The Story of the Little Beggar

This story if very light and full of comedy. It's very quick and on the ball constantly. When we first read this story in the script, we found it hilarious and couldn't wait to start rehearsing it. In this story there is a use of so many characters which helps us as performers to gain different skills. The Little Beggar (Joe) played his character well, he played a dunk guy, dancing singing and being jolly. He had to be consistent with his character because he was on stage at all times. I feel during my part as the doctors wife I could have made my gestures bigger by moving around the space more, not standing in a spot and saying my lines however I did use my hands to talk to the doctor (Paige) but the tone of my voice and my physicality was done well.

The Story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves shows the different lifestyles between rich and poor, and when someone gets greedy karma will swiftly follow. I enjoyed this story but personally I felt it was a bit messy, however we did spend the most time on this story. I feel now that when we did rehearse this story we could have focused more and been more motivated. I felt the captain (Charlie) played his character excellently, and a few of the forty thieves had very good physicality; on the other hand I felt I could have given more to my character as a thief. I did feel a bit silly at times and exposed but I have learnt that for a great performance you have to let go and give your character the best shot. I loved working as an ensemble, the atmosphere it gave us was amazing, our sticks banged on the floor at the same time, which sounded great and also when we made a 'HUH' sound it sounded strong and probably got the audience more interested in the story. I also felt Baba Mustapha (Leona) played her character well, she involved an accent which complimented the character.

To improve on our characters as the forty thieves, we could have made our gestures much bigger for example we could of scratched our faces and given an evil stare towards the audience; and also involve large facial expressions.

Prologue

Here are a few pictures from the prologue.

In two of the pictures you can see people sitting on the sides watching what is happening in the center. This is because the people center stage are the story tellers and the people on the sides are listening in; you'd think when your sitting on the sides you won't really have to do much however you do. It makes a massive difference from looking like you've heard the story a thousand times so your mind has drifted somewhere else and looking engaged in the story. So we move a little so it's hardly noticeable but the difference is there, and our eyes should not been day dreaming or wondering where the shouldn't. I found this quite difficult at times during the rehearsals because it was a constant thing, but during the shows I focused a lot more.

In the bottom picture you can see 7 girls standing in a line, this is an image to show the audience how many girls were killed by King Shahrayar because he thought women we're all liars and cause pain towards men.

The picture with the pink fabric, is portraying a window and King Shahrayar over looking his (at the time) wife meeting and showing affection towards another man.

Arabian Nights - The woman who wouldn't eat

Today we started the story The woman who wouldn't eat. We marked our way through the beginning of the story. We got given some of our roles, I was Amina, the woman who wouldn't eat. I don't have lines to say in this story apart from a spell with turnt Amina's husband Sidi into a dog but everything else I had to do was through action and expression. I found this quite scary to tackle at first, but with a bit of practice I found my way through. I think every little detail is a new skill. By learning this new skill I feel I can take it onto a next production.