Character Analysis My name is Richie Swanson. I am thirty-eight years old. My appearance is unkempt but it comes across as perfect despite its imperfection

Peltier Adam Peltier Stephen Rockwell Acting Techniques 26 November 2012 Character Analysis My name is Richie Swanson. I am thirty-eight years old. My appearance is unkempt but it comes across as perfect despite its imperfection. Physically I’m in great shape thanks to my rigorous workout routine. I can do a thousand crunches now. I’m confident and I walk confidently with my head high and my chest out. I have a personality that oozes potential. Despite my confidence, there is a gentleness about me that comes across clearly. I can be someone that can be soft-spoken, good-natured, and really sweet natured. I’m also very obsessive over detail, right down to the designer suits I wear. Because of this I tend to categorize people by what they ware and how they look, I think people are more easily understood in terms of labels and stereotypes. Alcohol is my go to drink, and a bloody mary is my drink of choice. I like bloody mary's so much in fact I carry a capped pepper shaker in my pocket at all times. I was born into a wealthy family. My father was a defense attorney who was very successful. My mother was an archeologist that actually discovered the remnants of a wooly mammoth, after this she became a stay at home mom. I was the youngest of three in a family of prodigies. My oldest brother is named Chas. He is a world-renowned financial advisor. Margo, is my adopted

  • Word count: 672
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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Monologue Choice. I eventually found one monologue its called 'my mother said I never should' by Charlotte Keatley. The play is about difficult relationships between mothers and daughters.

The context of the monologue in relation to the rest of the play. The tone and atmosphere of the piece The range/complexity of emotions explored The desired effect upon the audience The suitability of the character and context for you Whether or not the piece allows you to demonstrate your particular strengths in an audition context When looking for my contemporary monologue I at first wasnt sure what kind of monologue I wanted, I knew I wanted one which showed quite a bit of emotion but as to which monologue I should of chose I was stuck on. I eventually found one monologue its called 'my mother said I never should' by Charlotte Keatley. The play is about difficult relationships between mothers and daughters. It goes forwards and backwards between 1905 and 1987. It shows the lives of four generations of women, their loves, expectations and choices throughout their lives. They are set against the huge social changes on the twentieth century. In the scene from which my monologue came from it is in 1987, Jackie is in her mid-thirties and she runs an art gallery in manchester. She has a very successful life but has a very painful secret. In the the early seventies at the age of nineteen she gave birth to an illegitimate daughter Rosie. She couldnt handle the demands of single parenthood after Rosie's father moved away with another woman. She then had to give Rosie up under

  • Word count: 1086
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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How would you perform the role of Creon in his first appearance with the Chorus and in his last appearance of the play to demonstrate to your audience how his character changes?

Jessica Perry “How would you perform the role of Creon in his appearance with the Chorus and in his last appearance of the play to demonstrate to your audience how his character changes?” Playing the role of Creon, his performance throughout the play of Antigone should retain many elements of the style of traditional Greek theatre. As Antigone is a Greek tragedy the style of acting needs to be exaggerated and over-dramatic. Especially in the last scene, lots of passion and emotion needs to be added in the last scene, this will show the clear contrast of Creon’s behaviour in the first and the last scene. The two scenes show the contrast of Creon’s hubris and the will of the Gods, highlighting a key theme of the play: state law vs. religion. I would have short curly black and slightly grey hair with a thick beard similar to the hair. Tall, broad shouldered showing my physical dominance on stage. I'd wear a burgundy sleeveless knee length chiton with a high-neckline made from linen including gold detail on the neckline, a brown coloured leather belt and brown woollen himation draped over the right shoulder. I would also have brown leather sandals, and a gold ring and chain necklace too. I would have a large scar running down the left side of my leg, showing the conflict and wars I have been involved in from the past. I would have a low booming voice, I would talk slow

  • Word count: 1005
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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Describe the technical elements used to create realism in a production of 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'?

Outline the ways in which technical elements were used to create realism on stage at particular moments in one live production that you have seen and assess the effectiveness of these moments for the audience? On ___ October I saw a production of Tennessee Williams’ ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ at the West Yorkshire Play House in Leeds. This production was wholly naturalistic and the director included a vast number of technical elements that were added to conjure realism for the audience. As I entered the auditorium, I saw the play’s pre-set which looked like a single room with a small additions such as a balcony and a number of doors which presumably led to elsewhere in the ‘house’. The pre-set was lit brightly with a wash of soft yellow light. This created a sense of warmth and humidity, and made the audience believed that the room must be in a house located in a country with a warm climate. The source of the light in the auditorium was lanterns that were situated above the stage and to the sides, which, from the audience’s point of view, made out that this was sunlight coming in from the windows. This not only suggests a place, but also a time- either morning or evening due to the colour of the light. The source of the light helped to contribute to the realism created because in a real life environment, sunlight does indeed enter and light up the room from the

  • Word count: 589
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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What function do you think the MC should have, and how would you perform the role from the opening of the play up to the line Well, thats the end of Part one of The War Game?

Drama Assessment Essay – * What function do you think the MC should have, and how would you perform the role from the opening of the play up to the line “Well, that’s the end of Part one of The War Game”? I see the MC as the driving force for the narrative of the play. During his first appearance the stage directions says he has a ringmaster’s whip and this, I think, is a hint at his character. He is the ringmaster of the performances – both that of the Pierrot show and that which the physical audience sees. Because of this, I see the MC as being quite an upright man, perhaps with ringmaster’s coat on, and of course the whip in his hand. This would encourage the actor to be loud and entertaining such as he would be in the ‘Roll up!’ style of the circus. Although the connotations of this circus-like theme would be to have him as heavily mad up to look like a clown or ringmaster I think this would be inappropriate therefore stage make up should be kept to a minimum. I would suggest an alternative to the whip, which is mentioned in the play- perhaps the MC could hold a ringmaster’s baton that he could use to aim at his reference points for example pointing at the characters he is talking about. The MC is the character who engages most with the audience, breaking the fourth wall intentionally to interact. Instead of just telling the audience something or

  • Word count: 1296
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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The Seagull -Actors take second place to designers in the theatre of the 21st century Discuss the above statement in relation to the play you have seen in performance compared to its original performance conditions.

“Actors take second place to designers in the theatre of the 21st century” Discuss the above statement in relation to the play you have seen in performance compared to its original performance conditions. In the 21st century, designers are considered more important than ever, especially given that audience are more visual responders, due heavily to new technology and visual stimulus. In the production we saw, adapted by Anya Reiss and directed by Chris Honer, you can see how important the designer’s impact is, but is it more significant than that of the actors? In Honer’s production, the set was an incomplete box set, which was placed at angles, similar to Viktor Simov’s, the director of the original play, which was inspired by Meiningen. The continued use of this idea seemed to have a dual purpose; firstly to pay homage to the original production and Simov’s style and ideas, but also to create a more three dimensional appearance to the set. Despite this, Judith Croft, the designer of Honer’s production, completely reimagined other aspects of the set, for example it’s simple representational realism, which is vastly different from it’ 19th century counterpart. Although it may down to more practical reasons, such as the common use of TV nowadays, which is not only a more realistic competitor to theatre, but it also gives audiences information, so they will

  • Word count: 883
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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A Dolls House: How would you perform the role of Nora with Krogstad and Doctor Rank to highlight the differences in both social status and their function.

As an Actor, how would you perform the role of Nora during her first interactions with Krogstad and Doctor Rank to highlight the differences in both social status and their function in the play? As an actor in “A Doll’s House” I would perform the part of Nora in a naturalistic way to match the style of the play. This means I will keep in mind the 19th century context of the play and stick to it while acting. The genre is a modern tragedy and I will also bear that in mind. When Nora first sees Krogstad in the hallway, she is meant to be surprised and slightly nervous. I would act this out by having a quick facial expression as if I have been shocked, and then take a small breath before speaking to him. When she asks “What do you want to talk to my husband about?” I would say this line very coldly, yet quietly, in a serious tone. I would be standing in the doorway and have my arms crossed, to show Krogstad that this house is Torval’s and mine and that he’s just a visitor. There would be full eye contact from my side. When Krogstad starts explaining himself to me, I would stand still and turn my face slightly to the side as if questioning what he is saying. Then I would express this with the line “Are you lying to me?” again with my voice being low, but firm and challenging. This would show my status, and how I am demanding him to tell me. Only after

  • Word count: 597
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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Review of Frank McGuiness's adaptation of "Electra"

On the 7th October, my Drama group and I went to see the Greek tragedy “Electra” at The Old Vic Theatre in London, adapted by Frank McGuiness. It was directed by Ian Rickson and starred Kirstin Scott Thomas who plays the lead role of Electra. This play follows Electra throughout all the different stages of grief she goes through following the murder of her father Agamemnon. Unwilling to forgive and consumed by a desire for revenge, her anger builds; on the return of her brother Orestes, Electra’s wrath then explodes without mercy, leading to a bloody and terrifying conclusion. Within this play there are strong elements of grief, addiction and an intense need for restitution. Electra is filled with loss from the pathological, addictive grieving over her father who was murdered many year before hand, by her mother and step-father, which traumatic aftershock has left Electra withered and motionless as well as in need of revenge as a sort of compensation for the loss of her father, to the fresh grief over her brother. The set of the play is extremely minimalistic, with small feature which make up the arena; a tap, a fire pit, a tree and two pillar with a door in between them are featured on the stage, and I believe these component are symbolic of the four element, fire, earth, water and air. The tree however is barren and the branches are cut off before their time. This is

  • Word count: 997
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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As a director, outline and justify your approach to a production of "Lysistrata" staged in your chosen performance space:

As a director, outline and justify your approach to a production of the play staged in your chosen performance space: As a director I place as much importance on my performance space as I do on the text and the actors. I feel that a performance space is integral to the impact that the play has upon the audience and the messages and ideas that the play presents. The overall approach I have chosen to take is a stylistic one that does not attempt to be realistic in its style of acting. In this sense this would keep in with Aristophanes intentions for when this play was originally performed. This is due to the fact in Aristophanes’ time the play would have been performed to a huge audience of up to 17,000 people and the amphitheatres were so vast many were not close enough to see things such as smaller set details and facial expression. Therefore Greek playwrights could not expect to be able to create realistic scenes on stage and therefore had to make the acting style and set design much more exaggerated. With this in mind I have chosen to take a Brechtian approach to emphasis the anti-war and feministic messages contained within the play. Therefore I have chosen to keep my stage fairly simplistic but symbolic, so as not to distract from this message. In designing my set I was influenced by Berkoff and his fascination with constructivism. I consequently decided to

  • Word count: 1003
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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"Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime" Essay on Impressive and Spectacular Movements in a Professional Performance.

DATE \@ "dddd, d MMMM y" Thursday, 20 November 2014 Drama Q: Explain how two or more performers used impressive or surprising movements in one live production that you have seen and assess their contribution to the effectiveness of the peace at particular moments INTRO - SUM UP PLAY AND POINTS PARA - STATION 2PARA - HOW IT WAS DELIVERED? 3PARA - WHY THEY DID IT AND WHAT WAS THE EFFECT 4PARA - CHRISTOPHER IN THE TUBE ATTEMPTING TO GET TOBY 5PARA - HOW WAS IT DELIVERED? 6PARA - WHY THEY DID IT CONC. - SUM UP ALL POINTS ABOVE I On the 15th of October, 2014 I went with my school to see “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” at the Gelguid Theatre. The play was directed by Marianne Elliot and the designer was Bunny Christie. 15 year old Christopher (Actor is Graham Butler) is a suspect for the murder of his next neighbours dog Wellington. He decides to solve the mystery of who killed it despite his fathers wishes. However this takes him on a frightening journey that tears apart his conception of his once familiar world. In the scene of the train station in Swindon, Christopher has just left his house to get away from his father after discovering that Ed had just killed Wellington. The main reason that he wants to get away is the fact that he also wants to reunite with his mother. As he has “behavioural problems” who has problems with physical

  • Word count: 775
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Drama
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