Ashleigh’s IB Theatre Journal

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.