Tech + Dress + Show day

 Today was the day of our show, in which we could show off our hard work to a live audience that was full of our friends and family. I was very nervous for it at the start of the day as I did not know how I should expect the day to go in terms of the Tech and Dress runs before the show. But by the end of the day I was relieved and happy with how my performance went in terms of my acting in the piece and how I worked with the rest of my group to prepare before hand.

Before Tech Run

At the start of the day before our tech run we were given around 2hrs to go over things that we needed to and make sure that we had everything that we needed for the performance. For my group we needed red ribbon for one of our scenes and unfortunately its delivery got postponed so we did not have this vital prop. So me and one of my fellow group members, Saskia, went out of our way to go down to the local shops to see if we could find any, while keeping our group updated on progress. However we were un successful when it came to getting this ribbon so we had to improvise it. We decided that we could use my crochet skills to crochet some long pieces of string that would be a stand in for the red ribbon. So we brought the materials for this and I spent around 1hr to create the right length and amount of strings we would need for the final performance. While I did this, the rest of the group practiced scene while feedbacking to me when it came to certain scene that I was in.

Tech Run

When it was finally our time for our tech run we were able to work hand in hand with the tech team so that we could go through every scene in the piece slowly in running order to make sure that our lighting reflected the mood that we wanted to when it came to the emotional connection, along with the music that we had picked to go along side it. This was quite a lengthy process, however it was worth it and the end as it made sure that we established all the tech elements of the piece and that they were sorted to how we wanted them to work for the final piece. When it came to how I felt this went, I believe that it went quite smoothly when it comes to a tech run of a piece, however during this we realised things that we would have liked to add but they would have needed to been considered earlier on in the process to have been put in the final piece. When it comes to how the group worked as a whole during this process, we worked together helping each other find the best technical feel and look for their scene to make sure that we all had an environment that we could work and perform in effectively.

Dress Run

When it came to our dress run I was quite nervous at first as this would be the first time I would ever perform the piece with the proper lighting along with sound and atmosphere - But by the end of this I was more confident with the performance we have created even if there were little slip ups here and there. As a group even if things went wrong during this dress run we made sure that we did not let that stop us by improvising and working around this, which would be exactly what we would need to do during the real thing if anything went wrong timing wise. Along with this, no one showed a break in character during these tiny errors which was good to see as it gave me more confidence in me and my groups ability to be able to perform this piece and make sure that it went smoothly.

By the end of the dress run, a lot of the nerves began to hit me as I became nervous to perform my piece in front of an audience. 

Watching the other groups piece

When I was able to watch the other groups piece, I was excited to be able to experience this style of theatre for the first time ever. Their piece was very impactful and the lighting and sound definitely aided their performance. The fact that I had free range to walk around and experience the piece however I felt was very freeing for me, however meant that I missed out of certain elements of the piece which I was quite disappointed by, but this is what is to be expected from a Punch Drunk piece. Overall, after watching the other groups piece I felt quite nervous for mine however made me realise just how impactful this style of theatre is.

Our performance

When it came to our performance, I was more nervous than I anticipated to be. However, with the support from my group they helped me calm down a bit more before our piece took place, which I was very thankful for. Once the performance started, I tried blanking out the audience and just not paying attention to them so that I could focus more on my acting and performance when it came to the piece. In my opinion, By blanking out the audience helped me feel more comfortable and allowed me to perform more naturally. During the piece, some timing errors became apparent. However I over came these by making sure to mutter under my breath in frustration as my character walked into a room that was messy and that I needed to clean up. This allowed me to stay in character during these awkward pauses and make sure to keep the audience engaged with my character during the piece.

Once we had finished I was so relieved by what me and my classmates had achieved over the whole day and I am so glad I was given the opportunity to perform in this style of theatre.