Simon gave out our lines post the read through, he did say if we wanted a specific part we should speak to him but personally I felt it was better for him to decide who should get each part based on what he thought were our skills and what character fitted our personality. The lines were given out in two classes, first of all we were each given a number from 1-11 and whenever our number was put to a line that was then our line. Simon had obviously thought about the lines to numbers because Louise's character always talks about chickens whereas my character is always quite snobbish because her mother is a local councillor and Rebecca's character is (well her!) very sarcastic and has very strong opinions! This really helps us when building our characters as it means that we all have characters that have a certain personality or way of life.
Facts and Questions:
my group were looking at the facts we already know from looking at the script
questions about the play:
- why did Evan Placey write a play about: teenage girls, cyberbullying, bullying, the role of women over the last 100 years, the stereotype of girls and boys?
- this gives us an idea of the answer: http://nickhernbooksblog.com/2014/03/24/sexting-in-parliament-insights-from-the-writer-and-director-of-girls-like-that/
- why did Evan choose those particular songs? and why in that order?
- the empowerment of women is shown in all of these songs and the order shows the feelings of each of the scenes before and after the dance for example the taylor swift song reflects the fight and the feelings the girls have towards Scarlett.
- why does the play include flashback as monologues?
- offers the audience a different way of seeing the history of women and their roles, it also offers a break from the very quick and informative lines that the rest of the play includes.
- what do the monologues add to the play?
- a different way of telling the story
- why are the lines not named? how does this effect each production? is this beneficial to a director?
- by having the lines unnamed it means that their can be up to 24 actors and it allows the director to make decisions about the play and the way they want it produced, it also allows the lines to be more snappy and for actors to make their own characters.
- why does the play include dance routines?
- keeps the audience interested and offers a different type of performance, also allows the play to move on from each scene especially when going into a monologue.
- who was it written for?
- teenagers, young people, parliament
- what does the play allow us as actors to do?
- the play allows us as the actors to really play with the characters and the situations
vocal tennis ball exercise
This exercise wakes up both the voice and the body as the actors have to pretend to throw tennis balls and make the tennis huffs 'ha' and 'hm' building a clear and bold sound. this exercise will help us with clarity and projection on stage. I actually was really aware of my projection and volume during the tech and dress rehearsals and this exercise came in handy to clear the throat and get my volume up whilst waiting in the wings.
line wresting
actors have to lean their weight through their palms against another actor and then say their lines in a clear and precise way, this exercise was actually really interesting to do because although it helped us think about doing two things at once (lines and movement) it also made us work on the way we said lines and the meaning/feeling we put into lines- the more tired we were becoming the more aggressive we got therefore it allowed us to see how although we may start to get tired in the play we need to ensure that we are still giving each line the correct feeling and emotion. I have a fairly quite personality so this exercise was really useful to me because it made me think about my volume and personality as well as my emotional acting on stage.
walk, jump, squat
We went through the script from the beginning but Simon got us to all walk round while doing so, he then added the rule that when you said your line you had to jump and when someone else said a line you had to squat, this was tiring but it really helped us to concentrate and get into rehearsal mode especially on a Tuesday morning. This exercise really helped me whilst on stage because I was having to act while delivering lines and dances.
emotions
This was one of the first exercises Simon used with us, it started out fairly simple with us all walking around the room, Simon then went on to say different types of emotions which we then had to pretend be: annoyed, angry, unhappy, scared, excited, surprised, and confused. By looking at ways of feeling all of these emotions through our acting such as thinking of a time when you have been very sad for 'unhappy' it allowed us to think about how we could use our own experiences to better our acting. We went o to use this method for the beginning section with the one words 'slut, skank, sket, ho...' and how our character may feel about such words. I used this exercise whilst on stage especially in the facebook scene when we are being interviewed my character knows she should be sad but is so excited to be on TV - when you know that you should be sad but actually something good is happening for you. Also in the end of this scene when we think Scarlett is dead in the river and we say our stomachs are aching and we feel sick- when you know you've done something wrong.
learning the dances, and how to be dance diva's:
28th January
Today we learnt the Beyoncé routine, it look quite a while for us to master all of the sassy moves that Ben had choreographed but it was a really relaxed lesson because it was a calm atmosphere as Ben allowed us to discuss anything we felt would be better if put a different way and it was really easy to pick up the movement because of this. The moves need to be sharp and precise so this is definitely a routine that we are going to have to work on so we can get it to the best standard POSSIBLE. I really like that we are including dance routines in the play because it allows us to not only use a different type of performance but to also use the dances to change the feeling between scenes and keep the audience engaged in what is quite a confusing play because of all the changes in time setting.
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5th February
Today we set positions for the Beyoncé routine and ran over it a few times to ensure that we all remembered it, it is definitely improving in terms of sharpness but we need to work on our acting whilst dancing because we all look rather bored from my observation of watching us in the mirrors. We also learnt the choreography for the little mix dance, this one is definitely my favourite out of the two because it switches really quickly from us being beautiful airy fairy butterflies to being hip hop queens! Wings by little mix is actually quite an interesting song linked to the story of the play because its about their mums telling them to spread their wings and take on the world, not letting what anyone says put them down or stop them from achieving what they want- the empowerment of women from generation to generation.
12th February
Today we went over both of the previous dances and worked on sections within them that needed a little more detailed work. We then learnt the California girls Katy Perry dance which is very fun and an enjoyable dance to do because of the cheekiness and girliness that the other dances don't have so much. The California girls dance is defiantly a stand out one from all of the dances so far because it marks the drama of the girls having received both Scarlett and Russell's naked pictures. We have now filmed all three dances at last once and have put them all on the facebook page so that anyone who was not at the lessons can learn the dances at home in their own time as not to waste time having to go over everything with Ben next week.
27th February
Today we choreographed the last two dances, the Taylor Swift song is quite angry and bold which really fits with the scene it comes after- the fight scene. Ben chose for us to all rush to the back and grab our headphone when Taylor Swift says 'Now go and stand in the corner and think about what you did' the dance itself is also very rigid, bold and angry as we are all in opposition with each other, reflecting how we feel about the scene we have all just witnessed but also how we feel about our own and each others involvement. The Pink song 'Slut like you' is very powerful and strong but unlike Taylor Swifts it is more about women having the power and strength to carry on and being able to do anything to get to where she wants to be. Whilst the song really fits the monologue that comes after it, it is Ben's choreography of the simple strike of one pose for the Pink song and then the slow melt in inner sickness with ourselves after we think we have all been part of Scarlett's disappearance and possible suicide, it is this that fits the scene before and helps the audience see this emotion and feeling without us having to explain it in words.
Myself and Louise ran through all of the dances with Hannah so that she knew them all before the next and final dance rehearsal with Ben, this also gave me an opportunity to go over the dances again and refresh my memory as it has been a while since I went through the dances slowly perfecting each move.
In our final rehearsal with Ben it was disappointing that we still didn't have a full cast as it meant that spacing still wasn't perfect therefore the dances didn't quite look right however I know that once we do have a full cast it will look fantastic. Today we just ran over all of the dances and ensured that we all had the actual moves rights and worked on the small details within each dances so we could perfect them therefore making it easier for us to act within each dance especially as each dance has a different emotion and story.
little mix routine: (didn't film all of it) https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=649700985091354
Beyoncé routine: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=649699545091498
ben's version of Beyoncé : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200754919670300
katy perry routine: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=649700145091438
Tayor Swift routine: only 50 seconds so we did not film, fairly easy to explain to those who were not in the rehearsal
pink routine: didn't film as we just stand in poses and slowly drift off stage
how to dance like diva's:
Hannah suggested to myself, Amber, Maria and Rebecca to watch Yanis doing sassy dance numbers whilst in heels to give us enthusiasm for our own dances:
here are some of the other videos of Yanis that I found interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk3iAyrQqUI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc6UOkTQXCE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyT0cXFE7sc
looking into the underlying meaning and feeling of lines/sections:
role of women
The play as whole tests and discusses with its audience about the roles of women from 1920- now. The flashbacks included in the play to the 1920's, 1940's, 1960's and 1980's all offer the audience an insight into an individual woman's life in each era and the struggles they have to deal with for example in the 1920's flapper girl monologue the characters says 'im sorry..I should have stayed home like a girl should' indicating the role of women and the power of men over women- patriarchal society. However this monologue also has a line about the characters mother 'fighting for their rights' showing how the role of women started to be questioned in the early 1900's. Furthermore, you can see through the monologues how the patriarchal society became less common and women began to gain equality which women are still battling for today the strongest representation of this search for equality is in the final flashback monologue set in 1985 here the character is sexually harassed in the workplace and because she knows that she is due equal rights and that this is not expectable she warns her boss Stanley to 'take his hands off her firmly toned arse!' yet you can still see that women are struggling for total equality especially in the workplace as all of the girls talk about their mothers working and complaining about issues at work that they don't think are expectable such as 'women leaving the office early to pick up their kids from school' 'other women getting a promotion instead of them' 'women in the office having their shirt too short' because all of these issues just are not expectable in their minds because they are going against what women are fighting for.
women vs men:
learning lines:
Simon set us the task of learning our lines for the first four scenes, I had already started to come off book for these scenes but to ensure that I was using the right pace and remembering all of my queues as well as my lines I decided to record the scenes, speaking all four scenes but leaving a long enough pause for my line when it came.
We needed to work on the meaning behind the first section with all of the offensive words 'slut, skank, ho, slapper' etc and decide why our character was saying the word, were we questioning why that word was being said, were we saying it to Scarlett. I decided that as my character thinks she is better than everyone else that I would be saying it to Scarlett because she was lowering people expectations about girls from St Helens and therefore ruining my reputation.
Simon directed the 5 year old scene again and changed our weird chequered square routine of popularity into a primary school registration line that we order ourselves into from being 5 year olds sat playing and interacting like 5 year olds on their first day.
My character thinks she is intensely superior and therefore is the most popular so I place myself at the top of the line with the order as so:
Most Popular: Least Popular:
Rebekah, Shannon, Jess, Rebecca, Amber, Hannah, Tashan, Louise, Fran, Hannah, Maria
Obviously while I am always at the top and Maria's character Scarlett is always pushed to the bottom, some of the other actors don't always make it to the same position because actors who have failed to be at the rehearsals when we set this movement try to slot themselves in. However I am sure that after a few more rehearsals this movement will be set in place.
notes from full run 1:
1. scene one needs more detail
We went over the first scene slowly and broke down each section again looking at what each scenes emotions and feeling was. I believe that whilst scene one is probably our most rehearsed scene so far it is because we know this that we are losing some of the feeling within it.
2. we need to participate in the scene more during the five year olds first day
- connect to being 5 years old in a new place, without your mother, alone but surrounded by other 5 year olds and loads of different activities
3. when we put on our headphones we are transported into our own world, we our in our bedrooms pretending to be popstars, we are alone no one can see us so we really need to go for it and exaggerate
This is something that I have tried ever since to really work on especially now that we know the choreography, its really about going extremely over the top like an eight year old thinking they are going to be the next Beyoncé.
4. when we come out of a dance into a scene or monologue it needs to be more decisive
It is rather difficult to get the balance between being the girls still listening to their song and being the background fading out especially in the monologues because we don't want to distract from the action going on in front, however I do understand that one the monologue is over and a new section is started that the transition between needs to be more decisive otherwise it looks like we are unsure of what we are going.
5. page 12-13 needs work especially in the corridor, we need to be split of into small groups and make sure we don't become lines.
We have now worked out exact pairs and threes in which to stand and where to stand however we need to ensure that those who have missed sorting this out get the note about doing so because otherwise we naturally will just wonder into our safety net of the two lines.
6. scene 7 sit up gradually one by one when we say our lines otherwise it looks rushed.
we practiced this transition and looked at the lying down in a circle shape as it looked a bit odd.
7. make fight lines more like a sports commentary - needs to be snappy
We went over this and it should be alright once everyone knows their lines and queues as at the moment this is what is slowing us down in this section. I know that I need to work on my clarity within this section as it is so fast pace that I often get muddled.
8. PINK needs two moves to make meaning more clear to audience
9. pg 46-47 need to be more shocked about Scarlett's return
- mixed emotions about return, the power has now shifted Scarlett has caught them out
10. when Scarlett is in the centre of the circle delivering monologue, how does my character feel about what is happening?
We worked on this however I found it quite hard to fully show my emotion and feeling to the audience about Scarlett's return because I am facing the back. However my character is shocked and scared because she has been caught out but also has a in denial look, pretending she should not be blamed for anything.
11. the last scene needs to mirror the first we are back at primary school
- questions to ask self about character in last scene- who am I? what am I doing here?
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notes from full run through 2:
1. when in school formation we are in class so don't listen to the other characters talking
2. when photo of Scarlett comes through continue looking at the photo for duration of scene, can also add in small glances to others and at Scarlett
3. take up more space in the dances remember we are crazy 8/11 year olds dancing in our bedroom
This hopefully we will happen the more we practice the dances because once we are all totally confident with the dances we can add in ore feeling and acting during the dances.
4. whenever we are on the chairs at the back we are talking to each other
5. whenever in the changing room we exist in the same world but are talking to the audience
6. whenever we are in the classroom we are only talking to the audience
7. in the corridor scene when we all turn around we need to do it in a cannon from the front so that it does look more balletic
This is not happening currently because some membes of thecast have missed this direction being added in however I am confident that it will look right nowthat everyone knows that is what we should be doing.
8. I need to go back to my script and ensure that I am saying the lines correctly and accurately
I have done so at home and it is getting better, it is mainly just saying 'LIKE' to many times in a line or adding in or missing a word. This is something that I need someone to sit and with me and make sure that I am saying completely correctly as my family let me get away with the odd word.
9. new swimming changing room set up because it currently looks quite messy
Simon has given us exact places to stand so that we can be seen but are also quite cramped in the changing room.
10. swimming scene needs work - twenty squealing girls cannonballing into the water
Simon went over this with us so that we now have an exact place to stand and are pretending to splash water and bob up and down in the pool.
11.zig zag bellies set up needs work
We have now set positions for each person to lie so that we are all connected, although we are suppose to laugh in the scene because of the person lying on us laughing it is actually quite funny as actors doing so because it is a strange feeling having someone laughing whilst lying on your stomach.
12. the feeling of the scene needs to carry from one line to another
13. California girls- go straight from own dancing to choreography as it currently looks like we are all waiting for the choreography
14. boys checking themselves needs to be more subtle like boys actually would be
15. fight scene needs to be snappier and more fast pace
16. 'I paint my nails, I wax my brows...' scene needs to be snappier
17. new scene means new feeling and new energy
18. when watching TV at Tyler's all look forward centre as if watching all same TV
19. Facebook tributes scene stand up on your line
20. after Scarlett's monologue all stand there acknowledging what each other have done, how do we deal with being caught out.
21. VOLUME- IT IS THEATRE
22. look at the boys run past left to right
23. start feeling really awkward in the photo scene
24. don't make the adult scene to cheesy
the adult scene needs to mirror the first scene so we need to make sure that it sounds like they are retelling a story apposed to them role playing being 45 years old.
tech run notes
- slow down on lines- its all about clarity and diction
- always step left in classroom scene
- new scene equals new energy
- corridor scenes- don't stand in lines- small clumps you can be on your own
- turn to see Russell when saying he is muscle, lusty...
- on picture taking scene do three different poses for flash, flash, flash, but then...
- needs to be louder - tech team cant hear us
- in Tyler's house talk to your friends
- work harder in party scene because music is louder than ur voices at the moment
- Facebook scene- we think she is actually dead so have more emotion
- body by river- look down walk to get headphones
- more slowly in slut like you
- Maria's return- quick look slow reaction
- 45 years old- socialise more
- 45- look at building as well
costume and props
Myself, Hannah, Rebecca and Louise took on the task of finding our costume and a few odd props that still needed to be located. Although it took a whole day running around primark for three and a half hours it was really worth it when looking at the final product of the costume (dresses and shirts) and the wonderful headphones as well as props like the flapper girl headband and the flower band. I really enjoyed sourcing these products and it allowed me to think about all of the different aspects that are involved in producing a play which many actors forget about because they don't often get the opportunity to do tasks like this and sadly don't get to experience the joy of buying 11 identical pinafores from primark! it was really nice doing this with Hannah, Rebecca and Louise though because it meant that we could see what styles fitted for each body type.
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