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.