Lucille Towers father, Tom came into class and helped us all make our own personal Didgs, he also played for us so we woul dknow what they were supposed to sound like. Today, Marika and I painted ours. Mine is yellow, with red speckles, it’s pretty sweet. Marikas was an epic fail….in neon pink, and keylime green.

I have started my research for my research paper also, four pages of notes from five pages of text…how is that even possible. I think i might have changed my reasearch question also….hmmmmm, we shall see.

I have said it before, I will say it again, I really dislike preforming on stage. I don’t like memorizing, and repeating the same thing over and over again. I like being behind the scenes, making the subtle diference, and knowing the history behind the plays. Really, just knowing the history of drama in general,  anything but being on stage.

I suppose I shall just have to shut up and do it. It’s what must be done to complete an IB diploma…maybe I will discover that something has changed…and I might be chance enjoy being looked at by 60 strangers in a small black box with spot lights and a drunken stagger….

On the flip side, the cast is doing all of the tech too. My tech role was listed as “Tech” what that vauge generalization means, I don’t yet know. Perhaps it means covering the walls in black fabric and moving all the stuff out of the classroom…awesome.

Anyway (without the S) we will see how this “staged reading” reveals itself. Asking 22 teenagers, and jane, to agree on how to produce one show, plus keep everyone engaged and happy, might be impossible AND worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, unlike the last one given….

Some of the references are out of date, but then they fit the time period of the story. I find the characters very dynamic so far (especially shitty meg), each one has their own personal challenges and hurdles but at the same time they are brough together on this island full of convicts and whores. It makes for a very interesting ordeal.

I got a little bit confused on who was who when the conversations start going fast and they characters get snippy with each other, but i can only assume that this will all get sorted out with a closer look during class. We are doing the first reading in a round robin style, which also makes it difficult to follow who is saying what, but it’s a good way for me to hear the vocabulary out loud.

If i were going to play a part in this play (which i suppose i should do…for my IB credits) I would just assume be Tench. I like that he seems to have a very level-headed, but yet firm view on the whole situation. He is serious but at the same time i enjoy his hint of sarcasm.

To go over the last few weeks…The class has been doing lots of Improv (not my favorite) but i have been gettign more and more into the idea, and letting go of myself, gettin out there!  I still don’t really like the idea of being front and center, despite what my friends say…

We have also been playing a lot of ensemble games, which are getting better and better as our class gets going. The first few weeks note everyone was one the same page with the games and rules and spped of games, and such. We have hit a much better rythym. I have learned that i’m better at the games where you follow patterns, and use littel deatails, rather than the loud, roudy games ( cough…cough…steal the bacon) which make me nervous.

I thin ki like the pattern and rythym games because there is a right and a wrong way to play, and it’s much more my style to use logic rather than rely on my acting skills…which could use some improvement, to say the least.

I have also found my little nook in this class, research papers! which i actually love writting…and i get to combine it with my language.

yeah….that’s about it for the last two weeks of drama. In a very brief overview.

9/9/09 learned about TIW, TIM, TIP, and the independent project. and then DEVISE, the theme word, or one of them.

9/11/09 Played the game chimpanzees and Monkeys ( I learned how to be a pick pocket). Today was also the AIMS exercise, where each group had to discuss an aspect of a “good” student.

9/14/09 game day. excerpt from journal “I’m not into the whole acting scene, much more a dramaturgy type of person actually…However, I adore going to watch others act, and learning the history and significance behind it all.”

9/15/09 PPP performance – monologue. Should be a one person show about what we learned and our JOURNEY through IB. We sometimes use/see other theater styles in our western theater. I think i might study the japanese culture of Geisha(s)(ing)?

9/18/09 What engages me as an audience member? contrast, good acting, attention to details, conflict balanced with comic relief, good story that flows, let’s me enter a world that is familiar but strange.  Every plot must have : comedy, spiritual, mystery, teach or have a moral, and be familiar but strange.  Plus, the BIG 5 QUESTIONS: What are we doing? What are the skills to be mastered? How did i do? what can i do better? Later i need to amend and note.

9/21/09 Type Writer, ensemble game that challenged my spelling, embarrassed me, and attempted to prove i have musical capabilities.. .i dont. You had to say the ABC’s with you group in a worked out pattern, then move around and keep the pattern, then overlay, all too much for my brain. THEN! i forgot my ABC’s…something about  E F G H L K M N O P yeahhh….not so promising.

9/22/09 stimulus practice number one. Song, Black is the Color of My True Loves Hair by Nina Simone. went very well, but a bit confusing the first time.

9/25/09 -ish. Stimulus practice number two.Poem.

9/26/09 Tableau- a really fun game actually, where one person goes out and makes themself into an object or person, then another person joins them and adds something to the scene. going up to 5 people.

9/29/09 Stimulus practice three. Picture, The Migrant Mother by Dorthea Lang. The picture was very powerful, and we worked for a long time, few days, with it. created improvs, tableau, and heated conversations about them. I enjoyed thinking about the picture and the story behind it, but i didn’t so much enjoy the improv about it, mostly because it was a SERIOUS improv, rather than a comic relief.

10/12/09 What is the TRANSFORMATION happening? humanity in relation to nature~ we tend to personify nature, make ourselves part of nature. why do we try and equate the two? interesting piece of food for thought, all drama comes from rituals.        person to note: Antoine Artaud~ believed the more sick you became, the more beautiful you were.