Explain how you prepared to play the character by answering the following questions:
What function did your character have in the plot of your play? My character, Colombina is used to tie Il Capitano into the story, who then causes a boat-load of consequences when interacting with other characters. I discovered that the Lovers are used to show certain sides of the main characters, and specifically the traits that can only be brought out when certain things happen in the scene.
What was your character’s status in regards to the other characters and how did you show this? Colombina has a different reaction and status in comparison to other characters, and I showed this through my movement when looking at a character, or after hearing what they had to say. I saw myself on an equal level to Arlecchino, perhaps even slightly more intelligent, and showed this through my movements by seeming composed and in-charge around him. Though, when Pantalone entered, I initiated my character to half-hide behind Arlecchino, to represent that Colombina wasn't on the same level as her superiors.
What are the main skills needed to perform in a mask? When wearing a mask, an actor's movements have to be exaggerated and larger than usual to compensate for the lack of facial expression. The actors must convey the character's emotions and reactions with a physical gesture, where facial recognition plays not part. When wearing a mask that is respective to a character, like in Commedia, the movements are used for the audience to identify with the character. After the performance
How successful was your group performance? How could you improve? How involved were you in the creation of the performance piece? Be truthful. Our performance was somewhat successful, though it was much more developed than expected. As a group, we had our scene planned out the second Ms. Weston said 'go', but we rarely had time to get together and practise due to exams and other external influences. At some points during drama lessons, certain group members would get distracted by people in other groups, but it happened to everyone to be fair. I was fairly involved, giving ideas and making use of time by doing productive things. We managed to stick by our original idea, and used each other's lines and movements to engage our own character's reactions. We obviously did not practise enough, and this was our downfall in that our movements and speech wasn't perfect. But this was ok, as Commedia is a form of improvisation - which we did a lot of in our assessment performance.
Write about the other groups’ performances. How successful were they? How could they improve? Be truthful. Use the elements of drama to help you write about performance – tension, focus, rhythm, space, movement, sound, time, symbol, mood, pace, pause and atmosphere, character/role, actor and audience relationship.
Other groups, including ours, could of definitely played with the exaggerated of movements and reactions more. The characters everyone played didn't seem completely developed. One of the groups did not use the stage productively, and set their whole scene in one spot that required no focus from the audience to understand.
The other groups were ingenious in their humour, but most of it was physical. There were plenty of lazzis that required tripping, but I personally thought that there was no witty humour. In my opinion, no group - including ours - was able to successfully connect and convey the true purpose of Commedia successfully, or completely. There were many holes in everyone's performances, and everyone had something to work on.
What function did your character have in the plot of your play?
My character, Colombina is used to tie Il Capitano into the story, who then causes a boat-load of consequences when interacting with other characters. I discovered that the Lovers are used to show certain sides of the main characters, and specifically the traits that can only be brought out when certain things happen in the scene.
What was your character’s status in regards to the other characters and how did you show this?
Colombina has a different reaction and status in comparison to other characters, and I showed this through my movement when looking at a character, or after hearing what they had to say. I saw myself on an equal level to Arlecchino, perhaps even slightly more intelligent, and showed this through my movements by seeming composed and in-charge around him. Though, when Pantalone entered, I initiated my character to half-hide behind Arlecchino, to represent that Colombina wasn't on the same level as her superiors.
What are the main skills needed to perform in a mask?
When wearing a mask, an actor's movements have to be exaggerated and larger than usual to compensate for the lack of facial expression. The actors must convey the character's emotions and reactions with a physical gesture, where facial recognition plays not part. When wearing a mask that is respective to a character, like in Commedia, the movements are used for the audience to identify with the character.
After the performance
How successful was your group performance? How could you improve? How involved were you in the creation of the performance piece? Be truthful.
Our performance was somewhat successful, though it was much more developed than expected. As a group, we had our scene planned out the second Ms. Weston said 'go', but we rarely had time to get together and practise due to exams and other external influences. At some points during drama lessons, certain group members would get distracted by people in other groups, but it happened to everyone to be fair. I was fairly involved, giving ideas and making use of time by doing productive things.
We managed to stick by our original idea, and used each other's lines and movements to engage our own character's reactions. We obviously did not practise enough, and this was our downfall in that our movements and speech wasn't perfect. But this was ok, as Commedia is a form of improvisation - which we did a lot of in our assessment performance.
Write about the other groups’ performances. How successful were they? How could they improve? Be truthful.
Use the elements of drama to help you write about performance – tension, focus, rhythm, space, movement, sound, time, symbol, mood, pace, pause and atmosphere, character/role, actor and audience relationship.
Other groups, including ours, could of definitely played with the exaggerated of movements and reactions more. The characters everyone played didn't seem completely developed. One of the groups did not use the stage productively, and set their whole scene in one spot that required no focus from the audience to understand.
The other groups were ingenious in their humour, but most of it was physical. There were plenty of lazzis that required tripping, but I personally thought that there was no witty humour. In my opinion, no group - including ours - was able to successfully connect and convey the true purpose of Commedia successfully, or completely. There were many holes in everyone's performances, and everyone had something to work on.