Tell him I speak English, but I don’t understand it.-11/22/09

WOO. Laid back week is laid back.

So, in a moment of indecisiveness, I decided not to try out for Into the Woods.  Whether I’m right about it or not, I don’t think that I’m vocally prepared for it. So, I’ll try and get in to tech, because I still want to be involved in it somehow. I’m sure it’s going to be a fun show and I can’t wait to see who got cast. Especially the Princes. (My votes for Rocky Whitehill.)

Got this year’s stimulus for IB Drama. I’m thinking of choosing the song, “Mood Indigo”, or, a personal favorite of mine, the Jabberwocky poem by Lewis Carroll. Jabberwocky has a lot of Lewis Carroll’s signature made up words, so I think that one would be more of a challenge.

Still reading Our Country’s Good in class. I’m still really dead set on wanting to play Mary, although I would be fine at this point with either Duckling or Liz. Maybe Dabby. And I’m conflicted now about doing a staged reading; after finishing the play I think it would be oh so fun to actually do blocking. But we’ll see how the rest of the class feels.

HOORAY FOR THANKSGIVING BREAK. Coming up. I’m super excited for sleeping in.

~Helena!

Congratulations on your victory. You are a skilful swordsman… woman. Swords… swords-woman.-11/15/09

AHHH! Long week.

First things first: Class. We continued to read Our Country’s Good, although we are still only on the first half of the play. There are a lot of very vibrant and interesting female characters in the show, it’s hard to decide who exactly I’d want to play. But if I had to choose, I’d want to try out Mary-she seems like she’d be fun to play.

Into the Woods auditions are tomorrow. I’m going for ensemble; I’m pretty sure I don’t have a chance in getting a lead. It’s very difficult music, and we have other kids at this school who would be better suited for the roles. Besides, if I did get a lead, there would be way too much rehearsul-something I don’t think I could handle in my junior year of full IB.

One acts are over. I really enjoyed them this year, more than I usually do. Thursday night’s performance was a little rusty, but last night’s went really well. I suppose it was the motivation of having a large audience, or just being closing night, but the energy was really high and we all did a great job. The cast party was almost as enjoyable as the performance. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I was naturally very sleepy.

A GRAND WEEK FOR THEATER PEOPLE. (at Cleveland).

~Helena

RESEARCH QUESTION!

What is it about Shakespeare’s plays that makes them so relatable, universal, and enduring in contemporary culture? What themes does he explore that make it so?

The play/script that I would like to use is Shakespeare’s most studied play, Hamlet. What is it about Hamlet that makes it’s storyline, according to Arden Shakespeare, capable of “seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others”, and “the world’s most filmed story after Cinderella“? This might also explain why it was Shakespeare’s most popular work in his lifetime and ours. Hamlet can be analyzed, interpreted and argued about from many perspectives.

~Helena

p.s. Reason cannot be “because it’s really really good.” Even though it’s technically a reason.

I’m a monster-Origins of Drama

Theory one: Egypt

-This theory describes the use of “Pyramid Texts”, which contain dramas about sending the dead pharaoh off to the underworld.  This theory says states that the earliest forms of theater evolved with rituals and ceremonies used to illustrate the myths of the culture. The earliest form of this evolution is in ancient Egypt, around 2800-2400 B.C. Egypt also seems to have the very first passion play,  called the Abydos passion play, which concerns the story of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld.

Theory two: Greece

-This theory states that the earliest forms of theater were found in ancient hymns in Athens, which later evolved into choral processions using costumes and masks. The idea of actors came into this as well, as members of the choral procession were given specific roles within the ritual. Later on, public festivals were developed, which involved dance, music, poetry, and other various entertainments. Among the most famous of these entertainers was Thespis, who would often read his poetry in a way that made him assume the character of the lines he was reading.  We is widely thought, because of this, to be the world’s first actor.

~Helena

I may not be a smart dog, but I know what roadkill is-Research Project Summary

1. One of the cultures I have decided on is Shakespeare. I am not completley unfamiliar with it, in fact, I’m rather familiar. But it’s something that I’m deeply interested in, and I would find great enjoyment in exploring it. One can never know too much.

2. The most notable I can think of is the style of writing: beautiful, rich, poetic, memorable. There are many lines that are so famous that even those who aren’t familiar with theater recognize (“To be or not to be” comes to mind). It can also be interpreted as a style of acting too: theatrical, big, yet still maintaining an interpersonal connection with the audience, as some monologues and asides require the actor to do so.

3. Shakespeare is, of course, highly regarded in British theater, seeing as he’s considered one of the greatest writers in the English language. His plays are constantly performed all over the world, from middle schools to the Royal Shakespeare Company. I would have to do more research on Elizabethan culture to determine how heavily politics or society had an impact on his work, but I do know that the reason his plays are so repititious (and the reason that his monologues consistently address the audience instead of another character in the scene) is that it was a method in order to get the audience’s attention, as they were often standing around drinking and talking. It’s a bit like Cabaret, I suppose.

But not too much like that.

4. I want to do a research paper about why Shakespeare’s work is so relatable, and so heavily performed in practically every medium. It’s very vague at the moment, but I’ll narrow it down as I continue my research. The play I wish to use is the one widely regarded as Shakespeare’s best, and my favorite tragedy of his, Hamlet.

~Helena

Hey, did you lose weight, or a limb?: 10/26/09-10/30/09

In drama class this week we worked mainly on the “Being Exercise” and variations thereupon. It was similar to an exercise I’ve done many times before, called “Bustop” where you simply wait for the bus as either yourself or a character you are currently portraying in a show. It usually helps the actor feel more comfortable and natural on stage, and to adhere to the cardinal rule “Don’t act, just be.” It’s a relatively relaxed exercise, though it made me a bit nostalgic for acting camp.

This was our last full week of rehearsul until the show next Friday. We did a full run-through on the thrust, and thankfully, it went really well. I nearly broke my voice during my monologue, so I’ll have to be careful to use my diaphram in the future. It’s going to be difficult finding a costume as well-I have an idea in mind, but I don’t know where to get it, or when I’ll have time to attain it before the tech rehearsul on Tuesday. It’ll be difficult-naturally, the week of opening, I have way more homework than I usually do. We’ll see.

I am excited for opening, though. I’m confident that we’ll do very well. If everyone likes the puns.

~Helena