Scene 2
Tommy’s gang beats up James in this scene. This was to establish that both gangs were very serious drug dealers, and very aggressive. This scene involved us using split-scenes, and took quite a few rehearsals to perfect. James is centre stage, starting with a freeze frame, and Tommy and Jack enter the stage from the left. There is one light pointing at James, and two lights pointing on Jack and Tommy. WE didn’t use and soundtracks for this scene.
Scene 3
Tommy and Emma start meeting up. There is a secret relationship developing here, even though Emma is going out with goblin. We thought that this could be the only way to put love and romance into our performance, so we made it so that Emma was having an affair with Tom. There is a bench (centre stage), which Tommy and Emma are sat on. There are two lights, which are both pointing at Tommy and Emma.
Scene 4
This was the final scene, where Goblin, Jack, Jimmy, and Tommy all fight. This was a very powerful scene, which took a long period of rehearsals to get it just right. This scene was created to get the point across to the audience, of who was the most powerful gang in the play. They all died, so none of them were. We had a soundtrack, which helped in creating a vicious atmosphere, for a fighting scene. There were four lights, which were spaced all around the stage, because there was everyone performing on the stage in this scene.
Sound and Lighting
We only had a piece of music at the end of the performance, when there was the big fight between the gangs. The music helped us act, because we could actually move to the music as we were fighting. We considered having a music track in the car scene, but it was difficult to set up, so we didn’t bother. The lighting however, was the most important thing in the production, because if there was no light, then no-one would be able to see the performance. The lighting helped us achieve the correct atmosphere needed for each and every scene.
Kissing you
We didn’t actually use this piece of music at all, but we were going to use this on the scene where everybody died, but no-one seemed to have the tape. I wish that we had of used this tape, as I believe that it would aid the tender feeling, we were attempting at this scene. I watched another performance, that used this tape, and I felt it made a very dramatic effect, on their peace.
Red Gel Lighting
This was used on the last fighting scene. The red gel lighting made the scene feel very serious, and non-humorous. It also created a horror scene effect, which was the kind of thing that we were hoping to happen. It made a great impact on our work, well I thought so and so did many others. The audience seemed to like applauded quite a lot, and some very positive comments were given to us from the audience.
Audience and Performance space
There were about 20 pupils, and 2 examiners in the audience. These were all seated at the back of the Drama studio, which was quite spacious, so we were fine for fitting all of these people in the studio. The audience was made up from a significant amount of pupils, who were studying Romeo and Juliet, just like us, so they were very fluent with the storyline. As most of them were about 16 years of age, so we felt that they were all as mature and intelligent as adults, we felt no reason to cut the script so that they would find it easier to understand the play. The main moral, that we were hoping to get across to our audience, was that feuds only cause fighting, and fighting only cause’s deaths. I actually think we delivered this message very well. The only thing that wasn’t up to the highest standard of effort was our sound. We could have improved if we had been more precise with our timing. Everything else seemed pretty good. Our audience seemed comfortable, and had enough space in the studio, so the seating was all in order, and everything else seemed up to standards as well.
Reflection
Many things worked, and many things could have been improved in our performance of Romeo and Juliet.
- Our drama seemed to work pretty effectively, although more time and effort could be used to improve the piece. We pretty much covered all that we wanting to, in our performance, and I think we worked very well in it.
- At first we intended to set our piece in the times of Romeo and Juliet, but we felt that it would be a lot easier for us to perform, and for the audience to understand, if we actually set it in modern times, and also it would be more realistic, as we don’t have any old fashioned costumes, or many props. We could have had certain props, but no-one seemed o want to spend their own money, and time to get them. Besides it would have been too complex for the audience, if we had our piece set in the time of Romeo and Juliet.
- Our message was that feuds are wrong, and they only cause pain and anger. Our piece as well planned, and thought out; I think we managed to get this message across to the audience very well.
- Although many things could have been improved, most of our piece worked well. I particularly think that our last scene, with the fighting went exceptionally well. Also I think that we worked very well in rehearsals, which made it a lot easier on the day o final performance. Also I think that our scenes were very well planned, and set out.
- Our lighting could have been improved, because there wasn’t really anyone who knew what to do with the lights, in our group, so we should have had a few rehearsals on that. The sound again could have been improved, because we spent most of our rehearsal time, concentrating 90% on acting, and little rehearsal time on lighting, sound, etc. This was why we had little sound, and not very accurate lighting, but I think we managed to pull it off.
- Apparently the audience enjoyed our piece, as told by a few members of the audience. Even if no-one had commented on our piece, I think we would still have known that the audience enjoyed it, because all the way through it they seemed to have the expression their faces, like we wanted. When a humorous piece came on, the audience smiled. When something slightly upsetting came on, the audience looked concerned. One of the obvious reasons why, as because we got a good amount of applause, just as we finished.
- The rehearsals went very well, and we all got an average grade, but we all could have achieved higher grades, if we had organised our rehearsals better. We could have had after school, break time and lunchtime rehearsals, to perfect our performance, but none of us seemed interested enough in our piece at the time, to want to achieve higher grades, by rehearsing in our own time. So it’s our fault, that we didn’t gain higher grades than ours at the moment. Another way to improve our performance was if we had used scripts, because although we were very familiar with the storyline and scenes, we weren’t very familiar with the exact words that we had to use.
- The other groups did very well in their performances, and most of them got good grades. Two other groups did actually have after school rehearsals, like we should have done, and I think that they boosted up their grades by going to them. Most of the other groups used a modern storyline, and some even used a drug tale, like we did. While watching other groups, it helped me to see where I was going wrong, and where they were going wrong, by comparing each of our plays. The other groups also found it easier by watching everyone else’s, as I found people watching us, when we were rehearsing. Some other groups used freeze framing in the middle of scenes, while we only used them at the start and at the end of each scene. This seemed very effective in their performances, and I thin that we should have used it.
Appendices
Props
We used many props, which helped us set the scenes out, and make them more lifelike. Some of the props were borrowed from the Drama studio, and some of them were brought from home.
- Chairs (with cover on top, to make a bench)
- Chairs (for the car scene)
- Gun (for last scene)
- Mobile phone (When I found out that Tom and Emma are having an affair)
We were told to cover up the chairs, as we weren’t allowed to use, or show the red chairs. We used about three different mobile phones. Tom and Emma had to use their own, for the calling each other scene and I had to use mine, when I found out that Tom and going out with Emma.
Costumes
Jack (Me)-
- Black trousers
- Black zip-up top
- Black shoes
I felt that I should wear these to show that I was different to all of the other characters, who were all deceitful to their groups. People wear black at funerals. I thought that if I wore black it would be like I was dressed for a funeral, which was technically the last scene. This could also indicate that fate had a role in our performance, and everyone in it would die….they did.
Goblin (Oliver)
- Parker
- Black trousers
- Black shoes
Drug dealers sometimes wear big coats, to stash drugs. So we thought a main drug dealer could wear a parker.
Jimmy (James)
- Dark hoody
- Black trousers
- Black shoes
There wasn’t a major reason why James wore these clothes, we just thought that he should look streetwise. So he brought in his hoody from home.
Tommy (Thomas)
- Fred Perry sweatshirt
- Black trousers
- Black shoes
Again there wasn’t a reason for why Tom had to wear these clothes, we just did some research and in some films about drug dealers and gangs, they actually look like the characters we create, which was good, because it was the impression we were trying to create.
Emma (Emma)
- A blue t-shirt
- Black trousers
- Black shoes
We didn’t have a particular purpose for Emma’s costume either, just to look kind of rough, and young, and sort of dodgy.
The main reason why everyone is wearing black pants, and black shoes, is because we all have to wear black shoes, and black trousers for school, and some people forgot their ants, so we thought we all may as well wear them. Most of the costumes were very easy to find, as we all brought our own from home, but the props were more difficult to get hold of, as we had to ask people around the school for them.
