Drama Logbook

Josh Rushton

Drama Logbook

By Josh Rushton

TERM ONE-POVERTY Poverty refers to an individual who lacks a certain amount of material

possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education. Other forms of poverty such as emotional poverty, occur due to current or altered circumstances.

Amongst the various forms of poverty, financial poverty dominates first world nations. This can lead to other types of poverty that exist commonly in third world countries and include food, water, shelter, and medical deprivation

CLASS EXERCISES Walking around the room at different speeds allows an individual to focus

purely on their surroundings and more importantly be aware of their own movements and actions

General stretches warm up an individuals physical abilities. Some class stretches include stretching ones jaw and face muscles, stretching ones upper body, and stretching legs while swinging arms.

Breathing for various periods of time and in different forms relaxes the body in physical and mental aspects therefore allowing additional focus.

JACQUES LECOQ(ACTOR STUDY)

Jacques Lecoq was a French actor, mime, and acting instructor who was born in Paris on December 15th, 1921. He passed away on the 19th January in 1999, leaving behind his infamous methods on physical theatre, movement and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L’ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in 1999.

Lecoq aimed at training his actors in ways that encouraged them to investigate ways of performance that suited them best. His training was aimed at nurturing the creativity of the performer, as opposed to giving them a specific set of skills. As students stayed with Lecoq's school longer, he accomplished this through teaching in the style of "via negativa," never telling the students how to do what was "right." The goal was to encourage the student to keep trying new avenues of creative expression.

THE IMPORTANCE OF WEARING BLACKS Black clothing has been used by drama students for many years on a global

scale. Of the many reasons for which wearing black clothing when practicing and performing drama is significant, the most important refers to the way in which black depersonalises individuals, taking away the need to compete about what you wear and helps to create group bonding.

It also means that when wearing a uniform or casual clothes that no one attends class in a “best” garment which they value. This could affect the way they perform for example they may not want to lie on the floor. This self conscious preoccupation which would be bound to inhibit his or her work focus.

Most importantly, blacks create an effect on stage that simple, and prevents focus on a particular character, overall improving a performance.

TERM ASSESSMENT/PLAY BUILD After having gone through various ideas, the group has decided to perform a

play build that portrays poverty in an emotional form. This will be conveyed through two main characters who both follow different paths, one character resulting in financial poverty, but complete happiness, while the other focuses on finances, but bares no emotional happiness. This ultimately leaves the viewer to question the state of poverty and decide which aspects of life are the most important.

SCENES Scene 1: In the first scene the two main characters are introduced with the intention of

separating there lives through the decision to go to college. As the setting scene it foreshadows that they will both portray two sides of poverty.

Scene 2: The first protagonist attends college and is further deprived of happiness, believing that studying 9 years to become a lawyer will eventually make him happy

Scene 3 : The second protagonist is finally travelling, and although his circumstances contain no wealth, he finds happiness in the people he is with and the place he is at.

Scene 4: The second protagonist comes to the realisation that he is completely happy in his circumstances despite the lack of wealth, but still believes he must go back home

Scene 5: The First protagonist has graduated from college, and despite showing that he struggled during those years, he believes thing will get better.

Scene 6: The final scene for the second protagonist, he finally accepts that being happy with his setting and the there characters is all that is important, and defies societies expectations, choosing to live the life that makes him happy

Scene 7: The final scene shows the first protagonist divorcing the only individual in his life that he had, and finally realising how unhappy he's been all these years.

THEMES Of the many themes present in the play build, one of the most important is

happiness, and how humans strive for happiness based on circumstances such as setting and finances.

Another important theme is freedom, and is portrayed by the two characters in different manners. One character is encouraged to do as he desires which affects his important life choices, while the other character is expected to fulfil a certain occupation, despite feeling no happiness towards it

Choices is also a theme that dominates the play build, each scene showing a progression in a characters life but also in his happiness or depression, which is not only affected by choices but leads to further decisions being made

Many physical and metaphorical techniques are employed in the play build. In the beginning scene a barrier is used to show the two different paths and the context of those paths which consist of the choice of going to college, and the expectation of going.

In the second scene, as a character is taught by a professor who talks greatly about choices, they are circled by the professor constantly which employs physicalisation whilst also metaphorically conveying that the character is trapped in this inescapable circle of poverty as a result of the choices he has made to study to become a lawyer.

In the fourth scene a minor character acts as a catalyst for the protagonists realisation of what provides him with happiness. This is metaphorically conveyed through the character, as she was there all along but the realisation only occurred now, just like his happiness.

The whole play build through characters and setting shows that the first protagonist is unhappy in life, has no one to love or care for, and is only comforted by wealth which he realises provides no real happiness. This is juxtaposed against the idea of minimal financial wealth with complete happiness emotionally .

TECHNIQUES

BELLE SHAKESPEARE

• The play Macbeth: Undone, performed at our school exposed the infamous Scottish play, delving deep into action and consequence, responsibility and blame. Tracking Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's journey from ambition to destruction, Macbeth: Undone is designed for students such as ours, who will have an understanding of the themes and messages in the story, as well as for drama students who wish to further there performance skills. This I conveyed by the performance choices of actors and directors on stage, who explain the techniques they employ as the play progresses. Dark deeds and guilty consciences combine with illuminating and entertaining contemporary commentary, for an impressive and thrilling retelling.

VIEWED FILMS • One film that I have recently viewed that relates greatly to our group play

build is ‘Dead Poets Society’ which was directed by Peter Weir in 1989. It is about a group of boys who attend a private school in America that strives strictly on traditional learning to achieve academic excellence. However when an English teacher comes to the school and begins teaching the boys about freedom thinking and individualism, everything changes.

• The films reference to our play build derives from some of the major films evident in both texts. Themes surrounding individual choices and choices made by parents, freedom and individualism, as well as the theme of conformity and choosing to conform to societies general way of life are all evident in our play build. This film assisted greatly in determining aspects of our play that surrounded what trigger the choices we make and how they impact our lives, as well as explained how an individuals circumstances play a role in these choices

GROUP ANALYSIS Throughout the duration of the play building, each member of the group

performed very well in terms of team work, and contributed to different aspects of the final product.

Enzo Merriman: Contributed towards the storyline, created the idea of two separate paths showing different types of poverty

Leah Tolman: Contributed to the physicalisation throughout the play

Ash Nicol: Created the character personalities and the way in which they acted and fitted into the story

Josh Rushton: Created the script and contributed towards the metaphors and themes in the play build

IMAGES FROM THE TERM