WELL DONE!!

A massive well done to all in the casts of 'Road 'and 'Nation' this week. You were fantastic and coped so well with the pressures of putting on a show in just under 6 weeks, a great achievement at the start of Year 10.  I am immensly proud of you all and you should be so pleased with yourselves after such amazing performances.

ROAD - Ideas for costumes

I know you are all getting excited about what you are going to wear but you need to think carefully about what your character would wear, remember their financial situation and other factors that would affect their clothing and general appearance.

Google 'Road' by Jim Cartwright in Google Image search and you will get some ideas from some of the pictures taken during other performances.

Scullery - should look a bit scruffy, baggy clothes and lots of layers. Possibly with a woolie hat.
Chantal - a bit chavvy, fake ugg boots and tracksuit

Brenda - dark clothes, plain, she doesn't care about her appearance.
Carol - she's getting ready to go out, again a bit chavvy.
Louise - going out also, she tries to make an effort, short skirt.
Brink - jeans and a show-off shirt, think's he look great.
Eddie - jeans, show off shirt, maybe a leather jacket.
Molly - dress, old knitted jumper.
Professor   - jeans, scruffy top and a baggy coat, needs a satchel style bag.
Skin-Lad - jeans, white t shirt
Helen - jeans, nice top, loads of jewellery.
Jerry - suit trousers, shirt and tie.
Joey - trackie bottom, t-shirt (mayybe with a slogan)
Clare - ordinary, jeans and top.
Curt - army jacket, jeans.
Valerie - dressing gown, slippers.

Costumes and Props

Both groups were set the task of getting props/costume sorted for their character this week.

This has to be left up to you as you should know your characters inside out by now, and if you don't this is a good way for you to think about them in even greater detail.

Nation - As the play is abstract and takes place in different time-zones and the majority of you change characters, you all need black bases that we can add bits of costume on top of to make it simple. Think about something that would give a clear signal to the audience about the type of person (or animal!) your character is. Remember SEMIOTICS. You may want to include a prop as part of the costume.

Road - The play is naturalistic and the audience will recognise your characters as real people. I have asked you to consider a whole outfit for your character as you do not change characters throughout the play like the Nation group, this will help you and the audience to 'get under the skin' of the character and see them as extensions of real people you might meet on the street.

Role on the Wall - Helpful Hints and Tips

Both groups were asked to complete a role on the wall for their character in the play.

This exercise helps you to understand the character's inner thoughts and feelings but also makes you think about their relationship to other characters. Inside the body out-line is what the character thinks of themself and outside the line is what other characters think of them, you should use examples from the script to explain and support your point.

Follow the link to the BBC Bitesize website to view the examples that were used in the lesson and a template you can print out so you can complete your own Role on the Wall.

BBC Bitesize Role on the Wall

ROAD - This is your Road

For those that need to complete their coursework on Road.

Here are all the tasks we have done in class and that you were set for Homework.

Research Task
You should answer these questions in full sentences and as much detail as possible.

1. The play was written by Jim Cartwright. In which decade and area of Britain is the play set?

2. What Government was in power at this time?
(You should find out the Political Party name, the leader of the party, how long/short a time they had been in power for)

3. What was life like for the majority of people under this Government?
(Think about the sort of policies the Government implemented, how did this effect the lives of ordinary people)

4. Why were so many ordinary people opposed to the Government?
(Look at what major social issues came about as a result of the Governments views and policies)

5. Can you make any comparisons to our present Political and Financial situation?

Road Character Exercises

Introuduction to the Road
1. Using your research notes on the background of the play, make two lists. One side is positive words/images you associate with the world you live in today, on the other side negative comments/images that you associate with our present society.

e.g.
Positive
Access to education
Increase in technological advances

Negative
still high levels of unemployment
Recession

2. Imagine you are a tourist and have somehow ended up on the wrong side of town and find yourself in the Pub on the ROAD. You witness the scenes we created in our last lesson (both the boys and girls scenes). You should write about your feelings witnessing the shocking events and how you felt being lost on the ROAD. Write this as a diary entry.

Getting to know your Character - The Stanislavski Exercise

Using the first five lines your character has in the play, complete the following task to help get 'under the skin' of your character.

1. Write the 5  lines out a piece of paper, keeping about 6 lines space in-between each.

2. Now write who this line is said to in the margin.

3. Underneath the line – write how you could deliver this line with a reason for this. It may be a vocal tip – such as ‘says this angrily in a raised voice to show that he is in control’ or a stage direction such as ‘she looks down at her feet to show that she is feeling nervous’

4. Now say what you think the character could be thinking in their head as they say this line – is what they are thinking in their head completely different to what they are actually saying aloud.

Learning your lines

Welcome to the first blog-post on the new site.

Hopefully you will have made great progress over the Half-term holidays in learning your lines for the play. If you are still struggling here are some links to give you some quick ideas.

Watch this video, made by a professional acting coach for some good starting tips.



HOMEWORK TASK

I want you tell me how you have been learning your lines, we can then share these ideas together.

Maybe you have come up with an idea that suits your type of learning style?

Post your response as a comment and bring an example of how you made it work for you to the lessons  next week. (Nation Group - Monday, Road - Wednesday) You have the week and the weekend to experiment!

Here's an example for an Aural learner, maybe you have recorded yourself saying certain lines into your phone and you will play these back to yourself throughout the day.