Mike Alfred Applied

Mike Alfred's was a strong believer in actors and not the set. He believed that an actor should be able to be completely engulfed in their character without the need for set or costume and that the actors preparation on the character should be projected clearly enough onto the audience without the need for visual help. Due to this. Alfred devised many exercises to help the actor get into their role and become their character. One of his exercises which we did was noticing withing the play what your character says about themselves and what others say about them. This is a good start to building your character and seeing the plain facts which the playwright has presented for you. Below are a few quotes concerning how my character exists within the play:

What my character says about herself:

• 'I don't want to be fourteen'
• 'Perhaps I won't be here at all'
• 'I'm going to dress like a fairy queen underneath' 
• 'I would have run away long ago'
• 'I would have asked her'
• 'Melchi Gabor told me'
• 'I seem to be lost'
• 'I lay on the grass for ages dreaming'
• 'I dreamed I was a poor beggar child'
• 'I go hot and cold all over whenever she talks about it'
• 'I've never been beaten in my life'
• 'I've sometimes tried beating myself to find out'
• 'So now I've become an Aunite for the third time, with one niece and two nephews' 
• 'I really don't have much sense'
• 'I still have no idea how it all happens'
• 'I won't get better, I've got dropsy and I'm going to die. Mother I'm going to die.'

What the other characters say about my character:

• 'Other girls are so gangly and awkward at your age. You're the opposite.' Mrs Bergmann
• 'You're talking nonsense Wendla, utter nonsense!' Thea
• 'I'd be proud if I were you' Martha 
• 'Just look at the way she walks, her level gaze, the way she holds herself, if that isn't pride!' Thea
• 'I would say you were a wood nymph that's fallen out of the branches' Melchior
• 'I've heard that you often visit the poor' Melchior 
• 'So you visit the poor because it gives you pleasure' Melchior 
• 'You, Wendla Bergmann, toss your hair and laugh' Melchior 
• 'I know where you get this from, Wendla, from stupid children stories!' Melchior
• 'Stop it Wendla, I'm not going to beat you' Melchior 
• 'When will you ever grow up' Mrs Bergmann
• 'I love you as little as you love me' Melchior
• 'His transgression may yet bring about her happiness' Mrs Gabor
• 'I told her to stop her daughter from climbing into haylofts' Mr Gabor
• 'I'm sure she hates me because I took away her freedom' Melchior
• 'You're going to have a baby Wendla. You're expecting a baby' Mrs Bergmann
• 'I killed her. I murdered her' Melchior 

I've highlighted the key quotes which I think sum up Wendla and her characteristics. This exercise helped me see plainly what Wedekind had written about my character and was a good foundation to start building my own interpretation of Wendla. I found it interesting that Melchior is the one who says the most about Wendla, and I believe this is because when they are around each other they seem to be on the same level and therefore feel a strong trust between each other. During the woodland scene Wendla opens up to Melchior, revealing her hidden desire to get beaten and then asking him to fulfill that. Wendla is different to the others girls in that she wants to explore the unknown and will seek it until she finds it. I think the way she acts around her friends is interesting because she seems to be the ''leader'' but wants what Martha has. These points back up Wendla's innocence due to the suppressed society she lives in and through doing this exercise I have gained a wider understanding of Wendla and the world in which Wedekind created her in.

Teaser Trailer

Nairac suggested from early on that a good way to promote the show would be to do a teaser trailer and post it on all our social media websites (such as facebook, twitter and youtube) with the dates at the end. So, in December some of us spent the day in Hamstead Heath filming small moments from the play or bits which summarized the feel of Spring Awakening. For example there was a shot of my playing in the woods and of Josh (Melchior) and Harvey (Morietz) talking in the forest. Nairac edited it and this is the end result:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua0Z8MTf68c&feature=youtu.be

It was great fun to film and helped me get into my character, as I had to chose suitable clothes for Wendla which got me thinking about what she would wear on a day off from school. In my opinion it was good promotion for our show as it kept up with social media and was a good visual teaser for our show.

Promotion

This week we started thinking about promoting our play to the public as ticket sales would soon be opening at the box office. After a cast meeting in the library, we decided that we would hold a cake sale to raise money and set up social media accounts to promote the production. Eilliot was in charge of creating and managing the Facebook and Twitter pages and some members of the company made posters to display (such as the ones above). I think we managed the promotion and fun raising very well, as she created a buzz around our show due to each cast member sharing and tweeting about it and also managed to raise a substantial amount of money from the cake sale. I found this process very exciting as it made the play seem real somehow and I had a lot of people coming up to me asking when and where they could buy tickets. 

Laban Effort

In rehearsals recently we have been looking and practicing Rudolph Von Laban and his 'Laban Efforts'. The Efforts are a system of describing and applying movement, observing the way in which an actor vocalizes and physicalises their character, thus unlocking the key identity of their character. 'All eight efforts are of equal value and together make up the complete human potential of ways in which we function.' Many theatre practitioners, such as Mike Alfred's, use the Laban technique when discussing a characters internal and external movement. 

The Efforts are made up of six elements according to how the movement is performed. These elements fit into three categories: Weight, Space and Time (speed/tempo). Weight doesn't have anything to do with personal bulkiness, as many ''heavy'' people can move with extreme lightness, it is more about the levels of intensity and gravitational pull when moving. Space concerns how one moves around it and how you relate to it directionally. Here are the elements:

Weight:

• Light- Operating with ease and without effort having no barriers to break through or resistance to overcome. There is a freedom from gravity with all your energy swaying upwards, like a cloud is lifting you up.
• Strong-There is some level of intensity constantly having a barrier to break through or a resistance to overcome, as if one is moving through mud or sand.

Space:

• Direct-A total level of focus and sense of purpose, you know what you want and you impose yourself on the world, initiating what it is you want. You lead with your aim and always know where you are going, in other words you make things happen.
• Flexible-This implies you have no focus or purpose but are completely available and vulnerable, being open to affection. You are moved by impulses, receiving and taking in, absorbing whatever comes your way. You allow things to happen to you. 

Time:

• Sustained-Implies a continuous unbroken movement and energy, flowing from one physical state to the other. Movement tends to be curved and soft, there is nothing abrupt and mobility tends to be slow.
• Broken-A constant renewed amount of angular and abrupt fast energy, the impulses being refreshed second by second. 

The Archetypal Efforts are the three-way pairing of these elements and as I said before, they can be applied to both movement and vocal qualities. The combination of the two can give a character depth and help you understand their physical and emotional sates, as well as their internal one.

Light/Flexible/Sustained=Floating

Light/Flexible/Broken=Flicking

Light/Direct/Sustained=Gliding 

Light/Direct/Broken=Dabbing

Strong/Flexible/Sustained=Wringing 

Strong/Flexible/Broken=Slashing

Strong/Direct/Sustained=Pressing

Strong/Direct/Broken=Thrusting/Punching 

If a character moved around in a Slashing manner, you might think they are angry, tense and harsh, with a thuggish personality. This immediately affects the status of the character and they way others react to them. Making a subtle change of making them move with more of a Thrusting focus, this could instantly uplift their performance and change their characteristics to being more forward and direct with a self confidence. A character can play around with two efforts at once, both internally and externally. For example a character could be Wringing on the inside with perhaps stresses and strains from life but on externally present themselves as Gliding. This shows that they are trying to cover up their troubles, instantly adding another level onto the character. 

We explored all the Efforts through movement which I found really interesting to see how one element can change and alter the overall intensity of the movement. A lot of commitment and self awareness is required when trying out these elements and I noticed when we tried out Dabbing and Thrusting/Punching, not everyone was as committed or as comfortable as we were when we tried Floating and Slashing. I think this was because Floating and Slashing had defiant and direct movements which we often explore in our everyday lives, whereas Dabbing and Thrusting/Punching required a more abstract movement. After we all had tried the Efforts, I felt more comfortable focusing on all of them and discovered that when you layer up different Efforts and apply them physically and emotionally, both external and internal, you have a rounded character with a deep and bold purpose. 

When exploring my character Wendla, I discovered that internally she was Wringing in her vocals and Slashing in her physicality. This contrasted with her external Pressing vocally and her external physicality of Gliding.  Vocally this represents her inquisitive nature and her desperate desire and need for knowledge and to find out new things. She won't stop until she finds out everything that she doesn't understand and Devan and I both agreed that Wendla is quite a stubborn and intelligent character, in other words always wanting to know more. The Wringing symbolizes the oppression she feels from her Mother and she can't understand why she isn't being told about reproduction. Physically this represents her youth and confidence but also how she is quite exposed. Wendla has a lot of self confidence but can snap slightly when things either don't go her way or when she doesn't understand something. After doing Laban I feel as if Wendla is now more rounded and I know how to move around the stage more. 

Script Analysis

As part of clearing up what my character wants in each scene, Devan and I gave each moment a title and a sub-heading, thus enabling us to see openly what our character got out of each scene:

Act One, Scene One
Wendla complaining about the length of her dress: not wanting to lose her childhood dress and therefore not wanting to grow up but has a need for knowledge and a want for maturity. 

Act One, Scene Three
Wendla and her friends meet in the forest and catch up:opening up about their feelings and finding out about Martha's beating and how it is done, sparking Wendla's interest.  

Act One, Scene Five
Wendla meeting Melchior in the Forest, starting a convocation and discovering new experiences: Wendla discovering her desires and testing Melchior, seeing his confusion and the effect Wendla has on him. 

Act Two, Scene Two
Wendla finding out how babies are made due to her becoming an auntie for the third time: finally feeling informed and knowledgeable. 

Act Two, Scene Four
Wendla testing her new found knowledge: feeling confused by her inner emotions and by what she thinks is right. 

Act Two, Scene Six
Wendla sorting out how she feels now: noticing that she has changed and realizing she has done something wrong. 

Act Three, Scene Five
Wendla expressing her feelings and concerns to her mother: trying to find out the truth from her mother and excepting her fate. 

As well as noting the titles of my scenes, I annotated and broke down each moment my character was in. Below are some pictures of some parts of the text which I found hard to find the truth of, so I focused more on them:

 This is my very first scene, and to begin with I was struggling with finding the truth of the language. I started to break down each line into different actions and worked on the scene with Maya, freeing ourselves up physically as both as agreed with Tim it was looking too stiff. Once I had worked out my characters underline objectives of what she was saying, her overall objective for the scene (wanting to mature but hold onto her childhood dress, firstly because it suits her better and secondly because there's a small part of her which doesn't want to throw away a childhood memory) became clearer. 'The dress is too long mother. Why did you make it so long?' is my characters first line and here her objective is to state/to complain/to question. Personally I think this summarizes up Wendla well, she is always questioning things she does not understand and somehow manages to convince people so she gets her way. 

 This is the end of the first scene and again I struggled with the language being presented. Even after I added in the objectives or targets, I was still finding the text tough. After reading through the scene a few times I realised I wasn't pausing at all and was just rushing through the lines, I wasn't allowing the lines to breathe within the scene, So, I broke up the text into pauses and moments and suddenly it sounded better. Tim told me to not let the lines restrict my physicality, so once I moved around and did what my body wanted to do, the lines flowed more naturally. 'Oh no.' is another line I was finding hard as it was so short, but after I found the objective, to protest, it became easy and I found myself saying it automatically. Maya and I developed a stronger mother-daughter relationship as rehearsals went on and I felt this scene getting stronger.


                                                                                                                                                              

This is the first scene I have with characters the same age as mine. All of us were finding it hard to find the truth of this and just 'freeing it up'. I think part of this block we had was because this scene takes place in the forest and as we were in rehearsal rooms we only had chairs to represents the tree and parts of the set. Although this shouldn't have affected our performance, it was difficult to feel free and allow the lines to flow. I particularly found the opening lines tricky 'How the wind sings around your ears'  and 'Let's go to the bridge. They say whole trees and bushes have been swept away by the flood. The boys have built a raft. I heard Melchi Gabor almost drowned last night'. as again I found them un-natural and  stiff. Tim said that the first line is more of a correction in respond the Martha's statement, so my objective became to correct. As for the next few lines, Lizzie, Humera and I all agreed that Wendla was trying to convince Thea and Martha to go to the bridge, as she knows that's where Melchior is going to be and she wants to ask him questions. Throughout this scene I also noted down which part of Wendla's lines were 'silly' and what were 'serious', as she often says a lot of things which are mature or not and this helped me to free up my physicality. 

This last page of this scene is the most crucial, as it is where the beating takes place. My objectives for this scene have always been clear; wanting to discover new experiences, such as being beaten, and knowing that I could get that from Melchior. At first, Josh and I were making the scene too preempting, and making it far too weighted for what it was,  After Tim spoke to us about the lightness and innocence of the scene, we immediately changed the way we said the lines and became our characters. Wendla and Melchior are attracted to each other and unknowingly flirt for the first half of the scene, this changed the dynamic completely and made the sudden change in Melchior at the end even more prominent. The problem with the end page was that Josh and I were pausing between the lines and again making them too heavy which resulted in the scene sounding melodramatic. After we noted our objectives and got the scene more pacey, it became more realistic and the lines didn't sound fake anymore.

I have found the language in this play quite tricky to get a hold of, and I think it maybe due to the fact that the language is classically written but sounds modern, and for a while I found that hard to get my head around. However, after focusing on my objectives and once my I'd learned my lines I found it easier to make the lines sound like I was saying them for the first time. I noticed that Ashleigh and Jackie's vocals throughout the rehearsals and the performance were brilliant and that they made the accent and complicated words sound easy and natural. Even though we didn't study Stanislavsky in depth this year, I still used his methods when getting into my character and relaxing before going on stage.

Acting Technique

During acting technique we studied many theatre practitioners and their methods. These corresponded over to 'Spring Awakening' and our character development which I found extremely useful because I could select which practitioners theory I liked best and then apply that to both Wendla and my other Common ground roles (such as Max in The Grinch). Tim also did more detailed workshops during our Spring Awakening rehearsals , focusing on Chekhov, Alfreds and Donnellan specifically. Here are some of the practitioners we studied during acting technique and how they helped develop my character and widen my theatre knowledge: 

Uta Hagen
Even though we didn't study Hagen in as much depth as the others, I liked her theories of excepting yourself and your character, so I researched her even further and discovered her book 'Respect for Acting'. The more and more I read it uncovered points and exercises which I've found extremely high in utility. Hagen teaches that you should 'aim for a cat's spontaneity; unanticipated involvement in the moment' and find 'your own identity and self knowledge' as they are the main sources for the possible futures characters one could portray. This also helps bring about a genuine life for your character. Another aspect from Hagen's theory is that 'you must adjust to tell the story' which I think is absolutely vital. As performers we have a responsibility to tell the journey of the characters we are portraying and bring to life the world of the play, while making this as clear as possible for our audience, who are experiencing Spring Awakening for the first time. Throughout rehearsals, Josh and I have struggled slightly with the Woodland 'Beating' scene, as neither of us want to hurt the other. Uta Hagen however notices this and states that 'truth in life is not truth on stage; you can't really hurt someone'. This applies to the woodland scene, as both Josh and I needed to realise that we weren't hurting each other and trust the staged push. As soon as I confirmed with Josh that I felt comfortable and secure within the scene, it massively improved. 

Mike Alfred
Over the course of Common Ground we have studied Mike Alfred's 'Different Every Night' extensively and I find his method's extremely useful. Both Tim and Jack did exercises with us from Alfred's book, the main ones being noting what our character says about themselves and what others say about them and then stripping back all the props and concentrating on the world of the play, seeing your character existing in different circumstances. Similar to Hagen, Alfred concentrates on storytelling and the importance of character work. I found his exercises very useful, especially viewing my character outside of the play; it deepened my understanding of Wendla and helped Devan and I find a 'common ground' with each other. Devan and I worked closely with Alfred's techniques and together we cultivated a deeper understanding of the shared character. 

Michael Chekhov
Chekhov focuses on experiencing the truth of the moment and finding the inner event which is an actual experience occurred in real time by the actor. Chekhov calls this the 'Creative Individuality' of the actor, not being tied to his/her personality. This then allows the actor to discover an internal emotion which will then be projected onto the audience. Chekhov's teachings are very similar to Stanislavsky's as both concentrate on imagination, feeling and atmosphere. He believed that inner and outward gestures were different so we did many exercises exploring how our charactrer was feeling verses what they were saying. Imagination is a massive part of Chekhov's teaching, so we did certain exercises focused on this, picturing our characters in moments just before a certain scene started. For example I portrayed Wendla picking Wood-ruff before Melchior came. I found this very useful because it enabled me again to picture my character outside of the words written by Wedekind and take control over what she did. This strengthened my impulsive choices which is also another factor Chekhov focused on.  

Declan Donnellan
Donnellan has similar theories again to Stanislavsky, but calls actions 'targets', being situations and aims that the actor should strive to in each scene. We did a lot of exercises concerning this, realizing what our character wanted and striving through to achieving that. We mainly focused on Blocks which we experience on stage. Donnellan concentrated mainly on the blocks an actor experiences while on stage and during rehearsals, as he believed that if you had these blocks in your mind, you could never fully commit yourself to your character, and therefore you wouldn't be immersed in the play. Donnellan wasn't a trained actor (as the other practitioners are) so noticed that some performers looked stiff and tense onstage. He put this down to mental and physical blocks, such as not knowing where to move on stage or not knowing what you are saying. Once you have overcome these blocks by working through them, then you can immerse yourself in your character. Dennellan also teaches that for each scene, the character has a want/a seeing, a gain and a loss with a suitable title. Jack did some work with us on these and we noted down what our character wanted in each scene. This helped me immensely because previously I had struggled with always knowing what Wendla really wanted, as her society was so suppressed it was hard to grasp what she knew and what she didn't. Concerning the actor and his/her target, Donnellan believed that there was always a target for each scene. Tim also developed this with us later on.

Sanford Meisner 
Not everyone likes Meisner's methods and guaranteed we have only skimmed on half of his methods, but personally I get along with the meisner exercises we have done so far. He teaches emotional recall and sense memory, creating acting from an internal source. In year twelve I did a Meisner workshop and loved the deep connection I felt from the other person. Jack then expanded on this in acting technique, first doing the standard exercises as ourselves (repeating what the other person stated about you) and then as our characters. This helped me get into my character internally which I haven't been able to do before. Doing this exercise with Devan helped us connect with each other on a deeper level and notice the change in our character. 

Having studied these practitioners in depth, I found myself applying their techniques to my other common ground roles. In The Grinch I played Max, the Grinch's dog, so I focused more on Uta Hagen's theory of imagining yourself as the character and then as yourself out of the character and seeing how you would change physically into them. Declan Donnellan helped me realise the blocks I had on stage when it came to Blue Skies, as I found getting out of my head extremely hard. Donnellan teaches that an actor can never be comfortable on stage if they have mental and physical blocks, which is something I defiantly had during the Blue Skies process. After noticing these blocks such as I don't know what I'm doing on stage, I was able to overcome these and live in the moment. Even though we didn't study Stanislavsky in as much detail as we did last year, I still applied his relaxation exercises before I went on stage for each performance throughout Common Ground. As my role in Spring Awakening was more naturalistic than my other roles, I noticed I was using more characteristic exercises for Wendla, (such as improvisations, imagining my character in different circumstances and detailed character questions) and then mainly relaxation and truth exercises for my more physical roles.

Acting Technique Workshop Plan

Acting Technique Workshop Plan

Stanislavsky: relaxation                                                          20 mins

Michael Chekhov: imagination

First Ten Minuets: Relaxation

·         Turned off lights and get the group to lie in semi-supine with their eyes shut
·         Then tense each part of their body, first isolating their feet then relaxing, continue up the body
·         Then the breathing exercise: get the group to breathe in through their nose for four and then out through their mouths for eight, then twelve and then sixteen, while lying on their backs in semi-supine
·         Shake off their body so their muscles were relaxed and open
·         Stanislavsky believed that being tense on stage affected the actors performance, and part of this reason was being too tight and not in the moment. We will then do a concentration exercise which the group could use before they go on stage to focus themselves: the finger and thumb exercise. This is where you alternate your thumb and little finger on each hand, so for example, you would have your right thumb out and your left little finger out and then switch. This focuses you and gets you out of your head
·         Plosive sounds exercise to warm up your lips and tongue ‘the tip of the tongue, the teeth and the lips’. This exercise warms up the lips and helps with articulation and breathe control.  

He taught that an actor’s voice could only be free if they were completely warmed up and had relaxed vocal chords. If not your voice can become wooden and strained, with no emotion. Stanislavsky believed an actor should be relaxed during rehearsals and before performing because it frees your imagination and enables you to except and embody your character with more ease.

Last Ten Minuets: Imagination

·         Circle of Concentration exercise. This helps open your objectives into a physical action and focus your attention to detail within a scene. Spilt the group into half, one half are the observers, the others the performers. The observers chose one performer to focus their attention on while the performers all stand at a ‘’bus stop’’ as themselves. We then add in one circle of attention:  a piece of gum. The performers have to think about the flavour and chewiness of the gum. Next we will ask them to add in another circle of attention: a backpack. Again they have to decide the weight of the bag, the style and position of the bag. They shouldn’t be focusing too much on either one of these circles. The observers then have to notice how their physicality changes and see which one they focus on more. Feedback time. Ask the observers who they were focusing on and which circle they thought the performer was paying more attention to. For example, if they were focusing more on the gum, hat would be their small circle of concentration and the backpack would be the large circle. Translate this over to Stanislavsky terms, the small circle is your objective for the scene and the large circle is your objective for the play.
·         The Fear exercise. This will be the last exercise before feedback from the workshop. Get the group to lie down and close their eyes imagining something they dislike or are afraid of for example a spider. Get them to think about how it makes them feel and think specifically about what it is which they don’t like. They then have to think how to describe this thing to the rest of the group without naming the main features and what it is, for example if it were a spider, they couldn’t say spins a web. This opens up the imagination and gets you thinking about the hidden details in more depth, deeply expressing how you feel about something and how an emotion affects you. Get a few people to say theirs and the others guess.

End of Workshop.