Unit 6 & 7 National theatre Connections - Assignment

Task 1 - See blog for production diaries.

Task 2 - Creating my character's world.

For Connections I got the role of 'Young Stefi', Young Stefi is the twin sister of Zafer in the play and is described as the natural ring-leader in the group and more mature than the others. To bring Stefi to life I knew she would have to be stubborn and independent but also childish and able to have fun. I showed this by Stefi always constantly getting annoyed at Tom joy, this is because I think Stefi would blame Tom joy for the reason they always get into trouble so I think she would have a slight hatred towards him because no matter how many times she blames him for things, the friendship group still hangs out with him, especially Zafer. I focused on this because Stefi wants to control the group and she can't if the friendship group keeps going to Tom. 

Another thing I focused on was Stefi and Zafer's sibling relationship. This is because it is highlighted multiple times that Stefi is older, before and after the incident, I think this is because not only is Stefi expected to look after Zafer. She thinks she is meant to as well. This is important because it would show that Stefi had to mentally grow up a lot quicker than the others. After all, she is expected to be a mother figure for Zafer. I also think this is why Stefi and Zafer do not have a mother in the play because it lets you use your imagination of why isn't she there. was she there at all?

To get into the head space of Stefi for the show, I wrote a diary entry as Stefi before the incident and after the incident.

"Dear Diary,

Today Tom joy stole a can from my dad's shop, I should have told him to put it back but I didn't want the others to think that I wasn't cool or anything, I don't get why we hang out with him though, one day he's going to get us into loads of trouble. After that I asked Zafer if I could have the day to myself when we turn thirteen, I said it as a joke as I know dad would never allow it but it would be nice to have a day without looking after him. Zafer asked if he and I would need to have the same birthday party anyway, and of course, dad said yes. I told him that but he didn't listen to me as usual.

"Dear Diary 

I don't even know what to say, we did something really bad. Well, Tom did. It was Tom and Zafer knows that now, he had to listen, he had to think it was his idea to blame Tom so we wouldn't get into trouble. I don't know what the others are going to do but as long as Zafer knows that it was Tom we should be fine."

Task 3 - The National Theatre.

Connections are the National Theatre’s annual, nationwide youth theatre festival. The program is 28 years old and its history and aim are to showcase the talent of young people from across the UK.

Every year, Connections puts on new plays for young people to perform. The program brings together some of the most exciting writers in the UK to partner with the future performers of tomorrow.

Connections are open to any company of young people aged 13-19. You can be a school, a youth theatre, or a voluntary organisation. You can have lots of experience staging plays or none at all. Whoever you are, your group can apply to be part of Connections. 

The way Connections works is your company will pick out a play from 10 options and perform it in your home theatre, someone from Connections will then come and see your play and give you notes and feedback on what you can improve, you can use these notes if you want but it's not compulsory. After this you perform in an outside Theatre, This is where people from the National Theatre will come and watch your play and judge it. If they like your performance you have the chance to perform at The National Theatre in London.

Task 4 - My performances.

Take part in the rehearsals and final performance working at a professional level and demonstrating your

understanding of the script, the characters, and the importance of working as an ensemble.

Take part in the National theatre home performance on the 16th of March and listen to the director's feedback

from the National Theatre Association.

Take part in the National theatre partner theatre performance at Sunderland fire station on the 31st

March.

Working at your highest level of understanding and professionalism.

Task 5 - Full evaluation.

My performance in Connections: 

I think my performance in Connections was good, I was proud of my facial expressions and the way I worked with my cast mates. However, I know for my performance in Sunderland I need to work on my volume and movement to make my performance look even more realistic. For certain scenes, I know I need to be quicker in saying my lines to make the conversation flow instead of it sounding like a script. 

I think the overall performance went well even though we had some complications, I think the only thing I would change is how quickly people come on stage as some of the scenes were a little slow as we had to wait for certain characters to be on stage before we could speak. The main thing that threw me off was that one of my scenes was completely cut out of the show. Now that I look back at my performance I wish I would've said my lines in the gap where people were trying to figure out what happened, I know for Sunderland that if something goes wrong and I have a chance to say my lines I should go with it as long as it won't make the situation worse. 

My costume: 

When working on the costumes for the play we were asked to partner up with our older/younger selves. I enjoyed this because it gave me and Milly a chance to figure out how we would like to show that Stefi has grown up but is still herself. For this, we decided that she would always really like butterflies. For this, I bought me and Milly some butterfly clips for the show to represent that even after everything Stefi still has some of her childish self with her. For the main costume, we knew older Stefi wouldn't be very concentrated on how she looked as she had major news, Milly decided that Stefi would wear jeans and a grey hoodie. I was pleased with that idea because I had a grey hoodie with a butterfly on it which fit Stefi perfectly. Overall younger Stefi ended up wearing jeans and a grey hoodie and always liked butterflies. 

My feedback: 

"I think the way you played Stefi was very convincing, she felt like she was the ring-leader, the only thing I would have to say is work on your projection so everyone can hear you" - With this feedback, I know when I say my lines I need to face the audience when speaking so I'm not saying the lines to the floor. This is so everyone can hear what my character is saying.

"Make sure that you are constantly acting like a kid until you are full of the stage as there was one point where you could tell you went out of character just before leaving the stage" - With this feedback I've realised that I didn't stay in character right up to the exit, I now know this for Sunderland because it is really important to stay in character throughout the play so the audience can get into the performance. To make sure I don't make the same mistake I will stay in character until I know I am completely of stage and not visible to the audience. However, I will always stay very quiet when being off stage as the audience can hear if you are talking behind the curtains.