Overall Assessment

1. Performance against project goals and objectives-8
2. Performance against a planned schedule-9
3. Performance against quality goals-9
4. Performance against planned budget-10
5. Adherence to scope (who and how many audience members we reached)-7
6. Design, rehearsal, and performance planning-9
7. Resource management-9
8. Project management-8
9. Development-8
10. Communication-10
11. Team Cooperation-10
12. What we delivered-8

Overall, I thought we had a successful and enjoyable show.

Risk Management

Circumstances that need to be mitigated:
Already mitigated:

• most costumes/props were taken home
• stairwells were unblocked from Bunraku

Still need to be mitigated

• I need to take home my fan
• the puppets need to be put away or hung up
• we need to take down the posters
• the instruments need to be taken home
• thank-you notes (Mr. Gilbert, Mrs. Williams, Mr. Harral, DO, Maddie's mom)

Key Problem Areas

What went wrong?

• when I did the triangle in the second Kyogen, they didn't say a couple "with all my heart" lines, so I couldn't play it have it be effective through repetition
• I didn't have my lines exactly correct
• it was hard to walk with our feet on the ground

What processes didn't work well?

• I thought we could have made our show funnier
• we weren't as in-sync with Kyogen part 2
• we should have worked on the ending more

What specific processes caused problems?

• we didn't have an adequate budget
• I avoided direct eye contact

What were the effects of some of the key problem areas?

• without a budget, we sometimes couldn't maintain total Japanese theatrical integrity
• I felt like I should have looked at each of the audience member

Were there any technical challenges?

• we didn't have the tree projected on the screen
• we were limited with set because of using Miss Hartman's room and the fact that we had to use Noh's set
• having the busu on the desk prevented us from being on our knees

Key Accomplisments

What went right?

• we didn't forget lines during the show
• we stayed in character and acted well

What worked well?

• the different fans worked well and really added to the comedy of the play
• the contrasting robes between the master and servants was really effective
• we kind of improvised with the string on the box

What was particularly useful?

• having class time to work was really useful and coming in the morning
• also it was good to have prior information about Japanese theatre so we knew how we could address blocking and interpretation of the show

What were the highlights?

• I think the relationship between Suheli and Tristan was hilarious and a real crowd pleaser
• I thought the talk-back was great because it showed that we had gotten our message across to the audience and they were interested in our show
• we just had fun with the show

Finally updating

Ahh the drawbacks of an online journal...I had been having trouble getting onto my journal site, so for the past month or so I've been using my hard-copy journal as we progressed in our Japanese theatre studies. Now I will begin the ever-fun process of transferring over from my hard-copy journal to here.

Production Overview

Goals/Objectives of Class

• present a new type of theatre to our audiences
• challenge ourselves to maintain Japanese theatrical identity
• memorize lines and fulfill all character roles
• have a production that flowed/ was synchronized
• make it funny to fulfill kyogen requirements
• find an effective performance space

How did you achieve success on this project?

• we spent several days carefully choosing blocking and line delivery techniques
• we practiced our production almost every class
• we got together the morning of the production to practice and smooth over any jitters

What were your original personal goals at the beginning of this process? (acting and technical)
   Acting:

• memorize all my lines and say them with feeling as my character--so I don't sound memorized
• get into character and effectively portray my character
• portray good chemistry with my other two characters

  Technical:

• take on a directing role with my experience from last year
• make sure blocking and line interpretation made the play make sense and be entertaining
• get costumes that could highlight character differences/similarities
• use noh's set with our play

Post-Mortem for Japanese Theatre

post-mortem=after death--the show is dead...WE KILLED IT! But really, we are tying up loose ends. We use post-mortems to understand our mistakes to improve in the future. We recognize what we've done well and how we fulfilled our expectations. We also need to take care of things that haven't been cleared up. In addition, we can talk about what we did and what happened with our shows.

Coriolanus

On Tuesday October 29, 2013, Mrs. Burke told us about a show with Gamut, Coriolanus. She was telling us how they had to mini post-mortems throughout the show when they had to switch around character positions. Maybe I can go see the show!

"Same Love"

So here's a link to this song I absolutely LOVE by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. The video is really thought-provoking too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0

9/11

This isn't really theatre related, but it's emotional, so anything emotional can be theatre related, and I feel like this is just something I need to write.
Every time I looked at the date today, I was reminded how significant today is. Twelve years ago, on September 11, 2001, one of the most tragic events in our country's history occurred. Everyone will remember what happened and everyone will remember what they were doing on that day. I know my age is probably the youngest to be able to at least vaguely recall what happened that day. I remember being excited because I didn't have school. I remember sitting in the basement with my grandma, thinking something wasn't right. I remember finding out more as the days, weeks, months, and years passed. I remember honoring those who served our country so bravely, not just on the anniversary of this day, but every day, as I recite the Pledge to the Flag, and silently sing along to The Star Spangled Banner. I remember going with my mom and dad to begin the project to plant trees at the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, PA. I remember seeing the families of victims of the Flight 93 crash working along with me to plant trees, as they too tried to bring nature and beauty to the place where their loved ones' bravery could be honored. I remember hearing about how these regular people made the decision to fight back to try to protect more lives, even though they knew it would mean the immediate end to their own lives. I remember the horror I felt as I really began to understand what 9/11 meant. I remember thinking what if it had been my sister, my dad, my mom? How do you even go on? How do you accept that someone you loved, someone you thought you would spend the rest of your life with, was gone due to some senseless act of violence? It's these questions that really make me reflect on this day. This day is for love, not hate. This is not a day when we should blame a group of people for what happened. This is a day when we should be thinking: what can we do to make sure something like this never happens again? This is a day when we need to be preaching the message of love. Forgiveness. Compassion. And most importantly, peace. This is not a day when we should be thinking about revenge, but a day we should be thinking about mending relationships and working together toward a common goal: peace. I know world peace is probably an unattainable goal, but that does not mean we should not strive for it. Too often, this day turns into sadness and bitterness about the past, when we really need to take it as a lesson for the future.

Conserving Energy

Today, at the end of the school day, our principal, Mrs. Baumgartener told us that the school was being asked to conserve energy, so they were supposed to shut off a lot of the lights. Then, when we were walking through the hallway, it was much darker, but I thought it was a lot nicer. I liked it because it felt calmer and the lights were blaring into my eyes, stressing me out, and giving me a head ache. This made me think that maybe it'd be nice to have more subtle dim lighting during a production. It just makes things a little more low-key and I think it's more comfortable for everyone.

XC Meet

Oh my gosh we had a cross-country meet yesterday when the heat index was over 100 degrees! It was probably the most awful I've ever felt during a race--one kid even had to get taken away in an ambulance because he got such bad heatstroke. It was ridiculous! But it also kind of reminded me of theatre because it can get really friggin hot onstage, especially if you have heavy costumes on. Also, I had a splitting headache after the meet, and I often get those after strenuous periods of acting because you're just exerting so much energy. I guess the heat just isn't pleasant for anyone...and then it was 109 today, no big deal.

Dress-up

I came back from Colorado a week before my mom and sister, so I stayed with a family friend. She is a historian who does presentations for schools, so she has basically her entire basement devoted to her costume collection. She often uses me as a guinea pig to try stuff on, and I often borrow costumes from her for various school projects. She's basically my second mom and I love her to death! On August 16, 2013, she had me try on this new dress she'd gotten, which I think is absolutely gorgerous! I didn't even think about putting it on here until we were talking about how journals can include costume/color ideas. I can totally see myself using this costume in a play...kinda wish it was still in style :)

Journal Sharing

Today, September 5, 2013, we shared our different journals. Gwen went first, and her journal is interesting because she has an online component and hard copy. The URL for her site is www.gweniferrr.tumblr.com. I actually thought it's good idea to have these two different mediums for journals because I sometimes struggle to find the time or computer access to update my online version, so maybe this year, I will need to be more open to a physical journal.
Tristan had a mini-journal, which I found interesting because he said the large journals prove too intimidating, and I can definitely relate to that feeling, even with this journal because there's a whole page of white space here that I feel like I need to fill!
Josh shared his journal which he said is somewhat bare because he prefers to write in his personal journal, which I found interesting because I've always wanted to keep a personal journal, but I never feel like I have time or it just falls off after a few days of writing in it.
Maddie uses a sketchbook so she can use as much space as she wants and it makes it easier to draw sketches without lines getting in the way, which I find interesting because I also don't like drawing sketches on lined paper.
Natalie uses her journal for a lot of analysis and then connects it to theatre at the end, which is something I like to do because I often find my life has connections to theatre.. She also likes to write critiques of plays.

Theatre Games

School restarted on August 26th, which meant we were back to theatre class! It was really fun because we started off with a theatre game called Yes! Mrs. Burke said we're going to be doing more theatre games this year, which I'm really excited for. We've done Yes, which is where you have to make eye contact with someone and they say yes and make eye contact with someone else, before switching places with the person they just made eye contact with. We also played Oooahh Ooo watn tatn (spelling???) which is where you sing this song that's really just sounds and not really words. You also make the beat to the song by slapping hands around a circle like slapdilioso. Can't wait for some new games :)

Metatheatre

We are currently reading Hamlet by William Shakespeare in IB English. Today we were watching a movie version of the play. It was interesting to see how much the differed from the script. It was especially significant because in Act 1, Scene 2, it's intended that Claudius and the Queen are speaking to Hamlet in front of the court, but this was a personal conversation separately. After the scene ended, Mrs. Emerick said that they'd been practicing metatheatre, which is when actors show that they know they are only acting. We kind of talked about this in theatre, with breaking the third wall and showing that you know the audience is there. metatheatre seems pretty interesting, and it might be a cool topic for an RI or IPP.

American Musical Find

While working on researching information for the last summer assignment, I came across this link  about PBS making a six-episode documentary about the evolution the American Musical. I thought it'd be cool to watch parts of this in class when it comes out. I told Mrs. Burke about it, and she was definitely game! She said maybe I could even help lead this unit, which would be really cool because I LOVE musicals! I've been going to Broadway shows since I was a little girl, so I actually think this show could be really interesting, and definitely relevant to our class.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/about/

Running into Theatre

On Sunday August 4, 2013, I went on a 7.5 mile run with my dad. We ran up to Horsetooth Reservoir, which we'd done several times before, and then around Dixon Reservoir, which I hadn't run around before. At one point, we had to stop because my dad had gotten a rock in his shoe, and what do you know? There was an amphitheater about 200 feet from the trail! I couldn't take a picture obviously because I was on a run, but it was really cool to see! It was a cute little place, and in an absolutely beautiful setting: surrounded by trees with the reservoir and mountains in the background. It would be a really fun place to have a performance. It just goes to show, you never know when you'll "run" into theatre...pun intended :)

Summer Assignment #6

The last summer assignment was cmpletely new for me, as it was a looking forward to the new topics of this year to come.
Here's the prompt:
Looking Forward to our 2013 – 2014 IB Theatre Curriculum – Please research the following topics, and then write a 500 – 750 word response PLUS include the links that you used to research the following topics: - DUE IN CLASS, August 26th, 2013 - (50 points) a. The American Musical b. Critique / Reviews of Plays c. Japanese Theatre d. Contemporary Greek Theatre e. Playwriting

And here is my response:

The American Musical is a classic form of theatre well-known to most Americans, especially with its presence on Broadway. Musicals involve singing and dancing that are incorporated into the dialogue that would constitute a play. The American Musical originated in the 19th century with its base in opera, which spread to comedy in the early twentieth century. These early productions mainly featured simple plots, whereas contemporary musicals now have more varied subject matter. Although most people associate Broadway with the American musical, it also features musicals from other countries, such as Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables.

            To really understand and think critically about theatre, it's necessary to have knowledge and the ability to write critiques and reviews of plays. To write a good review, it's important to remember not to summarize the plot itself, rather one must critique the methods used in the production.  Although the word "critique" closely resembles "criticize," not everything about a play review needs to be negative; acknowledge both the positive and negative aspects of the [production. Also, a play review should be focused, which means it can't cover every single aspect of the performance; rather, it is important to focus on a few parts of the performance so as to create a more assertive review.

            Japanese theatre has three major types: Kabuki, Noh, and Bunraku. Kabuki is a very elaborate form of theatre, with ostentatious costumes and make-up, as well as exaggerated movements/actions by the actors because the old Japanese is more difficult to understand. Kabuki is made unique by the platform that goes from the stage through the audience and the fact that the play usually encompasses only the more integral part of a whole story. Noh theatre is geared toward song and dance with slow movements, and poetic language. All Noh performers are male, so they heavily utilize masks to portray different characters. Bunraku is Japanese puppet theatre. While this may not seem to pertain to our theatre class, Bunraku is important to Japanese theatre culture. Three performers operate the puppets and are dressed in black to symbolize their invisibility. There is also a single narrator who must change his voice to portray different characters.

            One country who is really suffering in today's economy is Greece, the country which gave us the theatre we appreciate to this day. I'm interested to see how their economic crisis affects theatre and the arts. I read one interesting article about The European program, World Crisis Theatre, which organizes performances that depict the impact of the European economic crisis. This is especially interesting because there is less money at the moment to give to the development of theatre. The aim of this cooperation is promoting tools for forming a European identity through art. 

Playwriting is a very difficult, yet rewarding form of writing. I have had one experience with playwriting, but I think it's important to have more knowledge about it before writing another. When writing a play, it is first necessary to work out details in your head, such as the general plot, length, performance space, and inclusion of musical or dance numbers. When writing the play it is important to assure you have a cohesive story that makes sense. Although it may sound silly, it's also important to format your play correctly. We worked with that when writing Hansel and Gretel in the Big City. The character's name who is speaking is centered above their dialogue, which is left-justified. Stage directions are right-justified. Playwriting is a comprehensive process, so it's important to follow all of the necessary procedures.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0767430077/student_view0/chapter9/

http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/PlayReview.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2090.html

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/08/23/world-crisis-theatre-at-little-epidaurus/

http://www.playwriting101.com/

Summer Assignment #5

The fifth summer assignment was a little different because it wasn't all about material we'd covered in the past year. This was our prompt:
International Baccalaureate Theatre ASSESSMENTS - The Research Investigation (RI), The Practical Performance Proposal (PPP), The Theatre Performance and Production Presentation (TPPP), and the The Independent Project and Portfolio (IPP). I will give you several examples to look at, examine, and review. You will then be expected to write a 350 – 500 word post PLUS at least five (5) references to the example projects. I would also like to see at least three questions at the end of your post. Read and respond to each of these project examples – DUE by MIDNIGHT, Friday, August 16th (30 points)

And this was my post:
I've already done two of the IB assessments, the RI and PPP, so I hope to impart some of my wisdom to you first-years. For the RI, I researched epic theatre, and focused on the play Mother Courage and her Children. My question was: How could actors playing Mother Courage and Swiss Cheese interact to convey Brecht's idea that theatre should appeal to reason, not feelings? It was pretty interesting to research, but I definitely struggles with finding sources. Also, make sure you're careful not to summarize too much. I really struggled with that because I felt like I needed to explain myself, where I could've used that space for a more in-depth analysis of the actors strategies. I've also done two practice PPPs, the example of the Hagia Sophia, as well as one about the Seven grandfathers. With both of them combined, I definitely learned about how to improve for my real one. For my first PPP, I had a really strong pitch but lacked in supporting materials, whereas for my second one I became so focused on having an array of supporting materials that my pitch lost its "pop." Mrs. Burke said to think of the pitch as a commercial, which helped me try to use more exciting vocabulary and action words. For example, my first sentence of the Hagia Sophia really seems to "sell" my idea. I hope for my next PPP I'll be able to combine a strong pitch and supporting materials. As far as the IPP and TPPP, that will be totally new for me this year. Looking at Example 1 of the TPPP, I noticed that, as the examiner stated, the images were mostly focused on acting. It's really important to remember that we are covering ALL aspects of theatre, not just acting. I know that can be a challenge for me sometimes because I don't have a lot of experience with things like lighting and sound, but trying out ideas with unfamiliar aspects is all part of the learning process. However, I thought the student did a good job with tackling her task with innovative ideas. I especially had never thought about drawing a make-up diagram before. Finally, I think the IPP will prove to be the most challenging, yet most rewarding project. I know it will be challenging for me because I'm so busy, but I have to remind myself to make it easy to put theatre in my life! I looked at Example #2 of the IPP and found it interesting that the student pursued theatre of cruelty, because we found in class that it was a more difficult and obscure topic. Yet, this student clearly did their research and seemed to work well. I liked how they included diagrams, charts, and pictures to help us better understand their process. It ended up being a really impressive project. Questions: How can we make sure the PPP includes a strongly worded pitch, as well as helpful supporting materials? Will we be able to use notes for the TPPP? Can we use an in-class production for the IPP?

This post was interesting because it combined my experience from last year with my lack of knowledge about the other two projects we will do this year.