Today’s lesson was really useful as we did a full run through of all the scenes we have either devised or blocked. This was the first time we could really begin to see the play as a whole and start to grasp more of the meaning.This also meant we could see which parts were working well and also which sections needed either cutting or developing further. I can see that my main two scenes with a lot of dialogue are scene 1 and scene 5. There are moments where Ismene appears in other scenes but without speaking.
Personal notes ;
At this point in the rehearsal process me and Ella had only blocked our first scene and not yet the second ( scene 5) , so that is all we showed.
In today’s rehearsal my cast was the second to run through and this was actually really helpful as watching the other cast meant that we could take what was done well and change the parts that didn’t work. In response to observing the other cast’s performance I personally noted;
*Don’t let energy drop
*Keep a fast pace
*Use variety in voice tone more to find character
*Maintain a strong connection with each other.
Once the casts changed it was nice to perform the Ismene and Antigone scene as we brought together everything we had rehearsed and also we could guage where we were up to.
Watching the other cast was really useful. I learnt many things that I could take into my performance and also things that I would change and do differently.
For me the scene went well and talking to Ella afterwards we both agreed that we had pretty much learnt our lines, which was a positive, however we both had different notes that we wanted to work on. These notes are in the following posts.
TKP came into college to work with all of Year 1’s a we were beginning our Antigone process. Simon and Natalie were the artists who worked with us in a half day physical theatre workshop.
Based in Cumbria, TKP was formed in 2013 by East 15 Physical Theatre graduates Natalie Morrell & Simon McElligott. The Company are well recognised for their approach to socially engaged arts practice and have a superb reputation across the North West for delivering high quality learning and engagement with a unique flair. TKP regularly engage with & are supported by leading northern organisations such as The Brewery Arts Centre, The Dukes, Big Imaginations and The Lowry.
2 Knotted Project productions; Lonelyhearts and Commuters.
The Knotted Project inspire people to think, feel and approach the world around them with a fresh perspective.
The Workshop; I found working with TKP really interesting and helpful. We worked mainly on being a close ensemble as well as physical theatre techniques. The picture below shows Natalie discussing with our group, Hamlet.
This still shows us exploring the extract from Antigone which is shown below.
Summary of the workshop;
The very physical tasks that were given to us meant that we had to quickly develop a strong trust within the group. It clearly showed that by the end of the session we were working better together.
I definately developed a better sense of togetherness ‘complicite’ by taking part in this workshop. The exercises only worked when we relied on each other.
It gave the group and me a broader pallette of possibilities within physical theatre to be able to draw on when we worked together. By the end we were avoiding the obvious choices that we had done before and making more original movement.
I can see that for our work on Antigone this workshop has made us approach things more imaginatively. We deinately now feel that we can take bigger risks with the script and movement.
Today was the first time we worked with Lauren with our characters. We blocked the first scene where Antigone is telling Ismene her plan to bury her brother despite of the decree. This was also the first time we could feel what it’s like to work in the round. Initially I found this sensation strange and you not only have to focus on your lines but also delivering to an audience which fully surounds you. Lauren helped us to feel more comfortable, she said that when working in the round it’s okay to have your back to an audience member as long as its not constantly to the same audience member and you move round. She also said it’s important to be creative in the space, and how you can have an intimate conversation with another character with distance between you. I found this really hepful and made me feel more comfortable in the space.
I made sure I made lots on notes on my script to ensure I don’t forget the blocking meaning we can expand on this in the next rehersals.
After the initial excitement about working in a new way I discovered some challenges to working in the round. Interestingly, I doidn’t find the challenging moments from when I was having to speak but more when my character was not speaking but having to respond to the other actors. I sometimes felt that I was blocking the view of the main actor who was speaking and I found it challenging toi keep my character alive when I had my back to the audience while I wasn’t speaking. I didn’t want to just keep moving physically aropund as this could distract the focus from the speaking character. I found different solutions were suitable for different situations. For example, when Antigone is speaking directly to me then I am able to respond directly to her through movement but I know that I need to be quite subtle with this. However, later, when Creon is accusing bith women of being neurotic the mood feels more heightened and there is alot of tension between the characters. This means that Ella and I are able to respond in a direct and explicit way to Creon with no danger that we are taking too much of the focus.
Working vocally in the round has been really interesting to explore. Lauren explained that the sound of our voices needs to be generally louder and we need to project our lines to a range of areas within each speech. I can see that there is a balance between being too ‘one way’ with the speaking and too ‘mobile’ where it detracts from what you are actually saying. We need to constantly be thinking of the 360 degrees of audience and make sure that everyone is kept engaged.
Me and Ella in our first scene together.
The most interesting thing I have discovered about working in the round rather than with the traditional front on staging is that although it seems like it might be very contrived and harder to do it is actually much more natural. It is more like life, rather than staged theatre. It is normal in a group scene in life that characters face each other or talk to your back or cross right through a group. I think I have found that working in the round is easier to deliver my character than if I were in a proceneum setting.
I have felt comfortable working in the round as I like the natural connection to the other characters and the setting.
I am aware that lighting a piece in the round is probably very challenging and the technical students will be working on this. As we haven’t quite got to the final tech run or dress rehearsal I have more to learn about this but I expect lighting will be something the actors will have to be very aware of in performance.
In the book Lighting Techniques for Theatre-in-the-round by Jackie Staines, she says; Each configuration creates a different challenge for the lighting designer, who will need to make sure that the audience can see the stage and the actors. Certain configurations present extra challenges. For example, for theatre in-the-round, the lighting designer needs to ensure that lanterns aren’t shining directly into audience members’ eyes! When working in-the-round, thrust or traverse, there is also more risk of spill (when light falls on an area of the stage where it isn’t wanted).
I was thrilled to find out I had been cast as Ismene. I had been paired with Ella who was going to play Antigone. I was really excited as I feel Ella and I are going to work well together. On reflection I feel that I was possibly cast in this main role because I found the character of Ismene comfortable to inhabit. I think my own character is similar to hers and so it was not a huge leap for me to ‘play’ her. I have never worked closely with Ella before but watching her in other performances and her style of acting made me think that we would complement each other. She plays her roles very powerfully and I think she is perfectly suited to be Antigone. I see my Ismene as strong but more nervous and less fiery than Antigone/ Ella so I can see why we have been cast together.
Here is a still from one of the very first rehearsals when Ella and I are finding our relationship as sisters.
The two lead male characters are Creon and Haemon. Creon is the King and Haemon is his son. The cast of the 4 main characters have to complement each other and be believable as an ensemble. I was pleased to discover that Tobias has been cast as Creon and Oliver as Haemon.
This shot shows Creon, Haemon and me as Ismene with other cast members.
In this first main session the chorus was working with Lauren to devise the first scene which gave me and Ella a chance to look through the script and discuss how we could portray these characters. We talked and made notes about our relationship in the different scenes and how that relationship changes throughout the play. This helped us visualise how the dynamics may be between us in the different sections of the play and as the story unfolds. We also began a basic blocking of ourselves which gave us a chance to work together for the first time and see how we connect, as well as bring our characters alive verbally and physically.
Personal targets
I have identified some challenges and goals for myself to be working on; How I can deliver my character physically and vocally, making sure I contribute in lessons and take good notes and working well with other actors to respond dynamically to them on stage.
In this first lesson of being cast, Lauren talked to us about the casting and how she visualises the play, in terms of set and design.
We discussed how we were going to have the show done in thrust/ in the round, and how there are certain techiques adopted that are essential with this approach.There are important performance considerations such as Proxemics and spacing to ensure the piece is effective in terms of how the audience views the action.
BBC bitesize explains; “Proxemics in drama; Character relationships will influence movement onstage. If one character is in agreement with another they may move closer but if they were feeling uncomfortable they might choose to move away. The space between performers and the message it conveys to the audience is called proxemics.”
Working in the round is a new way of performing for me, and I’m really excited and intrigued about how we are going to do it, and what it’s going to be like performing in a new performance space.
Working in the round
The New Vic website talks about Theatre in the Round;
“Theatre-in-the-round demands fast action, movement and sincere performances from the actors. It is exciting and real. It is theatre in 3D.” Stephen Joseph
Stephen Joseph, a young theatre-pioneer, was the first to popularise the form in Britain. In the 1950s, concerned by the decline in theatre audiences in the face of competition from television and other mass entertainment, he felt that theatre-in-the-round could re-vitalise theatre and attract new, younger audiences.
New Vic in the round staging
Theatre in the round is a way of breaking the forth wall, meaning the actors can connect with the audience more closely. Theatre-in-the-round has its roots in rituals such as those performed by the ancient Greeks, which evolved into classical Greek theatre. It was used again in medieval times, especially in England, where it gave way to the open stage of Elizabethan times. Movement can feel artifical as you have to move a lot more than normal in order to share the theatrical experience with everybody. Any line that’s more than a couple of sentences long pretty much has to be delivered while walking in a circle to give everyone a chance to see you. Any important prop has to be held high, circled around in order to be seen. However, movement can equaly feel more natural in the round because you’re not cheating every bit of staging to be visible from one particular angle. If you want to turn your back to someone, you can turn your back to someone fully. You can move in any direction to anywhere, you’ll always be visible to someone.
A recent example of Theatre in the round that I have seen was the amazing was National Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Nicholas Hytner. It was a wild and circus-like adaptation that heavily involved the audience who had to move around the theatre space as the staging moved, handle props such as cloths and even dance at the end. The actors had to work with different height levels as well as fully in the round.
Initally when I found out I had a recall for the part of Ismene I was suprised as I hadn’t expected it and thought I was going to be part of the chorus in Antigone which I would also have enjoyed. However, I was very excited, and having known I had received a recall made me long for the part more. I made sure I then researched different versions of Antigone to see how Ismene could be portrayed. This preparation was important for me, as I knew that for the second audition we were not to be given a script this time. We were expected to respond to the given text on the spot so that we could demonstrate our understanding of the role in the moment without having hada chance to prepare before the audition. Also, for the second audition the pairings had changed and now I was going to play Ismene with Caitlin as Antigone instead of Ellie. Again this was slightly harder as me and Caitlin hadn’t had a chance to rehearse together so in the auditon we had to just play off each other in terms of blocking and dynamics. This was in fact exciting and it was obvious suddenly that we really had to know our characters as well as trust each other in the moment of performance. I felt the audition went well as me and Caitlin both delivered as best we could, as did the other pairings.
This was the extract from the script that I was asked to read for the recall audition with Caitlin. As you can see it is an emotional section where Antigone is being sentenced to death and Ismene is trying to protect her. We had to show the connection between the sisters and their love for each other as well as the anger underpinning it, as Antigone doesn’t want her sister Ismene to die as well.
After the audition, before we found out the final cast, everyone in the group was given a copy of the full script for the first time. It was interesting to see what version we would be working with and it was also exciting as we could really begin to discuss how we were going to bring the script to life. As a group we then worked through the first choral scene, splitting up the lines and distingushing who says what. At this stage we still didn’t know who was to play the lead roles but that didn’t matter as we were all contributing to the ensemble to shape the choral scenes.
I found this excercise useful as a means to get into the story of Antigone, and the feelings and atmosphere. It became more apparent to me that this play is a serious piece with dark themes with ethical issues.
StoryboardThat summarises Greek tragedy as; a form of theater popular in Greece around the 5th century BC. These plays presented tragic tales of heroes who strove for greatness but were brought low by a combination of fate and their own human flaws.The focus of a tragedy is on the protagonist’s psychological and ethical attributes, rather than their physical or sociological ones.
It was also interesting getting used to the style of old English and the way the speech is written. It is clearly of a style unlike modern speech. Research on Wiley Online Library says; The tragedies that come down to us from the fifth century are all composed in a broadly comparable poetic idiom. This is a lofty style, self- conciously elevated, in the tradition of epic and high lyric.
The extract below demonstrates this grand and florid language;
Another key aspect of a Greek tragedy that I was realising the importance of is the role of the chorus. Looking throught the chorus sections showed the importance of the ensemble as they really carry the play and the narrative. We were set the task of breaking up a speech such as the one above into lines for each chorus member to deliver. We had to make sure we split the lines cearfully and with great thought.
The Function of Chorus in Greek Drama; National Theatre have produced this video summarising the role of the chorus. Firstly, the chorus would provide commentary on actions and events that were taking place before the audience. By doing this the chorus would create a deeper and more meaningful connection between the characters and the audience. Dr Lucy Jackson who narrates the video explains that the chorus functions as a Window into other Worlds. This is really useful as they can refer to times gone before the action or other places not seen in the action. The lead characters are mostly in the ‘here and now’. The chorus, therefore, adds a wider context to the story and very cleverly can talk about other places that the production doesn’t have to produce a set change for.
Still of the National Theatre chorus from Antigone showing different characters within the group chorus.
Another interesting aspect that Dr Jackson mentions is the ability for different members of the chorus to be seen as single characters with, possibly, a different opinion to the other members of the group. However, the chorus does always strive to remain an ensemble and seek the same outcome.
Finally, I understand through this research that chorus’s in Greek drama are usually cast in stereotypical roles such as ‘soldiers’ as we are choosing for our interpretation.
Initially, when we were told our play was going to be Antigone, I was intrigued as I had never heard of it before so I had a very open mind. After the piece was explained and I had a sense of the narrative and context I felt very excited. I found the story line interesting and morally important. We were then told our version was going to be set in the future after a Great War, and we would be experimenting with how we could make our piece contemporary and modern. This idea excited me more as personally I find contemporary and experimental pieces of theatre very engaging and interesting as they can hold deep meaning, the audience can be really drawn in and can connect with the contemporary issues, interpreting the piece in different personal ways. Some examples of contemporary theatre that I have seen recently are: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time by Mark Haddon- which had a modern, physical theatre take. I saw this piece by Simon Stephens performed at the Lowry which was designed in a minimal, slick style. The production moved with a pace between scenes and it felt edgy and exciting. I also watched, by live streaming, a contemporary version of Macbeth by the RSC with Christopher Ecclestone in the lead. Here, the design was very 80’s which I didn’t connect with but I thought their interpretation of the porter as a caretaker figure in a brown warehouse coat and trainers was experimental and effective. This performance helped me to understand the story with much better depth and this helped me with my English GCSE exams.
Inital ideas for the set were explained. This is part of the mise en scene, the look and feel of the piece. I was pleased with the design ideas because it seems flexible enough to play with and move around during the performance. It has a cool, edgy feel which I think will suit the modern context very well. Lauren said she wanted the set to feel industrial, which I think would give a very good atmosphere. Here is a first sketch of the set:
You can see that we will perform in the round with the main staging at the back. Having three metal fences ( shown in the 3 lines) allows for the set to be incredibly versatile and enables the actors to move the set around infront of the audience’s viewpoint. The colour palette of the set is to be monochrome with only a few signature colours which signify elements of the story, such as red to forshadow Antigone’s death.
We watched the National Theatre guidance videos which were useful because they explained how they had gone about staging the piece.
I have done a bit of research into what other Greek tragedy’s there are that are commonly performed and I realise that I haven’t seen any work like this so I am learning about a new genre of theatre. In particular I find the concept of the Greek chorus as ‘commentators on the action’ a really clever device as this carries the narrative forward. This reminds me of the role of the porter I saw in the RSC Macbeth as he was commenting constantly upon the action.
Audition process
When we started devising our choral group piece for the audition we were struggling to bring the script to life. In the next lesson we explored ensemble exercises with the whole class: Firstly a Complicite activity which consisted of us in a clump moving around the room in unison but without a clear leader, we had to learn to silently feel the direction of the group. This helped us to develop our togetherness and awareness of the interaction between us as well as the atmosphere we are creating. Secondly we did breathing exercises, inhaling and exhaling, and then expanding this inner and outer energy into the group so that we were all moving again in unison with the breath. Thirdly we explored a Suzuki grounding exercise. In a circle we rhythmically moved forward and backwards, constantly changing the emphasis of the beat which drew our focus entirely to the group sound and movement we were making because the exercise demanded total attention. Having undertaken these unifying exercises with the group we then went back to our choral group pieces and we developed them further. We brought in what we had learned, so for our group we introduced a unifying pulse throughout the movement which made it cohesive and strong and we performed with much more confidence and clarity in the audition.
This is a still from our choral group piece. Here we were experimenting with formations as well as using cannon and speech in movement. Being a group of 6 performers meant that we had lots of opportunities to experiment with formations, rhythms and techniques such as cannon. Our group felt that our audition piece went well.
As well as the choral audition I initially chose to read for Ismene. I prepared by firstly researching her character by watching lots of Youtube videos such as Juliette Stephenson. This helped me to embody my character and gain a greater understanding of Ismene, however I also wanted to bring my own flair to the character so used the vidoes as research and help and as a means to develop my own character. I made sure I had read over the lines well and I felt I knew them with confidence, I wanted to make sure I not only felt but looked prepared and professional in the audition. I aimed to portray Ismene as nervous and anxious but equally still strong when she is talking to Antigone. I auditioned with Ellie who read Antigone and then we decided to swap rolls and read together again, this time I was Antigone and she was Ismene. This sudden decision meant I had less time to prepare for Antigone so I was probably less strong in my reading for her. I’m glad I tried both though. Having prepared for Ismene but unexpectadly also reading for Antigone gave me an insight into the relationship of the two sisters that I hadn’t truley seen by just preparing for Ismene. I suddenly saw Ismene from Antigone’s perspective which allowed my character of Ismene to develop further. I also felt like I gained insight into the drive of Antigone.
This is a still from one of the vidoes I watched as research for Ismene with Juliet Stephenson on the right. I liked the chemistry between the characters in this as well as how Ismene was portrayed. I sent this video to Ellie as well amd we worked together to bring a similar feel to our characters.
The background
Antigone and Ismene are the daughters of Oedipus and Jocasta. Cursed by their bloodlines, they are both daughter and sister to Oedipus, daughter and granddaughter to Jocasta. Oedipus curses his offspring at the end of Oedipus the King. But he scarcely needs to bother – the curse is already flowing through all four of his children. His two sons grow up, expected to share the task of ruling Thebes. But they cannot: one brother refuses to give up the crown, the other masses a foreign army and declares war on his own city. They kill each other in single combat, leaving their uncle, Creon (Jocasta’s brother), to take over as king. This is where Sophocles’s play begins.
Rosa Copley 