Introduction:
For this project we were applying to UCAS and also auditioning using monologues. for this I was aiming to complete and learn a monologue and perform it in an audition setting as well as go through the full application of UCAS. my audience was the panel to whom I was performing to. the skills I brought to this project where characterization and also improvisation.
reflections:
week 1: today we were learning a dance from the musical “the wedding singer”. the choreography we were learning was made by out tutor. this was a really fun as it was quite upbeat and fast which made it quite energetic and exciting. in the afternoon we had a talk with the man from the library who talked to us about Harvard referencing to help us. we then went to work on our business cards but due to the incompetence of the mac computers, we all struggled to get on them and do the work.
week 2: due to exams, we were only in during the afternoon classes . on the Thursday we had a talk with safeguarding about mental well-being and physical wellbeing. in the second half of the afternoon we worked on our performing arts CV.
week 3: in the morning we were doing dance and after a long warmup we started doing corner work. we then worked on leaps and spins and then we went to the computer room to work on our scrapbook. we continued to work on our cv’s and also started working on UCAS applications to start looking at applying to universities. on Friday, we just continued to work on UCAS applications and personal statements.
week 4: today we had a trip out of college to participate in some outdoor activities. this built our team and leadership skills because we had to work together and solve some issues. these activities included archery an crate climbing. on the Friday we performed out monologues in front of each other to receive feedback on how to improve it.
week 5: on the Friday of this week, we were focusing mainly on our UCAS applications which ended up not being very helpful to a few students (myself included) due to having to pay to apply. I ended up just applying internally like I had initially intended to do either way. in the afternoon we participated in a teambuilding activity which also helped stimulate our imagination.
week6: in the afternoon on Thursday we were looking at student finance and the cold of living as a university student. on the Friday, we mostly worked on scrapbooks in the morning before our assessment in the afternoon. after my assessment was completed I felt more stressed because I felt like I messed everything up and could have done done a lot better had I not been the first one to go into it. after that, I went back to scrapbook work.
research and context:
the office
For one of my monologues i chose to do a small scene from The Office (the USA version). This is a mockumentary based around a group of seemingly normal office workers however the characters who work there are quite unique. there are a lot of clashes between the characters but especially between the characters Dwight Schrute and Jim Halpert. The monologue i chose is spoken by Dwight Schrute. there is no context behind this speech as he is speaking to the “camera crew” who are observing the office workers. this is a comedic speech since what he is speaking about is quite ridiculous and the fact that it has no context makes it all the better since we have no idea what prompted this conversation. all this is knowlegde i have learned while watching the show.
During the time when the office was being filmed, in 2005, people where still fighting for gay rights since some things where only just becoming a legal thing in the us such as legalized gay marriage in California. this was affecting the show since one of the characters (Oscar) was a closeted homosexual who was outed during one of their office seminars so in the show, there are slightly homophobic jokes since it was only just becoming something that people would view as “legal” and there was an attempt to ban on sexual orientation discrimination on March 31st .
romeo and juliet:
Romeo and Juliet is about two family’s with a ongoing bloodshed at a Capulet party Romeo and Juliet meets and instantly fall in love with each other however they have to keep it a secret from there parents. Romeo and Juliet get married in secret with some help from nurse it was a success. Romeo gets banished and Juliet drinks something to fake her death, Romeo dose not receive the message about Juliet and kills himself in her honour, Juliet wakes up to find Romeo dead and she kills herself as well. There families realise what they have done and stop there ongoing feud. (https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/romeo-and-juliet/)
Romeo and Juliet both motivated by falling in love. Tybalt is very hot-headed and gets int lots of fights. Each characters traits are essential in the plot. (https://study.com/academy/lesson/characters-of-romeo-and-juliet-description-analysis-quiz.html#:~:text=What%20are%20the%20personalities%20of,are%20essential%20to%20the%20plot.)
There was a lot of violence in 1995 during and after the performance of Romeo and Juliet there would be many fights outside the Curtain playhouse on the streets of London. London was driven by class and wealth (https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/discover/blogs-and-features/2017/05/25/these-violent-delights-have-violent-ends/)
Queen Elizabeth was ruling at the time, and she was a popular queen, however It was also a time of war and economic depression as well as deep tension between being catholic or protestant. Mary queen of Scots arrived in England to try take queen Elizabeth’s title away and many thought Mary should be the rightful ruler of England.( https://www.hartfordstage.org/stagenotes/hamlet/elizabethan-era)
planning and production:
if I was to film my monologue I would have worn a yellow looking button up short sleeve shirt, a brown and yellow stripy tie. I would also wear a pair of brown trousers and some smart brown shoes. I would wear this as its what the character whose monologue I am performing is seen wearing most in the tv show. there would be no use for props in this scene since the character is stationary and doesn’t hold or show anything. all he does is face the camera and speak. my set would be a chair in an office environment with a plant next to the chair.
rehearsal video
https://bradfordcollegeac.sharepoint.com/:v:/s/TEAML3ExtendedDiploma-PerformingandProductionArts659/ERnugToR4r1Ii-Yehs94U40Bdpb4doEqmUqZKCcZVhhPlA?e=YCmNda – this is a link to a dance we did from the wedding singer – 2/11/23
problem solving
one of the problems I had was logging into the mac computers in Thursday afternoon sessions. if this happens again I will do my work on my phone or find another place where I can do my scrapbook without issues.
another one of my problems I faced was choosing a contemporary monologue. I solved this issue by consulting the tutor as for an idea of what I should be looking at for a comedy piece and she gave me a few show ideas which helped me in making the final decision.
I also had an issue with doing scrapbook work as I hadn’t completed my project 1 scrapbook so I needed to complete that before I could focus on my project two. I did this by working with someone who helped me focus on getting project 1 done with so I could move onto project 2.
evaluation:
For this project, I applied to universities using UCAS and performed a monologue. during this process I felt a little overwhelmed and stressed as I couldn’t find a monologue I though I could do until the week before the assessment. one thing I could have improved upon in this project I focusing doin the tasks in front of me instead of feeling overwhelmed by the tasks I have yet to do. the skill I have developed most in this project is learning and performing a monologue from a tv show. One thing that could have gone better is finding a monologue faster and giving myself enough time to learn it and figure out how to fully characterize the person I am performing as. my achievements where achieved as I applied to university and performed a piece of monologue in front of a panel.