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[isssie17]

Performance: If done again, what would I change?

If given the opportunity to redo this again, I think I would reorganise the planning and rehearsing stages. As much as I felt proud of what we created, I cannot lie about the acting aspect, I felt it was still missing something. This was due to a lack of rehearsing in the earlier stages. Due to a lack of performing space, we spent the first few weeks/months focusing on the tech aspect, spending the time we could have spent acting, making props, and working out the lighting which could have been done at home. I felt maybe there was too much emphasis on technical aspects than acting. We didn’t really develop the characters much unless it was for the benefit of the technical aspects. Which played a part in the downfall of our acting and character interactions not being completely 100%.

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Performance: Live performance

The day of the performance, we ran into issues. By accident, I forgot my laptop that would play my character’s YouTube video. Without panicking, I managed to change the password on my phone so the video can be played and still fit with the task for my area. I also left headphones out so the audience could hear the video over the noise of everything else happening. Other than that, the performance went well. We had the audience complete the tasks on time. The audience enjoyed themselves and understood the plot of the escape room which was one of our main goals when performing. Our characters interacted well with each other and the audience, at times when we forgot our lines or went off script, we stayed in character and used improv. Not only that but we managed to keep an element of surprise with who killed Gary, the audience seemed convinced it was either Rosie or Plod and the shock on their faces when they found out it was Sergeant Cox was the reaction we hoped for. Our technical aspects of the performance went well too. Before the performance started, we had another issue with the MacBook that would hook up to the computer to show the videos of Gary being murdered, the charger wouldn’t work, and it died but thankfully another member of the group had a spare charger for it that worked which allowed the Mac to turn on and get the videos ready. Other than that, the lights worked, and the transitions flowed nicely. We had all the props and the UV torches worked, the projector and the music we chose worked.  Our outfits matched with our characters, Rosie being self-absorbed meant wearing clothes and make-up that showed her confidence. Rachel dressed in tracksuit bottoms and a plain white top to represent her ‘don’t care’ attitude and how rough life has been since her murder charges. Plod and Cox were in police uniform to show that they worked in the station. Overall, I would say I am quite proud of what we achieved during the live performance, given the issues we had both on the day and the months leading up to it.

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Performance: Actual idea and the technical aspects

Following the change to it becoming an escape room. We eventually came up with a plot for the escape room. A police interrogation about who killed a man named Gary. Based in a police station, our audience members would become police, completing tasks to uncover hints and tips as to who killed him, interacting with suspects, Rosie, and Rachel. Rosie who was the ex-lover and Rachel who had previously been arrested for the Cuckoo murders. The audience would be split into two groups, one following PC Plod and the other Sergeant Coxs. We had also gone into detail with the characters, having them know each other longer than just the performance. For example, Rachel, Rosie, and Cox had been childhood friends. Rachel and PC Plod had known each other from Rachel’s previous convictions. PC Plod and Rosie have a flirty relationship and finally, Cox and Plod work together. Our tasks were kept simple, for the first task, a model of the crime scene that used UV pain and a torch to figure out the weapon that had a QR code of the video of Gary being killed. Other weapons had links to the social media accounts of Rosie, Rachel, and Plod. Then in Rosie’s area it was word searches placed in case files that gave a passcode to Rosie’s laptop of a video from her YouTube channel that makes her suspicious. Then in Rachel’s area, we had letters written to her that had UV paint on the back that would hint to looking on her chair that showed a CCTV footage of Plod incriminating evidence.  This meant that will all the tech used, we spent a lot of our rehearsal sessions making the technical aspects work and didn’t focus on the performance aspects as much as we wanted/ needed to.

words- 300 words

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Performance: Original Idea

The plan for our production was originally a video game style. We would have incorporated the new media aspects by using projectors and tv screens for video game cut-scenes, QR codes that would have drawn images of weapons or medical supplies to help the game proceed. Having a guide to take the ‘players’ (our audience) around the video game, making sure they complete the missions and the game on time. We took inspiration from Jumanji for our video game performance even though we hadn’t come up with a plot for the game. However, as we began to plan everything, including a floor plan, we realised how difficult it will be to get everything in order and to work properly. For example, we wanted several projectors but when looking to book them out, we could only use a maximum of two which wasn’t enough. Another example is the aspect of it being a video game itself, unless we sat people down and gave controllers, it wouldn’t be a video game and more of an escape room. Not only that but if we did do that, there wouldn’t be much room for performance. So, we made the decision to make it an escape room.

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Production: Group Chats

My role as stage manager also meant keeping in contact with everyone and providing information for the group so everyone was working and doing their part. I felt the easiest option was to make a group chat for the group. Originally, for my performance group, I thought Whatsapp as its mainly used for professional purposes and I saw our performance as professional. However, after thinking it through, we decided to do Snapchat because it was simple to use and everyone used it daily, meaning we would likely to respond quicker on there. That and not all of us use Whatsapp or have each other’s numbers. I don’t think we kept the group professional mainly because we had gotten on really well, so we used it to speak about other things along with the group work, keeping everything easier.

We had separate groups made for our production groups. Again, we chose Snapchat for this group chat too. The stage manager’s group chat was kept very professional, we only spoke on there when sharing rooms or asking for help with our duties. As I mentioned before, we had rooms booked for rehearsals by our lectures which we had to split evenly between the four groups. I believe that this was done correctly and fairly amongst the stage managers.

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Production: Booking Rooms

Another one of my jobs as stage manager was to book rooms out for extra rehearsals. As I mentioned, due to schedules, we had to book rooms out for our normal sessions, let alone any extra ones. In the beginning, I had trouble booking rooms because I didn’t know how to do it. So, I spoke to the group and those that did know, didn’t mind helping in booking some days. For a while, we struggled with getting rooms which meant doing work in one of the library pods causing us to waste time that could have been spent rehearsing. Also due to 218 and 414 being booked out all the time during the day, we had evening rehearsals until the performance was over. Not only that but we couldn’t really practice much in 218 where the performance took place which caused issues for the tech aspect, mainly because the lighting set up and projection set up in 414 was different to the one in 218 which got confusing.

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This is just a copy of the contract my group made

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Production: Contract

As part of my role, I had to create a contract for my group to sign and accept. I had taken suggestions off the group like ‘Giving notice 24hrs in advance if someone was not attending the rehearsal unless an emergency’ but I also added some of my own. For example, I knew a few, if not all members suffered with mental illness and knew that some days would be hard to make it in, so I put that down as a reason not to attend as I wanted the group to feel safe and comfortable. The layout of the contract was made easy to follow because I wanted it to be an easy read with everything made clear, so everyone understood.  The issue with the contract was that it wasn’t taken seriously at first. Only 2/4 of us read the contract when it was first sent. When this was brought up, some of the group took it as a joke, saying that it wasn’t important. It took a massive disagreement within the group for everyone to read and take the contract seriously because we had issues with communication which caused several arguments that almost led to us getting strikes. In the contract, I had put that after our main lecture, we would stay back for 5-10 minutes to discuss what was going on, this was mainly to help in communicating what needs to get done and what will enhance the performance, and that everyone was ‘on the same page’. This was never done; someone would always leave or not turn up and it caused issues because it meant not everyone knew what was going on and we had to take time out of rehearsing or making props for the production to explain things that could have been known if the contract was followed. Another issue we ran into with the contract was everyone’s schedule. Before creating the contract, I grabbed everyone’s schedules to work out days that were best for everyone. The issue I faced was that we never had more than one day free which meant we wouldn’t practice much. I brought this issue to the group and asked if those who worked could possibly stick to weekends or two consistent days until the performance was over. This created issues for one person as they couldn’t change the schedule they had. This left us with choosing certain days and meant we couldn’t use the rooms booked on specific days which created more work and less time for rehearsing. However, what I will mention is how one group member had been working Monday through Friday but happily changed their days to the weekends until the performance was over, it made a difference for rehearsing. 

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Production: Assigned roles

Before we began to plan our production in further detail, we had to be assigned production roles. These would be part of the performance, just mainly behind the scenes. There were

o   Stage manager

o   Tech assistant

o   Tech

o   Marketing

We as a group, had the choice to pick which one. However, I feel I didn’t really get the option. My group had already spoken quietly about the roles before coming to me and asking if stage manager was okay. I felt it should have been handled differently, like discussing strengths and weaknesses of each role for the members and deciding off that which roles should be assigned as it’s the fairest way. However, I will say that being a stage manager helped massively with my confidence as I tend to not lead and take the back seat when in a group. Doing this forced me to be in charge as I had many responsibilities and had to be stern with aspects which I normally wouldn’t do.

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How immersive/interactive technologies and extended/virtual realities have changed the way audience experience theatre and performance? Give an example.

Audiences no longer settle for regular theatre experiences, thanks to technology being incorporated into performances. Places like escape rooms or the Doctor Who: Time Fracture which is currently held in London have made performances very immersive and interactive for the audience, often including them in the performance, allowing them to decide how it finishes. This has majorly inspired performances like our performance Detection. This was due to how it allowed the audience to do the work to complete the performance but in a fun way that doesn’t feel like a chore to complete. Like an escape room, we had timed puzzles with our officers keeping check to stay on track with the time. Similarly, we took inspiration from Doctor Who: Time Fracture, mainly the idea of their choices determining the ending of the production and having more than one ending. These really helped in making our production interactive and exciting. This way of performing has been a massive success and will forever change the way a production is made. Rather than the easy way of breaking the fourth wall, audiences can now be a part of the performance in ways that weren’t discovered before.

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What is the advantage to an intermedial approach to theatre, performance or film making? Give an example.

My response:

Many may assume that performances being on screen can ruin its authenticity and the emotions of live theatre. However, there are a massive amount of media lovers who believe the idea of theatrofilm is excellent and the new way for theatre performances. With some productions like Hamlet already beginning to do this, it’s fascinating to see how they are done. One advantage to this performance is the idea of being able to see more and notice things that you may have not noticed before. Small things like certain props used or outfit changes. ‘There's an assumption that screens make us lazier, in that the camera does the looking for us, but watching Hamlet through cameras in fact made me look harder. There were things I would have missed had I been watching from the auditorium’ Opinion from Hermione Hoby who had watched the performance of Hamlet in 2011. Not only that but by a company making the decision to stream through a screen on a platform like Youtube, it allows people from all over the world to watch the production who maybe couldn’t have watched it when it was live. Some may say that there’s the opportunity to watch a show several times live due to a production doing a week of shows but then we must take cost into account. The good thing about it being online is that if its free, someone can watch more than once. Alternatively, someone could purchase it once online and watch it as many times as possible.

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How has the internet challenged the notion of ‘liveness’ in performance? Use one example to support your argument.

My response:

The internet has allowed performers to have free range and access to “open-source technologies” which in turn creates a challenge in the performance as it has a “DIY attitude, a sense of fun and playfulness risk taking and experimentation.” However, I feel the internet has begun to evolve the definition of ‘Live performance’ as its no longer straight forward as performing on stage. For example, in my first year of university, we were online for our lectures which meant performing online. When showing our manifestos, we could either perform it live over teams or record it and show it back. The challenge with that is that some argue that performing on screen is not live as they see live performances as being in person on a stage. But thanks to the rise of the internet and the lockdown due to the pandemic, live performances are now becoming more than one thing. Not only that but performing online gives the performer a lot more freedom. What I mean by this is that performers can choose where to act out scenes, it’s no longer in theatre in front of hundreds of people which can take away a lot of stress and fright some might have which can help the performer in creating a better performance.

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Using one example, write about some of the challenges that creative practioners, productions, companies have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they responded to them creatively.

My response

Almost immediately, anything that involved entertainment and media was shut when the pandemic hit due to the advice given by higher authorities like the Priminster about ‘avoiding pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues’ in doing so, these places were forced to close because many chose to self-isolate than go out. This caused many to become jobless and many places to shut down because of the lack of funding. Not only that, but actors were going without work for months. Films were delayed and theatre shows were cancelled. But this then made those who were in the industry to think outside of the box and to think of ways to entertain the people and to earn a living. The most common way was creating performances through zoom. For example, some celebrities came together on Zoom and performed Shakespeare’s plays like Macbeth. Theatres began to record their performances and live streaming them to sites like YouTube. Not only that but certain artists like Ariana Grande held virtual concerts on games like Fortnite for their fans, a group, BTS, held several concerts online on sites like YouTube throughout the pandemic due to them having to cancel their world tour due to covid. The only concerns with this were the way the artists would be paid, some obviously did livestreams and performances for free, just to be a coping method when dealing with the pandemic but others did it to earn money as they couldn’t do so in person. The issue with this was the idea that they would mainly be paid through YouTube and would only be paid based on ad revenue and the number of views each stream or video would get. This is a concern as it may not be as high of a payment as they would normally get in a theatre or on set which meant that it wasn’t a reliable source of income.

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