27/1/14 AS Drama

Rachels Lesson

AS Drama

Talking about King Lear and how to make it our own.

Era - Set in the 1950's London
King Lear is a casino owner - 'Kings Palace Owner'
Gambling was illegal until 1960 - Basing it on the Kray Twins.

Theme
Business and crime

Music - 50's swing/rock n roll
Elvis Presley
Buddy Holly
Ray Charles

Colour (set)
Monochrome

Costume
Dan - King Lear - Black Suit with a gold tie.
Ed - Duke of Cornwall - Brown suit trousers, white shirt and a red tie.
       King of France - Brown suit, a blue tie and a bowler hat.
Eddie - Duke of Albony - Brown suit trousers, white shirt, green tie and a bowler hat.
Saxonna - Cordilia - White dress and a head peice.
Lucy - Goneril - Black dress and gold accessory.
Emily - Reegan - Black dress and gold accessory.
Keira - Kent - White dress.
Taylor - Oswald - Black dress trying to be a trashier version of Goneril.

22/1/14 AS Drama

Rachels Lesson

AS Drama

King Lear

Synopsis

Lear, the aging king of Britain, decides to step down from the throne and divide his kingdom evenly among his three daughters. First, however, he puts his daughters through a test, asking each to tell him how much she loves him. Goneril and Regan, Lear’s older daughters, give their father flattering answers. But Cordelia, Lear’s youngest and favorite daughter, remains silent, saying that she has no words to describe how much she loves her father. Lear flies into a rage and disowns Cordelia. The king of France, who has courted Cordelia, says that he still wants to marry her even without her land, and she accompanies him to France without her father’s blessing.

Lear quickly learns that he made a bad decision. Goneril and Regan swiftly begin to undermine the little authority that Lear still holds. Unable to believe that his beloved daughters are betraying him, Lear slowly goes insane. He flees his daughters’ houses to wander on a heath during a great thunderstorm, accompanied by his Fool and by Kent, a loyal nobleman in disguise.
Meanwhile, an elderly nobleman named Gloucester also experiences family problems. His illegitimate son, Edmund, tricks him into believing that his legitimate son, Edgar, is trying to kill him. Fleeing the manhunt that his father has set for him, Edgar disguises himself as a crazy beggar and calls himself “Poor Tom.” Like Lear, he heads out onto the heath.
When the loyal Gloucester realizes that Lear’s daughters have turned against their father, he decides to help Lear in spite of the danger. Regan and her husband, Cornwall, discover him helping Lear, accuse him of treason, blind him, and turn him out to wander the countryside. He ends up being led by his disguised son, Edgar, toward the city of Dover, where Lear has also been brought.
In Dover, a French army lands as part of an invasion led by Cordelia in an effort to save her father. Edmund apparently becomes romantically entangled with both Regan and Goneril, whose husband, Albany, is increasingly sympathetic to Lear’s cause. Goneril and Edmund conspire to kill Albany.
The despairing Gloucester tries to commit suicide, but Edgar saves him by pulling the strange trick of leading him off an imaginary cliff. Meanwhile, the English troops reach Dover, and the English, led by Edmund, defeat the Cordelia-led French. Lear and Cordelia are captured. In the climactic scene, Edgar duels with and kills Edmund; we learn of the death of Gloucester; Goneril poisons Regan out of jealousy over Edmund and then kills herself when her treachery is revealed to Albany; Edmund’s betrayal of Cordelia leads to her needless execution in prison; and Lear finally dies out of grief at Cordelia’s passing. Albany, Edgar, and the elderly Kent are left to take care of the country under a cloud of sorrow and regret.

My Character

Regan - Lear’s middle daughter and the wife of the duke of Cornwall. Regan is as ruthless as Goneril and as aggressive in all the same ways. In fact, it is difficult to think of any quality that distinguishes her from her sister. When they are not egging each other on to further acts of cruelty, they jealously compete for the same man, Edmund.
In the beginning, both Regan and Cornwall appear to be conscientious and reasonable people. Regan appears genuinely upset to learn of Edgar's betrayal. Thus, Regan initially appears as the more sympathetic and gentler sister. She greets her father with politeness, but her deportment is deceptive. Regan has no real reverence for her father and king, as her subsequent actions reveal, but Regan is more competent than Goneril at deception, more easily assuming the mantle of deference and politeness that a gracious daughter is expected to exhibit.

Like Goneril, Regan also proves herself to be unyielding and cruel. Regan's plucking of Gloucester's beard reinforces the point that she has no respect for age or rank. In contrast to her basic inhumanity, Regan shows some real humanity, though briefly, when Cornwall is wounded. Regan's concerns that Gloucester should be relieved of his misery indicates that she is cognizant of public opinion and concerned that her subjects support her actions.

Quotes:

'Till noon! till night, my lord; and all night too'.

'My sister may recieve it much worse,
To have her gentleman abused, assaulted,
For following her affairs. Put in his legs'

'O, sir, you are old. Nature in you stands on the very verge
Of her confine: you should be ruled and led
By some discretion, that discerns your state
Better than you yourself. Therefore , I pray you,
That to our sister you do make return;
Say you have wrong'd her, sir'

3 Video clips of contrasting productions

           

4/12/13 AS Drama

Rachels Lesson

AS Drama

Frantic Assembly

In todays we did a warm up run by Lucy and James. We did the 7 stages of tension and the trust exercise when you hold the person lightly on their neck and guide them around whilest they have their eyes closed, they have to trust you to direct them around.

This we smoothly, so we got on with our pieces from 'Beautiful Burnout'. We worked on our syncronization and our tranistions from section to section, specifically the syncronization between myself and James. The transitions that needed work were with Sax and James, so we just added a Frantic turn, to get us in the right places.
We all ran throuhg it a few times, to get it in our heads and to make sure that we got our lines right. We did which was a good thing.
After a few mintues of rehearsing and making sure everything was in order, Rachel spoke to us and told us an order of groups; Eddies,

Learning Zone Pack Review

Learning Zone Pack
Name		Minimum Target Grade		Challenge Grade
AS Drama and Theatre Studies
Contents: 1.    Learning Zone assignments – unit 1. 2.    Evaluation Notes Assignments - unit 1 3.    Learning materials for Learning Zone assignments - unit 1

1.   Learning Zone Assignments:

Instructions: You must complete all the tasks for the Challenge Grade you are aiming to achieve. If you complete the tasks before the end of your Learning Zone Session you must work on the independent learning assignments described below

Week / task	Dates	Learning Zone Task	Checking method
1 Playwright & Context	09.09.13-13.09.13 (timetabled teaching starts 11.09.13)	Explain how the context of the play Gotcha is directly referred to in the script. Gather quotes and create a blog page that links each quote to the contextual information you gathered for your  ‘getting ready’ packs.	Blog Post
		Write a paragraph that explains the main difference between the context of the play and your own context.
2 Visual, Aural, Spatial	16.09.13-20.09.13	Select a non-naturalistic set design from Pinterest and evaluate the success of the design in creating a suitable setting for the action, at particular moments in the play.	Blog Post – Peer Check
		Create a blog post that has an annotated picture of your set design. Write up all your ideas for sound, lighting, props costume etc
3 Practitioner Week -Relaxation -Circles of Attention -Given Circumstances -Emotion Memory	23.09.13-27.09.13	Find three reviews of the Gotcha production at The Riverside Theatre. Highlight all sentences that contain opinion and post in your blog with a summary of your findings.	Self Review Blog Check
		Create a mind map with Stanislavski at the centre and the examples from the weeks lesson around it. Photograph the mind map and insert into your blog.
4 Non Verbal Communication Blog Check	30.09.13-04.10.13	Create a table in your blog that records and analyses the exercises you participated in during Non Verbal/movement week.	Teacher Blog Check
		Select a character from Gotcha and write a description of how you could use the exercises you tried this week to develop the character.
5 Vocal Awareness	07.10.13-11.10.13	Explain how one or more performers used vocal, physical and facial expression to engage the audience at particular moments within one live production you have seen. Assess the effectiveness of their performances. (PEE Rule)	Practical Grade by Teacher
		Create a blog post that presents your findings on your work understanding your own voice and then describing the techniques you tried within the lesson.
6 Interpretation & Language Blog Checked & Graded.	14.10.14- 18.10.13	The language of the play contains references that suggest the context of the characters.  List the references and explain what you feel they suggest.	Blog Graded by Teacher
		Create a blog post on how you would direct the play. What do you think the message is? What is it important for the audience to understand?
7 ASSESSMENT WEEK.1. Exam Circs	22.10.13-25.10.13	Prepare to reduce your class notes on Gotcha to 1500 words. Arrive at the lesson having edited your blog notes into one post.
		In exam circumstances you will review your notes and prepare your final 1500 word piece of coursework on Gotcha.
October Half Term –     Purchase beautiful Burnout by Frantic Assembly and read blog posts about the piece.
8 Induction, Playwright & Context	04.11.13-08.11.13	Summarise the steps that Frantic took to devise Beautiful Burnout. What was interesting/original about the way they explored the Boxing theme? Look at the Education for guidance. (See below) Follow You Tube links and make notes on the two injured boxers in your blog.
		Insert the class chair duets film into your blog and assess what worked particularly well? Highlight all ‘opinion’ in all posts so far.
9 Pre Show Review Lesson	11.11.13- 15.11.13	Prepare for shows by reading reviews and highlighting opinion.	Blog Graded by Teacher
		Evaluate the Sylised Pedestrian Movement Video. What was difficult when adapting the mimed pedestraian movement? What worked well? Was it easiest to try things  physically or discuss? Was your sequence in time with the music?
10 Post Show Review Lesson & Quad Jumps	18.11.13- 22.11.13	Which scene could work well with the first three techniques and why?
		Evaluate the Quad Jumps Video. How could you develop the exercise? What kind of dialogue would work well with this approach?
11 Characterisation, Non Verbal & Vocal awareness	25.11.13- 29.12.13	Write 200 words about how your group is progressing? Include group analysis gathered on whiteboards.	Blog Graded by Teacher
		Discuss ‘Around By Through’ as a technique. Could you add it into your routine?
12 Scene Development **Filmed BB Scenes Lesson	2.12.13 – 6.12.13	Summarise the group peer assessment of your choreographed scenes. Do you agree? Write 200 words on the most memorable moments from the scenes (including your own)	Group Peer Review
		Ensure all filmed class work is in your blog. Write 200 words about the challenges faced during the process of preparing the scenes. In particular discuss combining dialogue and continuous  movement.
13 Interpretation, Context & Visual, Aural, Spatial	09.12.13-13.12.13	Upload set designs into blog with full detailed annotation. Comment on mood, colour, levels and proxemics.	Blog Review by Teacher
		Summarise your approach to interpreting Beautiful Burnout from ‘page to stage’. How much does the language dictate context?
14 Exam Circumstances.2.	16.12.13-20.12.13	Prepare notes for both plays. Ensure you have sentence starters for each section and have made clear choices to support each category.	End of Unit Assessment
		Write second draft of Theatre Review, responding to feedback.