UAL Assignment 2 - 2023 - Peter Pan - Audition And Character Insights!

 Auditions!

Overall opinion on the character, who i think they are and their interactions.

For my audition i chose to go for the character of Wendy. This took a lot of thinking because i wasn't sure if i was ready for a role like this as it is a very big part to play especially in a theatre of that size, however i thought to myself, nothing bad comes from trying. I really liked the character of Wendy as she was a very calm yet creative and adventurous character. Overall i just found her quite interesting and i liked it. I think she is a nice, responsible girl who is sticking to the rules but wants to be adventurous, which is why i like her as she isn't afraid to go on that adventure with Peter Pan. She is understanding of her family and knows how to deal with them, yet also understands all the other, less mature characters such as the lost boys. I like the balance between her emotions, her maturity and curiosity fit in with each other nicely. I think on some level she relates to Peter Pan, as she and Peter both want adventure but in different ways, however she knows where her home is and relates to her mother a lot more. I also think she relates to her brothers in a way, as she does want that sense of make believe even though she acts mature. I thought she'd be a good challenge which is why i auditioned for her.

Acting Audition

I feel like this character appealed to me because she expresses so many different emotions at once (such as creativity, adventure, worry, etc.) yet as she is quite a posh, quiet character, she doesn't express them all at once or big, yet with it being stage acting it has to be big. It seemed like a great challenge and i wanted to push myself and my abilities as much as i could. She also appealed to me because she has such a big impact with so little motivation, she is herself and still manages to make a huge impact on so many other characters (such as peter pan, lost boys and even smee) which is really nice. To prepare for this audition initially the first thing i did was made sure i knew all my lines, as i believe that you cannot act to your full potential if you are relying on a script. To do this i was writing down the lines to learn them and reading through with my mam. Once i had got that part out of the way, i recorded myself doing the scene a few times and tried different interpretations. Being able to watch back what i did allowed me to see what i liked and didn't like about my choice in acting. I also showed my audition piece to my peers and family and asked for feedback on what i could do to improve and took these improvements and put them into my piece.

After the acting audition i was quite happy with how i did, i thought i played the role quite well and it went almost exactly how i planned it to go. I was quite calm going into it but when i was actually in there i feel like i was more nervous because it wasn't just Kelly in there i had my peers in there watching me as well and i hadn't auditioned in front of many people before and i didn't know what it would be like. I think this may have effected my performance a bit as i could feel the nerves, however i still think i carried on quite well. I am very happy with how i did the voice and body language i used as it was exactly how i planned it (apart from a bit of shakiness with my voice however it was for the nerves and it wasn't singing so it was fine) and i also really liked my facial expressions, obviously i cannot see my face however it felt natural and right and i did each emotion i wanted to show at the right times. The thing i would change about my performance is the fact i think i was quite quiet and didn't take into account some certain things that i was doing before. For example, before i was practising the ''you're dreadfully ignorant'' as a funny comment however in my audition i did it angry for some reason, if i had the chance to audition again i would redo this and change it to my original plan. If i got to do this audition again i would do this all the same, however i would make myself more loud as well.

Movement Audition

The movement of this character to me was a bit strange, what appealed to me was the fact that she is so graceful with her moves, she has good posture and id describe her as a daydreamer in her movements. However, making this big for stage acting is where i was struggling, i didn't know how to make her fit around other characters who were being really big in their movements however i took this as a challenge to try and do. To prepare, i watched some of the peter pan movies and a copy of the 'Peter pan the british musical' on youtube to see how they acted it out and it really helped. I tried to do some scenes with the movement in it and tried to just naturally move to the music which also helped me feel like it was more natural.

I absolutely loved the movement audition it was so fun! I also think it went so well because it was one of my strongest points as i used to do dance so i enjoy movement a lot more than others do. It was my favourite audition by far out of all of them. We started of by getting told we would be able to do it with other people so i got to work with Alayah and Gracie which was great because they were so creative which allowed me to perform to a higher ability as their creative ideas matched with mine. Then we started doing the dancing and i found the moves simple and easy to do which was great because it allowed me to be more expressionative within the movement, putting more of my character into it instead of thinking about the steps. Next, we were able to add our own twist onto the ending which portrayed my character which i liked because it allowed me to show what i could do out of the movement straight away. I was very happy with all of this. One thing i didn't do well was i messed up a move at one point where we did it on our own and it put me off, if i got to do this again i would just carry on going if i got the move wrong instead of stand thrown off as it wasn't a very good thing to do. 

Singing Audition

All of Wendy's songs appealed to me, i really liked them and i enjoyed singing them i thought they were fun and interesting. I loved the tempo and the chill of them. I also believed that this would be a good challenge as eventhough i am not a perfect singer, i do enjoy it so i thought i might as well try! To prepare for this audition, i started off by learning the song i needed to know which was 'Peter'. I sat in my room just listening to the sound track to understand the lyrics and the song which i picked up quite quickly. I then started to listen to it without the singers and just the backing track because this is what i would be auditioning with. I really struggled with this as i couldn't get the beginning of the song correct with the backing track only and it was stressing me out. I figured it out in the end with the help of my mam. I went to my mam for all of this preparation as she is a really good singer and she understands about vocal stuff. Therefore she gave me some advice on how i should sing it and she helped me understand the beat of the song with the backing track. 

I didn't think that this audition went very well - it was definitely my weakest of the three. I was the first one to audition and i was very nervous, due to this my voice went shaky in the auditions and it just didn't sound right to me - it didn't go as i practiced it which wasn't very good and i just didn't enjoy this audition. However, what went well in this audition was my confidence. Even though i was struggling in the audition i still carried on which is what i found good about it. If i got to do this again, i would give myself a bit more time before the audition and make sure that my voice is warmed up properly before going into the room. I would also make sure that i was way more relaxed and ready to go because i think it was my nerves which got the best of me as i knew from the moment i walked in the room i wasn't going to do very good. Overall though, i am glad i did this audition at the end of the day because it was another audition process i had never done before and i got to experience.

Character Breakdowns and Understanding.

Name : Michael Darling

Age : 7/8

Location : He lives with his family in London, England but Neverland for a period of time. I would class Neverland as the place he plays, as he is having fun with the make believe and the lost boys, other than that i'd say he plays in his nursery with his brother, John.

Time : In time he is at a creative, curious point in his life, wanting adventure and fun instead of boring rules such as going to bed.

General Personality Notes : I think he is a cute, childish boy who likes adventure and exploring, he doesn't like rules and is a positive person.

Written Personality Notes:  Sweet, bubbly, a likeable boy, full of fun.

Upbringing : He was brought up in a middle/upper-class household in London. This meant they were quite well off because of the time period and they didn't have to worry about money or anything. He had a safe, loving environment in the household and was very loved by their mother and father and their housemaid Nana the dog. He was expected to be on their best behaviour at all times, allowed to have fun but had to be respectable and presentable at all times. When he was older, he was expected to become like his father, get married have a good job and a simple life with no fun or adventure, eventhough he doesnt really want it.

Family Relationships : I think John has a positive, powerful impact on Michael, as he helps spark his creativity by playing games with him in the nursery and allowing him to use his imagination. Even though John is older than Michael, he still allows himself to play with his little brother, not disregard him. It is similar with Wendy, she has a positive impact on Michael but also a motherly impact because she understands him a bit better than the parents as they don't pay much attention and are older which means Michael looks up to Wendy a lot, and its espeically shown when they go to neverland with him believing wendy is his mother from how good she treats him. I also think Nana is a great relationship with Michael, as thats who looks after him the most. She makes sure everything he needs doing is done and he is okay and well.

Friendships :  As Michael is young, initially his friendships stay very small being his siblings, nana and the parents, however as he gets to neverland his friend group expands which develops him as a person more, as he becomes more creative throughout the play. I think one of the people he classes as a close friend and someone he looks up to would be Peter Pan, as Michael has such a creative mind he is intruiged by the fact he can fly and never grow up, therefore he wants to be like him and enjoys spending time with him. I think Michaels friendship with the lost boys definitely shaped his character throughout the story, and this is shown more when he doesn't want to leave at the end.

Adversaries : Michael is only young, so i would say it would be Captain Hook who causes the grimace as he is the most scary thing in his imagination and to him it is the most real thing ever, he is the villian in his story and is trying to hurt his friends and family.

The Ghost : I would say the ghost for Michael is the fact he is growing up. He loves having a creative mind and likes the adventure, when he gets older he can't have any of that. It is proved when he originally doesn't want to go home from Neverland and likes the make believe with all of the pirates.

The Lie : The lie that Michael lives by is that he can stay in neverland forever and never grow up and always play make believe. We know that the other characters on the stage such as John and Wendy are more mature than Michael and aren't going to let him stay here forever. He lets his imagination get the better of him and he wants to stay trapped in this creative, wonderful place that he is able to do anything he wants. He believes that he can stay young forever like Peter Pan when in reality, he shouldn't and he wont.

The Motivation : I feel like the motivation for Michael would be his simple creativity and age. Due to the fact he is young, he wants to keep his brain stimulated and by doing so he wants to stay in this creative state forever. 

The Want : Michael's want is to stay creative and in his imagination forever. This is because he enjoys the no rules and the being able to live how he wants to live. He feels free.

The Need: In reality, Michael needs an older figure (like Wendy) to help him get his life back on track. He knows he cant be creative forever, and so does Wendy, but she knows when to tell him to get back to normal and how to get him to come to terms with that fact.

Fear : Michael's fear is the pirates. Throughout the play, he is scared of the pirates but also loves them, he doesn't want to be hurt by them but he does want to fight them if he knows he can win.

With all of this background information in mind i was able to create an amazing character on stage. I took all of this into accountability and i based my character around this information. On the stage i made my movements big and fast, to show his excitement and his playfulness / creativity. I made sure that my facial expressions were over the top and showed off his imagination well - for example when he was shocked i would make it a very wide face, open mouth and wide eyes and i would do this in a way to show off his child like nature. I show a difference in my first line to my last, as you see the mood change in Michael, however this isnt a steady change his mood fluctuates throughout the performance, he goes from moody to sleepy to confused to happy and so many more emotions just like a child would show in every day life and i managed to portray this well with my movements and facial expressions. I also made sure to get the character right with his voice. I made Michaels voice go more high pitched to show his age range and to show that he was only a young boy, but i also did it because it can kind of show femininity and vunerability, which i think Michael needed as he was very much looked after by his older siblings and the other characters on the stage. The costume and props i wore definitely helped to add to my character. The fact he carried a teddy around with him everywhere shows the age range and the child like nature that Michael had, but it also shows that link to home and his family relationships at a constant, as he had this at the beginning to end - its something within the character that never changes and it gives a bit of stability within his wild imagination. To make sure that the audience engaged with my character i kept presenting myself and the teddy bear to other characters on stage, as if they had to engage with me it meant the audience did as well. The way i presented myself on the stage helped as well. I made sure i was always by one of the siblings or parents - for example in neverland i was always with John or Wendy to show my emotional connection to them characters, but i also made sure at times i stemmed off to talk to the other lost boys, as it helped show the emotional connection that Michael had to the neverland and the people he met there which made the scene where John and Wendy want to go home but Michael doesn't and the lost boys dont want them to leave more hard hitting because it shows that he is going to have to leave his friends behind, which i created with stern facial expression and limited movements around the stage. This part also shows him not wanting to grow up and leave the neverland behind because it demonstrates he likes where he is and doesn't want to go back to rules. I made sure i showed all the emotions and chilidish imagination stuff but i also made sure to show the ''posh'' side of the character as well. I did this in the song 'Wendy's House' as i made sure that he was disgusted that none of the lost boys had cleaned their shoes, brushed their hair, etc. through the use of body language directed away from them and facial expressions of disgust (dirty looks). I also however, included the characteristics of a nice outgoing boy in this scene as i handed each of the lost boys a hair comb, and showed them how to use it, which showed that he was willing to help them gain wendys attention and make themselves look nicer. I also made sure to include his love hate relationships with pirates. I did this with our big fight scene, i made him confident, bold and huge in the actual fight scene, bonking a pirate on the head, however when Peter pan was fighting captain hook i made sure my character was using his body language and interactions to the best of his ability to show he was scared. For example, i made him closed off to the audience and hugged into John, so that they couldnt see my face, just my body moving and being very closed off into John and holding the teddy bear.

Name : Nibs

Age : 12

Location : He lives in Neverland with all of his fellow lost boys. He enjoys Neverland and this is where he plays - in the woods with everyone else. However by the end of the play, his home is the Darling's house where he plays in the nursery with everyone.

Time : In this part in Nib's life he just wants that sense of imagination and freedom however i believe that he just wants a home and to be loved. This is proved when Wendy comes to Neverland because he doesn't want her to leave and he is so excited to be able to go home and grow up. He likes his young imagination but the thought of an actual family and jobs is nicer to him.

General Personality : A high energy, messy boy who finds everything fun and is creative.

Written Personality : Extremely jovial, everything is a laugh and he has a great time.

Upbringing : Because he grew up in Neverland, he has no manners and doesn't understand normal social protocols. For example, he doesn't know what a comb is or has never cleaned his shoes. He likes to just find things and scavenge because that is the environment that he grew up with. He had no rules and could do whatever he wanted with his wild imagination. He also grew up messy and able to pick fights and jump all over his other boys, however this isn't good. His upbringing changes though, as when Wendy arrives in Neverland he makes him more presentable to be a part in society, therefore he was well behaved going back to England.

Family Relationships : Nibs has no blood related family, however i would class the other lost boys and Peter Pan as his family rather than his friends. I say this because he lives with them and does everything with them - they all rely on each other in a way and keep each other safe. They are very happy with one another and they don't ever want to leave each other. It is a sense of security. I would also say his main family relation is with Peter Pan. Peter Pan is his leader but also he looks up to Peter Pan, he wants to be like him and he enjoys the stories that Peter tells him and views him as this older figure even though he is not. This is shown when he listens to what Peter asks even if it makes him sad for example waking Tinkerbell to take Wendy and the brothers home. In this make believe, he also classifies Wendy as his mother. This is a family relationship to him as it is so real, this is the first time he has ever been looked after by a girl and told what to do and even though he doesn't like it at times, he feels happy to have this relationship he never had before.

Friendships : I think that as the lost boys are his family, his friendships would be with the Brave girls. He doesn't know them on a personal level but he knows they are there to protect him which gives him a sense of safety. I would also say that John and Michael are his friends, as he hasn't known them for long but he enjoys their company and advice, listening to them when needed and being intrigued by their way of life.

Adversaries : The pirates and Captain Hook are definitely who give the grimace for Nibs, he is very hateful towards them as they want to hurt them.

The Ghost : I would say the ghost for Nibs is the fact he was left on his own as a baby. This meant he was all alone with nobody to call mam.

The Lie : The lie is based from being left, he believes he can stay young forever and doesn't ever have to grow up. This is because he had no mother or father figure to help him in life and he is stuck with this.

The Motivation : The motivation for Nibs would be his age and his imagination.

The Want : He wants to be young forever but he also wants a mother.

The Need : Nibs needs a sense of stability, he needs to go back to the real world and interact with everyone.

Fear : I feel like Nib's fear is the pirates. He always runs away from them in Neverland, even when they are at his camp and are messing things up. He is not willing to try that fight and therefore he is scared of them because he doesn't want to be hurt as he knows the pirates don't like him.

With all of this background information i managed to create a great role of the lsot boy. I made sure my physicality matched his playfulness by having him run around a lot and make him very bold with his movements. I also made him very loud to show he is childish. To show that he wants a mother however, i made sure to play him very sad when Wendy has to leave but also very calm and collected when she is there - he wants to impress her as he wants her to look after him.

My characters were very different but very similar at the same time. They were both young and longing for adventure except they wanted the opposite. Michael didn't want to go home back to rules and normality where as Nibs wanted exactly that, he wanted somewhere he was safe and to call home and to grow up normally. I feel like these characters would be great friends as they are similar but different. I managed to portray these differences very well.