Lesson analysis 20th January

In today's lesson, we started by walking around the space in any direction we wanted. We did an activity circling around 7 states/levels of tension, for example Level 4 was 'Neutral' meaning we were at a calm, simple state. These states were easily shown through the pace of our steps and intensity of our facial expressions. This was an interesting excersise as it made us think about our choice of movement and expressions to link to the 7 states.

We then quoted one of our characters' lines using what state of tension we felt it should have. For Jane, the line I used was "Yeah, well the only alternative, would be for it to happen to you. And I don't think you want that, OK?' I thought this was a level 5 as I feel Jane portrays a sense of urgency as she wants to get it over with, and also slight panic in her speech as she seems in a rush. However, this character seems somewhat prepared and has continuous positivity, because she always presents herself with an abiding smile despite the upcoming events she will encounter, forcing her to put herself in the firing line. E.g taking Lisa's place as the victim of the goat attack. For my other speaking role 'Ticket', I used the following lines "I lost my ticket!....So what should I do?!......I do hope so". My level of tension was between 5 and 6, because in comparison to 'Jane', 'Ticket' was increasingly stressed and and shows a higher sense of urgency. Reason being is that the character shows strong concern and no signs of ease, whereas 'Jane' is just there to do her job (protect others from danger). This activity helped my characterisation development for the play.

Next, we explored act 2 and discussed the meaning of subtext, which is words/thoughts that aren't said directly to someone, often what we really want to say but adapt what actually comes out of our mouths. For example, you may be tired and grouchy and someone ask you if you how you are. Your subtext could be 'just leave me alone' whereas you actually reply with 'I'm good thanks'. There are many reasons for certain uses of subtext, such as avoiding possible awkward situations etc. 

In our seperate cast groups, we went through the whole of the Act once with complete subtext, and secondly without the subtext. It was interesting to see the contrast of the conversations our characters have, when they say what they wanted to say, and what they actually say.