Evaluation of the Performance of Hedda Gabler

To enable my actors voices to travel within the university theatre I chose to do a set of vocal warm exercises prior to the exam, this was in our favour as we were one of the first groups to perform.

The performance itself was enjoyable to watch as a director as I knew that the actors knew what they were doing. They both embodied the characters well and used all the character work they had worked on during the rehearsal period. Both actors really went for it during the performance and they received laughs from the audience where we wanted them to laugh. This was due to the fact that we worked continuously on lines and their meaning so that we could bring them to life.

As well as this the proxemics enabled the actors to highlight the awkwardness within the scene which added to the comedy. I think the actors were grateful that they had a director as it was clear when watching others performed that everyone needed someone to step back and highlight what could be improved and worked on.

The one thing that could have been worked on more in-depth is the character voice as both actors voices were lost in some parts of the scenes. I believe this was down to nerves however it did not effect the entire performance as a whole.

1 on 1 with Ellie - 25th April

This was to be our final rehearsal before the performance on 29th April. I was confident with what Chess was doing but made Ellie come to university for an hour so we could work on her diction and stage voice.

At first I recorded her normally saying the lines and then I played it back to her. This way she spotted for herself what we meant about losing the end of her lines and how soft her voice was.

I asked her if she had ever done singing lessons before and she said that she had, therefore I told her to use her diaphragm to help support her voice when she is performing. We did a few breathing exercises to get her working her diaphragm and then I asked her to warm her face up with stretches. Through this process I could immediately see how telling her to use her diaphragm to project had helped and I made her over enunciate her words so that the ends of them were not lost.

I filmed her once again and it was amazing how in just half an hour she had changed her diction and tone completely. It was then that I noticed we had to have a vocal warm up before both of them perform. Therefore I said that I wanted them to be both in an hour before the performances started to have a warm up and run the scene through a few times.

I made sure that both Ellie and Chess were confident in what they were doing as we were not going to be able to rehearse again all together until the day.

Performance in Class Time 22nd April

Unfortunately due to other commitments I had not been able to meet up with the girls prior to their performance in front of the class before their exam the next week. I bought in a variety of props for them so that the class could see how the scene runs and how naturalistic the scene is.

During the performance I noted that Ellie's stage voice was very quiet and especially quiet if in the following week we were to perform in the university theatre. Compared to Chess I could not hear what Ellie was saying and realised that we had to work on her diction as well as her tone and pitch.

I think that the actors were fairly nervous when performing but they did not need to be as we had rehearsed so many times before. The blocking needed to be looked over as it was quite clumsy and the moments in which they drink their tea to highlight the awkward silences needed to be changed.

As a general viewpoint though I still felt that the actors could really give more to their characters so I told them that I really want to see jealousy from Hedda and I want to see the desperation when Mrs Elvstead is talking about her husband and her admiration for Lovbourg.

Once again due to timetable clashes I would only be able to work 1 on 1 with Ellie to perfect her stage voice. I told Chess that I want her to go back over the character parallels and re visit the lines with it again.

Rehearsal Sunday 14th April

This was our first rehearsal since the Easter break however, I could tell that both girls had really worked on their lines and built their characters further. They were a lot more comfortable in the role so I felt confident when they were performing it.

I still felt as though their gestures were a little lazy and the scene was dull without them so I stopped them whenever I felt this and made them start again. This was a good technique as I began to see the evil intent in Hedda's eyes and the vulnerability and desperation in Mrs Elvstead. To highlight Hedda's malicious mind set I decided to make Ellie stir the tea whilst she was asking Mrs Elvstead questions; it was a metaphor for stirring trouble up.

Overall I felt that the actors had really progressed over the Easter break and I felt confident with them performing. However, in the class the next day they wanted to perform the week after to give themselves an extra advantage and find out what we had to work on in the following week.

Rehearsal 24th March

This was our last rehearsal before Easter and it was important to let the actors know what I wanted from them after Easter. We created a props list and split the cost of everything that we needed to get equally. As well as this I told them the style of costume I wanted them to bring back with them.

For Hedda: Long skirt with heeled boots, ruffled shirt with long sleeves and possibly a corset underneath. It was very important to also highlight that Ellie would need to tie her hair back due to the period in which this scene was set.

For Mrs Elvstead: Long skirt with flat boots, shirt with a plain black cardigan on and due to Chess's posture I definitely wanted her in a corset. Mrs Elvstead would not have been seen as the same social class as Hedda as she married into an already well to do family. Mrs Elvstead was her husbands mistress however his wife got taken sick and so Mrs Elvstead then became mother to her step-children. I want this to show not only through the acting but show through costume too. Her costume will not be as smart as Hedda's.

As the holidays were three weeks long I wanted the actors to have learnt their lines by the time we got back and this was so that we could introduce props into the scene.

Rehearsal 17th March

I was much happier this week with the feedback that we received from the class. It was clear that the actors had worked exceptionally hard but there were a few minor things that we needed to work on before the Easter break.

For example; Chess was told that her posture needs to improve so therefore I told her to go away from the rehearsal room and pretend that their was a piece of string holding her from the top of her head and stretching her out. As well as this I told the actors that I wanted them to wear corsets underneath their costumes. Not only would this make it more naturalistic it would also naturally help their posture especially when sitting down.

It was said that the tension was still not all there so I felt like the actors needed to let go. It could have been due to the fact that they were nervous however, I knew that they could really highlight the awkwardness not only through the lines but through their bodies too.
When Hedda realises that she used to pick on Mrs Elvstead I wanted this moment to be humorous yet quite awkward. Therefore after Mrs Elvstead states that Hedda said she would burn her hair off I made Ellie dramatically laugh it off. Just as when Hedda gets Mrs Elvstead's name wrong. Being the character with the higher authority but getting things wrong is not something that Hedda would normally do however, under the awkward tension she is. It was important to highlight this as I believe that this play can get a few laughs from the audience even though it is said to be a tragedy.

Rehearsal 10th March

After a performance in class I was asked to work and push the actors on the tension within the scene. With that in mind we ran the scene a few times so I could make notes and during this time I really felt like they were not letting go.

Due to this I made each of them sit alone and come up with an emotional parallel to every line that they speak. I wanted them to think about gesture, emotion and tone in their voice to make it more believable. I wanted for Ellie to make Hedda a lot more malicious in her ways and for Chess to create Mrs Elvstead to be naïve and vulnerable.

After this they both came back together and let go of any inhibitions that they once had towards the script. At first they did not want to do it as they were hesitant on letting go of their emotions, however with the strong emotional parallels it made the tension clearer which is what we needed for our scene.

Due to the era of the play women did have to be a lot more reserved in their manners so making them give it all in the rehearsal room was a good way of naturally getting gestures and emotion and then we could draw them back in and make them more subtle. It is easier for an actor to withdraw than it is to let go.

Rehearsal Sunday 3rd March

As it was very difficult to find time to rehearse, I had been working on an idea for set and blocking over the week so that I was prepared when going into the rehearsal room and I knew what I wanted.

I decided the set would be a naturalistic lounge setting, with an armchair, sofa, coffee table and sideboard behind the chairs. Whilst reading through the play I kept highlighting this sense of tension so therefore I felt that to cover the awkward silences we needed to introduce something for the characters to do instead of just talk to one another. Therefore I suggested that they drink tea during the conversation, with Hedda almost forcing the tea on Mrs Elvstead to make her stay and tell her all of the gossip.

When we all got into the rehearsal room I noticed Ellie and Chess had both been working on their character parallels as they appeared much more comfortable than they had last week. As they both felt confident with their parallels we began to block, it is a very difficult scene to stage due to the fact that neither character moves a lot. Yet, I kept reminding the actors of the tension between the characters within the scenes so that the movements on stage and the proximity could represent that.

I told the actors of my ideas towards them drinking tea throughout the scene. At first they seemed a little bit reluctant to it however, I told them that when they get to know the script more these added stage directions would come naturally. With this in mind we went through the script a few more times so that they could write down stage directions and get to know the play further.

Rehearsal- 24th February

Having sent the actors away to work on their character breakdowns I thought it were wise that we met up for a rehearsal.
To enable the actors to apply their feelings to the script I made them walk around the space envisioning the character's world; their past, present and future. I wanted them to really become the character and for them to think about this it then made the character their own.
After this we then came back together and discussed individually their character breakdowns.

Hedda: Ellie decided that Hedda was a fairly jealous character as well as nosey. For this to work she had to really commit to the character as she was fairly reserved during rehearsal to open up about her past.

Mrs Elvstead: Chess on the other hand felt that the character of Mrs Elvstead was being bullied and she was not in control. Later Chess revealed that she had been bullied at a previous work place and felt victimised.

Eventually both of the actors came out of their shells and worked on characterisation along side the script.

After this I told the actors to re-do the exercise of answering each others line with the same line that had just been spoken. I believe it really helped the actors not only learn their lines but it made the conversation more natural as they really had to think about what they were answering and their response.

As the play is set in Oslo I did not want the actors to try a Norwegian accent so I set the scene in 1890's Britain. To get the typically British tone in their voice I asked them to read their lines through in a common accent. This was to balance the correct accent I did not want the girls to be melodramatic however I did not want them to speak their lines in their normal register.

Rehearsals Within Class Time

Today we carried out an exercise in class which got my actors working together to make the scene appear more naturalistic. My actors were labelled A and B and B had to repeat all of A's line then follow this with their response to the previous line. This continued until we had reached the final line of the scene.
From a directors perspective it highlighted the two different emotions which appear within the scene. At first the conversation appears fairly light-hearted with each character making small talk. However, as the scene develops Hedda becomes a lot more interfering and asks very personal questions in relation to Mrs Elvstead's personal life. At this point the awkward small talk vanishes and the questions begin to flow more naturally as Hedda knows what she wants.

After this exercise we developed further and read through the script with no emotion at all. We all noticed that when doing this it created a hidden awkward sub text. As Hedda and Mrs Elvstead are only acquaintances it seems strange as to why these two people would be upholding such a long conversation. As Hedda wants to find out information from Mrs Elvstead this makes the conversation more forced and it carries on for much longer than it should.
This gave me the idea that we could really play on the awkward silences between lines and even have the characters doing other things than just concentrating on the conversation alone.

The Theatre Whisperer was the next exercise and I found this difficult as a director to control. As my actors had only recently received their final script it was tricky to get into the characters minds and say the lines that they would normally say. The actors job was to stay focussed and respond to what the theatre whisperer would tell them. The whisperer would have their script and tell them to do things in keeping with their characters. It was a good way of getting to see how others responded to instruction and gave my actors ideas as to how they could physicalize their character.

The best exercise of the day was the proximity test. In the first exercise the scene was spoken with the actors talking face to face with no other movement. It certainly showed that we needed movement, no necessarily a lot but we wanted to not make the scene just a typical boring conversation.
The next exercise was back to back where the actors faced away from one another. It was difficult for the actors as there were many other groups in the room. However, as we will be performing in the university theatre it was important that we did this exercise to work on clarity, pitch and timing. I also liked this symbolic staging as at one point in our scene Hedda cannot look at Mrs Elvstead in the eye as Mrs Elvstead is suspicious and Hedda is the guilty party. During this part of the scene I want to stage it so that Hedda is behind Mrs Elvstead unable to settle and cannot sit near her or even look at her for a long period of time.
Walking around the space made it appear more of a confrontation rather than a light hearted chat which the scene initially is.

It is definitely important to understand the proximity on stage as it can change the whole meaning of the scene.
Initially I felt that my actors were hesitant to the idea of having a director but after doing this exercise I believe that they feel that having an extra pair of eyes looking in on the scene it will help them with the smaller things, such as proxemics and voice.
With this in mind I sent my actors away to work on character breakdowns so that we could begin to rehearse during the next meet up.

Rehearsal 3rd Febuary 2013

During this rehearsal period I thought it best that we did not rush straight into blocking and rehearsing for the final performance. I told the group of the research that I had conducted prior to the rehearsal:

Naturalistic Theatre was helping equality between male and female worlds. Male playwrights were voicing the opinions of women who would not necessarily been able to speak out for themselves; women felt trapped and envied the world in which men lived. "What gives naturalistic plays historical status is not the number, or even the centrality of female characters, but the way female experience is presented." (A Source Book on Naturalistic Theatre: 2000: 18) Many women within the 1890's were writing plays however none were ever published or staged. This "reflects the reality of gender inequality in the period and even more ironically it is an illustration that men felt it right to speak for and define women." (A Source Book on Naturalistic Theatre: 2000: 19)

"The defining moment of naturalistic drama is the slamming of the door, as Nora leaves her husband at the end of 'A Doll's House.' (A Source Book on Naturalistic Theatre: 2000: 20)
Even though we are performing a scene from 'Hedda Gabler' we all knew the play 'A Doll's House' well and I wanted for us to remember throughout the rehearsal process of the importance of the Naturalistic Theatre movement, in terms of us being female students now and in terms of their individual characters within the scene.

After discussing our information we went onto adapting our script. As there is only two actors we wanted to cut Mr. Tesman's lines completely. This was in keeping with the idea of women being the stronger sex and being able to express their opinions without a man present. However, this task was quite difficult as Tesman breaks up the conversation. We wanted to use the information that Tesman gave within his lines so we then had to weave his lines into the lines of Hedda and Mrs Elvstead. After a long period of time we managed to create a cohesive script and I was confident in the fact that the actors could now part and begin to learn their lines.

Innes, C (2000). A Source Book on Naturalist Theatre. Oxon: Routledge. 18-20.

Final Performance Project- 'Hedda Gabler' Ibsen

Due to illness I had not been to class the previous week so missed out on the opportunity of selecting a play which I knew a lot about and could see myself either performing or directing in. At a request I chose to direct the group that I was in and they had already chosen and selected scenes from 'Hedda Gabler' by Henrik Ibsen.

'Hedda Gabler' was first published in Norway during the year 1890. Most of Ibsen's plays are "beyond all social radicalism, defend feminism, contain free thought, and free love..." (Ibsen's Drama: Right Action and Tragic Joy: 1996: vii) and this is what makes him one of the most notorious playwrights of all time. Throughout the play Hedda must keep her former life with Eilert Lovbourg a secret from her husband as they are rivals in the literary field. As well as this Mrs Elvstead, an acquaintance of Hedda, has also taken an interest into Eilert. When Eilert loses his manuscript for his new book he confesses to Hedda that it is lost and he does not know what to do. Hedda has the manuscript but instead of telling him this she says that the best way to end all of his troubles is to commit suicide. He follows her instruction but in a turn of events he does not have a peaceful suicide in which Hedda wished he had. To make matters worse one of Eilert's friends knows the origin of the pistol and he has gained power over her. Towards the end of the play Hedda takes a pistol and shoots herself in the head, her husband (Tesman), Eilert's friend and Mrs Elvstead find Hedda's body. The role of Hedda Gabler is considered to be, by critics, one of the most dramatic characters in theatre. In many productions Hedda can be seen as a heroic feminist or a manipulative, evil villain.

Reading through the script with the group I can see why Hedda can be resembled to both character traits as she wants to find out information with regards to Mrs Elvstead and Eilert Lovbourg without her own secret becoming clear. As well as this she is a strong woman and the audience can see this in the title alone. Hedda is a married woman but has not changed her name, Ibsen did this and said: "My intention in giving it this name was to indicate that Hedda as a personality is to be regarded rather as her father's daughter than her husband's wife." (Fiend or Heroine?: 2006) With this in mind I wanted Ellie to play Hedda as she is a much stronger character and I can see her being able to relate to situations quickly to a time when she has had to think like Hedda. The other character in the scene is Mrs Elvstead who unlike Hedda has always been controlled by men, but in Ibsen's plays this is not allowed, so she has recently left her husband to find Lovbourg. Chess will be playing Mrs Elvstead a nervous and shy character but has come out fighting after leaving her husband.

As Ibsen's plays are full of stage directions I believe that the movement shall come quite naturally whereas thinking about the context of the play will be quite complex. As a director I must fully understand the context of the play and the time in which it was written in. During this period it was predominantly male playwrights voicing the opinion of strong minded women therefore it highlights "the intrinsic connection between Naturalism and the movement for female emancipation." (A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre: 2000: 19) Playing on Ibsen's strong feminist views I want the women of my piece to play their roles with this in mind so this is what we shall be working on in rehearsals.

Innes, C (2000). A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. Oxon: Routledge. 19.

Theoharis, C (1996). Ibsen's Drama: Right Action and Tragic Joy. Hampshire: Macmillan Press.
Sanders, T. (2006). Fiend or Heroine?. Available: http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/staffhome/trsanders/units/modern_drama/hedda_gabler.html. Last accessed 1st Feb 2013.

Film Discussion Paper 3- Method or Madness?

For this discussion piece review 2 of the following performances and research the actors' approach to these roles: Christian Bale 'The Machinist' and Rooney Mara in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.’ Discuss your thoughts on whether the acting approach went too far or not, and why you think this.

Throughout the process of filming 'The Machinist' Christian Bale lost 5 stone. In an interview with the BBC Christian Bale states that he took inspiration from a "picture of Hank Williams when he was 29 but looked more like a 50 year old man." (Christian Bale interview: The Machinist: 2004) He stuck the photo to the front of the script and went onto perfecting the look of a weak and skinny man that stared at him every day during the film. Christian Bale lived off a diet of apples and coffee for four months meaning his intake in calories was 275 per day. He was regularly assessed by a nutritionist and half way through his process of losing weight he was told that he had reached a satisfactory healthy weight, in reply to this Bale said; "You know what? I can go more than this. I can keep going." So I lost another 20 pounds below what she said I should stop at." (Christian Bale interview: The Machinist: 2004) In my opinion, originally Christian Bale was using a method to lose weight as he had a clear guideline from industry professionals in relation to his health. However, losing a further 20 pounds can be seen as madness as I believe he took it to far and risked his health and therefore his life. Following on through his interview for the BBC when asked was it difficult to put the weight back on Bale replied; "my metabolism had to get back up to speed, because my heart had got used to a whole different way of living for some time." (Christian Bale interview: The Machinist: 2004)

Not only has Christian Bale put his body through intense change the actress Rooney Mara, who plays Lisbeth in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, physically exerted herself too for the role. Before the role Rooney Mara was labelled as ‘the girl next door’ however the character of Lisbeth made her change dramatically. In an interview before the film was shot Rooney Mara was told by the director that she had to become the character of Lisbeth; “You're going to have to learn how to smoke, 'You're going to have to ride a motorcycle. You're going to have to be naked. You're going to have to, you know, do these horrible rape scenes. You're going to have to perfect the accent. You're going to have to go off and really sort of be alone for an entire year.” (Rooney Mara: A 'Dragon' Lady Down To The Core: 2011) With this in mind Rooney Mara began the process of becoming Lisbeth and in an interview Mara said that it was easier going into the character than coming out of it; "my body was physically just throwing Lisbeth out." (Rooney Mara: A ‘Dragon’ Lady Down To The Core: 2011) Rooney Mara stated that she would have to leave photo shoots and press releases just to vomit due to the extent that she put her body through throughout the process. I believe that Rooney Mara’s process went too far as she was physically exhausted by the end of the role. To this day her look has still changed and many people wonder whether or not she has ever returned to her mental and physical state before she became Lisbeth. "I felt as though it was much harder to come out of it than it was to go into it. Going into it was really easy for me." (Rooney Mara: A ‘Dragon’ Lady Down To The Core: 2011)

Both Rooney Mara and Christian Bale physically exhausted their bodies putting great strain upon them. In my eyes it is a very dedicated way to come into a role however, ignoring professional advice can lead to their method turning to an obsessive madness.

Applebaum, S. (2004). Christian Bale interview: The Machinist (2004) . Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/christian-bale/pages/machinist.shtml. Last accessed 11th Jan 2013.

Block, M. (2011). Rooney Mara: A 'Dragon' Lady Down To The Core. Available: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/14/143727517/rooney-mara-discusses-dragon-tattoo. Last accessed 15th Jan 2013.

Streetcar Named Desire Blanche Monologue He Was a Boy

The monologue that I have chosen to perform is from 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennessee Williams. It is an extract from the play where Blanche tells Mitch that she used to be in love and how she lost him.
Using the skills I have learnt so far I have come up with a table of how I can indirectly relate the themes of this monologue to my own life to convey a truthful performance and show what I have learnt this far.

The link below shows the monologue during the film version of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGttPdMEBOo

Unit Description	Want/ Objective	Emotion	Emotional Parallel	Tactics and Physical Action
During this monologue Blanche is with Mitch alone on their outing. She tells Mitch of how she has been in love only once before and how that love sadly ended so quickly.   Not only is she talking to Mitch she is talking to the audience too. She almost forgets that Mitch is there.	Due to the amount of guilt Blanche feels she wants to confess to Mitch to the suicide of Alan.   She moved to New Orleans to forget her past but her friendship with Mitch keeps reminding her. She wants to feel wanted and loved like how she used to feel when she was with Alan.	Guilt: “unable to stop myself -- I'd suddenly said -- "I saw! I know! You disgust me ..." After saying this Alan shot himself.                                       A sense of loneliness and the need to feel wanted:  “the boy I had married and an older man who had been his friend for years ... Afterward we pretended that nothing had been discovered.”                                                           Helplessness:  “all I knew was I'd failed him in some mysterious way and wasn't able to give the help he needed but couldn't speak of!”	Guilt:  During my school years I always used to lie to my parents as to where I was going and who I was with. When I got home my mum used to question me on where I was and how my day had been. She always knew that I was lying as when I feel guilty I cannot look at anyone and I become red faced and hot. My heart beats very quickly and I rush what I am saying to get away from the situation.   Loneliness and the need to feel wanted: I am still very good friends with an ex-boyfriend of mine but he cheated on me. He still pays me quite a lot of attention but I know he shouldn’t. As I feel lonely quite often I use this attention and it makes me feel wanted even though I know it is wrong. I become a lot happier and it makes me feel confident. Instantly my body language changes and it makes me want to do more when I hear from him. Everyone comments on how much happier I am. However, in the back of my mind the expressions I give when I feel guilty slowly come creeping back.   Helplessness: Similar to guilt but it makes someone feel useless and pathetic. A time when this feeling occurred was when I had an operation and I couldn’t do anything for myself. I got frustrated and very bored quickly and would snap at the people who were helping me. I remember my fists would clench a lot to help me not lose my temper.	As the monologue is a memory being replayed in Blanche’s mind it is important to show her thought process. This can be done by knowing the monologue as if it were your own and saying it as if you were thinking of it. I have to picture the monologue in my head as if it were my own memory to make the performance believable.   As well as this I have to work on bringing my own memories and therefore gestures into the piece.   At the start of the play Blanche is a very confident woman however during this monologue, as it is a painful memory, I believe that I have to show fragility and weakness as she is opening up to Mitch when she knows she just wants to escape her past.   To add the correct emotion into the piece I must show Blanche’s weakness not only through stance but as well as physical emotion. If the emotion builds up I will be able to cry on stage so this is what I need to work on during the rehearsal process.

 Due to illness I was unable to perform my monologue. I was frustrated with myself as I had taken the time to get into the character of Blanche and relate it to all the exercises which we have been learning throughout this process. I hope to be able to apply my characterisation skills into other projects which I shall be working on during the rest of this year.