One Flew Over Evaluations - Unit 12 extended project

Candidate Declaration - I confirm that the attached portfolio is all my own work and does not include any work completed by anyone other than myself

The Show Journey

My journey preparing and being in this show has been a massive challenge because of how raw and real the characters are. I started off this process finding my own monologue and performing it for my audition, this is different to anything we have ever done before since we weren't allowed to say what role we wanted or choose a piece from the script to perform. When I had performed my monologue I believe it was the best I have ever done an audition, it wasn't perfect there were still things I needed to work on like my travelling or if I'm going to stand up, stand up for a reason. Other than that, my feedback was mostly positive and it showed how much In had put the effort into learning that monologue and how it also fit the theme of the show we were doing. Just from my monologue aloe I could feel the growth journey I have been on for this course and how much I have improved as an actor. Here is my audition evaluation and process where I go into more detail of what I did and then evaluated myself afterwards. Unit 12 Task 2 - Audition Process (connorsacting.blogspot.com)

After auditions we moved onto scenes from the show to showcase why we wanted this character and from watching us they could see if we had done research or not into the show ready for when perform the scene. I performed Billy Bibbit's death scene and the duologue McMurphy and Chief have. When doing the scene for Billy and doing the stuttering I noticed I twitched too much when it's just a natural stutter that he has, I also felt like I didn't show off enough emotion for the scene either cause I was too focused on showing the stutter. For the McMurphy and Chief duologue I fell back into old habits and started speaking fast again because I messed up a line so I started panicking, I decided to keep going instead of stopping and restarting which would of probably been the better option. After we had showcased these performances to Kelly she sent us away to and do the cast list ready for the next day because she already had roles in mind for certain people she just needed to see where everyone else fit. I started off in the cast list with Dr. Spivey and then in the next few weeks I got Cheswick due to someone dropping out for another show. For the first few weeks of Dr. Spivey I was flitting between room to room doing both shows since I was also cast in radium girls. I found it hard to have lines stick that way cause it always felt like i would learn something then immediately had something else in my mind cause I had something else to learn at the same time. So when I got Cheswick and it was evident to me that Dr. Spivey needed some work, I would work on One Flew Over more than radium girls since they needed a Cheswick with the other person wasn't in sometimes. This helped me a lot cause it meant when my lines started sticking I could then start working on Radium Girls and looking at that script as well. 

On top of all of this I was also on sound for the both shows, I wanted to do something new this year instead of props or front of house, since I wanted the extra push. So I decided I wanted to do more behind the scenes like tech so I put my name down for sound. Callum helped a bit by putting together a start of a playlist that he sent to me, so then I could go away and put together the rest of the music for the show, Jess and Harvey who were also on sound then put together a power point that we presented to Abbie, which she said she loved because of the detail we went into every scene and explained why we chose this sound and why we think it makes sense to what's being said. As challenging as sound was this year, it was fun to try something new for my production role and in the end I started to love the soundtrack I put together cause it all just fit very nicely together and it was amazing to see it in the show. 

For the rehearsal side of things I continued to see a growth in both my characters as I lost the script but I will go into more detail about both the characters in the character and show day evaluations beneath. I think this year it was a harder show to end off on since again the characters are all so raw and deep. So a lot of research and time had put into this show for it to be done right. I believe as a collective and group we worked well to put together an amazing show and the journey was just as great as we had fun putting it together as well and bringing these characters to life. Cheswick was especially hard for me since he's very different with his emotions he has a constant switch from aggressive to being happy and also for Dr. Spivey he has control over Nurse Ratched but he also doesn't. So they both have very in depth characteristics that need to be portrayed right and that isn't easy unless you understand the character and put the time and effort into researching about them. So I did and I believe it helped my journey a lot throughout rehearsals and it led to how the shows turned out. 

If I was to do anything different for my journey the next time I'm in a show or doing a short or feature length film, I think I would like to put more effort into research as I felt I had put enough to understand the character and the story and the journey that my character goes on throughout the story, but I think I didn't speak enough about why it happens or understand why this needs to happen. This comes with time as an actor and I am ready for my next chapter of growth. 

My Show Evaluation

This was by far the most amazing and strongest way to end a great 2 years on this course. This show from start to finish was real and raw, every character was in depth and the show had to be done so right to bring this tragic story to life. My roles in this show were Cheswick and Dr. Spivey. I got Cheswick late and he was by far one of the biggest challenges to date. Cheswick and this show pushed me to levels I had never seen myself reach and it felt amazing after accomplishing it. I portrayed Cheswicks journey beautifully and I knew the story very well and the journey in the scenes so that even if anything did go wrong or was in the wrong place I was on it. This was pointed out once in the show by Kelly where Jack (who played harding) removes me from his seat and since there was no other chairs left I had to in character ask Martini if I could sit where his imaginary friend sits and when he says no I had to think on the spot again so I positioned myself on the floor kneeled in between Harding and Martini. I also stole a lot of my physicality from the film version of One Flew Over, this consisted of me keeping my arms up to around my face and moving them a depending on the emotion Cheswick was feeling at the time since he changes emotion quite a lot. That is also something I could have improved on as much as my physicality and journey was good I felt like I was too aggressive in places where I didn't need to be and I would forget to turn that switch off. 

A lot of my physicality is what I got notes on as well as there was people in the audience who found me menacing because of how I would sit and they wouldn't know what my next emotion would be, so at some points I did show enough change I could of just been less aggressive. Other than that Cheswick was amazing I managed to keep the energy up the whole time for the intense scenes like basketball and party scene where its full on moving and jumping around. As well as the big moment at the end of Act 1 where its a massive slap in the face for Nurse Ratched cause she knows none of her patients are listening to her. Then I stand up and scream "home run!" making everyone jump out their seats and start running around screaming shouting and flipping chairs all over. There were other scenes as well where my reactions were amazing to what was going around showing that I was listening and always on the ball with paying attention and following that journey, I think them moments were when we have the first group therapy and start digging into Harding and bullying him for how insecure he is having a hot wife with big "knockers." For the party scene there was another moment I had to think on my feet since the trolley was in the spot, sadly I didn't change the line and instead kept screaming cocktail shakers even though I didn't have any. Me and Harvey just had to make sure the cocktail shaker part for the party scene was bigger than before since we didn't have the trolley to enter on. Also for the party scene when were slow dancing I made sure to make Cheswick really nervous when he's just helped Sandra, just so that she can take the lead and show me what to do when it comes to slow dancing. This helped both our characters since it showed another really fast change in emotion for Cheswick but also it helped the person playing Sandra show that shes touchy with the guys and takes charge. 

For Cheswick a lot of my feedback was about how my energy was great for the show and that I really understood the story of just no the character but the show as a whole. I was told by one of the actors sisters that she loved my performance but also found me very scary as she didn't know what was going to happen next. If I was to ever have the opportunity to play as Cheswick again, I would make sure to show that change in his emotions a lot more clearer and to make sure that I was a lot less aggressive in places where it isn't needed. 

Dr Spivey was my other character in the show and the one I had more time to understand and experiment with since he was the role I had got originally before getting Cheswick later. The interesting thing about Spivey is he is this man who is supposed to be feared since he holds the cards over Nurse Ratched on paper but in reality he's scared of her because she knows he's an opium addict. So when I am saying lines and Nurse Ratched cuts me off I need to show the fear I have from going against what she wants. This all changes when McMurphy arrives since he manages to get Dr Spivey immediately interested in him and his behaviour, which leads to a friendship blossoming where Dr Spivey then proceeds to go behind Nurse Ratched's back at many points to help McMurphy out. One of these moments is shown when I stand up to Nurse Ratched the first time and mention that McMurphy hasn't been violent so electroshock therapy isn't indicated. In that same scene I challenge her again when I mention that I signed the visitor form for Candy Starr to come and see him. 

There was also a point where I was on Nurse Ratched side and that was the first fight scene Mac has with the aides, I originally wasn't in this scene but Will (who was the other Dr Spivey) told me enter on stage to see McMurphy fighting the aides so that it shows that the Dr then knows and he will do the electroshock therapy. Then the next scene was the shock therapy, this scene had to be bigger since I was behind a screen so the audience couldn't see me so I had to make sure I was louder with everything I say since I was also upstage as well so I had to project loud. I think I did that very well and I think I showed the switch between the fear he has over Nurse Ratched but also how he is still in charge. 

During the end of act 1, I had peer who were in the audience telling me that they don't know how I did it but I managed to show the fear and the power that Dr Spivey has. It was also mentioned that my chemistry with McMurphy and the other lads in the institute was great and you could really believe that I was on McMurphy's side throughout the show but I still had a job to do. So if I was to do Dr Spivey again, I think I would work on the end of act 2 with my final scene as I did stumble a word in a line but it wasn't too noticeable. Volume is always something I can work on as well since that's a problem I struggle with sometimes. Cause I am loud enough for the back but to be more clearer I just need to be louder so they can not only hear me but understand parts of what it is that's going on.