Performing Arts in Context Log Book West Side Story, The Romeo & Juliet (Baz Lurhman Version) And The Original Version: Character Analogies

 

Action Plan

Rehearsal Schedule:

• Every Monday (2pm until 5pm)
• Wednesday (1pm until 4pm) If possible
• Any spare time we have i.e. when lessons cancelled or days off

Props & Costumes Needed:

• Burberry Caps
• Cheap Gold Necklaces
• Sovereign Rings
• Big Looped Earrings
• Long Black Leather Coats
• Big Black Boots
• Black Clothing
• Knives
• Block To Be Sat on
• Road Signs (For the fight scene – opening scene)

                        Performing Arts in Context Log Book

West Side Story, The Romeo & Juliet (Baz Lurhman Version) And The Original Version:

Character Analogies

 

The characters do have some differences, since they are created in another place and time.

 

Plot and Structure Comparisons:

The Difference Between The Original And Baz Lurhman’s Version:

                           

Technical Theatre Operations

In our technical theatre operations task, we were given the process which involved in concentrating on creating a specific state or mood. We were given various atmosphere’s to choose from and in our group we chose a ‘menacing’ atmosphere as we felt this could be the most effective combination. We were restricted of using only 3 props so we realised our decision making on the props we chose and why would be very important. At first the group and I came up with the idea of using children’s toys scattered across the floor could symbolise domestic violence of some sort or bad happenings but found that our small area of the stage looked very bare. So we decided to try and find bigger children’s objects but no matter the size of the props it still did not feel like a clustered children’s room. We then had to create other ideas and felt it would be better to reconsider how we would tackle the task and what scene we would use.

        We then decided that using a headless manikin dressed in a wedding dress would be very effective, we also used an old chess box that we thought having the dress coming out of it would be like a very unusual scene (as if the headless person within a wedding dress had risen from death). We also put a dead bow Kay of flowers in the hands of the headless manikin could symbolise a bad marriage or disappointment. We found that straight away our idea made more of an effect on the scene or space on the stage we was using. We then had to consider what lighting we would use, what colours and why. We made a Lighting design and plan of the scene and after some consideration decided that we could use a deep red spotlighted on the headless bride to symbolise evil, blood or death and we decided to use a simple profile spotlight lantern. We also used another profile spotlight lantern pointing from the floor pointing diagonally behind the chess box to create very menacing shadows of the box and the manikin and were hoping to experiment with the two lights to produce a blend of the two and hopefully wouldn’t clash and create any other unwanted colour. After rigging the light for the headless bride we found it became very effective with the colourless profile spotlight lantern. We adjusted the lantern with the deep red colour to cover the majority of the scene and the profile spotlight lantern on the floor was very effective and created a perfect shadow of the manikin.

        We were considering on using a flood light for the shadow effect we created but felt that it would be too overpowering and would ruin the effect of the deep red coloured lantern. However, we decided to experiment and felt that using the two profile spotlight lanterns was the most effective as each one were use to their maximum effectiveness.

I felt that after producing the final piece it was more effective than I had hoped and the atmosphere in room and on the stage felt very menacing and I felt that our task was completed successfully.