UAL Assignment Unit 8 - Collaborative Performance Project (Year 1, 2024)

Candidate Declaration - I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work* and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself.

Task 1 - Production Diary

FOR PRODUCTION DIARIES SEE POST: https://siennasactingexperience.blogspot.com/2024/04/my-production-journey-production.html

Task 2 - Auditions and Character Insights

FOR AUDITIONS AND CHARACTER INSIGHTS SEE POST:

 https://siennasactingexperience.blogspot.com/2024/04/ual-assignment-4-2024-end-of-year-show.html

In this section, they will be titled Auditions and Character Development: Irene Rudolph/Harriet Roeder

Task 2.1 - Review a range of research sources to support the production of a performance project. - links to research

LINK: https://siennasactingexperience.blogspot.com/2024/04/ual-assignment-4-2024-end-of-year-show.html

In the link above there will be a title: Research On Production Role. In this section it explains what the importance of a vocal coach is, their aims, what i have learnt and all the links to the websites i got this information from. This is all very important to support the performance as someone who is in charge of everyone in a section, but also as an actor as it shows what is going on behind the doors, the work put in that isn't fully shown in the actual performance.

I also helped out with set design as i was interested in it, i looked into some of the background for the set design and ideas in this section, as well as the same information (importance, aims, etc.) that i did for vocal coaching.

Task 2.2 - Your Production Role. Demonstrate the ability to contribute to the planning, organisation and development of a collaborative performance.

LINK TO PRODUCTION ROLE: https://stocktoncollege-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/personal/02300122_stockton_ac_uk/Documents/Vocal%20Warm%20Up.pptx?d=w3eea9c91bd4c49ddb7855a970baaf80f&csf=1&web=1&e=PynMTq

In this power point above, me and my production partner Alan talked about different warm ups and exercises we did as a pair to help the class with their vocals. We each took a part of the warm ups and talked about it in detail on slides, i focused on trying to create new games to keep our peers engaged and doing something they enjoy whilst warming up, i also focused on different articulation and volume techniques which link in with other jobs such as the accents coach, using tongue twisters and other various techniques. These are all mentioned above in the power point, organised in different categories of how we did it - normal warm ups, games, articulation, pace pitch volume, etc. 

Task 2.3 - Interpret research to develop ideas and effectively communicate creative proposals. - how does the research help the idea. set design - we have interpreted this by...

LINK: https://siennasactingexperience.blogspot.com/2024/04/ual-assignment-4-2024-end-of-year-show.html

In the link above, for production research there will be a title: Research On Production Role, for general research there will be a title: Research In General - Helping My Performance and for character research and development there will be a title: Character Development: Irene Rudolph/Harriet Roeder which has everything i used to put into my performance and production.

With my production role of a vocal coach, the research has helped me be able to independently run warm ups on a morning to get everyone ready for the day, as well as be able to teach people in the class room a new technique for warming up their bodies. I ran a whole warm up independently doing a regular vocal warm up, games and a focus on volume and articulation and accents - which we paired up with the accents coaches as our production role fit nicely in with theirs. We are able to collaborate as a team to create a strategic warm up which helped everyone work on their accents and articulation in one warm up - perfect for the shows. Research also allowed me to realise that this production role is a collaborative one, and fits in with many other production roles such as movement and accent coaches. As well as that, it also allowed me to independently create some new warm up games to focus on everyone's physical warm up as well as vocal in the same one, using the research, i found what i wanted to focus on (pace, pitch, volume) with a nursery rhyme and a physical game that went nicely with each other. It also allowed me to be able to explain why we do the warm ups and what each one is targeting towards the end of year shows for example volume or articulation which is important as everyone needs to understand why we do what we do and how it has an impact on their performance by improving these skills. For example, a volume based warm up is useful in the long run as projection will be better in the final performance. It was a good learning experience, as seeing things you've taught others come to life how you planned it shows that they're listening and are willing to learn with you as a big team.

Same with my set design role, the research allowed me to look into previous ideas from other productions that have been put on, and learn more about how they got to that point and what went into making all the different sets which gave me ideas based on what we already had. It has helped me realise what we need to add to the set to create the different environments and what we already have to do this with. For example, Tom's house is a completely different tone to the factory, therefore we need to create a nicer environment for it. Based on this it allowed me to pair up with another production team of lighting as set and lighting work along side each other, therefore i could have a conversation with Sophia on lighting, get her ideas and base what the set would look like from that and vise versa. It also gave me a better idea of what i would like the space in general to look like and how we would use different platforms to help set the vision.

As for my performance and characters, my research has helped me out a lot. I found out that both my characters were real people and was able to look into their history and what they actually went through at the time and the difference between the classes of the two characters which i was able to put in to my characterisation and costumes.  

My research helped me more with Irene than it did Harriet because i couldn't find much on her, but i knew about her time period and her social status which allowed me to create my own character with her own insights from it. As i found out Harriet was from a higher class and sheltered from the world i could make her more naive and oblivious to what is going on, in her own world not understanding what people are dealing with which makes sense as she says "it wasn't your fault, science wasn't as developed back then" which shows she simply didn't know what her father was doing. I also could get the time period dress and a 1940's costume instead of 1920's and i could make her character young and old different. When she is older, i had her be more annoyed yet still listening to her father at all times because she was still under control from her father even then, she doesn't really care but she has to listen at the same time. I also made her stand taller with good posture and very self observant to show she was a young woman in the time period. I want her to walk with purpose and stride, at her own slow-ish pace to show she is in control of herself and demonstrates her social status. I enjoyed creating my own character around this real person, as it was so interesting to take everything into account. 

Irene was my main character that research really helped me with. It allowed me to understand what it is she was going through with how they were treated in the factories and what actually happened to them with the conditions of the factories. Understanding this and putting it into my character was difficult but great to do. I made her a fun, happy person which was sarcastic and always made the situation bright. I chose these characteristics wisely because it brings light for the other characters in a bad situation and therefore when she dies it makes her death more impactful to Grace and Katherine, pushing them and giving more motivation to confront the factory owners. I have her dress in a simple 1920's outfit which was quite fancy, as the girls wore their best dresses to work to glow. I have her always smiling or rolling her eyes to demonstrate these characteristics mentioned before. I have her walk quite fast and not really care for posture, to show her social status and to show that she only cares about efficiency at work and being with her friends. The fact that she was dying whilst she was at work but still claiming she was fine "i'm fine why wouldn't i be" shows that she is a caring person and doesn't really want fuss around her, which i interpreted all the way through by having her just do her own thing and talk to who she wants to instead of trying to over do anything. I have her talk quite loud and at a decent pace to show it is normal conversation happening in the factories, as they were just normal teenagers who made friends at work. I loved all the interesting things i found out about the factories and her actual life, and putting this into the show is intriguing to see how it plays out.

Task 3.1 - Performance

Both performances for 'Radium Girls' have been completed and went well! I enjoyed these shows a lot as it allowed me to grow as an actor and individual as it took a lot of research and hard work to ensure that these are completed to the best of my ability. I am proud of what we put on, all the rehearsals and staying back and searching for information was 100% worth it.

Task 3.2 - Production Role - Conclusion

By the end of the term, i managed to fully complete my production role as 'Vocal Coach' with Alan. During rehearsal, as mentioned before we did a lot of research to focus the vocal coaching on certain aspects that will help further develop our performances. One of the key ones that was helpful and shown through out was diction. During rehearsal, we ensured that we had tongue twister lessons and pairing with the accent coaches to make sure that diction was correct through out the rehearsal process, which translated nicely into the shows. Volume was another, during rehearsal we had people saying their lines at different volume scales, during the performance the volume could have been louder in some places, but over all i believe our production role helped with the volume of the play. Everything we did in rehearsal was to ensure that our actors were using their voices safely, but also correctly and the audience 100% knew what was going on, and based on audience member feedback we managed to deliver this really well, as well as keeping the vocal health of our peers safe.

For helping out with the set design, the things i labelled we may have needed were provided and used in the performance, such as a table, paint, little pots for each table, etc. with great help from our director and mentors. It was a great set over all and really helped to tell the story.

Task 4.1 - Personal Journey Evaluation

From the beginning of the project to now, i have grown so much not only as an actor but as a person. At the start of this, i was very sceptical on how i was going to be able to retell someones story and give justice to it, however as time went on i got more comfortable in my character, the research and ability to grow as a person from understanding what happened to other people is amazing. I believe this performance has built my confidence over all and i am so greatful for the opportunity.

Task 4.2 - Final Performance Evaluation

Overall, i am very proud of my final performance at the college this year as it was very much a roller coaster to get here. The play was so hard hitting and emotional and getting it right was essential. For context, the play 'Radium Girls' is based on a true story and everything mentioned within the play actually happened to these girls, they worked in a radium plant poisoning themselves every day without realising and all unfortunately died from it. Therefore, this was a very sensitive topic to display and everyone's role was essential to bringing the story to life, which we had to do correctly to bring justice to these girls that unfortunately this had happened to. The play shows corporate exploitation and the purpose was to educate the audience on a topic they were probably unaware about that happened in history, and to make them want to go learn more about it, as well as feel sadness for these girls and want justice for them. I believe as a whole ensemble, we managed to do this very well, bringing the pure emotion on stage out, highlighting the serious issues that were ongoing throughout the entirety of the play, as everyone being there either as a radium girl or a crowd of people added to the story line, it made it seem like it was actually happening. The ensemble really helped bring it to life, when i was a normal radium girl with the rest of the ensemble, i felt like i was helping to tell this story and move it a long, as it shows that it was happening to many many girls over the years the plants were open. As well as the street scenes, being normal people who didn't work in the plant really brought the emotion out to the girls who did, as they were aware of what was happening to them yet still went on with their own lives and didn't try to help.

As for an individual character of Irene, i interpreted my character as a trigger point, the domino effect for the plot of the story, without her death Katherine wouldn't have been trying to figure out more about what causes the death of these girls and investigating the plant, which planted a seed in Grace's head. I feel she was essential to the story and getting her right was of big importance to me. As she dies quite quickly, i wanted her death to have an emotional impact on the audience as fast as possible, so i interpreted it as making her fun and outgoing when she is seen alive, so that when she dies the audience see her being serious and concerned. I wanted them to think about how she died so soon, and how it left an emotional impact on Grace and Katherine. I believe i managed to hit this goal, as within the first scenes, i made her loud, sarcastic and always smiling and giggling, and her joking nature present. I did this successfully as the audience laughed at some of her joking lines and seemed to enjoy her whilst she was on stage. If i got the chance to do this again however, i would present these emotions more out to the audience as i believe a few of my lines got swept under as i was delivering them to the other actors on stage with my head facing away from the audience, i believe the emotional impact would have been shown more if her smiles and eye rolling and giggling was all fully presented out to them. I also believe i successfully made them think about the emotional impact it had on Katherine due to my interaction with the other characters on stage, my relationship with Katherine was fully portrayed with constant bickering or giggling and always being together in the first 3 scenes, showing a real bond between these two people. This is a really important factor that needed to be shown as it is why Katherine is emotional in other scenes and i believe this was my most successful part of the whole performance, as our chemistry worked. I also think i interpreted the seriousness of the moment we realise she is about to die, with the blood running from her mouth and still insisting she is fine, it shows she is a strong character yet when announced its bleeding, i had her look concerned and worried, a complete change from how she has been so far with big facial expressions of frowning and looking around unsure of what is going on. I did this successfully i believe as everything i had rehearsed was shown, however if i had the chance to do this again i would try make it a bigger moment, making the pause of realisation longer and taking my time getting off the stage. Vocally, i believe i did a great job on this show, as on a whole i was loud and clear with my diction throughout the whole performance. I managed to maintain my American accent throughout the show, which was essential to the story line and all of the lines i said were pronounced correctly and at a great pace to ensure the audience knew what was going on. However, if i had the chance to do it again, there were certain lines i know i messed up on due to laughing over the top of it. For example, "let some of that starch out of your corset" i said whilst laughing, therefore my line was caught up in the laugh and hard to understand. One of the things i am most proud about vocally, is the whispered lines were loud enough to hear as an audience yet you could tell a clear difference in how i said these lines to show that it was for just the people i am talking to on stage to hear. I believe my vocal performance had a big impact on my characters overall view, as the character choice of making her loud and bubbily was shown with the tone and pitch throughout the show and it was essential to making an impact. Vocally, i was struggling with the songs in rehearsal and the fact i had to sing with only two other actors was scary, however in the final performance it went the best it ever has been and i was very proud of this moment, and i believe it went extremely well. The greatest area for me though from my performance is my physicality, facial expression and movement throughout the piece, as it was such an important part and i managed to do it in a way that was enjoyable for both me and the audience. I used facial expressions such as holding in a laugh (putting my lips together with air in my cheeks) or rolling eyes, or big smiles throughout the entire piece to show how my character was a young girl and didn't deserve what had happened to her, and even in death the memory of her was smiling and giggling. I enjoyed doing this but if i had to improve this once more, id look over every scene and line and decide when was a time where i needed to be serious instead, as a few times in the performance i could have toned this down but i didn't. My physicality and movement was great! I made her move quite fast to show shes young and free and had her efficient in what she was doing painting the dials. This is one of my strongest moments also. I also successfully managed to use a blood capsule that we were having struggles with, which i was relieved about as it added an extra level to the performance, showing what she was actually going through. 

Overall, i am very proud of my performance and i believe my strongest part was my interaction and chemistry with the other actors on stage as we spent a lot of time perfecting this making sure it was done well and it seemed like we were actually family. The fact that the actors on stage are my close friends helped with being able to do this, yet i am still incredibly proud of it. I believe it was a very successful performance and i am glad i was able to play the part of Irene and tell her story to an audience.