Week 8 - Alterations and additions

• Sally monologue - We spent a great deal of time in rehearsals this week working on the opening monologue for the piece. This piece is Sally reflecting on people, we experimented with giving Sally a bit more purpose when she sets up the monologue and lets the audience into the performance space. When I say purpose, I mean we gave Sally a need to be doing something as she speaks, such as handing out cake and cups of tea and coffee to audience members. Because this is the opening monologue of this piece, I think it is important that Sally sets the bar in terms of the energy being high and that the characters are played at a heightened level throughout the piece. So I really think for Cat (who plays Sally), she needs to think about her vocals, body language and body movement for this opening, as I see her moving rapidly around the stage, and then having moments of still and quiet and moments where she laughs and shouts, really taking the audience on a roller coaster, to set the pace and premise for the rest of the piece. I helped Cat explore Sally, by experimenting with myself as an audience member, which I think helped her in some respects, as it meant she could experiment with handing out cake and drinks as well and interacting with the audience. 
• A few rehearsals this week Beth has been late, one day she was over 2 hours late which is not acceptable, when we still have a lot of work to do, especially because we want to be off book by next week and completely set with where the piece is going. It is annoying for myself and Cat, as we are both very passionate about this project, and Beth just does not seem to be on the same page. It is frustrating that she is not reliable, as with there only being 3 of us, it is difficult in rehearsals if one person does not turn up. Cat and I made the decision that Beth would not be a part of the young couple domestic violence scene, so Cat is going to choreograph some movement in which she thinks will work for this scene. 
• We rehearsed Mildred and Barry's transition into the scene from the contrasting couples scene, and decided that we would have myself and Beth off stage whilst Sally does her short intro to which I burst on stage when Sally says "Effing and Jeffing...", when I come on stage I shout "Bloody hell!" in just my accent, which is wrong, so there is this short moment of Sally telling me how to say bloody hell in a Yorkshire accent, when I finally crack the accent I morph into Mildred and that is when I drag Barry on stage and the scene begins. I think this was quite a good idea of mine, as I think it highlights Sally's control over Beth and I as actors, as well as highlighting this aspect of use playing around with theatricality, with myself trying to find my accent for Mildred and then the audience see me morph into Mildred. 
• Because the audience will be sat among the action we are planning on making reserved signs for the tables in which we shall use for in the performance in order to sway the audience from sitting there. We are also genuinely considering providing tea, coffee and Cake for the audience so that the cafe feels more real.