Monday 7 December 2009

2nd draft of marketing and desciptive is up!

Hey
Ive just put my 2nd draft of marketing and descriptive writing up, not really sure how to improve on them, and suggestions. Also finding my academic style writing piece hard over half way with it, will be up as soon as.
thanks laura

Descriptive Style Draft 2

We were interrupted by the very loud ringing of a school bell, the high pitched sound echoed in my ears, silence rippled amongst us as we all became still. We all set our eyes upon the large black and white plastic clock above the hall entrance, and realised our fate, the first performance of ‘Tales from Geppetto’s workshop’ was about to draw back its curtains to an audience for the first time. Our hard work, which felt like our new born baby, was about to be examined by the most honest audience participant a performer could ever have, children.

I took a very heavy long breath to calm my heart which was thumping like a bass drum, as I prepared myself in my first stone statue like position. We all waited in suspense as I could hear thee cheeky, chirpy children’s voices bellowing through the door.

Suddenly the grand doors which looked liked they had grown taller in seconds swung open with a gust of wind throwing dust in my eyes. Through the doors entered a woman surfing a wave of children’s hands of pulling and tugging innocent happy children who were all walking on their tip toes with excitement, all ready for a new day of fun learning, knowing they had a very special treat in store.

Staring with joy at our brightly coloured costumes so much that they were bumping into each other like a small car pileup. Roars of ‘wows’ and ‘oooo’s’ came from the eager children as Mark; a fellow performer, balanced on one hand up side down. This broke the imaginary divider between the performers and the audience, as it seemed each child started to ask a million and one questions all at the same time.

But before I could answer any of them the show had begin, cue music, I could feel my nerves rippling from my toes up to my head, cue actors, I swallowed a deep breath to compose myself and it was me in the beaming limelight. My eyes witnessed nearly two hundred children in a sea of red uniform staring wide eyed at me.

Without panicking my nerves I introduced my character with confidence and pride in a low strong voice, ‘Pinocchi-A’. I am a talented musical wind-up toy who is old and wise that loves to perform. I lapped up the children’s staring eyes as I told my story, ‘I was first created very slow, created without any flow, quickly made from head to toe, my joints would stop and start to go, but my secret passion and my dream, is to make my sound and to be seen, telling jokes the stage was mine, but my jaw got stuck…’ and I was joined by a fluffy, yellow and white friend my conscience in the show Jimmy chick, a magical puppet.

Each life size toy in the magical workshop told their secret story through verse and rhythm and introduced their conscience, except the newest toy that has just been freshly made. Our quests, to all find her story and conscience. We search high and low through the musical land of blowing trombones and smashing symbols, exploring the five W’s laboratory where the nutty professors have given up on all of their beautiful inventions. The beautiful wooden puppet gave encouragement, solutions and ideas to make each toy we all meet happy with joy. For this the caring puppet was granted a wish for what ever she wanted.

The show went down a treat leaving our very hungry audience wanting even more, the rippling sea of claps and beams of smiles, left me feeling that my engine of enjoyment has been refilled with the inspiration of their energy.

Marketing style draft 2

CHRISTMAS ‘TALES FROM THE SHED’ – ‘TALES FROM GEPPETTO’S WORKSHOP’

This Christmas do something different with your family; come to Chickenshed and experience the magical theatre for children this winter in Geppetto’s Workshop for a limited time only!

Come and join the world where everybody can share together, explore and believe in the magic and make it happen!

After a sell out tour of Christmas Tales last year, the Chickenshed Tales team are back with a newly devised, fun packed entertaining adaptation of Pinocchio’s story called ‘Tales from Geppetto’s workshop’. Our story follows the toys that are left behind in Geppetto’s workshop. You will all be apart of the story of the most recent toy created, a puppet who has no story, we will all embark on a journey to discover her story, with a little help from a few of our familiar friends from the shed and also some new ones too all helping the puppet complete three good deeds to grant the puppet her wish of what ever she wants. But what does she wish for? Come and find out in Geppetto’s workshop!

A Show where there is no edge to the stage, YOU, ME and US will create this story!

This is a fantastic way to stimulate your child’s creative imagination while eing educated to The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). ‘Tales of Geppetto’s Workshop’ looks at the themes of giving, growing and learning to love who we are, using song, slapstick, puppetry, interaction and improvisation. ‘Tales from the shed is part of Chickenshed’s inclusive theatre programme, which has been created for ALL children to participate in and enjoy, for every child to learn in an creative environment.

So book now and let us see what we can create together!

Chickenshed Theatre Dates: Sat 12th, Sat 19th and Wed 23rd December

Times: 10am & 11.30am

Tickets: £5

Age recommendation: Tales from Geppetto’s workshop is for everyone up to the age of 7 years.

Booking information: To book tickets, please contact the Box Office on 020 8292 9222, email bookings@chickenshed.org.uk or for textphone users call 18001 020 8292 9222 (Typetalk).
Not only is this Christmas Tales production at Chickenshed Theatre for selective dates with a bigger cast and bigger ambitions, but the ‘Tales from Geppetto’s Workshop’ could be in your school too. With an interactive showcase of performance and workshop for Nursery to Yr2 age children.

School Bookings:
Schools can book this combination of:

A 45 minute interactive performance for up to 200 Key Stage One children and a 45 minute workshop following the show for 2 classes (up to 60 children).

Dates: Monday to Friday of weeks commencing 23rd November, 30th November and further opportunities during weeks commencing 7th and 14th December.

Times: 10.00 – 11.30am & 1.15 – 2.45pm

Cost: The cost for the performance and workshop, which come together as a linked package is £275.
Don’t miss out this Christmas on a magical adventure where toys come to life and wishes come true!

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Writing Style 2

We were interrupted by the very loud ringing of a school bell, the high pitched sound echoed in my ears, silence rippled amongst us as we all became still. We all set our eyes upon the large black and white plastic clock above the hall entrance, and realised our fate, the first performance of ‘Tales from Geppetto’s workshop’ was about to draw back its curtains to an audience for the first time. Our hard work, which felt like our new born baby, was about to be examined by the most honest audience participant a performer could ever have, children. I took a very heavy long breath to calm my heart which was thumping like a bass drum, as I prepared myself in my first stone statue like position. We all waited in suspense as I could hear thee cheeky, chirpy children’s voices bellowing through the door.

Suddenly the grand doors which looked liked they had grown taller in seconds swung open with a gust of wind throwing dust in my eyes. Through the doors entered a woman surfing a wave of children’s hands of pulling and tugging innocent happy children who were all walking on their tip toes with excitement, all ready for a new day of fun learning, knowing they had a very special treat in store. Staring with joy at our brightly coloured costumes so much that they were bumping into each other like a small car pileup. Roars of ‘wows’ and ‘oooo’s’ came from the eager children as Mark; a fellow performer, balanced on one hand up side down. This broke the imaginary divider between the performers and the audience, as it seemed each child started to ask a million and one questions all at the same time. But before I could answer any of them the show had begin, cue music, I could feel my nerves rippling from my toes up to my head, cue actors, I swallowed a deep breath to compose myself and it was me in the beaming limelight. My eyes witnessed nearly two hundred children in a sea of red uniform staring wide eyed at me. And without panicking my nerves I introduced my character with confidence and pride, ‘Pinocchi-A I was first created very slow, created without any flow, quickly made from head to toe, my joints would stop and start to go, but my secret passion and my dream, is to make my sound and to be seen, telling jokes the stage was mine, but my jaw got stuck…’ and I was joined by a fluffy, yellow and white friend my conscience in the show Jimmy chick, a magical puppet who helped me through the show with spontaneous improvisation.

The show went down a treat leaving our very hungry audience wanting even more, the rippling sea of claps and beams of smiles, left me feeling that my engine of enjoyment has been refilled with the inspiration of their energy.

Thursday 26 November 2009

Writing Style 1

CHRISTMAS TALES – ‘TALES FROM GEPPETTO’S WORKSHOP’

This Christmas do something different with your family; come to Chickenshed and experience the magical theatre for children this winter in Geppetto’s Workshop for a limited time only!
After a sell out tour of Christmas Tales last year, the Chickenshed Tales team are back with a newly devised, fun packed entertaining adaptation of Pinocchio’s story called ‘Tales from Geppetto’s workshop’. Our story follows the toys that are left behind in Geppetto’s workshop. You will all be apart of the story of the most recent toy created, a puppet who has no story, we will all embark on a journey to discover her story, with a little help from a few of our familiar friends from the shed and also some new ones too and especially YOU!


A Show where there is no edge to the stage, YOU, ME and US will create this show!


This is a fantastic way to stimulate your child’s creative imagination while being educated to The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). ‘Tales of Geppetto’s Workshop’ looks at the themes of giving, growing and learning to love who we are, using song, slapstick, puppetry, interaction and improvisation.


Not only is this Christmas Tales production at Chickenshed Theatre for selective dates with a bigger cast and bigger ambitions, the ‘Tales from Geppetto’s Workshop’ could be in your school too. With an interactive showcase of performance and workshop for Nursery to Yr2 age children.

So book now and let us see what we can create together!

Chickenshed Theatre Dates: Sat 12th, Sat 19th and Wed 23rd December

Times: 10am & 11.30am

Tickets: £5

Age recommendation: Tales from Geppetto’s workshop is for everyone aged 0-7 years.

Booking information: To book tickets, please contact the Box Office on 020 8292 9222, email bookings@chickenshed.org.uk or for textphone users call 18001 020 8292 9222 (Typetalk).
School Bookings:
Schools can now book for this combination:

A 45 minute interactive performance for up to 200 Key Stage One children and a 45 minute workshop following the show for 2 classes (up to 60 children).

(If it is necessary to go up to 240 children for the performance in order to for example, include all classes in a year group – and the space can accommodate this – then we can be flexible about numbers.)

Dates: Monday to Friday of weeks commencing 23rd November, 30th November and further opportunities during weeks commencing 7th and 14th December.

Times: 10.00 – 11.30am & 1.15 – 2.45pm

There can be room for some changes to suit your timetable.

Cost: The cost for the performance and workshop, which come together as a
linked package was £275.

But we can be flexible regarding reductions depending on certain circumstances.
If a date you request is booked we will offer you another date as close to your selection as possible
.

Don’t miss out this Christmas on a magical adventure where toys come to life and wishes come true!

Wednesday 25 November 2009

The first week of 'Tales From Geppetto's Workshop and trying to find my voice...

After a very long and hard working week of devising and rehearsing ‘Tales from Geppetto’s Workshop’, myself and a team of six are about to embark on six week journey of performing this production to children in schools over London, Great Almond Street, in shopping centres, and at the Chickenshed theatre. And the time has come for our very first and very nerve racking show at St Andrew’s Primary school. A very young Eger audience of sixty sat in front of us wide eyed waiting to be trilled. Everyone gave that look to each other of right we can do this but I’m bricking it, no words were exchanged but we all knew by that look we had each other’s support.

The session starts off with an introduction to who we are and what we do. Then we taught them a section of the show, movement. After this the story of Geppetto’s workshop begins with Geppetto running off to find Pinocchio outside the workshop. As he leaves the rest of the toys Geppetto has created come to life. The story follows a puppet called Pinocchi-u who has to complete five good deeds to get a wish. Along the way Pinocchi-u meets other toys who needs her help like the Pincchi-a, who has lost his conscience, dog and duck who are bad toys trying to trap Pinocchi-u into the fame of dome forever so they can take her wish, the green fairy who needs help recycling, Professors What? Professor Who? Professor When? Professor Where? And Professor Why?; have all given up on fixing their machine and finally Santa who is nowhere near ready for Christmas. In the show we all play a number of different characters using puppets and skins and ourselves, we use songs, speech, visual and sign language to communicate to our audience. After the show we lead a workshop based on the performance for 45minutes.

From the first week of performances we found that the show was too long for the time slot of an hour and a half where we were meant to perform the show for 45minutes and lead a workshop for 45minutes too. We decided that during the shows we would have to watch the time and judge what scenes could be performed. Obviously when performing in front of an audience you see what works what was well received and what didn’t. So from this we put in extra rehearsals to tighten the performance and make sure the message we want to deliver is clear.

I felt through this first week of performances I found my character, the voice and my reason of being. I tend to always have a late process into finding my true character, but an even later one with finding my voice/ accent, I find it especially hard to find voices/ accents to suit my characters, I have quite a strong north London accent and I don’t really like going for the obvious voices like posh or common, baby or low voice I want to be challenged.

Has anyone one got tips to finding voices or creating new ones as in Tales we use lots of different puppets which each need very different but also unique voices?

'I Found My Horn'

On the 19th November I went to Hampstead theatre to watch ‘I found My Horn’ By Jonathan Guy Lewis, adapted from the book by Jasper Rees. Tickets were only £10 with ‘A Night Less Ordinary’ funded by Arts Council England – great discounts on local theatre, check it out!

‘I found my Horn’ is a one man show exploring a forty year old man’s midlife crisis of his realisation that he has done nothing to make himself memorable. He then remembers the excitement he had for his childhood passion of the brass Horn. Even though he has not touched the French Horn for more than 25 years he decides to resuming his old French Horn from the attic, and sets himself an impossible challenge to him; to perform a Mozart concerto in front of paying audience of horn fanatics. The actor Jonathan Guy Lewis takes us back and forth through 25years of this man’s life of his experiences of learning the horn. He performs many characters with a wide variety of skill and humour.

This Production has inspired me to start writing and devising characters to maybe collaborate to make a performance using the idea of one or two actors with the challenge of performing many different characters.

A heart-warming performance piece tracing one man's inspirational journey to regain his self-confidence. - EMILY GOVAN

A Night To Remember...


On the 17th November 2009 it was a very special day and the most important day in Chickenshed’s yearly calendar. Each year a Gala event is held to celebrate the work of Chickenshed and to raise money to go towards the £3 million Chickenshed needs each year to continue their life changing, pioneering inclusive work to thousands of people across England. But this year the gala was bigger, the venue was bigger, the cast was bigger. This year Chickenshed celebrated its 20th annual fundraising Gala in style at the historical Royal Albert Hall.

I was luckily enough to be chosen to represent Chickenshed within the vocal choir for this event. As a member of Chickenshed from the age of 12years I have experienced quite a lot within the company, going from children’s theatre to youth theatre to becoming a Btec student and a Foundation degree student to now being a third year student with staff responsibilities and core cast within Tales. This night I was able to appreciate and feel a sense of pride on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall watching Children/ Youth theatre members, students of all levels and my teachers/ staff, thinking that not only have I as an individual come so far but Chickenshed as a company has too. It is one thing bringing together so many people to perform but it is an amazing thing when you see all these people sharing the same passion for Chickenshed and the support and pride that they all have for Chickenshed’s work.

This was defiantly a Night to remember!

Wednesday 4 November 2009

KOLB's Learning Cycle

Concrete Experience

For this autumn term I have join a team of six in the weekly production of tales from the shed becoming a primary education assistant, rehearsing and performing four shows at the chicken shed theatre company and at a school in Enfield. Each week we improvise acting pieces using physical theatre and create movement to songs based on the weeks themes. We explore the weekly themes through puppets, songs, tales real life characters, like ERM Emergency repair man, and the primary education team members. Within Tales improvisation is a key tool we used to not only convey a message but also to communicate with the audience. The main key tool we use is influenced from Augusto Boal, with his practice of Forum theatre, were there is no divide of audience and stage. The audience are on the stage, the stage is amongst the audience. This makes each show completely different even though it has the same running order, as anything is possible. This week’s themes were Time and Travel so myself and Stephanie directed a scripted section called ‘Tales Time’ where we created two new characters to add to the tales friends using puppets which looked the same but one was small and one was big, we named these characters Tick and Tock the ‘tales time keepers’.

Reflective Observation

When we performed ‘tales time’ it was received well by the audience but we found a few things that needed to be developed, visually we needed to be more physical when creating an interesting picture for the audience and also our character voices. We found the voices we had devised for Tick and Tock were not complementing the size of their bodies for example Tock was small and had a very low, slow voice and Tick was big but had a very high, squeaky voice. Visually this did not look right as our puppeteer skills were not up to scratch, we needed to bring the characters more alive the key to this was to keep them moving and animated when speaking. We decided as a team to swap Tick and Tock voice’s around which suited the body shape and improved each character. I found at this stage ‘Tales Time’ was not at the right level for performing as not everyone knew their lines; this affects the delivery of the piece and makes the connection between character’s lines a little hesitant which can illustrate a unprofessional show at times. But luckily enough with Tales from the Shed we perform the same show four times which allows us to improve and become more confident with the material we are displaying.

Abstract Conceptualisation

From this weeks experience of performing in Tales, directing ‘Tales Time’ and the rehearsal process of this week I found that the last two shows the whole team knew what they were doing with confidence. I feel the process of getting to that stage was a bit to relaxed for example line learning. I feel I have a lazy attitude towards learn lining, as I find it hard to learn lines and to come of the sheet. In the future I am going to make sure I keep myself to a strict schedule to learn them as I do not want to feel the horrible pressure of not knowing what I am doing. What I would like to achieve is the confidence of knowing what I am doing before the first show so all I need to worry about is developing myself as a performer. I feel as a team we are very strong and creative when we get down to work, we are also quite good at feeding back to each other when things worked or did not work. We tend to always make the show work by all pulling out the stocks and giving it 110% when performing. I feel in the future as a team we should used our workshop and rehearsal time more efficiently to get the most out of it, so we all are confident with the sections and the running order.

Active Experimentation/Observation

For the following week I have asked for a structured running order on paper, to allow myself to connect to each section. I have also decided to question things to allow myself to fully understand the show. I also decided to watch the other tales team perform to develop my insight within tales. This allowed me to pick up pointers and report these back to the team I am in to positively develop the show. Within the next week’s rehearsal/ workshop I found myself applying last weeks worries and concerns to new work but then realised what I needed to do to over come these. I worked extra hard on keeping a focused energy by focusing the team when we started to go of track. I also started to question movement for a positive change. I found that this helped my confidence develop and I also found a new trust which I think I needed to have with all my team members from the beginning.

Monday 26 October 2009

Currirculum Vitae

Laura Suzanne Davitt
07845659907
laura_davitt@hotmail.co.uk


I am an out going individual who very confident and passionate about what I do. I'm a dedicated and enthusiastic person, who works very well as a team player and individually. I am creative and open to new opportunities and achieving new goals.


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Pervious/ Current work


Cock and Dragon Pub Ltd
Cockfosters
Bar Staff May 2007 to present
Challenge 21 certificate
I serve customers food and drink while creating a welcoming and friendly environment. I also have responsibilities to handle money and look after stock while keeping the work space clean and tidy.

IPOP
Borough of Barnet
Play support worker April 2008 to present
A Support play-worker entails being partnered with a disabled child/young person on a one-to-one basis, and placed in a local club that caters for children of all abilities. The role of the support play-worker is to enable the disabled child/young person to access & join in the activities on offer.

Stage Arts Theatre Company
Barnet
Workshop Assistant Jan 2009 to April 2009
In one school term I co-directed a performance called ‘A Mid Summers Night Dream’.
As a workshop assistant I had to support and lead drama exercises for a class of 20 students (aged 7 to 10 year olds). I had to stimulate the children’s ideas and focus with high energy and creative fun activities.

Chickenshed Theatre Company
Southgate
Bar Staff and Kitchen assistant Nov 2007 to Jan 2009
I would serve customers food and drink. I also worked in the kitchen preparing food.

Tkmaxx
Enfield
Customer service assistant Sept 2006 to Jan 2007
I would deal with any customer queries. Answer the phone and cash up tills.

Coffee Primo
South Mimms Welcome Break
Batista March 2006 to May 2006
Fully Barista trained
I served customers a variety of hot and cold drinks and also snack food in a fast passed service while creating a welcoming and friendly environment. I also had to keep the work space clean and tidy.

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Skills and achievements


· Workshop Leader and Supporter
· Drummer
· A puppeteer
· BSL sign language level 1
· Computer Literate

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Academic Qualifications

Sept 2007 – Jul 2009
Middlesex University Chickenshed Theatre Company
Fda in Inclusive Performance
First

Sept 2005 – Jul 2007
Enfield College Chickenshed Theatre Company
Btec National Diploma in Performance
Distinction

Sept 2000 – Jul 2005
Queen Elizabeth’s Girls School North London
G.C.S.E’s
A – Drama, A – Religious Studies, C – Science C – Business Studies
I formed a dance club which I ran for two years with 30 members. We performed in Dance festivals and street parades across Barnet.
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Training

A full valid driving licence
First Aid trained
NSPCC child protection trained
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Interests

Dancing, directing, acting, script writing and reading

Links of interests

Directing

I have a very creative nature and this coupled with my love to directing, has allowed me to fully blossom in the fields of theatre and specifically theatre production. For over nine months, with the aid of an extremely talented and hardworking team of fifteen cast members, I devised and performed in the successful production of ‘Heads or Tales’. Throughout the course of this production my range of tasks varied stretching from organising workshops, rehearsal and structure, up to of course script writing. Although I delegated many tasks and responsibilities to team members I made sure to maintain an active involvement in order to ensure a positive atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire production experience and it helped me to challenge the perceptions we portray through our thoughts, ideas, actions and speech. Deep analysis within these different frameworks allowed me to add great depth to the characters personalities and give true meaning to their roles within each storyline. I always encouraged initiative and tried to involve everyone’s ideas and opinions into the production where possible. This type of direction has allowed me to be very relaxed in my approach, because I prefer to create a scenario and a set of characters and let the production be a story of their interactions. This differs from direction which aims to lock down performers to strict guidelines and doesn’t allow them to have the greater involvement they deserve.

Music

From an infantile age music has been a key element within my family. I grew up listening to my dad’s band, which has influenced me to play the drums and to also learn the piano and guitar. Every morning I was woken up by the sound of my dad’s radio, heart fm mainly, to the majority of people the sound of loud music is not a nice wake up call but for me it started my day of in an up beat, I’m ready to go mood. But then he started listen to classic fm, which did not get me up in the best of moods. But I have learnt to like classical music over the years. I enjoy lots of different genres, but especially rock and roll (Irish style) this is through my cousins band ‘The heart beats’. They take modern day songs and jazz them up into rock and roll songs. I love the way how two completely different styles or genres can be combined; this to me is really clever and exciting. I tend to use this inspiration of blending styles of music, movement or styles of acting when devising theatre. I tend to work with my boyfriend on producing music for small devising pieces or shows using Cubase and Reason Software programmes. Currently we are working on a song from the ‘Oliver’ musical and developing it into a dub-step beat. This is going to be for a five minute abstract piece which is still in the ‘drawing up ideas’ stage. When I listen to live bands it brings back memories from when I was young and I get a feeling which says I am home.

Friday 16 October 2009



People / Organisations I admire...

Chickenshed

‘We are a theatre company. We make theatre. Extraordinary, pioneering, challenging, dynamic, moving, groundbreaking, genuinely inclusive, beautiful theatre.’ Chickenshed Theatre Company, No date stated. About Chickenshed. Chickenshed(Online). Available from:<
http://www.chickenshed.co.uk/about/main> (8 October 2009).

Chickenshed produces unique theatre using an inclusive creative process which means that everyone is welcomed and valued as equals. Chickenshed runs many different courses and groups from children's and youth theatre workshops, education courses, community outreach projects and a network of satellite 'Sheds' across England with two in Russia. Being a member of Chickenshed from the age of twelve I have experienced children and youth theatre groups, even though the theatre has so many people coming through their doors each day I still feel I have an important role which is valued within the company.
Chickenshed then inspired me to further my education in A-levels and a Foundation degree in inclusive performance.
Over the years I have been able to develop and teach my findings of inclusive theatre to others through outreach programmes and a variety of workshops. Chickenshed’s inclusive process has opened my eyes to working outside the box and allowed me to integrate my ideas with those of my fellow artists, thus creating a truly inspired performance. I feel Chickenshed has given me the ‘tools’ of time and space as an individual to express myself through inclusive theatre, this has allowed for my consistent personal development into a budding performer. Chickenshed has given me the confidence to be able to move out of my comfort zone and achieve beyond the general level of expectation.


August Boal



Boal is a practitioner within performing arts who has taught and influenced many actors with his unique style. Boal believes and teaches that “Everyone can do theatre - even actors. And theatre can be done everywhere, even inside theatres” - Augusto Boal. David Farmer, 2007-2009, Introduction to Augusto Boal. Drama resource creative ideas for teaching drama (Online). Available from:<> (Accessed 8 October 2009)

Boal has inspired me through his unique method of working and general approach to theatre as a whole. He believes that, “Everyone can do theatre”, and that theatre can be used as an excellent medium to portray any given message and to educate people. Boal wrote, “The theatre of the oppressed”, which is essentially based on the concept of freedom; more specifically about the freedom of the spectator. It aims to differ from traditional theatre in that it is not simply a show but an experience which is intent on provoking a freer level of thought amongst the audience.
I believe everyone should have the freedom to express themselves and to think freely whether it is to convey their own personal message or a political one, such as an anti-war message. Boal was more of a political expresser who became a cultural activist. I have adapted many of his exercises and techniques to help me devise theatre productions and create workshops. Boal’s genius becomes apparent when his theatre techniques are fully analysed because they don’t feel like acting techniques but just simple and fun games. This clever creative approach to devising activities and exercises allows every individual to access theatre, with out them thinking, “I’m rubbish at acting I cant do that”, etc.
Through using some of his improvisational techniques I have developed a passion towards improvisation which at first I used to hate, because I wasn‘t very confident and felt that it lead to me being forced out of my comfort zone. This lead me to believe that there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to improvisation, but just creativity. This new school of thought has now led to me relishing being thrown into activities where I have to think quickly on my feet, I love the excitement of it.
Boal has used improvisation in some of his pieces where the emphasis is on the setting primarily and on the actors secondarily, for instance when he rehearsed a piece to be performed in a cafĂ© with the public who were actually unaware that a performance was going on. This is called Forum Theatre. This for the actors, must have been so exciting as you don’t know the reactions of the public in what they would say or do, you would have to use your improvisational skills to make the performance work and not come out of character.
Boal’s work is all about turning things on its head, fighting for justice and educating people to express themselves, I think Boal is a very clever and strong man who does care for what the people want and believe in and this is why he inspires me.


Adam Richard Sandler

Adam Sandler is mainly known as an American actor within film, he is also a comedian, musician, screenwriter and film producer. And he is also the founder of Happy Madison Productions, a film production company, producing twelve films with a consistent core group of friends and colleagues from “Mall Cop” to “Hot Chick“. Every film he is in or has produced is one worth watching, they are never a disappointment. Even though in the majority of the films he plays a funny character he always manages to create a completely different and original character in each film. He inspires me because he has become so successful in the film industry. I personally think he has made it to where he is because he does not take himself too seriously in the roles in which he has to play and just concentrates on having a good fun time.
I have always said that I have always wanted to be a versatile actress who can portray different characters and genres, but I have also always wanted to develop my skills and be talented in all different areas like Adam. I have a lot of experience with theatre and I have started to venture out into the massive scary world of TV and film. Adam started off as an extra and worked and worked until he got the opportunity to be noticed and credited as an actor and now look at where he is. Adam inspires me to keep on trying and to not give up.



Tuesday 13 October 2009

My five top resources

These top 5 resources (plus two small extra ones) will not only help me within my professional practice course, but will also help me in my day to day life as a performer. All of these resources will develop my knowledge and my career:

The Stage Newspaper http://www.thestage.co.uk/

As an actress the stage newspaper is one of the main resources I use to access daily news updates within the entertainment industry, opening my eyes broader issues within the industry, this has inspired when devising theatre to exploring certain issues. The stage focuses primarily on theatre which is brilliant for me as this the area I mainly want to achieve my career in. The newspaper also contains reviews and auditions which is one of the ways I can find jobs through.

Equity Union http://www.equity.org.uk/

As an ‘equity student’ member I will be able to find information that can help me when performing, not only through the website but also the magazines that is sent to my door. Equity is a form of support whilst a working artist, with accident insurance, tax and welfare support and representation etc. Also it is a great way to gain information on workshops and news updates within the industry.


Arts Council England http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/

This site will be a resourceful site for me to research information and reviews of theatre companies/ shows within England. Through this site I can access 'A night less Ordinary' which is a scheme to get under 26 year olds to watch theatre / film or to take part in workshops all over the country for free. I have used this promotion many times which has opened my eyes to new creative theatre from smaller companies. This will also help me within my studies and also develop my knowledge about these companies and the filed that I am in.

IMDb http://www.imdb.com/

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information related to movies, actors and television shows. Using this site will enable me to research and also develop my knowledge with the listings of actors and actresses within TV and film. Also finding information on directors and producers to increase my knowledge on their styles of working and keeping my updated with new work they may release. IMDb is like a massive library which will definitely help me to be inspired when devising or learning from other actors styles or methods of performing.

Starnow http://www.starnow.co.uk/

As a member of Starnow I use this resource to receive auditions, casting and job information. This will help me to gain experience within my chosen field. This is also a great site to network with casting directors and other performers as it has a massive community site.

Here are two extra resources I will use:

Facebook http://www.facebook.co.uk/

Although this is a site to have fun with friends and publish your life on. I am going to use this site to network with other performers and using this resource to join and follow 'groups'. With these 'groups' I will be kept updated with bands, performers, shows, news and organisations with theatre.


Youtube http://www.youtube.co.uk/

I am going to use this resource for research and inspiration for my work, ideas and knowledge within my field. Also I will be able to use Youtube to demonstrate or show my work on my blogs.

Laura and Rosina's Day at the campus...


Our Reflective KOLB cycle of todays events.



1. (Concrete) We all grouped in a classroom and Paula and Alan began explaining KOLBS reflective cycle. We completed a few tasks splitting our own blogs into the four stages, and then filled any gaps.

2. (Reflective Observation) Having been told about this cycle for the first time today we now understand the format needed for our work and the route our learning has taken.

3. (Abstract Conceptulisation) Once we had dissected our blogs as they were we now understand how to fill the gaps to make, in conclusion we now know how to kreate a solid reflective piece of writing and fill any gaps making the words flow.

4.(Active Experimentation) Writing this blog has put our learning into action by reflecting on what we have learnt today. In the long run we can apply this process to Task c , our reflective diarys, the rest of our writen work and our practical adventures.

Monday 5 October 2009

FIRST POST

hey just set up my first blog page and heres....... my first post!