Performances

For me, the Tuesday performance was the best. I think the energy was up due to adrenaline. However, Wednesdays audience laughed a lot more at the right parts because they knew what was supposed to be funny.

Positives-
The confidence in our characters had definitely grown, especially in Ryan Long's  and Jay's.
Megan sang the song, which was really good and I'm glad we put the song back in because it was a nice little break from the play.
The organisation and teamwork was good because behind the set everyone knew were the card was for projection and costumes and we helped each other out behind the set
The projection was a nice touch because, it's more interesting than a picture being thrown up onto a screen, it's a lot more textured when it's projected on the card and more story telling more then lecturing.
A couple of us where also louder and had better diction on the night.
The gunshots worked and where effective.
The transistions where smoother especially doing the card for projection.

Improvements-
Some lines where missed in rehersals, however, none where missed on the night.
The dances could have definitely been tighter but I think we did well considering some of us aren't dancers and have no dancing background
Some of us need to be quieter behind stage as there was a lot of whispering
We need to consider pace, such as entrances and exists- do you come on saying the line or wait til you're in position then say your lines. I think in this type of play, you should come on saying lines as the play is strong and goes at quite a fast pace.
A few technical issues happened, but they were accidents such as the music playing again because the volume was up

Overall, both performances went really well with both audiences. I still think Tuesday was the best that we have done it.

Jess of Willoughby Jess

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Research- Blue
Scenes- Black
Brecht- Purple

Characters:

Chorus- everyone who isn't in that scene
James- Adam
Bonnie- Danielle
Sylvia- Sian
Mr Grimshaw- Lofty
Guard- Lauren
Sir Willoughby- Daniel
Lady Willoughby- Lauren
Miss Slighcarp- Beth
Doctor- Zoey
Mrs Brisket- Chloe
Simon- Jay
School Children- Most of us
Emma- Me
School Inspector- Megan
Mr Wilderness- Ryan
Abednego Gripe- Andrew

On Tuesday with Justine in the first lesson, we experimented with dynamics and tried to inhabit the moments of a wolf. Then Justine taught us some choreographed movements. I liked the movement we did, but I couldn't see us doing it in the actual performance. In the afternoon, we read through the play, once in two small groups, the second time all together just to get a feel of who we think would play the best parts. Personally, I think Beth would make a good Miss Slighcarp. We did a few things with Jill and experimented with making carriages and a bed out of a few people, however, it didn't really look right. So we just focused on the wolves. We put a few blocks in the corner so we could practice being wolves, a few sessions later, we decided to add it to one of the scenes where Bonnie and Sylvia are skating.

We have made a set with the blocks, and have blocked a couple of scenes. We have started to sort the chorus' out, and the wolves movements by the wolves standing on the blocks and because the wolves are a metaphor for the bad people in the book, Miss Slighcarp and Mrs Brisket are involved in this part, basically the leaders of the pack. We made sure we kept breathing as the wolves, heavy and strong, because if we didn't exaggerate the breathing it would look unrealistic. We also tested out doing the projections on pieces of card and the back curtain and it looks really effective and as the wolves or the chorus we have practised moving from position to position in the next scene. During the chorus we have been given lines or sections each and places to be. 

In the half term, we came into college for a day of rehearsals. we made more wolf dances and tightened them.

The research that I have done on the book has been quite helpful, however back in 1832, women had no power but in the book Miss Slighcarp has a lot of power over Mr Grimshaw and the children. Orphans in 1832 were treated quite badly, but in the book they treated quite well. Also the poor and the rich did not associate. The metaphor or the cheese is that it shows greed and the mean characters in the book offer the girls cheese a lot. We also found out that in 1832 King James III was not the king at the time it was actually King William VI who was there for the reform act that was occurring at the time. Also the channel tunnel wasn't built until 1890's but the book is based in 1832,  also there were no wolves around in England at the time but we already know that the wolves are a metaphor for all the bad people in the book.

Act One

Everyone stands in the corner, the we move one by one, starting with Beth as the leader as she is the strongest character and the leader of the wolves as a metaphor. Then we go one by one and push through to the front of them. The other person only moves when the person  before them has stopped moving, once everyone is there,  Beth pushes through to the front again. We then put our hands on the persons shoulder in front of us and go up like a Mexican wave. We run through the side and under the blocks and get into our starting positions, the main wolves go into the centre and get ready to do the wolf dance. We start in a strong stance then to the beat of the music we go down slowly then do the dance that we have worked on with Justine. As we walk away slowly, we turn around to look at the audience then carry on in to the corner at which we began, then the scene begins. This scene shifted and changes and the energy needed to go up a lot, I feel throughout the process of rehersals our energy was very low. For the chorus lines, as difficult as it was, we tried to make it interseting more than storytelling as obviously we weren't performing for children, so we made out lines creepy and none monotone. The first chorus was one of the biggest and most tedious, so instead of standing and reading it, we made it come alive. We set the scene of an ill Aunt Jane, the young girl in busy London, the wolves about to pounce. On the carriage for Sian and Ryan it took some time to make it what it was, they had to keep moving in a train motion, Ryan had to practise knocking himself out with the suitcase and making it look beleivable, also, slightly humourous. We also added some technical stuff in such as, the sound of the wolves smashing through the window, Ryan had a gun that made a noise and flashed, so as the lights went out you heard 3 gunshots and it looked real. In rehersals however, the gun didn't work but on both performances, we got 3 gunshots. the scene between Beth, Danielle and Adam also got better throughout rehersals, on the night, Beth actually slapped Adam, which made it look better and gave Adam a better reaction.


When we first meet Miss Slighcarp. The image that we first need to create is visual, the audience needs to see how beastly she is and then how horrible she is. Bonnie has to be excited that her cousin Sylvia is coming over soon so her character needs to act like a puppy, inquisitive and excited. And I think eventually, Danielle got there in the end, it could've been a little more over the top but I still feel she did a great job as Bonnie.

The next big chorus, we decided again to make it interesting to watch. So me and Amy sat down together and thought of little movements to do. So the chorus stood on the staging, watching the girls skate, we said the first 3 lines normal then as the chorus went on we added subtle yet powerful movements. Such as, moving our arms forward or swaying slightly but making it obvious. Then towards the end of the chrous, we crouched down and watched the girls in a creepy way. The wolves then move to the centre blocks, the girls stop skating. The wolves are sat watching then jump down and stand in a strong stance and say their lines. After Bonnie says 'we have to try' we all take one big step towards (right leg first) then Jay shouts Bonnie, wolves look at Jay, Jay shoots Dan, all Wolves fall then scamper off. Sian and Danielle needed to give the ice skating a lot more though and not do it so half heartedly, obviously the audience knew they were skating but it needed to be intense.

For the servant scene, I added an apron as did Amy. Whilst Beth and Ryan where doing their chrous, Beth threw some money and we all grabbed some and left a note on stage for Ryan Long to run and get it after we have all ran off stage.

Act Two

This scene begins with the letter, a group of us did the projection on one side the ran to the other side. With action music on as Adam tries to help the girls get the letter to the doctor. Whilst Adam, Beth and the girls are sat in the carriage and the Zoe comes over, from where I was sat ready to come on for the dance, I could see Beth's reaction and facial expressions as the doctor was telling her about the girls. I thought it was really good and  when Zoe looked away for a second, Beth shot a threatening look at the girls and I thought it definitely added something to it.

We do the projection for the chorus then its the school scene, I head fore the chest on stage and grab my top and apron for my character Emma, and begin to scrub the floor. Chloe drags me, Danielle and Sian into a line after saying our lines and hits Zoe and Lauren on the way. We added little things into this scene to make it less boring. Such as thorwing me onto the floor and the girls picking me up, showing that we are friends already as Emma continues to be friends with the girls. As i have been there the longest, i know all the rules and know what to do and where to go. So as Mrs Brisket says, 'are on the notice board, please read them BEFORE..' and pushes me back into line as she says before because i've already started walking towards the notice board. Then I mimic her to make the girls laugh, then Chloe shouts at us all and then pushes me and Sian to go do work. When the Inspector comes in thats when we start doing the cheese alphabet, this one was hard to do as we didn't want to make it fun as we are meant to be in a sctrict school, yet we didn't want it to be boring. So, in the end I think we definitely found the right balance. Chloe pulls the board out and hits Zoe. We go through the cheese alphabet, and giggle at some points such as when Amy says 'log' then Chloe says the next letter sternly. After we have done the numercy bit, Chloe grabs Danielle's face as the Inspector walks off and tells us to get back to work. This is where we added an extra bit, Chloe grabs me and puts me in the 'cage' as it made no sense for me to get into my own cage...

The wolves to the front as we say our lines in a story telling/exaggerated way. Once the girls see Mr Grimshaw and starts following him, everyone turns into the busy streets of London and starts pacing their way across stage. When Bonnie says paused we all freeze where we are and say: 'He paused as if lost in thought and then span around- came face to face with the girls'. The cue to leave is Grimshaw says: And then the door opened and he went inside' and we all disperse into the wings. The song at the end of the scene has been cut because it is cheesy and just doesn't really fit in the flow of the play.

In this scene we meet Mr Gripe. I love the way Andrew portrays this character, his accent and his characteristics are really good. Also when he meets Dr Field, the doctor goes over and shakes his hands and Zoe is so professional with this and I think it looks really good.

They're on the train home, and when the train stops Andrew did a good movement to show the train stopping and I liked that. Then me, Amy and Lauren, do a short chrous, as we do so, me and Lauren go between the middle of the blocks and stare at the girls and simon and Mr Gripe on the train carriage, as we arrive in Willoughby Chase, we run off.


Brecht

Brecht went down a more creative route and the main thing he gave us is 'alienation' (verfremdungseffekt). Brecht wanted people to live his plays with an intellectual journey and he always had a political point to make, Brecht was a didactic. This means to teach the audience and told people what to think. He did this through narration (our narration is through the chorus of The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase) this came from Greek Theatre. Narration can be done in first person or third (Miss Slighcarp speaks about herself in third person to the audience). Placards are a common way of using Brecht by having a placard saying what a character is thinking or feeling or what they could really be doing. Stereotypes (caricature) is a useful way to relate to the audience as they recognise it more when it is over the top. In the play the stereotypes would be Miss Slighcarp being horrible to the children and the orphans being sent to a nasty school as most children think that a care home is horrible and they would get treated badly. Brecht uses spass which means fun. So he takes a situation and turns it around at the end. So it makes people laugh all the way through right up until the very end. Something is usually said to make the audience think that it is wrong for them to laugh at what has just been said and begin to question themselves. An example of this would be an improvisation that we did in class, our group told 'yo mommas so fat jokes' and in the end it turned out that our friend's mum had died due to obesity. Making it funny until the very end where it made people stop and think before they laughed or chose to ignore it. This is what Brecht intended he wanted people to leave their minds at the door and just not think until the end where he could tell them something they were laughing at was wrong. In The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, you pretty much do the same thing. It's an an England that never existed so some things you have to look past and just accept. There are a few moments in Wolves where we have tried to make it slightly humorous like with Simon and his geese when he is trying to save Bonnie and Sylvia. Changing Costumes on stage is another method of alienation which we will be using in the play because some characters will be getting costumes out of the chest on stage. We have also included projection by holding pieces of card on stage and projecting the wolves or the set of snow hills so that it comes to life for the audience. Some parts however haven't been projected such as the fire, the fire is physical theatre as are the way the wolves move. It is made up on Danny, Chloe and Zoe- the sit on the floor together and move their hands and arms slowly including a few clicks and claps to make the sounds of a wood burning and when the paper is thrown into the fire it gets louder. Non realistic set/Epic locations such as the icy lakes and the dark forests full of wolves, over the top scenes to set the atmosphere such as the dark forests make it gloomy. All of these elements together are used to create Verfremdungseffekt/epic theatre.