A Doll's House Performance Evaluation

A DOLL'S HOUSE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

What was your initial response to the practitioner Stanislavski? Track how this has developed/ changed during the course of rehearsals and performance.

When it comes to Stanislavski, I had never studied him before so him and his methods were new to me, so when I went to use them in development for my scene i found it hard at first, but over time i got more used to using them. However, I am aware that the way that I used his methods may not be entirely correct, but now that I have experience in using them it will make it easier the next time I use Stanislavski in another piece of theatre. 

When it came to the methods that Stanislavski used, I found them to be very interesting and informative in the way that they worked in helping a piece of theatre feel more immersive and motivated when it comes to the style of naturalism. For example, The way that he uses truth and makes an actor pull from their own experiences and emotions to create a more authentic feeling is a very effective way to come at theatre as if you pull from your own emotions it allows you as an actor to get more into character when doing a piece. However I have learnt that this can be a dangerous practice in that if you go to far into pulling from your own experiences then you may spiral out of control and breakdown, especial if you are pulling these emotions from traumatic events.

What was your initial response to A Doll's House? Track how this has developed/ changed from initial reading to watching the performance.

When I was first told that we would be studying A Doll's House, I had never heard of it so this was a new experience. When I first read it I was shocked when reading some of the scenes however as I was only reading it, it was harder for me to come up with an entire response to it. But initially I thought that it was an interesting piece of theatre and nothing like I had ever read before. 

After this we then went on to watch a performance of it that was done by a theatre group. When watching it what I had read became a lot more real and immersive as there was now movement that corresponded with the words and also a sense of emotion through the voice of the characters. At first I felt very uneasy watching it due to the names that the character Torvald was calling Nora as they seemed very unusual and seemed like they were de-humanising the character of Nora. Along with this, The character Nora seemed very all over the place and on her toes so to say, and although to a lot of my class mates they did not like her as a character initially I was quite fond in her as I related to her in my own ways. By the end of the performance I was shocked by what had happened but grew more respect for Nora in what she did, in that she took matters into her own hands to make it right.

Describe the challenges you faced in developing your character and how you overcame these. 

When it came to challenges that i faced at the start when it came to developing my character was finding her motivations during the scene I was given. The reason why I found this difficult was in that she seems to switch up very often and was very spontaneous with what she was doing and saying. However, with the help from some of my peers I managed to find some sort of motivations for different parts of the scene and how they changed during it as well.

Another challenges that I faced when developing my character was how I was going to play her in the spontaneous and energetic way that she acts while making it seem realistic and not to over the top. So I watched the performance again so that I could have a look at how someone else had played her and conveyed her emotions and energy without making it seem fake and over the top. In doing this, Overtime I found it easier to give the character of Nora more energy but not to much to the point it no longer looked non realistic.

What techniques did you incorporate into the rehearsal process? How did these aid/ hinder the process?

When it came to the techniques that I incorporated into the rehearsal process they included, Magic if, Emotion Memory and Objectives.

Magic if

When it came to the Magic If I used it a lot in the rehearsal process as this helped me think to myself how to approach a piece of the scene. For example, when Nora gets told by Dr Rank that he love her, I tried to think of how I would feel if a close friend of mine did this to me. By doing this it helped add truth to the actions and the way that i was performing it.

Emotion memory

When it came to the use of Emotion Memory in my piece I used this so that it could aid me when it came to adding realistic emotion to the piece which kept it feeling more in the style of naturalism, which is the style that Stanislavski worked in.

Objectives

When it came to using the methods of Objectives, it allowed me to give what I was saying and how I was moving purpose and prevent it from looking to staged and fake. So this helped a lot, as when I was going through my script I would go over what I was saying and then think about what Nora would want to get out of it. For example, when she is talking to Dr Rank about asking him to do something for her but she keeps backtracking, It shows that she wants him to do something deep down however she is aware that it is not entirely morally correct.

What were the strengths and weaknesses of your performances?

When it came to my performance with my partner, there were clear strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths  

One of the strengths that I noticed when watching back my performance was that both me and my partner used very good vocal emotion to bring across to the audience how our characters were feeling during the piece. This was aided by using Emotion Memory during rehearsals to develop a more naturalistic feeling to what was being said and done.

Another strength was my ability to use the space effectively and not pace around to much and consider how I would realistically act if i was stuck in a similar situation. By me not being to hot footed, it made the piece seem more natural and cohesive.

Weaknesses  

One of the weaknesses that I see in my performance was how small I look in that my posture seemed very closed and not very open at all. So if I was to do this again I would make sure to open up my posture and make myself seem more open and less timid like. however, I am aware that this closeness could have been sue to stress when it came to performing the piece.

Another one of the weaknesses I saw was my constant looking down. I am aware that this was mainly cause due to having my script however, I noticed that this also happened whilst I was not looking at my script. So if I was to do this again then I would make sure to look up and out more so that it makes the performance more inviting to the audience. 

What techniques from this process do you feel will inform your future development as an actor?

In my personal opinion, I believe that Emotion Memory will be one of the techniques that will inform my future development as an actor as it shows a new way to add authentic emotion to a piece so that it can be more immersive to the audience when they watch it. Along with this, another method that I believe will have a great impact for further development as an actor is Magic if, as this allows me to put myself in the situation which gives me a further look at how I could challenge the situation my character is in at the given time in a scene.

PART TWO

You must now reference at least TWO performances by your peers. Identify the successful elements of their performances along with areas you considered weaker. Discuss what made these performances strong/weak.

Deacon + Saskia read through

When it came to Deacon and Saskia's read through of the scene I felt that it was done very effectively even if it was a last minute plan. When it comes to what was successful about this piece was that even though it was just a read through it was very immersive to watch. Personally I think that Deacon did a very good job with playing his character as he used the right level of movement and anger and sorrow in his voice to make it feel real and as if it was happening right then and there, which left me with a feeling of being uncomfortable as it felt I was spying on someones life. When it came to what could be improved I feel that Deacon could have been a little less hotfooted as he was moving quite a lot while speaking, where as if he was to have stayed still at moments then it could have made the piece more impact full. [ I have only analysed Deacons performance in this a Saskia was there to read in for his missing partner, however Saskia did a very good job when just reading in.]

Rosy + Adamas Performance

When it came to Rosy and Adams performance of their scene in A Doll's House I found it to be very impact full and immersive as a piece by itself. When it came to what I felt they both did well was their vocal expression when doing the piece as they clearly portrayed their characters emotions during the piece in a way were it was clear to the audience what they were without being to over the top informative. When it comes to what I feel could be improved when it comes to their performance would be if there was more movement from Adama during the piece, I understand that in the piece Mrs Linde  is sat down but maybe some movement would be nice. When it comes to the movement from Rosy, I felt she moved around bit to much, but it was fitting to her character, But less movement would have made it more impactfull.

What was your most enjoyable performance to watch and why?

When it came to all the performances done by my peers it was hard to chose a favourite but if i had to chose just one I would have to chose Rosy and Ad piece. I would say that this one was my favourite out of all of them as I enjoyed watching Rosy play Nora as I believe that she added a very nice amount of energy to the character to the point where it was the right balance of being over the top and also very natural. Along with this, The way Ad performed the character of Mrs .Linde felt very realistic. But overall their joint performance was very realistic and felt very immersive to watch as an audience member.