Theatrical Journal

‘Time of your Life’ is a short play made for television by the production company Gecko that follows an unnamed protagonist going through an increasing alienating cycle of life, commenting on the artificiality of life (especially in these modern times) as it exists around us through the use of various techniques.   The play was vehemently fast-paced, and the contrast between strange, energetic physicalisations of the ensemble as compared to the protagonist’s weary, tired demeanour draws the audience in from the start, albeit in a disorienting manner due to surreal happenings like his ‘birth’ where he is wrapped up in plastic. It is revealed to the audience in the end that what they experienced for the first twenty minutes was actually a ‘show’ put on for the protagonist; the reality of the set with no ceilings, stage light fixtures and production staff is shown causing a Brechtian effect on the protagonist, likening to an existential crisis within real life. It is therefore n...

Lion King Birth Scene (TEAM Analysis) Tension: Passionate (6-7) Emotion: Joyous Atmosphere : Celebratory Meaning : Momentousness of cub’s birth.    >STAGING immersive thrust with protruding sections and characters     -why? >Characters     -Costumes extravagant, Lions extremely humanized. >Production elements ( Light and sound)   - adjectives to describe colour sound.               ____ — single voice to chorus - Rising octaves   - strings volume rises - major happy key -harmonies get richer > Light: Sun, Dawn, Warm colours intensifying.  

  Fly By Night The play was an extremely entertaining experience, which also highlighted the use of good staging and effective pacing. The beginning scene immediately lured the audience in due to two factors: the character of the ‘aunty’ being an extremely loveable character with exuberant physicality and the transition between the scenes where the boxes are piled up in front of her little window, excellently transitioning to the next scene. The contrast of a scene with a lower energy and pace with a higher one effectively kept audience members captivated, (for eg. bustling cafe vs two people at a table after cafe closes). The major learning I received from the play was the importance of structure and effective placement of comedic relief (in this case in form of monologues) while still   and driving the plot forward and developing characters.

Time Of Your Life The play was vehemently fast-paced, and the contrast b/w strange, energetic physicalizations of the ensemble as compared to the protagonist’s weary, tired demeanour drew the audience in from the start, albeit in a disorienting manner due to the surreal happenings like his ‘birth’ where he is wrapped up in plastic.   The play within a play concept, often utilised as a comedic trope ( to the point of banality sometimes) was given a refreshingly new spin. Brechtian techniques were employed: the lighting and the progression through the doors served the role to not distance the audience, but instead the protagonist whom the audience empathised with. His emotions of bewilderment, fatigue regarding life echo within the audience: only the ensemble is alienated by the use of unnatural, frantic   pacing.   I found that the play is effective in conveying the effects the franticness of modern life can have on a person, as well as   larger ...

Research Presentations: The research presentations were educational to say the least. A lot of Japanese theatrical tradition was elaborated on, which was interesting, because it seemed very different from the more ‘serious’ traditions of the West. A large emphasis is placed on audience rapport and making the play accessible in Japanese tradition. A ground-breaking idea was the use of a fan highlighted by Rehaan, because his physicality was the most important part of his moment of theatre. Another concept was the Balinese theatrical tradition, delved into by Yannick. The use of interlocking rhythms to induce a trance seems to be a largely unexplored avenue in the western world, and audience participation could increase both enjoyment and engagement of the play. Me being a musician, the idea of live musicians interacting with the audience while the play goes on seems scintillating.

Mind a p Goal: to create a feeling of horror among members of the audience prop stimulus: echo chamber   Examined stimulus by making echoes with it (makeshift echo chamber) | echoes reminded us of thunder as well as the weather outside so we decided it’d be used as a thunder sound                                    | discarded zombie apocalypse idea due to the immense amount of corniness present   | set up stage and angled light and set backdrop to a more opaque surface, as to ensure the creation of a silhouette of a large man standing would be fine. got idea of silhouette after exploring the idea that we use shadow puppets instead of human actors. discarded that idea because it seemed too elaborate to plan in 15 min | red light already created ominous feeling reminded us of stained glass in a church or temple | decided on setting as a chu...

 Interview Class and Crucible Reflections The mock interview conducted shed a lot of light on why exactly I had taken the course. It also lead us to adequately summarise and take count of our weaknesses, strengths and characteristics, effectively creating a road map of paths to embark upon and areas to improve upon. It also gave   me a clearer view of how my cultural background and environment led to my beliefs, interests, choices, both in and out of theatre class. The discussion on Yael Farber’s interpretation of Arthur Miller’s Crucible further solidified the aforementioned ideas, and also emphasised the precision needed in conveying the directorial intention as well as highlighting how certain choices did so while also exploring racial issues that Yael Farber probably witnessed while growing up during the apartheid. the way casting was used was new to me: i was unaware that such simplistic choices could create that dramatic an effect, in reference to the c...