Unit 12- task 6.2- evaluation/ task 3.1
Evaluation
Evaluation
Little women
Yesterday my cast performed our one and only show of little women. Because it was our final college show and because each cast only had one performance, I felt immense pressure to perform my very best. I wanted to prove that I’d spent my two years here fighting to become a better actor and show how hard I’ve worked and how much I’d pushed myself because that’s really what it’s all about. On the day of the performance we all (cast2) came in early to get extra rehearsal time like we had done the day before. I was so stressed because we’d briefly blocked the second scene weeks ago with Kelly however Tom never got chance to teach us the new blocking so we had to make it up ourselves. Well we of course weren’t just doing anything and making whatever up, we went through each scene in act two and blocked it in a place where she thought our characters would be. Because we’d all thought a lot about our characterisation and stage craft it wasn’t too much of a challenge it was just really stressful to go to college the day before/ day of our show and not know what we were doing. Another problem was line learning. Because we’d only ran each scene about two or three times the lines and cues were really wobbly after the first act in particular. After we’d ran the scenes in order it became a lot less difficult to remember our lines and cues. We did a full dress run one my cat change costume quickly in between scenes and was supposed to go back to the original costume however we realised that there wasn't enough time so I made a quick decision to stay in the costume change for the rest of the act as I go off and come back in the following scene at the very very beginning. Our tech run lasted about 3 hours which made us really worried our two hour show would drag on a lot longer than it’s supposed to, however we calmed ourselves down by reminding ourselves that we spent small bits of time discussing cues, costume changes, stagecraft, blocking and tech, so by tonight it would be a lot shorter. As we were preparing to go on, we were creating our 1800’s hairstyles that we thought for our character as makeup wasn’t here to do it, I used a Pinterest board I’d created to get inspiration for mine and the other girls hairstyles. I think everyone spent a good time thinking about it and everybody chose a hairstyle that their character would wear, nobody just picked their favourite hairstyle it was really thought out. Then it came to showtime, we put all of our props on the props table or on the set to be prepared, I got my fan from its final position ready to walk on with it. I put my quick change dress next to the stairs ready to quickly change into it in a rush, then I put my other dress on the rack ready so I can get changed in the interval in the chainring rooms. Placing my dresses where they needed to be really saved time and stress during the performance and allowed me to feel prepared. As the show began I was extremely nervous for my first line, I just kept telling myself to project and anchor my voice for the audience. I went out and said my first line and really felt like the character, I didn’t look at the audience I looked into the light so I didn’t freak myself out more. I think my character started out strong, I think you could really see the spirit of young Meg so I was happy with that. For the rest of scene one me and the girls move around a lot, so I was very afraid my voice would get lost, I tried to not make distracting movements as I was saying a line and made sure not to look at the ground or the back of the stage so I could really be heard. I think in the first act us sisters had really good chemistry with each Tiber like we were supposed to, we were touchy and comfortable. For an example, I would okay with their hair and fix their hair, we would hold hands, link arms, hug each other and lean our heads on each other. This really showed a closeness between the sisters that the audience should relate with. That’s the same with marmee, we were always playing with her hair, or hugging her, resting our heads on her or she as rubbing our backs to really get the loving family feel. This is something we had been working on since the beginning because we knew how important the chemistry between the family was. If there’s no chemistry between the March family then the play wouldn’t work so we discussed how close we’d have to be. It made it so much easier that everyone in our class is close to each other so we’re comfortable with each other. I think this closeness is really shown in the scene we’re we’re all gathered around marmee as she’s reading the letter from father, it’s a very beautiful moment that is iconic to the play. I also think me and Harvey had a lot of chemistry as Meg and Brooke in the show. I remembered how Meg is only 16/17 in the beginning so her love would be more childhood love with lingering eye contact and staring at him smiling from across the room. I also wanted to show how she neatens herself up whenever he’s around and how her eyes light up whenever he enters the room. As she gets older and they’re married I wanted to show how our relationship had matured as well, we would link arms and sit together and hold hands to show our closeness however, we would do more subtle looks of love, more towards each other. For an example, when the family is speaking l, we would look at each other and make eye contact about certain thing to make it seem like their relationship goes further than the stage asif they had been speaking to Waco their about this very thing in private. I also think the girls relationship with Laurie all being different really adds to the dynamics of the scene. My character, Meg, likes Laurie and is polite and kadie like with him until she gets to know him, then she’ll start acting like an older sister to him too. I think she sees Jo and him as two naughty twins so she shouts at them for running around and being childish. Whereas Amy lives Laurie and wants nothing but attention from him. Jo is best friends and the other half of Laurie and Beth also loved Laurie, but she was too shy to speak to him like the other girls. I think this really adds a lot of character to the scenes. There was a scene where I say a line right after Hannah but we also have to be excited about the breakfast on the table and I have to pour the coffee for the other sisters so I sometimes get so caught up that I forget to say my line so I made sure to keep it in my mind as I did the scene and I thankfully didn’t forget it. A scene where I go off stage from a completely separate scene and then are supposed to be back on with the sisters and Laurie, I went off stage and completely forgot what was next I was asking people, “what’s next, what’s next?” Panicking and someone told me it was the Laurie in a box scene so I ran back on. Every second feels so vital when you’re waiting to go on stage so I thought I’d have missed a part but when I got on stage I realised Amy and Beth weren’t there yet and I was actually in time. I think in the second half of the play the chemistry between the sisters is supposed to change a little bit like it did for us, we’re older in the second half so of course it will be different. I like the way we’re still so excited to see each other after a long time and how we make little glances at each other where it seems like we’re sharing the same thoughts or reminiscing on the same memory. However it’s a lot les obvious as it used to be their relationship is a lot more mature now, they don’t argue as much or fight for their mothers attention. Of course with Beth gone, it’s supposed to, and does feel like someone I always missing, the family never feels whole again because after Meg gets married they never are all together again and there’s supposed to be a lonely feeling about that. Overall I think the play went really well, I think you could tell that us actors and the directors had really dug to the core of the story. I believe you could also tell the amount of character research/ development each character has put in. There was a small amount of gaps between lines where we could tell someone had forgot their line but to the audience I’m sure we all played it off well by messing with the set and improvisation. My favourite scene and the audiences favourite scene was the play scene. Where the sisters put on a show for the neighbours, and Sallie, Belle, Ned and marmee and Hannah. We reallyyy ramped up this scene on the day of the show. We made Amy perform it so terribly and when she forgot a line I improved and said that’s my line and and Kadie was saying things like that's not my cue and we were all just saying different things to really show that the play was going wrong. I think this really gave this scene a lot more depth and it really made the audience laugh. That was my family's favourite scene because the improvisation made it so funny.
Feedback from the audience:
Gracie Howe;
Sienna’s performance of Meg March was phenomenal. You can tell she really understood her character by her performance. It’s evident by her connection with other students on stage that she automatically clicks with anyone she works with which really shows her professionalism. Sienna’s improvement is clearly shown through her years at college by this show as when watching her on stage you would not see her as a friend, you would see her as her character Meg March.
Alan Tarkil;
Working with Sienna on the same stage is an incredible feeling. Sienna is not only an amazing actress, she is also a gorgeous person. Sometimes, while working with other people, you can see them changing from “work mood” to “friend mood”. They do forget that you are friends, and start to turn on a “professional”. But that’s not about Sienna. She is true, all the time, no matter what. If you need help, she will do her best to help. She is honest and just real. And you can see that through her performance. She doesn’t need to put her character on herself, because she has a beautiful power of being the character. I need to spend lots of time breaking down every singe detail about my character, but Sienna needs one read of script, and she can easily become her character, and that character would be perfect. Her performance in little women was one of the best, if not the best one. She found a golden middle part of every emotion, every move of her character had a proof , why she is going there, I think that is why audience loved her that much. Sienna did an incredible work, and should be proud of herself!
Milly Shield:
Sienna delivered a beautiful performance of Meg March. She had her own vision of the character whilst keeping the spirit and love of Meg at the same time, which is why Sienna gave such a in depth and thoughtful performance. I am so grateful for chance to share the the stage with her, because I am able to bounce off her and create a powerful scene. She was absolutely amazing in the show, and I could see so clearly the dedication and time that has gone into her character of Meg xxxx
I am also proud of mine and the other girls’ work on the costume team. We were given a short amount of time to find a costume for every character that made everybody comfortable and worked with the time period and story. I’m very happy that we made it work. More about this is on separate blog named my production role.
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