Currently, I have broken down the two aspects, into smaller categories, and have found blog posts for each of them. The smaller categories are;

Set Design – Tartuffe, Multimedia, Online Blog, PowerPoint presentations.

Breakthrough – Tartuffe, Improvisation, Laban, Bunraku, Shakespeare, Animalia Carnivale.

I decided on Set Design as it is something I feel passionate about and I believe it is something I can talk about for quite a while, as my knowledge of set design has made me more aware of many other aspects of Theatre.

I decided on my Breakthrough, as I realised I really have accomplished a lot personally over the course of IB Theatre. Because of Theatre, I now feel more confident and loud, and by talking about my journey through Theatre, I can talk about how it lead me to a breakthrough.

Right now, I only have one major worry, which is the images I will be using for my TPPP. I really have no idea right now, but I guess I will work that out after I have worked out what I’m going to say. Other than that, I guess I’m also worried about the oral’s timing, which is in the middle of Mocks, but I also understand that I have to knuckle down and complete it, and after its done, I won’t have to worry about it ever again!

While I’m excited about Theatre coming to an end, as it is closer to the end of the school year, I’m also a little sad as Theatre is my creative outlet and it will be missed! However, finally, I have began to realise how much I really have learnt from the course and I’m proud to say it will follow me for the rest of my life.

I feel very relieved by the fact I have now completed 3 out of the 4 assessment tasks, and the final one is a week away, which is so exciting, but also sad as my Theatre Journey nearly comes to an end.

I’m also going to look over the criteria again and make sure I know what I have to cover in order to get a good mark on the IPP. I thought this project would be one of the easier ones as all of the knowledge is in my head already! However, I just have no idea on how to put it to paper.

I’m hoping that by looking at the syllabus and the criteria, that it will give me an idea of what I have to work on.

A date has been set for our final assessment task! Our TPPP! The 18th of September! Which is very exciting but quite soon! Currently I’m not thinking too far ahead and I’m just trying to focus on my IPP. I’m thinking I might research into Theatre practitioners like Brecht and Stanislavski to see how they influenced my Multimedia unit in my IPP.

The play also ran over time, but I think this was due to the amount of time in between scence changes.

As this is an amateur play, there is limited funding, so lights, set design and costumes were all limited. The lighting consisted of basic yellow gels, and spots, occasionally changed with the use of red,  yellow gels and the disco ball.

All of the set designs were hand painted and were made so that they could be easily transported, which was a convenient but effective idea.

Costumes, although basic, gave across the image of school students. However, I believe the most impressive aspect of this performance was props.  Simple objects such as cigarettes and rubbish shaped some of the characters. While, half of a car was used to represent Danny’s (I have been told the car was owned by Knickie, however, in the production the audience was not made aware that the car was owned by Knickie, also, I haven’t actually seen the whole movie version of Grease since I was 4 or so) car, which was also quite effective as it would be impossible to place a real car on a rather small sized Proscenium Arch stage.

I felt this performance would have been more enjoyable for all if the cast weren’t as underprepared, and if they had remembered their lines. However, they did do well for a first night performance and for amatuer actors!

When the play began, the Dragon lit up and began to move around! I actually found it quite scary. It was a good use of set design to set the tone of the play. As Glinda first appeared on stage, I really grew to dislike her voice and her character, as she appeared quite ditzy and her voice was very high. However, as the play progressed and I began to learn more about her character and her kindness to Elphaba, I began to really enjoy her presence on stage.

I really enjoyed this play but I thought it wouldn’t be particularly good for young children unlike the Wizard of Oz, because there were some moments where I felt uncomfortable watching it. For instance, the mask like human face used by the Wizard to communicate. I found it really loud which added to the scariness of it.

The use of lighting was quite spectacular! The green was so prominent throughout the play, not only in the lighting, but also the set design and the costumes. The use of the gobo to create the illusion of rain was also fantastic and so realistic. I actually thought it could be rain for a moment!

The use of costumes were also good, especially to portray the character’s personalities. For example Glinda was always dressed feminine and she was always portrayed as a sweet, innocent person. This was shown by the light colours in her costumes, and through the use of dresses and skirts. Whereas, Elphaba’s personality became evident by her wearing a green jacket and a skirt. She was always in dark colors, which really portrayed her introverted personality.  One thing I really liked about Elphaba’s costumes was, although they were dark, she never came across as scary or frightening, like she did in the Wicked of Oz.

Even the minor characters’ costumes portrayed their characters. I think for me the highlight was when Bert Newton (who played The Wizard) came onto the stage.  Bert Newton is really well respected and I thought it was so great to see him on stage to play the Wizard.  From watching the performance, it became evident how much money was spent on the production, but I feel the money was put to great use, as the lighting, set design and costumes all contributed something to the performance, whether it be mood, character development or weather!

There were no boring moments in the play which was another thing I really enjoyed. This has been the first play I have truly enjoyed the whole way through! So much that I want to see it again!

Now I’m starting my IPP, which will be another long journey which will conclude with the TPPP! Very exciting times ahead! Also we are going to see: Wicked, Knives in Hens, Pericles and Grease, so there will be some news on them soon!

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!

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!

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.

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.