Week 13: Planning the Scenario

Monday

We started the day with our relaxation exercise, led by Mr. Fearnehough. We were attempting to settle down before starting on our work. I tried doing it while laying on my stomach because I find this position more comfortable. I thought it worked out okay except for the carpet, which  was very uncomfortable. We spent most of the time working on the scenario We did not get much done because everyone had so many ideas. Every time we agreed on something it seemed like someone would have another idea. There were a lot of good ideas and everyone wanted to use them all. No one seemed to understand or want to do my scenario, which  is okay because I did not explain it very well.
We seemed to be more intent on teasing Axel and discussing stock characters than deciding on a plot

Wednesday

We warmed up with a game of hug tag. This game is played just like normal tag except base is when you are hugging someone and you can only be tagged on the stomach. Base last for five seconds. This game seemed a little more personal than normal tag because you are forced to work with others and hug them, which is kind of a personal thing. In the game each person only looked out for themselves, sometimes at the expense of others. Mr. Fearnehough told us that Axel seemed to get left on his own a lot. He said that games like this, when  played right, show who a person really is. He said that we played kind of selfishly and did not look out for each other. Mr. Fearnehough may be right but I thought that each person was playing competitively and trying to win. I thought personally thought that the "consequences" for not  winning were not too bad so the person did not need help very bad.
After the warm-up Mr. Fearnehough introduced us to acting using masks, and commedia dell'arte masks specifically. He taught us how to put on a mask, looking at it to get in character, with your face, body, and actions, then put it on where the audience cannot see you. He showed us how to move slow and use our upper body instead of our face to portray the majority of emotion. This is important since the audience cannot see your face they  are looking at your body to figure out your character and emotion, they play a tape in their head of what you are saying. If the actor goes to quickly the audience's tape will not go at a pace that is understandable. He demonstrated how some of the characters act and he told us that they relate to animals. Then he let us try out one of the masks. I did one of the vecchi. Axel and Lydia told me that I needed to use more of my body when I acted and bend over more in other words I have a lot of work to do. I was glad that they were willing to be honest with me and tell me what I needed to work on because I have never done anything like this before and I have a lot to learn.

Thursday

I was not in class on Thursday because I had to go to an immigration meeting. While I was gone the rest of the group decided on a scenario. It looks really cool, but I am nervous that I am going to mess everything up and freeze on stage.