unit 1-4 Official evaluation

UAL - Level 3 PaPA - Acting Pathway - Unit 1 - 4

~Ilonka Flora

Official Shaw Theatre Evaluation

On the day of the performance, our class went to the Shaw theatre first thing in the morning. We did our dress rehearsal, and we were told about what will be happening and where we should be at what time. The picture on the right was one of my final looks for lady Montague, however, she is more of a flashy person, The dress and scarf were kept, but a mini dress was her main outfit

 My final decision for Lady Montague's outfit was adding other details, such as a fancy coat, stylish sunglasses, flashy rings, earrings and necklaces. When she appears in scene 1 she is wearing her dress and a baby blue scarf, she also holds a pink clutch with her. Little details like this show more depth to a minor character. The next scene she enters is the party scene, she wears the same outfit with a green party mask. The next scene she enters is once Mercutio and Tybalt have been killed, This time she wears her fancy coat, scarf and sunglasses, this shows her shallowness. 

Georgina who played Juliet had chosen an outfit that really portrayed our version of Juliet who was playful and innocent, she had chosen a baby yellow flow dress with a red rose in her hair to symbolize romance and the quote :

“What's in a name? that which we call a roseBy any other name would smell as sweet.”

 Jeremy who played Romeo had a nerdy and confident look to him due to the camera around his neck and his tuxedo vest.

Abe who played Tybalt, wore a leather Jacket to give off this tough and rough demeanour. It really worked!

During the rehearsal, we were told when our cues would be, like when we would first enter the stage and certain cues with the lighting. We were also informed of all the exits and any possible hazards.
We were the last group to perform, other schools had performed other Shakespeare plays such as The Tempest, Midsummer night's dream, and Macbeth. These performances showed us what we may have been lacking in ours. The Midsummer night's dream performance had included a new modern twist of using hashtags with relatable words such as ''LOL' and 'Awkward'. The Tempest used an interesting and minimalistic wardrobe, but it was still visually pleasing because they had colourful wrap sarans.

I believe our play grabbed the attention of the audience instantly, with our 'two households' freeze frames, where each household shows indifference and even hate to each other, except of course- Romeo and Juliet. The servants' fight was capturing, as there was a lot of energy on stage (Thanks to Nikayah & Shamsul). Abdul as Benvolio is a very slow paced person, so I think it was perfect to mix that kind of contrast to such a brawl, he was able to build the anticipation, for, no one knew whether he would retaliate or not.

"I do but keep the peace"

The reactions from Tybalt and the servants show that he does not match the same kind of energy and mentality that they are at. As anticipated though, Benvolio and Tybalt fight... Which is stopped by a higher voice of authority- Lord Capulet, however he does not stand for any peace once he sees his rival- Lord Montague, The audience is definitely lead through this scene, with no gaps in between, the scene flowed properly, and was ended by a speech from the Prince who threatened their lives if the peace were to be disturbed once more. The tension passes as the light-hearted Romeo is introduced to the audience, he and Benvolio interact a little with the audience which is always great... I think the energy throughout was commendable, I think this is because, during dress rehearsal, we were given feedback to always come on and off stage with loads of energy in order to speed up the play. I'm guessing everyone took note of that because every scene would begin without hesitation or pauses unless intended.
The party scene was fantastic, everyone tried their best to follow their instincts and cover any empty gaps on stage, we tried not to stay in clusters, and move around to other people like a real person would do at a real party. The dance choreography was not complicated but it looked snazzy when everyone did it simultaneously. The audience knew when to focus on Romeo and Juliet, especially when everyone else would freeze, this indicated that a huge and significant moment was happening. The intense moment between Tybalt and Capulet shows even more future troubles between the two families and possibly foreshadows a future intense moment between Romeo and Tybalt. After the party finished there was clearly a romantic feel to the play as Romeo and Juliet had just kissed.
Abe and Dylan are our 'human props' who become the famous balcony where Juliet expresses her poetic and metaphorical words. Georgina as Juliet says her lines carefully so that the audience is able to grasp each word and the emotional meaning behind them. You have to believe that what you are saying is true so that you can deliver it with absolute conviction.

 When the big fight happens, Abe executes Tybalt exceptionally well, the anger is so raw and true that the fight can be believed. This entire play is a roller coaster of emotions, you're not sure what kind of emotion you'll be feeling scene after scene. I believe that I and Brad showed a great deal of emotion (Sadness, denial and anger) for Mercutio's death and the exile of  'our' son as Montague and Lady Montague.

Frustration and sacrifice is a common emotion and trait showed in many of the characters too, from Juliet's reaction when she realises that Romeo, her newlywed, has been exiled- and not just that,- she is being forced to marry Paris, who she shows nothing but revolt type emotions towards, and the audience understands her point of view. Another character who shows frustration is Friar Lawerence when he is absolutely livid that Friar John failed to deliver a very crucial message to Romeo- that Juliet isn't actually dead, I believe that the audience were feeling the same frustration too.
  When Romeo sees Juliet you can feel the emotional heaviness but delicateness he has, as he holds Juliet, limp in his arms. Even though it was just these two on stage it was filled with gestures and spatial awareness. Juliet's raw emotion and shrieks when she realises what has happened to her Romeo is just striking, you can see that this actress is feeling the pain as if it were truly real. When both of them lie still, and the families enter the stage, you can feel the sombre feeling of tragedy hanging in the atmosphere. The (bitter)sweet moment between Capulet and Montague really makes me smile all the time, because It shows their true hidden brotherly love, on the other hand, it's bitter because it took their dear children's lives in order for them to create peace.The last lines of the play really stick with the audience said by the Prince, who seems to foreshadow events throughout the play:

"For never was a story of more woe

than this of Juliet and Romeo"

This line implies that there is no other tragic and ironic story than Romeo and Juliet. The line between love and tragedy were blurred by Shakespeare in this peace.
The feedback we were given after our performance (By the stage manager) was that we were able to understand the meaning of the words that Shakespeare used and use it in the right context in order to convey meaning towards the audience, whether it's a joke, insult or metaphor.
Speaking from the audience's point of view he and the audience were able to follow and understand what was going on the entire time despite the language and 'outdatedness' of the play- in other words, we were able to make William Shakespeare relevant in 2017! He described us as sharp and that we held a lot of emotional depth through every scene, it was a passionate roller coaster. He stated that we guided the audience through each act, keeping them drawn in scene after scene. He also let us know that there were no gaps or hesitations, each scene began with energy, one after another. We used the space well even when there was one or two people on stage, we were able to fill it up. I was very proud of our final production, I can't even think of many flaws onstage. The only flaw is that we need to challenge ourselves mentally so that when we are backstage, we can still have the right mentality and focus as if we were on stage, instead of communicating with our peers. I think that we were the least focused group when backstage, you could still hear shuffling or someone whispering or murmuring.. hopefully, that didn't take away our work credibility though because we were able to make Shakespeare relevant to an audience in 2017. Overall the play was outstanding due to the string element of intuition and consistency.