if only you'd touch a mouse or a fly, but no you're so particular

the musical is over.

tears and hugs to everyone who was a part of it! you were all absolutely awesome.

now i need to find something new to fill my afternoons with.

extra extra read all about it!

just to enlighten all of you who may or may not know yet:

i am doing offstage. i am not being marked on my onstage prowess. i will, however, hopefully have roles onstage so i don't spend the whole time sitting backstage twiddling my thumbs.

so hooray for getting to design people's costumes. it shalll be fun. even though we still haven't got the full casting list yet so i can't really start, at least until we get it. whoooo i can't wait til people get cast so i can think up stuff for them to wear.

lol that makes me sound so.....shallow? clothes-orientated? so something, i just don't know what it is. i really am rather excited about what i get to do.....it shall be brilliant.

good luck to everyone on getting the roles they want - althought i'm sure that whatever you get, you'll do it fantastically. and no more hands up for offstage? pity that - where are your creative talents people?!

ms mace says the final final cast list should be ours on tuesday. whoopdidoo. can't wait.

reviews: everyone is working on reviewing politely savage, which as we all know i didn't get to go see. some people said it was amazing and some people said it was crapola, so i don't know whether or not i'm glad i didn't go. although that means i have to go find something else to review. oh woe is me (my life is a misery). that's from a song. my life isn't actually that miserable.

wow. that's the first time in like three weeks i've had a song in my head that isn't from the musical. its our last show tonight. thank god.


oh, woe is me.
my life is a misery.
o-oh, can't you see
that i'm at the start of a pretty big downer
the sword of damacles is hanging over my head
and i've got a feeling someone's gonna be cutting the thread!
(that ain't no crime!)

and lo! the scripts arrive with much fanfare and rejoicing

we have scripts now. mine is number 12. i wrote that here so i won't forget.

we're supposed to find out casting today. the anticipation is killing me.

and that is all. see you all in about ten minutes.

musical takes up all my time

Well here I am, writing drama blogs while I'm supposed to be packing for my rehearsal camp tomorrow. There are clothes and shoes strewn all over my floor. But I'm doing this instead. Says a lot about my attention span.

And I am so not leaving it a week before posting again (although I have a legit excuse, i've been at musical rehearsals). I had to go back and read everyone's blogs in order to work out what happened in what order on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thank deity-of-non-specified-religion-here that there are people in our class who keep up with stuff.

First off - I want to address the so-called 'issues' we are having in class. Frankly, I don't see them at all. I mean, it's obvious that there are different friendship groups in the class but that's simply a matter of who you prefer to hang out with, and not a 'nasty' thing. And now I'm constantly worried that some people have issues with me, and I just cant see it. I'd like to say to everyone now....
If you have an issue or any kind of problem with me, tell me about it. Subtle hints don't work. And I'd rather know that I'm irritating you and then do something about it, than to carry on in blissful ignorance. So leave me a comment, approach me after class, do whatever but please just LET ME KNOW.

Anyway, after Ms Mace had this discussion with us, we started some more team-building games and stuff. We did Knots, but unfortunately I was in a seperate circle to the main knot and so was out easily. Then it took ages and ages to try and get the other knot out, but it just didn't work. So after recess we had another go, and GUESS WHAT I WAS IN A SEPERATE CIRLE AGAIN! But this time we were entwined with the other circle, and couldn't detach. Seeing as we couldn't get any knots out, we played the ball game and got to a rather high number (which escapes me at this point in time).

We've done a lot more reading of Mirror Mirror, and it's really very interesting the way things are going. Some people are doing VERY well at certain roles...
SHOUT OUT TO ADELE! Your Girl today was so so so so so wonderful. It's one of the best performances from this reading that I've seen so far. You rock, girl.
I have to say, I really like doing the readings and having a go at different characters. I think it would be fun to have a go at the voice. Cause it's such an interesting character.

Well, now I must go and try and cram all my stuff into a bag. I hate having to bring costumes on camp - takes up all the room in my bag!

Love y'all.
xoxo

and then my brain spontaneously imploded

Last week we started doing a moving reading of Mirror Mirror as we still don't have our own scripts. This is to give us an inclination of what the play will be like, but I think it's also an opportunity for Ms Mace to see how certain people do with certain roles for casting. I hope it's not the latter. She keeps putting the same people in the same roles, which is great for our continuity, but not good for seeing how people go. If I were to have my choice of roles, I think I would like to play the Auguste Clown or the Ringmaster (although if I was basically backfill, I think I would cry. I hate being expendable). EDIT: I just realised that makes me sound really up-myself. It wasn't supposed to. I promise. Everyone seems to have it in their heads that Ringmaster is a male role, but it does specify in the script that it could be either. I even think it could be more effective with a female Ringmaster, as there is the scene where the Girl refuses cake but the Ringmaster sneaks some to eat - a big contrast that I don't think would be apparent with a male Ringmaster.

Something else which I don't agree with - the Voice. I really very much think that the Voice should be male. I know that everyone has different opinions, but I just can't see the Voice being effective as a girl. People have said that it should be female because the pressure to be thin is coming from other girls around you, but this doesn't seem right to me. Everyone feels pressure to be thin at some point or other, and I know that just about all that pressure coming my way has been from guys. Maybe I just have strange experiences, but that's why I think that the Voice should be cast from one of the guys in the class. Also, as anorexia has been studied as a kind of repressed sexuality, trying to regress back to a childish body shape and denying one's identity as an adult sexual being, I think that the dynamic could be very interesting with a male Voice. Comprenez, tout le monde?

I have lists and lists in my head of who I think should get certain roles, and who I think will get those roles, but I don't know if it's appropriate to put them here.

Everyone's had lots of ideas for staging and publicity and costumes and stuff. I love some of them, such as setting front of house as a circus with fairy floss and popcorn and stuff. I also think that creating the appearance of a circus tent inside the theatre would be good, by taking streamers or something in red and white stripes from the centre of the stage on the ceiling out to the edges of the room. Thoughts on theatre in the round/thrust stage: yuck. I prefer the idea of a conventional stage. As well as being harder to perform in, I think it looks a little unprofessional (especially the thrust stage) unless it's done VERY WELL, which I don't think we're capable of doing. Especially with actors leaving and entering the stage. On a regular stage, people can come in from any point on the sides, but on a thrust stage, they can ONLY come in from the back. And if it were in the round, actors would be leaving the stage through the audience, creating distractions. I know it would create more of a circus feel with the audience on all sides, but I don't think it would be as good for practicality.



I've also done a lot of thinking of costume ideas. I'm thinking taffeta and sequins and leotards and feathers and all sorts of glittery things for the general circus troupe. Costumes for 'troupers' would have to be layered on top of each other, to enable them to switch characters (as ducks, clowns, mallrats etc) easily. I can think of so many ways to do that, and still have a complete costume for each character, but it's difficult to finalise ideas without a sense of casting and knowing how quick the changes would have to be.

The Voice I would dress in all black or all white, seperating it from the 'real people' in the play, with a painted face in those two colours. Try to make it less like a 'person' or a 'personality', and more like an emotion with a face. EDIT: On second thoughts, that's a bad idea. Completely ignore it (i'm just leaving it here so that later on I remember that once I thought it was good.

The girl, as a child, I am thinking bright pink and purple and green and blue, with those colours fading to paler pink, brown, grey as she gets older and sicker.

Auguste Clown: bright (possibly blue) hooped one piece clown costume, with contrasting frilled collar and cuffs and a tutu around the hoop. I know this sounds kind of stupid, but I can't find a picture of what I want. In my head it looks good, and I could draw it for you if you really want to see it. Hair frizzed out, with a small hat or bow perched on a rakish angle on top.



Whiteface Clown: Bascially a Pierrot. This is what a Pierrot looks like. Just search for it on Google if you want some more pictures. I think that this style of French clown would be a nice contrast with the Auguste Clown, a colourful garish image which is what most people think of when they think 'clown'. Try here if you want to know a little more about Pierrot.







Family: Well, street clothes goes here. I have colours in mind but that depends what the actors who play them have in their wardrobes.

I have other ideas for specific scenes, such as the ballet scene or the mallrat scene. In the ballet scene, I think that Madame should be in shawls and a walking stick - an old, fussy instructor. The girls should all be in leotards (thinking pale pink), pink opaque tights, and sheer skirts, pink jiffies for shoes. When the Girl enters, I picture her skirt and shoes in white, differentiating her from the rest of the ballerinas, but only subtly. The Mallrats I'm thinking are those Supre-style 13 yr olds you see all over the place. I want them all in matching outfits (different colours, of course), short skirts, brightly coloured layered tops, belts, leggings, chunky jewellery etc. That particular scene is highlighting conformity, and costumes like these would emphasise this.

I know that all these ideas are pretty extravagant and we don't really have the budget for it (or even if the actors have time to alter their costumes between appearances onstage), but I think it would look amazing. I've put a lot of thought into it, and I have patterns lying around for things like clown jumpsuits, pierrot costumes, leotards etc. As I still haven't quite decided whether or not I'll do costumes as an offstage and be marked on it, I'm working on developing these ideas in case it is the path I choose to take. Even if I decide to be marked on my onstage performance, I'd still love to have significant input into costumes.


**phew**. This was a long blog entry. Thanks for reading it all, and letting me just spill all my ideas over onto this.

yes bec, i did steal your link

Hey everyone. This is just a quick post, to enlighten you all with an ana link. I think it strikes a chord with Mirror Mirror and the way eating disorders are portrayed in the play. So here ya go, Glamour, Popularity and Truth. And I didn't quite steal it from Bec. This page linked off of the page she gave, but I thought it was important that people should read it.

And I know I'm posting far to frequently for anyone to keep up, but I'm writing when I have the inclination, which is fairly often, and besides aren't we supposed to be keeping this blog for our own reference later anyway? Oh and on Friday we watched part of that Channel 7 (i think i love you, but what am i so afraid of) special on "Skinny Celebrities". I saw it when it was aired, but it still gives an interesting outlook on eating disorders and the race to be a size 0.

Love y'all.

boycotting capital letters

aaaaah.

that's the sound of me screaming.

i am so *insert expletive here* worried about drama right now. especially the group production. i just read josh's most recent blog, and it's got me thinking that i'm nowhere near ready for it. i've been approaching the whole thing with some vague "yay-i-like-performing" vibe, along with a lot of "i'm-not-that-inspired-but-oh-well-that's-okay". i so don't know what to do. it's a hellish feeling.

although i did show ms mace some passages from mirror mirror today. i didn't get a chance to talk to her about it, as it was just before musical rehearsal. i'm kind of worried about what she will say.

another thing that i'm thinking about for if i do costume as offstage is budget and casting....

but now i must go. it's taken me like an hour and a half to write this stupid blog entry cause people keep calling me. like, the only reason i was hanging up the phone was because i had to answer it for someone else. gosh.

at least i'm slightly less scared now.

bye for now.

bang bang bang bang bang

Wow. Drama today felt powerful.

But let me start with yesterday. Which was Tuesday. We had a theory lesson and a prac lesson, both focussing on expressionism. Mr Philp was watching the theory lesson, which was slightly disturbing. I see enough of him in maths twice a day to have him in drama too! Ms Mace introduced us to expressionism, a form of theatre that depicts emotions. Well, I'm still not too sure about exactly what it is, but thats the closest I can get (I think). After recess we started making our own physical theatre/expressionist pieces, using our bodies to demonstrate a 'bad' emotion. Our group, consisting of me, Holly, Phoebe and Knowlesy, decided on depression for our emotion. There was quite a bit of discussion on how we would do it, but we finally came up with a great idea. Holly was to be the girl being swallowed by depression, and I was to play her friend, who helped pull her out of its depths. The other two symbolised the depression, swirling around her and getting closer and closer and closer.

Today, we continued rehearsing our emotions and presented them to the class. We used the theme music from MIB, which is eerie and kooky and suited just about all the presentations perfectly. The other groups did depression, drug addiction, and paranoia. They were all very good, and the movement combined with the music made for quite a powerful feeling for the audience. I know that I was completely embedded in their 'world' and didn't want them to end. I felt this especially in Adele-Jenna-Bec's depression, because it ended with Bec as depression as the winner. IT WAS SAD.

Well, that's all folks.

No, wait, not quite all. I have been giving some deep thought to our group production. I really want a high mark, and I don't know the best way to go about it. I would LURVE to use the performing aspect as my mark, but I don't know if that would be the best way for me. Ms Mace says that what she's seen of me is that I lack depth in my characters, which means I wouldn't be able to achieve an excellent mark for an onstage assessment. So I have considered doing an offstage role, probably in costume design. I like thinking up costumes for things, and about half my day-to-day wardrobe is costume pieces (which is probably why I always dress so absurdly). I'm just torn, between doing what I love and what might be best. Any comments on this matter would help a LOT.

I am presenting a couple of monologues from Mirror Mirror to Ms Mace (soonish, hopefully) so that she can take a closer look at how I perform and help me decide.

It's all so hard.