The Wardrobe Evaluation

From the first to my third and last performance of The Wardrobe play by Sam Holcroft, I still think that each performance has room for improvement.  I have many strengths and weakness that reflect on my performance.  

One of my weaknesses was my time management, this includes remembering the lines I had to say for the performance, well enough for the deadline on the Tuesday in September.  Through my first performance, I was so focused on the props and having energy for the performance that I basically forgot my lines, I blanked at times because I struggled to remember them.  Next time, I need to learn my lines by finding other ways to rehearse and learn them.  Also I need to meet my deadlines better instead of me getting stressed and worrying during the performance which is the reason that I blanked.  I need to practise more and this will help me make sure that I don’t panic during my lines at any point in the performance and that it goes more smoothly next time.

Another weakness is my aim for my performances. In them, I was meant to relive Narnia for the character Lucy, but I am not sure whether the audience got the feel of the character or whether I portrayed the fact that she was ill as I wasn't caring enough towards her in my first performance. I could have shown the fact that she was ill better than I did for example the action of a simple hug or rubbing her back whilst looking at her as I said “come on please.”

However, the second performance one audience member asked “Was I Lucy’s mother or sister?” They also said about how I captured the mother and sister character. This became a positive and strength for the aim and actor skill of characterisation. Through each gesture, action and word I could lead people to think my character is responsible, sensible and someone that Lucy looks up to as either a mother or as a sister.

Entering and exciting the wardrobe is also a strength of mine for scene 11. When I opened the door, I entered as a cheerful, happy girl but on the other hand I was slightly clumsy which I showed through my actions when putting the props down and throughout the scene.  This improved my performance from blanking a bit when I was speaking my lines and not showing the right level of care towards Lucy.

The support from the other character in the play helped me to slowly remember them again and get back on track. The play was able to carry on being performed, this shows my team playing skills and using support either from another character or props in the performance helped myself get back on track at the point I went blank.

I feel that despite my weaknesses, I carried out my part in the play well and my strengths meant I was able to keep focused than become confused and lost, I managed to carry on using the support I mentioned earlier and so my performance, which on one hand could have been better, was good and I can build on my strengths more. Also I need to work on my weaknesses by next time, as I mentioned, practising and rehearsing more and also by being more organised, this will mean that I can perform to the best of my abilities to carry out my part in the play as well as I can do.

The System

Naturalism to me is to be yourself and be realistic when performing either in a play or performing alone.  However, discussing about Naturalism and what I knew I had heard of Method Acting but, wasn't quite sure what it meant.  However, it's really difficult to understand the terms because I feel like I get confused with naturalism and realism.

The diagram below are some of things that Naturalism include.  The two Russian practitioner's we looked at were Anton Chekhov and Stanislavski.  Chekhov is one of the leaders in naturalistic drama writing. However, he trained and briefly worked as a Doctor.  Then he pursed a career in journalism and writing short stories. Chekhov's plays include naturalism which mirror real life including real people and actually events that happened. However, another well known Russian playwright Stanislaski was different to Chekhov.  Stanislavski didn't graduate as he continued self-education while travelling in Several European countries.  He also studied in libraries and museums too.  Stanislavski is the leading practitioner of The System.

Naturalism diagram - collective answers as a class in lesson

What is the difference between naturalism and realism?

Naturalism is a mirror of life on the stage and seeks to be the exact same example of how life would occur.  This can be viewed as "an extreme form of Realism where all characters were the product of their environment." Actors in this case would act as "they would" not as "they could" meaning that the actor would act as exactly as they would in real life depending on the circumstance they were faced with.  You could be performing with your back to the audience or perhaps speaking with your mouth open as that is the way you would normally act in real life.  A realist scene would in this case represent life and the actors would make they way they act more accessible to the audience.

Naturalism is based on evolution and the importance of the environment because it has more scientific source and actions are drawn from scientific reasons.  Meanwhile, realism is only influenced but, not by much. The only part it takes is what is real and then manipulates it for it's own needs of this term.

These terms are both similar only by the way the actor is portraying a real character on stage. Realism and naturalism both needs to show the character how believable it is to the audience.  On the other hand, they are different in this manner as naturalism is as it "must happen" and the events must lead up to the scenario.

For example, in class if you were given a circumstances to break so bad news you would just let them know straight away it would be quite difficult.

We were given different scenarios in class to see how we would show to break the news. It normally occurred that we would break the news quicker than usual.  Now thinking about the scenario I was given about not having long to live I feel like it would have been very different to the way I did perform it.

I must admit I did rush and broke the bad news quite quickly.  If I was in this given circumstances, I would be looking around the room and slowly walking around maybe sat in a corner alone feeling quite down. This would be difficult to tell someone else and would take me a little while before my emotions got the better to me then let it out.

Each person would break news in different ways but, I didn't do it naturally even the body language certainly felt I was in someone else's shoes.

Realistic plots could happen but, depending on the circumstances that weren't anything to do with the circumstance but, could be influenced on questionable external factors that can still become believable to an audience.

The System

This term is the methods used by Stanislavski to raise a good performance in his actors. The main ones that we looked at was actions, objectives, the magic if, the relaxed actor and imagination.



Sources used: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zxn4mp3/revision/3

Character Profile

Character Study

Susan when she enters The Wardrobe with her siblings in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Name: Susan Pevensie (A)

Since we could decide on what to call our characters I decided that because we are reading the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Lucy's sister Susan the storyteller in this case who's a caring and like a mother character towards Lucy (B) who has not long to live. By re-creating the Narnia scene, Susan suits the role of the storyteller well.

Age:
She's 17 years old and is the second oldest but, Susan is the oldest sister out of the Pensive children.

Relationships:
Her mother was called Helen Pevensie who was related to one of the eldest Scrubbs. Susan's mother may have explored Narnia when she was a young girl as she was named Helen after the name of the first Queen of Narnia. In this fist draft, Professor Kirke was a relative of her mother's but, I have decided that is the real reason why her siblings and her are staying there when they were evacuated from the war. Her father Mr Pevensie (his first name is unknown) and he's the head of the Pevensie family.

Susan has a cousin called Eustace Scrubb, he was jealous of the Pevensies sibling bond since he was a only child and had no friends. The Pevensies and The Scrubbs family's relationship isn't so clear as I am unsure of how often they saw or met often. It seems that the families didn't clearly get along with each other.

Susan with her siblings in Narnia

She has an older brother called Peter aged 21, then two younger siblings called Edmund aged 15 and Lucy aged 13. Susan had a good sibling bond with all of them but, she did tease them over the fact that Narnia was just a fairytale for children. Since she had thought that she had grown up she didn't wanted to be the sensible and more mature one since she was 17 and almost 18. However, deep down I'm sure Susan believed it was still real but, covered it up.

Class:
Middle Class / Upper Class - Susan is wealthy and lives with The Professor along with her siblings.  The wardrobe has been through different time periods e.g. Tudor times this means that it's very expensive in value. Also that the wardrobe has a lot of history and there was always a story to tell. This Wardrobe in particular was an importance to The Pevensies


Likes: She likes archery and is a very talented archer. She also likes to travel and has been on a trip with her mother and father to America during the summer of 1942.

Education:
In 1937, at the age of 9 she began attending a boarding school. Susan is intelligent and has been well educated, she can read and write really.

Experiences:
Susan was the last person to believe in Aslan and Narnia because she struggle to believe right from the start. She's more serious than her younger sister Lucy and also after leaving Narnia she believed that Narnia was "just a game." This just felt like a fantasy that she was interested in for a bit with her siblings but, she forgot about the fact Susan is still a child.

In scene 11, she stepped out of her serious, grown up self and became a kind but, creative and imaginative person to re-create Narnia for the last time. I wanted to show Susan's kind and mothering side of her than her being stubborn but, serious because I needed to show the way she really was when she visited Narnia. Her imagination changed and through scene 11 I need to complete Lucy's dream.

Lives:
She lived in London, England then evacuated to Dorset and stays in a house but, her home is also Narnia when she enters The Wardrobe that both of her younger siblings have already explored.

Time period:

It's 1954, the time of the Post War.  The idea was that we would set scene 11 a few years after the book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  The book was published in 1950 and a few years after it became a popular book for children.


Her main objective is to re-create Narnia once again before Lucy her sister dies. I want Lucy to experience the happier time in the past when she discovered Narnia. The idea is for Lucy to escape from reality and not think of the circumstances of Cancer. I'm transporting her through an adventure back to an experience that she never wants to forget.

My character is not just a sister but, also a mother figure. Being in Narnia, she could become the child she used to be and living with her sister who has a terminal illness it's difficult to become detached at times from that person.  Without Susan, Lucy felt like life wouldn't be the same and the imagination she would bring to create Narnia by using household props e.g. sieve, teddy or icing sugar. If you do one little favour for someone it can mean a lot towards that person.


The inner obstacle for Susan was her imagination and her childhood memories to not be game. The difficult thing for Susan was that she needed to look past this for Lucy. Narnia wasn't a game or a joke or just a story in Lucy's head it was a real experience. However, her outer obstacle was to be happy and escape from the truth from what was really going to happen Lucy. She would need to put a brave face on and give her the truth of this fairytale to show that she was just normal young girl. Susan is her light in the darkness and like any mother would is to care but, to make their daughter / son get the happiness they deserve in troubled, difficult times e.g. cancer.

The relationship between Lucy and Susan is not just a sister bond but, a mother and daughter bond. Since her parents died in a train accident, Susan is doing the best she can too look after Lucy like a worried and caring mother would. Her tears can become quiet difficult to hide towards the end of the scene when Lucy starts to crying remember Narnia but, Susan feels like the truth is too powerful and leaves her nervous what the future holds.

Sources used: http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Susan_Pevensie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Pevensie#The_Lion.2C_the_Witch_and_the_Wardrobe