Alexandra Green Unit 8: Practical Skills

This page includes backstage practical skills I used and developed during the project and my character development. For practical Performance skills go to Evaluative Logs- all classes, rehearsals and sessions where we worked on anything practical for Rocky are there.

Props:

My backstage role for this project was to organise and obtain all the props needed for the production. To do this, I firstly went through the script as thoroughly as I could and made a note of every prop mentioned throughout the show. To ensure that I hadn't missed anything, I also re-watched the live performance and made sure to add anything I saw that I hadn't made a note of when reading through the script. I then created a list of chronological order of use for all the props so that I knew I hadn't missed anything and knew exactly what everything was used for:

I sent this list to our technical director, Adam who would be getting any of the prop store for me or ordering any that couldn't be found in the prop store.

The final thing I did for props was create a prop table for backstage during the costume runs and actual performances of the show. For this I taped the table into a grid and put every prop in a square most appropriate for its size. I then wrote on the tape what the prop was, (so that people knew where to put it once it had been used) what number it was used in, and which character it belonged to. This is what the prop table looked like:

After the show I helped put the props back into the right storage box and removed the tape from the table so that everything was left clean and tidy.

Character Development:

Throughout the project I did my best to use a variety of different techniques and resources to develop my character as well as I could. The first thing I did to develop my character was use my acting classes and the techniques given by my teacher, Monique. An example of one of these techniques is hot seating. This is when you are asked questions about your character, their background and their role in the story. However, you must answer them as your character. This is really helpful for character development as you're able to really get into their mindset and it's much easier to be able to see the world from their view when you're answering for them. It's also helpful as you have to make character choices quickly and on the spot. You also sometimes create a bit more of a backstory for them as not everything is laid out in the script and this can help to spur on different character choices such as what kind of body language they have, how they move or how they would react to different situations. You may also be asked about your character's relationships with other characters. This really helps to give inspiration in how to interact with the other characters on stage. Monique also asked us to write a couple of sentences in the first person, summing up who our characters were and a little bit about their relationships with other characters. This is mine:

My name is Magenta, I have a brother called Rif-Raf and I am from the planet of Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. I work as a servant for a Transvestite scientist called "Dr Frank'n'Furter". My best friend is Columbia although she can be a little too upbeat for me. I am quite serious but I enjoy things going wrong and seeing people get hurt.

I also used research to develop my character. I watched both the live performance of Rocky we'd seen in class and the film: The Rocky Horror Picture Show. While I was watching these I made sure to make notes on the character choices both the actresses playing Magenta made such as tone of voice, body language and how they chose to interact with other characters on stage. I did this to inspire my own character choices and how they played Magenta. It was interesting to note although they were playing the same character, their portrayals were very different. However, this was helpful as it gave me more inspiration and freedom to choose how I wanted to play Magenta and make that portrayal my own.

Makeup and Costume Designs

Although I wasn't on costume I made sure to draw up costume and makeup designs as I had 3 separate costumes and I know which accessories such as tights or masks or aprons went with which outfit. This helped me to memorise this faster so that during both my quick changes I knew exactly what I needed to put on and take off to get om stage with the correct costume at the correct time.