The Three Sisters              Sunday 2nd December 2018


Main Characters : Andre ( Brother to the three sisters and husband to Natasha)
Olga : Eldest sister
Masha : Middle sister
Irina : Youngest sister
Natasha : Wife to Andre
 
These are the main characters in the play and all of them are quite contrasting to each other and that's why the play itself has quite a range of emotions. In the beginning all characters are very content with their lives and don't expect more or less from it.

Olga : She is only 28 years old and a teacher at a high school, she is also a spinster and even told Irina that she would marry any man if they had asked showing how she is in desperate need for a husband,meaning perhaps she feels lonely and the only company she gets is by going to the high school to take care of teenagers that she believes she will never have. Olga being the oldest is more perceptive to her surroundings, and that's why she despises Natasha and wants to get rid of her and her old of her brother Andre.

Masha : She is only 23 years old and got marriage when she was 18 years of age. but then loses feelings for her beloved husband and has an affair with another man which soon her husband finds out and still takes her back after her lover gets sent away, leaving her crushed. She also has a very bad temper which is also one of the reason she disproves of Natasha very much but overall she has an amazing humour and is some what the life of the play.

Irina : She is only 23 years old and in the beginning of the play it's her name day. and her one wish is to go back back to Moscow which she left 11 years ago before the play started. She is almost certain that she will find love in Moscow but it come apparent that she has to marry soon and that love is not going to be found in Moscow.

In all it seems all the The Three Sisters really want is love and affection but in all different ways. It seems that they have lacked love from earlier stages in their life and our trying to get that before they believe everyone will leave them. Perhaps that's why they are so weary of their brothers relationship as they want the best love for their whole family.

Andre : He is a very young man and wants to work in Moscow and dreams about his old days as a bachelor and didn't really want to be stuck with his wife and child. Not really being the richest he is in a lot of debt and soon gain 2 children with no money. He is quickly known as a failure among the town and is laughed by everyone.

Natasha : She starts off as an awkward and poorly dressed women but is loved by her husband and hated by the sisters but she just hides her true nature while it is said that she has no family so making her own  is top on the list. While going on into the play she becomes bossy and manipulative. She is also having an affair with a lover and gets very angry when she does not get her way. Because she is from old money and their household is quite poor their whole family becomes dependant on her and her wealth. It is clear that she only cares for her and her children in the end of the play, and becomes very victor at the end of the play.

Overall it seems every character has hidden secrets which will always be exposed in the end. Also seems in the household their is a hierarchy amongst their family and honour.

working in groups/background check.                         8/9th November 2018.


In our few days back from half term, Ual acting has been hardcore. From rehearing our hearts out to watching a live performance of the amazing Hamilton. Its been a tough few days but overall very fun.

Working with my group at first was very exciting as finally we get to work with other people in our class and see how well we work with each other. I'm in quite a big group so the need and patience to listen to everyone and their ideas is key as learnt from my other group. I was given the script The three sisters which i was very happy about as i was going to have do to my research into the background of the play. i was given Natasha who is the loyal wife to Andre who is a main character but ill talk about Natasha more in another background blog post. So far i'm finding The three sisters very intense as i'm only in the second scene and i'm talking to Andre through the whole thing so that means the energy from beginning to end has to be at high maintenance and we also have to bounce off each-other. So far so good i would say as it's not to hard but as an actor we have to be resilient. I'm slowly learning my lines and still trying to become one with my character as me and Natasha are quite alike as she is bossy and loves to talk which is just like me. I believe that's why sir gave me the role to carry out and make Natasha the best of what she can be made of.

5th of November 2018

HAMILTON.
Today our class went to go see Hamilton, it was a beautiful moving piece that i understood quite a lot. Hamilton was trying to bring a change to the world and while trying to become a hero destroyed everything good he had in his life due to his selfish needs and obsession to work and work. This caused his sad and early death, that honestly i saw coming as whatever go around comes back around. Personally, i found the story line amazing and moving as the piece is very mixed cultured which i love as it showed diversity and peace within one another. I would go watch it again anytime as i felt part of the peace they brought with them. One thing i didn't know was that they sang throughout the whole play which was very shocking as they where sweating showing the amount of pain and hard work they put in for months to make this. This made me realised being an actor is more than juts acting for a crowd its about acting for yourself and going upon the stage and trying become someone entirely different than yourself. I believe that's the hardest part.

One thing i learnt in these few days is to KEEP PUSHING HARD.

Another day at Westminster Kingsway     Tuesday 25th September 2018

Last week recap.

Last week we did so many interactive work. We went from Learning our scripts in groups pairs and presenting our given Medea plays to having workshops with Blandine Martin an amazing artist who showed us how to bring life to ordinary objects, making them part of our pieces.

Tuesday 18th September 2018

We had been told to go over our given Medea scripts which was handed to us last week. Now coming back to class I had insight on context on Medea, we where then put into groups of four or five to make a brief piece with the script. Each of us took a line out the paragraph given and tried to relate to the character in different ways and make the line our own. At first my mind was blank as I didn't know what to do with my physicality but then talking to my group and getting all ideas involve I could finally think and put my ideas to action. We knew we had to add a lot of acting skills and given my knowledge from my old school and last weeks teachings I was filled with lots of ideas. We used a range of levels, when each of us said are lines we would go lower but in a freeze frame till the very end when the last person said their line, we used choral speaking to emphasise how deeply we meant the words.

Overall rehearsing for Medea with my group was fun and also a very good learning process as now I know that when I had ideas I should voice it out as it could change the piece for the best. Every group had their own way of grabbing the audiences attention which was what helped and inspired my group to bring in their all.

Wednesday 19th September 2018

Walking around the space in neutral movements and facial expressions. We were put into groups of two and were told to was told to make conversation with each other but we had to start the sentence with then next letter in the alphabet.This was very difficult as you had to think so hard to keep the conversation in the same topic while making sense and trying to think of the next letter that would come next. It was also very fun as you could see students bouncing off each other showing what people work better with others. Then we had to make use of our minds by making objects up with our imaginations and pretending it was really their was very fun and convincing

One thing I learnt was new words like Diction and Ensemble which are very good skills you will need to become an actor.

Thursday 20th September 2018

Today was a very good day in level UAL Acting. We got to meet Blandine Martin who is an artist from France, with her came loads of objects and artworks made by her. Fortunately for us we got to use and play around with these objects in part of the mini silent movie we were making. It was mostly improvisation with some directions here and there from Rob our Teacher. We started off quiet with anyone joining in, then gradually we began to talk and make up stories from the object we got given or took. Each object had a story behind it that we had to make, giving the object and reason to be in our devised piece. This helped me a lot in experiencing new problems and knowing how to react and handle them, I even got to work with new actors as it was the whole acting department in one room which was also very exciting and even so people still worked well and efficiently. I enjoyed today as it helped to show me that their and different things that come with acting and when put in uncomfortable situations that we should be resilient and put the odds in our favour (no pun intended).

Monday 24th September 2018

Scripts are hard work, I and phil were going over our lines in different corners so we could try work half way without sing our scripts as we like them not on us as soon as possible. We are performing these pieces on the 10th of October. That's enough time for us to learn our scripts of heart and add major stage directions and choreography as the scripts has none for us to work from. We are going to have to use our imaginations to creative the best work to grab the audiences attention when performing as even though the play is not the most attention grabbing we aim to add that element of surprise, not by moving around the stage a lot but by using are facial expression and physicality is the best way possibly suited for our characters. So far we have learnt almost half our lines and take time outside lesson to go over them together, giving the same energy we would show in class. One thing i learnt today was PRACTISE WILL SOON MAKE PERFECT.

Wednesday 26th September 2018

We are finally making our own scripts, I never knew that so soon into the course we get major chances like this one. I believe this is around my field of talent as I write books but never seem to finish them due to time or writers block. Now with writing a script I can't suffer from a lack of time as we always do it in class or writers block as I'm in a group full of creative peers.

My script is based in school and starts in detention but no ordinary breakfast club detention, our story is full of twisted plots and crazy story lines. The play is meant to be 10 mins so we trying to fit a lot that time so their is never amount to spare or think what could happen next because its so unpredictable. My character is called Athena a 16 year old student who is loved by everyone as a smart and fun girl who just wants to be famous..but  she craves the utter most attention and love from her adviser in school. Athena worst fault is being a sociopath as she has no guilt when hurting her adviser but seeming to everyone as an innocent perfect girl with big dreams. When really she is as messed up as anyone can get.

All characters meet in Detention and the story line progresses from there, we already have what we want the story to be like and lots of ideas, its just about applying ourselves to make them work out in the best way possible. I really like how we get to make our own scripts because it can reflect ourselves and we can voice our problems through the characters we make to relate to others. We also get to do anything and make the the way we want giving us the flexibility we wouldn't get with normal scripts that are giving to us. Overall I'm looking forward to my group of four working together and hopefully making a really good piece which will soon be performed to us by papa-tango theatre actors. Our group theatre name is called GY acting because it's something to all my group members that we all have in common.

  

Second week of Westminster Kingsway   Monday 17th September 2018.

First Scripts.

Today we finally went through our Ancient Greek scripts for unit 1 - 4. I was given the play Hecuba who is a Trojan Queen taking revenge for the sacrifice of her daughter and lost of her son. So far i hardly know anything about my characters background or why she is the way she is but with time, i'm definitely going to further my knowledge and understanding, as i want my characterisation to reflect my characters personality well. I learnt that we would be doing performing our pieces in less than two weeks making me more capable of rehearsing my lines non- stop as soon i would like to add choreography and directions.

I am working in pair with one of my male peers as the part of Talthybius is a male part and hopefully the chemistry between our characters are clear and contrasting as i want to portray that our characters bounce of each other back and forth. Both our characters are both hot headed, meaning it should never be quiet or peaceful around us showing how tense and choking the atmosphere is. After going over the lines of the play we clearly knew the piece was good for both our own persona's as we could really make the piece work in our advantage. We were then given Learning Outcomes of everything we had to do to gain the levels we wanted and hope to gain. It was a clear guide of how to succeed in our acting course and move forward. I believe it helps so much as a little cheat of what we need and what we need to do to get the best, so for these few weeks i'm going to be following the cafeteria as it's my little acting Bible and hopefully it will help me so much to keep on improving and becoming better.

Background/How It's effective.

The story takes place after the war of Trojan and the Greeks are heading hope and Hecuba is depressed and upset over the sacrifice and loss of her son and daughter. In all Greek plays Hecuba is seen as the Bleakest one and is often compared to Shakespeare Hamlet. Overall the play is about revenge for family and family honour and power. This is one of the most important themes in the play as my vocal expression while talking would be be stern and full of venom when talking about my children. I now know that i am a very soft hearten but cold woman as my heart has been ripped apart by the loss, making me think with my heart instead of my head. For Hecuba Love is her main weakness as she is seen as a very strong headed woman in the beginning until the Trojan war occurs. This making me use the loss of my children as an excuse for my revenge and blood lust. Hecuba is a little like me in some sense so yes this is the perfect characters for me to fully make my own and really just own it.

With class coming to an end a pair then sat down facing each other and read out their lines in various tones and ways suggest by our teacher Rob, each time saying the sentences a different way or quietly or loudly. Each time they spoke it never sounded the same giving me an insight that we could play about with the way we spoke or perhaps put emphasise on certain words giving it therefore more meaning or understanding. Today i learnt a lot about trying new things and not just sticking to what you are used to as things may go better than other things. One thing I learnt is COME OUT YOUR SAFE SPACE.

Fourth day at Westminster Kingsway Thursday 13th September 2018.

Practical work on voice.

Today we did lots of vocal work as it helps performers with projection,intonation, pitch and clarity. We started of by standing in a circle, in a neutral position to get rid of basic habits of let go any tension in parts of our bodies. Rob then taught us basic breathing skills to perfect our breathing and taught us how to use it to our advantage when using a voices in different ways.

when Breathing in through your nose your stomach should expand while you breathe out through your mouth , then your stomach should flatten as the air is being let out. For me this was relaxing as i had tension in my neck and shoulders so it help to ease that away. We were then told to to find a space on the floor and imagine ourselves on a beach and still practise the basic breathing skills.

 At first we all looked at each other and giggled as it was weird. Most people had created a bond with other students while others where still slowly coming out there comfort zones. After a lot of movement we finally were all on the floor and imaging what it would feel like, to the point where no one really wanted to get up anymore. You realise how much tension you really have in yourself when you actually go out your way to just breathe and relax which is what we did and honestly it helped so much to clear the mind, right after everyone felt light and more than ready to continue.

Practising vowels was my next task:( oo oh ore) was what we went over many times in different ways and tones which helped to make us open our mouth while saying them, while pacing it out in 8,12 and 16 beats till we could finally breathe, showing me how long i could keep the vowel sounds in my mouth for. Moving forward we started to sound out words with the tip of our tongues to exercise it and also use a range of voice with different words. we all did this is corral speaking and everyone sounded unique. Rob then told us that we should keep practising and it would be much better after. It was very hard for me as my mouth kept closing as it was meant to be open wide, so i knew that was something i had to work on.

Last but not least we all got given poem by famous poets to practise and read to the class while in collaboration with everything we had learnt today. While everyone read we were told to read in our normal voices but use are breathing skills and pace, which i did which a lot of clarity so the whole class could hear me. Each line i read with meaning and understanding so i didn't sound bothered. When everyone read they read with  understandings and contrasting interpretations as most of us got given different poems. we then got told to look up some famous voice gurus and look at the way they use their voices to there advantage. One important thing i learnt today was VOICE IS KEY.

First Day of Westminster Kingsway College. Monday 10th September 2018

 Walking into class I had many fears, hopes and skills that I had brought with me to the UAL Acting course, fortunately for me I was not the only one with all these thoughts and skills in my head but in fact the rest of my class felt the same way. Today we learnt about the Skills that any actor in any generation would need to become successful then followed by our hopes and what we wish to accomplish at the end of our 2 year course. We then finished off by talking about our fears about the course which help massively with our group of 32 bonding and getting to know each other step by step.

SKILLS.

- Confidence : This is one of the most important assets in becoming an actor as the main and soul purpose of acting is to be in front of a crowd and shake away any nervous habits and overcome the flooding of butterflies in your stomach. Confidence is developed gradually everyday when you take a step into the boundaries that you had set for yourselves. With confidence you are able to identify other skills in yourself that helps so much in becoming the best actor that you could possibly be.

- Imagination/creativity : Most of our time acting, we always work in groups doing scripted pieces or devising work, with that comes a lot of thinking out the box or coming out your comfort zone. everyone is open to suggestion on how to act as a certain character or how to take stage directions into performing. There is no performance without some of your thought or opinion as it could change everything for the better, you need creativity to write your own work or add to another, as a performer everything we do is full of imagination and passion which is then shown convincingly to the audience.

- Discipline : Rules and Discipline is clearly needed to maintain a balance in performing. You can't put others down because you feel that you are better as in the classroom everyone is study the same course so everyone is equal, this also referring to the outside acting world as well. we always need to listen and accept constructive criticism to better ourselves in the way we act as its only for our own benefit. Discipline is needed to restore order in moments of catastrophe in a performance when the show must go on not matter what.

 FEARS/HOPES.

- Fear of failure : Everyone fears that they will never reach the standards that are meant to be met as an actor, we fear that the dreams we make for ourselves will never be touched unless we work hard or that rejection upon rejection will be your worst friend. I believe that rejection only prepares you for the the real world of endless possibilities and one of those would be my big break. To an large extent failure is a set back that makes you stronger and resilient to all.

- Hopes of reaching your goal : Goals are what set fire and passion in our hearts to pursue acting to our fullest potential, having a goal means having a clear insight to what we are working towards and what we want from ourselves. My mind is never shortsighted because I dream big in what I want to achieve in myself. Hope is what keeps me going, that all the work you put in endlessly will soon come to some sort of happy result. Hopes and dreams inspire everyone towards what they want, me being me I learnt today one important thing overall.

THE WORK YOU PUT IN IS NEVER OVER!