Evaluation

I felt like, overall these performances went very well. We were able to bounce off the energy of the large audience and the special effects such as sound, lighting and the set allowed us to visualise the world we were living in. At the 4:30 performance, the majority of the audience was our peers and fellow BRIT School students, which created a relaxed atmosphere due to their positive reactions to the play and we were able to bounce off their laughs and positive reactions and enthusiasm which made us feel as if we were delivering a very good performance. However we couldn’t rely on this as a truthful reception as they were our peers and most likely saw us as ourselves not as actors or characters. This meant that we lost the truth and honesty being our performances as we played up to the audience and some actors played for laughs. I think it is very important to not let the audience distract us as this takes us out of the world of the play, hence stopping us from fully committing to our character. I felt like my excitement and adrenaline threw me off slightly. I definitely was effected by this in the first performance which meant I lost the truthfulness behind my performances, hence making it less believable to the audience. This hindered my performance as I would lose characterisation and have to re-immerse myself while making sure I was saying the right line. This made it difficult to connect to other characters in key moments of the play. After the dress rehearsals and watching the other common ground shows, I realised how important it was to project my voice in order to be heard by everyone in the audience. They are positioned on 3 sides of the stage, therefore it was crucial to work even harder to be loud and clear at all times. I feel like I managed to successfully do this during the shows as I spoke with more breath, therefore more vocal support, this meant that I achieved a louder volume without straining or damaging my throat. However, there were also many successful aspects of my performance. My voice was loud enough to be heard due to my good projection and clear diction with a strong RP accent. This meant the audience could hear exactly what I was saying and could engage with my character and follow his story line. I was also able to use my positioning in the space well so that everyone could see me, I made sure I would focus my performance to everyone rather than just one block from the audience. I had strong physicality with good posture which gave my character status and authority on stage. I also showed the pompous and obnoxious attitude of my character very clearly throughout the show as well as bringing a sense of maturity to the role. I feel like my character work in lessons and research of my character and the historical context really help me to build upon my characterisation and get into the mind frame of the character on stage. My dialogue was sharp and harsh in order to show my anger and power in my character. I was rude and patronising towards others in order to humiliate or belittle them. 
The evening performances were filled with an older and more mature audience. I thought this would make it difficult as they may be less encouraging or supportive as they want to see an excellent show rather than just see their friends performing.  However, this ended up improving my performance. I felt more relaxed in myself as a performer and my character. This meant I could take my time and truly think about the motivation and emotion being my action and dialogue on stage. This created an honest performance which allowed the audience to see my character's journey throughout the play. The relationships between me and the other characters were very clear throughout the play and it was apparent what my character through of the other characters in each scene. I had individual reactions to each character depending on who they were and the circumstances of the scene. We all actively listened to each other and reacted accordingly making the relationships feel real and authentic. I reminded myself of the one main objective I had for each scene as this would drive my characterisation and motivation. In conclusion, I was very happy with my performance and really enjoyed the show.