Business

HIRE SEVICES                                                    

National Theatre Prop and Costume Hire

WHAT DO THEY DO?

National Theatre prop and costume hire department offers thousands of beautifully crafted costumes, furniture, props, armour and swords from past National Theatre productions. The majority of their collection is made in the National’s renowned workshops, which makes each piece unique and of the highest quality.

WHAT ARE THEIR AIMS?

They aim to help create an authentic image for performers/theatre companies on stage with their props and costumes ‘We offer our services for TV, film and theatre productions, to photographers wanting to re-create and authentic image, act as an extensive resource for schools and colleges, amateur societies and just for fun when planning fabulous fancy dress costumes.’

WHAT SERVICES DO THEY PROVIDE?

·         They regularly supply schools and colleges with items of props and costumes for their productions.

·         Teachers and designers will find stock accessible and well categorised for easy selection.

·         Assistance if necessary whilst picking ensemble.

·         They have a highly-skilled makers which are experts at creating fantastical props that are not quite what they seem.

BENEFITS

·         There hire fees are very competitive, offering educational discounts and a sliding scale for longer hires.

·         It is easy to get there and they have a customer parking bays and are situated only two minutes from the Oval tube station.

·         The Costume and Prop Hire stores are located on ground floor level, so easy access if needed.

·         They have free customer parking

·         Only 2 minute walk from the tube station so it’s easy to travel there.

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS

Travelex- The national Theatre’s partnership with Travelex means that almost half the seats for a range of new productions are £12. (They are sponsored by them)

Why I have the National Theatre Prop and Costume hire?

                                                                                                              

They offer a whole variety and range of props and costumes so the theatre could just get all the props and costume from this one place, also it is easy to get to as it is near to central London and it is only a two minute walk from the tube station and it’s on the Northern Line. The prices seems responsible to compared to other hire companies.

WHICH MEMBER OF STAFF FROM YOUR COMPANY STRUCTURE WOULD NORMALLY LIAISE WITH THIS COMPANY/ ORGANISATION?

I feel that the staff that would be in contact with the costume and prop hire would be set designers and costume designers because they will inform what props and want and they are in charge of set design and costume.

FLINT HIRE & SUPPLY LTD

WHAT DO THEY DO?

Flints are the major retailer of theatrical goods in the UK. They sell theatre hardware and paints to Stage Managers, Production Managers, Workshop Managers, Scenic Artists, Engineers, Carpenters, Painters and Prop makers.

WHAT ARE THEIR AIMS?

Flints are the major retailer of theatrical goods in the UK. Our buying power allows us to pass on excellent value to our customers and our unrivalled experience ensures that the products we stock are perfectly suited to the industry.

SERVICES of FLINT HIRE & SUPPLY LTD?

·         Scenic Ironmongery & Rigging

·         Painters & Props

·         Tools, Safety and Access

·         Tools and Craft/Materials to build a set.

BENEFITS of Flint Hire and Supply LTD?

·         The shipping costs its worked out automatically

·         Good guarantee if goods are not in good condition they will exchange or return the money back.

·         They back order if your item is not in stock so you get it as soon as possible.

·         On street parking

·         Lots of public transport and bus routes to the hire shop

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

They are linked to the Marine industry ‘Much of the equipment is used in theatres such as ropes and pulleys, are sourced from the marine industry.’ They also sell these companies products- ‘Epifanes products and Jenny Brushes and rollers. We are authorised distributors of Festoll Power Tools, SATA spray equipment and Purdy Brushes plus we stock Liros Rope and Barton Pulleys. Flints are also a major supplier of Froth Pak spray applied polyurethane foam.

WHY DID I CHOOSE THEM?

They have lots of tools and equipment to buy to build set and for safety purposes, this could be cheaper than getting someone to make set or buy props in. They are also located in London so it’s a central area to go to.

WHICH MEMBER OF STAFF FROM YOUR COMPANY STRUCTURE WOULD NORMALLY LIAISE WITH THIS COMPANY/ ORGANISATION? I feel like stage managers, and set designers would be in contact with this hire company as they have got a lot of tools to do with safety so that would be the stage managers jobs but then they have creative stuff like paints and materials to create a set and that is to do with the set designer.

KEELEY HIRE

WHAT DO THEY DO?

Keeley hire provides props for movies, TV series, Stage productions, School Plays, Events, Weddings, Parties and Shop displays.

AIMS?

They aim to be the best prop providers in the uk providing for many events and well known associates. ‘Major property suppliers for over 40 years to the Film, Television, Theatre and Theme Event industry. Founded in the late 1830’s.

SERVICES?

·         Create and sell props for the arts industry and events

·         ships worldwide

·         They can recommend props for what you want to do.

BENEFITS of Keeley Hire?

·         Categorised themes so it’s easy to find what prop you want

·         Search bar so you can enter a keyword to find the props quicker

·         Online chat so you can enter a keyword to find the props quicker

·         Online chat so you can chat with a representative from Keeley Hire to see if the prop you need is in stock and to ask any other questions you need to be answered.

·         Props can be sent to any destination even out of the uk.

·         Provided for a lot of companies so you know they are reliable from their portfolio and feedback.

LINKS OF OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

Keeley Hire are not linked to any other organisations

WHY CHOOSE THEM?

Keeley hire offer a wide variety of props so its easy ti select what you want and the props are easily found due to the themes so you don’t need to waste time looking through all the props. Also I think it is handy how they have the live chat so if I needed any advice I can easily contact them.

The staff that would be in contact with Keeley hire would be stage management and set designer because set designer decides prop but they also need to cooperate with stage management about placing of the props and design.

WHICH IS THE BEST COMPANY?

I think the best choice of Hire Company, for a small scale company is The National Theatre Prop and Costume Hire because it has both props and costumes in one place suits easier to get them both from one company. Also I feel that the prices were cheaper there than the other hire companies. It’s also very central like the others but it was closer to a tubes station so it is easier to get there. Even though Keeley hire has a wide portfolio and has worked with well-known companies I also felt that the National Theatre was well known and is known to be extremely reliable. I liked the Flint Hire company but I felt they were more based around creating and making your own props and set instead of buying props that are set up and ready made so it’s easier and quicker therefore I think that the best hire company in my opinion is National Theatre Prop and Costume Hire.

UNIONS

EQUITY

WHAT DOES EQUITY DO?

Equity is the UK trade union for professional performers and creative practitioners. As a leading industry organisation, Equity is known and respected nationally and internationally for the work they do with, and on behalf of, their members working across all areas of the entertainment industry. Equity is the only UK Trade Union to represent artists from across the entire spectrum of arts and entertainment. Formed in 1930 by a group of West End of London performers, Equity quickly spread to encompass the whole range of professional entertainment.

WHAT ARE EQUITY’S AIMS?

Equity members form a cultural community that is of major importance to the UK in artistic, social and economic terms and Equity works to support them by negotiating their terms and conditions including fee structures with all kinds of employers and employer’s groups. Our 5,000 Student Members are also able to access information and advice to help prepare them for work in the industry.

The central activity of Equity is to negotiate minimum terms and conditions of employment throughout the entire world of entertainment and to endeavour to ensure these take account of social, economic and technological changes. We look to the future by negotiating employment agreements that embrace new and emerging technologies so satellite, digital television, new media, mobisodes, internet only productions, podcasting  and so on are all covered, as are the more traditional areas.

SERVICES OF EQUITY?

Today our membership includes actors, singers, dancers, choreographers, stage managers, theatre directors and designers, variety and circus artists, television and radio presenters, walk-on and supporting artists, models, stunt performers and directors and theatre fight directors.

Equity provides a wide range of services for members and so with Equity membership comes a host of benefits which are continually being revised and developed.

Benefits and Services:

·         The Equity website is a resource for all of those involved with the entertainments industry.

·         Minimum terms and conditions across the entertainment industry and guidelines for work in areas where there are no representative bodies.

·         Being a member makes a positive statement about your commitment to your vocation and your place in the industry.

·         Your Equity card is a universally recognised symbol of your status as a professional.

·         We represent members individually or collectively in disputes with employers.

·         They advise members and/or their agents whether it be about contracts and conditions for working in the UK or overseas or areas of the business that are new to you. Your local Equity branch can also be of help in some matters.

·         Successful national and international lobbying of employers, governments and other bodies on a wide range of issues that affect you and the industry.

·         Each year Equity distributes hundreds of thousands of pounds in payments for use of members’ work in television and film re-runs, sales of DVDs, videos and audio recordings, e.g. cast albums.

·         Equity provides an equity bullying line, if you are being bullied at work you can contact this line.

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

·         BABMAN

·         Amnesty

·         British Copyright Council

·         BECS

·         BPI

·         CDT

·         CC skills

·         Co-operative Personal Management Association

STAFF

The union has a team of full-time staff in offices across the UK who have a wealth of experience and expertise when it comes to advice and representation. They are able to deal with the issues raised by members working in all areas of the industry whether it be a major feature film, a theatre in education show, radio voice overs, a circus act or any other live or recorded work.

WHY I CHOOSE EQUITY?

Equity seems like a professional well run and equipped union with easy access to information that could guide me to what services I require for my small scale company.

TMA

WHAT DO THEY DO?

‘UK Theatre is the UK’s leading membership organisation for theatre and the performing arts’. They offer about 5 types of different memberships.

WHAT ARE THEIR AIMS?

‘UK Theatre provides fantastic networking opportunities for performing arts professionals across the UK, hosting regional meetings as well as national events.’ A key aim for TMA is development.

WHAT SERVICES DO THEY PROVIDE?

TMA provide services from fantastic networking opportunities for performing arts professionals in the U.K, to courses that allow professionals in the industry to develop their skills.

·         Other services?

·         One to One legal advice

·         Software, database and system development

·         Licencing

·         Insurance facility

·         Employment opportunities

·         Family Arts Campaign

·         Technology ran services

·         Rates of pay

·         Contact services

Benefits

·         TMA run the only professional award scheme that recognizes in excellence.

·         Networking opportunities

·         Monitoring scheme

·         UK Theatre Magazine 

·         Regional meetings

·         A range of tailored packages to suit needs of member

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

TMA, has a magazine which advertises other organisations that will be of interest to professionals in the business. Other than that I cannot find any other links.

WHY HAVE I CHOSEN TMA?

TMA is a helpful guide, and I would find it easy and useful to work out the finances by using the rates of pay sections in order to work out the financial costs to put on my small scale production. I think the union provides helpful services and benefits and could benefit my production.

WHICH MEMBER OF STAFF FROM YOUR COMPANY STRUCTURE WOULD NORMALLY LIAISE WITH THIS COMPANY/ ORGANISATION?

I think the Director, Actors and Stage managers would liaise with this organisation. The rates of pay could benefit all of the listed staff, and the stage managers and directors could benefit from the provided insurance.

BECTU

WHAT DO THEY DO?

‘The union represents staff, contract and freelance workers who are based primarily in the United Kingdom.’

WHAT ARE THEIR AIMS?

They aim to provide services to benefit their members.

WHAT SERVICES DO THEY PROVIDE?

·         Benevolent Fund which provides the possibility of grants to members in financial difficulty.

·         See sections on Pensions and Tax and National Insurance.

·         Insurance services

·         Job finding services

·         Public liability service

·         Legal services

·         Pensions

·         Press passes

·         Tax and national insurance

BENEFITS

·         BFI Membership (saving £5)

·         Collecting Societies

·         Copyright

·         Death Benefit

·         Financial Services

·         Hearing Healthcare

·         Insurance Services

·         Job Finding Services

·         Legal Services

·         Pensions

·         Press Passes

·         Script Registration Service

·         Tax and National Insurance

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

·         Union Network International- UNI has more than 900 affiliated unions around the world.

·         General Federation of Trade Unions- GFTU is the UK federation for specialist unions.

·         Federation of Entertainment Unions- The FEU grouping consists of seven UK unions:

·         BECTU

·         Equity(representing actors)

·         Musicians Union

·         NUJ(National Union of Journalists)

·         Professional Footballers Association

·         Unite Amicus Section

·         Writers Guild of Great Britain

·         Labour Party - The political party which forms the current UK opposition.]

·         Young Members forum

·         Creative Tool Kit

·          

WHY HAVE I CHOSEN BECTU?

BECTU, is a very well ran and up to date resource centre, where I could easily find what I am looking for. It seems to be very large centred and offers a wide variety of services and benefits that I would look for, within my company. I like how I could get one to one help if I needed it.

WHICH MEMBER OF STAFF FROM YOUR COMPANY STRUCTURE WOULD NORMALLY LIAISE WITH THIS COMPANY/ ORGANISATION?

I think all members could benefit from this and or liaise with this company. Stage managers could easily find insurance tailored to fit their needs, although the actors would probably find this website a lot more useful because the services are mostly aimed at members.

WHICH IS THE BEST COMPANY?

I think that personally I would use Equity as it is more advanced than TMA but simpler than BECTU. I find Equity more appropriate for the size of the company and it seems to be easy to use, therefore it will be more convenient and less time consuming. Although the rates of pay section on the TMA website comes in handy I think Equity is the most trusted one to use.

VENUES

SPRING ARTS CENTRE HAVANT

WHAT DO THEY DO?

They provide a venue for small scale shows, cinema, movies, and music, visual arts programme theatre and a range of workshops for all ages. They also have a museum, café and shop.

WHAT ARE THEIR AIMS?

‘To provide quality entertainment, exhibitions and workshops for the local community in and around Havant, Hampshire. To provide good service and excellent educational opportunities in a space where the public can relax and enjoy themselves.’

WHAT SERVICES DO THEY PROVIDE?

·         Workshops

·         Adult Workshops

·         CRAFTS4KIDS

·         School and community workshops

·         One Off workshops

·         Holiday Workshops

·         Youth Performance

·         Independence Workshops

·         Membership

·         Venue Hire

·         Contact services

·         Book online help

BENEFITS

·         Café

·         Museum

·         Craft cabinet

·         Cinema

·         Workshops

·         Venue Hire

·         Comments and complaints section

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

·         Flint and Tinder design

WHY HAVE I CHOSEN SPRING ARTS CENTRE?

It is a local venue with a wide variety of facilities useful for the company. The venue gives the opportunity to put on the show, in a popular area, attracting new audiences, it has a café, and shop for the staff to use perhaps during breaks. It is also the appropriate size and easy to get too.

WHICH MEMBER OF STAFF FROM YOUR COMPANY STRUCTURE WOULD NORMALLY LIAISE WITH THIS COMPANY/ ORGANISATION?

The director and production manager would probably liaise with the company in order to sort out booking the venue for the possible and available dates. The centre has their own full set of staff to help.

THE MAYFLOWER SOUTHHAMPTON

WHAT DO THEY DO?

‘The Mayflower Theatre is a registered charity which receives no funding from external bodies. We rely entirely on what we earn through ticket sales activities.’

The Mayflower Theatre is a venue for shows such as musicals, small scale to large scale productions, puppet shows, children’s entertainment to putting on movies.

The Mayflower has even toured before.

WHAT ARE THEIR AIMS?

·         ‘To preserve and maintain this thriving theatre for the local community and support drama, dance and opera in Hampshire by the provision of quality products’

·         To increase the security of the theatre by increasing its assets

WHAT SERVICES & BENEFITS

DO THEY PROVIDE?

·         Dine and entertain

·         Visitor information

·         Customer service

·         Travel and parking services

·         Summer youth project

·         Musical youth theatre

·         Workshops

·         Education

·         Youth activities

·         Maps and directions

·         Customer Facilities

·         Seating Plan

·         Accessibility

·         Hotel packages

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

The Mayflower do not have any links to any other performing arts related organisations.

WHY HAVE I CHOSEN THIS VENUE?

I think the mayflower is a nice venue, which is set in the middle of a popular city, which could attract new audiences. I also think the services and benefits could be of use to us as a small scale company

WHICH MEMBER OF STAFF FROM YOUR COMPANY STRUCTURE WOULD NORMALLY LIAISE WITH THIS COMPANY/ ORGANISATION?  

The director and production manager would probably liaise with the company in order to sort out booking the venue for the possible and available dates. The centre has their own full set of staff to help.

KINGS THEATRE SOUTHSEA

WHAT DO THEY DO?

‘The present day theatre has a seating capacity of 1600 and a computerised booking system. Much of the backstage area is still fully manual, allowing it to retain the tag of a traditional hemp house, though powered flying bars have now been installed to allow large scale productions.’

WHAT ARE THEIR AIMS?

To provide a well-equipped theatre, with helpful advice and support to help achieve your goal.

WHAT SERVICES DO THEY PROVIDE?

·         Transport help

·         Wedding venue hire

·         Venue hire

·         Contact services

·         Memberships

·         Virtual Tour

·         Parking assistance

·         Customer service

·         Accessibility

BENEFITS

·         Transport help

·         Local venue

·         Nice and authentic theatre

·         Spacious dressing rooms

·         Enough dressing rooms for cast and crew

·         Big audience space

·         Bars

·         Disabled toilets

·         Wheel Chair audience space

LINKS TO OTHER ORGANISATIONS?

·         Webmadness Ltd

WHY HAVE I CHOSEN KINGS THEATRE?

It is a local and good looking venue, with great benefits for the audience members and staff.

WHICH MEMBER OF STAFF FROM YOUR COMPANY STRUCTURE WOULD NORMALLY LIAISE WITH THIS COMPANY/ ORGANISATION?

 I think the director, stage manager and actors would liaise with this organisation for booking, staging and rehearsing purposes.

WHICH IS THE BEST VENUE?

I think for the size of the company I would have to admit that The Mayflower would be a tad too large, and The Spring Arts centre a little too hidden. I think I would choose the kings theatre, as it has history behind it, it’s in a nice location and it is well known. Although The spring arts centre would be my reserve if The Kings Theatre was unavailable.

BY CHARLIE 

Wardrobe Week 7 to be continued

This week we looked at how to carry out the prologue to our play 'The Wardrobe'. We all came up with some pretty good ideas. I particularly liked the idea of having that ghost energy effect, I think that will be something to thrill the audience in a good way. I think it would be a good idea, to end the play the way it began, with all the entrances, but the beginning having 2014 first and going back in time, and the ending have it in reverse order and have everyone end up back in the wardrobe as spirits around the living.

We also looked at costumes, as for our scene, we liked the idea of trying on the mistress' dresses, so I think hopefully that will add something new to the scene. Karen found a really good dress for Rae's character Anne, which is darker than mine and Paige's dresses. The idea is to present her in something that could symbolize that she has the plague.

We where asked to draw pictures of the significance of the wardrobe meant to us. I drew a picture of a glass window with a white and red rose as this is what sprang to mind. I also drew a lamppost which represented the Narnia scene, and I drew a picture of what I thought represented the plague. I also drew a red cross, as this is what I thought about after I drew the plague as people were quarantined in the house for forty days if it was thought you had the plague, and anyone else that could be in contact with the plague or lives in the same house would also be trapped. Then the blood painted cross would be painted on the door to show that this process was happening.  

I had decided to have a couple of choices for my costume as the one that I really liked the zip was busted. The second one I liked also had a problem with the back. We decided it didn't matter that the zip was busted because it actually added the the reality of why i could be wearing the dress, because although we think we are messing around and playing in them, the audience could also think it's related to our jobs, for example I could give the impression that I am wearing the dress so Paige could do alterations or mend the back. 

Wardrobe Week 5 & 6

Introduction:

We began to look and study the work of Bertolt Brecht, who was a German poet, theatre director and most significantly one of histories most famous playwrights. He was a theatre practitioner contributing to theatre. He first began writing plays while working in an army hospital. Brecht's work fitted nicely with the Dadaist and Marxist movement of the time. The increased dissatisfaction with society after World War I fit Brecht's anti-bourgeois writing. He fled Nazi Germany and settled in the US, until setting in Berlin following World War II. 

As opposed to Stanislavsky and Chekhov who wanted to make it feel natural, truthful and real, Brecht didn't want the audience to get emotionally attached to the character, he wanted to bring them back and away from the story line to make them remember that they are watching a story, and that it's not really happening. Examples of Brecht work are 'The Duchess of Malfi' and 'Antigone'. A film that I noticed that uses Brecht is 'The Fiddler on the Roof'. The film uses the technique where the film pauses and the character who is talking or speaking, speaks to the audience.

Creative Ideas:
Creative Ideas this week were additions and ideas for my scene, for example the idea of adding in dresses in our scene. The line that Sarah says's originally would have indicated that the mistress had left her wardrobe empty, but we felt that it would be more fun and creative if we could use some dresses as if they belonged to the mistress, in the scene. We decided we would use them to wear and try on during the scene, this helped us with blocking and fitted with the mischievous sides of Mary and Sarah.

Development:
We developed our scene by experimenting with different ways on entering the wardrobe, for example we decided that instead of all entering at once, it would be nice that Rae playing (Anne) would start off on her own in the wardrobe as this shows the audience, the first clue of what the wardrobe is there for. The wardrobe is a a type of safe sanctuary for children, or young adult around our age throughout history to hide or feel safe from the outside world. Rae, feels safe from her illness, and for that moment when she is reciting the audition speech, it takes her mind from anything negative. This I think is a moment that I love because although the audience does not know what happens yet, we do, and I think the audience can look back to this moment and realise there was a reason why we blocked it like that, that there was a meaning behind it.


Trial and Error:
This week we tried adding a hint of a accent, to bring a truth to our characters. Although our characters were higher up than most maids, as we are ladies maids, they aren't exactly posh. They must have been well spoken to a certain extent though as they would have had to serve the mistress' of the house. It was challenging trying to add the accent on at first, but Karen suggested to just have a hint of the accent, so we decided to experiment with what felt like it sounded natural. I'm not sure whether we are going to keep it, but trial and error is all about experimenting and working towards what we like.


Strengths and weaknesses of scene work:
Strengths: Teamwork, we look good as a three.
Weakness: Need to detach myself from my character to seem real
Strength: The story is coming together nicely and seems touching.
Weakness: Need to run through it more, and learn lines make it more fluent.

further development- aims: learn lines

Teamwork Examples:

Me, Rae and Paige have all researched into our different characters.
We have continued to develop the relationship between our characters.
We bring out the strengths in each other during performances.

Problems and solutions:
The only problems we are having at the moment, is working out space, as it is difficult to estimate where to block with out realizing the limited space it will leave us with to perform, so for now we are going to focus on the development on our characters and learning lines, as we can deal with the space restrictions when we come to them.

New learning:

We did a workshop this week on turning our scenes into a series of about 8-10 Brecht tableauxs. These tableauxs helped to breakdown the scene into sections that showed you the key points of the story.

1-Entering
This first tableaux showed the audience, that the relationship between the three girls is more than just a working relationship. They are quite obviously friends, who are up to mischief and are happy at that moment in time.
2-3 girls laughing
This one shows a tableaux of all 3 of us laughing, this shows the happy and upbeat energy in the scene, the atmosphere seems like a safe and good one.
3-Anne's Dream
This tableaux shows the audience how me and Mary are actually drawn in by Anne's dream, suggesting perhaps we want it just as much, but are afraid to admit it. This is a nice moment as the girls take a moment to take in what Anne is saying instead of actually just being sarcastic and joking.
4- Sarah's 'The plague (Zip)'
This moment in the scene, allows the audience to get the first serious energy change. As if we are not to talk about the plague. The tableaux was of all three of us acing the audience. This is one of the most powerful moments.
5-Anne's Speech
This tableaux shows that the scene has guided away from the serious side and is focusing on Anne's positive dream again.
6- Sarah's False Alarm
This shows the second of the more serious situation, it is the moment of where the energy is at a suspense for the audience, because they don't know if Sarah does actually have the plague.
7- 3 girls in the Triangle
This Tableaux creates a separation between all of us, as we are all in our own space, in a triangle, as if we are backing away from the disease, the energy state is at state 8, as if there is a bomb in the room.
8-Anne's speech ending
This shows Anne collapsing, but Sarah and Mary clapping, not realizing, Anne is being truthful.
9-Anne's real ending
Mary shows anticipation and fear as Sarah kneels down beside her. Showing Mary is fearful, for her own health at first, but Sarah is fearful for her friend.
10-Sarah recites Anne's words
As Mary shows sacrifice for her health to help Sarah with Anne, Sarah recites Anne's words, to make her feel better, but knowing the reality and not trying to show it in her voice.

I think the ending shows real friendship. That is what I love about the scene. The breakdown of the scene, made me realize that as soon as Anne came out of the wardrobe, the reality of the plague caught up with us and we were no longer safe from the outside world. The wardrobe was what made light of the situation.



Aims for next lesson: to be off script or prepared.

Voice Essay

Voice Essay

Maintaining a healthy voice is a significant part of an actor’s lifestyle, as the voice is the actor’s most important tool of their entire performance.

 The voice, like most of the body, needs to be taken care of in order to keep it in tact. Things that effect the voice can be due to something as small as the amount of dairy you intake, to something a bit bigger like smoking habits. In this essay I will be describing what these vices are, how to maintain a healthy voice, how to improve your voice, and include vocal exercises to achieve these goals.

Smoking is a vice. Smoking is something that will not help the health of the voice of an actor, as it can affect you in many different ways. One of them being it’s something that can seriously harm you in the long run, and the other being that it can cause many types of cancers, including lung, throat and mouth. These are just a few obvious ones that are on the subject of the voice, but smoking can increase the chances of a lot more cancers. ‘Smoking causes more than 4 out of 5 cases of lung cancer’. - Cancer Research.

Noticeable effects from smoking are the husky voice, we can here from some actors today. An example of this is Scarlett Johansson. Scarlett is known as one of the best on screen smokers, but in return she shows the effects of smoking on her voice, with the husky sound hoarse sound. This can also cause cancer on the throat or larynx which are vital instruments to the voice.

The professional thing to do would be to give up smoking in order to decrease risks of typical cancers and or other deceases related to the after effects of smoking. Not only does smoking cause incurable cancers but it also dries out the throat which leads to the unwanted cough and poor diction.

Another way to prevent unwanted huskiness and blocking of the airways is to avoid contact with aerosols, especially if someone is asthmatic. Aerosols produce a layer that coats the larynx causing us to cough and restrict our breathing. This is caused by breathing in toxic perfumes and chemicals used to make the toxic gases smell fresh.

 Sometimes when you feel you can’t breathe all the way in, or feel like you are unsatisfied with the fulfillment of breathe, this can be the cause. The voice wouldn't be a voice without breathing. Not only is it essential for humans to survive but it is an extremely important devise that all actors who are looking to become professional should learn how to breathe correctly and also master individual techniques.

 If we don’t allow ourselves to take deep breathes to relax the actor and their mind, it becomes easier to develop short breathe, this could then increase risks of panic attacks, anxiety and possibly put a strain on the heart. Breathing is something most people take for granted, and we forget that we are breathing all day every day.

To be able to breathe a fuller breathe, this exercise will help and determine the actor to do so. This exercise opens up the chest in a gentle way allowing the airways to open. This exercise helps open the rib cage and allows more room for the lungs allowing the actor to take a fuller breathe. Breathing also has an effect on how well an actor present their work.

Exercise: Follow these simply sequences in order to help develop relaxed breathe control. I would recommend using a relaxing piece of music, as it may help to make the exercise a little bit more interesting, especially if an actor repeats it, which an actor should really be doing to maintain the professional skill.

·         Begin by rolling head to chest, all the way down and dangling for about 5-6 seconds and slowly rolling back up, repeating 3 times.

·         Sitting on the floor raising the arms into a prayer position and pushing up through the air above your head and lowering the arms slowly outwards repeating three times.

·         Slowly lay back, taking your time stretch your whole body out and arms stretched out above your head, and stretching as far as you can and just yawn then bring your knees up and put your arms in a comfortable position.

·         Laying on your back with knees in the upwards position, and in a position comfortable to you, try and feel how your shoulders are relaxed and your belly’s are filling up with air.

·         Breathe control: Breathe in for 3 seconds and out for 6 and repeat 3 times

·         Now listen around you and try and join in the same breathing pattern as everyone else, breathing in through your nose and out through the mouth.

·         Now lie there silently breathing deep inhales and exhales, trying to clear your mind.

Being able to center your breathing and learning how to properly control it, helps to maintain a healthy voice. 

By monitoring what you eat, this can help point out whether what you are eating, or if you are eating too much of it, could lead to an unhealthy voice. It is said that eating dairy, decrease your vocal versatility. Things such as eating, cheese, chocolate, eggs and milk could be the downfall in a performance.

 It doesn't mean you have to change your lifestyle, but watching what you eat and or when you eat it could help you to achieve better diction and clarity.  If you do happen to eat dairy, or find it difficult to avoid it, gargling water after every meal is a good way to help the voice from being affected.

Drinking alcohol like smoking can also dry out your voice, excessive drinking and smoking can lead to sore throats and permanently damaged vocal chords. By drinking water instead your voice as well as your body will benefit from this a lot more, and will make you feel a lot better.

Warms ups before a performance is a great idea to loosen up the vocal chords before going out on stage. This helps to relax the muscles you work to produce the voice, to help decrease the risk of straining your voice, allowing you to open up the voice and to help you to prepare.

The amount of sleep you get also effects the voice. Too little and the voice could sound hoarse, so to keep your voice fresh, it is best to allow yourself enough sleep, and in the morning encourage yawning, as this is your voices way of waking up and warming up to be ready to be put to work. When you wake up don’t speak too much too quickly, drink plenty of water and if you feel like you want to make more effort, start to hum quietly to yourself whilst making breakfast.

Shouting or talking over loud music or even screaming, will put a strain on your voice if you do it for an excessive amount of time. Clearing the airways, for example coughing to clear your throat to much is like bashing your focal folds together aggressively, so doing this too much could make your voice become hoarse.

If you are suffering from a cold, or to avoid one, and to help maintain your voice, a few tips would be too:

• Drink plenty of water
• Get a good nights rest 
• Try lemon and honey with hot water to soothe throat
• wrap up warm 
• Take vitamins such as VA, VB, VC and Echinacea

‘You only get one voice look after it'-Beyonce

Wardrobe Week 4

Introduction:
This week we continued to look at improvisation, and learnt more about Stanislavsky. The improvisation exercise we were taught this week was what we called objectives. One person would stand in the corner, and simply instruct the character on what to do. The character was awaiting instruction and the objector was improvising what the character was to do next. I partnered with Alicia, and the objective was that I was on a diet and trying to avoid the chocolate bar that was sitting on the table. A few instructions Alicia stated were "Look at the chocolate bar". "Now look away quickly and shake your head".

Creative Ideas:
This week, on the creative side of things, I have been looking into my character, and asking myself the simple facts of where she comes from, what is her aim in life, along with the facts we are already told.
Things I already know about her:

First Name: Sarah
Age: 16
Occupation: Ladies Maid
Place of work: Barwicke Family Home
Time Period: Around the time as The Great Plague of London is at its peak. 1665
Date of scene: 18th September 1665.
Popularity: Baroque music, King Charles II,
Sarah is the more sarcastic, one of the three ladies maids, the other being Anne and Mary.

Things I have created:
Last name: Morris
D.O.B: 21/3/1649
Ambition: To have the perfect family.
Fears: The Plague, Fire and Bee's.
Favorite things: The morning air when it's at it's freshest. Blue ribbon. Fresh Bread.

Development:

This week we looked at our scene and just performed it from script, pretty much just as we would when we were rehearsing. We were experimenting with different layouts of the scene, using the table, trying different poses and stances of where our characters would be. We also focused on trying out the energy our characters would be feeling during the time of the plague. For example we learnt about the paranoia energy and also the energy where it feels like someone is watching you. These energies, helped us to start to understand the atmosphere in not only the scene, but in that time period. If you were caught with the plague you would be quarantined for forty days in the house with whoever else was in it. The house would be boarded up with the people inside with door would be marked with sheep blood to warn people who passed by. A guard would stand outside to stop them being exposed.

Devising:

New Learning and Self-reflection:

I find it interesting how Stanislavsky asked himself questions. For example

• How can the actor learn to inspire himself?
• What can he do to impel himself toward that necessary yet maddeningly elusive creative mood?

The questions he asked himself, made me think about how I was approaching my character. It made me ask myself if I need to adapt my character more, because I still felt like there is a lot more to be developed. Maybe it is because I am still in my own personal state of mind, and I need to practice feeling different emotions and different energies. So I decided something I need to improve on is being able to learn how to detach myself enough from my own personality to become my character. Although this is something I need to improve on, I am also trying to use techniques from the system. For example, 'The Magic If' and 'Emotional Memory'. These come from your own personal experiences, and/or what you would personally do if you found yourself in the situation. I suppose asking these questions is all about the learning process of becoming a good actor but, what I need to find out is what is the best thing for me to do, to show that I am not myself when I am playing a character. 

This week we also learnt about beats. I thought this was a really creative way to channel the most naturalistic way to say your lines. In everyday speech we often pause to listen, or use the time to think or use filter such as ermm, so, like. Doing this scene, helped me to actually listen to some of the words, and the feeling behind them. It made me think about where I needed to put the emphasis, in order to create just the right atmosphere in the scene. For me, it allowed me to understand how to control the way I say my lines.

Creative Ideas:
I liked the idea of
Energy workshop: We did a energy workshop, where we explored the 9 states of tension, and what it demanded our bodies to do physically in order to create a realistic performance. When we moved our bodies into the physical state they needed to be for the specific energy, the energy and the mood seemed to come with it, it was a challenging yet rewarding task.

States of tension:

State 1 Awakening
State 2 Drunk
State 3 Toddler
State 4 Neutral 
State 5 You think someone is watching you
State 6 You know someone is watching you.
State 7 About to catch a ball.
State 8 There is a bomb in the room.
State 9 That bomb has gone off.

We were introduced to the 9 states of tension that we can take and use to portray a character through our body language. I'd say for our scene, we use a lot of State 5 as the work up to the dramatic event, when we realize Anne has the plague, and then it quickly skips to State 6. Although I feel that some of the energy from State 8, could work really well with our scene as all three of these energy states show some of the fear that we would feel if we realized we were that close to the contagious plague.

Wardrobe Week 3

Introduction:

This week we were introduced to two historic figures of acting, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov and Constantin Stanislavsky. They brought awareness to 'Naturalism' into our knowledge of acting.

Some facts about Chekov:

• Was son of a grocer
• Trained briefly and worked as a doctor whilst pursuing a journalism career, and write short stories
• He wrote his first play 'Ivanov' in 1887
• In 1889 he joined forces with another famous play write, Stanislavsky and The Moscow Arts Theatre where his play finally received success.

The system:

1. Imagination
2. Imaginary Moving Picture
3. Action
4. Units & Objectives
5. Emotional Memory
6. Circles of Attention
7. Solitude in Public 
8. The Magic If 
9. Given Circumstance
10. The Super Objective and Through Line

New Learning:

This week we did some exercises that introduced us into some of the work of 'The System'. I was asked to play a woman who had to show the emotion of a woman not knowing if her husband had returned from war alive. This exercise was really interesting, because I realized I really enjoyed playing someone who had to show, paranoia and anxiety. This character had fear and was constantly hoping for the positive. To show this I personally had to channel 'Emotional Memory' to start me off, but it was mainly 'The Magic If' that worked as I just played it how I probably would if i was put in that situation.

We then got to do some improvisation exercises which was a lot of fun at times, but also could be very emotional. The first theme of the this exercise was boredom, I loved the idea of being completely made up, and this seemed to make it more real, because we were no longer looking like we were memorizing lines of scripts, and we didn't look like we were playing a different character, we were ourselves. I think everyone will remember this exercise and use it to help them when they are working on their own characters.

The more emotional improvisation game, was more challenging but i think it was a nice contrast to go from analyzing something funny, to being able to watch your friends and be drawn in to actually believing what they were saying. I think Charlotte was especially good at this. 

The Magic If, was shown to us by doing an exercise that involved us all to literally ask ourselves 'What if this was actually happening?', 'What would I do if I was put in this situation?'. As we were doing it it opened our minds to more questions. I found that it's really hard to be believable when you know what you are doing in this exercise is not true, but when Karen decided to experiment with us, by pretending the exercise was over and making us actually believe Imogen had lost her ring, because we thought she was telling the truth, the actions we took to look for the ring, looked honest. 

Creative Ideas: 

This week has made me think about how I can use some of the System techniques to help make the scene and my character more real. The ones that stand out in this idea is 'The Magic If' and 'Emotional Memory', and maybe even 'Imagination'. I think I need 'The Magic If', to help me get to the idea of what it was like if the plague was around, 'Emotional Memory' to help me channel the right energies, and Imagination to create my own characters personality and energy. We thought our wardrobe would be made of oak, as it represents the hard and rough times of the families, and people who were around during the plague, but it also isn't as strong as other materials, because we wanted to show how defenseless it was against the plague.

Development:

A way to develop our scene could be to look at the setting of our scene, for example where would we stand, how would we use the space, what levels would be right for our scene. We decided to place our wardrobe in the B area, as we need to use the front section of the stage for the end section where Anne, collapses. We also thought B would look right as some parts we want the scene to be intimate and closer to the audience because we want to provoke a reaction, and an atmosphere where they can feel the paranoia and claustrophobic conditions of the girls when the pre dramatic and dramatic event happens. We developed some of the way we said the words 

Devising:
We didn't focus on devising as much this week but we did workshops on techniques that we can inbed into our characters and scenes. We have learnt new ways of approaching a scene when it comes to devising. I will consider this when we start to block our scene.

Continuing Research/Insights:
I love my character, I think she has a very big and strong personality, at first I wanted her to be really sarcastic and the bitter one of the three, but now I see, that she isn't exactly how I saw her at first, after I have done a little research into those times, I think she needs to be a little more light-hearted, not bitter, but the one to keep humor and laughter in the air in order to make light of serious situations. I think deep down I want her to be a little envious of Anne, as I feel as if Sarah has dreams too, but I think she knows that the reality of it coming true are second to none.

Exploration Process/Trial and Error:
We explored many improvisation techniques this week. The strength that I got out of this exercise was that it helped me to understand that improvisation needs to be real, as it's really hard to plan everything, and therefore it will also look forced and fake. The challenging part of this exercise was trying not to laugh or break character, because at times when you laugh it automatically breaks the reality and is no longer real. This helped me to understand that sometimes I can be easily distracted, and I need to function my focus a little better. 

Input to the process/ Scene development:
My input into this weeks work, was nothing huge, but I always try my best to involve myself as best I can. I helped with the drafting of our scene, for example, where we should enter, how we should place ourselves. I decided to suggest using a table in our scene, which we didn't necessarily have to keep, but I thought it would be nice to experiment with levels. I thought this would compliment the fact that we would have limited space in the wardrobe, and it would also reflect a better use of space for our characters, as the energy of our characters seem to be the sort that could put the table to use. 

Teamwork examples:
Me, Paige and Rae, worked well this week as we were just starting to get an insight to our scene. We managed to get some of our first ideas together and make a first draft of our scene. I really like how the casting worked out and I think we will work well together. I think personally we compliment each others acting, and are able to highlight each others strengths when we perform and weaknesses during the rehearsal period. 

Problems and Solutions:
We didn't have any serious problems this early on in the play.

Aims for next session:
To carry on with blocking the scene, and to get more of an insight into my character.