Moonfish Productions' Spider Diagram

Today a Professional Actor was brought into The College to talk to us about The Performing Arts Industry. He had been in Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, Les Miserables in The West End, Pantomime and Children's Theatre. He spoke to us about the importance of a good Agent, by explaining the hardships he had had to face with the business side of his acting career. He also told us about Repertory Theatre.

Here is a web page about Repertory Theatre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repertory_theatre






My 'Theatre For Children' Group have written a 'Code Of Conduct', which we all had to sign. Our company name is 'Moonfish Productions'. We also made a spider diagram of some new ideas. Here are some of our new ideas:

• Fairy tales

-The Hairy Toe- Antonio (The Giant), Nana Geraldine (The Old Lady) , Flo (The Granddaughter of The Old Lady), Bobby Green and Wend Greene (Husband and Wife Comedy Duo)
http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2009/10/the_hairy_toe.html
-A twist to a classic fairytale- Red Riding Hood turns out to be The Wolf.

• Scary Stories

- Scary Music- Could also be funny, could get The Audience Involved
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZpf0SIO-sY

• Music

- Themed music
- Live singing
- Pop music

• Set

-Back drop made of sheets- painted to represent different settings

Unicorn Theatre Trip

Today, we went on a trip to London, where we saw two shows from The Unicorn Theatre- 'Grandpa's Railway and 'The Pardoner's Tale' . We were asked to watch each of them, while writing down notes about the performance (i.e. ideas that we can incorporate into our own performances), as well our observations of the children's reactions to the shows (i.e. the parts that were well received/ worked well and those that weren't so well received/ didn't work well).

Here are my notes for 'Grandpa's Railway':
https://www.unicorntheatre.com/whatson/7/grandpa-s-railway

• Music before the show, to get kids in the mood for watching performance
• Use of sheets hanging down from a washing line as back of set
• Actors use a lot of energy
• Actors make use of a lot of physicality
• Children make loud comments, such as "He's playing," in the middle of performance, but actors aren't stirred by this
• They use a lot of props
• Movements are sharp, with great emphasis on each action e.g. when putting on a hat it is shown clearly
• They do not make use of audience interaction
• Children watched in ore as Grandpa uncovered the railway, saying "Wow". It might be a good idea to keep something covered and then to reveal it during the performance (perhaps with music, to add to the effect)
• Children were startled, humping at the loud noise created by dropping props. Use of sound might be a goof idea
• Synchronised movement between more that one character (with music) kept children engaged
• Children looked excited and fully engaged at the sight of the train moving , all lit up in dark lighting
• Use of sound effects makes it seem more realistic
• Actors were not patronising. They were just as professional as they would be in an adult show, though their character's personalities were quite playful and child-like
• Children were, at times restless, moving about and standing up
• Characters are much more easily excited than those in (most) adult plays
• Some children lost interest and began to look in other directions in the middle of the play.
• Children asked questions, such as "What's that for?" during performance
• The use of lighting, sound effects and music made the parts when the train set came to life truly magical
• During moments with tense music and speaking "The signal's are red!" all children were engaged. 
• Characters were believable
• Music that sounds almost magical, always grabbed the children's attention
• At one point, nearly all of the children became restless and stood up and sat down again, towards the end, but actors weren't phased
• Teachers often told kids to "be quiet", so the theatre was filled with quite a bit of 'shushing'.
• Even when walking offstage, actors remained in-character.
• Movements were over exaggerated, so that children can process actions
• Children most enjoyed the show when characters were being imaginative
• Use of live singing

  Here are my notes for 'The Pardoner's Tale':
https://www.unicorntheatre.com/whatson/18/the-pardoner-s-tale

• Theme related music before show, to get children in the mood for show
• Children made lots of noise during blackout
• Use of rhyming
• Involves audience, by addressing them
• Use of comedy to lighten scary mood
• Use of musical instruments, creating tense music, for scary atmosphere
• Well acted, very theatrical, grabbing the children's attention
• Use of child- like sense of humour (though also made adult and teenage audience laugh), gaining laughs from the children. It also caused them to talk about the jokes afterwards, while the actor was talking
• A lot of audience interaction, which worked well with the children , especially when their teachers were picked on
• Used audiences other senses (smell) for audience interaction
• The actors sang
• Use of magic (using lighting) got the audience talking a lot
• Use of sound effects created by the actors onstage (Foley Work)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_(filmmaking)
• Actors had to play more than one character, with distinct differences between the characters. This was done without changing costumes or going backstage before each change
• Use of lots of props (a lot made music)
• Adopted different physicality for different characters
• Children fidgeted at times
• Actors other than the main character were sorting out props onstage, which often diverted children's attention 
• Use of shadow imagery
• Use of special effects caused children to point etc.
• It is tonal, rather than accent that creates clear differences in characters

Sock Puppet Theatre

Today's task was to make sock puppets and to use them in a performance, devised by our 'Theatre For Children' groups. I made a sock puppet called Frederick Von Sock. He is navy blue, with a bright blue T-shirt and a bright green cape. He was an evil villain in our play, with a foreign (European) accent.

Here are some images of Frederick:

 

 

 

 

Our play was called 'The Green Cape'- named after Frederick's Green Cape. It was about 3 girls who went on an adventure to find there Grandmother. They found her, and she gave them some useful advise - "Beware of The Green Cape". Soon after, they met a stranger in a green cape (Frederick), who politely asked them to go with him, in search for his beloved snake, Jonathan. One of the girls, Britney, followed him and he kidnapped her, telling the two remaining girls, that to get her back, they would have to find his snake. The two girls kidnapped Jonathan. Later, the grandmother went out alone to find her dentures, but instead, she found the evil Frederick, who lured her into his trap. The two girls offered to trade Jonathan for their Grandmother and Britney, but Frederick told them that he lied and that he would never return their loved ones to them. They gave him 'The Death Stare' and he melted to his death. Then the remaining characters all lived happily ever after.

We were given very little time to devise our performance, in order for Ella to establish how well we could cope with such a small amount of time to prepare. When rehearsing, I spoke with a fairly loud voice (but not screaming loud), however as most of the other character's were loud, my group said that they couldn't hear me. I found myself having to shout. As his role in the play was quite important, I thought that it was essential that my character could be heard. Screaming however was one of my groups major down-falls, because it ended up being quite a calamity. On the other hand, I did enjoy having a larger role, which I hope to have in our final production.

'Sock Puppet Theatre' has taught me the importance of a having a good structure, including elements of comedy and not screaming too much (unless necessary). When too many characters talk/shout at once, the action in a play can become very confusing and difficult to understand. I thought that some of the characters could be considered for our final piece and I will suggest this to my group.

The Origins Of Fairy Stories

We were informed that, although authors such as Hans Christian Anderson and The Brothers Grimm are thought to have created numerous original fairy tales. Their stories were taken from much older legends and tales. 'Fairy Stories' were known earlier as 'Scare Stories'. They were meant to frighten children, often by teaching them morals.

For example, the version of Little Red Riding Hood, that we know today, is most similar to that of The Brothers Grimm's. However, the story dates back much further. In older versions, she was a pre-teen/teenage girl, who wore red to symbolise the fact that she was about to start her period. All the women in The Village came to her house to celebrate her becoming a women and gave her advice. She had to go on a right-of-passage type journey to her Grandmother's house. She could choose between two paths- pins or needles and she chose needles. On her way, she met a werewolf who told her that he would take the path of pins. The werewolf beat Little Red Riding Hood to her Grandmother's house and ate The Grandmother, leaving a bottle of her blood and her liver for later. Upon arriving to her Grandmother's house, Little Red Riding Hood saw the werewolf in her Grandmother's bed, 'slept with him' and drunk her Grandmother's blood and ate her Grandmother's liver. This Story is about becoming a woman.

Another well known Brothers Grim tale, is known as, Sleeping Beauty. In original versions she is a girl who is observed as she grows older, by a man. Many times that man asks for her to be his, but she refuses. One day he tried to force himself upon her. In her struggle, she hit her head on a rock and was knocked unconscious. He raped her and impregnated her. In a panic, her ran off, but she was later found by her family. They looked after her, as she seemed as though she was simply in a deep sleep. Soon after she was woken up by labour pains.

Afterwards, we listened to a radio version of 'The Wild Bride'. It was once a popular theatrical show, taken from an original story and now, it has been adapted for The Radio. It was at first difficult to pick up all that was happening, as I am not use to following stories in this way. Though, I found that with concentration, I understood what was going on.

Lastly we were asked to get into our 'Theatre For Children' Groups, in order to find a legend, myth or tale to tell to the rest of the class. We chose 'Hurleburlebutz'. Here is the full story: 

Once upon a time, a king was lost in a deep forest when, suddenly, a small white dwarf appeared to him. The dwarf told the king he’d help him find his way out of the forest in return for the king’s youngest daughter. The king, finding himself afraid in the deep, dark wood, agreed. The dwarf delivered the king safely back to his castle and told him he’d be back in a week for his daughter.
Now, of course the king was sad—his youngest was his favourite. But his daughters, once he’d told them the deal, said not to worry, we’ll soon get rid of the dwarf. A week later, the daughters found an unsuspecting cowherd’s daughter, kitted her out in pretty clothes and told her to go with the first person who came to fetch her. That person was a fox, who said, “Sit down on my furry tail, Hurleburlebutz! Off to the forest!” Off they went, but when the fox ordered the cowherd’s daughter to pick lice out of his fur and she readily agreed, he knew he had the wrong lady. Back to the castle with you! A week later, the fox came back and this time, it was the gooseherd’s daughter he took with him to the forest; another attempted delousing, and he knew he had the wrong lady. Back to the castle!
The third time the fox returned, the king gave over his daughter and the fox carried her into the forest. This time, when he demanded a delousing, she cried, “I’m a king’s daughter and yet I must delouse a fox!” He knew he had the right bride, so he transformed himself back into the little white dwarf from the beginning of the story. The couple lived together happily for awhile, until one day, the dwarf said, “I’ve got to go away, but three white doves will soon come flying here. When they swoop down to the ground, catch the middle one. Once you’ve got it, cut off its head right away. But pay attention and make sure you’ve got the middle dove, or it’ll be disaster.” The doves came, the princess caught the middle one, hacked off its head and poof! A handsome prince appeared! Turns out, the white dwarf had been under a nasty fairy’s spell and this whole complicated charade was the only way to lift it. Obviously.

Andre's 8th Birthday Party

Today we were asked to attend Andre's (pretend) 8th birthday party, as our 8 year old selves. We were asked to wear fancy dress- either a Marvel Superhero or a Disney character. We were also expected to bring him a present and to provide party food, for the food table.

As research, I observed the behaviour of my 4 year old cousin. Although she is much younger than 8, she is quite intelligent and mature for her age. It gave me a better sense of the difference between a child and adults imagination. I watched youtube videos to get to grips with the behaviour of an 8 years old, but found that some were a lot more mature than others. It depended on the individual, as to how mature they were. Here are some of those videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmo4Ksg2yJk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHrTnp4rUQI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K53voRNMT1U
I also spent a lot of time remembering the way in which I behaved as an 8 year old and asked my family members how I behaved. In addition, I practised staying in character, by spending a few hours at a time as 'an 8 year old' prior to the day of the party.

I dressed up as Jessie, The Cowgirl from Toy Story 2&3. I though that this was an appropriate fancy dress costume, because I was a tomboy when I was 8, like Jessie. I would never have been caught in a Disney Princess Costume. I bought Andre a cuddly horse toy, (to go with my Cowgirl outfit) which sang a song. I also bought him a Hot Wheels toy car and I wrote him a card, which read "to Ondray", because I was terrible at spelling at that age. I wrote it with my left hand to make the writing look messy because I had awful, huge handwriting. I bought jammy dodgers for the party, because I used to love them and always bought either jammy dodgers or crisp to children's parties.

The party began as we all entered The Black Box. We played Musical Chairs, Musical Statues, Pass The Parcel and we danced a lot. We also had party food, in which I filled up my plate with crisps and then returned for seconds as I was very greedy at that age. I remained in character throughout the party. I found it difficult to play the correct age, but at that age I was very childish, spoke with a very babyish voice, was one of the least intelligent in my class and was extremely hyperactive. I jumped around a lot and hardly sat still during the party, to show that I was hyperactive. I said "please" and "thank you" to show that I was polite and I kept up my terrible habit of chewing things, which I had at that age.

Recorded Responses-
As an 8 year old:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKyr4wckbZI
As an adult:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDa0CbqGNs

Going Through 'Theatre For Children' Text

Today we spoke about The 'Theatre For Children' Text that we had previously annotated. We were asked about the way in which the content surprised us and how this will affect our performances. All of this information should be considered as we prepare for our project.

Someone pointed out, that they were surprised the volatility of children. They didn't think about the way in which the children might respond to their performance, nor did they think about the fact that these children may have no knowledge of theatre etiquette. As actors we must prepare for unpredictable responses etc.

Theatre etiquette is the proper way to look and behave when you are attending a theatrical experience. Here is a links to a web page about Theatre Etiquette:
http://www.foxtheatre.org/TheatreEtiquette.aspx

Another person stated that they had forgotten about the extent of a child's imagination. Referencing the shows that we saw on our Theatre Trip- '39 Steps and 'Charlie and The Chocolate Factory', most of us found the performances in '39 Steps' more enticing, despite the fact that they only had 4 actors, 3 boxes representing a train, a picture frame as a window etc. While 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' had 16 million pounds worth of spectacular special affects, I thought that I could more easily believe the story in '39 Steps' due to the incredible performances by The Actors. It is worth remembering that children are more likely to believe in the story, if The Actors believe it themselves e.g. if a cardboard-cut-out is meant to represent a tree, then The Actors should actually believe that it is a tree for children to believe the same.

As my personal target is to speak more in class, I mentioned that I was surprised that the text stated that, "The difference between a 3 year old and a 7 year old is greater than the difference between a 30 year old and a 70 year old". However, I thought that I could of elaborated on my point, by stating that during our project we must always keep in mind the different age ranges and try to appeal to all of our target audience. I also need to take more opportunities to answer questions during class.

It was also mentioned that we may be The Children's first experience of theatre and so the whole experience may be very alien to them. The way in which our Tutor, Ella, explained the way they may feel us, is by comparing it to the way that we would feel if we were taken to France and were expected to understand the Language, without previous knowledge. Therefore, we cannot expect them to respond the way we may anticipate for them to, nor can we expect them to respond at all.

'Theatre For Children' Research

'Theatre For Children' is theatre that specialises in plays for young audiences. The story line is drawn from history, folk, literature for children, fairy tales, real life issues or a completely original idea.


Here are some videos of 'Theatre For Children:
http://youtu.be/Uwz6VJzwZzI
The Cat in The Hat- This show demonstrates the amount of physicality appropriate for children's theatre.
http://youtu.be/kmJSQ3zVM8k
A Year With Frog And Toad- This show demonstrated the use of Musical Theatre in a play for children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWwYt3O-MAo
Charlotte's Web- This show demonstrated the use of hand puppets in 'Theatre for Children'.

Due to the fact that my group is considering doing a show based on various Fairy tales I have been studying some popular characters, in order to determine which might be useful for our project.

I have also been watching 'Once Upon A Time', which is a TV series which incorporates Fairytale Characters into the real world, revealing both their lives in their well-known Fairy tales and their new lives in the our world. It demonstrates a way in which we could bring Fairytale characters from different stories together, as well as a way of modernising their stories to highlight real-life issues. It's also an example of how dark fairytales for children can be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rga4rp4j5TY

Annotating The 'Theatre For Children' Text and First Ideas For Project

Today, we were given the task of annotating the text about 'Theatre For Children', that we was handed out on Tuesday. We also came up with some of our first ideas for our 'Theatre For Children' project. One of my personal targets is to be more vocal during lessons, but as I am use to devising performances in small groups and getting all of my ideas across. It is important to put my ideas forward in larger groups (the whole class). Also, with this target in mind, it should motivate me to become an even more vocal member of the small group that I'm currently working in.

I have decided to photograph the whole text, as I found all of the information written very useful. I have also typed my more-difficult-to-read annotations underneath the images. Here is the annotated text:

• An idea that could be used in our project.

 

 

• Very important to remember (especially the kids age).

• Children often play games like 'Mums and Dads', 'Dolls' and 'Doctors And Nurses', which are basically Improvised Drama Pieces.

 

• I might need to play more than one character.
• I can use The Experience of Panto.

• You can't predict the way in which the performance may inspire them.
• Energy is The Key, as well as exaggerated physicality

• They can handle difficult issues, which can be very engaging.
• Good to remember for project
 

• The Focus is on The Children and so you should play to The Children, without patronising them.

• Don't underestimate their memory. It's not necessary to keep repeating important details.

• Work on diction, rather than shouting to get words across.

• Every performance should be as though it's never been done before.

• Don't be put off and remain focused.

• Very useful information for The Project.

• Remain focused and in-character or risk loosing the suspension of reality.

• Don't make them feel bad/ silly if their response is wrong.

• Continue the scenes, as if not stirred by the comments.

• A quiet audience is a positive thing.

• This is what we experienced at Panto. Children and adults have different senses of humour.

• Give characters more than one trait.

• Build heavily on one specific trait in order to make it come across to The Audience.

With my target in mind, I took it upon myself to be one of the most responsive members of The Group, in regards to coming up with ideas, and I ended up giving the most ideas. Some of my ideas were as follows:

• Fairytales (Twists to an original fairytale or a modernised/more realistic version)
• Musicals
• Magic/ Enchantment
• International influences (Set in Africa/ China/ Brazil)
• Fables
• Superheroes 

As a group, we came up with the idea of a School Kid, who doesn't believe in themselves and is told by his/her teacher that he/she is not a valued member of the school. This kid finds themselve being transported into the magical World of Fairytales. He/she must battle numerous familiar, evil villains to save the day, proving that he/she is indeed a hero, who simply needed to believe in themselves.

An alternative moral to our story was that, 'you should believe in your friends and you can't always do things alone'. In this version, despite what is often believed, in the Fairytales, (or in our versions, at least) The Hero never saved the day without the help of his friends. We thought of including Fairytales and stories from popular novels. Some possibilities are; Rapunzel, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe.

Members of the group suggested that our physicality must be particularly strong and I thought that we should also come up with clever transitions from one fairy tale to another. For example, The hero could fall down Rapunzel's Tower and end up in Wonderland (as if  they had fallen down the rabbit hole). We thought about the practicalities of 'falling' and decided that moving across the stage wildly (as if The Hero had lost control), accompanied musical effects could give our intended impression to The Audience.