Evaluation on FMP

All preparation  and performance has past as fast as wind. In total, we had around 7 weeks to get ready and show what we have got which was more than enough time to smash our performance. However, as always there was some difficulties we had to overcome in order to achieve our best.

I really enjoyed the last show as it seemed different from other shows. This was our last show and it meant we all had to get on with it. In my opinion, we got to perform a bit tougher play than other half of a class. Love and information was Brechtian style play which meant it has to be performed in Brecht`s style but with Stanislavski`s characters. There were no exact roles and lines who has to say what. In this case, that gave us a whole ocean of opportunities to interpret the piece by ourselves and with a help from Sharon and Rob. A huge involvement was seen from everyone. The ideas was just suggested one after another so that was the hardest part to try the ideas and reject the ones that is not suitable, without making feel any one outcast.  

To make the performance easier we all designate ourselves a job, which was done during the Easter Holiday on a group chat. That means that everyone can researched their specifically given areas and come back to college prepared. Toya and I were responsible for props. First Tuesday after we came back to college after holidays we sat down together discussing each scene what ideas we have for props as well as communicating with actors and asking their own opinion as we might have missed something. In the end, everyone did their homework and we avoided unnecessary mess and arguments as everyone cooperated together.  

As we all decided the actors (us) remained on the stage throughout the whole play which was the first experience for me to perform the whole play being on the stage and judged by audience with no rest. At first, I thought it is going to be very hard to deal with as I tend to get breaks through different scenes, remembering Shakespeare`s play The Tempest. And this time it was a whole new thing. Moreover, we had different characters to play, switching from one to another in a matter of seconds. I have to say that during the rehearsals I was shaking because both the excitement and nervousness but when the actual performance came I was calm as Buddhist. To mention that during the God`s voice scene I was actually meditating on the stage that I have never done before. And it really helped me to calm down and focus on the next scenes.

We used physical theater skill such as slow motion (scene Stone), levels (Fan!), miming (Star),  assemble work (Throughout the play), assemble shout (Facts, The Child Who Didn`t Know Sorry) etc. Also the music played in between in the end of each sections worked very well as we had to freeze for 10 seconds. The lighting team did a good job, catching up the cues and putting the right lighting on the spots where it was needed.

The scenes I performed in:

• FAN! Everyone is pretending that Ryan is a superstar and all of us are his fans. Everyone seems very excited talking about him. Also we had some lines that was said by everyone at the same time. For example `wait!` and then everyone change the direction, stand up or down the chair. 
• Lab. Jerome and I were high school students, trying to learn about the chicken and their beads in the laboratory, while Sam (crazy scientist) and Melody ( all-knowing scientist) are the scientist explaining about how chicken learn to bead and what they bead. 
• Star. Matthew and I are looking at the endless sky, full of stars. We are good friends.  My character`s grandpa told the facts about how far the stars are and I passing that information on to my friend. The starry sky in the background gives the audience more understanding about what we are talking about. 
• Wedding video. All of us a friends or relatives watching an old wedding video of mum and dad. To mention that, the whole section is related to memories and past. 
• Savant. Me and Elvina are at the bar. Two old friends met up and had a chat in the bar. I questioning her in order to make sure she remembers the day when we met. 
• Wife. Jerome sits in front of the chairs and Melody, Toyo and I stand behind him. The meaning of it is that it is a nightmare for Jerome as he and his wife got into car accident in which his wife died and now he is hallucinating her. At first he is very calm as we can notice it experiences it not for the first time but as the hallucinations get stronger he explodes and drowns in his own thoughts, all frightened and depressed.
• Facts. It is like a TV show where are two teams on each side, where all the all-knowing people gather in two teams and wins the one team who answer the question first. In the end all of us shout Sea Anemone and freeze. The lights fade out, the end. 

Despite the arguments we had a week before the performance everything went smooth and me and Matthew smashed the Star scene. I believe, everything happens and as we are actors we have to get on with it very quickly it was very unfair from my and Matthews side that others started deciding and changing last minute without asking us if we feel comfortable in that way. But everything ended up great and that is the most important thing. Also he really did well doing the American accent in God`s scene where Rob asked him to give it a try. 

As I have watched the video of the filmed performance I noticed that some of us didn`t speak with the same projections. That means if someone in the scene used more projection and articulation, making other seem quieter but that is the problem we would need to work as an assemble, working together on our voices. 

To sum up, everyone did a great job and put a lot of effort in it. The role allocation helped to solve different areas such as costumes, props, set, rehearsal time and saved some time which was used wisely for rehearsals. Our group even came during the Easter Holidays to make sure everyone is on board, not forgetting their lines and just to work on the bits which needs to be improved. During the preparation time the time just flew and the performance approached very quickly. I know for sure I will remember these 3 years spent in college for the rest in my life.