The Globe Project / Assignment 1: Task 3

Monday 3rd October 

Today was the tour of the globe, so after coming up contributing some phobias to the class that we could use to scare the audience we got told that instead of taking that approach, Josh who works at the Globe and put the event together with Kelly told us he wanted to go down the history route of the Globe instead of going full out horror. We were tasked with coming up with some ideas and taking notes of what we thought we could bring to the Globe while going around and looking at it and also getting some of the history behind the Globe as well. 

The Globe History - Assignment 1: Task 4 - B

So, when getting took around the Globe we got some history of the place about who owned the Globe, when it was made, the different people / bands that have performed there on the stage, also history behind deaths that have occurred in the building and superstitions like the whistling, saying 'Macbeth' and the Ghost Light. The Globe theatre was built in 1913 by two brothers Alfred and Charles Lewis, to show silent movies. The Globe was Teesside's first purpose-built cinema. The building has been demolished and rebuilt many times. First in 1925 for when it was built in again 1926 to show the area's first 'talkies' also known as sound films. It was then rebuilt again in 1935 as a variety theatre which also included cinema facilities and regularly hosted staged shows, which could hold up to 2,732. In 1938 The Globe became an ABC cinema that held live performances including an annual pantomime. From the 1950's to the 1970's the Globe hosted many famous acts for example, The Rolling Stones, The Beetles (played twice), Cilla Black, Buddy Holly etc. While also hosting a variety of famous acts, The Globe was also still a cinema which showed the very first 3D film in the region: 'The House of Wax' in 1953. The doors then closed again in 1975 to reopen as a bingo hall until finally closing in 1997 and has now reopened again in 2021. 

For our tour we linked in some horror elements from the history while trying to keep it accurate, for example the fire that broke out in the projection room that killed a lad, after one of the film reels set on fire and he got trapped inside the room after his friend forgot he was in there and closed it on him. We linked that in with the 'House of Wax' towards the end of our show, when we had the lad run through all the wax characters with half his face burned off. We also added in the guy that took his last breath whilst sat down in one of the chairs watching the show, he got a complaint for snoring and for not moving when people were trying to get past, it turns out he had died. We also added in the ideas of saying 'Macbeth' by adding in the three witches and also the whistling for the flyers as a we had someone whistle and something fall down. 

My Globe Halloween Character - Task 3

Before I got the act, I got in the Halloween tour I originally auditioned for the role of the bartender, which was a very big role, I thought I was ready to push myself and have a big role for my first project. I managed to learn the lines and practiced with Jack who was the other bartender, he said I was perfect but since this was going to be my first audition, I was very nervous. When I went over to Kelly and told her I wanted to go for the bartender, I took my script with me in case I messed one of the lines up. I ended up stuttering mostly every word and having my hands shake the entire time and I couldn't stand still. Kelly pointed that out and asked me if I had ever done some sort of acting in the past, which I hadn't and I mentioned this was my first audition. 

After the Halloween piece it boosted my confidence a lot to feel ready to take on another audition that this time, I will try my best to not let my nerves take over and I'll be ready for it without referring to the script either. 

My character in the Halloween was part of the vaudeville piece, which is a variety of different acts, in our vaudeville piece we had a:

1. Ballerina 
2. Ventriloquism
3. Acrobatic / Gymnast
4. Slapstick Comedy / The Brothers (Mine and Wills act)
5. Drag Queen
6. Lion Tamer 
7. Tap Dancer 
8.  Clown

For my part in The Globe Project, I was partnered up with Will and we got told that Kelly wanted us to be a part of the vaudeville piece to do a slapstick comedy act, we took inspiration from old black and white slapstick comedy films and from Laurel and Hardy. That is why in our act we had the shirts and black trousers with suspenders on with small top hats and umbrellas which we incorporated in our act to hit each other with them when one of us got our act wrong or if one of us went too fast. First, we had to come up with names and a dark secret / backstory to give our characters that horror feeling. We came up with the names Frank and Freddie, we used to be triplets, but our third brother died with a prop gun, but we won't say if it was intentional or not. 

Our act started off with everyone from the vaudeville piece being stood around Alan who introduces us all and says what act is coming on next. We all had to wait behind the curtains of the stage as the audience were took to the top and could see straight down, then when the audience got took back down, we quickly got in the center of the stage and got into our spaces to which we had to act lifeless till the audience came and sat down in the row in front of us and when the music started Alan would awake and welcome everyone for coming along on the tour.  When Alan said "Welcome boys and girls" we would all awake and stare into the audience till Alan had finished explaining what was happening here. Then when Alan had finished the next song would come on to which everyone would run off the stage to the side behind the curtain, while the ballerina stays on and does her act, after the ballerina it was the ventriloquist act then the acrobat then us. 

When it was our act, we started it off with Will walking on too early and I wrap my umbrella around his hand and pull him back, we then link arms and walk on together pointing our feet out and bending with every step, in time with the beat of the music we had chosen to fit our piece. We would then stand there in the center with linked arms and umbrellas by our side and our right foot being pointed out. Alan would then walk around us introducing us as we stood there smiling towards the audience and when Alan mentioned the prop gun Will made gun fingers towards me and pretended to shoot me which I had to act like I had got shot then giggle towards the audience. After being introduced we both then picked up our umbrellas at the same time then moved onto our routine. We would do a sort of slapstick dance and hit one another with our umbrellas which would move us onto the next piece. Our second part was where we started talking to one another we chose a section of a poem called 'you are quite weird' Will started it off with 'You shouldn't be out, you should be home in bed' and I ended our second section with 'you look like a corpse with an overcoat on' with every line we said we got louder than the last time to try one up the other person. We then moved onto the third piece which was to walk around linked in a circle hitting each other with the umbrella on the back of our heads both saying, 'you are quite weird'. Our last part was me passing my umbrella to Will and rolling up my sleeves, taking my umbrella back and Will handing me his umbrella to roll up his sleeves, I then hand his umbrella back for a lion to roar offstage which makes Will jump in my arms and I run off stage carrying him. The lion roar links in with the lion tamer when they come on stage later to do their act Alan runs towards our side of the curtain to say the lion is here which then we run across the stage to the other side, me carrying Will again, when the lion roars.