Finally I thought that I would play Gregory as too the reasons I have stated. However I found that the person I was going to work with also wanted to play this character. Therefore I decided to work with a different person, although, he also wanted to play this character so I decided to play the part of Steve as they were as equally demanding. Before I even began playing the part of Steve I knew I had to portray him as a cooking maniac. Consequently, when Susan comes up to be for advise on how to make her pastry, I didn’t look directly at her and carried on cooking, implying that cooking is more important than her. When we first started to rehearse the play we never used any props. In addition we rehearsed in our drama classroom, which is very dull and small. This made it relatively difficult to act because we had no props and were too close to the other people who were rehearsing their script. In a way this improved our performance because we had to act more effectively because we had no props, also we and to stay in character and not take any notice of the people around us.
The scene we were performing was set in a cookery class so when we filmed this we decided to film it in a food and technology room. This made it easier than before as we had props and were in the correct atmosphere and surroundings, also I had an apron on made me feel more like a cooking maniac like Steve. Although this helped I thought that the rehearsals were more effective than the actual performance that was filmed, probably because we didn’t spent enough time in the food and technology room. This was a disadvantage, as we didn’t get use to the props and surroundings, although literally speaking these surroundings are ideal for what we were doing because the scene we performed was set in a cookery class. If I had the opportunity to do this again I would definitely spend more time in the food and technology room because we also had people moving around the room giving the room an atmosphere. Even though I think the rehearsals were better than the actual performance the end result still pleased me.
When we first started to perform this I found it difficult to act because I hadn’t learnt the script, so part way through the scene I had to keep referring to the script. This made me come out of character and it also affected the way I delivered the jokes of the play. It is very important to do this correctly because ‘Gregory’s Girl’ is a comedy so if the jokes aren’t delivered correctly then the whole scene is affected. Furthermore, my timing for them was affected along with other lines I had to say. Nevertheless, once I had learned the lines I found it easier to play the character. However, I still had a problem with diction. Therefore, I spent a little more time pronouncing words out loudly with which I had difficulty. One of the words I had difficulty pronouncing was ‘teeth.’ I overcame this problem my saying it slowly at first then when I got the hang of pronouncing it correctly, I began to say it at the same speed as other words. When I had tackled this problem I discovered that Lizzie was too far from me. As I am supposed to tell Lizzie off for using her hands. However, as she was too far away I didn’t think that I was getting the point across to the audience. Furthermore, I don’t think the audience would have known what Lizzie would have been doing wrong because they wouldn’t have been able to see a what see was doing wrong. At that time we discussed this and it was decided that Lizzie would come closer. Once this change was made I thought it looked more interesting.
As Steve was a ‘cooking maniac’ I found it very difficult to act a small section of the scene, which is when he is mocking Gregory and pretends to be a ‘sex maniac.’ One of the main reasons I found it so difficult to portray a ‘sex maniac’ was that it is disapproved of in my culture. To over come this problem I had to forget who I was and just concentrate on the character I had to play. Although, this was very difficult for the first few lessons but when I kept my mind on staying in character it became easier. Another problem associated with this was that I tried to speak with a Scottish accent because the film version is based in Scotland. However, I found that it made me look ridiculous and altered the atmosphere of the play. Therefore, I decided to speak naturally with my East Lancashire accent.
At the beginning of the scene when I enter, I am not spoken to, so I mime, in which I talk to myself about why Gregory could be late. Later on in the scene when I imply Gregory is gay I think it is a good idea to whisper because I don’t want the girls to hear. I also used pauses and silence in different places to portray different things. For instance, I used silence when I was shocked as I though Gregory was gay. This pause was used to portray shock. I also used a pause to show sarcasm when I am mocking Gregory and describe Dorothy a beautiful girl. I think my using these techniques the character of Steve was played very effectively, it made the scene more realistic.
When we performed this for the camera we had a mini audience watching, once we had finished the audience was delighted. I found it was very good working with a group because if you had any difficulties your group members could help you out. Although, there was a problem with learning so this let the group down. However, in general we all worked together as a team and this is partly why the end result pleased everyone including the audience.
