First Semester Final Performance Reflection

This past Tuesday we presented "The Kioskos" for our final performance this semester. As I specify in other reflections, this performance was based on our knowledge on Commedia De'll Arte, which we studied this past unit. My character wasn't an easy character and it involved a lot of physicallity. At the beginning of Tuesday, the final rehearsal was chaotic. The day before, the directors decided that, since we were not ready, instead of doing to whole performance, we should do a preview of it and ask for donations to the club.

 Thankfully I acted pretty well and received a lot of laughs back from the audience. I felt really confident because I studied my character really hard and I knew that I was ready. I also knew what I had to do and I knew how to be funny. I felt really comfortable on stage and I felt really secure when I started hearing the first laughs. If I had the chance to do this process all over again I would definately put more effort in the rehearsals. Not necessarilly more effort, but I have to practice more as if it was the presentation day. If you practice harder, the day of the presentation you will act better. I would also try to stay in character more. At the beginning of the play I started acting really "jerky", but towards the end I lost my character a little. Next time I want to stay more focused and end as strong as I began.

Second Commedia Reflection

Tomorrow we start the two-day performace. Last Friday was our last rehearsal before we perform. I think we achieved a lot and that we are buildingn a great performance. Personally I put a lot of effort in the rehearsals and outside of class also, thinking about my character and what can I do to improve my part. Tomorrow we start performing, so I need to decide now what I will wear, becasue it is important to choose a good costume. Tomorrow I hope everything works out good for us and we perfomr a great show.

First Commedia Rehearsal

Today we started practicing the acts on the production. I, as the lover, have to act in the first act, right after the prologue. Therefore, I had to start right away. Today we started to practice the scene in which me and the other lover fall in love. At the beginning it was really hard because I couldn't get in my character and act properly. As we were rehearsing, I started to understand my character better, and naturally I started acting better. After thirty minutes od intense practicing, we finished the first act. This is a big step in the production, due to the fact the we present next week, and we had nothing accomplished before that. For next class we have to keep the momentum and keep advancing in the production.

Commedia Dell' Arte Project

Today in class I found out that we are starting a production on commedia. Everybody in the class received a character that he or she is going to play. I got the cahracter of the male lover. At first I didn't know how to feel. Being the lover can be cool, but it is hard to act like. Also, my favorite character was Arlechinno and I really wanted that. On the other hand, being the lover has more protagonism, which I also like. Anyways, I will have to act the lover and I have to do my best. I really want a 7 in the class, so I have to do my best. I will practice and learn my character perfectly to perform the best I can.

Fools Reflection

This last Friday I went to the High School's play Fools. I wasn't part of the production, but I was very close to it, due to the fact that I am part of the Theater class in the school. From the inside, I could see how a lot of people put a lot of effort to make this possible. From the actor, to the director and the workers also. The play was really funny. I enjoyed it because it was relaxing. The actors were really into his characters and everything went out really well. I would've liked to see more characterization of one character, who was constantly laughing and distracted the audience.
The stage of the play was very clever. It had three distinctive parts which was very clever. It also had different colors the make the divisions clear. The lights of the play could have been better. It is true that the Center Stage doesn't count with a good light set, but it could've still been better.
Overall, I think that the play was successful, even though Friday audiende was a little empty. I hope that next performance allows me to be part of it, because I really want to be part of a production.

Characters in Commedia dell' Arte

This video shows a few characteristics of the characters in Commedia dell' Arte. It is in Italian, but the physicallity is appreciatted without understanding what they are saying. Enjoy

Commedia del Arte Reflection

This past week we have started to study Commedia del Arte. This Italian style of Drama is oneof the most, if not th most, influential style of commedy in the history of theater. In class we have now looked at three characters: zanni, lover and pantalone. Out of these three I personally like the zani the most. Even though all three have very funny aspects, zanni's stupidity makes it a one-of-a-kind character. We also learned about the rest of the character of Commedia, and the character I am most looking forward too is Harlequino. I don't know what exactly attracts me the most to this character, but I really like it. It may be the fact that it makes fun of everyone, including superiors. Some friends have told me that that character fits me perfectly. I honestly don't know if it fits me, but it is definately the character I am most interested in.