A Level Drama Performance

During this week I have been observing and evaluating the A Level groups drama piece. This involved watching two run throughs and the actual exam. I'd enjoyed doing this because I am really passionate about drama and it is something I will be doing over the next two years. It was good to get an idea of the type of things I will be doing.

The first run through I saw was a bit shakey but I understood the story line very easily. They made it clear and the whole thing made complete sense at the end. I know some people were a bit confused but I think I have an advantage as I do GCSE drama. This means I know how to use different techniques and how different things can represent other things. I am also very into drama and enjoy watching things where it's not obvious and you have to think about it and work things out for to yourself to understand. I think this instantly makes the performance a lot more interesting and more enjoyable to watch. The story was about a painter and his conscience playing around in his mind. The trick was you could see his consciences being played by Georgia Stillman and Zoe Fletcher. We could see them but the doctor who was being played by Emily couldn't. It's a very confusing piece to put into words but it made sense when being acted out. At the end it became clear that the artist was in a mental hospital and the two girls were all in his mind.

The acting was amazing and it was hard to fault any of the actors. John's performance got stronger every time I saw it. He had a very hard character to play and some of the language he used was extremely strong. I admire him for being able to stay in character and use that language in front of his mum! I understood his character and not once did he come out of character. His change into a little boy was very clear and wasn't over acted too much. The only thing I would say he could improve on was maybe to try not to stutter some of his lines. This could of been down to nerves but some lines were a bit shakey. Although this did not throw him  and not once did he step out of his character.

The girls playing this conscience did this very well. By their slight over acting you could tell they were fantasy characters. Their connection with each other was very strong and it was almost like they were one. The thing that made they characters perfect was what they did with their eyes. They had this evil look and stare that really did send shivers down your spine. The eye contact they used with each other was really effective as well. The relationship with John was very strong and you really believed they were part of him. If I was to give them something to improve on I would suggest they over acted even more to really show they are this mind and fantasy characters. It would have been interesting to have had a good and evil conscience and to have seen it done like that. This may have made it too stereo typical though.

Personally I think Emily had a very difficult job as she had to remain a completely normal person with all this madness going to around her. If she over acted her role the fantasy side wouldn't have come across as well. Her physical theatre part with John was done very well and it was the most powerful hard hitting part of the performance. When she showed people around the gallery at the beginning I think she needed to show more confidence and she seemed a bit unsure of the lines. Other than that I thought she did a brillant job.

The set was very well thought about and all the painting they had chosen were quite eerie so this made the atmosphere tense. I really liked the use of the cctv footage at the beginning and end. I think this made the piece make more sense and it was different making it more interesting. The drama studio is not the best place to perform but they made good use of the space they had. The change of lighting was really effective and made it a clear switch between fantasy and reality. The eerie music also added a lot to the performance.

All in all the performance made me feel very uncomfortable and the eerie atmosphere freaked me out a little bit. Watching this has given me a better understanding of A Level Drama and I look forward to the next two years when I will be doing this sort of stuff. It was a excellent performance, I wish them all the best and hope they get the grades they want and deserve.

Evaluation of my own performance

I have decided to look back on a performance I gave last year; evaluate it and to pick out points I know I have improved on over the year. I felt I gave a strong performance but my end notes really needed improvement. I carried them on and stopped them suddenly almost causing me to swallow the note. I think this may be due to nerves but it's something I will have to train my voice not to do. This didn't sound brilliant and made the performance weaker. Looking back has made me realise this and now I am aware I am very careful when ending my notes. I started the song very shakey as I was nervous and it took me a while to find my feet. This is something I need to improve on, I need to be able to start and attack it with buckets of confidence. This will make my voice stronger and sound better.

I felt I acted the song well but there was room for more desperation as Mrs Johnstone (the character I was playing) has just lost both her sons. This might have been due to my age as I haven't got children myself so it was hard to put myself in her shoes. I would maybe plan out more movement if I ever did another performance of this song.

If doing it again I would definitely stage it better and have more people on stage with me to create more of a scene and to get the mood of the scene across better. This would make it more of a musical theatre performance and add more emotion.

The end note of the song I need to improve on a lot. This means making it stronger and more in tune. I feel I would do it better now because my voice has become a lot stronger due to the fact that I have started singing a lot more in the last year.

All in all I felt I gave a good performance but with a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully in the future I will be able to repeat the performance and develop it more creating a better outcome.