Context: This unit represents the culmination of your work on the course. You should be looking now to build on previous terms work and direct yourselves to working in a disciplined and focused manner, as we put together a performance for an outside audience. As well as a performing role where you will be given a production role where you will have to work with others in your group to complete both roles on time for your performance.
Unit 9
Ubu
Planning
The first day back we first watched our whole performance of the container so we can refresh our mind to know what to include in our evaluation. Then we moved on to actually writing our evaluation by Sheena handing us a sheet and by us getting into pairs and working together to produce a detailed description of an evaluation of our previous performance.
Then on our second day back to college we were in K034 with Rebecca and we were discussing as a group on how we were going to create our final performance of unit 8 being called UBU, also we agreed that we were going to talk about all the units and elaborate on them.
Character development: how to tell the audience what your doing as they don't know the back story.
On the third day of being back in college we had a lesson with Sheena in 222 as we were also starting a new unit as we are doing Ubu. Then we were given out scripts and all we begun by doing was going round the class and reading the script with anyone being any character they would like as we weren't given our characters that were going to play or portray on the big day.
On our third day but second lesson we had Rebecca and all we done was create a skills list which meant we had to get in touch with our feelings to complete this to do this we first created one as a class which included:
My own skills list:
enthusiastic
confident
maturity
punctual
positive
respect
teamwork
flexible
professional
motivated
communication
determination
punctual
initiative
teamwork
respect
communication
organisation- procrastination
professional
flexible
determination
confidence
eye contact
positive
body language
maturity
The way I would achieve my goal which is a drama/English teacher, I will go to level 3 get my qualifications then move to University and study drama, French and English.
Our last lesson of the day was that we were in 222 with Sheena and we finished reading through the script so we mad some notes on our finds of the play which are:
Language/ accent( Liverpool, Birmingham and Scottish)- ( strong cockney dialogue)
Ma Ubu- lady Macbeth( posh, controlling, dislikes Pa Ubu)
Pa Ubu-Macbeth( dictator comedy)
Commercial couple dictators:
Hitler
Castro
Donald trump
Nickolas Tsar
Stalin
Dog pile- Banquo(close friend to Pa Ubu)
Then our fifth day and first lesson we were in 222 with Sheena and at first we were discussing the themes of the play which we never discussed in detail because we moved on to something else which was some characterisation technique so it can improve the way we think of other people and so we can put ourselves in their shoe and experience what they do for a day.
Then we reached our sixth day and first lesson which was acting with Sheena in K034 which could of been better, as the lesson was delayed for a while because Sheena wanted to show something on the projector but the sound was dim so we had to get an IT technician to come and check it out. Then a couple minutes later the IT technician had arrived and fixed the projector and sound them we finally begun our lesson with Sheena showing us a performance of King UBU so that we can get a rough idea of how we would show our understandings of the play in our own point of view.
Then we moved on to Sheena giving us the translation notes of the play which just roughly tells us the plot of the play saying: Ubu starts his reign by crawling to the people, but it soon turns into a tyrant, debraining anyone who disagrees with him and murdering the middle class people and taking triple the taxes from the peasants. Defeated in battle, Pa Ubu holes up in a cave with his workers Wallop and McClub. Eventually Ma Ubu reaches the same cave Pa Ubu is in.
Then at the end of the play Pa and Ma Ubu make up their differences and give up all claims to the balonian throne and set off with Wallop and McClub on a voyage of exile to England. After Sheena told us the characters were going to play but she told us its nit for defendant as we might switch it round to fit us but for now I'm playing Barmpot, Fast Freddie and a councillor.
This week we focused on finalising the characters so each person knows where they are and what there doing at what time on the day of the performance. To do this Monique told us to get in a circle so we can start to work on how we're going to portray our characters in a way the audience could understand. On the other hand we had to think of the production side of the performance which meant we didn't just have a role in the show but we also had a production role e.g. my roles are fast Freddie, 1st Nob, 3rd barmpot and a councillor on the production side I'm doing lighting with Ahmed.
The following week as we already knew our characters we had to put the work down on the table and start working on it by start developing on one of the scenes of our play Ubu which is going ok but there needs to be some changes made to the attendance of certain people because we can't have a show with only 4 people as that can't happen, but we can do this but some people just need to step up so we can create a show and move on if you don't want to carry on doing performing arts next year.
This week Monique decided to change up the characters as is just wasn't working as the two people that were playing prince Bilikins and the king weren't impressing our eyes so we switched it, as at first Mya was playing Bilikins and Cinzia was playing the king now Mya is playing the king and Cinzia is playing Bilikins. But there was an issue as not everyone was 100% happy with the decision because they were fine with then being the main character but Monique told us we had to make the decision as its now or never as we need the right people to play the right parts. Then we moved on to working on one of the scenes as we needed to finalise it as we have to move forward as our performance is getting near.
On another day Monique told us that there were a few more adjustments to be made like there are some characters that haven't been given to people so they needed to be handed to, also we started to develop a lot of the play as there is a fighting scene that needs to be mended, as Monique told us she doesn't want anyone to get physically injured or hurt as we don't want to loose some of our best cast members because the show wouldn't be the same without them. Some of us were also assigned new characters like myself I was already a the 3rd barmpot, fast Freddie, councillor, 1st nob and a first guard.
These past few weeks have been very tough as a week until our performance we are still on scripts and its really difficult to move on as with us still being on script we cant establish anything further like movement, where and when to stand and what to do at what time. As we don't have a lot of time left still people aren't taking anything seriously so the staff have taken matters into there own hands as they've said from now on if your not at rehearsals in the class or participating in bringing the play to life your automatically removed from the play to do this they thought people would wake up and realise there performing soon but no that didn't do anything to certain people so Sheena, Monique, Rob and Charlie have decided to cut two people already so now the rest of us have the power and right to take over the show and create something for the audience to watch and say wow they've been working on that for weeks but truthfully we haven't.
To bring more enthusiasm to the play Sheena, Monique and Rob have organised extra rehearsal lessons as there is a lot of work to be done in a lot of individual areas, for example act 3 scene 7/8 have been cut as we thought it was unnecessary to keep them as we haven't really worked on the scene in detail so we decided what would be the point in keeping the scene when we can work on one we know inside out like act 4 scene 3 as we've worked on it so many times as its the part pa Ubu is preparing us for the battle between us his army and Russian Tsar and his army then act 4 scene 4 correlates with the previous scene as we start to get are gear ready for the battle but we end up dying and getting injured.
For us to continue and tell our self that were ready we have to be off script and have gone through the play top to bottom with out stopping and no mistakes but we can't even do that so were no where near ready and were performing next week Tuesday but lets just see how it goes as we've got a rehearsal session tomorrow 10-1 so lets see what happens there because I'm almost off my script just need a couple more days then I'll be ready.
In our second to last rehearsal sessions we've had let downs and disappointment after disappointment which I'm sick and tired of as I'm doing my bit which is coming to rehearsal on time learning my lines and contributing any ideas when needed. On the other hand there's the ones that think they know there lines but still have the script in their hand which makes no sense, the other ones who think they can turn up to lesson when ever they feel like it which is outrageous, as in the container we had our ups and downs but we were still able to produce something for the audience to watch. Even at the beginning before they handed us the script Sheena had no faith or confidence that we would be able to pull this off and by the loos of it she might be right as two days until our performance people are still standing in the performance area with scripts we might as well do the play with our scripts in our hand if people can't even learn their lines in ain't that had as I've learnt my lines and got this in the bag and know ill be able to pull this off but certain people should be scared for them self.
In our last rehearsal we mad some progress as we choreographed one of the fight scenes which is when Bilikins and Pa Ubu's army fight against each other but Bilikins and his army loose the battle and some of them get injured and die. The scene begins with Bilikins and his two chaps running in while before that Pa Ubu and Ma Ubu are having an argument and get interrupted by Bilikins. Bilikins and Pa Ubu are having a disagreement so they start fighting and Ma Ubu sees them fighting and comes to defend her husband then the chaps help and the barmpots come along and a huge battle takes place.
Problem solving: One extreme problem we faced was our groups attendance and punctuality as you could tell and see that not everyone wanted to be here, as they were walking out having small and irrelevant arguments which was a waste of time, as it slowed the process down because we all knew we didn't have much time to perform and had no time for any mess ups. To mend this situation we decided to have long rehearsal sessions and until we finished we weren't allowed to leave but this didn't work as people were still skipping rehearsal sessions and turning up late. For this problem Monique, Sheena and Rob had a talk about us as our class were getting out of hand so they told us if your not coming to rehearsals you are not in the play so I think that opened our eyes which made us all change and turned a corner.
Research for Ubu: The research that took place regarding the performance was that because we were given production roles which were lighting, hair/makeup, costume, sound, props, set design and rehearsal organiser but my role was lighting. To do so I found different lighting ideas as Ubu is very bright and over the top on the other hand certain people had their own particular theme in mind, which was great Gatsby and peaky blinders but in my opinion I thought it did not relate to Ubu as Peaky blinders was serious and Ubu was a comedy as it was more up beat and had no relation what so ever. To do the play Ubu we had to know the back story which is Pu Ubu wants to become king put his afraid, so he has his controlling wife with him Ma Ubu telling him what to do and Pa Ubu has no say towards anything. On the other hand Pa Ubu doesn't take anything to serious as he likes having a little joke and mess around even though he wants to become king. Then there Dogpille with his barmpots as he's Pa Ubus' c;closest friend, if you was to compare Ubu with another play I would choose Macbeth as Pa Ubu would play Macbeth Ma Ubu would play Lady Macbeth and Dogpile would play Banquo. Ubu was written by Alfred Jerry and published and produced in 1896. The play was translated into English and published under a variety of titles. This grotesque play about the monstrous Ubu, originally written as a parody by one of Jerry's teachers, then turned into a satire of the French middle class.
Evaluation for Ubu:
On the week of our performance we started off rough as some people still didn't know there lines so we began the week at a slow place, which was disappointing as I had high hopes that we were going to start at a steady pace. Then the day of the technical rehearsal there were a few late comers as I was here on time ready to do the tech, but because the rest of the class weren't I had to give up my time and wait for them which I was sick and tired of having to do every week. I told myself you know what if it takes me all day to wait for them I'll do it as our performance was on the line but I was annoyed and had faith and trust in the group and thought they wouldn't let me down but they did once again. One by one they all started to arrive at the theatre as for the rest of us that was here on time we started to gather our props and costumes that Sheena kindly brought in for us to use and return once finished using it. My prop was a plunger that I would use to fight with to make the scene a bit more lively for the audience to look forward to something different. In my opinion the tech was pointless for me as the production team didn't really do what we wanted and told them to do which was devastating as I was looking forward to a calm performance that would blow the audiences mind but it most defiantly didn't as the atmosphere was tense between us actors and the people watching us. The tech was also unorganised because people weren't focused as they were turning up when ever they felt like which was unreliable but irresponsible because they knew what time the tech would begin which left us waiting for them like their babies this shows that everyone not just the teachers were not prepared or ready for what's coming. The show as a whole could of been improved in certain areas e.g. the way we entered the stage because people forgot when and where they had to come on, which was embarrassing as we done the dress rehearsal on the day which meant certain people were not aware or paying attention whilst everything was going on which was very disappointing, considering we worked extremely hard towards our contribution, so I was angry at particular people but the show finished on a high note which I think couldn't of gone better.
From term 1 of doing performing arts I've been through tough and good times as at the start my confidence was one of my main improvements, as I told myself I needed to step out of my confront zone and not be afraid to try something different or something I wouldn't normally do which is surprising considering I was one of the shy ones from the beginning so I'm pleased how everything turned out at the end as I've made a giant leap from then and now. For me I think the way I have developed my confidence is that when we done Identity I decided to write a poem in which I would perform that in front of the audience, but I started having second thoughts and was like no I didn't want to perform as I've never actually wrote a poem in my life before so it felt great to know I have accomplished something which meant a lot as the poem was actually meaningful to me so it was exciting to share my work with other people. On the other hand with Ubu I wasn't really looking forward to what I was going to get thrown at so I wasn't ready for what was coming next but for me it was a challenge that I know I can face so I gave it a go. When I found out we were doing Ubu I could see that not everyone was going to be a fan, as it was a parody of Macbeth so the characters from Ubu correlated to the characters from Macbeth which was fascinating as they were quite similar so it was great to compare them and come up with our own version of the play. I felt that my special awareness improved gradually as before I wouldn't use the space as well as I do now, which is a massive leap for myself and the people in my surroundings as I was sharing the space with them instead of staying in one space which could tell maybe one you don' know your lines or two you don't know the scene or three you weren't in the lessons or rehearsal times to have a clue in what's actually happening. Then I feel like the way I always corps on stage is an improvement I need to make and not let people on stage or the audience distract me in any way shape or form so I felt that the audience got to me or I was just worried or nervous that I would mess up and let my laughing cover the fact I'm nervous.
Particular feedback I was given was that I should channel my inner character, as I wasn't really showing that I was becoming a different character as it made me look like I was playing one character so I was told to work on it. In a specific scene I had to shout "oh cheeky monkey aren't you a naughty one" but Monique kept on telling me that I was singing which I wasn't meant to but I was continuously repeating it and it became a bit of a habit. As we were getting to rehearse so many times that gave me a chance to fix my mistake of singing into shouting as we had to make it seem or look like we were in a pub having a laugh like geezers in a pub. Another feedback I was given was when Pa Ubu and Ma Ubu were having an argument and myself K aliyah and Bilikins entered the stage running I had a fight with Irene but I wasn't really feeling the scene as it was out of my comfort zone so I didn't want to give it a go but once I did it wasn't that bad and it turned our really well maybe next time I'll be more loosen up and have fun with it.
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