Lesson 1 - Task 2:

Research:

I have done a lot of research on Noughts and Crosses. I have always been a fan of the book as I read it in year 8 so when I found out that we were doing the script in school I was really exited to work with a Malorie Blackman inspired piece of theatre. And because I was already interested it made it easier for me to do my research as I wanted to know more about the play (both for historical and a character developing point of view).

 To read about the book, play and some themes visit the website below:
https://www.rsc.org.uk/downloads/rsc_noughts_info_pack.pdf

Themes of the Play:

Violence: From brotherly fist fights to Sephy being beaten up in school to the bomb being used as a force of violence in the Dundale shopping Centre.

Divided Society: The blacks (Noughts) and the whites (crosses). The idea of segregation and inferiority.

Racism: Daggers and blankers being used as a form of identity (in a racist term).

Discrimination: Used throughout the script (is brought up more in the book though). Highlights what the black people thought of the whites and is used in the scene where the noughts sit on separate tables for lunch at Heathcroft school.

Courage: When Ryan covers for Jude, it really shows that he has courage because he knows that he is risking his life however he is willing to take that risk in order to keep his son safe (I think 'unconditional love' could also be a main theme however I think it kind of goes unnoticed as most people focus on the literal things and forget that most of the actions that take place throughout the play are due to a form of unconditional love). I think Callie Rose is a symbol of hope and her parents, Callum and Sephy, are very courageous in the duration of the script as they go through trust problems (i.e. when Callum finds the courage to meet up with Sephy on the beach, risking his life, however later on he wonders if she set him up as there were guards waiting there to capture him, whereas at the beginning of the play he would not have questioned her trust. Then after Callum has been captured, he sacrifices his life in order to protect the one spark of hope that there is in the book, his beautiful daughter Callie Rose).

Betrayal: There is the overall betrayal of humans disregarding other humans of the exact same species due to skin colour, but then there is also the more literal betrayal in the play such as Callum using trickery to lure Sephy to meet him on the beach (where he then captures her and keeps her prisoner).

Friendship: Sephy and Callum share a relationship like no other. It is so strong and pure (well at the beginning anyway) that it seems like no one could intervene with their mind sets of being together forever.

I found this video and it reminded me of  'Noughts and Crosses', it also helped me to understand how some of the noughts may have felt when first starting at Heathcroft. To be honest the video was kind of a shock to me as I was not expecting the discrimination to be quite as bad as it appeared. I didn't realise that blacks and whites could not even share some water fountains etc. the thought of humanity once being like that makes me sick and I am disappointed at what the world once consisted of:

Article extract shows just how cruel some of the students were:

Poem of Little Rock nine in the link below:

http://www.powerpoetry.org/poems/brave-students-little-rock-nine

Inspiring quotes from the nine children:

http://www.africanafrican.com/folder12/african%20african%20american3/africa%20history/Integration%20of%20Little%20Rock%20High%20School%20-%20quotes%20and%20questions.pdf

A famous historical song (one of the first) that talks about racism in an abstract way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs
“Strange Fruit” has been called the original protest song. It is simple, spare but effective poetry. At a time when political protest was not often expressed in musical form, the song depicted lynching in all of its brutality. The three short verses are all the more powerful for their understated and ironic language. The juxtaposition of a beautiful landscape with the scene of lynching, the smell of magnolias with that of burning flesh, the blossoms more typically associated with the Southern climate with the “strange fruit” produced by racial oppression—this imagery conjures up the essence of racist reaction. Racism in America stands indicted and exposed by these lines, with no need at all for a more didactic or agitational message.

I have done this research because it is important to know the world of the play so that I as an actor can truly connect to my character and get a better understanding of how life and the world around my character is.

Brain storming other groups performances:

Brainstorm of Eric and Suzannah's performance.

Brainstorm of Roseby and Benji's performance.

During this lesson I developed creative skills such as creativity. This was because during the first half of the lesson we had to create status in a imaginative form and carry it out confidently. My partner and I both managed to do this although we both found the task a bit difficult at first as we were merely strangers.

During the second half of the lesson, we worked on the Callum and Sephy scene, I developed an understanding of the characters relationship and how status is very much an part of both of their lives. This task I found easier than the first because my partner and I connected more however there was still a bit of tension because we had just met.

Within both parts of the lesson the class and I developed communication skills as we had to interact with people we had never met before, keeping a professional and focused approach on the lesson.

Lesson 1:

Warm up:
arm ups aren't just important when exercising, they are also very important in drama because they stimulate the brain and muscles which allows your blood to flow around your body which makes you feel warm, pumped up and energetic. The physical warm up made me feel tired at first but then I eventually felt awake, alert, refreshed and ready to get on with the task.Vocal warm ups do a similar thing, they loosen your vocal cords and relax your voice. Vocal warm ups done before performances help a lot, especially if it is a big performance and you have to do performance after performance because it can be easy for you to loose or damage your voice. Your voice is your main tool as an actor so you have to look after it just as you would with your body so that it can convey tone, pitch, projection and carry emotion. The vocal exercise made my throat feel clear and soothed.


Status:
Status is the social rank of a person, whether that be high (e.g a rich person) or low (e.g a poor person) it can tell a story of how a character came about and where they came from.

My partner and I managed to successfully show status in the 'Hello' scene, we did this bused different tones, postures, gestures and showed our stage presence differently. My partner was very timid and shy, she did this by standing awkwardly and in doing so she talked awkwardly too. She also reacted with my facial expressions, for example if I gave her a dirty look she would then look down to the floor and there would be a small awkward silence. I was very confident and cocky, I didn't care what my partner had to say and I was rude. I did that by standing with my arms crossed and using a unimpressed tone.

Other pairs showed status successfully by doing similar things, some pairs used a posh voice which gave the impression that that person was of the higher status whilst others used pitch, such as a raised voice.

Sephy and Callum:
In the scene Callum had the higher status because he was ultimately right and he had the power to make Sephy feel bad even though at first it wasn't quite clear who was in control of the situation. Callums status was shown through Sephys reaction.

When my partner and I acted out the scene I chose to make Sephy feisty but also very pitiful and sympathetic, I did this by making my voice smooth and strong to start off with however as the scene progressed and Callum started to get angry with Sephy my voice became quieter, softer and a bit more coarse. My partner made his voice strong throughout the scene and raised it several times to show that he had the higher status. He also used multiple hand gestured and moved towards me as I slowly backed away from him, always keeping a safe distance.

My characters objective was to prove to Callum that she was innocent, that she wasn't to blame and that she just wanted him to forgive and forget. Her aim was for Callum to forgive her so that things could ultimately be back to the way they were. Knowing the aim helped me to play the character because I would think back to it and make sure my character was doing its best to reach its aim.

Overall:
During the lesson I developed a better understanding of how important vocal exercises are and what the consequences of not doing them could do.