Song to Represent Leah

I think this song sums the character of Leah up excellently. In parts it talks about wanting to be held and looked after as well as feeling vulnerable and needy which are some of the key elements to the character of Leah. I think the chorus really describes what Leah feels a lot of the time especially towards Phil -

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I'm needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Link to the song - 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSH7fblcGWM

Role-On-The-Wall

Here is a role-on-the-wall that I completed in our first rehearsal. The words on the inside show Leah's emotions and feelings that other people cannot see. On the outside is shows how she comes across to other people and what other people see her as.

Staging

Below is the basic configuration of our performance space. It is called thrust staging.
An advantage of using this stage space is that it is a more intimate viewing of the play and more people can fit around the stage. 
A disadvantage of using this stage space is that it makes it harder for the audience to see little details like facial expressions or subtle body language because the actor could be facing a different way.
Personally I think will find it challenging to perform in this space because I will be concerned about blocking the audience’s view of another actor because they are seated all around so it is crucial to be spatially aware when using this staging.

First Rehearsal!

Today was our first rehearsal for our performance of DNA. I was cast as Leah in Act 3 so I was not directed today because we are working through the play in chronologically. I watched other people being directed as well as completing a roll-on-the-wall for my character. I also attempted to learn the first bit of my monologue at the beginning on Act 3.
During the first part of our session we devised an opening sequence with the people that share our character (Romy&Elouise). We decided we would focus on Leah's make up routine and then portray her obsessing over her phone. Each make-up action would take up 3 beats. These actions were - applying foundation, applying mascara, applying eye-liner, applying lipstick. We then showed her taking out her phone and holding it to her ear for another 3 beats followed by her staring at it as if she was waiting for something. She then put it back up to her ear again and tapped on her leg 3 times showing impatience and annoyance. We all signed simultaneously and gave up, putting the phone back on the floor.
This small opening sequence communicates to the audience that Leah cares a lot about what she looks like and about how other people view her. This is obvious because of the amount of time she spends on her make-up every day and how carefully she does it. it makes the audience wonder maybe if she is doing this for a particular person or is it because she is insecure and eager to impress?  It is clear from the sequence that Leah is quite an on-edge and anxious person. The way she looks at her phone and taps her hand irritably shows that she is uneasy and nervous.

Physical Theatre - Day In The Life Of

In our afternoon session we participated in an exercise involving picking a character from the play and spending a day in their lives. You had to bare in mind the tiny physical details e.g. the way they walk and eat as well as what they do in an average day.
I chose Leah because you can gather a lot of information from the script about what type of person she is.
I chose to portray her as a very dependant, thoughtful, insecure type of girl that always seemed to be worrying about something. She was a dreamer that was out of touch with reality most of the time. I imagined that she had agreed to meet Phil before school in the near-by park just to talk. She was obsessing over her hair and make-up before she left the house and didn't eat breakfast because she was too scared about looking 'bloated'. She liked everything to be in place and neat. She brushed her teeth for over 5 minutes and straightened her hair for over half an hour. She would often just stand there twiddling her long hair staring into space, just thinking. Then she would suddenly remember what she was doing and frantically rush to get it done. I pictured her wearing pink and blue floral tights with a long floaty white skirt that blew in the wind. On her top half she would wear a purple top with a rainbow on it. On her feet would be purple doc-martins or creepers, depending on what mood she was in. Today she would pick creepers. She would never wear a coat or jumper to keep warm because she never really felt cold.
I showed Leah arriving at the park but Phil wasn't there. She waited and waited but he didn't come. School had started but she didn't care. All she cared about was waiting for Phil, hoping he would turn up with an amazing excuse why he was so late. She sat under a tall oak tree where the sun shone through so the light beams were surrounding her. After waiting for another hour, she walked to the shop and bought a bag of cashew nuts that she would eat for lunch. She ate very slowly, like a wood-land creature, taking many bites out of just one cashew. She then received a text from Phil saying he couldn't make it. She started to laugh at the text because she thought she was crazy to think he would in the first place. It was 2 o'clock by now and she wandered around for a bit, staring at people and thinking what kind of lives they were living, where they happy? At 3 o'clock she waited outside school to look for Phil. He was no-where to be seen. She called him over 8 times but it just rang and rang. She eventually just gave up and went home to an empty house, her mum was usually only back at around 9.She made herself a microwave macaroni and cheese and watched TV for 2 hours. She called Phil every time there was an ad-break. She went to her room at 9'oclock and read her book (Junk) until 10. When her mum still wasn't back she switched out her light and tried to fall asleep. She lay there, eyes open, dreaming about what might happen in the future and what Phil was doing right at that moment. It was just after 1'oclock when she finally fell asleep, curled up in a tight ball.

Casting Workshop

I found the casting workshop very useful and interesting. It was helpful to see how different people portrayed the same characters. It was clear that some people interpreted them in very different ways but were equally effective. By watching other people it made me think how I would act certain characters and what I would add/change to make the performance even stronger. I just read the part of Jan in two different scenes. One was the opening scene, with just one other character and the other was a group scene. I wanted to play Jan because I thought she was an intriguing and essential character in the play. I liked the scenes in which she was in and how she opens the whole play with - Dead? Participating in the workshop was both daunting but exciting at the same time. There was a very supportive atmosphere which made it much easier to go up in front of everyone and perform. It was fun to take direction and rehearse the same scene as the same character but interpret it in a different way each time to show that there are many possibilities in just saying the most simple of lines. I think Romy and Beau impressed me the most for two different reasons. It was clear that Romy had rehearsed her monologue and the real raw emotion shone through her performance as Leah. Her tone was very naturalistic and her body language was suited to the character. Beau stood out to me because of his use of voice. Every time he performs he immediately engages the audience because of his authoritative tone and believable facial expressions.

Truthful Performance

A truthful performance will be important to our performance of DNA because we want to fully connect with the audience and make an impact. We can only do this if our performance is truthful and naturalistic. If it is not truthful it is very hard for the audience to be completely immersed in the pay resulting in them not enjoying it as much or getting enough out of it.