Ashleigh’s IB Theatre Journal

Due to the Queen’s Birthday public holiday and the GAT test, we only had one double period of theatre this week, which was unfortunate as I was hoping to get a lot done on my PPP. So during the double period on Wednesday, I googled for many templates for my characters. The majority of them came from a colouring in website, where you just print and colour. I chose to use templates as I felt my drawing skills wouldn’t be able to express how my characters should look, however, I was able to express my colour choices through the colours I used while colouring the templates in. So, after trying to print them at least 4 times (the stupid printers weren’t working), Ms Flood did me a huge favour and printed them for me. I spent the rest of the week, up until last night colouring in 19 images which will be the characters in my play, which is yet to have a title.

I began writing the pitch for my PPP by looking at the pitches I wrote last year. These have helped me understand what I need to do for the pitch. Once I finalise the set designs and things such as lighting and sound, I will be able to add to my pitch. This week, I am hoping to draw the set design and work out lighting, sound and hopefully a storyboard! I’m loving the PPP as it’s my own creation, and there’s no budget so it can be as elaborate and out there as I want it to be!

During the past 2 weeks (I was away for most of the week a fortnight ago), I have started work on my PPP. Out of the stimuli, I chose the maps of Atlantis, as I felt a lot could be created and inspired with pictures, especially those of a lost ancient city! After creating a mind-map, which I will upload shortly, I created the idea of my performance.

My play is going to be a moral play for children, based on the importance of equality. On the island of Atlantis, there are going to be many mythical creatures, such as faeries, unicorns and mermaids. The faeries and the mermaids do not get along as the mermaids frown upon the faeries because they live on land. A ship then docks full of humans onto the island, who discover the fight which is going on. On the ship are sailors from different countries, they will look different and be different, but will all wear the same uniform. These sailors show the people of Atlantis that just because people are different; it doesn’t make them less important. The faeries and the mermaids will then reunite.

I researched into different kinds of mythical creatures, to gain an idea of different creatures from different cultures. I also planned out what I’d like the underwater and land set designs to include. In the next couple of lessons I will be drawing the set designs and some of the mythical creatures I wish to include in this performance.

In year 11, I created a mini PPP and it involved a children’s play, so I went with the idea of a children’s play again for this one because I can see there is a lot of creative input for children’s plays as they can really be about anything, and children’s plays still have the importance of getting a message across.

I’m looking forward to a busy but productive week!

This week, I learnt a lot! On Monday we continued on with our Research Investigations. It’s coming along slowly and I need to do some more investigating in order to find out how servants were dressed in the 19^th century. This is my last paragraph and quite possibly the hardest to find information on! Then I have to do my bibliography and critique my sources, which will take ages! I have started the bibliography, and it is quite time consuming! By doing my RI on colour symbolism, it has opened my eyes as to how colour can be used in Theatre, and it will hopefully be useful in my IPP and my PPP.

On Wednesday, Kate and Ronelle both did their directing units. I was a bit worried about being an actor in Ronelle’s scene, as it was Shakespeare. And Shakespeare is definitely not my favourite! I played Hermia, and I really had fun! I really enjoyed it, which actually surprised me! I had to find my inner angry for this role, which took some time, but when it came out, it was good! I felt like I had accomplished a big goal of mine by portraying Hermia as being angry, as that was what Ronelle wanted me to do. My time doing Shakespeare last year helped me through this scene as I remembered the iambic pentameter and I remembered what A Midsummer Night’s dream is all about. Ronelle’s directing decisions allowed Kate and I to better understand the scene and the characters involved.

Kate’s scene was from Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. I thought this one would have been much easier to act in as I am quite familiar with the play. However this turned out to be the hardest. I played Mrs Alving, who is the caring, concerned, but strong character. Ronelle played the ditzy, young Regina. In the beginning, Ronelle and I had switched roles without realising it, as in, I sounded more young and uncaring than Ronelle! But we both worked on switching our roles back to who our characters really are. Kate made some good directing choices to help us (as the actors) realise the true personalities of the characters.

During the double periods this week, I continued to work on my Research Investigation. Things are going along well, however I still have to organise the colour swatches, which I am planning on getting from the local hardware. On Wednesday, I realised I needed some more information about the fashion worn in the late 19^th century, especially about men’s fashion. So I went to the school library and found two useful books.

1. Patterns for Theatrical Costumes., This provided me with drawings of clothing worn in the early, mid-late and late 19^th century by both men and women. It also showed the undergarments worn by women and each drawing is labeled with each piece of clothing’s name. The book also provided patterns for these clothing. I found this book particularly useful as it names each part of clothing and gives me an idea as to what the outfits should look like. The useful pictures will be used in my RI.

2. Costume & Fashion; a complete history. This provided me with an overall history of clothing in the 19^th century, and provided some good detailed images about specific parts of clothing. I will use some of the images out of this book to support my facts.

On Monday, we are going to the state library to continue our research. I have reserved some books which I am hoping will also be useful, as I still need to find out about what material is used to make the men’s trousers.

For the two doubles period, I began writing my RI. I feel now that I have enough sources to accurately decide how the characters in Ghosts should be costumed. I got a really informative email from a Norwegian museum in America. The lady who helped me told me exactly how the pastor should be dressed, and she included photos. So I’m definitely going to be using that as a resource. From doing last year’s mini RI, I have learnt to keep a very detailed record of what sources I use, so that when I critique them, I won’t leave any out. I feel that my RI is coming along well, and I am happy with it.

On Thursday, as a break from researching, I directed Kate and Ronelle in a scene from “The Homecoming”. In the scene there is a man and a woman, and the man is taking the woman home to meet the family for the first time. When directing, I had to think about the location of the props, the actions of the actors and their positions (so they didn’t block each other out) and I also considered the use of pauses in order to emphasise certain points. I experimented with both the characters; for instance, I tried Teddy as being dominant and Ruth being quiet and timid. However, I didn’t really like that, so I tried Ruth being dominant and Teddy being really keen to impress. I liked this much more as there was a lot to work with, especially with Ruth’s actions. An example of this is when Teddy points out his father’s chair; he seems quite proud of it. Then to be disrespectful, Ruth sits in it. Also, Ruth goes to the door while Teddy is upstairs. I liked this as it showed Ruth’s character and showed she didn’t really want to be there.

The directing session was filmed and it will be good to watch to see how well I did. I learnt a lot from the directing as it made me more aware of all the aspects that have to be considered when directing. Next week, I will be an actor who is directed. I’m also looking forward to this as it will give either Kate or Ronelle a chance to experience directing.

During the week I continued with my research for my RI. I found a lot of information about colour, symbolism and the clothing in the 19^th century. I’m now going to email some museums in Norway, about Henrik Ibsen and to find out more about the history of clothing in Norway, as this will give me an understanding of how the characters should be costumed. I’m feeling good about my RI so far, and I’m hoping to start writing it soon, as it is due in 4 weeks. I’m hoping by emailing the places in Norway, they will be able to help me a lot with the areas I’m lacking information. Ms Flood also found me a video on Henrik Ibsen which I am watching. It is helping me get ideas about the costumes in Ghosts as in the video there are small performances from it.

We are continuing with our research for our two doubles next week, then we are having a break from that and I’m going to be directing Kate and Ronelle in a scene from “The Homecoming”. It should be good as it will hopefully clear my mind of the research investigation for a bit and will give us all a break! I’m also hoping to find some more primary sources to use in my RI.

On Wednesday, Ms Flood and I had a small chat about my RI, and she gave me some great ideas to what I can research to help me with my RI. She told me that a very vital question is “But why?” to everything. We also identified some of the major factors which will influence the costuming, such as religion, season, occupation, and disease. It was discovered that incest and syphilis are two of the major problems in this play. So, I now have to research these, to help me decide how the characters should be costumed. I also have to investigate Religion in Norway in the 19^th century, and I have to find out why Pastor Manders turned Mrs Alving down. Researching into different factors surrounding the characters will help me gain better knowledge on how to costume the characters, as the RI is based on factual knowledge, not creative. By researching Henrik Ibsen, it is helping me understand his reasons for writing “Ghosts” which will help me decide what is significant when it comes to costuming i.e. I have to show the syphilis and the incest through costumes.

I’m currently using libraries and websites to find my sources, and I feel I have lots to research, which is making everything less daunting! If Word Limit is an issue, I will consider investigating the costumes for only one act, instead of three.

In today’s lesson, we celebrated Miss Flood’s birthday with a yummy chocolate cake! This gave us a break from researching, but we will continue on with it next week.

Today in the double period of Theatre, I began researching more into Problem Plays and Colour Symbolism so I can start my research investigation. I was depending on the State Library of Victoria for lots of info, but unfortunately, not a lot was found from them. Instead, I found some websites, and I’m tracking down a book about problem plays which will hopefully help.

I have also began to write personality traits of each of the characters, as that will help me decide what costumes they should be wearing. I will also have to research costumes worn in the time the book was written so it will give me a further idea on how the characters should be costumed.

Ghosts is studied by a lot of secondary students, luckily, as I found SparkNotes about the play, which will help me further understand the characters and the plot.

I’m feeling good about this Research Investigation, however I’m hoping I will have enough information.

Yesterday was the day of our performance. For our double, we finalised sound, multimedia, costume, props and set design. We practiced blowing up balloons with the helium and sourced some last minute props like the smoke machine, speakers and some garbage bags. Kate and I decorated the foyer with some posters for extra promotion and to give the foyer a small amount of atmosphere. With the help of some fellow year 12s, we folded the programs. We continued to get ready after school, with hair, makeup and costumes. We had a small tech run to inform Nick, Ricky and Josie what was going on with the show. Special Thanks to Nick, Ricky and Josie for all their help after school, especially with the lighting, setting up, the costumes and the photos. Oh, and special thanks to Ms Flood as well, for being the sound and lighting operator!

After a quick dinner (we had pizza, it was pretty good), we finalised our costumes, our hair and our props, and got ready to perform. Overall, I felt the performance went really well. It went to so quick! It was good to see what we had accomplished, especially with the set design, costumes, props, lighting and multimedia! Our acting skills have improved so much since the beginning of the year, and it feels so great! I wasn’t even nervous before the show, which is a big accomplishment for me. My voice projection has improved a lot, and I’m now a lot louder when I have to be, and I’m not afraid of doing it! The show went really quick, and it was good to see Ms Anketell in the crowd, as we have all missed her quite a bit! It was also good to see many of the other teachers. It means a lot to have their support. Same with our parents.

I now feel a lot better about improvisation also, and I feel a lot better at thinking on the spot, for example, with Marianne and Kerianne, each time we rehearsed their scenes, it was always slightly different. I felt comfortable with performing Marianne and Kerianne because I knew my improvisation skills had improved so much, that I knew I could come up with something to say.

The Kangaroo scene I was also comfortable with, as I was comfortable with whom my character was. A loud, Australian kangaroo.

The pass the parcel scene was a bit of a worry for me, as I felt quite underprepared, as I only got the role on Monday. However, last night, the words just flowed, and it felt right. I was happy with the outcome of that scene considering the circumstances.

A funny moment for me was when I was putting my clown wig and red nose on. I forgot to take my pink bimbo top off from the previous scene, so I had to rip the wig off quickly, then my hair came out, and the clip holding my hair up got tangled in the wig. So I was walking around near the audience with a clip hanging out the side of my head.

I’m really proud of what we, and what I have accomplished with our IPP performance. We have all come such a long way, and the performance went really well!

Yesterday was our second last double before our IPP performance tomorrow! We finalised props and the music. We hung pictures up in the gallery and ripped up streamers for the two buckets. Surprisingly, I’m not really nervous about our performance tomorrow. We had a rehearsal in the last period yesterday, and I got given a new role of doing pass the parcel for one of the scenes. I found it really difficult because I had no idea what to say! And unfortunately it has to go for quite a while because it has to give Ronelle enough time to put her wig on. I’m a little bit worried about that. But hopefully it’ll come together. Another problem I am experiencing is the lighting for the kangaroo scene. I keep stepping out of the light, but that problem will be solved as long as I remember to look at the tape on the floor!

I am going to print the programs tomorrow so that they are ready to go. I’m really excited about our performance and I’m looking forward to it being over and done with, because I feel there isn’t a lot more that can be done with it. We are ready and well prepared.