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Rehearsal 5 - 26/01/24

26th January 2024  What I worked on today:  Today my partner and I ran through our scene repeatedly, trying again to look at our scripts as little as possible. We tried to focus on relying on our memory alone, whilst still being able to effectively use techniques from Stanislavski's system. I believe this was somewhat successful as I found I had improved in my memorisation of my lines, only making a couple of mistakes throughout the rehearsal, which could be easily rectified through a few more rehearsals or improvising, however due to other rehearsals happening close by it was more difficult to focus, leading to me not being able to incorporate as many techniques as I could have.  We also finalised the lighting we would need for the final performance to make sure we were better prepared, and went over the blocking of the scene again.  Any problems/concerns:  There were not many problems in this rehearsal, and luckily everything generally ran smoothly. I will con...
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Rehearsal 4 - 23/01/24

23rd January 2024 What I worked on today: Today my partner and I ran through our scene several times, trying to look at our script as little as possible to make sure we had our lines memorised. I believe this went well during the rehearsal, however we were less successful in remembering them during our tech rehearsal later.  We also had our first tech rehearsal, where we received feedback on what went well and what we need to improve in our performance, so we had time to alter things before our final performance. In addition to this, we finalised the blocking the movement and set placement in our scene.  Any problems/concerns:   We found that during the performance we kept forgetting lines from our script, and whether this was from lack of preparation or anxiety this showed we needed to practice more without our scripts.  I was also told that I need to project more, so I plan to practice raising my voice so the audience can hear me better.  I also was unsure abo...
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Rehearsal 3 - 16/01/23

16th January 2024  What I worked on today:  My partner and I ran through our scene several times, trying to use our scripts as little as possible. We did some more blocking of the scene as well, finalising some of our movements around the set to create a more certain, familiar feel to the performance. We also decided to add some physical touch to make our performances as husband and wife more believable and naturalistic, and create a more emotional performance by more clearly displaying our relationship.   We tried to incorporate more pauses in this rehearsal, as we had struggled with it in the previous one which made our performance feel rushed and insincere. I think this decision definitely improved the flow of the scene as the dialogue seemed a lot more naturalistic after the change.  Any concerns/problems:  During this rehearsal I struggled with knowing what to do with my hands when performing which creates an awkward feel to the performance, so next re...
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Rehearsal 2 - 09/01/24

9th January 2024 What I worked on today:  My partner and I prepared by doing a warm up with the class, then followed a YouTube video for breathing exercises (https://youtu.be/VUjiXcfKBn8?si=yNtIjA5E3WdC-e5E) and did some stretches to relax our muscles and aid focus.   We then ran through our scene - first with movement, trying not to look at our scripts. We did this a couple of times, then decided to do a read through without any movement to focus more on our characters' reactions and facial expressions.   I tried to incorporate Stanislavski's Magic "If" into my performance, imagining how I would feel if put in these circumstances and how I might feel or react. I believe I was successful in taking into account the given circumstances of the scene as well, as I had previously read through the whole play and therefore had a good understanding of how the previous events may have affected my character in the scene.  Moments of discovery or concerns/problems:...
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Exam Introduction

 My name is Emily Sliwka. My candidate number is 4545. I will be playing the role of Torvald Helmer in the play A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen.  My chosen practitioner is Constantin Stanislavski, who aimed to keep performances as realistic and believable as possible through the use of his System.  To make sure my performance was as naturalistic as possible I have incorporated various techniques from Stanislavski's System. For example, in the scene I have used the Magic If to add realism to my character, imagining myself in their situation and considering how I might react, and basing my attitude off of that.  I have also made myself aware of the given circumstances of the character, by reading through the whole play and recognising how these events may influence my character's actions in this scene. My partner and I have also used external techniques such as pauses, to create a more natural sound to the dialogue.  To prepare for our rehearsals my partner and I m...
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Rehearsal 1 - 19/12/23

19th December 2023   What I worked on today:   Today we started with some naturalistic preparation techniques. We did some breathing exercises as well as stretches to relax our muscles.  We then ran through our script once without movement to get accustomed to the characters, then we added movement such as standing up and sitting down on chairs. We also annotated our scripts with these movements, as well as different tones and emotions for our lines. After this we ran through the whole script a couple of times, trying to incorporate these movements.  I attempted to incorporate the Magic "If" into my performance by imagining how I would react in this situation and channeling my acting through my own reaction. I thought that I would be shocked and angry at Nora's reveal, as well as hurt, but still adamant in the belief that I was right and knew what was best for her.  Moments of discovery or concerns/problems : I found that there was not much movement included in ...
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Character Profile

Character:  Torvald Helmer  Torvald Helmer is a bank lawyer and husband of Nora, the main character. He is shown to be loving and doting of Nora, presenting their life initially as near-perfect but he is also patronising and condescending towards her, often treating her as though she is a child and he is her father.  Previously in the play he has referred to her as "like a child" or compared to an animal such as a "little songbird." While this may, at surface level, present him as affectionate and doting over his wife, the repeatedness of it suggests he genuinely views her as like a child, having inferior experience to his own and therefore less of a wife and more of a pet.  Despite his impression of superiority and power at the beginning of the play, he is later shown to be completely oblivious to Nora's struggles, showing his selfishness and lack of attention to his own wife. He appears to love his own idea of her rather than who she really is, which is shown...
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