Punk Rock Rehearsal Period

Punk Rock: The Rehearsal Period!

Punk Rock, isn’t like anything our group has done before. It’s very different, exciting and full of surprises. I think this play suits our class members as it has a variety of different complex characters that give us all a chance to really have something to work with. The first week we read through the script and I really liked Tanya and Cissy and these characters seemed to be personalities that I was drawn too. I really liked the Idea of playing Tanya, particularly for the end scene and she has to portray quite a serious amount of emotion. I saw this as a challenge I was eager to do. I would have been happy playing any of the girls but It just so happened that I was casted as Tanya anyway which I was quite pleased about.

Scene One & Week One:

The first week of rehearsals we started from the beginning with scene one. In this scene we meet all of the characters including the new girl lily. My characters reaction to Lily are a little different just like how everyone reacts to something new in the room. It's as if everyone is curious. As soon as I knew what character I was playing I decided to look into her a bit more. Everyone was required to write down a list of things particular to the character. We were asked to fill out a table including facts about our characters that are mentioned in the script, things she said about others and what others said about her, stage directions, and what she said about herself. I saw Tanya as quite a motherly character straight away so I started to take this on a bit more when it came to delivering the lines. I found it worked for some situations but in others it didn’t work so well and therefore I resorted to delivering them across as if she were trying to impress. Lines where I found it worked were when Tanya was trying to stick up for Chadwick and when she was standing up for Bennett. This Idea back fired a little when I realised that Bennetts lines push Tanya’s status back down and so I felt when I was doing this it wasn’t working so well and I was having difficulty with delivering some of the lines and getting them to sound right.

Scene One Recap & Scene Two:

 Luckily on the second week we started to get introduced to actioning and objectives. This helped me a lot because although naturally I was trying to think and place my characters thoughts in the right place, I didn’t actually know what actioning and objectives were but they made life easier. Actioning is where the actor finds a transitive verb to accompany every individual line. So from then on I actioned my scenes to make it easier, starting from scene 3. The verb we choose is to get the right reaction from the other actor for example;

Tanya ‘Leave him alone it’s boring’- I warn you

I used this verb because this is what I wanted Tanya to do to Bennett I wanted her to provoke a warning, although this doesn’t stop Bennett I felt like this is how the line should be delivered. We were asked to research actioning and I found a document on it called Max Stafford-Clark who we were advised to search for. This researched helped clear up what Adam meant by actioning. It introduced me to Units and Actioning.

I didn’t block anything in scene two as I wasn’t in these scenes, however I quite liked being able to watch the direction happening because this was the scene that we first used actioning and so it was helpful to be seen played out. It also showed how having a characters objectives worked out and their appropriate transitive verbs, to see the difference in the delivery of the lines. Also it’s interesting to know the characters thought processes.

Scene Two Recap & Scene Three:

Scene three gave me a chance to try out my objectives and actions.

Objectives written more clearly from one of the pictures in scene three:

Tanya wants to Marry Mr Anderson.
 Tanya wants to have his children.
Tanya wants to impress the girls.

Other objectives used for Tanya:




Tanya wants to stick up for Chadwick (short term) (maybe even long term)

Tanya wants to belittle Bennett ( short term)
Tanya wants to exit the room (short term)
Tanya wants to get good grades (long term)
Tanya wants to see Mr Anderson (short term)
Tanya wants to be seen as the mature one (short term)
Tanya wants to stand up to Bennett (short term)

Scene Three Recap & Scene Four:

Scene three was a more challenging scene as it was hard to get the pace up as we were still on book when blocking the scene. This was challenging for everyone. I found it useful to go over lines when other casts were running scenes to get off book quicker in these situations. Being able to understand peoples thought processes in this scene helped a lot, but juggling this with trying to action, keep the pace, provoke a reaction from the other characters was definitely a challenge for me and most of the 

other cast.

Scene Six:

Scene six was a very intense scene to block and run. It required us actors to try and portray a realistic reaction for when William pulls out a gun in the middle of a classroom and is talking like a crazy person. Obviously and fortunately none of us have been in this situation before and so trying to create a naturalistic performance of this came as quite a challenge but one we were all eager to try. I loved creating this scene and I felt it really gave me a chance to go for it, it felt powerful and I could sense that what all of us were doing was creating the atmosphere we wanted to achieve. This scene did require some work with breathing, all about trying to trigger the tears with the breath and the tensing of the stomach. 

Summary:

I think the rehearsal period allowed me to pin point my strengths and weaknesses each week, showed me that trial and error was normal and it's all about practicing to make progress and it also opened my eyes to a new way of being able to relate to the character and becoming that character. I'm looking forward to playing the role of Tanya, as I'm eager to see what all of the in depth research in to her life will bring in a full run of the performance. I think things I'd like to work on are getting off book quicker in order for me to progress quicker, and understand the thoughts easier without the blockage of reading off a page. I was happy with my progress in class though as I feel like the work I have put in with the character really helped benefit my performance. 

Break A Leg !

Character Study (Tanya)

Character Study on Tanya Gleason

By Charlie-Rose Lane

Name: Tanya Gleason

Age: 17 nearly 18

Place Set: In a Grammar School in Stockport

The first time we see Tanya is when she walks into the library to meet Lily who is sat with William, Cissy, Bennett and Nicholas. Tanya first enters flustered and annoyed and we see this expressed in a mild aggressive way when she comes across Lily, who has also helped build up the tension inside because Tanya has had to run around looking for her even if it's not something she wanted to do, and therefore with the year sevens having annoyed her it is quite clear she hasn't had the best of mornings. I think this shows that Tanya has a sensitive side even if it comes across in an aggressive tone when she has to deal with it.

Tanya has a serious crush on Mr. Anderson, which the others just seem to think it's mild; I think Tanya actually devotes her mind to him. In scene four I think she describes it in a way to make the girls think that she and he are a possibility although it’s most likely it never will be. I think Tanya does not want to be seen as the fat one, and so instead adopts the characteristic of the motherly one. I think everyone has something they want to be seen as but often doesn't have a choice in the stereotypical name they are given. Cissy for example wants to be liked and wants to be seen as the popular one, I think she tries and achieves this by having a high status boyfriend and keeping in the good books of other people like Tanya so it's easy to use the personal information they tell her against them or for her personal use.

Tanya puts on a strong front and often sticks up for other people. I think this allows us to see that she believes in equality, sticks up for people when they are being bullied and that her heart is in the right place. I think Tanya is a genuinely nice person who doesn't like it when people are upset. She tries her hardest to balance her sensitivity with real life issues. As well as being seen as the motherly one I think Tanya wants to be seen as the mature one. She seems to be the only one trying to stop the negativity at times whilst everyone seems to stand around and watch. I think she wants this status game to stop. I don't believe she's afraid of Bennett and often tries to stand up for herself but I do think she is wary of him. Tanya takes it to heart when Bennett calls her fat, probably because she thinks it’s true. Girls have enough problems when it comes to worrying about their appearance let alone when people like Bennett announce it to everyone who she has to see on a regular basis. I think she is more humiliated than anything.

Relationships with other characters:

Cissy: Cissy is Tanya's best friend but Cissy has upset Tanya a few times due to her gossiping traits. In scene one we see the first glimpse of this when Cissy has told her boyfriend Bennett about Tanya's biggest secret and fantasy which includes her being married to Mr Anderson and having his children as expressed more clearly between the girls in scene 3.

Lily: Lily is the new girl at the beginning but later becomes good friends with Tanya. Tanya being the friendly and mature one easily accepts Lily and looks after her.

Nicholas: Tanya isn't really close with him, just mutual friends.

Bennett: Bennett is not exactly friends with Tanya. I think they are mutual most of the time but they both get on each other’s nerves. I think Tanya has to put up with him because of Cissy but in the same time doesn't let him walk all over her and therefore gets her own back and suggests hints of knowledge about him she has gained from Cissy and tries playing him at his own game.

Chadwick: Tanya likes him as a friend, and looks out for him.

Costume:

I think Tanya Gleason wants secretly, maybe not as much as Cissy but enough to fit in. I think she would be the sort of girl to wake up an hour early to do her hair and make-up although I think her hair would be natural and easy her make up would have more effort done. I think she wants to look effortless without looking like she's made the effort. I think she would wear a nice coat on top of her basic uniform, have a nice handbag and wear patterned tights. I think she would have a item of jewelry that she always wears for example a necklace or a ring.

Things I think Tanya does which aren't specific in the text....

Tanya is probably the girl who goes home and eats loads at night, and doesn't eat during the day due to the fact she doesn't want people to think of her as the fat one. I think this wouldn't help her with her weight but she thinks as long as no one see's her eat it will be okay. I think this theory works because in scene 3, Cissy and Lily are seen eating on stage and Tanya does not eat. I think Tanya tried her hardest to make it seem she's healthy, for example when she says the line 'I think that's really dangerous, human beings have to eat, it's one of the things we do, five pieces and fruits and veg a day, thirty minutes exercise three times a week'. This seems as if she is trying to explain that she eats, but is healthy and does exercise. 

I think she is the sort of girl who would pretend she's reading so it makes her look smart but actually is just skiming the pages thinking of something else.