weeks review

This week we wrote out our script so we could learn it for the performance. I'm feeling really confident about our performance next week. We have included slot of techniques in our piece and we have rehearsed and perfected it so we won't forget anything. We still need to think of what we will wear but I think just casual day to day clothes will work best because then it tells the audience that this abuse towards women is a common thing that happens everyday.

I'm looking forward to performing this.

week review

This week we rehearsed Alice in wonderland and decided to change the plot. We changed it so it's a drug rehabilitation hospital. And Alice is the new patient. The asylum in called "wonderland". And whilst she is being drawn of the drug shes imagining the hospital s a magical world. But as she begin to get cured and begins to get better, this place in her head starts to make no sense to her until at the end she is fully recovered and has to leave wonderland the asylum and wonderland the place in her head.

Throughout the play we will project steps that patients take on the road to recovery. For example step one could be extreme hallucinations then we would show Alice have hallucinations. In lesson we also planned the set. We decided to strip the walls of the posters and cover the walls and ceiling in a thin plastic material. We also decided to cage the audience in so the felt like they were in the asylum and paint all props white. All the characters will wear white too and Alice will wear a white night gown.

We also decided that Alice won't look classically pretty as she does in the films instead she will look like she is sick, to do this I will darken the circles under my eyes, define my cheek bones so I look sickly thin and make my lips and skin pale.

I'm feeling anxious about performing next Tuesday as we haven't done a full run through yet. But we are practising after school Tuesday until the performance at 6:00.

weeks review

This week we finished our performance. We combined our beginning scene and our dancing scene together and then created a new scene showing the audience the sirens now. We used this music: http://m.youtube.com/?reload=2&rdm=1bmd58602#/watch?v=ujAfhLLVM7E
This is the music that the sirens sing to seduce the men and then drown them. Meg and I play the sirens and Dan, Mickey and Carl play the men that we drown. After drowning the men we end with Meg and I "calling" for the audience. This will work really well as we are performing to all boys and sirens only drown boys. Throughout the play we have included little snippets of dialogue and narration to let the audience.known what is going on and to help them gain a better understanding. Carl is the narrator and just before we go into the sirens scene Carl will narrate what the sirens are and what they do to men.

I think we should include audience interaction, maybe the sirens can come off stage and into the audience or bring a member of the audience up.

weeks review

This week we finished "Alice in wonderland". We were able to complete each scene and figure out the running order. We also decided  that we wouldn't include the hall scene and we would keep the performance in the gallery theatre. I think this is a good idea as it lets the audience settle into their environment, allowing us to make them feel uncomfortable later in the performance. This week we mainly just rehearsed our performance.

dance piece

In today's lesson we came up with the idea of including physical theatre. We came up with this:
We would play the song "Roxanne" from the film Moulin Rouge. It begins with Meg and I standing side by side facing the front and behind me is Dan, behind Meg is Mickey. We then do a series of movements that resemble both abuse and sexual abuse. I then get dragged to the floor and whilst I lay there we show the rape between Meg and Dan. To show this rape scene we decided to show it through dance. This will suit our audience more as acting out a rape scene is far too explicit for their age. At the end of the song we show Meg and I drowning our husbands and then being cursed to the sea by Carl.
This entire physical theatre piece shows the back story of the Sirens, telling the audience how they came to be these creatures. I believe the song fits the story perfectly because this is a twisted love story just as it is in the actual film.
After this piece I think we should then show the Sirens drowning some sailors, do then the audience know what these sirens do and why they do it. I also think Carl should narrate this so the audience have a further understanding of the story.
I am extremely happy with our performance so far.

Lesson review

In today's lesson we focused on the problem of Jason and the argonauts. This story is an extremely complex and long story. We only have 1 lesson a week and only 4 weeks left to finish the play we haven't even started. We were told that the only option is too split into 2 seperate groups and work on one scene for the rest of the week's. My group decided to so the Sirens:

The original stories tell us that the sirens were daughters of the river-deity Achelous. Their names meant beautiful face, beautiful voice, white being, music, maiden face and persuasive face, and so on. It is said they

challenged the muses to a musical duel but were defeated, and so abandoned the forest rivers for the rocky shoreline of southern Italy, perching there and luring sailors to their deaths with their songs and their beauty.

When Ulysses (Odysseus) left the enchantress Circe on his homeward journey, she warned him that he should ask his crew to fill their ears with wax while they rowed past the rocky shores where these creatures lived. Ulysses, wishing to hear the fabled sound of the sirens, ordered his crew to tie him – ears unblocked – to the mast. The crew followed their orders, and even though the sirens begged Ulysses to stop and come to them, the danger was averted.

Our group decided to include the back story of two of the Sirens (played by me and Meg). We decided to change the original Siren story and make it a bit more modern instead. In our version there were two woman who had a joint marriage. Both of them thought they had found true love and married their husbands happily. When they went home one woman was physically abused by her husband whilst the other was used mainly for sex. When the woman that was abused came over to the other woman's house for comfort she was sexually abused by the other woman's husband. So, one woman was abused sexually and physically and the other was used sexually and was cheated on. Out of rage both of the women drown their husbands and as punishment were sent to live out there days as mermaids, prisoners of the sea. But when men happen to cross their sea the women seduce them with their looks and voice and then drown them, still raged by the past.

My group decided to split the stage in half to show the different stories. 

weeks review

This week we devised a number of different scenes to include in 'Alice in wonderland'. We also faced one of our major problems, time. We realized how little time we have left to finish this play. We also noticed that devising a script for this play is extremely hard as we haven't come up with a base for the play. The basic plot seems to change every lesson and we have too many good ideas that we don't know what to use. I think we need a team leader who decides over all what we do and don't use. This will stop arguments and stop us from wasting time on a scene that we later decide we don't like.

I am finding learning lines easy in this play. Usually learning lines seems to be a major problem for me, but seeming as there is no script and we make up the lines as we devise the scene, the lines seem to stick in my head easily. My aim is that in two weeks time we would have finished the play and be able to do a few dress rehearsals.

Jacques Lecoq

Jacques Lecoq (December 15, 1921 – January 19, 1999), born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor.

He is most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement, and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in 1999.

Lecoq taught physical education for several years. He later found himselfacting and a member of the Comediens de Grenoble. This company and his work with Commedia dell'arte in Italy (where he lived for eight years) introduced him to ideas surrounding mime, masks and the physicality ofperformance. During this time he also performed with the actor, playwright, and clown, Dario Fo.

He was first introduced to theatre and acting by Jacques Copeau's daughterMarie-Hélène and her husband, Jean Dasté.^[1]

In 1956, he returned to Paris to open his school, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, where he spent most of his time until his death, filling in as intewrnational speaker and master class giver for the Union of Theatres of Europe.

Lecoq aimed at training his actors in ways that encouraged them to investigate ways of performance that suited them best. His training was aimed at nurturing the creativity of the performer, as opposed to giving them a codified set of skills. As students stayed with Lecoq's school longer, he accomplished this through teaching in the style of "via negativa," never telling the students how to do what was "right." The goal was to encourage the student to keep trying new avenues of creative expression.

lesson review

In today's lesson we focused on creating the beginning of the scene.We began by brainstorming and some one came up with the idea to tell it as thought Jason was telling the story before he died. We then decided to flash back to the beginning of the story to the kings castle. We were reminded that we have to include the "wow factor" to draw the audience in.
We decided to create a party in the kings castle. We came up with a series of movements that would be the motif of the party. But we scratched that and instead decided to 3 people performing for the king entertainment. I am one of those people. And then the party would be interrupted and we would carry on with the story. The dancing would be the "wow factor" for the audience and draw them into the rest of the story.

Jason and the argonauts devising

In today's lesson we were split into three groups and were told to work on a part of Jason and the argonauts and decide how we would perform it and then teach it to the rest of the class. My group chose the part where Jason actually gets the Golden Fleece. We chose this scene because it includes violence, romance, physical theatre and this would appeal to our audience. In our story Jason gets given 3 tasks by the king. We thought we could do these tasks in shadow. By using the illusion of shadow we will be able to create objects such as the Dragon by simple cutting put a small image of a dragon and placing it close to the light, making it look huge on the screen (which is what the audience will be watching).

We then told the other groups of our ideas and everyone seemed to agree and think it was a good idea. Other groups presented their ideas. In Dan's group they decided to show us the beginning of Jason and the argonauts and how they would performe it. I liked the idea they had of the Greek party and how it will be interrupted. I think that when the witch predicts the new kings future ("beware of the man who wears one sandal") we could all go into a non-naturalistic, physical theatre piece. Where everyone becomes part of the spell, moving around the stage elegantly.

make-up lesson

In today's lesson were taught how to use liquid latex. We got a brief yet detailed explanation on how to use it, and what it does. We were then allowed to use it on others in the class. I used liquid latex to turn Dan into the white rabbit, this is his character in "Alice in wonderland". I found it interesting how you can completely transform someone's face, accentuate the features, make them look almost cartoon like. We were also taught how to fake injuries. We were shown an example on Toby, who had liquid latex and face paint on his face to make him look like he had been badly burnt.

Treachery of Jason - Jason and the argonauts

In Corinth, Jason became engaged to marry Creusa (sometimes referred to asGlauce), a daughter of the King of Corinth, to strengthen his political ties. When Medea confronted Jason about the engagement and cited all the help she had given him, he retorted that it was not she that he should thank, but Aphrodite who made Medea fall in love with him. Infuriated with Jason for breaking his vow that he would be hers forever, Medea took her revenge by presenting to Creusa a cursed dress, as a wedding gift, that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on. Creusa's father, Creon, burned to death with his daughter as he tried to save her. Then Medea killed the two boys that she bore to Jason, fearing that they would be murdered or enslaved as a result of their mother's actions. When Jason came to know of this, Medea was already gone; she fled to Athens in a chariot of dragons sent by her grandfather, the sun-god Helios.^[13]

Later Jason and Peleus, father of the hero Achilles, attacked and defeated Acastus, reclaiming the throne of Iolcus for himself once more. Jason's son,Thessalus, then became king.

As a result of breaking his vow to love Medea forever, Jason lost his favor with Hera and died lonely and unhappy. He was asleep under the stern of the rotting Argo when it fell on him, killing him instantly.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

Jason returns - Jason and the argonauts

It should be noted that Thomas Bulfinch has an antecedent to the interaction of Medea and the daughters of Pelias. Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. He had seen and been served by Medea's magical powers. He asked Medea to take some years from his life and add them to the life of his father. She did so, but at no such cost to Jason's life. Medea withdrew the blood from Aesons body and infused it with certain herbs; putting it back into his veins, returning vigor to him.^[12] Pelias' daughters saw this and wanted the same service for their father.

Medea, using her sorcery, claimed to Pelias' daughters that she could make their father smooth and vigorous as a child by chopping him up into pieces and boiling the pieces in a cauldron of water and magical herbs. She demonstrated this remarkable feat with the oldest ram in the flock, which leapt out of the cauldron as a lamb. The girls, rather naively, sliced and diced their father and put him in the cauldron. Medea did not add the magical herbs, and Pelias was dead.^[13] Pelias' son, Acastus, drove Jason and Medea into exile for the murder, and the couple settled in Corinth.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

talos - jason and the argonauts

The Argo then came to the island of Crete, guarded by the bronze man, Talos. As the ship approached, Talos hurled huge stones at the ship, keeping it at bay. Talos had one blood vessel which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail (as in metal casting by the lost wax method).Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo was then able to sail on.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

sirens - jason and the argonauts

Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens—the same Sirens encountered by Odysseusin Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ship into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was more beautiful and louder, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

The return journey - jason and the argonauts

On the way back to Iolcus, Medea prophesied to Euphemus, the Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Cyrene. This came true through Battus, a descendant of Euphemus. Zeus, as punishment for the slaughter of Medea's own brother, sent a series of storms at the Argo and blew it off course. TheArgo then spoke and said that they should seek purification with Circe, anymph living on the island of Aeaea. After being cleansed, they continued their journey home

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

The Symplegades - jason and the argonauts

The only way to reach Colchis was to sail through the Symplegades (Clashing Rocks), huge rock cliffs that came together and crushed anything that traveled between them. Phineas told Jason to release a dove when they approached these islands, and if the dove made it through, to row with all their might. If the dove was crushed, he was doomed to fail. Jason released the dove as advised, which made it through, losing only a few tail feathers. Seeing this, they rowed strongly and made it through with minor damage at the extreme stern of the ship. From that time on, the clashing rocks were forever joined leaving free passage for others to pass

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

Phineas and the Harpies - jason and the argonauts

Soon Jason reached the court of Phineus of Salmydessus in Thrace. Zeus had sent the Harpies to steal the food put out for Phineas each day. Jason took pity on the emaciated king and killed the Harpies when they returned; in other versions, Calais and Zetes chase the Harpies away. In return for this favor, Phineas revealed to Jason the location of Colchis and how to pass theSymplegades, or The Clashing Rocks, and then they parted.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

cyzicus - jason and the argonauts

After Lemnos the Argonauts landed among the Doliones, whose king Cyzicustreated them graciously. He told them about the land beyond Bear Mountain, but forgot to mention what lived there. What lived in the land beyond Bear Mountain were the Gegeines which are a tribe of Earthborn giants with six arms and wore leather loincloths. While most of the crew went into the forest to search for supplies, the Gegeines saw that few Argonauts were guarding the ship and raided it. Heracles was among those guarding the ship at the time and managed to kill most them before Jason and the others returned. Once some of the other Gegeines were killed, Jason and the Argonauts set sail.

Sometime after their fight with the Gegeines, they sent some men to find food and water. Among these men was Heracles' servant Hylas who was gathering water while Heracles was out finding some wood to carve a new oar to replace the one that broke. The nymphs of the stream where Hylas was collecting were attracted to his good looks, and pulled him into the stream. Heracles returned to his Labors, but Hylas was lost forever. Others say that Heracles went to Colchis with the Argonauts, got the Golden Girdle of theAmazons and slew the Stymphalian Birds at that time.

The Argonauts departed, losing their bearings and landing again at the same spot that night. In the darkness, the Doliones took them for enemies and they started fighting each other. The Argonauts killed many of the Doliones, among them the king Cyzicus. Cyzicus' wife killed herself. The Argonauts realized their horrible mistake when dawn came and held a funeral for him.

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

The isle of lemnos - jason and the argonauts

The isle of Lemnos is situated off the Western coast of Asia Minor (modern dayTurkey). The island was inhabited by a race of women who had killed their husbands. The women had neglected their worship of Aphrodite, and as a punishment the goddess made the women so foul in stench that their husbands could not bear to be near them. The men then took concubines from the Thracianmainland opposite, and the spurned women, angry at Aphrodite, killed all the male inhabitants while they slept. The king, Thoas, was saved by Hypsipyle, his daughter, who put him out to sea sealed in a chest from which he was later rescued. The women of Lemnos lived for a while without men, with Hypsipyle as their queen.

During the visit of the Argonauts the women mingled with the men creating a new "race" called Minyae. Jason fathered twins with the queen. Heracles pressured them to leave as he was disgusted by the antics of the Argonauts. He had not taken part, which is truly unusual considering the numerous affairs he had with other women. 

Information from: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason#The_Isle_of_Lemnos

Choosing our greek myth

In today's lesson we were asked to vote for which greek myth we wanted to perform. We could either choose Jason & the golden fleece or the story of Aries. I voted for Jason and the Golden Fleece because I believe it would appeal to our audience more than the story of Aries. Jason and the Golden Fleece has slot more characters in meaning people are able to multi-role. I also found the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece more interesting than Aries, and it would be easier to develop. At the end of the lesson we decided to do Jason and the Golden Fleece.

Jason and the Golden Fleece

Also see The Illustrated Jason. Heroic leader of the Argonauts, a team of heroes who journeyed from Greece to distant Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason was the son of the lawful king of Iolcus, but his uncle Pelias had usurped the throne. Pelias lived in constant fear of losing what he had taken so unjustly. He kept Jason's father a prisoner and would certainly have murdered Jason at birth. But Jason's mother deceived Pelias by mourning as if Jason had died. Meanwhile the infant was bundled off to the wilderness cave of Chiron the Centaur. Chiron tutored Jason in the lore of plants, the hunt and the civilized arts. When Jason came of age he set out like a proper hero to claim his rightful throne. Unbeknownst, he was to play his part in a plan hatched on lofty Mount Olympus, where Hera, wife of mighty Zeus himself, nursed a rage against King Pelias. For Jason's uncle, the usurper king, had honored all the gods but Hera. Rashly had he begrudged the Queen of Heaven her due. Hera's plan was fraught with danger; it would require a true hero. To test Jason's mettle, she contrived it that he came to a raging torrent on his way to Iolcus. And on the bank was a withered old woman. Would Jason go about his business impatiently, or would he give way to her request to be ferried across the stream? Jason did not think twice. Taking the crone on his back, he set off into the current. And halfway across he began to stagger under her unexpected weight. For the old woman was none other than Hera in disguise. Some say that she revealed herself to Jason on the far shore and promised her aid in his quest. Others claim that Jason never learned of the divine service he had performed. Jason lost a sandal in the swift-moving stream. This would prove significant in Hera's revenge. For an oracle had warned King Pelias, "Beware a stranger who wears but a single sandal." When Jason arrived in Iolcus, he asserted his claim to the throne. His uncle Pelias had no intention of giving it up, particularly to a one-shoed stranger. Under the mask of hospitality, he invited Jason to a banquet. And during the course of the meal, he engaged him in conversation. "You say you've got what it takes to rule a kingdom," said Pelias. "May I take it that you're fit to deal with the thorny problems that arise? For example, how would you go about getting rid of someone who was giving you difficulties?" Jason considered for a moment, eager to show a kingly knack for problem solving. "Send him after the Golden Fleece?" he suggested. "Not a bad idea," responded Pelias. "It's just the sort of quest that any hero worth his salt would leap at. Why, if he succeeded he'd be remembered down through the ages. Tell you what, why don't you go?" And so it came to pass that word went out the length and breadth of Greece that Jason was looking for shipmates to embark upon a perilous but highly glamorous adventure. And despite that Pelias had been attracted to the idea precisely because of the miniscule chances of anyone surviving to lay eyes upon the Fleece let alone get past the guarding dragon and return with the prize, large numbers of heroes were ready to run the risk. Among them were Heracles and the heroine Atalanta. So Jason arranged to have a ship constructed by the worthy shipwright Argus, who in a fit of vanity named the vessel more or less after himself, calling her the "Argo". Argus had divine sponsorship in his task. The goddess Hera, who had it in for Pelias, enlisted the aid of her fellow goddess Athena. This patroness of crafts secured a prow for the vessel from timber hewn at the sacred grove of almighty Zeus. This prow had the magical property of speaking - and prophesying - in a human voice. And so one bright autumn morning the Argo set out to sea, her benches crewed by lusty ranks of heroic rowers. And true to Pelias's fondest aspirations, it wasn't long before big troubles assailed the company. After stopping for better than a fortnight on an island populated exclusively by women, they put in at Salmydessus. The king welcomed them but was in no mood for festive entertainment. Because he'd offended the gods, he'd been set upon by woman-headed, bird-bodied, razor-clawed scourges known as Harpies. These Harpies were possessed of reprehensible table manners. Every evening at dinnertime, they dropped by to defecate upon the king's repast and hung around making such a racket that he wouldn't have been able to eat had he the stomach for it. As a result, King Phineus grew thinner by the hour. Fortunately two of Jason's crew were direct descendants of the North Wind, which gave them the power to fly. And they kindly chased the Harpies so far away that the king was never bothered again. In thankfulness, he informed the Argonauts of a danger just ahead on the route to the Golden Fleece - namely two rocks called the Symplegades, which had the disconcerting habit of crashing together upon any ship that passed between them. Phineus suggested that it might be best not to experience the effect of these Clashing Rocks firsthand. And he even suggested a mechanism by which this might be avoided. If someone or something could be induced to pass between the crags first, causing them to clash together, the Argo could follow quickly behind, passing through safely before the Symplegades were ready to snap shut again. By means of this device, Jason caused the rocks to spring together prematurely. The Argo was able to pass between them relatively unscathed. Only her very stern was nipped and splintered. Once arrived in Colchis, Jason had to face a daunting series of challenges before he could even get to the grove where the Golden Fleece was hanging. And it was another irascible king who handed out the assignments. King Aeetes of Colchis was ruler of this barbarian kingdom on the far edge of the heroic world. He and his people were not kindly disposed toward strangers. On an earlier occasion, however, he had extended a gracious hand to a visitor from Jason's home town. This may have been due to the newcomer's unorthodox mode of transportation. For he arrived on the back of a golden-fleeced flying ram. The stranger's name was Phrixus, and he and his sister had been on the point of being sacrificed when the ram carried them off. The sister, whose name was Helle, had fallen from the ram's back into the narrow passage of water that came to be called the Hellespont in her memory. But Phrixus arrived safely in Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to the gods and hung its fleece in a grove. Aeetes gave him the hand of one of his daughters in marriage. King Aeetes had taken a disliking to Jason on sight. He had no particular fondness for handsome young strangers who came traipsing into his kingdom on glorious quests featuring the trampling of his sacred grove and the carrying off of his personal property. For King Aeetes considered the Golden Fleece to be his own, and he was in the midst of telling Jason just what he could do with his precious quest when he was suddenly reminded of the obligations of hospitality by another of his daughters named Medea. Medea was motivated by more than good manners. For the goddess Hera had been looking out for Jason's interests, and she had succeeded in persuading her fellow goddess Aphrodite to intervene on Jason's behalf. It was no problem at all for the Goddess of Love to arrange that Medea be stricken with passion for Jason the moment she first saw him. And it was a good thing for Jason that this was so. For not only was he spared a kingly tongue-lashing and a quick trip to the frontier, but Medea quietly offered to help him in his latest predicament. For once her father had calmed down, he had waxed suspiciously reasonable. Of course Jason could have the Fleece and anything else he required in furtherance of his quest - Aeetes couldn't imagine what had possessed him to be so uncooperative. All he required of Jason as a simple token of good faith was the merest of farmyard chores. There were two bulls standing in the adjacent pasture. If Jason would be so kind as to harness them, plow the field, sow it and reap the harvest in a single day, King Aeëtes would be much obliged - and only too happy to turn over the Golden Fleece. Oh, and there was one trifling detail of which Jason should be aware. These bulls were a bit unusual in that their feet were made of brass sharp enough to rip open a man from gullet to gizzard. And then of course there was the matter of their bad breath. In point of fact, they breathed flames. Along about this juncture Jason thought he heard his mommy, Queen Polymede, calling. But then, as noted, Medea took him gently aside and suggested that she might be of aid. Quite conveniently for Jason, Medea was a famous sorceress, magic potions being her stock in trade. She slipped Jason a salve which, when smeared on his body, made him proof against fire and brazen hooves. And so it was that Jason boldly approached the bulls and brooked no bullish insolence. Disregarding the flames that played merrily about his shoulders and steering clear of the hooves, he forced the creatures into harness and set about plowing the field. Nor was the subsequent sowing any great chore for the now-heartened hero. Gaily strewing seed about like a nymph flinging flowers in springtime, he did not stop to note the unusual nature of the seed. Aeetes, it turns out, had got his hands on some dragon's teeth with unique agricultural properties. As soon as these were lodged in the soil they began to sprout, which was all to the good from the point of view of Jason accomplishing his task by nightfall, but bad from that of the harvest. For each seed germinated into a fully-armed warrior, who popped up from the ground and joined the throng now menacing poor Jason. Here indeed was a prickly harvest. Aeetes, meanwhile, was standing off to the side of the field chuckling quietly to himself at Jason's discomfiture and pending dismemberment in sorely mismatched combat. It irked the king somewhat to see his daughter slink across the furrows to Jason's side. But then Aeetes didn't think too much of it at the time. Having proven herself polite to a fault, maybe Medea was just saying a brief and proper farewell. In actuality, she was once more engaged in saving the young hero's posterior. This time there was no traffic in magic embrocations. Medea merely gave Jason a tip in basic psychology. Jason, who it was quite clear by now lacked the heroic wherewithal to make the grade on his own, at least had the sense to recognize good advice. Employing the simple device suggested by Medea, he brought the harvest in on deadline with a minimum of personal effort. He simply threw something at one of the men. The man, in turn, thought his neighbor had done it. And in short order all the seed men had turned on one another with their swords until not one was left standing. Aeetes had no choice but to make as though he'd give the Fleece to Jason, but he still had no intention of doing so. He now committed the tactical error of divulging this fact to his daughter. And Medea, still entranced by the Goddess of Love, confided in turn in Jason. Furthermore, she offered to lead him under cover of darkness to the temple grove where the Fleece was displayed, nailed to a tree and guarded by a dragon. And so at midnight they crept into the sacred precinct of Ares, god of war. Jason, ever the hothead, whipped out his sword, but Medea wisely restrained his impetuosity. Instead, she used more subtle means to subvert the monster's vigilance. Together they made off with the Fleece and escaped to the Argo. Setting sail at once, they eluded pursuit. Thus Jason succeeded in his heroic challenge. And once returned to Greece, he abandoned Medea for another princess. For though Jason had sworn to love and honor Medea for the service she had done him, he proved as fickle in this regard as he'd been unfit for single-handed questing

Mad hatter

In today's lesson we finished the mad hatters scene. This is possibly the most random and ridiculous scene yet. The props we used are just prices of wood stacked up on each other. I love how simplistic it all is and yet it works so well. Everyone knows what we are doing now and I can giant see this play coming together. Being Alice in "Alice in wonderland" certainly gives me a lot of pressure but it also makes me step out of my comfort zone. It makes me take on different emotions and feelings that I have never really thought about before. I like the challenge.

Bertolt Brecht

Born - 10th February 1898. Augsburg, Bavaria, German Empire. Died - 14th August 1956 (aged 58) East Berlin, East Germany. When Bertolt was 16, the first world war broke out. He registered for an additional medical course at Munich University, where he enrolled in 1917, there he studied drama. From July 1916, Brecht's newspaper article began appearing under the new name "Bert Albrecht". Albrecht was drafted into military service in Autumn of 1918. Only to be posted back to Augsburg as a medical orderly in military VD clinic; the war ended a month later. From his late twenties Brecht devoted his life into developing the combined theory and practice of his "epic theatre". "Epic theatre" proposed that a play should not cause the spectator to identify emotionally with the characters or action before him or her, but should instead provoke rational self-reflection and critical view of the action on the stage. He wanted his audiences to recognise social injustice and exploitation in his theatre, so they can effectively change the world outside the theatre. His plays were a representation of reality not reality itself. By highlighting the constructed nature of the theatrical event, Brecht hoped to communicate that the audiences reality was equally constructed, and, as such, was changeable.

Medusa

Medusa, one of the three gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto. She was the only one of the gorgons subjected to mortality. She started of as a beautiful woman. Commonly celebrated for her personal charms and the beauty of her locks. Medusa was a priestess to Athena (daughter of Zeus) she was devoted to a life of celibacy. But Medusa fell in love with Poseidon (God of the seas) and became united to him in Marriage. For this offence she was punished, her beautiful locks were changed into venomous snakes. Her once gentle love-inspiring eyes now became blood shot, furious orbs that when men looked upon would turn to stone. Her milk like skin, assumed a loathsome green tinge. In disgust Medusa fled her home. She was soon shunned by the world. And her personality now resembled the hatred of her appearance. Moving from place to place, some venomous snakes fell from her head and that is how these snakes appeared in certain country's. Medusa was defeated (beheaded) by overseas. Who used her head to turn his enemy's to stone before giving it to Athena who uses it on her shield.

Antonin Artaud

Antonin Christina Joseph Artaud. Born - 4th September 1896 in Marseille, France. Died - 4th March 1948 (aged 51) in Paris, France. Died from intestinal cancer. Nationality - French Occupation - Theatre director, poet, actor, artist. Artaud used a mixture of strange and disturbing lighting, sound and other performance elements to effect his audience. He suffered with mental illnesses and drug addiction throughout his life. He said that all people that want to act are crazy, because not only do we take on our own problems on a day to day basis, but we want to give ourselves more grief by playing other people and carry their grief with us. He also said that all people are savages with secret desires to commit outrages, acting releases the urge to do this.

Studying Antonin Artaud

In this week's lesson we focused mainly on Antonin Artaud. We explored more into his life. I found it shocking that he wasn't wealthy at all, and that he often spent nights on the streets because he couldn't afford a place to stay. It was only after he died that he was seen for his brilliance. I love the thought of being ahead of time. In the warm up we were asked to do different stretches, this made me realise that I am not flexible at all. Doing different warm ups highlights my good and bad aspects. We then learnt more about Artonin Artaud and how he was diagnosed with different mental illnesses. Personally I think they diagnosed him as mental because they couldn't explain his genius. Sir told us how Artaud knew the theatre wasn't a place to act normally, it was a place to express things in an abstract way.

Affecting the audience

In this week's lesson we focused on controlling our audiences emotions. We learnt about a man named Artonin Artaud. We learnt that he liked to make his audience feel scared and uncomfortable. Sir took us under the stage and already I felt uncomfortable and slightly intimidated. He taught us how a change of environment, changes the audiences mood. This gave me a lot of ideas for our performance on "Alice in wonderland". We where then split into 2 groups. My group was told to stay under the stage and face the back and stay still. The other group then had to try and make as feel uncomfortable or scared. I found that as soon as the lights were switched off I tensed up. I thought it was interesting that as soon as I was in an environment I wasn't comfortable in, my body language changed.

5 ways to tell a story

Movement/physical theatre: this is when you tell a story through body gestures. Most people mistake this for dance. When telling a story like this it usually includes little amounts of speech and props. Most of the props are replaced by people. For example multiple people would come together and create a chair using their bodies, instead of using an actual chair. This type of story telling is clever as it makes the audience think and let's them interpret the story in any way they want. dance: this is similar to movement. This is when the entire story is told through dance (often contemporary). Everything is usually exaggerated when telling a story through dance. Every small hand gesture and facial expression I'd magnified to help the audience keep up with the story. The music often reflects the characters mood too. singing: this is when characters sing songs that tell the story. A good example of this is "les miserable". What using song as a way to tell a story, we often rely on projection and tone in the voice to let us know how they feel. This is good as it makes the audience concentrate and really hang on to each word that is said by the characters. narration: this is when someone tells the story to the audience as if they were reading from a book,whilst others act. This tells the audience exactly what is going on. It helps give the audience a better understanding of each character. acting: this is the most common way of acting. This is when people act out the story, normally including speech and facial expressions. It is the most naturalistic way of telling a story.