We did speedruns of the play and went over some of the choruses. We changed some areas and adapted some to the layout of the theatre. For example, we decided to walk up the seats for the lines "endure endure...." instead of standing in the trenches. We also began the choral beginning at the tops of the seating around the edges, to create a harmonious, surround sound effect which creates a better atmosphere.
We only had time to go over the scenes vaguely and more on the blocking, so I felt a bit concerned as we didn't have any run throughs of my scene. The run through went okay, but we need to ensure we have good consistent energy throughout the play to keep the interest of the audience.
Post show
My guard monologue went really well. I had no hesitations and my lines were fluid. I made sure to perform out towards the audience over facing back, and chose good moments on directions and where to be stationary. I'm happy that the atmosphere and tension switched between high and low (turning cold when explaining the vortex in the sky, and the desperation near the end when pleading to Creon). My interaction was also good with Antigone and Creon (Despising Antigone but fearing Creon). I am glad I remembered all my lines and I maintained my character, which I think was due to the adrenaline I had and also feeling relaxed, meaning I didn't need line prompting like my past rehearsals. I didn't really need to exaggerate my scene as it was more naturalistic. Greek tragedies are more 'real', as opposed to Greek comedies where things can be overemphasised for comedic effect.
The choruses could have been better in some of the scenes. We did start strong in our choral beginning, although it slightly withered near the end it kept the right pattern. Our body percussion section was very strong and made a good impact. Our cave scene could have flown smoother if we remembered to return to the trenches, but I was happy with my decisions in the choreography. The ending was stronger but overall the lines could have been better learn. However, our emotion in our voices and actions were very bold, for example in 'Bacchus' with our cries and wails.
In terms of the main character monologues, the pacing was good and stayed moving. It was one of our best performances as a whole, as previously we all needed some prompts here and there especially in for cues.
My biggest challenge was fully understanding the entire context and language of the play, so I could fit my character well into the storyline. It also made it hard to memorise the lines as I was not completely sure until later into the rehearsal process. I feel that on the actual performance in front of a full audience, I embodied the character to it's fullest than when in the rehearsals. This links back to my audition, as I usually forget my words in smaller crowds than in a bigger audience which I find interesting, and something I need to work on.
Antigone part 1
Antigone part 2
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