I’ve been cast as Mary for Our Country’s Good, which I’m really excited about. We haven’t quite gotten down to the nitty-gritty of rehearsal just yet, but I’m sure it’s going to be a fun and challenging play to work on. It’ll help with that chronic condition I have too-the one that makes it incapable for me to go three to four months without doing some kind of a play.

It definitely seems that we’ll be doing a more visually realized performance than we initially thought, although it still won’t be a too fanciful and filled-to-the-brim-with-stuff-ladeeda kind of show. Which is always a good thing, in my opinion. Ridonkulously humongo sets should be saved for the musicals. It’s the performances that matter in plays like these. Lawrence of Arabia could have been filmed in a small room with just a table and a chair, and Peter O’Toole would still act the hell out of that table and chair.

~Helena

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!

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

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.

-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

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

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

In class, we revisited our hunter-gatherer pieces and preformed them again-this time in a much more representative way, using coordinated dance, sound, and movement. It became almost more primitive than the earlier rendition, but yet more modern at the same time. It was almost like an interpretive dance beach. Our group had a lot of fun coming up with that.

We were all very tired during one-act rehearsal today, so we started with a line through during which most of us were lying down and relaxing. It helped though–the whole cast seems over 95% memorized, so it’ll be easier to do run through’s from this point on. The run through itself went by really quickly. It was also incredibly out-of-control; it’s so hard to do this show without cracking up at least once. It’s really coming along, and I’m confident that we’ll be ready in time for performance.    

HELENA

We weren’t able to do much in Drama today, seeing as it was a shortened schedule. We played the incredibly painful (for me) game, Steal the Bacon, which I recall from last year being a lot more fun to watch. I was right. However, I still enjoyed watching the different tactics people used to achieve their ends. It obviously requires a great amount of focus, as you have to be really on your guard in order to beat the other person.

REHEARSAL! Again, we weren’t able to do much today, seeing as two of our cast members were sick as well as one of our directors. But we did quick run through of scenes the missing people weren’t in, and released early. As soon as this whole sick thing is over with, we’ll get a lot more time in.

~Helena