Evaluation

In made in Dagenham, it took me while to get into character and have good characterisation. I think this was due to my lack of confidence of being Connie. She's an older woman and having to sing a solo was abit daunting. But after many rehearsals with my peers and mentors I sung my solo in front of everyone. Overall, the show went quite well for me, I knew my lines as both my characters, Connie and the teacher and I knew the movement well also. The only thing that really went wring for me was during the last show my dress broke during the Cortina dance and the back was open during the whole number. During that dance it was fun and really cheerful and I kept focused and in good character by constantly smiling and looking past and above the audience so I could stay focused. For Connie, it took me some time to get her characterisation right but I think it turned out quite well and my interaction with other characters was good as well. During my solo I was nervous during the first show but after performing it once I felt more confidence in myself.

Macbeth

Originally performed at the Globe Theatre in Southwark London. Southwark was known for its drinking establishments, gambling dens, bear baiting and cock fighting entertainments and prostitution. This was one of the many reasons why actors had a reputation as being hard-drinking fellows who consorted with drunks and prostitutes. The theater in Elizabethan and Jacobean times was basically a courtyard, surrounded on three sides by tall raised balcony areas. At the center and to the back of the courtyard was a raised stage, above which hung a depiction of the heavens — a blue roof, fretted with golden stars. The stage contained a trapdoor through which ghosts could appear and into which the souls of the damned could disappear. At the back of the stage was a curtain leading to the actors' dressing area. The courtyard would open to the sky, so lighting was largely natural, but in some indoor theaters or palaces such as Hampton Court, where Macbeth was first performed in 1606 in front of King James I, candles were probably used to create an artistic tension between natural and "unnatural" (or artificial) light. Lady Macbeth has a candle "by her continually" in Act V, Scene 1, by which time natural light may well have already become gloomy. 

The Witches are a vital component of the play because their prophecies in Act I, Scene 3 and Act IV, Scene 1 provide Macbeth with motivation for his actions. Banquo gives a hint as to their appearance when he refers to their chapped fingers, skinny lips, and beards. The Three Witches or Weird Sisters or Wayward Sisters are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (c. 1603–1607). They hold a striking resemblance to the three "Fates" (in Greek mythology), and are, perhaps, intended as a twisted version of the white-robed incarnations of destiny. 
During the play, blood and time are two keywords.. Blood appears as a real substance throughout. In the second scene, the blood stained sergeant comes on stage to report on the battle of Duncan. It is also evident when Duncan, Banquo and Lady Macduff are murdered. The witches also use blood in their potion. We used it as the witches, once during the apparitions scene for the second apparition and then again when Lady Macbeth has her monologue when she is 'sleep walking' and 'washing blood off her hands' , we covered her in blood. In that instance, it is used as a sign of guilt. By repeating the word blood, Shakespeare stresses to the audience the horror that is happening. Time is an important aspect of the play, and by referencing it in Macbeth, it shows that as time passes events become more intense and consequences worsen and are more significant. Macbeth believing the witches see into the future gives a sense of power to his actions. Time seems to pass more quickly as the play progresses and this adds to the tension as the play moves towards its final climax.

Antigone

Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles and is the third play in the Oedipus Cycle. In the play, Antigone goes against the orders of her uncle Creon, King of Thebes, by burying her brother Polynices. The character Antigone is interpreted differently depending on the adaptation. She is often a political figure, standing up to the government. She can be a philosophical figure, inciting debates such as conscience versus law. Antigone often embodies familial ties. She is a feminist as she does not conform to the gender norms of the time. She can be seen as strong-willed and selfish. There is no single correct interpretation of Antigone. She is all of these things, or none of them.

In ancient Greece, women were expected to be subservient to men; hence, the ancient Greek audience would have viewed Antigone’s violation of gender roles as a clear transgression. The 1956 theatrical rendition casts Antigone far more favourably as a brave heroine who, like Joan of Arc and Boudicca, stands up against an authoritarian regime. Antigone came to symbolize democracy and resonated with Greece’s war of independence against the Ottoman Empire, as well as America’s struggle against communist Soviet Russia during the Cold War.
Antigone is a traditional Greek tragedy. The original audience would've have come to see Antigone already knowing the narrative. Sophocles, however, significantly altered the story and introduced new emphases. An original dispute between Athens (or Argos) and Thebes over the corpses of the Seven is turned into an internal family dispute between Creon and Antigone. The characters of Haemon and Ismene are both introduced in a new and significant way, as foils to Creon and Antigone respectively. The role of the gods and the introduction of divine disapproval of Creon for failing in his familial duties seems also to be a Sophoclean innovation. The prologues, set out the topic of the tragedy. Gender is, highely important to the play: issues of limits of male authority, the power of masculine speech, and the possibility of female autonomy simmer throughout the tragedy.
 Sophocles’ language is ‘the most flexible and richly varied’. The variations and his style shifts to convey character. The reserved and cautious Ismene speaks in measured sentences with embellished language; Antigone, in her passion, speaks more impetuously, with short sentences and bold claims in imperatives or the future tense. Later, Creon’s imperious nature is shown with how he addresses the sisters in the third person even when they are present.

Witch Gestural Movement

Audition

Guard Antigone Monologue
The Guard, Jonas, with his two companions, keeps watch over the dead body of Polynices to prevent its burial. Somehow, Antigone slips through and sprinkles dust on the body. When the Guard reports to Creon, Creon threatens him with death if this should occur again. He wants the perpetrator caught and brought to him.

MacBeth Witches

Throughout the play, the language used by the Witches helps to mark them out as mysterious and other-worldly. They speak in verse, but it is a form of verse that is very different from that which is used by most of Shakespeare’s characters. Many of the lines in this passage are in rhyming couplets, in contrast to the unrhymed verse used elsewhere in the play. Rather than speaking in an iambic metre, with alternating unstressed and stressed syllables, the Witches speak in a trochaic metre, with stressed syllables followed by unstressed. These heavy stresses give the Witches’ speech a sense of foreboding that emphasises their malevolence and unearthliness. In the First Witch’s lines, they make her vendetta against the sailor seem relentless. At the end of this passage, when the Witches chant in unison, they bring a sense of eeriness.
To play one of the witches, I had to develop a voice and it was a lot of characterisation and interaction. It took a while for me to develop a voice for my witch that I could use throughout as at first it kept coming and going and it was difficult and I did struggle at first. The movement part was the easiest I found. We had to move quite weirdly with a low centre of gravity and it was fun exploring different movement. During rehearsal, we tried making each witch move differently but it just disconnected us. We also choreographed some gestural movements for different parts of the play. For example, we had set movement for our first two scenes and we all did the same gestural movement when we said "Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble." Me, Lois and Harry worked quite well together and interacted well between us making sure me and Harry followed Lois - as she was the first witch. Our interaction with other characters was completely different. We kept a bit of a distance between us and others, we always watched them round , other stage, always keeping them in our sights. We were quite mysterious, weird and creepy, trying to send Macbeth crazy and freak out the other characters. At first it was hard to stay focused in rehearsal and get into the character but after practicing and running lines together - and once I had completely learnt my lines - it became so much easier to stay in character, focus and be more confident. If I were to improve this, I would've put something in the cauldron to make it more eerie. For example, dry ice would created a good effect of fog coming out of it. Also, to add to the atmosphere a smoke machine creating a layer of fog along the floor. Another idea is that the witches should be able to vanish. At the BOAT theatre we don't really have the ability to do this but if we performed it on a larger scale it would add a great illusion and effect to the witches.
To portray the right effect and atmosphere when speaking I had to look up text analysis to understand what they mean and what they were trying to say. When Macbeth was written, witchcraft interest bordered on hysteria and people believed they caused illness, death and disaster. They also believed they appeared in front of them as a grey cat (Graymalkin) and as a toad (Paddock), mentioned by the Witches in Act 1, Scene 1. The witches language throughout helped portray them as mysterious and other worldly. Speaking in verse was quite difficult sometimes, its a different kind of verse from the other characters but proved quite difficult at times. Most of my lines and the other witches lines were in rhyming couplets. The number three is significant for the witches aswell (there being thre witches). Throughout  their dialogue, words are repeated three times e.g. "I'll do, I'll do and I'll do." Also, "the sailor’s wife ‘mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd’". Bad luck is frequently thought to come in threes. Macbeth is hailed by three titles (Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King hereafter) and is later given three prophecies. When the Witches concoct their famous spell in Act 4, Scene 1, they begin with two references to the number three; "Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd." and "Thrice, and once the hedge-pig whin'd".
After the final performance, I think I did well, I kind of messed up one line but I kept going and just swapped it round abit so it fit with the language and still fit with its rhyming couplet. My movement was good and I kept focused and in character the whole time. I believe I communicated my intentions across to the audience as weird, creepy and mysterious. By moving in weird ways around the stage and with my facial expression. I also committed my time to this by making my own costume and I helped with make up on the day. On the day, rehearsing in the space in full costume made it a lot easier to get into character, we also had to make sure we covered all facings and it just helped having a run first and making sure we spoke loud enough and that our movement was big enough. Throughout the show I kept my head down slightly so my hair would fall in front of my face but I kept my eyeline up to look weird and creepy

https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-the-witches-in-macbeth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/english/macbeth/language/revision/3/
https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-the-witches-in-macbeth

Dance evaluation

Peer feedback;

• Good musicality
• Strong movement
• Good extension

During this piece I kept my hands splayed and hit the opening positions with good musicality. Throughout I had good extension in my arms making the movement big and exaggerated and also had good technique in my pirouettes, leaps and kicks. At one point in the dance I arrived at a position early so I held it as the next motif matched a certain  part of the music. Even in some parts that I missed a step or movement I carried on and didn't panic. I kept my eyeline up and my focus was good a well thought about as I kept looking out and smiling but in some movements, where I needed to, Id look down my arm or up to match the movement.