Dramatic Intention

“Dramatic intention” is the purpose of a play, and the purpose of “Cinderella” is to "amuse" as it is a pantomime. This means that our intention throughout our rehearsals was to create a piece of theatre that would be enjoyable for an audience to watch.

As well as having a dramatic intention for the play, we also have dramatic intentions as a performer. Generally a dramatic intention could show the audience how to think and/or feel about a situation or themselves, an example being the effect that class has on people in Willy Russell’s “Blood Brothers”. This play leads you to think about society then and how it has changed over the years. This pantomime allows the audience to cheer on the heroine, Cinderella, while watching the downfall of the Baroness and her daughters, Asphyxia and Euthanasia as they face an unhappy ending.

A dramatic intention that I used during Act 1, Scene 1 was to create a sense of fear and dislike towards the Baroness when she arrives at the mansion. I did this by taking fearful steps away from her after she storms in and showing my confusion and dislike on my face. The Baroness is obviously the villain in Cinderella and she is the problem that must be dealt with in order for Cinderella to achieve her happy ending.

This means that from the offset the audience need to be rooting for Cinderella and from her first appearance the chorus are beaming at her in greeting to show that Cinderella is liked by everyone in Merrivale, automatically making the audience feel similarly (this means our intention is working as we have made them feel a specific way about Cinderella). Another dramatic intention is to get the audience to support Cinderella once she learns of her new stepmother. This is achieved by the simultaneous reaction of the chorus at the news of the Baroness being her new stepmother. Gasps are released and people are shaking their heads in shock at the thought that someone as kind-hearted and sweet as Cinderella should have to deal with a woman as vile as the Baroness. When everyone walks off downtrodden after this terrible news you can feel the shift in the atmosphere as both the people of Merrivale and the audience are left upset at the arrival of the Baroness, and the mistreatment that will fall on Cinderella.

Our dramatic intentions were successfully met as we had the audience cheering on Cinderella and booing the Baroness as she tried to make Cinderella miserable.

Peer Feedback

On Tuesday 19^th November we received our first set of peer feedback from the second years and level twos after showing them a performance of Act 1.

This run through was not only our first proper run through to an audience but the first time that we used our props. This was useful as it showed that we need to be fully aware when on stage of what others are doing as well as ourselves. During this run through I was faced with the question of where I would place my basket to allow me to take my place for the opening number. It wasn’t as simple as just placing it anywhere because I had to ensure that it was out of everyone’s way as I wanted to prevent anyone tripping over it.

In the lead up to this performance comments we received included the repetitive “there is no energy” but this performance was definitely the moment when we started to pick ourselves up and start to put more effort into it.

Individual feedback I received after this performance was that I was noticeable amongst the chorus when reacting on stage but that I could afford to be bigger. I found this feedback crucial in my further development as it highlighted that pantomime is larger than life and so I needed to become larger in everything I did on stage. This meant that in all following rehearsals I would stretch myself to the limit in terms of reacting, so much so that I would feel ridiculous doing it. My motto from then on was “If you don’t feel ridiculous, you’re not doing it right”. I definitely felt this at times when I felt that the person I was reacting against wasn’t quite as reactive I was.

We received positive feedback for the opening number which we had rehearsed multiple times in the morning as we were told that it was lacking enthusiasm. The improvements in this were great as each run-through we brought the energy level up further. It was pointed out that we needed to be high energy as soon as we started to enter and not once we were dancing, there couldn’t be a sudden change. We were the people of Merrivale performing a lively number in town and not a group of actors going through the motions of a dance.

By receiving feedback from our fellow peers it allowed us to receive constructive comments that would allow us to improve Act 1 to make it bigger and more energetic.

The link below shows our opening number and shows the changes made to make the opening much more lively and energetic.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=10153539257335022&set=o.574232582612318&type=2&theater

Role as a Chorus member

At first glance being a part of the Chorus could be thought of as a “small role”, but is in fact as important, if not more so than any of the main characters. The chorus are responsible for singing and dancing in the countless numbers as well as interacting with the mains. This is why I was sure to develop my role as a chorus member to allow me to give a fully informed performance.

Early on it was suggested to annotate our scripts with the directions for each scene but rather than write “Act shocked” or “Talk excitedly” I started to write in character, similar to thought tracking. An example of a direction in my script was “I am laughing at the cheekiness of Buttons” when he refers to Dandini as “Fancypants”. Writing in this way allowed me to fully take on my role as Fran, a local from Merrivale who sells fruit and vegetables in the town.

Writing in this way was not only constructive for me but it meant that Buttons would be able to interact with the chorus while he poked fun at Dandini and his “fancypants”. 

 

The above photos are examples of my interactions within the conversation between Buttons and Dandini. The focus of the scene is these two characters and so as Chorus I had to ensure that I too kept my attention focused on them and to react to them.

On the 30th November we went to see "Cinderella" performed at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage and I found this informative in relation to the role of the chorus within a pantomime. I noticed that the main chorus members were always smiling and had high energy in every detail of their performance, from a dance number to a reaction to the main characters. If the chorus had not been present on the stage I believe the action within scenes would have been noticeably flatter and showed me how vital it is to have an attentive and energetic chorus.

During rehearsals I was given the role of Chorus Captain as I was always prepared and was working consistently from our initial blocking rehearsals. As Chorus Captain I had to ensure that all members of the chorus were quiet when offstage and made sure they were where they needed to be when they needed to be there. I found that this role to be a challenge but also satisfying to be given a slightly larger role within the pantomime.

 

Character Development: Fairy

As well as being a Merrivale villager I was given the opportunity to be one of the fairies that accompanied the Fairy Godfather. In early rehearsals I was quite static and lacked any kind of characterisation. It wasn’t until I received feedback that the fairy scenes were flat that I realised that I hadn’t made much effort into creating a character.

Once given this feedback I went away to create a specific character. Through discussion with the others we decided to create “stereotypical” characters, which lead to a “Goth”, “Cute”,  “Dumb” and “Dance” fairy.

I chose to be a “Dance” fairy as previously having done dance classes and watching several dance films I had a vast choice of elements to bring to my character. Examples of this included skipping in a graceful manner whenever I made an entrance on stage. This “gracefulness” is generally attributed to fairies, but I over-emphasised it by creating large swinging arm movements along with a simple sway of my body to add a dance element.

This step in developing my character was only the beginning as although I was bringing more character onto the stage the fairy scenes were still lacking any kind of interaction and the scenes had no energy. As a group we spent time running through our scenes to help develop a relationship between the fairies.

Act 1, Scene 2 is when the fairies first make their appearance and so we spent time working on the set up for this scene. In this scene the fairies are pretending to be trees, and so we discussed how we would pose. I decided on posing with my hip jutting out and my arms and branches rounded over my head in a way similar to that of a ballet dancer. I found that going into this position would make it clear to the audience what character I was. Ola took the role of the “Goth” fairy "Droopy" and so her pose contrasted mine as her pose was more reluctant as her arms remained close to her side and she slouched to suggest boredom. Whereas I took on an upright posture as dancers often look tall when they take to the stage to perform.

 

The moment when Cinderella teaches Buttons how to dance gave me another opportunity to develop the character of my fairy, which eventually became named “Dancer”. When “Jump on it” begins to play I would throw my tree branches to the floor and begin to stretch out my arms to show my eagerness at getting to dance, and then while performing the routine I would get really into it.  

An example of the stretches I performed on stage.

 

 

This photo shows the confidence and enjoyment during "Jump on it" as it is a moment for Dancer to "shine" amongst her fellow fairies.

 

I found that once I was more comfortable in the role I was able to add little dance moves during scenes to show that my mind was always on dance in one way or another, and this would result in being reprimanded by the Fairy Godfather for losing focus.

In the beginning I can honestly say that as a group we weren’t putting enough effort and thought into our fairies, but by the time we reached our final rehearsals and first shows we found that the fairies were very approachable for an audience. Children in particular found the fairies interaction enjoyable.

Dance Rehearsal - Closing Number

As a member of the chorus my role has included learning the various numbers performed within the Pantomime. The closing number “You Can’t Stop The Beat” is a particularly high energy number. As with all the songs, this number requires us to sing as well as dance. I find this song the most challenging as it requires a lot of breath as it is quite fast-paced, and so to sing and dance at the same time can sometimes be a struggle.

In the initial rehearsal for this number we were filmed and this allowed me to see the choreography from an outside view and also meant that I could look at my individual performance and how I could improve. I found that I would gradually run out of energy during the performance and so wanted to rehearse to ensure I could remain the same throughout.

First recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaqiRdv5tg&list=UUsc6As_10ht676BbLjDH3iQ

As a cast we have spent many hours rehearsing the closing number to tighten up the choreography as well as practising singing while dancing. With less than a week to go until the show this rehearsal footage shows a much tighter performance, and I have found that I am much more comfortable singing and dancing at the same time. This has meant that I have felt less stress on voice, which is important in the lead up to our shows. I have also found that with practise my stamina has grown and so I can keep the same energy level throughout the number.

Second recording: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEnmUqqHAvk&list=UUsc6As_10ht676BbLjDH3iQ

2/12/13 - Rehearsal of Act 2

Today’s rehearsal consisted of the run-through of Act 2 of “Cinderella”, as we are now in our final week of rehearsals before the show.

Our initial run-through was performed to our Level 2 peers, as well as a small group of Second Years. After this run-through we received a mix of feedback. The level 2’s, who had yet to see Act 2 found it full of energy and funny, this feedback means that we are engaging the audience well. However we also received constructive feedback which we then spent the rest of the day putting into action. Our feedback included that the chorus lacked any kind of enthusiasm and that we were not following directions correctly. An example was talking during Scene 2 (The Ball scene) when we were meant to be engaged in the action amongst the main characters. A lot of the action was flat and we were dropping out of character during transition scenes.

All this feedback was true and led me to see that there is much to improve to make our pantomime ready for next Wednesday.

For the rest of the day during rehearsals I ensured that I was always aware of what I was doing and making all actions larger-than-life, as pantomime is melodramatic.

I felt that our second and third run-throughs were a vast improvement on the first run-through. Everyone was much more comfortable with the script and what they were doing, and this allowed people to bring more energy to the stage. There are still moments when things become flat on stage and that is during the weaker scenes. I have found that I have most energy during our opening and closing numbers for act 2 and so I need to put this energy into all my scenes in Act 2.