U9 – Task 13 (Evaluation)

 

Evaluation

• Inception, the begging of ‘The Mysterious Case of the Missing Triangle’. My own individual contribution and refinement to all phases of the performance.

Inception, the very beginning of ‘The Mysterious Case of The Missing Triangle’. We first had the idea of a Theatre in Education piece about an Evil Shape Collector who steals family’s shapes in an improvising lesson, early back in November. This was before we had been put into groups, also before presenting ideas to the class. Myself, Beth, Hannah and Leah (not the finalised group) had around ten minuets to come up with an educational piece about maths. We decided there would be a Grandma, a Shape Collector, a silly Sidekick and Isabella the young girl who saves the day. On presentation day where we all shared our own ideas Beth decided to share a more developed version of ‘The Mysterious Case of The Missing Triangle’. She added much more exciting characters included Sherlock bones the talking dog, and a much more educational storyline. Beth’s idea really worked as she already had a rough blocking for the piece, she developed and expanded on her ideas and sold it to the class!

After being split into two groups, one group Maths and the other English we all got straight to work. The groups worked really well especially considering that our group already had a rough blocking for the piece. It developed massively from the original idea but there were certain aspects and character traits that worked really well so we kept them. I had a lot to contribute in the first weeks of the rehearsal period because I was expanding on my original ideas. Especially when it came to my character through out the rehearsal stage my character grew because I was so playful. I tried many different ways to play the ESC from very angry which really didn’t work. Then a nice balance of a soft, lovable and silly villain.

Throughout the rehearsal period I had a huge contribution to making sure all the group were at rehearsals and to make sure the group was working as a team. This meant I was not liked in the early stage of rehearsals due to being the bossy one. I have no regrets in doing this because it meant that we could get more done within the time that we had hence why our group was ahead and had more time to play. In the final stages when we started to refine the set, costume, characters and script, I would like to think my contribution helped it run much smother than it could have without me being there. I was constantly keeping the group up to date on the Facebook page we created. If I knew someone had made a prop and not posted pictures of it I would remind them to post pictures and just generally making sure we all worked well as a team to get the best piece possible.

•  My own individual growth, how doing TiE has helped me progress as a Tie producer / performer.

Doing Theatre in Education has been an exciting and hectic time. I feel like it could be one of the most rewarding and best things I have done so far at ConEAST. Even though the rehearsal period at times was stressful I think the members and myself have all grown in one way or another. I have definitely improved on time management, as I took on the role of making sure people were where they should be I had to make sure I was in every rehearsal, so my punctuality has improved. My development as a performer has also improved not only did I gain confidence not just from the final production but just to be able to stand up in class and play with this crazy character in front of  everyone.

Credit goes to Beth for writing such an amazing and suitable script, but we all had our own input and ideas. The original improvised version of ‘The Evil Shape Collector’  some of the ideas I had made it though to the final script. I would like to think if I ever had to write a script or story for children, after this production it wouldn’t feel as much of a mountain of a task, instead something I would actually enjoy. I have also noticed I am very good at thinking of childish insults… we will see if this ever comes in useful in my carer.

This was the first time I produced something, it is going to help me so much in the future. From script writing to marketing and just working with people for a long duration of time. I understand that now this project is finished we will be moving onto another and it will mean that we need to do it all over again. The skills I have learnt in doing Theatre in Education will mean that the FMP will not seem as difficult to deal with in prospect. Even though at times I have found it hard to keep calm towards people in my group I think I have learnt from my mistakes. In a college environment there will always be some students who wont be as hard working and that will aggravate the people who get put behind because of their actions, but you just need to carry on because its your grade that you’ll be working hard for not theirs.

•  Me as a practitioner, my professionalism, time management, way of working, thinking like an actor/performer/producer.

During the rehearsal stage I was always very punctual. I had hardly any time off and was only ever out of rehearsals due to auditions. I think I developed a character I loved and the children loved, I think the best feedback I could have got was finding out the children after watching the performance were running around outside with their (shape) bags pretending to be Evil Shape Collectors. I don’t think you could ask for a better review when doing TiE. Due to this I think as an actor/performer my skills to create a character suitable for a young audience was achieved.

The final product of the Evil Shape Collector personally I feel was one of the best characters I have played so far. I didn’t only make the children laugh but also my fellow peers on the sharing days, which was a massive confidence boost. I even managed to put a smile of the faces of those who aren’t so keen on me as a person, obviously I targeted them when playing to the audience! It helped that I had just fun characters to bounce of though. Myself and Daytona (Stupid Sidekick Morgan) in our personal life have always been up and down, but when on stage this never showed so I think the professionalism at this stage in our careers was what it should be. We bounced of each other and the bond onstage was hilarious.

•  Finally the final piece, what was achieved?

Finally the final piece, we really achieved what we wanted to by teaching the students at Culford primary school why you shouldn’t steal peoples shapes! We basically reinforced what they were already learning about which we thought would be the case. The children had the answers to most of my questions for examples “How many sides does a square have?” and “What shape would this square turn into if I used my powers to turn it into a 3D version?” It just helped to reinforce what they were learning about. It also helped me considering I still haven’t passed maths at least I have learnt something even if they didn’t. When thinking back to the original U9 – task 3 when we had to research about what key stages learned what and what would be the best topic to form a TiE piece around I think we succeeded in giving the children a fun and educational performance. It really worked for the age group we performed to.

The workshop helped to reinforce the teachings in the play. Using 2D shapes to create 3D shapes in character with the children in small groups. Each character got a small group of children to work with and a pack of 2D shapes we then had to create one of the shapes from the play. The credit for the workshop idea goes to Beth, she really thought about how we could reinforce the teachings of the play. The only regrets I have would be that we were slightly un