Hand, raise and fall

Hand, raise and fall is a game that joins us as a team and makes us support each other. It is also a game that makes you use your peripheral vision so that you are aware of everything and everyone in the room. This makes us concentrate on the task more and makes our reaction times quicker. (This was useful when we had to catch Toby after he said 'where am I' and we had to lift him and then drop him and catch him.)

The Game

1. One person stops with their feet in parallel position. They raise their hand and say "me". Then they fall backwards so everyone in the room should catch them and then push them back so they can carry on walking.
2. If this goes well then you can make it that anyone can raise their hand and say me so they have to be caught. remember if two people say me at the same time no one should fall because it could be dangerous.
3. You can then add on the rule so instead of just falling backwards you can fall in any direction you want.
4. The next layer is instead of saying me someone will point at a person and say you. the person who is pointed at will have to fall.
5. The final layer is added if the group is working really well. When catching the person who is falling you should lower them just a little more so they really have to trust you.

Kaos

Kaos is a versatile ensemble game. It is a game in which you need to concentrate and it involves lots of multitasking tasking. This game is a really positive game so when something goes wrong you need to not be negative you need to just carry on with the game. This was quite difficult because when the ball is dropped i feel that that is a bad thing and i get annoyed with the person who dropped it so usually i would sigh but in this game you just have to accept it and move on. This game is good because we all have to support each other because  at times it becomes quite confusing and you become lost because there are different things going on at the same time. I really enjoyed this game because we all worked together and made it a positive and fun game.

How to play the game

• You need a group of 4 - 30 people
• You need something small that you can throw 
• You should all stand in a circle

Layer 1

One person starts by calling out someones name, then the persons whose name has been called out call out another person who is in the circles name. This continues until everyones name has been called out. Remember no ones name should be repeated. The person who is called out last should say the person who started name. There should be a link of names that you can now repeat.

Layer 2

In layer two a ball is introduced. The person who started layer one should also begin layer two. The person should throw the ball to someone but not to the same person they did in layer one, it should be a different person so that a new link can be made. Everyone should receive the ball once and the last person to receive it should throw it back to the person who started with the ball. If the ball drops no one should say anything negative, it should just be picked up and the game should carry on.

Layer 3

Layer 3 is when you make another chain and you walk across the circle to them tap them on the shoulder and then they continue on to their person they have chosen.


The game

The game is to add all three layers together so the layers would be going on at the same time. This makes the game exciting and fun to play. The games helps us make our transitions smooth so that energy is not lost, it also encourages the philosophy of generosity, collectivity, not seeing failure as a negative and being able to do three things at the same time. The game is also getting us to work as an ensemble and if someone doesn't put enough effort in the exercise isn't a whole.

The game shows us performing is important and the factors of a play.

Layer 1 - Voice
Layer 2 - Working with props
Layer 3 - Spacial awareness

Top Tips

Keep an eye on the person you are walking to so the transition will be smooth because you know where they are.

Use your Peripheral vision to have the person who throws you the ball and who you are going to throw it to insight. This will mean you will know exactly when you are to receive the ball and you will know where the person is that you are supposed to throw it to.

Lesson 2

In yesterdays lesson we were put into small groups and had to take 8 lines from the play. These 8 lines could be repeated as many time as we wanted and using these words we had to create a completely different scene which didn't have anything to do with the play.

My Groups lines were:

Everything went black.
Blackout.
Imagine.
It was like being in a dream.
You dirty beast.
You shake your head.
Death to the gimp.
Death to the gimp.
Death to the gimp.
DEATH TO THE GIMP!
You open your eyes.

Due to only having a few lines we decided to add physical theatre into our piece to make it more interesting and enjoyable to watch. We decided to base our scene on nightmares. We performed our scene end on so we could perform our physical theatre and not having to worry about our backs being towards the audience.

Doing this exercise was good because we were able to give a meaning to the line when delivered we also saw how lines can be interpreted in different ways. Also we were able to understand that every line said was important and there were no throw away lines.

Also because we watched other peoples scenes we were able to see the physical theatre they had decided to use and how it could be used in our actual performance. Using physical theatre meant we could show things that had not been said and because the play is a stream of consciousness physical theatre made the scene seem dream like and unreal, however it was very effective.

Finally we were able to explore different Theatrical configurations and discuss which worked best. I particularly found interesting the In the round configuration because it meant that everyone had at least on person to focus on and the physical theatre could be seen from all directions. However some people also used Immersive which was interesting because it wasn't expected and the audience felt involved with the performance. Finally some people used a three sided stage, I found this to be very effective because it gave you a different view of the physical theatre and everything was positioned so you could see it from all three sides.

Interpreting the script

The play is set in Glasgow and is based on the story of a teenage boy who had been charged with assault, arson and attempted murder. The play is set in Glasgow because it was where this boy had actually committed the crime. I found out that Davey actually went and interviewed the boy to find out his story so he could tell people about the reason why teenagers committed violence.

The play is set in modern times because as I said in my previous post it was part of a project to raise awareness about front line issues for example, teenage pregnancy, being expelled from school, homelessness and violent crimes.

The play was purposely set in this place and time because it is based on a true story that actually took place in Glasgow so it is more believable. Davey cleverly decide to tell the play from the point of view of the perpetrator so that the audience could hear the side of the story which isn't normally heard or believed. Davey kept the play truthful and used some of what the actual young offender said to make James's character come to life and make the audience realise violence doesn't come from out of no where, there is normally a reason that has been building up for a long time and violence is a way to let the anger out.

From the play we can learn how to stop violence from occurring and hopefully we can understand that the perpetrator has feelings too but they may just be covering them up and hiding them.

The Playwrights Intentions & How They Impact On The Play

This play was part of a project to create plays for young people that were in the headlines and this one was based on violent crimes. The play makes people think about what leads young people to commit crimes, how these can be prevented and also how these young people should be punished. ( From Production Notes ) (Source 3)

I think the playwright (Davey Anderson) wanted to make people think about how even though you could have done bad things in the past you can still stand up and make your future better. I also think Davey wanted to show how bullying can really affect people in a bad way and it can lead up to the victim doing things they wouldn't have done if they hadn't have been picked on.

The Play is about a young boy, James who has committed a crime but he can't remember what has happened. The play is inspired by the stories of a young offender from Glasgow. The play was written for young people to perform and I think this is so they get a better understanding of how bullying can dramatically change someones life and that no one should have to go through it.

To show that bullying can really take over someones life Davey makes the victim change everything about himself making the audience feel sorry for him because the boy doesn't want to be himself anymore, he will do anything to stop people from hurting him. I think the play also shows that you shouldn't judge someone for what they are like because you may not know what has already happened to them. For example the boys father abused the mother and the boys grandad died of cancer. All these things made the boy angry and he chose violence as a call for help. The play is told from James point of view as the perpetrator however we originally saw him as a victim. This shows us that normally bullies pick on people because they were once victims themselves.

In the end the boy has lost everything, this shows us that due to everything going on around him he has made some bad decisions and has found it hard to control his life. All these obstacles have built up making his life spiral out of control however in the end he realises that he should not keep his anger built up inside of him, he should talk about it and he never wants to be in the position of losing everything again.

Because the play is about going down the wrong path when trying to take control there is quite alot of violence in the play however when he is in the jail cell reflecting on what he has done there is also alot of emotion because he never wanted things to go this way.

Links

I found a link to this website when I was searching for who wrote the play, this could be useful later on. (Source Two)

http://www.daveyandersontheatre.com/blackout.html

It contained a Promo video which showed how the play could be interpreted.

The Nature Of Internet Research

Where do you go to find information for devising research?

 Google
 Wikipedia
 Bing
 Library
 Books
 News articles
 Fire Fox
 Films
 Documentary’s
 Magazines
 Encyclopaedias
 CDs
 Maps
 Interviews
 Audiobooks
 Museums
 Sources
 Primary source – a person who was there or knows a lot about the subject 

How does the internet differ from other sources of information?

 It is all in one place 
 Can be accessed easily
 Not all of the information is reliable
 Information can be altered
 More opinions than facts (Biased)
 Easy to find lots of information
 Can be constantly updated
 People can use it to manipulate information to make things seem real and better than they are

What is your favourite place to find information?

Our favourite place is Google because it is easy to search for information and there are loads of results so you can look on different websites. Google also often comes up with Wikipedia which we like to use because the information is split up so it is easy to find out what you are looking for.

Similarities between the internet and book based information

 They both contain information
 They can both be biased
 The both have an index which you can use to find what you are searching for
 They can both contain secondary and primary information
 It could take time to find exactly what you are looking for
 It can contain both text and images

Differences between the internet and book based information

 Internet is virtual whilst books are Physical
 You can access the internet anywhere but you normally have to look in libraries or shops for books
 The internet is free and so are library books but you may have to buy books if from a shop
 Books normally are long and contain lots of information whereas the internet normally gives you the main, well known facts
 It normally takes less time to find what you are looking for on the internet than in a book