Wednesday's Notes

On Wednesday, we ran the show fully and then Simon gave us notes on how we could improve it and what could be done better:

-We need to have more of a filter on at the beginning for the recruitment scene. Develop a back story and put some emotion behind your actions and what you're doing.
- When Layla reads the poem the girls need to not rush their movements, keep focused and be slow. Don't start moving forward until Layla says the word, "return" in the poem.
- Soldiers in the bar - look left and right then move to your place, when you do the look, put a story behind it. You're desperate, the women have gone, so you look at your friends and run to the bar. Use it as some sort of emotional story telling.You're merry, but you want to get to the bar. Put your whole body behind it and make your movements bigger. Let James speak - there's a beat - and then you go.
When you get into the line, it's stereotypical beer drinking. Put your elbow up and out and your hands up. You need to prove to the audience that you're drinking. Hold your pint glass and visualise it, don't let it change size.
When you're in the line, it's heightened movement and slow motion. We can have some levels of low talking/noise/laughter/drunk conversations, but don't pull away from the action at the front of the stage.
- Marching - think about the quality of your movement. Use some precision and discipline to do the moves. Stay in straight lines, make it more accurate. Lock your arms out and make it less camp. Make your movements more precise.
-Rise up with your boxes - you're rebuilt as a human being. You're being pieced back together. You're looking at your sweetheart and trying to reconnect and you can't. You're trying to establish a connection, but you just have to watch.
- No spoken lines in fat cat scene, nonsense sound and not words. Leading from various body parts, use what you know about commedia dell'arte. Use high pitched, flirty noises. You're characters in the extreme. Greet each other and replace words with sound.
Jordan is a ghost, when you see him, he's a reminder of all of the bad things you have done - making profit out of the war etc.
Go to a jacket, pick it up in front of you. Look from the jacket to Jordan and realise what you have done. Leave with the jacket and act like it hurts, you've had an awful realisation of what you've done. Remain as you're character, find your back story and make the audience think.

These notes were really helpful and I have taken them on board and will try to improve my performance from them.