Radium Girls 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

My Show Journey

For radium girls I had already done my audition that matched the theme of One Flew Over since we didn't know radium girls was the other show we were doing yet. When we did a read through of the script, there were a few characters that stood out to me that seemed like a fun challenge. That role being Tom, since I hadn't had the opportunity to do romance yet I wanted to try my hand at it so I could try that genre. 

I got the role of Von Sochocky, who was a german scientist that invented the radium and in the end conducts air tests on the girls due to guilt to see if it was his paint that was killing them. The main challenge with this role was how much he says and the accent, I was a little scared at first to try the German accent but once I went away and updated parts of my script to the German accent it was so much easier to understand what was being said and much easier to learn the script with the accent. I really surprised myself with this accent as it was something that was really going to bother me in the coming weeks of learning the script. The main problem I faced was the transitions and where I needed to be at certain points since I spent more of my time in the One Flew Over rehearsals instead of Radium Girls due to getting the role of Cheswick late and the other person not being in for that role. 

So I was behind on Radium Girls blocking but I managed to understand the blocking in a day or two once I had the chance to run back and see what was going on. So the main thing I managed to do was make sure that I was always learning my lines since he's not on stage much but he has a lot to say when he is on stage. Sometimes when I was in rehearsals I would struggle with lines and keeping the accent on top of it because my head was too far into One Flew Over. I also struggled with shortness of breath I would always end the sentence with like an exhale of breath so you couldn't understand what I was saying at the end and I think that was due to the accent since I had never done that before. 

Next time with a show like this, I will try to make more time for learning accents so I don't have a panic and almost mess up lines during rehearsals while trying to stay on the accent. Other than that I think my, journey for this show was a different one as I wasn't really around much for it as I was focused on the other show helping everyone else out there. I think I did well to learn my script for radium girls though and learning the accent on top of learning two other characters. 

My Show Evaluation

So for the first show day I was on sound with Harvey, we only had that entire morning to really practice so we knew it wasn't going to be great and it might be a little sloppy. It wasn't awful and the sound cues were on point mostly we just had some technical issues when it came to having to play more than one sfx for a transition or when the clock needs moving. That timing of the clock was something else as I found myself struggling with having to change the slides because sometimes it just didn't move when I wanted it to move. So when Harvey would play the clock sound effect sometimes the clock wouldn't move and then it would move mid way through a scene and it just looked out of place. For act 2 on the other hand we switched around Harvey did the powerpoint slides and I was on sound, it ran smoothly but that was because sound in Act 2 was a lot less packed and easier to understand on the tech script. 

Overall for our first time both being on tech and doing sound we didn't think it went as bad as we thought. Even Tom congratulated us and said we did well with the short amount of time frame we were given to learn what was needed to do for the show night. So next time what I will do is help out the person who was on sound for Radium Girls and help them with putting together the playlist so that next they are prepared with everything and able to show the tech team what needs to be done. 

For day two I was in the show as the German doctor Von Sochocky, this by far was the greatest feeling after a show I have had. All these shows in the past 2 weeks has never left me feeling more proud of myself. I went from strength to strength with each show and it showed that night. I started off a bit shaky getting into it and my volume wasn't the best in act 1. I was too focused on making sure my accent was perfect since I had been working hard on trying to learn and maintain it for this show. After my first two scenes in Act 1, I had realise there was a part I got a line mixed up but it wasn't noticeable because of the accent since sometimes with the accent you do say words in a different order and so I played it off like that and kept it going. I played him very conniving at the start as he double crosses Mr Roeder and tells the girls about what is going to happen to their jobs before Roeder actually announces it. So this annoys Roeder as I have a little chuckle to myself about it. 

At the end of Act 1 we had most of our peers in the audience who were watching running round to tell us how good the show was going. I got told from Millie and Aiden that they really shocked and blew them away with how accurate the accent was and that my little sisters who were in the audience sat infront of them were absolutely loving it. I got told from Harvey and George and also Tom who were all in the tech boxes, that the sound of some people was perfect and then there was a few people who they could hear but not make out clearly what it was that they were saying. I was one of those people. I made sure during the break I had before I was next on for Act 2, that I was running lines in the back with Will who was our stage manager for the night and also getting makeup on my hands to make them black since they're are corroding away due to the necrosis of the tissue because of the radium. 

For Act 2, I was on for a reporting scene and I was at the back of the stage so I had to project loud, which I did. I also had to hide my hands away from the audience as they were not allowed to see the necrosis yet, I just didn't have the time to do the makeup during the reporter scene and my end scene. My reporting scene is a big scene as it's me letting go of all the guilt I have for the radium being the substance responsible for killing the girls and also going against Roeder and Alma by testifying against them. My last scene was then on and it was the big moment for me. I brought on the bench for the transition and then took off the coat I had on and my hat, I also had a jumper on for this scene as I changed beforehand. I sat our promotional piece next to me and then started speaking to Roeder who had entered. During rehearsals of this scene, we had always done it with Roeder being the aggressor and shouting at me because of how much I had screwed him over. We never practiced the scene with me arguing back but in the spur of the moment I started shouting at him to calm down and drink some tea and it made the scene rise higher and higher with intensity and then come back down for the reveal of my hands and how I found out that I was dying because of it and what I had done for my hands to go this way. After I do my monologue about how I wanted to prove that everyone was wrong about the radium but instead it was me who was wrong, I then began to toy with Roeder and changed my tone up and start to mock him for never realising that the dangerous effects of the radium were always right infront of us with inside the promotional piece which Roeder never read. 

I had so much positive feedback from everyone at the end of the day, I had people telling me that it was by far the best performance I have had on this course throughout my 2 years. I got told by someone on the Middlesbrough college acting course that he did nothing but respect my acting ability and how powerful that last scene of mine was. Some old 2nd years came to watch it as well and I got a message later on from an old 2nd year in the audience who said this "that performance was something else you genuinely were that character, there was no Connor to be seen and the accent and the emotions were so perfect and real and I felt every second of it. I have to say I am proud of you and you deserve the best because you have come so far." I love every second of this show and it was by far the best show to show off my ability and that acting is right for me in the end. Now if I was to improve and do something differently It would have to be maintaining my volume through Act 1 as well but I managed to improve during the show and bring the volume higher for Act 2.