Electra Performance Evaluation

Show 1

In our first show I was quite nervous as I had to portray such a distraught and anguished character and I wasn't used to acting so hysterically. I am usually quite a reserved person and I felt like I had been holding back slightly in rehearsal so I wanted to push myself and show everyone, including myself, that I could bring out this completely different side to me. 

One of the other actors skipped a chunk of Act 2 which meant quite a few of my lines were cut, including a big paragraph of mine that I had been working hard on and that helped the audience to understand Electra's feelings and background. Although I was disappointed that I didn't get to perform all of my lines I think the chorus and I managed to pull it back and save it. I did feel like there was a bit too much of a gap between the character's leaving early and us recovering, but unfortunately at the time I was experiencing some hearing problems and I didn't even realize what had happened as I was looking down and sobbing loudly to myself! If I had been aware I probably would have got up and carried on from where we were supposed to carry on, but luckily one of the other chorus members managed to save it.  

The speech where Electra gets furious with her sisters was what I was most worried about. However I feel like I performed it better than I ever did in rehearsals although there was one line that I constantly got wrong and still did in this performance. It does have some tricky wording in it and I over think it to much until I end up messing it up anyway. I think the adrenaline of performing allowed me to get worked up and scream at them. Also my parents were really near and I wanted to show them what I could do, so this encouraged me to go further than I had before, resisting the chorus as much as I could and making my voice sound as loud, angry and crazy as I could. In my lines afterwards I paced up and down as for some reason this allowed me to keep the angry feeling and not lose the mood. I was overall proud of the performance I gave but I knew there was more in me to give. 

Show 2

Our performance went much better on the second show. Although not perfect we managed to do the whole scene without skipping anything. On the speech I missed last time, where I talk about having no hope left and I would rather die, I decided to add something new. I fell to the ground and started sobbing. I felt like it needed this to convey the strong emotions Electra was feeling. She has no hope or strength left, she can barely stand she is so engrossed in sorrow. 

Show 3

I think I performed my best in this show. A different actor played my mother and I felt that we created more of an argument and conflict between us at the beginning of the scene. I also felt that I reached a completely different point of anger when I was raging at my sisters. Something just clicked with in me, I managed to crawl higher up the steps than I ever had before and when I chased them just before the end of the scene I almost caught them and stomped my foot. I have never felt like that before but I felt really proud that I managed to channel those emotions so much, more than I ever thought I could at the start of the rehearsal process.

Show 4

I felt a lot of pressure for this last show as we all did so well the night before and we had to get that energy back one more time. However I thought we managed to give our all once more. Looking back at how I was at the start of the process, and even the first show, I feel like I have progressed so much as an actor. I am much more confident with the rhythm, pace and general language of classical theatre. I have also proved to myself that I can completely turn into someone else and channel feelings I have never really experienced myself before. Now I think I need to work on getting to that point sooner and being more confident with my ideas, not to be embarrassed about going over the top when necessary. 

Electra Final Costume Designs

Here are the final costumes for Electra.


CHORUS:

We kept the original idea of the friends/chorus looking gothic, but instead of going for a modern Kat Von D style, instead we went for a more mystical and creepy look. The tutus and wings made them seem like dark fairies rather than humans. The make up is very dramatic and made it look like they didn't have eyes from the audience, which was a very creepy effect. 

SISTERS:

We decided that the sisters should wear a school uniform to represent their age. Keeping with the gothic theme, the staple colour for almost every costume is black, which is why their ties are black. Their hair is neat and they look very clean which shows how privileged they are compared to Electra.

CLYTOMNESTRA:

Clytomnestra also wears a lot of black, but her main colour is red. This not only sets her apart from other characters but symbolizes her high status. The blue head band also makes her look regal. 

OLD MAN:                                      

The old man has a very simple costume. If we could improve on it I think he should have had some make up to make him look older such as grey hair spray and also he should have had a walking stick.

ORESTES:

Orestes' look is more modern than the other characters. This is quite similar to the production we saw at the Old Vic.

ELECTRA:

Electra's costume is not as gothic as our initial idea. We all have a similar pink dress to make us easily recognizable as the same colour and makes us look different to the other characters. Our hair is similar to the style of the chorus but a lot crazier. We added brown eyeshadow to look like mud and dirt on our skin as we live outside. We also put real mud on our dresses but the material was too shiny so it didn't last long.

Electra Rehearsal 2

Today we blocked more of Act 2. We have changed some of the arrangements so that now the family are on the middle stage block and the Electras are on the stage block to the right. We made this change because the middle blocks are going to lead into the house so it makes more sense for the family to be there.

After I enter by walking around and looking at all the audience, instead of hiding behind my friends  I am going to go the corner to scribble dark thoughts into my diary. Then when Magic says "I have been sent with a charge of weight" I go up to my more caring friends, Lauren and Ellie, and hold onto them, obviously concerned by what the old man has to say. The rest of my friends then gather round me as I am told that my brother is dead. I fall to the floor and say "this day hath ruined me". At first I said this quite fast but I was later directed to say it slower to convey the pain Electra is feeling. I found it quite hard to imagine how much pain she would be in as I have never been through something so traumatic. The closest person I have lost is my Nan and this was very hard for me to deal with so I am going to try and bring some of that sadness to the role. I think this is something that will come to me more as we go along and I become more confident with the lines and with the character.

Electra Research

How Was The Play Staged and Performed To It's Original Audience?

Electra is an ancient Greek play. There are three different types of Greek plays, comedy, tragedy and satire. Electra is a tragedy. Most Greek plays were based on ancient myths and Electra follows this tradition. 

Greek theatres were always outside. The earlier theatres were basically just areas on a hill side but as time went on the designs became more elaborate. Theatres were placed on hillsides so that everyone watching could hear really well. Here is a picture of the layout of the type of theatre that Electra would have been performed in.

The Theatron is where where the audience sat. The word "Theatron" literally translates to "viewing place". They were usually on hillsides overlooking the Orchestra. In the 5th Century BC audience members could bring cushions to sit on but by the 4th Century BC they had marble seating in theatres. 

The Orchestra was usually round and is where the chorus would dance, sing and interact with the actors on stage. In the early days of Greek theatre they would have been made out of hard earth, but later on they were sometimes made out of marbel instead. Many orchestras had an altar in the middle as there was a big connection between drama and religion.

The Skene was behind the stage and was a dressing room for the actors. It was also used as scenery and often painted as a palace, temple or some sort of building depending on the play. For example, the Skene in Electra could have been used for the door to the house. 

The Parodos were how the chorus and some of the actors entered and exited the stage. It was also the way the audience entered and exited the theatre. 

Another illustration of a Greek Theatre

Greek plays had a chorus of about 12-15 people who would dance, sing and carry the show. All of the actors and chorus would be male. This is one reason actors would wear masks. 

Another reason they wore masks was so that audience members at the back could still understand the play and see their facial expressions as they would have been quite far away from the stage. Also, sometimes there would only be 3 actors so they needed different masks to be able to portray different characters. The chorus would all wear similar masks but they would be completely different from the mask worn by the leading role. 

What Social, Political and Cultural Themes Were Contained In The Play? 

An ancient drawing of Electra's family

The whole play is based on the social theme of family and how relationships are strained due to the actions of different family members. For instance, Electra hates her mother for the death of her father, who she stays loyal to even though he sacraficed her sister. Clytomnestra is afraid of her own son, Orestes as she knows he could come back to kill her. This brings us on to the cultural theme surrounding the story of Electra. It was tradition in Greek times for the son to avenge his father, which caused Electra to have to give her brother away, meaning Orestes could not grow up with his family and Clytomnestra lived her life in fear. 

There are also political themes of sexism in this play. Why did Electra have to rely on her brother to avenge their father? Why couldn't she have done it herself? She wrestled with these questions herself to some extent, but in ancient greece it was thought that women were to weak to be able to do such a task and it was up to the men to do it. 

Are They Meaningful For Both Original And Modern Audiences?

I think the themes of family relationships and gender roles are universal and timeless. Although they may not be as dramatic as they are in Electra's family, everyone has family problems at some point or another so modern audiences can relate to it in that way. Sexism and gender roles is still a major issue today even if its not as bad as it was in ancient Greece. 

It would have been meaningful to the original audiences in a different way, as the story is important to their culture so they probably would have already known it when they went to see it, similar to fairy tales today. They would have been able to relate to the cultural themes, such as the son's duty to avenge his father as it was something that was prominent in their culture at the time. 

The fact that it is still in theatres today shows how meaningful the story still is today. 

 

         Electra and Orestes being portrayed in a 2014 production and an ancient drawing of the siblings

How Did You Tackle The Play's Language Practically? 

When I first read through the script I didn't really understand a lot of it, so I went online to try and find a modern translation. I tried a couple of well known ones such as Sparknotes but didn't find them very helpful. I then found one called poetryintranslation.com which had a very similar version to our script completly translated into modern language! We had cut down ours a lot so I did need to try and work out what wasn't included in ours but as soon as I started reading it, it started making sense! It also allowed me to work out some things by myself. I then wrote the translation on my script next to the lines I really struggled with, however the only problem with this is not to get muddled up with which version to say. If I still wasn't sure on some words I would ask others in the class or my teacher. 

Here is a link to the website: http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Electra.htm

What Did You Do To Ensure You Were Fully Appreciating The Context Of The Play?

Our Skene. Some of the audience sat on the sides of the stage
to create a performance in the round

In our performance of Electra we staged in the round to reflect the traditional Greek theatres. We also created our own Skene. As for the performance side of things, it was traditional to use over the top movements and convey loud extreme emotion whilst addressing the whole audience. We had a chorus who acted as narrators, dancing and singing to the audience. Dance and song was another tradition of Greek theatre. 

What Vocal And Movement Skills Did You Create In Your Performance?

Because our performance was in the round we had to make sure we were addressing all sides of the audience. This caused us to move around the stage a lot more than we might do in a standard modern play. For instance, when I was talking to my sisters, each chorus member went to a corner of the stage and I spoke each line to one of them. In my speech when I am angry with my sisters I start off low and quiet and become faster, louder and crazier as the speech goes on. The chorus tries to restrain me and I start to crawl up the steps. This movement and vocal skills together portrayed how angry and insane my character was.  

What Were Your Intentions For Your Character?

I played the role of Electra in Act 2. In this scene she is lead to believe that Orestes is dead. Not only does this mean she has lost her younger brother but she also now has no hope of avenging her father, the one thing she has been set on for years. I believe she would have felt deep grief, agony and shock at the news. When her sisters arrive enthusiastically to tell her they thought they saw signs of Orestes at their father's grave, Electra goes into a rage. She is angry at them for being so positive at this upsetting time for her but obviously they don't know what has happened. Electra is their older sister, but instead of looking after them and being a role model, she is bitter and patronizing towards them. I think this is because she resents them for still living in the palace her mother.

Did You Tackle Your Role With Confidence?

I feel that I did tackle this role with confidence. It wasn't always easy but I pushed myself and brought out different sides to me that I didn't know I had. I worked really hard to learn the lines and once I did that was when I really started to feel comfortable in the role and be confident in my performance.

Review of Electra at the Old Vic

When we arrived in the auditorium, the seating was arranged in the round. This is how traditional Greek theatres were layed out so straight away, before the play has even started they are creating the atmosphere. The stage was in the middle and instead of being raised it was quite flat. As I was towards the back this caused me to spend a lot of time leaning forward when actors were in certain parts of the stage, which meant I couldn't really get comfortable throughout the performance. 

The seating in the Old Vic. In Greek theatre this would have been
called the Theatron.

Another Greek tradition they kept in this performance was the Skene. This acted as the door into the palace, where the mother and sister would come in and out.

Something more untraditional about the staging was the use of sand on the floor and a tap fire and tree. I really liked these more unconventional features as it allowed the actors to be more dynamic with their movements and blocking but also made the audience believe more that they were outside. They also used very basic lighting to try and immitate natural outside light and make the performance look even more realistic. They even used 360 lighting to create shadows. 

The role of Electra was played by Kirsten Scott Thomas. She is a very big star and the director seemed to take advantage of this. Most of the play was just Electra by herself. Although she put in lots of emotion and passion into her role after a while this did become quite boring and I feel like more interaction between characters was needed. The casting of the other characters was also interesting, as the actress who played her mother did not seem much older at all, which could be considered as an odd choice. However it could be argued that in Greek times girls were very young when they got married and had their first children. Oresetes then looked very very much younger than both of them, again a strange choice. 

                                                                            As you can see from the photos, Electra's 

Costume is plain and dirty. She looks unwashed and drained. This contrasts with the costumes of her mother and sister, who look regal and royal. Both costumes fit in with their social status and the era of the play. However Orestes costume looks to modern and doesn't seem to fit in with the others. He wears a denim jacket and leather boots, which is not at all how you would imagine a greek man to dress.                                                                                                                                         

Top to bottom: Electra and Orestes, Electra and Clytomnestra
and all three actors together. 

Aegisthus

The Character of Ageisthes takes this in the complete opposite direction. He looks very traditional, almost too much so to the point where he looks like he should be in a pantomime. His character juxtaposed the others in many ways. For instance his speech was very awkward and stikkato and I wasn't sure if this was intentional or not. However it was similar to how the King spoke in a performance of Medea we saw last year so perhaps this is the traditional way to show a character had power and wealth. 

I do feel like the play was very slow to begin with, not much happening apart from Electra on stage, then suddenly all the action happened at once and it was over. I feel there needed to be a bigger gap between Orestes' entrance and the murder of Clytomnestra and Aegisthus to show the audience the reasons for and importance of their death. I also think there should be less time of Electra by herself. This performance didn't feature any song or dance which is traditional in Greek theatre. I think that if the chorus had sung and danced that it would have made the play more enjoyable to watch and could have explained some things that were harder to show through dialogue. 

Script Writing Lesson 1

POLITICAL THEATRE 

Political Theatre is a play surrounding a political or social issue.

Policies That Have Affected Me:

Merging First and Middle schools into Primary schools so that we start Secondary school a year earlier.

Having to stay in education until 18 years old.

The price of University Fees rising

The price of train fares rising

Where I Find Out The News:

Social Media eg Tumblr and Facebook

The BBC/ITV News

The Newspaper

Social Issues I Have Come Into Contact With 

Teen Pregnancy

Pot Holes

Rogue Landlords

My Character - Celebrity 

Apposing Character - Another Celebrity 

Set - A "This Morning" type chat show

There are two sofas facing opposite each other with a coffee table in the middle. The two hosts sit on one sofa and the two guests sit on the opposite sofa with a noticeable space in-between them. There is a large screen at the back between both sofas with the chat show logo on. 

Holly: Hello and welcome to Chatting on Tuesday. Over the weekend you may have seen or heard about a controversial charity campaign by X Factor contestant and Big Brother winner Cecillia Simpson. Incase you didn't, lets take a look at it.

A video appears on the large screen behind them. It is a film of one of the celebrities from the sofa. They are sitting on a chair in front of a black background.

Cecillia (on tape): Hello. My name is Cecillia Simpson. You may know me from shows such as X Factor and Big Brother. I am here today to tell you about the Pug Dog Welfare and Rescue Association. Each year hundreds of these adorable pugs are left abandoned and neglected. PDWR work tirelessly to find these pups a forver home. I should know as I have adopted 5. Boris, Bobby, Billy, Barney and Benji were lucky enough to find me. Otherwise they could still be neglected, feeling lonely and sad. Many people ask me how I could possibly fit my 5 babies into my busy schedule, but to be honest as soon as I saw their cute faces how could I not want to help? So be like me. Adopt a Pug today.

Holly: Hmm. Okay, well that video got a negative response on Twitter from quite a lot of people on twitter, including this user: @laurenrebbecca31 who says: "this video is atrocious. Cecillia obviously doesn't care about the Pugs as much as she does herself" and many other celebrities such as Emma Watson who says "Just another fame hungry person trying to save their career" and youtuber Zoella said she was "outraged" by the lack of respect and real want to help the pugs. Well we are joined now by Cecillia as well as Miranda Stevens who is from the Pug Dog Welfare and Rescue association. So Cecillia, what do you think about everything that has happened on twitter since your video appeal.

Cecillia: You know what Holly, I am hurt. I am actually hurt by all this. Honestly. I cannot believe how against this everyone is. I was just trying to do a good thing!

Miranda: I don't believe your intenttions were entirely to do good things for the Pugs.

Holly: So Miranda you agree with the tweets that have been pouring in?

Miranda: Yes, I'm afraid to say I do, Holly.

Cecillia: What!

Miranda: Sorry Cecillia but I am not stupid and I can see what you were trying to do

Cecillia: And what was that then?

Miranda: Using the Pugs as a poor attempt to make yourself look better.

Cecillia: Why would I need to make myself look better? I've only ever been honest for as long as I have been in the public eye.

Miranda: About 2 minutes then!

Cecillia: Sorry but who are you? Do you have your own book? Are you married to a high profile footballer?

Miranda: You know what, no I don't have anything of those things and I don't want them either. You want to know what I do have though? A genuine love for these dogs, I work hard to help them find homes and truley keep their welfare the closest thing to my heart.

 

Ugly Sisters Into The Woods Research

I have decided to design costumes for the Ugly Sisters. In my research I have found that a lot of already existing costumes use the same style dress but in a different colour:

 

In all three of these pictures, the dresses are either purple, yellow or red/pink. I think the designers have chosen these colours as they are bright and vulgar to reflect the fact that the sisters are supposed to be ugly. I am going to use the colours purple and yellow.

Most of the dresses I found in my research had overly puffy sleeves, tight waists and then long puffed out skirts with a petticoat underneath. I really like this design but it looks a bit more Victorian than Medieval which is when I have set my version of this production. 

Here is a picture of Ugly Sisters costumes that look more appropriate to medieval times. They still have quite puffy sleeves and skirts but they are both longer. Their costumes feature a lot more gold and embroidery. Gold is a symbol of wealth which is why I think the designer chose this colour.