the extension of KC.

It's been almost a week since I took over the role of Diesel, in the West Side Story Musical (WSS). I must say it wasn't the most enjoyable experience in all my years of drama rehearsals.

I guess if I were to be forced to put my finger on it, I'd say it'd because coming into the cast at such a time, is a little unnerving because there is very obvious camaraderie that's already been forged, and I feel a little intrusive at this moment. Also, I hadn't expected to be substitued into the musical and I guess the unfamilliarity of both the play, schedules and rehearsal procedures, cause me to feel quite lost.

I am playing a rather silent character, and although I felt rather insignificant initially, I'm beginning to feel that it'd be rather difficult to play a role who expresses everything he feels and thinks in facial movements, actions and gestures. I'd thought it'd be rather easy but boy, was I wrong.

WSS rehearsals are becoming better. I'm becoming more familliar with the script, the characters, the movements, and most importantly, the cast members. I definitely feel that having great chemistry and camaraderie among the cast members is imperative if you're going to pull off a convincing Gang performance.

Now I remember why I'm in the DEP in the first place. I'm in it so I can gain the experience necessary for my life in the future. I want to do Broadway in the future and do musicals. IT's not just theatre, but musicals, because that is my passion and my love. I watch the rest of the cast dance, and sing to the WSS script, and it makes my heart flutter. I do not partake in them now, but eventually I want to be able to do just that. I am awed by the songs and the dancing. It really is great.

Initially I was apprehensive, but now I'm looking forward to whatever rehearsals we have in the future.

Oh and the accents the Sharks have? WOAH. That's all I can say. It's so damn cool, and believable not to mention. Now I really see how mediocre my school's drama club was.

I can't remember all the plays since the last time I watched it was ages ago and I was focussing more on the set and props and thinking of potential problems that could arise from their props. Moreover, I didn't get to watch Box and  Rashomon, so I can't give full details. Nevertheless, I still know what is going on and can give my feedback based on what I saw.

1. Feeding the Armadillo.
Okay ouch ouch ouch ouch. Many many props, many many heart aches. Lots of things to place, but that's just the crew-side of me talking. The audience-side felt that the elevation of the maid's room was genius, because it immediately drew alot of attention to the maid and the going-ons in the maid's room. Perhaps it wasn't intentional, or maybe it was just me, but in certain points of the play when Martha was alone in her room, I couldn't take my eyes off the maid. It's interesting how, even though my attention was on her, my concentration on the lines being spoken by the other actors wasn't compromised. The multitude of props was surprisingly, not a distraction for me. The idea of a house laid out on the floor in such a fashion was very ingenius, and was effective in revealing how many people come apart in the confinesof their rooms, or when they are left alone. The play in height and in props gave lots of texture to the overall set design, and even though some rooms weren't fully utilised  and seemed irrelevant e.g. the multi-purpose room, the extra detailing only served to make the play even more visually richer. The ensemble sections of the play were scripted to be very eerie, and it just really appealed to me even more, because the emotional impact of an ensemble was really great and if i were to ever script a play for my devised piece or in the future, I would most definitely consider having an ensemble section as one of the ways of emphasizing and driving home strong messages.

2. The Damask Drum
 Set was minimalistic with a silver tree and a tatami mat lining the back of the stage. To the best of my understanding,  I felt that the tatami mat was very effective in portrayin the interior and the gardens of the palace. As such, there was no need for set change and allowed for a very crisp and clean presentation. Vocally, I felt that they all were able to match emotion to text and text to motivation, which helped convey the 'truth' that we all want to portray effectively.l

Okay first thought of the day was, "my goodness going back to school on a Sunday sucks."

Second thought was, "okay better get ready. Don't want to screw up Sean's and Tushar's piece."

Third thought, "BUT IT'S SO DARN EARLY I WANT TO SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!"

So yes, I ended up reaching school to help them with their Prelims. I helped in Sean's Radio Play, where he did Sound Design, and played a character in Tushar's ancient-civilisations play, where he showed off his mask.

First, Sean's piece:
He did this exercise, where the four voice-actors stood in a circle in the darkness of the holding room, with our eyes closed. He asked us all questions to help us characterise and garner the correct emotions for the character at the last minute, like, "Tonder, do you think they understand how you feel?", "Loft, why do you fight on?". It was the first time I've ever done that exercise and I felt that that really helped to catalyse all the thought I've put into my character, and really set us in the correct mindframe to prepare us for the exam.

The way Sean did the sound of the wind was pretty cool, and what I heard, did not sound at all like what I thought it'd be. When we first rehearsed it before the examiners came, it felt really eerie in the Black Studio, and the coldness of the room really did give the final push to help us click with the performance.

Second, Tushar's piece:
I remember him calling me up and handing me a black neutral mask, which I'd been watching him make over the past week. He tied it on me and I recall instantly feeling a certain sense of mystery and mystique manifest from within. It's almost as if the mask brought out the tribal, ancient-civilisation-guardian side of me, and it was great. It really tied what I'd been thinking of, about how costume affects the psyche of the character, together, the way the mask affected me.

Using and practising with the stick made me realise that whatever props you use, or whatever piece you wear, you have to have a reason behind it. You must make your usage of the prop seamless and perfect. Mr Tan did mention that the stick should be an extension of me, and that everything I do should look effortless and natural. I've never used the stick before so it was tough, but I think that in the end, it didn't turn out too bad. I'm reminded of the time during DEP, where Mr Tan talked about his character's act of putting on a pair of white gloves for the The Guys play. He said that he had to practise very long to get the movement of his hands into the gloves seem effortless, OH and so was the buttoning up of his coat.

We attended the VIVA Session after the Skills presentation. From the questions that were given to Tushar, I gather that you must really know your content really well. You need to have researched thoroughly, thought about your every action and piece of the masterpiece properly, and you need to articulate properly using the proper adjectives and theatre jargon. I noticed the frequent use of words like, 'stylised performance', 'dramatic theatre', and such.

--

Today's J2 DEP Prelim exams really did give good insight into the position I'll possibly be in next year, and really opened my eyes to what I'm in for. Initially daunted, I'm kind of excited about it now. Now I feel good, because i know better now, what the examinations will be like.

Certainly, an invaluable experience.

It's been almost a week since I took over the role of Diesel, in the West Side Story Musical (WSS). I must say it wasn't the most enjoyable experience in all my years of drama rehearsals.

I guess if I were to be forced to put my finger on it, I'd say it'd because coming into the cast at such a time, is a little unnerving because there is very obvious camaraderie that's already been forged, and I feel a little intrusive at this moment. Also, I hadn't expected to be substitued into the musical and I guess the unfamilliarity of both the play, schedules and rehearsal procedures, cause me to feel quite lost.

I am playing a rather silent character, and although I felt rather insignificant initially, I'm beginning to feel that it'd be rather difficult to play a role who expresses everything he feels and thinks in facial movements, actions and gestures. I'd thought it'd be rather easy but boy, was I wrong.

WSS rehearsals are becoming better. I'm becoming more familliar with the script, the characters, the movements, and most importantly, the cast members. I definitely feel that having great chemistry and camaraderie among the cast members is imperative if you're going to pull off a convincing Gang performance.

Now I remember why I'm in the DEP in the first place. I'm in it so I can gain the experience necessary for my life in the future. I want to do Broadway in the future and do musicals. IT's not just theatre, but musicals, because that is my passion and my love. I watch the rest of the cast dance, and sing to the WSS script, and it makes my heart flutter. I do not partake in them now, but eventually I want to be able to do just that. I am awed by the songs and the dancing. It really is great.

Initially I was apprehensive, but now I'm looking forward to whatever rehearsals we have in the future.

Oh and the accents the Sharks have? WOAH. That's all I can say. It's so damn cool, and believable not to mention. Now I really see how mediocre my school's drama club was.

I thought the play was hilarious and was amazing! I took home three things from the play:

1) The power of a good script,
2) The importance of functional and yet gorgeous sets, and
3) What really great acting is like.

Okay firstly I thought the general plot made sense. The whole idea about how our inhibitions are the ones that really stop us from doing the things we want to do proeprly was well explored and while it was obvious, it wasn't too explicitly put out for the audience, which I thought was a good thing. It was thought provoking. I really liked how amidst the humour of the Play, there was enough signalling, both from the actors and the script, to prompt the audience to think and reflect at certain areas, and suddenly realise why some people behave in a certain manner e.g. why Sasha is such a harsh and cold woman in the beginning. I think the background and life-stories of each individual character was well portrayed, and well put-accross by the actors and it really added to the way I emoted and identified with each character. Truly, a great script is one which sticks in your mind and etches it's meaning into your heart.

Secondly, about the importance of a funcitional yet gorgeous set. There was a grand piano which held many compartments and trap doors which allowed for the illusion of a Utilities Closet, where Sasha and JoJo kissed in. I thought that was magnificent, because apart from being a part of the reception lobby of the hotel, it was also transformable to become a second floor with a Utilities Closet. Amazing! I was wondering how they could fit all those items in a Grand Piano, but Tushar said that it was merely a set contruction, and the Man was merely playing on a Keyboard. Smart, and practical. Lovely addition to the set; functional and ye beautiful! Bravo.

Thirdly, on what great acting is like. I firmly believe that to be the best, you have to learn from the best. I noticed that I laughed the most at the parts where Sasha made very small, but significant changes in facial expressions. It's the little things like the way she stood, the way she stared at G. Reaper, the way she spoke in different tones, that made me laugh really hard. Taking that, I incorporated it into my play in NOL and thankfully, it worked to get some good hearty laughters.

OH YES. There was one part of the play when someone sneezed really loudly backstage, and Jojo said "God Bless You". It was clearly not part of the script and you could see that the actors were trying very hard to act as if that were a part of the script and react in character. It was hilarious because for that fleeting second you could see a tinge of fear and surprise in their eyes, wondering how to respond to the sneeze. Thankfully they recovered really well and the play went on as it did. It was hilarious, and I learnt that whatever it is, whatever happens on stage we cannot break the illusion of theater. As the saying goes, "THE SHOW MUST GO ON!". Hmm impromptu lessons would really be useful for times like these.

This to me was the epitome of great acting because through out the play, I'd thought that Sasha and JoJo were really indians because of their thick, indian accents that they'd sued. Heck, they even looked indian! But then after the final act, and they came out from behind the set to receive the applause, they all looked different. Sasha and JoJO, who'd looked so much like indians, had a completely different face. It had become more diluted and more westernised. It was amazing because it literally was like they'd taken off their character's masks! And when Sasha opened his mouth to thank the audience, MY GOD. In my mind he was no longer indian, because standing right in front of me was now a full-grown true-blue New Zealander! To be able to act and sound like a real indian - now THAT'S what I call really good acting!

Great show, great night, great experience. What else do you expect to get when you visit the Theatre?

Back in Unity, I'm very used to Farscical humour and have become quite accustomed to acting in an over-the-top fashion just to make an audience laugh. as such Night of Laughter (NOL) was really the first time, where I had to perform realistically and find ways to expound the humour in the text without over-exaggerating. My actions couldn't be too large since the nature of my character called for him to be a rather gentlemanly, white-collared worker/loser who's trying to pick up a girl but fails rather miserably. Intellectual humour was definitely the type of humour that Sure Thing was about. Hence, I guess it was the first time that not all of the humour that I saw was caught-up by the audience, and although it was at times disheartening to see that they weren't laughing, I realised that that not everyone would be able to understand it.

Night of Laughther, like every production I've been involved in, has really been a huge roller coaster of ups and downs. From struggling to get the entire cast to be available to rehears together during school, to finally experiencing a sudden sense of emptiness in the abrupt ending of the NOL, it has truly been a great learning experience.

Pre-Show:
Through observing the jocks and they're macho-daft-and-yet-still-blunt ways around the schools (which specific group of people, I shan't say =D), I was able to piece certain actions and sitting positions of Bill -my character. It really did help me behanve like the Bill I envisioned, and the collage exercise on Bill was especially useful since it put the various scatetred ideas of Bill neatly on one piece of A3 paper, and made my character's personality and idiosyncracies more organised, allowing me to draw on my visual inspiration at anytime I needed. Through the rehearsals I learnt about the 'neutral position'. Perhaps it's because I haven't done any characterisation in a long time, but through NOL, I remembered how I used to characterise, which was to analyse sections of the script and give a label for the emotion or action needed in that section, and then working on achieving the action or emotion it required. Was a good refreshment course, I'd say.

9th February 2007:
My OG sat in the hall, and so did a few other random friends. How was the crowd going to react to the play? Would they understand it? Would they like it? Was our performace going to justify why we're performing on two days? Was it going to meet MR Ibrahim's expectations, or even better, was it going to exceed them? I just didn't know how an AC crowd would respond to the play. Receiving horrible O Level results earlier on in the day shouldn't hinder my performance. "Leave your problems at the door", says Mrs Creffield, and I followed that. The show must go on, and it did.

We sat in LT3, and awaited our turn as the last play for the night. When the lights hit our faces, and the audience grew deadly silent, that's when the adrenaline started kicking in. As we acted, I kept thinking, "oh no, why aren't they laughing?", "oh shit I didn't emote awkwardness well enough", "resist laughter, resist laughter resist. Resist"... I was almost certain that Mr Ibrahim would tell us off for not making it up to his expectations, but come the debrief and everyone was congratulated on a job well done. My friends even said ti was great, despite admitting to being unable to understand some parts.

I guess in an actor's mind, he wonders constantly abou stage cues, his actions, the tone of his voice and the response of the audience and so on, but in the end, it's all an issue of over-thinking things. Every mistake you make and every line you fuble on, I realise even more clearly now, that if you cover it up in character, no one but you and your cast would know. Still, that doesn't mean we take our faults and mistakes lightly. We still should be able to identify through feedback and critical self-assessment, what could've been improved and what should be retained, and imput them into the next relevant production.

10th February 2007:
The four teachers spoke of the fact that since, it was a Saturday, the auditorium would be packed and the audience would be demanding more. Rather daunted, I went home and worked on my character a while before going to bed. I drew inspiration from Sasha from "The Pickle King" and what I'd learnt from Commedia Dell'arte about the power of the eyes' glare, and tried to put them into my character's idiosyncracies and actions.

To my great relief it worked on the second night, when the audience laughed at the awkward moment bewteen Betty and Bill, and (what I hear was) at my facial experessions and awkward twitches and modifications. It was the little things like a long sigh or me fumbling with my fingers that really set off the audience's laughter. It really felt good to know that all that reflection andwatching of plays and workshops engagement didn't go to waste and instead helped me to grow as an actor.

Sure Thing in NOL really demanded that I be funny with slightly exaggerated facial expressions and emphasized words, without sounding farscical. It was difficult but I guess through observation and most importantly mimicking of professionals in the Comedy scene from around the world, I managed to reach a mid-point to pull off an act that was funny as it was expected to be.

--

In many ways, I think performing on two nights gave me the extra pressure to perform really well, perhaps to justify the reason why we were even performing twice in the first place. Our script was good, and was specially selected. I didn't want to let down the integrity of the play. I had to do justice to the playwright and the play. I guess that's why my cast and I really worked hard to create and hold the illusion of theatre, and draw everyone into the cafe where the two scenes were held. It was a great experience to be able to entertain so many people with such a high standard of comedy. I find that I learnt and worked towards perfecting my role in Sure Thing, through constantly asking for feedback from the audience, and actively processing them, and learning, most importantly.

I am sure in more ways than one, I am able to use what I've picked up from the teachers, my cast members my friends, and most importantly my dear jocks who were spied upon so unknowingly by me, for future productions as well as in real life.

You know it's true. You really do mature and grow with each production.

Oh and on a more sentimental note, I really do hate the time when productions come to an end. It's like breaking up such a closely-knit family that's slaved towards a common goal. It wasn't heart-wrenching, but in general, Gala Nights are alwasy the most painful nights to perform on.

Similar to what I'd mentioned in my entry on costumes, my interest in make-up and costume stems from my love for couture ads and high-fashion editorials in magazines. The highly-exaggerated make-up, and the beautiful elaborate costumes really intrigue me. Ms Wong did 'realist' make up on Sharyl today and one thing I learnt today was that make-up (especially in naturalist plays) is to enhance the features that an actor already has, and complete the look and feel of the character.

For example, Old characters are associated with Bright Blod Reds because old characters want to look young, so they use youthful colours to create the illusion. Ofcourse conversely, young characters want to appear older, therefore they use darker shades of red or brown as lipstick.

OH and the main reason why we have to put on make up when we perform, is because when the lights hit us on stage, it will completely drain the colour from our face. So we need to enhance certain features and give colour certain features on our face which may become 'faded' by the light, like the eyebrows, the cheek bones, the eyelids etc. This probably explains why make up that looks ghastly overdone in normal lighting looks just right on stage.

And WOAH the use of different colours and thickness of spplication in effect! After doing Naturalist make up on Sharyl, Ms Wong did Dark full-on Goth make up on Dheraj, and my goodness, it looked gorgeous. The eye-shadow Ms Wong used on both people were similar, but by simply adding the eye shadow in more layers and by blending with a Light, Medium and a Dark tone, the Goth effect was very well portrayed.

In the near future, I really would like to learn how to apply makeup for my friends when they act. I really would love to be able to do make up(for others and not for me, ofcourse)! =)

So in conclusion to today's Make-up 101, there are nine easy steps to achieving great make-up for your character.
1. Foundation
2. Powder (loose, preferrably)
3. Luminiser/Bronzer (depending on gender or skin tone)
4. Prebase (uhh)
5. Eyeliner and subsequently Eyeliner Brush.
6. Eye Shadow.
7. Eyebrow Shadow (could be an eyebrow pencil too, but the former is more even and looks better, and is more natural too)
8. Blusher
9. Lipstick.

Gosh if every girl follows these 9 steps everytime they're prepping up for some event, it'll take ages to do their make up! Geez. =)

Okay I'm not going to repost all the notes I took down during lessons, because I find that rather unnecessary and would just be taking up space that should be used for my reflections, instead. Therefore, I shall talk about how the past four lessons of 'Costumes 101' have left me thus far.

I guess my fascination with dresses and dress-making (and subsequently costume-making) started because I love fashion-related shows such as 'America's Next Top Model' and 'Project Runway'. It always intrigued me how dresses were made, how costumes and concepts were thought-about, and how it all came together beautifully in the end.

Watching plays on stage also kind of fueled this interest, because the costumes from the Qing Dynasty play, Forbidden City, and Macbeth (by the SRT's The Young Co.) really gave the play it's character and it's distinctive lingering after-taste. I guess I'll be sounding rather repetitive if I say that Costumes are really important in a play (because actually everything and everyone is important for the success of a play), but it's true. Every detail, every drape, every single line and loop of sequins really does change the personality of a character.

I remember the time my mum and I spent making the teddy-bears for ACSian Theatre to raise money. All the ideas and wild imaginations were one thing, but actually getting them down on that little furry bear was another. Cost of the cloth, time, how it looked on the bear, how it'd be received by the buyer, how the general effect would be, the character it oozed, the occasion and purpose of making the bear, the cost, whether the buyer would know what kind of bear it was - all came to mind as great factors, when I'd set out to make the bear. Eventually, the bear came together and the greatest success to me, was in the fact that everyone knew straight at once that it was a sleepy little cute Pyjamas Bear.

In many ways, that's exactly what Ms Wong and Mrs Creffield have been talking about, with the inclusion of another key factor, which is ofcourse, the almighty word: the Text. Everything mattered, and a slight mismatch in acything would result in a failure or dismemberment of the final effect. Costume-making is not to be taken lightly.

I do have an interest in costume-making (yeah, i have interests in everything else, including Commedia Dell'Arte and Traditional Opera) and would love to learn the fine-details that'd go into making a fine, wearable, and suitable costume. The purple dress from Cyrano de Bergerac (with the corsett) still takes my breath away, and everytime I look at it, I just think "wow". =)

Maybe it's a little late to have the whole realisation of the importance of Affective Athleticism only today, but yeah.

In retrospect, I really do see the importance of having your body as fit, flexible and balanced as possible. The Commedia Dell'arte workshop, especially showed me that balance is importance if you're going to make your character do crazy movements and awkward gestures. 'Breaking the lines of the body' takes strength and also great balance, which is very important, because you have to do whatever it takes to give your character the kind of integrity it really deserves. The Qing Dynasty play showed me how voice is important, but I'll leave that for another entry. The point is, it takes hardwork and talent to be a good actor. But to be a great actor, you're got to be conditioned to commit your body to the character. You've got to be a competent and mouldable sheet of canvas, ready to be made into whatever's demanded of you. So yes, thinking of it all now, I'll smile.

Hooray for the aches and pains in each and every single muscle in our body, and hooray for the groans of agony when we move these muscles. =)