Review of First Performance
- 1. Evaluation of First Performance nd The 22 of February we were performing our performance for the first time in front of students and a few teachers. The reason why we had decided to so a run through with a smaller audience was so we were aware of any changes that will need to take place so we would hopefully have a perfect performance next time round. This was the first time we had performed in front of an audience with all songs and costumes. We would not be able to stop at all during the performance as this was now technically the real thing and we could only wait for our feedback at the end of the performance. Within this performance there were many things that we had done well and I am extremely proud of the way our whole team worked on that day. One main point was that we were all coming in at the right times whenever it was our time to speak. Even if all the lines weren’t exactly correct, everyone was saying there lines at exactly the right time. Another good aspect about this performance was the transitions between each scene. All the scenes ran very smoothly from one to another and everyone knew when it was there time to be on stage. Everyone had said their lines loud and clear which was vital for our audience as they would have lost interest in the performance in the lines weren’t herd properly and they wouldn’t have understood the play id they couldn’t hear what we were saying. One main aspect that I felt improved the most, even if it wasn’t up to scratch was the singing and dancing throughout the performance. During rehearsals everyone was a little shy and uncomfortable when it came to them singing and the dance moves were always slightly off key. However, during this performance I felt that there was a massive improvement as everyone was trying their hardest to sing the best they good and the dance moves were better than they’ve ever been as everyone was just about in time with each other. Particular people like myself and Rajan, Rajan had hated singing in rehearsals and was not comfortable at all, but in the performance he really tried his best. I had never sung in rehearsals as I didn’t feel comfortable, but as I didn’t want to stand there and say nothing during my solo, I thought I should give it a go. The songs were an important aspect for a musical and we had to ensure that they were as good as the scenes. The scene that I particularly liked was the scene where the inmates tricked one of the staff into saying how he feels about another one of the staff. This scene was done very well, it had a very different effects on the audience compared to the audience compared to the other scenes and I really enjoyed watching it. As well as that scene there was a fighting scene that took a lot of practise to go thorough in order for it too look realistic. The audience had said that they particularly liked that scene as it was very convincing and as it was an important scene in the play, we had to ensure that our fight looked as realistic as we could make it. (Even if it made me and the other lead character realistically fighting.) However there were also many things that didn't go according to plan during this performance. In the first scene, for the opening song there were a couple people who didn't know the dance moves well enough, so they did mess up on the dance. This was really frustrating for me personally as it brings down the whole dance routine for everyone if one messes up, as we are performing it together, so it affects all of us if one messes up. Even though everyone had moved a hell of a lot, there was still a bit of work to do before our next performance. As well as that some characters went to the wrong exits, so when they had to come back on stage they came from the wrong side. This happened with many people which wasn't good, as this showed that people weren't sure as to where they're meant to exit to, and where they're supposed to come back on stage from. For example: at the beginning of scene 8, all inmates had to come from the side with the stage, but one of the cast was on the totally other end of the set where the guards stand, this meant she had to sneak in the scene without anyone noticing, but it also created a mess behind the set as we were all trying to get her across to the right side. However, it’s good in a way that this happened now so we could fix the issue before our main performance because if this happens during our next performance this could create real chaos.
- 2. Another slight issue that needed to definitely be addressed as it made the whole performance look a little silly was the fact that a few of the inmates were a little bit too nice when they needed to be aggressive inmates, For example: when I was getting bullied in scene 9, the aggression in the other inmates was nowhere near how they should have been which made the whole scene look a little silly because they weren’t that scary but I had to pretend that they were. They’re prison inmates and we had to make sure that there characterisation was of an angry prison inmate. Also, one issue that occurred was the fact that Rajan forgot to pass his radio back to me when he had finished singing. This created slight chaos as I kept coming out of character by trying to call someone to try and tell him, but I couldn’t make it too obvious in order not to distract the audience. In the end, our teacher was able to tell Sara who was in the scene too take the radio. Rajan has to remember this next time round or it can mess up more things than it needs to. Overall it wasn’t a bad run through and I was extremely proud of the way we all worked together. I feel that this was the best performance we have done so far and I feel it was better than how I thought it would be. I think it definitely made everyone a little more confident in ourselves as we now knew that we can do it and we just have to believe in ourselves and the characters we were playing. We were told that this performance was brilliant, it made the audience feel mixed emotions. The script was amazing; one point they were all emotional; one point they were laughing, other points they were eager to find out what’s going to happen next. I couldn’t be more proud of myself and the whole cast, I couldn’t wait for the next performance, even though this made my heart race to begin with, it was nice to hear that the performance is actually really good.