Today we revisited the 'Rent' song, where we now began to block the scene of when each gang would enter/exit the stage, and what directions they would be coming from. We then did a run through the scene with the actual 'Rent' track to reflect on what needs to be improved in our own gangs.
Our gang took advantage of the space as we used a large portion of the stage, as the beginning of our performance displays me and Ashley entering from the complete opposite corner to Paige. We then meet in the centre and travel far downstage, then far upstage and exit to the left. This is more effective than staying in one area, as when additional gangs then filter through and cross through others.
We had an obvious contrast between the 3 states of tension. For example, our 'parole' behaviour involved us casually walking with our heads low and with a composed expression/attitude, whereas our 'intimidation' behaviour included us crouched on the ground, very focused, alert and fixated on where we were aiming to go. We then sprint closely together off-stage to 'attack'. These various actions helped highlighting the significant behaviour changes and the rising level of aggression. We also portrayed our gang-style characters well through our body language and gestures, such as the handshake between Paige and Ashley at the start and the fist gestures (representing our plan of attack) when we are in our crouched position.
We managed to show a relationship between each gang member by interacting with one another. Even when me and Ashley enter the space as a pair already shows a bond. The handshake is another aspect, as it shows their familiarity with each other. Another action we performed was when I kneeled to the ground and Paige shoved Ashley over so he tripped over my back. Although this could show the boisterous, banter side to their friendship, we decided not to use it as didn't flow as well into our next positions etc.
Things we could improve involved
More energy: Something our gang was lacking was the energy. We needed more power in our actions and more liveliness to our whole performance.
Sharper turns: the whole point in our turns is to switch to our next state of tension. Therefore, making the turns more tight and distinct, will lead on to improving the a clearer behaviour change.
Facial expressions: Although our body language and actions were reflecting the gang movement, we needed to also reflect this through our faces.
Exaggerate movement: For example, our sprint off-stage could be done in a more forceful and sudden manner, or our shoving and playing around could be performed bigger and more obvious. As it's a musical, it is rare that things are done subtly.
More confidence: Even when simply walking, walk with purpose.
Smoother transitions: We needed to avoid any pauses or hesitating when going into the next move
More improv: When repeating the phrases and simply wandering around the stage, we should improvise movement that links to our character
Interact with other gangs: We could also associate with outside gang members, presumably in a confrontational way to challenge dominance and status of their group.
More sholl fish: Sometimes we distanced too much from each other in the space, so we need to remember the sholl fish exercise to maintain our gang mentality.
Once we get our individual 'Rent' character roles, it will be better as it will change the way we interact with the gang members.
We briefly discussed possible uses of the stage, for example triverse seating, ways to reproduce fire((red lights & smoke?)) (as fire is in this scene). This will be further discussed when we are allocated production roles.
We then ran through the scene again and filmed it:
What we did that went better:
Our switches and turns were sharper
Our transitions were smoother
We improvised more when repeating phrases
We had better interaction with other groups on stage
Still need to improve?
I think we need more actions in our states of tension and even more interaction with other gangs.
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