Lesson 6 - 11.12.14

Lesson 6

Ensemble

Write your own definition of what ensemble means in theatre. An approach to acting that creates a unified effect made possible by all members of a cast working together on behalf of the play, rather than using individual performances.


What has to happen in the rehearsal room to develop a successful ensemble?

Every actor needs to be focused and ready to work hard because we are only as focused as our least focused actor.

Write about your favourite ensemble moment so far. Write at least 4 sentences to explain why. 

My favourite ensemble moment so far is the taxi driver scene. I think it is really well put together and the use of the lights from our phones is really effective. I also enjoy how we had freedom to a certain extent on how we created our sections so that everyones was different. I really enjoyed working in a group to create something because everyone had different ideas we could use.

Today we focused on creating Tale 3 and the start of Tale 4.

TALE 3

• How have we decided to stage Tale 3? 

The start of Tale 3 flows from the end of Tale 2. All the boys stand up one by one whilst muttering the line "If the East End was my friend" and goes and stands behind the stools that are still set up in the same order from the girls' ensemble scene. After that, one by one, we all pick up a stool and swing it over our heads and slam it down, jeering and cheering like a bunch of 'lads' in a pub. The song 'London's Calling' is playing in the background and we all take a big swig from our pints in slow motion. On the second time the song says "London's Calling" we slam our 'pints' down and stamp our feet. We say a few lines as an ensemble and then proceed to all turn into a 'jack of all trades' eg. a plumber, builder etc.. We then form a bar at a pub and Matteo is left in the middle and we tell the story of a man and an incident occurred involving him. On the line "Where a body of a man lies covered in snow" a white sheet is placed in the middle and is lit up with the girls' phones that are surrounding it. 

• What characters do you play in this tale? 

In this tale I play one of the men in the pub throughout the whole scene. Also, for the 'jack of all trades' part I casted myself as a plumber who is talking to a woman about a burst pipe.

• What is the atmosphere of Tale 3? How is this different to what we have created for Tale 1 & 2?

The atmosphere in Tale 3 is quite mysterious in some places but also loud and rowdy in others. In the start pub scene everyone is being loud and there is lots going on. As we progress through the scene it gets more haunting and mysterious as we talk about a fight that ended badly. This is different to Tale 1 & 2 because both of those scenes are much more choreographed which gives it a really flowing feel. Also Tale 2 is much more visual than this scene because of the drawing on the wall

TALE 4

• How have we decided to stage Tale 4? 

The scene starts out by flowing straight out of Tale 3 from the bar scene. We change the bar made from the stools into a chair for Will who is playing "Dad" in the scene. After that, a few girls have umbrellas and everyone goes to join someone under an umbrella. We then move to the floor where we are all covered by the umbrellas. After that we move to face someone and create a "road" diagonally down the stage. After the road we then go into 3 lines that represent the aisles in a supermarket. After Nina has traipsed through the aisles my line (which is the middle) go to our knees downstage centre stage to create the counter of the shop. Nina then scans the items and everyone but her sits down. As she gets 'home' Sarah and I simulate the action of a door that Nina proceeds to slam.

• What characters do you play in this tale? 

In this tale I play the part of a horse racing commentator at the start, I then play part of a supermarket aisle, a supermarket counter and finally a door. 

Further questions...

• What acting skills have you continued to develop over the past few weeks? Is there anything new you have discovered about your own skills?

Acting skills I am continuing to improve on throughout the past few weeks are: 
My projection - I have found that creating a play using the thrust staging really improves projection as depending on where you are you have to project to three sides of the room instead of 3.

Spacial Awareness - This is another skill that has been developed because of the thrust staging. It has made me be more aware of where I am and where I need to be on the stage. Sometimes I need reminding that there are audiences on three sides but I definitely think it helps my skills.
Coordination - Working as an ensemble has really helped develop my coordination not only with others, but with myself. It helps me be aware of the other actors that I'm working with.

• Return to all of the sections of the text we have staged so far. Select a line from each that sums up that tale.

Prologue - "Yeah I get all sorts in here"

Tale 2 - "If the East End was my friend"

Tale 3 - "The loudmouth routine is just a disguise"

Tale 4 - "Nobody's ever helped me before"

Tale 5 - "They were fucked up"

Tale 7 - "I am SO not in the mood for this"