Saturday, March 31, 2007

The Voice

I've had a (lot of) thought about the character of the Voice. The part is written as an aggressive character, and everyone has (rightly) been playing the part as such, with aggresive body language and malicious tone of voice. Thinking about it, it doesn't make sense to me for a couple of reasons...

The girl listens to and actively follows The Voice's instructions, and takes it's words to heart. Supposing for a moment that it was an actual person, would you so closely follow someone so aggressive and (for lack of a better word) arrogant?

Especially with having to deal with the emotional reactions of those around her (overbearing concern from Mum, aggression from dad, lectures from brother etc) wouldn't she listen to and follow a... sobre voice?

Finally, The character of The Voice is a representation (/manifestation) of something inside of the girl's mind. I... haven't got anything else for this point, other than it doesn't seem to fit that a "young Mick Jagger type" would reside within her head and tell her she's fat.

To me, it would make much more sense if the Voice was sobering and, in a way, comforting, a voice of unfair logic when she is surrounded by emotion. The Closest analogy I can think of is a doctor telling a family their loved one will die, or perhaps convincing said family to allow for a very high risk procedure in order to save the loved one.

A penny for your thoughts...

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

"C'mon Homie, we Major..."

TRANSLATION: Everything's going good =D


I intended to write this one a while ago and It was meant to be how much better the readings worked for me at the the third reading through bit (I think it was the third... The one that introduced the voice [coincidentally], anyway) but that is now obselete because our books are here!!! Wooo!!!


Despite your well-reasoned arguments for using modern music, like, you guys can't see and hear whats going on in my head. Like Seriously, It's crazy =D Good Crazy. And because most of the audience won't have heard much of the music, It will be (i think) easier to evoke the response we want from them. Bang. Shot you down. It does need some contemporary (shudder) music, but having never heard the stuff mentioned in the play I picture different music. EXAMPLE: For the scene with the mum dancing with the girl, I can picture Dancing Queen, Abba. lol Thanks Mum.


PS

Coz we Bad Boyz for life... sorry. couldn't resist.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Last Friday's lesson



Our second reading went along much the same as the first. Having said that, She's still only 4 (or something), So there's plenty of time for me to be moved and amazed. =D





In response to Bec's OFFENSIVE comment on my 2nd (i think) blog, I have this to say. There is Outdated, There is Current, there is Classic, and There is Timeless. I intend to use the latter.





PS Heroes in a half shell

EDIT: I just read her comment again... it's Golliwog's Cakewalk, and that's the only song in that list that i'm having second thoughts about =D

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Mirror, Mirror First Reading

Woo! We had our first reading.


Unfortunately for me, it didn't do it for me. But i think that was 'coz of the lack of colour, music, focused energy, etc. That this play will rely on.


As I expected, the two most interesting characters for me were the Ringmaster and the Voice (as, no doubt, they are for many others). In particular, i'm interested to see how we'll portray The Voice, like what it's voice will be, how it'll act, it's voice, accent, style of movement... Woo.


And we gonna have this as, like, with the audience on all sides (hooray for Drama Terminology), or a conventional stage?


Finally:


Having had Mr Coleman (Quite possibly the best english teacher in the country, without exxageration) and Mr Barnes (another Gun teacher), I have developed a (slight) interest in poetry, and this play reminds me of this poem. It's Mirror (Like OMG!!!) by Sylvia Plath, and although it deals with a different issue, it's a good way to turn a medium sized blog into a big blog.


I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.

Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike

I am not cruel, only truthful –

The eye of a little god, four-cornered.

Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.

It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long

I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.

Faces and darkness separate us over and over.


Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me.

Searching my reaches for what she really is.

Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.

I see her back, and reflect it faithfully

She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.

I am important to her. She comes and goes.

Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.

In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman

Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.


PS Shaka Has been replaced. Jules is the new Shaka


Thursday, March 8, 2007

A whole bunch of blogs i should have done shquished into one

Don't ya hate it when ya sitting there having finished a bit of homework and think "I'm sure there's something else i'm meant to do" Then think aw well then go to bed? Then realise the next day you should have written a Drama Blog? That WON'T be me tomorrow! Woo Hoo!!! Do we even have drama tomorrow?

Anyways...

JACK DAVIS

I've never really had a problem with Essays before. I dropped English for it's Journal. But Jack Davis Killed me. That was so fricken hard to write, despite a (i think) sound plan, lots of notes, the plays infront of me, a quiet house, no distractions... Ah well. I handed something in. I can forget about him till term 3. I'm glad they didn't talk about the essay in the exam at...

DRAMA DAY

I found drama day to be mildly useful. That Mr Butler guy that Ms Mace is in love with was a pretty good talker-speech person-thingy. That ISP dvd killed any enthusiasm growing in the back of my mind for an off-stage role. Looking back, after all that Ms Mace about physical theatre and Mirror, Mirror, Seeing that Group production bit about that deaf and blind girl serves, i think, as a sign of the potential brilliance of...

MIRROR, MIRROR

This has the potential to be fricken awesome. Physical theatre is fun, kinda weird, but potentially powerful, and if we get it right (As Ms Mace apparantly believes so) The audience will leave entertained, enlightened about a social problem, and our marks will SOAR!!! Over the Rainbow way up high! Birds fly over the rainbow, and so will our marks. Except mine won't depend on my acting, it will depend on my...

MUSIC

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!! If i had any character other than Theo in last year's play this would have been the most fun thing in drama last year, and i'm doing it again!!!! Hooray for Me!!! *Polite, more than a bit bored applause from the audience* From what i have read and heard about the play there is so much potential for so much, and i have so many ideas already (It took me much longer for the engine to warm up last time - about 4-5 weeks after getting the scripts), and Ms Mace said she does as well. I'm thinking Massive Chords, Frenzied Runs, late 19th Century Russians, mid 19th century Eastern Europe. I'm thinking Liszt, Chopin, Wagner, Rachmaninoff, Kabalavesky, Grieg, Debussy. I'm Thinking Sabre Dance, In The hall of the Mountain King, Clowns, Comedian's Dance, Hungarian Rhapsodies, Mazurkas, maybe even Golliwog's Cakewalk. Juxtaposed with Poignant, Beautiful melodies, rich chords, complex harmonies. Think Gymnopedie no. 1 by Erik Satie. Errr, if you heard it you'd probably recognize it. As you can see, I'm absolutely pumped about this. go me.

=))

PS I'm so pumped about this i don't even need to put Shaka on.