Edinburgh and HIgh Tide Theatre Company

Hello dear readers,


So, since RADA, I've had a couple of weeks meeting relatives I've never seen before in my life, eating lots of food and having a few beers..but, it's back to business for my last two weeks in London.

Well, really, I went to Edinburgh, where I hung out with High Tide Theatre Company who focus mostly on new work by English and American playwrights. I met Steven Atkinson, the Artistic Director back at the beginning of 2010 for the National Play Wrighting Festival held in Brisbane. I had a talk with him about the work they do and when I was planning my RADA course, I thought, who else can I contact while in London? And High Tide seemed lie a wonderful idea! I've been very lucky that they took me on to see what their company does.
To read more about High Tide, go to www.hightide.org.uk
You can even click on the Blog Link to August 19th and you will find a blog from me!

At the moment, I am back in London, and doing a short internship with theatre company ' Only Connect' it's very different to High Tide, which is great, because it's giving me another perspective.
'Only Connect' only work with ex-prisoners and offenders and is very community based. Although full stage, music and film productions happen within the company, all involves ex-prisoners and rehabilitation experiences. The ex-prisoners go meet 'Only Connect' while in Prison, doing workshops. If they like it, they can choose to join 'Only Connect' after prison and complete in a one week course. Here they can go into Youth teaching and helping prevent crime of other young people, or they can go on to be in 'Only Connect' productions. They are then selected to become private members, with 'Only Connect' being a place of support even after there time finished with them.
There's proof that the programs have lowered the rate of offenders returning to prison from 60% to 20% which I think is quite remarkable and shows that if people in these positions are offered a sense of community and an opportunity to show and use their talents, it really does give them a sense of purpose in life and diversion to not turn back to what they were doing before prison. It's amazing the power of theatre can change lives this way.
To find more about Only connect, there website is www.onlyconnectuk.org

That's me for now. I will write more on my return to Australia- next week!!
I am learning so much, and meeting so many people. Form the biggest Arts event in the world, Edinburgh, to meeting ex-prisoners who have found the power Theatre has to them, to meeting some of the top producers and directors and teachers in London, I feel immensely grateful for this experience. Thankyou once again to the Queensland Goverment through Arts Queensland's Career Development fund and The Ian Potter Foundation, Cultural Trust for this opportunity.

Claire :)

Week eight- I'm going to cry...now

I think this will be the shortest blog because there are simply no words that feel like they can discribe the feelings I have felt in the last 5 days of the RADA 'Acting Shakespeare' course! I think I have actually, possibly felt every emotion there is possible and feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have experienced what I have.
This was the last, and the most challenging. Monday we did tech for 'Love's Labour's Lost' . Although we had been rehearsing on the weekend and now lines were firmly down (there was a moment when the pgrase 'Love's lines lost ' was the perfect description for how things were going. But after a group study session slog and no sleep, lines were down. Exceptm when tech happened- costumes, props, letters and costume changed well, change everything and a lot of what had jsut started to flow well in the show was lost again because of these new elements. But, we got through. Nick, our director kept encouraging us..that this could be just an ok show, or it could be a great showm and we wanted it to be the latter!
Wednesday and Thursday were our first two performances for the 4 week Shakespeare course that has just began. The first was great- we got many moments we wanted, stil trying to get specifics, but the energy was up and a new smoothness to the show was discovered, not without problems, but the show was there. The second day, Thursday, we ...lost it again. Energy was low.Lines were lots left, right, and centre. Perhaps the second night blues? Can you have this in a 3 day season? There's no excuses, but, all I knew personally was that it didn't feel as strong as it could be, and Nick let us know! That night, it was resting up again, looking at the script again, and going back to the detail we had discovered.
And then there was Friday. Our last day. Our final performance.
There was an instant energy that only comes with last shows. It many ways you want to try and fight against this energy- because as actors, we tend to specialise everything if we can. And so you really need to say to yourself 'this is just another show,' 'I am going to do my best and let it not come about me and my special moment. The goal is still to tell the story as best as I can to the audience.'
Playing Sir Nathaniel was a treat with my classmates watching, because they were so willing to want to listen, and laugh. It was also a joy to watch everyone in my class ride to a sharp new level within their characterisations and specific moments that had been created in the play. It was especially fun playing opposite Audrey in my class as she just grew and grew in the comic school teacher role of Master Holofernes. What fun we had!! :D
And so were the last drinks, certificates, and the party to celebrating what has been truly an amazing experience for me. I cannot thank everyone enough who has supported me to make this opportunity happen...Arts Queensland, The Ian Potter Foundation, the support from Rob Pensalfini and the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, my teachers and referees and constant support- Dianne Eden, Bille Brown, Margi Brown Ash and Karen Crone and all of my friends and family in the Brisbane community. Without this support, this trip would not have been possible.
And on that note, I am off the blog for a while. Thankyou again for reading and I hope to share more of what I've been through when I'm back home!
xx Claire :)

Week Seven- it's time

Week seven has come and gone, and it sure was a different week!

It has been a week of frantic line learning, concentration and complete change of timetable and rhythm for us 29 students.

We begin by splitting of the group into two lots of fifteen- the same groups we have had for majority of our classes and lines had to be learnt by this Wednesday. As I said in my last post, I have been, ah, fortunate in that I am playing a smaller character ( there are no small parts though, as they say hehe especially not in Shakespeare) and so, although a challenge, I have not had to learn as much as others as quickly. And of course it's not just about learning lines, but if that's not done, nothing else can happen. I don't know who said, someone well known in the arts, but they said in order for an actor to create , the lines must be learnt. If the lines are not in your body, there is no way you can truly be in the moment, create, or have spontaneity, because you will still be worrying about the lines. It's only then that things can start truly coming to life. And so, our director, Nick asked us to have them down as soon as possible.

We have had some stumbles, naturally in this process. Although we could not ask for any better prep than we have had for six weeks. Because we have been learning lines and working continuously, it means our brains and bodies are up to the task for doing an hour and half play within one week. But still, stumbles, and well, if you're going to have stumbles, having them at the Royal Academy of Arts is the best place to have them because you have the best people to help you through it. And that's what Nick has been doing. Or ie. Kicking our butts.

I have been taking short interviews with some in my class and one question I asked was what's the process been like from going to working on a five minute scene for 6 weeks, to working on a complete role for a hour and half production in a week?

Naturally the answers have been the same- spending six weeks on a five-seven minute scene means you can work on incredible detail. Time can be taken to learn lines properly in a far more organic way, you can play around a lot more and try and discover choices, you can really invest in every moment and find the layers in the work. And, well, in the end, I believe you can still do all that do that in a week and half, as Nick said, putting on a play now is the best thing we can really do, so we aren't thinking too much about everything we've learnt, because there is no choice, we just have to do it. All of those things we learnt “slowly” for six weeks now just have to throw in the basket and begin! And I think it can and will.

And in some ways, there are things which are “easier” about doing a whole show than just a single scene. You have a whole character arch. You go from A to B so speak. Within just a single scene, it's a different story.. You still have an arch within a scene- how does your character change from the beginning to the end? But to help you come to this, you ultimately want to read the rest of the play and understand the scene in context and come to conclusions- but sometimes as a scene as a performance on it's own, it can be quite difficult for an audience to get into it, and for playing the character, you really have to know your 'moment before' to enter the scene, otherwise you're coming from nothing.

Also, when we did scenes, some of the directors chose choices or suggested choices to those that may not necessarily fit in the context of the play, but as a scene on its' own, they were perfectly valid choices, because the responsibility of telling the whole arch of the whole character or story was not there.

I have been having a very fun time playing Sir Nathaniel, the local parish priest, Curate, Vicar. He has great layers that I am discovering. As I think I said in my last post, I always fear that the comic characters in Shakespeare, and I think are, often seen as “just the comic characters” that they're funny, and there for comic relief, and that's their purpose and the 'real' and the 'deep' story is those of the leads. I don't think any good director or actor believes in that- and in one way, Shakespeare is such a smart writer, you could actually play it as very stock characters against very real characters and it will still be a successful play, because the writing is so good. But, if you want more, if you want to go deeper, like I think most people who are in this business and want, then you need to find more than that. What side of humanity of Shakespeare showing? Often his comedies start in Tragedy...Viola and Olivia in Twelfth night think their brothers are dead, in order to survive, Viola chooses to dress as a boy to live, what a huge dramatic opening of what will be a comedy! In Much Ado about Nothing and Love's Labours lost, the men are returning from battle- these men are soldiers who have killed and seen death, just like Othello or Richard III- and I think that is often forgotten because it's a set-up of a comedy... and what about the beginning of 'A Midsummer Night's dream'- a father is unhappy because his daughter rejects the man he thinks she should marry. She runs away with her love because they believe they cannot love eachother if they do not run awat together- then they meet a lot of fairies in the forest, but wait a second, that's the beginning of a comedy? Isn't that awfully close to Romeo and Juliet? Tragedy and comedy are sooo close!

This is not by mistake! The only reason we can have a comedy is because of the very deep and human feelings and emotions that are true within the text, and the comedy can only come from such tragic events or moments. Without these, I suppose you simple get farce, which is in itself a complete other art and again, in no way less demanding than doing a three hour Macbeth. Because the thing about comedy, as we've been learning this week with Nick directing us, is that the timing and blocking is crucial for a successful gag or joke to work. And being Shakespeare, you already have half the audience not quite understanding everything that is being said,so that has to be allowed for too, it has to been made understandable, the gag must be set up for the audience to know a gag has been done- the conventions of the play decide this, and ultimately, I suppose that really comes back to a director and what there choices are in this.

So, anyway, playing the parish Priest, with School Master, Holoferens (played by Audrey), two older men who are very self important and like reciting a lot of Latin- which is all very funny because they do not recognise what they are! And what does it say about there lives? I think it shows perhaps they have both been very lonely. Perhaps it shows how much they have actually not experienced in life- the people who speak the most are often the ones who know the least. It's obvious that Nathaniel is a virgin and has such a naive mind about sex and anything remotely sexual. He is probably alone a lot, setting up his church by hiself ,doing talks and masses with the local school that Holofernes teachers at when he can and taking Sunday monring mass for the town. He also then desperately wants Holoferne approval, his only real friend. They enjoy eachother's company and having lots of jokes together, but Nathaniel is constantly that he will not say the right thing around Holfernes.

As Nick has said to us, they,Nathaniel and Holofernes and others are the community of the play. We have the court scenes of the King, Princess and their ladies and men attending. That is one world of Navarre, but then there is also the world outside of that, and that is where the heart of the play lies. Infact, one of Nathaniel's lines are, when Holofernes invites him to dinner “ And thank you too, for society, saith the text, is the happiness of life”
That line to me really sums up these characters and what they give to 'Love's Labour's Lost'.

Shakespeare has only one scene between the court and the community characters, when Holofernes and Nathaniel and co present a play for the court. The court men are incredibly rude and mean to the players, who have put a lot of effort in to put the show on. It shows to the women of the court, what the true characters of the men are, or that, their emotional maturity is far below theirs It is part of the reason why at the end of the play the women cannot be with the men, for they have seen this side of them, and many more reasons too. The community characters are certainly lower status, but they are the people of the town, and have a certain appreciation for things perhaps the court characters do not value, even though the men in the court have lived and experienced life in a way the others will never do. They are not nearly as thankful for what they have received in life, whereas it seems Holofernes, Nathaniel, Costard and Jaquenettta etc are very content with what they have received and are grateful for it. By the end of the play, Shakespeare does give the men the change to redeem themselves, and we as a audience hope that they will mature within the year they do not see the women and become worthy of them, while the women have the time they need as well.

Anyway, it's a lot more exploring to happen in three days, and tech rehearsal begins tomorrow- the fatest tech in my life I think! Then Wednesday and Thursday evening we perform for the current four week Shakespeare course that has begun, and on Friday we do a show to friends, family and staff.

It's going to be a big last week! My eyes smell onions to think this is nearly over!

xxClaire

Week six- The week that was

Hello dearest readers, I know you're there..yes, I do

So, week six is over- which means it's closer to week seven, which means it's closer to week eight, which means this course is nearly over, but not yet I say! Not yet!

What a week it has been!

We finally had six weeks work culminate in our showings performances on Thursday!

The morning started with our Scenes showings. The nerves were in the air. I arrived early to warm up and Aaron and I went over our scene one more time.

It's really interesting what we put ourselves through on the day of performances, us actors. Some sit in silent, going over lines, other do every possible voice warm up we've ever done, others need to talk and have fun and not think about it too much. I am somewhere in the middle. I like doing last final line runs or a quick walk through but don't like analysing the text again or going over too much detail. I fear any detail that close to performing is too hard for my brain and I can't take it in anyway, and by that time, you're body and voice is so used to what you have rehearsed, it won't probably happen anyway.

But, then it was time.

It's interesting, that though the same people and same teachers were watching that watched us three weeks ago perform our sonnets, the feeling in the air was very different, and the outcome was very different too.

This time, naturally, we all know each other a lot better. Secondly, for this work, we have been working on it the whole 6 weeks, whereas Sonnets was a much shorter time, I guess it seemed there was a far greater feeling of confidence in the room.

And the results did show! I was so proud of watching all of my fellow classmates and realising, hey, actually everyone in this course has a strength as a performer, and well, everyone was interesting to watch in one way or another. Everyone had something to offer, and it was so fun seeing everybody's hard work.

I was personally very happy with my work for the day and was glad how my scene and monologue went. Our scene was probably the best it's ever been, and we even found some new moments with it right then and there. Aaron had a little surprise for me at the end of the scene, something we hadn't rehearsed, but was suitable and he has checked with our director. It's a long story, but basically, Harry Percy leaves the scene, and that's what we had rehearsed and so I thought it was the end of the scene, he walks away and is gone. But then, suddenly, Aaron, has Harry, came back and picked me up! Ah! I didn't know what was going on and so genuinely in the moment, I was completely startled he had come back for me. And so, it just happened! And that's the best ting about acting, dealing with thigns as they coming and over coming it in teh action. And of course, it was this moment that most people remembered when the scene was over and commented on. What a lovely surprise and treat for me...thanks Aaron! Haha (I know you're reading this...)

And so was the theme of the day, to be in the moment,  when we went on to perform our “Last Scenes”. My group performed the last scene from “Alls well that ends well” while the other group did the last scene from “The Winter's tale”. Oh my! Let's just say, everyone was in tears. That's how big it was! The combination of the experience we were having from performing all together in the room, to knowing each other so much more, to knowing the text so much more, to really being in the moment and having the joy and experience of wonderment, the feeling in the air was electric! That's why we do this! I didn't even have lines, but that proved the point of the exercise, that just if you have no lines or very little, it does not mean we can switch off and enjoy the ride, we have to be there every moment as well.

After this, the afternoon ended with Monologues and feedback. Monologues again, went very well. Most people had tried to choose something which had a bit more variation than to their scenes. One guy in my class, Garrett, who is very talented, did the Romeo speech, where he is looking up at Juliet at her balcony. I have heard and seen this speech done countless times before, but I pick him out only because he did it in a way I've never seen the speech before. That stuck out for me. Sometimes people think you shouldn't do well known monologues, because they're so well known and over used,yes, even if Shakespeare, which in some ways I understand, especially if you're auditioning for drama school and you don't want to bore the panel who have seen 50 Romeo's that morning. But when I saw Garrett do it, it felt like a monologue I had never seen before. So that just proved me wrong, that picking a well known monologue need not be against you. Also, in the end it's Shakespeare, so it's always good hehe

I felt I achieved what I wanted with my Goneril speech. To make the most of the words and to be in the moment, to push the speech along from the words themselves. I think I have been stronger before, but I still felt in a good place when I did it.

Feedback was back to reality of what we are trying to implement here while in this course, and was personal opinions of teachers and technical feedback. I was happy with my feedback about scenes and my monologue, though I did get some of the same technical feedback as the sonnets. It seems the stress of what I'm doing, and probably extra heightened when I do emotional work,is the tension rises in my shoulders and my neck can tend to stick out. No matter how conscious of this I think I am, I am doing these things still. No where to the extent I think I would have been doing them before, but its just part of who I am and what my body is and how my body deals with the stress. So, it's not bad but something I just need to be conscious of. The best thing I can do, is to continue and practice learning lines in Semi Supine position (says my voice teacher Adrienne) for this will allow my back to lengthen the breath to lower and the back to be wide. It will also mean, with a book under my head, my neck will be going up and forward, while my chin is lowering,and in the end giving a cleaer airway for the sound to come right out..as Alexander found out all those many years ago. Activley doing this, hopefully, transfers somewhat to when I stand up and actually deliver the lines. If I've learnt lines this way, on voice, hopefully something of that should transfer on.

And so the week ended with us starting out first read through of Love's Labour's Lost. I'm excited to do this play because I am playing such a fun character ( Nathaniel, the local curate who is friends with Holofernes, a local school master) and that I get to investigate a play I don't know very well. We have to have lines down by Wednesday and as I write this, it is Monday night and I am happy to say I have mine almost down. Although, you think this and then when you get up to do it they they all start dissapearing on you haha, so I just have to keep rattling away at them. And I don't have the most either! Phew! But I am sure everyone will rise to the challenge.

One of the other ladies in the course said to me, this was the fist moment she has actually thought she doesn't think she can do it- that is, learn lines this quickly and seamlessly put on a 1.5 hr Shakespeare in a week. She has not acted much before this course, and she really thought for a moment that it's just not possible. I told her all I know, which is that it seems that way, but really anything is possible, it is possible to do this much Shakespeare in a short amount of time- but it's not easy, the only way to do it is with large concentration and energy. If we don't have that, we're over, and I know that no one is going to let that happen!

And on that note, I better go learn lines!

Thanks for reading!

xxClaire

Week Five- What?

Yes, I say what? Because, well, what? It's week five, gone, done, dusted. Over. Finished. Ca-put. Really, only three weeks left ( and as I write this, more like...2 and a half) It's making me want to cry!

Week five was really a big week of the final preparations for what we are experiencing in week six. That is our scene presentation, our songs, monologues and “Last scenes” performances.

So, when I wrote last, I believe it was the night before our dance presentation. It went very well! Better than I expected for learning eight routines in one week..well, maybe it wasn't eight, but it was certainly a lot. We performed all of the group numbers and in-between presented our scenes as dances. I was surprised and impressed at how well we all rose to the challenge. Really, I saw people change dramatically, and when there were mistakes or things didn't go to plan, we somehow worked it out. Also, our Alexander teachers commented on the change in the body and the different awareness there is in dance. Later in the week, we actually ended up doing African, Spanish and tango dance in Alexander classes, because it  just changes your body for the better I think! Either it frees you up and you move things you usually just don't move much. You just don't care as much, you move your centre, so you stir the emotions, and you become loose and carefree in a way that perhaps sometimes an actor feels like they cannot. Very similar to do animal work. Because there is a structure, it allows you freedom!

An impressive note for the week, was that my Alexander teacher, Katya, who has been teaching Alexander for twenty years said I'm one of the most fast changing, improved people she's ever seen! That's an a amazing comment to get. And I feel the difference! As I said I felt on here last time, I feel taller. It's helped immensely with my characterisation work too. The spine affects everything!

What I've enjoyed this week has been scene work. I'm very lucky to be working with a young, talented man called Aaron, who's been very easy to work with. I mean, I think as an actor you always hope that you get to work with someone you have some form of understanding with. A lot of the times you don't and it can be hard, but you still have to do the job.

Sometimes people can be good actors,great actors, but for whatever reason you may find it hard to work with them. At the end of the day, personal feelings are one thing, but I like to think, that no matter what, it's going to help if you're both in the professional mind set of getting the job done, and that the work comes first, that you really have to use or build or work on what you naturally have with that person, for the better for the scene. That's what I've felt has happened with Aaron.,For whatever reason, it seems we understand each other on quite an instinctual level, so that helped immensely for creating what has to be a real husband and wife situation and its developed nicely over this time.

Along, long, long, time ago, I must admit, I didn't really understand what rehearsal was. Well, I had a feeling as to what I thought rehearsal was. And so this is where learning happens.

I used to think, again, a long, long, long, time ago, that you learned your lines,and that you went in the next day and you pretty much tried to re-grasp what you found the first time. And repeat, and then, wonder why I couldn't find new things, or understood about what it truly meant to be in the moment. It was only through my second year at acting school, I think I truly, truly understood the concept of what a rael rehearsal is (Thanks to director and teacher Bille Brown, Michael futche and others) who really made me realise what can full be found in the rehearsal room.

My director and teacher for scenes, Brigid Panet ( Author of “Essential Acting”) has been so good about not allowing us to get stuck in patterns, or as she would say “have the same obstacle” Becasue,  what happens is that usually in a scene you find the obstacle, and when you're challenging that obstacle for the very first time, or first few times, it's very fresh and new. It's exciting and there's adrenalin pumping. But, when we know that obstacle too well,we need to find new challenges for ourselves. We need to explore the scene as fully and deeply as we can each time. Nothing is trivial, each time we do the scene- whether sitting and talking to each other one on one or doing a full run with props and costumes- there must always been real intent behind the lines. That sounds silly, because you think, well yes, of course there should be. But I am constantly shocked at how many actors I see who do not do this, and I don't blame them,everyone has done it. It's because it's scary, and if you're actually giving it a real go, if you're actually daring to go for it- that's a brave thing to do, but it is your job, so you just have to do it. And what I think I see sometiems, and what you find yourself doing sometiems is tricks" or thinking you are in the moment, and it's only when you actually commit and be in the moment, you realise that you weren't before.

And  well, in thee endm something might not work, or you might feel silly or whatever, but I do believe it is always harder to look back and say “ oh damn, why didn't I try this or this, if only I did this” but if you just give what you can a go, do exercises, explore a relationship, seeing how different things affect you and your character, the more and more you discover, an then the more base you have in order to create. And therefore, going back to my point about rehearsal, if one is always going from true intention and taking in his body what he has before from everything that's been explored- it means you don't really have to worry or even think, or put pressure on yourself to be performing a “replicate” performance. You will still find the scene if you are commited to those intentions and has Leonard Meenach woud say (form QUT), you find positive choices!

So, I say all this, because my scene with Aaron as Lady Percy ( or Kate) and Hotspur (or Harry) is that it really has been done it different every time. Every time! The scene has really grown organically and that's been so satisfying! I must say, it is a path that takes more patience, but the results are golden apples that shine in the sun, rather than a half baked cake! What? You can see I do not have as so much wit as Shakespeare when it comes to my similes and metaphors.

My challenge with the scene is that Lady Percy is questioning Harry about why he hasn't given her any attention for two weeks and has been having nightmares (She's overheard him in his sleep). He tells me he can't tell me what's going on ( he is going off to battle, which I have suspected anyway) . I threaten him with words and the physical act of going to break his little finger to which responds to by telling me he doesn't love me. I ask if he really means that. He doesn't, he does love me very much, but remains firm that he can't tell me anything and must go...but, that I can see him tomorrow before he leaves for good.

He does up up going to war, and I will not see him again, but within this scene, all I can do is be int the scene and not the end. I don't want to linger in one emotion, or generalised wash, which is very easy to do, especially if you find something that works emotionally for you, or you can access easily- that's when it's harder to get out of.

 My aim is to be as specific to the words as I can, and to let them create my meaning. The challenging moment is I have to go from my husband telling me to my face he doesn't love me, one of the only people in my life that I love, telling me he doesn't love me....to him saying he does, of course he does! But that he must go anyway. To play devastation, to love, to joy, to the realisation my love of my life is leaving and I have no control- and to play it so fast,  in a few short seconds...is hard!! But it is there. As Brigid said, I can't judge it, I can't choose to stay in being depressed or upset state, or how I started the scene, because the scene has moved on. There is a journey in every scene!

It is the same for Goneril. Her speech, is not a speech, it's a series of thoughts and she does not know where she will end up by the end of the speech, but she gets there. I think it's easy to look at her speech ( where she is determing the fate of her father) and see it as an “evil” speech. But she isn't evil, well, not yet, and she is really just doing what seems right to her in that moment. She doesn't even know or realise how far her plans will end up going, or that she will soon be gulging out another man's eyes or wanting to kill her sister. In fact, if you use the words Shakespeare has given- just using the words as they are, without trying really, you actually get the sense of someone making up a plan as they go along,because the words are telling you that's what's going on! Ah! It makes so much sense!

The characters don't know- so don't play ahead! Another cooking metaphor- we do not want anything half baked already, something that is pre planned! We want something that is cooking instantly infront of us! That's what the audience pay for. They pay for the sunset and for the lights to be on in our eyes!

We presented our Stage combat scenes yesterday ( the beginning of week six, ahh!) and we had a chat about what we get out of doing classes such as Stage combat. And we all agreed- we are learning all about the same things in every class (whether Alexander, dance, or voice) -  to be present, to listen, to concentrate, to be open, to make bold choices, to be committed, to be aware, to be centred- Every acting class is to do with these topics and more- we cannot separate them. These things are our art- this and the imagination!

And on that note- goodnight! Tomorrow are our scenes, monologues, our “last scenes” (We are doing the last end scene from “All's well that ends well”)and singing! Woo hoo! What a big day! It will be so fun, and scary and exciting and thrilling! I am so looking forward to it and seeing everyone's work!

Xx Claire

Week Four-Half Way!

 So, here we are..well, here I am. Half way through the RADA Acting Shakespeare course!

And how does it feel?

Last week I was talking about how my body is feeling different..and so it should!

In fact, the next day, I was talking to one of my teachers and he said I looked taller! So there you go.

This week marks us being half way through the class. We couldn't believe it when one of our teachers said it was our last lesson with him! In some ways,it feels like we have just started !

In week six, next week, we present our monologues and our Stage combat fight scenes, as well as our scenes. So, it's a huge week! And then, we begin rehearsing our major plays.

So, basically, week four has been really getting into the nitty gritty of these things and week five and most of week six are going to be more of a rehearsal mode, than a learning mode.

Although learning happens all the time! Ha!

This past week though we have focussed a lot of Elizabethan dance. We only get one week at it, and we present it this coming Wednesday.

Our teacher Darren, has been marvellous! It really has been a joy doing the classes with him as he has a high energy about him and has lots of knowledge in this field.

At first, I presumed, having done dance before, we would probably learning some set moves straight up and then just practising them over and over and that would be it, but that has not been so!

What Darren really knows is all the history of dance, and the origins of the period, and what were the French, Italian influences of the time and where and why the moves derive from. So, instead of us just learning a bow, for the sake of doing a bow, Darren has gone in steps of reverence to another and explained what the social implications of the bow and practical reasons of a bow may be ( etc. Bowing to your superior, asking permission to dance, and the practical reason that you stretched your calves while bowing, as most dances were based on lots of calf movement).

We have been doing a partner dance, so with our scene partners and acting out the scene, but in a dramatic way with dance. It actually really helps you understand the drama in your own scene and how to use your body to communicate what's happening in the scene. It also makes you realise, just like stage combat, it is not just movements, just like in acting, lines are not just the lines- they are structures and you have to play within those structures and find the dramatic meaning. So every dance we're learning is really showing a dramatic, joyful, or playful moment with your other members of society.

It's actually been really great for the class, it just seems to put everyone in such a communal mood as you share your embarrassing moments or great moments of skill with one another...I guess you are just learning together and it makes the moments more special.

We have also been looking at our sonnets again, in our Character in text classes with Michael, another teacher who runs his own theatre company and directs just about everywhere. He asked us to go through the sonnets again, but to make our own personal story to them. This means we can find more impetus to start the sonnets and to feel what's really going on in them- having a purpose to speak them. We also concentrated on a few speeches of characters, and looked at one by Feste in Twelfth Night. Fesete is a Shakespeare Fool/ and or Clown and these characters are scattered everywhere in Shakespeare. They are usually there to be companions of our leading characters and make them think upon their situations. They're usually very smart and can play on words very well, and very quickly. As one teacher says, these characters are brighter and smarter than us.

In the speech, Feste talks to Olivia. Olivia is a countess and has just lost her brother, she is in mourning. Feste has been gone for a short period of time and Olivia is angry that he hasn't been around when she needed him ( which actually indicates how fond of him she is). When she gets angry and tells the servants to take “The fool away” Feste responds by asking them to “take away the lady”. Olivia then tells him “ Go to, you're a dry fool: I'll no more of you :besides you grow dishonest”

Now, how will Feste reply? By corrupting her words, of course!

Feste: Two faults Madonna, that drink and good counsel will amend: for give the dry fool drink then is the fool not dry: bid the dishonest man mend himself;if he mend,he is no longer dishonest: if he cannot let the botcher mend him. Any thing that's mended is but patched :virtue that transgresses is but patched with sin; and sin that amends is but patched with virtue. If that this simple syllogism will serve, so;if it will not,what remedy?As there is no true cuckold but calamity, so beauty's a flower. The lady bade take away the fool;therefore, I say again, take her away.

Ah huh! Not only has Feste been funny, insightful, cunning, mischievous, he's also managed to make a great insightful view of humanity and still show Olivia that she is the greater fool, all while being charming and showing exactly what she likes about him! Here he is saying that no human is entirely good or bad and that as time goes on, her grief and sorrow about her brother's death will end. And so, she should enjoy her beauty while she can and possibly insinuates she should get married. It's a sure thing beauty fades,so you better make the most of it. She is the fool because she is not enjoying all the good things in life but focussing on what has passed- take her away!

Continuing to talk about characterisation ….For my monologue I am working on Goneril from King Lear. In my scenes I play Lady Percy. Both are strong women, but they are very different women. I am trying to investigate more about what I can do to find my own inner strength with these women. The challenge is, as for most women, is the voice ( not going shrill, nasally, as lots of women do for possible loud, demanding characters and I know I have done before), and having a grounded body,being ready in the moment...that I could strike at any time! I find I can feel “grounded” or what I think is grounded, but realise I am actually stiff and not free, which means I am not truly connected to my centre and my breathing, but in the end, you always know when you are fully present because you won't be stiff or worried, you will just be doing it!

To help with monologue characterisation, we've been doing some awesome walking and spine exercises with Katya in body classes. What if everything comes from the spine? It really changes everything if you think like that.

Anyway, I must go to bed, I have early dance class tomorrow and dance presentation in front of all staff! Bit nervous as there are lots of steps to remember, but it will be fun!

xClaire

The end of week three- the truth!

Hello my little blog readers,

So, I write to you on Monday evening of the fourth week! That means that at the end of this week, I am half way through the course! Ah! It is going so fast! And I'm glad it's going so fast, because that means I am learning and doing a lot!

So, I say 'week 3- the truth!' Because I have been having a lot of "coming to terms" with things moments. Not in a hugely pro founding, going to change my life moments, but close to it! All the experience of learning more about myself, and as a performer and an artist, and asking myself 'Indeed... what is all this stuff I have been learning, doing to me?"

I am feeling changes, physically in my body as one only feels if going through full time study, because your minnd and body are in complete training and there is such focus on your technique, rather than searching for the next gig, which can often pre occupy an actor.
Over this eight weeks- I am completely engulfed in Shakespeare, so it's all I am thinking, seeing and doing! And once again, like when I was studying it at University, I feel just how much Shakespeare and his words, plots and phrases of speech are seeped into modern society, so much most people don't know they are speaking Shakespeare when they do.
This past week I have really appreciated our two amazing Alexander teachers- I did go over Alexander while at university and learn the basic principles, and I think I have known what it is about and what the aim and it's importance for the actor, definitely.. but it's far harder to  know how to put it in to practice. I mean, when in class you do exercises and you try things and we are having one on one  tutorials in both voice and Alexander and really getting to know my spine more- but when you're actually up on the spot, performing your monologue or doing a scene, your concentrating on so many different things that these others things you have learnt in class can be forgotten. Ok, not s much forgotten, but when you're nervous and tense, those habitual responses arise again.,
Katya is an amazing teacher who has been teaching Alexander for about ..oh..twenty years! :o Did I mention my music teacher has been teaching at RADA for thirty years? That's more than my whole life!
But, but to Katya. She really is a special teacher- I have found many of us have connected with her. She is very personal and really does treat every person as a individual and her touch is glorious! It seems like she is actually doing that much, but she will just put her hand on your spine or your collar bone and suddenly you're standing differently, you're feeling different, and as I found out in my tutorial,when I did some lines of my monologue, I sounded so resonate and present in my words.
Something that Dowie, our other Alexander teacher said was probably the highlight for the week for me for these classes. One guy in our class, Ryan, asked Dowie " How do I know when my head is in the right place?"
I understand this question- you often feel like what you have is not "right" or you need to remember when to put your head to be in the "right alignment" but Dowie's response was a great one. He basically said, there is no right position. It is just what it is, and one can only really go by a feeling and when they notice they are present with their body because every day, every situation, every moment of your life is different. So, there isn't going to be a 'right" and wrong" position for you- because every day that is different.
It's hard to get around this concept, because I think as a performer, you're constantly told to be aware of your alignment, your knees, your spine, and Yes, you have to be-especially for stage, and most certainly for Shakespeare. If your body is not free, how can you express all those little bubbles of excitement and emotion and guts going on in side you?
Of course, I write this now, after we did our Sonnet presentation ( our very first presentation) today in front of all the other students and RADA staff. And can I say I thought I did an amazing job and blew everyone away? No. Haha, but I can say it was definitely a very good exercise for where we are in the course right now.
As many of the teachers said after in our feedback, they thought presenting a sonnet as actually one of the hardest and most enjoyable, but hardest) tasks an actor can do. It's so short- you have 14 lines to say everything you need, and then it's over! As one teacher said, if you're performing a large part in a  play, in one sense, at lest you have the whole play to rectify yourself, or to find more moments, explore the character. When you're playing the small part and you get that one chance to come on stage and say a very small amount of lines- that's it, that's all you've got, and you've got to make the most of it!
An important note about sonnets is Nona, the head of the course, said it's almost like you have to imagine you've written the sonnet yourself- it's words that need to be spoken by you, have had to write to express something and you NEED to say those words. There's no other words you can say. You Need to express them, you need to relate those thoughts, that are happening in that very moment,like they've never happened before.
I can't say I think I got everything, but I feel I did get a certain level of clarity that I was proud of and I did enjoy myself. I speak of Alexander work, and habitual tension, and that's exactly what happened to me. I think because I was also most so conscious of all this amazing work we've been doing for three weeks, that's all I was thinking about when I was up (ok, not all I was thinking of, but it was very present in my head), and so it added a certain tension (particularly to my shoulders) and then that meant my thoughts were reduced in some way.
It was great seeing everyone get up and do their pieces. Some people, I don't have in any of classes, so it was the first time I'd seen their work. Everyone had the same moments like I did - either clarity was a problem, or taking too many beats between words and not enough flow, not using the end of the line, physically tension and habitual habits when nervous, like smiling etc So, I was not along in this, I will say.
Although I have been performing for quite a while now, seven years, I tell ya what, you never stop learning! Never!
It sounds all a bit negatie or fulll on, but really it wasn't. It was a fun experience, being together in a room adn reciting sonnets. And as Nona said- it's probably best to perform sonnets after a beer or two- not that that's encouraged haha but that when you're with a  group of people, having a  good time and relaxed, most people would probably perform them in a manner unlike today- they would be more free because they would not be self conscious of all we have learnt and trying to apply it all. That is impossible. And so what I am challenging here is my ability to put things back into simple terms for myself- just simple questions and answers like" What do I want?, why do I need to say this right now, how do I want to affect the other person?" Simple questions and be aware but not on edge of technicalities.

Anyway, I must go to bed, but we have another big week coming up. Tomorrow we begin to seriously work on our sonnets and Stage combat, both of which we present in week six. We also begin dance classes this week!
Outside the course, I am trying to see what opportunities I can get to meet people in London theatre ( with some contacts as before leaving home) and what my plans are after the course. Trying to see as much theatre as possible. Next week I see a show at the Old Vic ( Richard III with  Kevin Spacey :P), The Royal Court and Soho Theatre. I've already done the Haymarket, Vaudville, Wyndhams, RADA shows and more. Trying to squeeze it all in and get the most out of it!

Til next time!
Claire :)