the audience. The Actors and the audience would interact through soliloquy's where the Actor would normally speak to the audience without any actors on stage, this is seen a lot in Hamlet. I think that through Much Ado about Nothing, there are many 'aside' stage directions. The asides could be if a character is speaking to one character if in a scene with many characters or it could be them talking to the audience.  Many asides are seen in the scene where Leonato, Claudio and Don Pedro are talking about Benedick. Claudio has many asides some our to Leonato or Don Pedro is eavesdropping Bendick and the other asides are to the audience, to explain how they are playing a trick on Benedick and do this by breaking the 4th wall. Many modern interpretations of this dramatic effect are still kept, for example in Much Ado About Nothing with Catherine Tate and David Tennant, Benedick uses the aside many times, and also breaks the 4th wall in his monologue. The Actors wouldn't go into the pit but would talk to them from the stage. This is because there costumes where expensive and it would be to risky to have them near the common people in the pit.

Original Cultural, Social and Political Themes

Cultural

Image taken from 1993's version of Much Ado About Nothing.
As shown by this contemporary version the costumes of the men
returning from war are very elegant and prestigious.

In the Elizabethan Era, Queen Elizabeth 1st was on the throne, the Queen at the time loved the arts and recognized the importance of it. She would often go to the theatre herself and enjoyed the works of playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. The Arts were respected very highly, costumes would of taken ages to make and they would try to reuse costumes as it wouldn't take so much time and money. A company would spend £300 on costumes, that now would be at the amount of about over £35,000. The costumes would show the social status, for example the costume of a character like Don Pedro would be very elegant and look clean. The character of a witch from Macbeth may be in rags and would look dirty and swamp like, the actors would never step into the yard to interact personally to the audience as the costumes were too expensive and delicate.

In Much Ado About Nothing, we see the change in Benedick where at one point he is 'a proffessed tyrant' to the opposite sex to where he falls in love with Beatrice. We also see Claudio is falls in love with Hero straight after seeing her. I think Shakespeare was providing a vision on how society was at the time, how there would be characters like Claudio who would fall in love with the first beautiful woman they saw. I know this to be true as many of the sonnets before Sonnet 116 where about how women were beautiful and how they'd be compared to gods. I think Shakespeare went against this and showed this in Much Ado About Nothing as the couple of Benedick and Beatrice looks much more likely to last than that of Hero and Claudio. the Actors wouldn't be allowed to wear the costumes outside of the theatre as they would have been arrested for trying to impersonate someone of a higher level than them.

Social

Society in Shakespeare's time was very energetic. London's population was bigger than ever, between 1550 and 1600 the population had doubled in size. By 1650 it had once doubled again and was at the population of 400,000. This high number meant that at that time it was the largest city in the world. Because of the large population, the people of London wanted more entertainment and plays and so playwrights like Marlowe, Shakespeare and more were very popular. Entertainment at the Globe theatre was a very social thing.

The yard shown from the Actors perspective.
Where audience members would stand to watch a performance.

With costs for seeing a show being the cheap price of a penny, many would turn up. The people wouldn't of wanted to stand up for long amounts of time, so they would of wanted to be entertained otherwise they would start to chat or shift around. It was the actors job at the time to keep the audience entertained and they would do this constantly by breaking the 4th wall and addressing the audience. A lot of Shakespeares plays contained high action. For example in Much Ado About Nothing. Hero dies of a broken heart. This sort of action would of kept the audience invested in the story and would want to see how this would progress. The yard were the common people would be would be havoc. There would of been arguments, sex, eating, dancing, roaring and many other raucous things happening as there wasn't much security. The actors would have to deal with all of this and continue to try and entertain. Shakespeare himself would often perform at the globe as an actor.

He was apart of a group called The Lord Chamberlains Men. They were a company that played at the globe, Shakespeare would write the plays for them and then he would help them perform them normally as a secondary character. For Much Ado About Nothing he may have played the character of Don Pedro or Leonato. In Don John scenes the audience may boo just like you would see at a pantomime today. This would of shown if the audience were invested in the play. 

Political  

Image taken from 1993's version of Much Ado About Nothing.
The Friar who is a man of god is the Priest for this wedding.
He is given the duty to marry these people as he is of most importance
in this environment.

The Elizabethan Era was when Shakespeare was around, Queen Elizabeth 1st was on the Throne. Elizabeth and most other royalty loved entertainment and loved the theatre. They would sit above the stage. They would go to the theatre for the entertainment and to be seen. They'd also be the highest people in relevance to the stage. This would show how they were nearest to the heavens and to state how they were royalty. If an Actor had a soliloquy or a monologue like Benedick has in Much Ado About Nothing they would also have to direct it to the royalty behind them, this would of been difficult because they have people watching from every angle and they all want to be kept entertained. If a Royal liked your work they would invite you to their mansion to perform and you would have been paid and fed and maybe even have a room to sleep in for the night. In Much Ado About Nothing, the friar at the end would have been of quite high importance and respected as he was a man of god. This was shown by the script Shakespeare had written as the friar would speak in verse which was seen as a form spoken by more higher class characters, while character like Dogberry would speak in Prose. This is due to the fact that verse is spoken in a rhythmic pattern and seemed heightened and to have more of a dramatical purpose than that of Prose. The Royals who would watch the performance may levitate to the characters of someone who speaks Verse as it would of been much nearer to their political class.

Contemporary performances

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare is very contemporary, with main themes of love and betrayal that still are big in today's society. Much Ado About Nothing will continue to be in the minds of modern audiences.

Much Ado About Nothing (Nov 2005)

Taken from 2005's version of Much Ado About Nothing.
The wedding shown. The moment before Claudio disowns Hero.

I recently watched Much Ado About Nothing with Damien Lewis who was the most notable cast member. I really enjoyed this modern interpretation. It was set in an office environment that was about a news team with Claudio, Hero, Beatrice and Benedick being different hosts of different parts of the news. For example Claudio represented the Sport side of the news while Hero was the weather girl and Benedick and Beatrice where the two main anchors. I though this was a brilliant idea to have Beatrice and Benedick as the main anchors as we go to see the flirty yet sly behaviours of how Damien Lewis and Sarah Parish played these protagonists. In this adaptation directed by Brian Percival. They had the scene where Hero is meant to die of a broken heart, as her falling down and bumping her head quite badly and being taken to the hospital. I think this is due to the fact that a modern audience wouldn't believe that someone would die of a broken heart. Where that may have been more believable in Shakespeares time. What I particularly liked about this adaptation was how they changed the audience to suit a modern audience. I felt I got a better understanding of the story and I felt more emotionally attached. 

Much Ado About Nothing (2011)

Taken from 2011's version of Much Ado About Nothing.
Benedick played by David Tennant showing the slapstick element
of this comedy.

Catherine Tate and David Tennant took to the stage for this adaptation set in Gibraltar. I enjoyed this adaptation, it was very comical like Shakespeare would of wanted it performed. David Tennant gave an enjoyable performance. What I loved about this adaptation was the use of modern technology and slapstick. At one point David Tennant had paint all over him as he got into a bad turn of events when trying to eavesdrop. Elements like the paint would of not been used back then as the costumes cost too much money to have paint on. There was also a moment in this adaptation where Beatrice is on a wire and being lifted up to the sky when the other wire with the painter on is at the ground much like a balancing scale or seesaw. I loved this bit of comedy as I liked to see Beatrice get annoyed as she had been so rude to Benedick before. This wouldn't of happened when the play was first set as they didn't have the technology to make that work. I think this was a wonderful way for Beatrice to listen in to the conversation of Hero and Ursula. 

Drama Schools

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2 classical pieces mono

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'Road' - Week 4

As week 4 started we still have to finish off blocking Road. Thankfully today we did.

Ending of Road

Today we finished blocking Road, the idea for the end is that when one person is delivering their monologue every character comes on stage to a still image. I think this is a good idea because the audience will notice that everyone is on stage but they will still e focused on the person delivering the monologue, as we are all in a still image. 

Costume

Jacket for Bisto

In this week I started to think more about my costume and what I should wear. I first went to my father and asked him what a stereotypical 80s DJ would wear, he told me that they would wear very colourful outfits, I asked him whether the DJ's would wear flares, he told me they were unfashionable in the 80s and were only fashionable in the 70s. I thought being the character Bisto was, he would wear flares because he would still think that flares are fashionable. This is Road is quite secluded and so they don't know much about fashion or the latest fashion. I think that considering DJ's would wear very colourful outfits that I will wear a hawaiian shirt and colourful blazer with flares and chelsea boots, I think Bisto would wear Chelsea Boots as its the sort of thing David Bowie would wear, and Bowie being a big inspiration to him, means he would wear this. I think I know which Jacket I want to wear over a hawaiian shirt, the jacket I want to wear is sparkly purple and blue and is shown in the image above. I also am thinking about wearing a hat, but if I don't I think I'll have slicked back hair.

Franks Scene

On wednesday, I asked Frank if I could look at his scene. It was very good, Frank's acting was brilliant, he still needs work on his accent but I think its going well. I gave Frank the advice to make some bits faster and some bits slower, as if its all at one pace it will get boring for the audience. I stated how he should go slower when talking about 'her'. I think also when Frank's character Jerry is nostalgic, he should also talk slower, this is because the character Jerry is trying to hold on to the memories he used to have and he wants to savour them. Frank also gave me some feedback saying how I should remember to react to the audience on the night, in the way that I say some of my lines for example 'okey dokey', that can be said in many ways depending on the mood of the audience that night, if they are hooked on me I will say the line very energetic and upbeat whereas if I'm not getting much of a response I will say the line in more of a downbeat manner, I don't think Bisto fully understands when a situation is awkward, so i will try not to act in this way if the mood isn't right. I also looked into finding action points in this bit of diologue, I felt as if the 'how you doing?', can be said as I direct it at a certain audience member. I also think the 'move up and down with Bisto' can be said as I do a slow twist to the ground, I will also use intonation in this phrase to make it even more cheesy and DJ like. I will also count on my fingers as a gesture when naming the different events I do, ' I'm available for weddings, engagements, barmitzvahs', I feel Bisto would do this as he is trying to get the point across that he is always active and a good DJ. 

In this week I made sufficient progress to Road by learning more about Bisto and finding action points. I also helped out Frank in keeping his scene interesting. 

'Road' - Evaluation

When first presented with the Road script by Jim Cartwright I was excited for the new challenge, however after reading the text it didn't completely appeal to me, I didn't like the way it was written as it was just monologues, and I like the idea of being on stage for most of the show. Even though I wasn't too fond of the script one character stuck out to me who I'd like to be. His name was Bisto a loud mouthed DJ who is sexually driven, I seemed to levitate to this character because in some ways he resembles me. I felt that even though Bisto wasn't a big part I could really make him the star of the show. I felt I really understood how this character was the comic relief of the play and this was one of the main reasons I wanted to play him because he is very light hearted with his witty jokes and remarks which I felt once again resembled me. The first time Bisto is seen, he is very forward with the audience and is quite confident, by approaching the audience 'How you doing?', to me this line shows how he wants to be the centre of attention. This was my favourite scene to read, because it was so easy to relate to, Bisto really fits the stereotypical mould of a loud mouthed DJ.

Throughout the rehearsal process I was very disciplined. I tried to stay in character as much as I could. I also spent a lot of my spare time going over Bisto's lines, and I felt this showed good time management as I was one of the first people to have known there lines. I also looked at the 80's and before, luckily for me I love this era of music and it was great fun to research the music. Over the rehearsal process I had a great relationship with my fellow peers and also lecturers, I got mostly good feedback, and I felt I grew my character. I felt I always kept a good response to feedback I was getting, I was pleased to get feedback as it helped me grow and develop a better understanding for my character and deliver a greater performance. For example, I was given feedback to stay in character in the week before our performances. After this I did disciplinary exercises to help me stay focused.

From the beginning of Road to the end I felt my character had really grew. I felt I took a big risk in picking this character because when reading the script Bisto isn't one of the main characters who I always prefer to play. I feel like to really get the potential out of Bisto, he needs to be played by a character actor. The type of actor I feel I am. I felt I also took a massive risk as at one point  I strip, I found the stripping difficult to do as I'm not comfortable with my body, but I know my character Bisto would be comfortable so I had to forget who I was and be Bisto. My interpretation of my character changed tremendously I first saw Bisto as an egotistical DJ who only wanted sex, but I felt at the end of the process Bisto was a lot more modest than the lines entail. 

After performing the first performance I wasn't overly joyed as I would have liked to be, I messed up my lines. The reason I think I forgot my lines was because I was so focused on my acting, that my lines had gone, even though my lines weren't right I stayed in character and on topic and most of the audience members didn't notice that I had slipped up.  The second performance was much better, I felt I really stole the show in the second performance, mostly due to my second scene, my dance moves were very much that of a 43 year old man, and my energy was consistently high, I knew I had done well as I was the only member of the cast to receive an ovation. This gave me a great high and I felt even more confident going out to perform the end of the show.

I had many strengths in this project. From the start of rehearsal process, I was blessed with feedback like 'you were born to play this role' and other great feedback, this really made me happy and I wanted to develop my character even further to deliver a brilliant performance, I felt throughout the rehearsals I was very in touch with my character and I would find myself delving into my character and looking at things like costume, personality and the subtext of my scenes. Another strength of mine was my confidence. I felt to portray Bisto to his best ability you have to be confident with what you're doing on stage and everything needs to be 100% committed.

There were also some weaknesses, there were points when performing the second scene I would break character due to the laughs of my fellow peers, unfortunately I wasn't disciplined enough to stay in character and develop my scene, I acted on this and did disciplinary exercises. I think I also lost my accent at points in my scenes, for example I didn't drop my H's on some of the words, however overall my accent was very good. 

For my next performance I will bring the same level of confidence as I did to the character of Bisto. I will do more work on my character for the next project as I felt I lacked in this area. Since the beginning of Road I feel I have really grown, at the start Bisto was just a character on the page and by the end he was a larger than life character. 

I really enjoyed this project and I'm proud of the development of my character and growth as an Actor.

Character Profile

Bisto

Name:

(James Connelly Jr) Bisto. He has a nickname called Bisto, as of an incident in which gravy was spilled all over him at Christmas time. He loves the name, and hardly anyone knows his real name.

Age:

 43

Gender:

 Male

Status:

 In the road, Bisto is a guy of high status as he is fun to be around and also knows a lot about music and alcohol which other characters are interested in. Outside of the road he is an outcast like the rest of the people of Road.

Parents:

 Bisto's father is James Connelly Sr, he was a failed actor who moved to Road, because it was the only thing he can afford, this is where Bisto gets his high energy from. His mother Deidre Connelly was a cleaner who didn't earn a lot of money. She was always annoyed and had constant fights with her spouse James.

Friends:

 Bisto's best friend was a boy called Derek Cutter, who he met in Primary School, they both wanted to be DJ's from a young age but Derek went on to achieve great things DJing all over the world while Bisto stayed in Road. They still keep in touch but aren't as close as they once were. Bisto is also a friend with Scullery, they both love food alcohol and music and are around the same sort of age.

Occupation and Monetary Status:

 Bisto is a DJ who, works at the Millstone Pub 5 nights a week, Tuesday through to Saturday but not Sunday or Monday. He earns about £50 per night which works out to be about £13000 per year. This is quite a lot of money compared to the people on Road.

Religion:

 Bisto is an atheist, in the past he has often clung to God but God never answered his prayers, this is why he is often seen as quite fierce when talking about sex, alcohol and other things that would be looked on as a sin by some religions.

Ethnicity:

 Bisto is a white male. Both his parents and grandparents were English, Welsh and Dutch.

Social Skills:

 In public Bisto is easily approachable, he's easy to talk to but still will come off as arrogant, if he sees a girl he likes he will go up to them and introduce himself but will often be rejected.

Education:

 Never went past secondary School, he studied at the local school and got poor grades, he only got 1 O level in Music.

Where they live:

Bisto lives in a small house, that's quite modern, he is very frugal and would hardly even use heating or lighting, and is one of the reasons is short term girlfriend left him.

Past experiences:

Bisto has always had a passion for music but was told by his father not to pursue it as he despised the world of entertainment after never finding success in Acting. Bisto didn't listen to him and went into DJing and fell out with his quite conservative father. The job of being a successful DJ didn't work out but still kept doing it as he loved it.

In Secondary School, at Christmas time the school had a free Christmas Lunch, Bisto sat with his friend Derek and others and they all had a great time. However, at the time Bisto wasn't extremely popular, gravy was thrown all over him and everybody started to laugh, and went 'ahh Bisto', this was one of the first times Bisto got attention even though it wasn't for the right reason and he started to crave it, and is one of the many reasons he's so flamboyant. It's also the reason he kept the nickname Bisto.

Bisto, for a small time joined the Army but was quickly kicked out because he wasn't disciplined enough. He joined with some of his friends, who lasted in the army a lot longer, but unfortunately most of them he doesn't know or are dead. Except Curt, who came back from the war alive but was emotionally scared as shown in the script.

Personality and Appearance

John Travolta on the left, Grease (1978).

As I found out what character I was, I started to do research about him and make artistic decisions surrounding the character. I started off by looking into his appearance and thinking about his personality, I envisioned my look to be much like John Travolta's out of Grease, Grease came out in 1978 and Travolta would of been a popular icon for people to follow back in the 80s.  After researching into Travolta's trademark the leather jacket, I found that they were quite expensive. I thought about Bisto again and even though he isn't frugal he certainly couldn't afford one. I think that instead Bisto could wear something very colourful, like a Hawaiian shirt, I will also wear black skinny Jeans as y that time Flares were out of fashion, I will also think about wearing a colourful jacket to boost the poignant and arrogant DJ, I think that Bisto is also quite fat, he enjoys his food and will often eat a burger and chips before going out to DJ. He also drinks a lot of beers and sweet Ciders which are very calorific. I then went on to look at Bisto's personality. I first thought of James Buckley's character from The Inbetweeners, in this his character Jay Cartwright is a foul mouthed, low status character, who is very sexually driven. This is much like my character Bisto who has the same traits as Buckley's character. I feel that this personality was good but wasn't completely the same as Jay Cartwright's considering he is quite a lot younger and isn't into the music Bisto is into. I also thought about the scenes I was in. The first scene I am in is on page 31, I looked into this scene and asked questions about my character in this scene.

James Buckley, The Inbetweeners.

Bisto's first scene

In this scene the stage directions are as so: 'Bisto, the pub DJ, enters with a pack of leaflets. (On them is something like 'Bisto and his Beatoven Disco. Tonight at the Millstone Pub'.) He throws these out to the audience as he speaks. He wears a hat with two stuffed fingers on top in the V-sign. I was told that this now wouldn't be set outside but in the pub, for this I had to change one of the lines. The line was along the lines of 'later why not come down to the Millstone Pub and move up and down with Bisto.' Now that I'm in the pub and disco already in changing the line to 'later why not move up and down with Bisto and his Beatoven Disco. ' This shows how I'm in the pub for this scene and won't confuse the audience.

Who is Present?

The only people present in this scene is myself and the audience. Scullery may also be present but I don't interact with him in this scene.

When is it Happening?

I think Road is set over a night, with the first scene of Road starting at about 5:30 pm and the last scene going on till about 2 am in the morning. I think my first scene is set at about 6:30 pm, I think its earlier in the night as he is trying to attract people to his Disco.

Placement of Scene

The scene before this one is Joey and Clare's scene where we first see these characters, we find out that these two characters are severely ill, this is quite sad scene for the audience to see, after this I need to completely change the mood and make the play happier. I feel like my scene is the comic relief to the play. After my scene it goes back to Clare and Joey, I hope that this first scene of mine will be very happy and bouncy to really contrast the scene before and after. 

Other Questions

Set in Public or Private: Public place know as the Millstone Pub.

Outdoors or Indoors: Indoors in Pub.

Physical Characteristics: I would say Bisto is very claustrophobic in this scene, I think he is also very persuasive and reminds me of a con artist or scam lawyer as he seems to be quite a slimy character, I will do this by showing my physical characteristics as quite laid back and quite egotistical.

I don't think my character has any boundaries in this scene as he will approach any audience member and may even flirt with them.

Subtext

Under the words is where we find subtext the meaning behind the lines, I feel Ihave many lines with great meaningful subtext, for example Bisto's famous line "you'll get used to me, you'd better" has a great meaning to it, Bisto craves for attention with this line and is almost forcing people to like him, I feel in this earlier scene Bisto wants to hook the audience in coming to his Beatoven Disco later, even though he may be scaring them away as he is quite aggressive he believes he is quite persuasive and this is one of the many reasons he is quite egotistical. I also feel like the line 'I hopey so' can also be said in two different ways I feel like it can be said quite sarcastically if I don't get a response off the audience or it can be said in a jolly way in which I'm trying to entice the audience into coming to the Beatoven disco, I think I will say it in the jolly way as the character would want people to come to his disco. 

Bisto's Second Scene

Bisto's second and last scene is set in the Millstone Pub and its the start of the Beatoven disco. This is my main scene and the scene in which I want to make the most memorable.

Who is Present?

in this scene its just me and the audience and also maybe Scullery. In this scene I will interact with the audience a lot more, and even Scullery at certain points.

When is it Happening?

As expressed before I think road takes place over one night with the first scene being at 6:30, I think this scene is set at 8pm when the Beatoven Disco starts.

Placement of the Scene

 This scene is after Joey's and Clare's scene where Joey has just died, I need to make sure my scene is better than the one before so I can lift the emotions of the audience and make them happy and laughing. This will be difficult but I'm ready for a challenge. This scene is one again comic relief. After my scene, it goes into Scullery, Manfred Dor and Lane. This scene is quite funny in the way that Nyakeh who plays Manfred has interpreted it, I think this is good because nearer the ending of my second scene the mood drops a bit when Bisto is talking about how he loves the audience as its very sentimental and very contrasting to the rest of the scene. I feel like at this point the audiences spirits need to be lifted again and this is done expertly by Nyakeh.

Other Questions

Set in Public or Private: Public place, Millstone Pub. 

Outdoors or Indoors: Indoors in Pub. 

Physical Characteristics: Like the other scene Bisto is very bouncy in the scene trying to get the audience up on there feet and dancing however there are also parts where he's aggressive, 'dance you buggers!' I will use a pointing gesture at this point to make Bisto seem even that bit more aggressive.

My character again has no boundaries in this scene and will wink at any member of the audience as he believes everyone loves him. 

Subtext

For my last scene Bisto's catchphrase, "you'll get used to me, you'd better", I started to make the saying more sentimental because I wanted to add variety but also because I believe as it gets later on into the night he has more to drink and becomes less aggressive and develops more of a loving attitude. Also when I say 'this next one's dedicated to you, well you know who you are darling', Bisto thinks about a girl at this point, I'll use Stanislavski's system to vision someone from my real life to make the subtext more invigorating. 

Reference:

Books:

Road by Jim Cartwright

Websites:

http://www.newrockbristol.co.uk/collections/leather-jackets (Leather Jackets)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=John+Travolta+Grease&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=geEiVYrrGOrG7AaI74CoDg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgdii=_&imgrc=1ykxcqxxW3AQWM%253A%3BjzW9NuERPJ7ujM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.eonline.com%252Feol_images%252FEntire_Site%252F2011418%252F300.grease.cm.51811.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.eonline.com%252Fnews%252F316992%252Fjohn-travolta-s-attorney-slams-allegation-star-groped-grease-cohort-jeff-conaway%3B300%3B300 (John Travolta Grease Photo)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Jay+Cartwright&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=huIiVdWrFI6S7AbFuICwBg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#imgdii=_&imgrc=wPw-TlY3Xt_3WM%253A%3BkrWfoP1MgHpxIM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstatic.televisionando.it%252Ftelevisionando%252Ffotogallery%252F625X0%252F36059%252Fjay-cartwright.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.televisionando.it%252Ffoto%252Fthe-inbetweeners-serie-di-culto-gb-in-onda-su-mtv_3365_10.html%3B450%3B337 (James Buckley Inbetweeners Photo)

'Road' - Week 7

Quick Run Through

On Wednesday, we ran through Road, to see what props where needed for each scene. I also started to learn my cues for when I come on stage. For my first scene I didn't need any props as I am just talking to the audience. However this was helpful as I found my cue to come on was when Clare says "I'd rather get in bed". This is the cue for my first scene, and I knew that I had to come on stage very upbeat and high energy to quickly change the mood of the piece from the sad scene with Joey and Clare. For my second scene I come on when the song Don't know much about History by Sam Cooke comes on, I like this cue as its easy to listen out for as sometimes I may not hear my cue line but if its a song it will be much easier. For this scene I will need headphones, to give the impression I'm a DJ however, I don't need them for my first scene as I don't play any records. I may also need some records in the second scene.

Proper Run Through

John Travolta Point

After this we did a proper run through, I did my second scene in which I do many different dance moves, I felt my dance moves were all really good and this was my best run to date. The first song I dance to is Let's Dance, I felt like I should add a movement to start the song, I felt like moving my arm slowly from side to side to show that I want every audience member to get up and dance. The second song I dance to is the Bee Gee's Saturday Night Fever, for this I'm going to do some different spins, as they work with the rhythm of the music, I will then do the John Travolta point, as its quite iconic to this song. The next song I dance to is Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire, for this song I do the twist dance move, this was an iconic dance move back in the 50s, and even has a song named after it called Let's Twist Again which came out in the same era. The next song is Barry White's Can't Get Enough of Your Love, in which I pretend to kiss an imaginary girl, I think this is great because it shows how Bisto is thinking about a certain girl which works with the text 'well you know who you are, darling'. I then for the first time this week started to strip, I think that this was brilliant as it was very memorable, I think it propels my scene to another level of Comedy and it describes Bisto perfectly. Luckily for me we decided that as soon as my shirt gets to the lowest button to stop the music, and I get a bit flustered. this is the last song that I properly dance to so I wanted to make it as memorable as I could and I felt I did. The last song was Je' taime which I don't fully dance to but leave to, I didn't know what to do for this, I was recommended to close my eyes and walk out with my DJ set. I felt this was good as it was the last we see of Bisto and is quite symbolic and shows how he loves what he does because he is fully embracing it by closing his eyes. I feel by reading the script and Bisto's character people take Bisto as this aggressive DJ who only loves sex and alcohol, my objective through Road was to change peoples view on Bisto, I felt in order to make sure his scenes were the comic relief of the play he had to connect with the audience and I felt I did this in the last bit of the second scene where I'm telling the people how much I love them and then walk out slowly to Je' taime. 

I felt in this run through I was stuttering a bit, I know that was because I still wasn't 100% confident with my lines so I will go away going through all my lines before performance week. I got some other feedback over my scene, I was told to stay in character as there was a point where I came out of character and laughed as myself. This was because this was the first time I got really good reactions for my scene, and I didn't know how to control myself and stay in character, this annoyed me as I thought I was a better actor than this and it won't happen again. There were also parts where I was quite rushed with my lines, I felt this was because I was so energetic that I wanted to rush the lines. I got good feedback though as I was confident and I had great dance moves. 

Next week is performance week so I will be focusing on my role for the character. I'm confident going into next week I just need to go over my lines.