Everyone was extremely nervous the day of the performance; in the morning we were still eagerly cutting out individual letters and sticking them onto string for the final scene. The technician said as we were on first we could have a run through of the performance in the morning. We did this and it seemed to run much more smoothly. Collectively as a group we decided to run through the flocking scene as it was the one with the biggest emotional impact and also the one we were struggling with most. Kane also sat and listened to us perform the 'Hello' narrative and gave us lots of great direction and feedback on how we can use our voices and tempo to keep the audience engaged. At times in rehearsal; it really felt like it dragged.
In the afternoon, I went home to get ready and sorted for the show! I was meant to have a rest here but we didn't have time to accommodate for this. After this, I went back round to the Robert Powell where Jack, Kane and I again went through the 'flocking' choreography. As the other show was performing, we went downstairs in the make up room and we all stood in a circle and got ourselves warmed up. I slipped up on some choreography where things got heated a little with Kane and I but I can't even remember what this was over so it was obviously not important and just from the buzz! We then managed to channel this extra energy into positive affirmations before the show. All I needed to make sure when setting up was that I had my phone ready with the music to play, my ear plugs were untangled, strings hidden in the elastic of my leggings, and that my words were ready with fresh tape to be put onto the shadow screen.
As the curtains opened; my heart was literally pounding in my chest! This performance is actually the biggest thing I have ever done in an actual theatre! I was both extremely excited, and extremely daunted. I did some deep breathing technique,s as the light sequence was taking place, to help try and calm my nerves a little. We then all 'circuited' onto the stage and did the scene I was most worried about. The 'flocking' scene. I think I did okay at this scene but was aware my hands were shaking a lot! Although I wasn't as loose as I could have been, I did try and commit as much as possible to really project my voice and point at people. I realised that often what I think is big on stage, actually looks very subtle. With this in mind I made sure to go a lot bigger than I feel I needed to! I did at one point say 'The girl over there is wearing a turtle' due to my cognitive problems but managed to carry on; I don't think anyone actually noticed. The flocking scene after this didn't go as we had planned. Usually Sarah walked off a lot earlier than she had done in previous rehearsals. As she was blindfolded, it obviously took her a lot longer to get off the stage and we hadn't accommodated for this in regards to the build. It actually got to the point where me, Kane and Jack were just walking round the stage in silence, praying for the narrative to start! Luckily, Sarah got to the mic and it didn't seem to affect the intensity of the next movement sequence we perform during the narrative; which we got right - yey!
Personally for me I thought that the 'Hello' sequence and 'Charlie Chaplin' sequence ran smoothly. I had actually bought bubbles for the 'Imagination' section but unfortunately they just wouldn't blow so I quickly went back round to the other side of the stage in preparation for the 'Circuit' scene. At this point, I had managed to get a hold of my nerves but did find that at one point I went back into that silly robotic movement so quickly made sure I went into a more natural movement. I did stray to far into the audience but this was not done purposely; I just had to stay calm and continue to navigate myself off the stage.
The 'sound of silence' luckily ran smoothly! In the tech my music actually didn't play but I managed to wing the rhythm with the rest of the group. Luckily it all went smoothly in the performance and we managed to be en pointe with our execution! Another thing I was slightly nervous about was getting to the audio description in time as it was pitch black behind stage and I had to manoeuvre around the curtains; Jack luckily had a light on his phone that he shone on the page for me. I struggled with my breath on the first night a little bit so made sure on the second night that I kept control of my breathing and took my time.
Unfortunately, on the first night as it was so dark I actually managed to walk down the wrong part of the stage so had to try and run to get in on time with the music. It really flustered me and I actually ended up forgetting the beginning lyrics of the song. I managed to pick it up at the end but was completely devastated and ended up in tears after the performance had finished. This is possibly due to the fact I was also absolutely exhausted! Ironically on the second night as I had people close to me watching, my singing was actually technically weaker even though I didn't forget the lyrics as I was so incredibly nervous!!
Overall, I am pleased with how the performances went. One of the comments was that "I didn't get at first but then I was crying and was like, oh that is related to being deaf and then, oh that is when your blind! I got it" (Devon, 20). This to me means we were successful in our project aims; it also illustrates that audiences are clever and do not need to spoon fed stories. People often don't remember what happened, but they do remember how it made them feel and that is definitely what we were touching upon in our piece.
The aspects that let us down during this performance actually all lead back to having a more professional approach to the practice and actually spending more time really developing the material. If we were to continue developing this piece I feel like there are a few avenue's we could go down to really improve it. One is using the space outside of the auditorium to get the audience in the right mind frame for the performance; maybe we could have incorporated the circuit into this? We initially had the idea of even blindfolding the audience!
In regards to the 'flocking' sequence I also think it would have been interesting to bring in aspects of deafness in with this. If she can't see there is no reason why we couldn't have explored this also. It would have brought a new dynamic to the piece. The 'Have you ever heard?' narrative also had so many possibilities in exploring it with sign language and the physical body but we didn't have time. If I were to be in a workshop based environment again I would make sure I am more diligent with time and try and find a way to manage my condition better. It is also important that I speak up more in the process and become more assertive if I am not happy with things being done. I did however thoroughly enjoy this project, thought my group dealt with how I was in rehearsal very well and the things I have learnt will stick with me for ever.
In the afternoon, I went home to get ready and sorted for the show! I was meant to have a rest here but we didn't have time to accommodate for this. After this, I went back round to the Robert Powell where Jack, Kane and I again went through the 'flocking' choreography. As the other show was performing, we went downstairs in the make up room and we all stood in a circle and got ourselves warmed up. I slipped up on some choreography where things got heated a little with Kane and I but I can't even remember what this was over so it was obviously not important and just from the buzz! We then managed to channel this extra energy into positive affirmations before the show. All I needed to make sure when setting up was that I had my phone ready with the music to play, my ear plugs were untangled, strings hidden in the elastic of my leggings, and that my words were ready with fresh tape to be put onto the shadow screen.
As the curtains opened; my heart was literally pounding in my chest! This performance is actually the biggest thing I have ever done in an actual theatre! I was both extremely excited, and extremely daunted. I did some deep breathing technique,s as the light sequence was taking place, to help try and calm my nerves a little. We then all 'circuited' onto the stage and did the scene I was most worried about. The 'flocking' scene. I think I did okay at this scene but was aware my hands were shaking a lot! Although I wasn't as loose as I could have been, I did try and commit as much as possible to really project my voice and point at people. I realised that often what I think is big on stage, actually looks very subtle. With this in mind I made sure to go a lot bigger than I feel I needed to! I did at one point say 'The girl over there is wearing a turtle' due to my cognitive problems but managed to carry on; I don't think anyone actually noticed. The flocking scene after this didn't go as we had planned. Usually Sarah walked off a lot earlier than she had done in previous rehearsals. As she was blindfolded, it obviously took her a lot longer to get off the stage and we hadn't accommodated for this in regards to the build. It actually got to the point where me, Kane and Jack were just walking round the stage in silence, praying for the narrative to start! Luckily, Sarah got to the mic and it didn't seem to affect the intensity of the next movement sequence we perform during the narrative; which we got right - yey!
Personally for me I thought that the 'Hello' sequence and 'Charlie Chaplin' sequence ran smoothly. I had actually bought bubbles for the 'Imagination' section but unfortunately they just wouldn't blow so I quickly went back round to the other side of the stage in preparation for the 'Circuit' scene. At this point, I had managed to get a hold of my nerves but did find that at one point I went back into that silly robotic movement so quickly made sure I went into a more natural movement. I did stray to far into the audience but this was not done purposely; I just had to stay calm and continue to navigate myself off the stage.
The 'sound of silence' luckily ran smoothly! In the tech my music actually didn't play but I managed to wing the rhythm with the rest of the group. Luckily it all went smoothly in the performance and we managed to be en pointe with our execution! Another thing I was slightly nervous about was getting to the audio description in time as it was pitch black behind stage and I had to manoeuvre around the curtains; Jack luckily had a light on his phone that he shone on the page for me. I struggled with my breath on the first night a little bit so made sure on the second night that I kept control of my breathing and took my time.
Unfortunately, on the first night as it was so dark I actually managed to walk down the wrong part of the stage so had to try and run to get in on time with the music. It really flustered me and I actually ended up forgetting the beginning lyrics of the song. I managed to pick it up at the end but was completely devastated and ended up in tears after the performance had finished. This is possibly due to the fact I was also absolutely exhausted! Ironically on the second night as I had people close to me watching, my singing was actually technically weaker even though I didn't forget the lyrics as I was so incredibly nervous!!
Overall, I am pleased with how the performances went. One of the comments was that "I didn't get at first but then I was crying and was like, oh that is related to being deaf and then, oh that is when your blind! I got it" (Devon, 20). This to me means we were successful in our project aims; it also illustrates that audiences are clever and do not need to spoon fed stories. People often don't remember what happened, but they do remember how it made them feel and that is definitely what we were touching upon in our piece.
The aspects that let us down during this performance actually all lead back to having a more professional approach to the practice and actually spending more time really developing the material. If we were to continue developing this piece I feel like there are a few avenue's we could go down to really improve it. One is using the space outside of the auditorium to get the audience in the right mind frame for the performance; maybe we could have incorporated the circuit into this? We initially had the idea of even blindfolding the audience!
In regards to the 'flocking' sequence I also think it would have been interesting to bring in aspects of deafness in with this. If she can't see there is no reason why we couldn't have explored this also. It would have brought a new dynamic to the piece. The 'Have you ever heard?' narrative also had so many possibilities in exploring it with sign language and the physical body but we didn't have time. If I were to be in a workshop based environment again I would make sure I am more diligent with time and try and find a way to manage my condition better. It is also important that I speak up more in the process and become more assertive if I am not happy with things being done. I did however thoroughly enjoy this project, thought my group dealt with how I was in rehearsal very well and the things I have learnt will stick with me for ever.
Bibliography
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