Week 1

In the first week of doing Love and Information we have primarily been focusing on getting to grips with our characterization, blocking and how and where the scene is set. Before we focused on characterization, we explored the 'who, where and what' of each scene. For example within the second scene titled 'Fan' we began thinking about placing physical theatre in the scene. Physical theatre is a technique in which the actors use movement, mime and gestures to convey complex social and cultural issues alongside characters emotions and feelings. However, due to the advice from our teacher we chose to take a more naturalistic approach. We set the 'where' as an abandoned warehouse as this is a stereotypical setting for a kidnapping to take place according to modern media. The 'who' is two fans who have kidnapped their favourite celebrity. We took the title of the scene very literally by making the characters fans. Thus, the 'what' in this scene is two fans who have kidnapped their favourite celebrity. As the scene progresses the audience discovers how far the fans would be willing to for the celebrity, and discovers how obsessed they are with him. This is a reflection of society as we live in a celebrity driven world with many fans going to great lengths just to see their favourite celebrities. By altering this scene to a naturalistic one with the 'who', 'where' and 'what' technique, I have consolidated my ability to adapt to this very different form of play as I am more familiar with an abstract concept. To improve on this I tired take my focus script (at least for this stage of preparation) and improve my acting by focusing more on blocking and characterization.

 After we had done the 'who', 'where' and 'what', we could begin on characterization. I employed several techniques to do this. One of these techniques was Meisner's use of repetition. This technique involves two people who are in character trying to get to the true core emotions of their characters. For example: my character in the scene 'Flashback' has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. In the video below, I apply this technique to my character's feelings. By doing this, I had a deeper understanding of how my character would respond to different forms of conflict and how they would change during different types of interaction. To improve on my characterization I would need to do more of this as well as trying other improvisation techniques than the one previously mentioned. I will practices these techniques for each of the characters that I will be portraying. One of such techniques would be to question, create and perform what happened to the character a day before, a week before and a month before the events of the scene take place. Another way would be to do hot-seating. This is when your fellow actors ask questions about your character which you have to answer as if you are that character. The best way to further my ability within Meisner's technique of repetition, is for me to focus more time into perfecting and defining this technique.

This is Meisner giving a masterclass on his technique of repetition.

To finish the week off, we put our focus into blocking the play. I had unique perspective compared to the rest of the class as I both directed and performed in the play. Therefore, when it came to blocking I had to work at it from two different angles. To begin with, I met with the actors and see how they would like to take the scene and by using their input, I developed a scene incorporating their ideas whilst adding context and different techniques. For example: in the picture shown above I am discussing with the actors how to make the scene more interesting and how we could use the chairs in a unique way. Next time however, I will try to split my attention, time and focus more evenly across my cast as I spent too long on individual scenes.

Key Strength:My biggest strength this week was my characterization. To keep this as strength I will continue to use Meisner's technique of repetition whilst doing other forms of characterization work as stated earlier.

Key Weakness:My biggest weakness this week was poor time management. Next week I would like to improve my time management by creating an in depth plan with time allocations for each group.