Social/political context:
Connections Plays 2013
Don't Feed The Animals
by Jemma Kennedy
the play starts three clowns one has dies and the other two are sad the story progressed to the
the owners of sparks curcuises who are being forced to shut down Tiny the elephant and a rival circus is stealing their artistes. the weekend is fast approaching, it’s down to acrobatic twins Zack and Missy to fill the house and stop their family business from going under. When a local gang of bored youths volunteers to help them, the twins are faced with the task of training an un-trainable mob in circus skills. Jemma Kennedy is a playwright, novelist and screenwriter. She was Pearson Playwright at the National Theatre Studio in 2010 and part of the inaugural Soho 6 writing scheme with the Soho Theatre Company in 2011. She is currently under commission to the Unicorn Theatre. Her novel Skywalking was published by Penguin/Viking in 2003. She has two films in development with Hardy Pictures and a third with director Amanda Boyle. Jemma recently wrote the National Theatre’s New Views online playwriting course for young writers.
http://microsites.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=70276
Cultural context:
Don't feed the animals has three steryotypes going on
the two main parts who are trying to keep up their families circus tradition are treated as working class as they are trying to keep up an old tradition and belifs that should be kept in they are also seen as gypsies "different" and yet free from the goverment somthing all three of thses groups wish to be they are the natural standing within the play the go between of the two differences , the rebelling group of teenagers are also middle class edging towards working class perhaps even lower class they are affect the most my political issues however they go to school and lived good lives with their parents and finally, the son of Mr Grey who would be classed as upper class folk as he is in charge and probably the most powerful in the play as he is able to shut down the circus and is ver conservative party .
the play is a newly written play for Connections, the play is extremely contemporary and set in modern day time. Nonetheless, the them of this is circus folk however there is a underlying theme of political issues and the effect conservatives and goverment are having on our country and how great britain to brittish is not seen as so great and how this needs to change.
the play is a newly written play for Connections, the play is extremely contemporary and set in modern day time. Nonetheless, the them of this is circus folk however there is a underlying theme of political issues and the effect conservatives and goverment are having on our country and how great britain to brittish is not seen as so great and how this needs to change.
Historical context:What is connections?
Connections gives young people a chance to perfroma work in a proffesional atmosheepte in theartre plays are authorised by the National Theatre and performed by people from schools and colleges . worthing college got a chance to be apart of the semi finals with another school the whole expierence was brill How did I relate the context of the play to my character performance?
it helped being modern as its set in the present i could look around and take ideas from actual teenagers and there styles i found this very interesting and i also like the idea it shared issues whith what i was familia with so i was comfotable with doing this and i had a genral understanding where i wanted to take my part i could also look at st trinians and base my charecter around that as texuly its the same
Character challenges :
My character in Don't feed the animals was a young immature gobby teenager eager to prover her self minor the guts i also had a chavy accent to go with it , Alexa shied away into the group as there were stronger personalitys whereas my We will rock you character Meat loaf , was fairly stong willed and blunt she is stong and full of energy and light my charecter is quite important to the development to the story line to we will rock you as meat changes scaramouch into a bohemian helps them get away. my charecter in we will rock you is a fully grown adult fully aware of her body and mind weras in dfta im a young teenager still expierencing puberty , alexa was a 14year old school girl . the demands of my charecter is that im playing a lesbian wich is new to me wheras in dfta i was purly innocent ,
1st may
Today was the show at the capitol we started of the day we with a run through of both actt and finished out frozen tableuzx of with stuart jumpining to out arms with a balck out i think this created style as we used repititon .
at the theartre we were given a tech rehersals i have now learnt that i need to be more spaciouly aware in a blackout i can do this by concentrating and perhaps slowing down. our tech went really well however we lacked energy but this is because we had a show later that eveing and didnt want to burn ourselves out.
the audince thought our show was good and laughed when nessescery i have really enjoyed the expeirence of dfta if we had had more time i thouht it would have been good to maybe use uv paint and perhaps have us behind a back drop showing only shaped in black and white.
i have learnt that a small part is just as important and that i need to learn my lines earler and in we will rock you i am nearly there
what was good with my performance - i had energy i kept my cues and stayed in charecter
what i could have improved - i need to learn to not need the feeling to move around alot i need to get comfortable with standing still i think this will come with confidence i can do this my rehersing more
4th april
performace earas that need to be solved
they first not we were give n was that we fidget to much this ofcourse thros focus and creates distraction to lines i think i twould be a good idea to have a power excersise for example different people are given a number between 1-10 , 10 meaning extremly powerful and 1 meaning weak and nervous this will give us all a idea of how we move i think it would also bee a good idea to block our scenes more as it means no nervous feet figeting wich distracts from a audince.
i personally need to concentrate on my projection i cane improve this by supporting my voice with my diaphram.
16th jan
today we started work on dont feed the anaimals
see on facebook
we did a chat show excersise talking about our charecter see on film
we then startewd blocking c on film
http://www.facebook.com/#!/messages/conversation-id.447722825293669
6th febuary
today we rehersed dont feed the amimals we started with a speed run of our lines of both acts to see what we do and dont no and it also took the time to think about th lines away making it instinct base
we then did a run through of both scenes
good points
there was alot of energy and we remembered blocking
bad points
we were not focused and lines still needed to be prompted.
my goals are to make sure i no the second act clean and when my cues are.
31st Jan
in this lesson we made ties with this special material we went with the colours black and purple of wich we all had the same.
research
i have been looking at how the st trinains dress and i think i like the idea of different types of people in the same group
costume ideas for the school kids as we are going for a modern aproach i think this would be perfect and we can all have individual charecters
THE ECO: DAISY
WHO: Played by Daisy Tonge, 18.ATTITUDE: Save the planet.
CLOTHES: Boots with twigs and leaves attached, plus ear muffs.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Dreadlocks.
BUZZ PHRASE: 'Increase the peace.'
HANGOUT: Swampy-style camp in the dormitory, where they play bongos and guitars.
ACCESSORY: Bow and arrow.
RIVALS: The Flammables.
CLAIM TO FAME: Use wind power to catch the evil Pomfrey.
THE RUDE GIRL: BIANCA
WHO: Played by Zawe Ashton, 24.
CLOTHES: Bling - big gold earrings and designer sportswear, including gold Adidas trainers complete with angel wings at the sides.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Huge hair.
BUZZ PHRASE: 'In your face.'
HANGOUT: Hair and nail bars.
ACCESSORY: Bling jewellery, the bigger the better.
RIVALS: The Emos.
CLAIM TO FAME: Dressing up as boys in bid to find the treasure.
THE HEAD GIRL: ANNABELLE
ATTITUDE: Earnest, but thanks to the influence of St Trinian's, slightly naughty and rebellious.
CLOTHES: Pearls, cardigan and tweed -a young version of headmistress Camilla Fritton.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Red lipstick and sultry Forties eyes.
BUZZ PHRASE: 'Come along, girls.'
HANGOUT: Dorm, the classroom and library.
ACCESSORY: Pony.
RIVALS: No one - she thinks everyone should pull together.
CLAIM TO FAME: Possessed by dead ancestor.
THE INDIE CHICK: ROXY
ATTITUDE: Too cool for school. Role model is Kate Moss.
CLOTHES: Art school meets groupie - effortless style with tiny shorts or skirts.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Bed-head chic.
BUZZ PHRASE: 'Don't copy me.'
HANGOUT: Gigs and parties to bag a musician boyfriend or to get into a band.
ACCESSORY: Leather hotpants.
RIVALS: Posh Totty.
CLAIM TO FAME: Centre stage of the dance routine in London's Liverpool Street Station.
THE GEEK: LUCY
WHO: Played by Ella Smith, 26.ATTITUDE: Super-smart, using brains to make money.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Pigtails or plaits with glasses.
BUZZ PHRASE: Any Mandarin or Japanese phrase.
HANGOUT: The dorm.
ACCESSORY: Laser pen.
RIVALS: The Posh Totty.
CLAIM TO FAME: Breaking into the AD1 secret society nerve centre.
THE EMO: BETH
ATTITUDE: Constant angst.
CLOTHES: Black. Fishnet tights, studded belts and lace. Over-the-knee boots.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Spider web false eyelashes.
BUZZ PHRASE: 'The best way to celebrate life is to embrace death.'
HANGOUT: Morgue, sleeping in a coffin.
ACCESSORY: Fake dog called RIP.
RIVALS: Posh Totty.
CLAIM TO FAME: Chasing the invaders with a live bat.
POSH TOTTY: BELLA
WHO: Played by Clara Paget, 21, scouted at Daisy Lowe's 18th party, dressed like Marlene Dietrich.
CLOTHES: Killer heels and lots of designer labels.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Salon perfect.
BUZZ PHRASE: 'You look hot!'
HANGOUT: Harvey Nichols or West End bars.
ACCESSORY: Pearl Fiat 500.
RIVALS: The Ecos.
CLAIM TO FAME: Seduce Pomfrey's girl-hating gang.
THE FIRST YEARS: TANIA & TARA
WHO: Played by twins Cloe and Holly Mackie, aged 12.ATTITUDE: Tiny anarchic tearaways. Look angelic, but are little demons.
CLOTHES: Battered school uniforms, broken straw hats, hockey sticks and weapons.
HAIR & MAKE-UP: Caked mud.
BUZZ PHRASE: 'We rule the school.'
HANGOUT: Hammocks.
ACCESSORY: Guns hidden under pleats of their pinafores.
RIVALS: The Rude Girls.
CLAIM TO FAME: Blow up the mayor's office.
Double trouble: Twins Cloe and Holly Mackie play first years Tania and Tara
25th Feb
today we did a all day technical rehersal and went over anything that wasnt working and looked at how we could improve the performance as tomoro we have the national coming to view the performance, and we looked at our costumes.
strenght of the rehersal
We all stayed focused and had a prositive vibe around the perfromance.
weakenss of the performance
people being ill and away or late made it difficult to work also the fact the performance was so fast with cues it was easy to miss a line
my strengths
i think my charecter was strong i think my chav imatue look worked well and i liked that my charecter did have a bit of a daring side to her ( perhaps i could play with my speech for the perfromamce )
weakness of my performecnae
tonight i need to go other my cues and make sure i no the oerdrr of my lines and that its the same with everyone ese
26th of febuary
today we had the national come and watch our performance we started at 8.30 to make sure we had enough time to reherse act to as we had had some issues with it the day before and it needed to be fixed
- our energy in this act seemes to have dipped so this needed to be picked up
- and our cues needed to be worked on as with having such short lines and the play being so fast the lines could change the scene narritive and end up rush.
during the run through somone missed there cue and muddeled the scene order so everyone was nervous for when the national turned up wich was at 1 and we also had the as level drama group and the btec yr 12 musical theartre group.
the official run through went well al together and i think the feedback explained this
the national thought the performance was very polished for where were were in resedule process and they couldnt wate to see it in the final performance. weras my freind tom said he didnt enjoy the performance he thought it was cringe and if wer going for cringe then everyone has to be at the same cringe level
the strengths of the performance
- i think i was energetic and made my cues well however i think i need to adapt my charecter and look at how chavs atually behave and then create the sterytype
the weakness
the cues were better but still ineed of improvement
and for this i will just keep rehersing my cues.
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