The York Realist

 UAL - Level 3 PaPA - Acting Pathway - Unit 5 - 6

Wednesday, 10th January 2018

I live here. I live here.  

You can't see that though.

You cant see it. This is where I live. Here.

When we were first shown this, we were asked to think about what it could mean, who is saying this, what could they mean, who are they trying to convince, are they actually trying to convince themselves? Well, the first thing I began to think was that it could be a metaphor rather than just referring to something literally. Paired with a classmate we both had our own ideas, one being an aspiring actor (no pun intended) who has a lovely framed picture of their dream house. They would declare this is where they live even though they clearly do not live there yet which shows the confidence this character has within themselves that they will one day live in this home. This was my class mate's insight which we agreed was a good idea, however, we also agree it wouldn't be clear enough as it was an improvisation and we didn't have props.

 I proposed my perception of this quote which is that someone lives in their mind constantly that they are out of touch with outside world and are unable to communicate effectively with family friends So this person would be describing how they feel within themselves. I and my classmate created something from this idea. My classmate took on the role of a therapist or psychiatrist as I played his new patient, Jennifer Lope(e)z. It begins with me knocking on the door, my actions are jumpy and quick. I am too quick for Malcolm who goes to shake my hand but I've already taken a seat, I stand up abruptly to shake his hand and I quickly wipe the hand on my thigh. He begins to address why I am there. I act like I don't want to be there, I show this in actions such as looking around disinterested and by checking my watch. And I try to explain how my brain works that I live in my mind, ( I deliver the lines ). He tries to ask me to open up as I don't communicate with friends or family and I refuse. However, he points out that I've shared something with him already ( the fact that I live in my mind ) which I then realise and feel even more uncomfortable. So I cut it short and I ask if I can leave and he says I that I can leave whenever I please. so I interrupt anything he was about to say by getting up and leaving the room.

Feedback

The feedback on this was really positive as many of the class members hadn't looked at it in that light and they were pretty interested in the story and wondered where it could go. We had not read the York Realist script yet, and so we were unaware what context it was being used.

We began to look at the first Act of York realist and Abe, a classmate who is assisting with the directing began to discuss where everything on stage would be and seeing what would work best. For example, a slanted/Diaganol exit to the kitchen could be more effective and a more interesting way to place an exit instead of the typical side exit.


Thursday, 11th January

Scene 1 
We were assigned groups, and we had to act out scene 1 and show how much we understand by acting it out. Brad was George and Ally was John, the uncomfortable atmosphere they created between them was similar to the awkwardness between George and john in this scene. Molly posed as the dead mother (A frame of her on the wall) we make it clear that she is a picture because she uses her arms around her like a frame and he also refers to the picture when speaking about her.
We realised after reading the script that it has some time skips, so we tried to make that clear to our audience by having me act as time, I would pass at the end of the scene to transition into the next, whoever was not in this scene would follow behind me. We watched each other's pieces and the feedback given to ours was that we could have included some more information in each scene as it was a bit vague, however, we added our own physical elements of perception like time and the framed mother.

Donmar project

 Wednesday, 7th  February 

With Toby, we began the first of many workshops that will soon lead up to our culmination which is basically our performance at the Donmar Theatre. These workshops are spent creating an ensemble piece from a meaningful place ( our safe place) with themes linking to ''The York Realist''.

We all went around the circle discussing what our useless super would be, so something you're very good at but you cannot save lives with it. I think this activity helped us catch an essence of our group members, and also ourselves, so maybe we could use this power in our work later on.
I remember hearing some powers such as Dj'ing or eating. My useless superpower is Drawing: here are some examples.

We began with WAH which is a game that helps wake your body and mind up. You need to concentrate intensely because one slip up, and you're out.
Using both your hands placed together with the energy you must point to someone in the circle, whilst stomping on your right foot and say 'WAH!'. That person must now receive that by raising their clasped hands up and saying 'WAH!' and the two people beside them must diagonally slice their waist ( no need to touch) who also say 'WAH!' if you're offbeat, you're out, if you don't stomp on your right foot when attacking, you're out, which is why you must be focused for this game, which is a good exercise to begin the session. I have won 2/8 times.

After this we were told to walk around our theatre space, filling in every gap, we had to be focused in order to see what areas were missing people and needed to be filled in. The whole point is to be aware of each other, for example, Brad has left a space open in order to fill in Dillon's gap that he has left behind. so I would have to take initiative and fill in that space, if someone fills it for you, find another gap. Toby would shout Stop and we would see what gaps haven't been filled in. It was all about finding a balance and becoming aware of our surroundings. This will later contribute to our ensemble pieces on themes of The York Realist. He would call out a number from 1 to 10 and we would have to match that energy, 1 being lowest energy and 10 being the highest.
He would then shout out 'side' and wherever we were we would have to quickly fast walk to the sides of the stage, if someone lagged behind we could see how it takes away all the effort put in. In order to create any kind of good and acceptable piece, we would have to master working as an ensemble, which means matching each other's pace. He began to add other commands such as 'TV', when he would call this we would quickly come to the centre front of the stage and look at a focused point in the audience. If he called out centre we would all quickly meet at the centre of the stage facing forward. He added clapping and jumping and we would have to be prepared if he called those out when filling in any gaps. Sometimes he would say many commands after another that we would just have to be quick on our toes. He added two last commands that were murder and survivor, which is the moment of promise where us as an ensemble decide without speaking who lives or who dies. In survivor, everyone would kneel on the ground and only one person would be left standing. Murder would be the opposite where only one person would drop down whilst everyone stood standing. We were working together by reading each other's energy and matching the pace with each other in order for the ensemble piece to be able to deliver correctly. This whole exercise kept us focused and our bodies warm, we didn't even realise when a whole 50 minutes had passed.

At the end of this session, we were sent away to write about our safe place. We were encouraged to think about all our senses, what would we hear there, feel, see or smell? Taste? At first, I didn't know why we were being told talk about this but I remembered the quote ' This is where I live' and I realised that we are bringing forward the themes, talking about relationships which are one of the themes that occur in The York Realist.

My Safe Place

[First draft] 

My safe place exists at home, in the corner of my room, where verbs and actions can break me down. It's still my safe place though, because I can be raw, I can be vulnerable. The same place that i can hurt the most is the same place I can love the most.

Tuesday, 20 February

To start this session we began to exercise an activity called 'GO'where we practice focusing altogether. The way that this activity works is that we all stand in a circle, one person stood in the middle holding a plastic ball. This person will throw/pass the ball to anyone in the circle and the person who has been chosen will simply throw it back at the person standing in the middle. We tend to find a rhythm and stick to it. We then introduce the word 'GO'. When 'GO' is said by someone who cannot be in the centre they must change places with the person standing in the centre. We created or found a formula that worked so that we could continuously say 'GO' every second, meaning there would not be a set person in the centre, we were constantly changing in a set rhythm. The way someone knows when to say 'GO' is when the person in the centre is facing away from them and they have just thrown the ball to the person opposite you so that when 'go' is said from this person they are able to quickly catch the ball that is coming their way. This activity encourages concentration as we are keeping within a certain rhythm.

In this workshop we repeated the exercise that we did last time where we walk around the theatre space in full concentration, filling in any gaps, and listening well to any given instructions. Except that this time 'round, we found a space and faced where the audience would be. Toby would then tap one of us on our shoulders and that person would begin reading or reciting our pieces on repeat, he would tap more of us and at one point we would all be reciting our pieces. He then would tap our shoulders again and we would stop, eventually, there would be only one person left talking until he tapped them too.

Toby then paired us as partners, so we could improve each other's works and give one and another constructive feedback
My inspiration was my classmate, Molly, After she read her detailed piece I realised I was holding back on mine, so I delved into that moment, and this is the result:

My safe place

[Final written piece]

When emotions can't deliver,

I grab my shield,

For the cold night air to clear my head,

Out of the spotlights and into the crisp void.

Cold alien lights, Warm dirty orange.

CLICK CLACK

MUSH MUSH

I run my hands through her hair, 

Full of life,

I can't feel my toes now,

My fingers don't recognise themselves.

White Fog leaves my parted lips and drifts up to the cosmos that glimmer,

I'll return one day.

My safe place exists as an event,

Home,

I accept the knots,

They'll loosen soon,

The movements and sounds make me flinch,

But I find my place. Bass fills me.

I smile, I acknowledge that-

Where I can hurt the most is where I can love the most.

This is a journey from my home to the park and back home. If you didn't catch on to what I meant, here is my glossary:

My shield -  My coat
Spotlights -  Streetlights
Crisp void - The dim and dark park (during the night)
cold alien lights, warm dirty orange- on my road they have upgraded the streetlights, from the old orange buzz colour to an energy saving, bright light. However, near the park, the older lamposts still haven't been replaced.
Click clack, mush -  The transition of concrete to earth
Her hair -  The earth's hair
my fingers don't recognise themselves - It's so cold that they are now numb
bass fills me - My music calms me



Wednesday, 21st February 2018

Masterclass

This session involved three constructive workshops which began in a yoga studio, we were told to listen to the music played, and not think but just move to what we thought the songs were making us feel. We then danced/moved to 5 songs and wrote down the word that came to our minds that made us dance/move this way. We were put into groups of three and we chose the best vocabulary describing what we had done. We then created a dance routine, focusing on the best 6 words used, and performed them. I believe this performance, helped us with our creativity. So if we were having any idea blockage then we could always look at emotions relating to all sorts of music.

After this body-warming exercise we were taken to a different venue and with Toby, we practised a typical game called 'Grandmas footsteps'. The rules of the game are that one person is nominated as Grandma and the rest of us have a starting point. The rules are that we must make it across the room to Grandma and tap her on the shoulder. If grandma looks back then you cannot move, if you move and the nominated grandma notices, he or she will point to you and you will be sent back to the starting point.
The class was split up in half, one group spectated whilst the other group participated. After each activity, we reviewed what moments were promising and entertaining to see. Moments such as when one of us would be so close to winning but we would be caught or seeing others sabotaging others was quite entertaining. So the next time we were up doing this activity there was no grandma and we had to act out the same activity except we had to read off each other so we would know when to stop.
It was entertaining to watch and participate. We were given feedback from Toby and we were told that not every person has to win, or be the star of the show in order for the ensemble piece to come together. If everyone has the same kind of role it will bore the audience, and we know that because we were the audience when watching each other act these activities. Playing the smaller role when others are playing the big role creates a more interesting piece.


Polari is known as 'Gay language' used indiscretion mainly by the Gay community in order to not be uncovered by the law. The word Polari originates from the word Palare which is Italian, meaning 'to talk'. It was also used by British actors, criminals and prostitutes. A number of words from polari has become a part of mainstream slang. An example is 'ecaf' which is backwards for 'face'. Here are some more words and their definitions below.

Now that you are somewhat familiar with some of the terms here is a video showing two gay men communicate through Polari: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8yEH8TZUsk

Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1967, its legalisation was supported by the church even though homosexuality was deemed as a sin. The reason for this was due to the increasing rates of gay men committing suicide due to negative feelings from society, being afraid of the law and how family and friends would react if they were to be found out. Suicide is a worse sin than homosexuality. Even though it was legalised, it was for men only due to little knowledge of gay women. It was thought that if women began to participate in the gay movement it would 'spread'. Lord Wolfenden was a British educationalist who recommended the legalisation of homosexuality (He was born in Yorkshire, which is worth noting due to The York Realist being set in Yorkshire also), his son, Jeremy James Wolfenden was gay himself and a British spy during the peak of the cold war. He was known as one of the most distinctive individuals by his own generation. He was also known as the cleverest boy in England by his teachers and peers at Eton, where he won a scholarship.

[Below, Jeremy. J. Wolfendon]




To end the day just right, we went to watch The York Realist at the Donmar Theatre.
The set design blew me away, you could see that a lot of thought was put into this. I could feel an essence of a home, from the tea towels, hung near the fireplace, the textures were carefully chosen for the rugs and tablecloths and little pieces of decorations on the shelves. And the details of the Yorkshire moors above the actors. The set was designed by Peter McKintosh Here is a picture of the stage below:




evaluation on that 500 words

Ending the day with watching The york realist play, re

Tuesday, 27th February

energy balls
music on
half of us watch the other half see what we liked and we would change show that straight after.
he would tap us out or in and give us an objective, when Jeremy was passed the energy he would have to run, ally would lie down, people were given other objectives like me who was given to only interact with one person (dillon) some were given objectives that they would not want to share, jeremy or molly.
Jaychelle sat out, very brave her. People noticed and would try to give her the energy ball but she would refuse it, I was seen as the nice one always being kind to the ones around me even when they wouldn't let me in on activity, which was also interesting and amusing to watch.


Monday, 5th March

my story
me, abe, ally, Georgina, Kamal and Gabriel
why didn't it work (g)
 light and air be
me Ellie and Georgina are the parks,


abe and kamal recite some lines
I and Georgina recite some lines
gabriel says some lines whilst going home
performed it
feedback
seemed minimalistic


Wednesday, 7th March

my story went very well - Me , Georgina, Kenya, abe, brad, Malcolm
did not use my text.. why?

did brads story
 went quite well, comical reference ( war game, rick, and morty) - me, Gabriel, brad, molly, abe

Thursday 8th march [INSERT VIDEO

In this class, we worked on the most developed pieces, which were mine and Georgina's. We tried polishing it whilst recording it to see how well we worked as an ensemble. The Feedback from us all were positive, we were surprised to see how well we moved together in unison when we focused.

We first worked on my piece, as you have read before it is a meaningful piece, originally we had 6 people in our group, but we began to bring in others and help them fill the gaps and it came together really well. Instead of the home becoming undone from my original group who come with me in order to tell the story. the people who have now joined can now keep the idea of home at a constant, this way I am able to deliver my message, that I am going from A to B to A not to C. So keeping that shape throughout when me and the other 5 move on stage is crucial to delivering part of my message on this piece. When I reach the end I am able to embrace everyone showing that I have brought home my positive energies and even though the home is the same my view on it has changed, and their shapes evolve into a less suffocating one and into a more protective and embracing one.

We recorded what we ended up with:
[insert vid] ask abdul

Moving on to Georgina she had quite a ways to go from my ensemble. she couldn't think of what could come after her train ride home. We gave our shares of ideas and we came out with a finished but not polished product as we ran out of time. we all act as the elements she notices on her journey home, such as the uneven ground.

This is the end product of this session:
[insert video] Ask abdul


 Monday 12 March

Today
song choice - runaway or my immortal , did i choose this?

order
jaychelle begins
molly
brad
georgina
jeremy
ilonka
abdul
malcolm
take from jaychelle
this is where i live piece
jaychelle
ends

Thursday
15th march

polishing brads transition from him to georgina
creating a fun energy/atmosphere in jeremy's where we tease him
jaychelle giving me the ball
my transition from mine to abduls 
abduls transition to malcolms
acting uninterested, 'anticipation' 1,2, murmuring,
dancing ( all out)
SNAP - jaychelle
Ally - i live here
follow jeremy's - passing the energy all to jaychelle.

culmination 16 march Friday
500 - 1000 words

feedback
from our class:
- Great thoughts on the performance
-A majority of us preferred it than three sisters. because it comes form us and it doesn't have to be a certain way
-stood out due to our focus as an ensemble
- focused on movements and physical theatre instead of just text
-what ive learnt:
accepting eachother's ideas and directions that we'd like to take
matching eachothers energy

FROM AUDIENCE
mine and malcolms scene. was talked about from the cast of The york realist ; The actress who plays Doreen and the actor who plays john. He said our ensemble was his favourite.

EBI
matching York relaist themes more - forbidden love

sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari