Evaluation

Last night we performed our version of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. We rehearsed over six weeks and began by studying the text, breaking it down and looking at context. Our aim was to focus on naturalism for this project, so we looked closely at the work of Stanislavsky and we applied his techniques to our work. In rehearsal we did exercises on emotion memory, relaxation, circles of attention, given circumstances and objectives. We were each given a scene and character to focus on, giving us the opportunity to look closely at it and interpret in our own way.

I think that our performance went well, but because we didn't have very long to rehearse in the space and it was the first time performing it to an audience, there were lots of things to improve on.  The energy levels were good and we kept up the momentum throughout the whole play. However there were some technical issues and some of the scenes weren't rehearsed enough.

The piece began with the audience streaming in; with the whole cast lying on the floor, with our eyes closed. When the audience had settled, a dramatic piece of opera music came on and we began to embody our character from our core. The emotion of our character was first internal, but then we began to channel this emotion with an action, that was first in our hands, and then came into our whole body. This was Stanislavsky's psychological gesture work, were you find an abstract gesture that is a hook into your character; the action should help you to spread the core of your character into your whole body. I think that this was a really effective opening because it helped us, as actors, to embody our character, but was also a very interesting, dramatic scene for the audience to watch, Even if they didn't fully understand the purpose of the gestures, it was still effective because it was being done on a large scale with music, which was interesting and captivating. It fitted with the mood of the play, because the play is full of mystery and deception, much like the strange psychological gestures.

I came into the space a few pages before my scene. When I entered the space I stood behind the audience, facing the wall. During the time I was in the space before I came on stage, I focused on my breathing and releasing all the tension from my body. This was helpful because it allowed me to leave myself behind and become Thea Elvstead, taking on her breathing pattern and physicality. I also went over her intentions and the thoughts that drive her through the scene, which was the desire to find Eilert and make sure he was safe, this being my priority over everything else.  Although it was good to enter the space and centre myself before going on stage, it was quite distracting for the audience to be constantly hearing the doors open and close, during people's scenes. We performed in quite a small space, which didn't have proper seating, so the audience could hear everything going on behind them. If we had performed on a stage, with the seats set back, it would have been easier to come on earlier, without causing as much distraction. I think if we did it again in the same space, it might have been better to have the cast standing behind the audience the whole time, still facing the wall, but it would mean that it was less obvious when the next scene was about to happen and the transitions may have been sharper.

I felt that when I came on stage I had a lot of energy and felt fully present in the scene. I tried to think about proxemics and I felt that I  kept the scene interesting by moving around, but made sure when I moved, I moved for a purpose, although there were a few moments when I was just wondering around, which  felt weakened my performance. I made an effort to take on the notes from the director, the most important was to allow time for your character to feel the emotion before a beat change and before they say the lines. I had some points in my scene where I had a big beat change and I focused on trying to feel the emotion before I said my lines. I felt that I did improve from the run through, however if we had had more time to rehearse I could have made these beat changes much stronger.

Further into my scene I skipped out a few of my lines and answered Hedda with a line that I was supposed to answer her with for another question. This put Sybil, playing Hedda, off for a moment, but we made the pause seem deliberate and she moved on and continued to question me. Although I forgot a line, it showed that we were fully in character and working from our character's instinct and objectives, because we made it work and continued as our characters would. 

I felt that my vocal quality was clear and strong, and I managed to project my voice without straining it. I tried to make my articulation very clear and talk in a posh accent, however if we had had more rehearsal time I feel that I could have developed and improved my accent. I was nervous so I didn't focus on my pace as much as could and in some parts I talked too fast. I could have avoided this by spending more time focusing on my breathing and getting completely relaxed before going on stage. I need to channel my nerves into giving energy on stage, instead of getting my lines out as quickly as possible.

I think that the costume we all wore was very effective and made the play look much more professional. It also brought the audience out of the modern day and into the late 1800's. The costume helped to unite all the characters, because although there were lots of actors playing one character, they were all in a similar costume, which connected them all.

There were some technical issues at the end, when the gunshot didn't go off. Although the gun shot was effective, the actors still reacted in the same way when it didn't go off and they weren't put off by it. If we had more time to prepare, we could have rehearsed more with the sound effects and the person controlling the sound could have got more familiar with the cues.

I think that our version of Hedda Gabler was a good example of a naturalistic piece of theatre. I feel that we managed to portray the intentions of each character clearly and used our own experiences to build our character. We managed to apply Stanislavsky's techniques and use his methods in rehearsal and performance. With more time at the beginning to do a detailed analysis of the text, we only had one or two rehearsals to do this; we could have added more depth to the piece. We needed more time to experiment and try things out, but with the time we had, we gave a strong and powerful performance.