Outline & Possible Beginning?

Introduction:

• Introduce play (short summary?)
• Explain which scene(s) is being played **need line numbers**
• Significance of these scenes
• Main Thesis: How the events change Juliet’s character and how that must be portrayed as an actor for the audience to understand

First paragraph:

• Explain Juliet before she meets Romeo (w/ evidence)
• Obedient, young, not much experience w/life
• How her behavior changes
• Excited, in ‘love,’breaks all the rules
• Change right before scene
• Paris comes into the picture + her reaction, her plan of attack

Second paragraph:

• First monologue of Juliet
• Worried, anxious, unsure, torn b/w love for Romeo and her own life turns to determination, confidence, need? (to do this)
• How was portrayed in the performance
• Facial expression, use of props, staging/blocking, line deliverance, reacting to my own lines?
• Change of character from first section

Third paragraph:

• Second monologue of Juliet
• Confused, sad, grief turns to determination, need to finish, desperate, love for Romeo
• How it was portrayed in performance
• Same elements as above
• How character change from first section is portrayed

Conclusion:

• Overall effect of the performance
• End feelings
• Effect of only monologues, no dialogue but still was interaction
• Possible improvements if given another chance

Over the course of the play “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet is a character that undergoes an immense amount of change in many different aspects. As a young girl falling in love, she experiences many emotions that previously have not been a part of her life. When she first sees Romeo, she immediately feels the connection between them. But she only realizes after that Romeo is, in fact, from the Montague family. The Montagues and the Capulets are two noble families who are in a long-standing feud. Despite coming from opposing families, their circumstances only seem to highlight their love for each other. Due to the pressure from Juliet’s parents about marrying Paris, Romeo and Juliet realize that their need to move forward their relationship. . .    

"Warriors Don't Cry" Review

          This past Wednesday, I was lucky enough to watch “Warriors Don’t Cry” at the Bushnell. It was a one-woman show retelling the experiences of Dr. Melba Pattillo Beals as a part of the Little Rock Nine. It was unlike any other show that I have experienced, and I enjoyed it immensely. Because it was a one-woman show, the actress had to play various parts one after another. The amount of time that probably went into developing each character’s motives and personalities was huge. She described after the show how she had to hold her body a little different for each character so the audience could understand which character she was. For example, when she was playing Beal’s grandmother, she hunched over and constantly used her finger when she spoke. But when she was acting as Danny, her bodyguard, she stood up straight and tall. Through these characters, she was able to make a tough topic relatable and informative to the younger generation.  
          Overall, I think her performance was very effective and well thought-out but there were some parts of the play that could have used some changes. For example, there were many parts of the play where she spoke very quickly. This made it hard to understand what she was saying. It also threw me off a little because, in the time that I was trying to figure out what she said, she had already moved on with her lines. Another thing that surprised me was that she said that she had performed this show for four years, but she still stumbled on at least three or four of her lines. There was also a few things that affected my enjoyment of the show itself. For example, from where I was sitting, you could see the blue work light that was offstage and as the curtains moved, the light was shining brightly. I did not understand why the crew just did not close the curtains on the sides because there were no actors that had to enter or exit the stage anyway. Also, on the back curtain of the stage, there was a projection of windows which I thought did not add anything to the set. All in all, it was a successful and difficult production that she was able to pull off pretty effectively. I enjoyed it a lot and was able to learn a lot about a topic and point of view that is not really discussed in the history books. 

Research on "Warriors Don't Cry"

The Book (Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals)

• About the time when nine black students (Little Nine Rock) started to go to school in a previously all white school (Central High School)
• Following the Brown v. Board of Education trial when Supreme Court decided that ‘separate but equal’ was not equal due to the differing conditions of the segregated schools
• Students were in the middle of a turning point in history from a high schooler’s point of view
• Said to have very good voice and be relatable/understandable to kids our age
• Based on Beals’ own experience going through these events

The Play (“Warriors Don’t Cry)

• One woman show: Forced the actress to play other parts and switch from part to part smoothly and effectively
• Has to be clear to the audience which character she is playing
• Has to understand every character and their past, emotions, motives
• Always ‘on’ (no one else to rely on)
• Adaptation of the book: Takes the important parts of the books and changes it into a play format
• A lot more dialogue
• Many things (emotions, thoughts, etc.) have to be shown to audience through actress's face
• Needs to make sure that the ideas and characters are portrayed the way they were meant to be seen

Sources

• https://bushnell.org/events/warriors-dont-cry
• https://zinnedproject.org/materials/warriors-dont-cry-book/

Final Scene Reflection

Overall, I think that the scene that Julia and I worked on was very successful. There were many parts of it that I was very happy and other parts that could be better if only we were given more time. I think that (apart from the few fumbles) the my line memorization was very good. In the beginning of the scene, I fumbled on and even skipped a line, mostly because of the nerves that I had going into the performance. Right before we filmed it, we were able to quickly run-through and review our lines and I think that that definitely boosted my confidence. Right after I finished my first monologue, I immediately thought that I had spoken too fast. Audience members (Ms. Guarino) assured me that it was not too bad. When I looked back at the recording, I thought there were some spots where I could’ve added more pauses to allow for the audience to have to process what I was saying.

I think that one of the easier parts of this project was getting into character and portraying Juliet. I think that, for me, showing emotions, acting, and reacting to the lines was pretty easy. Julia and I both found that we focused more on the physical parts of it, like learning the lines and creating a successful blocking rather than anything else. Another easy part of this project was speaking the lines effectively so it could be understood by the audience with emphasis and pauses in the right places. One thing that helped me with this was that I separated both monologues into smaller sections that would help to focus on sections rather than the entire script. This way it would be very easy to add pauses and figure out the meaning for myself so I could convey that to the audience.

I think that I was able to portray Juliet very effectively. When I was watching back on the video of the performance, I think that the emotions that Juliet was feeling were clear to the audience. One example, is in the first monologue toward the end where Juliet is wondering whether or not she should actually take the potion. I think that the emotions of worry, anxiety, and confusion were all clear to see in my expression which I think was important. One thing that I found to be a little more difficult was finding a way to react onstage even though, I was the only one who was present. As I learned my lines, I found that there were ways I could react to various events happening around me even though there was not another person’s actions there to prompt. One more thing that I wish we could have added was the costuming element to the production. Although the clothes that we wore were not detrimental to the success of the scene, adding costuming would have added another element to help the audience. All in all, I am very happy with the scene that Julia and I performed. To see the change from our first run-through to now is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. I learned a lot about how much work goes into an adaptation even though the lines are exactly the same. To just goes to show that there is always more than what meet the eye.  

James Joyce's "The Dead" Review

I got to watch Cheshire Academy’s Varsity put on James Joyce’s “The Dead” on opening night, Thursday, November 10th. Overall, I think that I enjoyed the performance rather than the play itself. Many of the actors shined onstage when they fully encompassed their character onstage. The costume choices were also effective. I liked the vintage winter look that all the characters seemed to have. I think that the mix between straight dialogue and the songs sung by various characters provided a way to keep the play moving. This was an effective change because the audience was always engaged through the songs and dance that were interspersed in the play. One of my favorite characters was Freddy Malins played by David Mattison. I think that he was really able to bring the character to the next level because he was not afraid to ‘over-act.’ I mean that his acting may have been seen as over-the-top to someone part of the production, but in reality, it just made his portrayal of Freddy that much better. I think that the play itself felt a little bit unfinished and incomplete. I say this mainly because of two scenes; the scene where Aunt Julia and the ending to the story. When Aunt blank dies, it feels very rushed and insignificant to the rest of the characters. This may because the audience does not see the other reactions, but when Aunt Kate comes in to check on her, she does not see the younger self of Julia. This makes me think that they do not know that she is dying. The other scene that I did not like was the ending scene. There was no resolution between Gabriel and Gretta. The play ends with the two of them sitting on opposite sides of the bed, not talking to each other. I thought that there should be some indication to the audience to what might have happened in the future. But, it did leave the audience still thinking about the play, even though they left the theater. These are just a few of the reasons why I think that this production was so successful.

Final Scene Performance Link

https://youtu.be/N9Ka8x93g7U

Performance Log Number Three

Day Seven: Monday, November 7

Today, we had our first memorization quiz. This was scheduled to be on the Friday previous, but the day off allowed for all groups to have extra days to work on the memorization of the scripts. I found that this was very helpful because it allowed me to learn my lines by writing them as well as speaking them aloud. Later in the week, I found that this helped me as I was learning lines, the pauses and emphasis on words were easier to pick up on and add. I found that the combination of writing my lines repetitively and speaking them aloud to be the most effective method for me. As I started to learn my lines, I discovered that the hardest part of this was the little words and the parts of speech that are not found in today’s language. This was reflected in my quiz itself because while I had gotten the main idea of the line, the actual wording of the line was slightly different. This was also an accurate point of reference for me as an actor because it let me know where I was in preparation for the upcoming scene performance. Julia and I were also able to run through our scripts once over quickly as well before class ended.     

Day Eight: Wednesday, November 9

Julia and I had our first full scene run-through today and I think that it went pretty well. We both knew that majority of our lines, and much of the problems were in our blocking. Personally, I was unsure of a few of my lines and the order in which they were said. But once I was given confirmation that I was on the right track, it was easy for me to continue. I found that when I was performing, my first monologue went much quicker than I thought it would, which was very surprising to me. One thing part of the blocking that was not working was that during my first monologue, I was standing throughout. Many people thought that was odd because Juliet is supposed to be in her bedroom. We decided that it would be best if I were on something to imitate my bed or something like a chair. This would make the scene more realistic for the audience. Lastly, my ending lines needed some blocking changes as well. Romeo ended up falling behind Juliet, so it was difficult to say my lines toward the audience. We changed the blocking so Romeo dies in front of Juliet so the audience can see and hear what is going on. Also, some of the other comments from my classmates said to take more time react and not rushing to say the lines. For example, when Juliet first wakes up, there should be more time taken to wake up and react to the dead Romeo in front of her. To hear the various comments from both the teacher and my classmates were very helpful because I could many different points of views and opinions. All of it could be used to improve the scene.   

Day Nine: Thursday, November 10

All of today’s class was put toward watching the other groups’ performances. It was very interesting to see all the different scenes and how they changed the order and blocking of the scenes. For example, another group did the scene where Juliet takes the potion as well. But that actor said the lines very differently, and that changed the overall scene slightly. We also had to give feedback on the other groups. This helped me look at their scenes critically. This, in turn, could help us think about and work through our scene. Also, many of the comments that other groups received could be applied to our scene as well. It helped us think about what we could do, as actors, to make our scene even better.   

Day Ten: Friday, November 11

Today was a very short class for me because of the Open House. There was one more additional group that had to present their scene. I watched theirs and gave them comments. Because of the Open House, Julia was not in class and I only had enough time to run through my lines once before I had to leave to help out. Overall, I think that this week was one of our most productive weeks because we were able to present all our lines (memorized) and then perform them as well. We were also able to get very constructive comments to tell what was good for an audience member, and what needed a little bit of changing.  

The CA Varsity Players's Production of James Joyce's "The Dead"

Final Scene 5.3

Juliet:

I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins,
That almost freezes up the heat of life.
I’ll call them back again to comfort me.
Nurse!—What should she do here?
My dismal scene I needs must act alone.
Come, vial.
What if this mixture do not work at all?
Shall I be married then tomorrow morning?
No, no, this shall forbid it. Lie thou there.
(Laying down her dagger.)

What if it be a poison which the friar
Subtly hath minist’red to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonor’d
Because he married me before to Romeo?
I fear it is, and yet methinks it should not,
For he hath still been tried a holy man.
How if, when I am laid into the tomb,
I wake before the time that Romeo

Come to redeem me? There’s a fearful point!
Shall I not then be stifled in the vault,
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in,
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes?
Or if I live, is it not very like
The horrible conceit of death and night,
Together with the terror of the place—
As in a vault, an ancient receptacle,
O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught,
And madly play with my forefathers’ joints,
As with a club, dash out my desp’rate brains?
Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here’s drink—I drink to thee.
(She falls upon her bed)

Romeo:

Let me peruse this face.
Mercutio’s kinsman, noble County Paris!
He told me Paris should have married Juliet.
Said he not so? Or did I dream it so?
Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
To think it was so? O, give me thy hand,
One writ with me in sour misfortune’s book!
For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
This vault a feasting presence full of light.

(Laying Paris in the tomb)

O my love, my wife,
Death, that hath suck’d the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty:
Thou art not conquer’d, beauty’s ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips and in  thy cheeks,
And death’s pale flag is not advanced there.

Ah, dear Juliet,
Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe
That unsubstantial Death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee,

And never from this palace of dim night
Depart again. Here, here will I remain
With worms that are thy chambermaids; O, here
Will I set up my everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars

From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last!
Arms, take your last embrace! And, lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavory guide!
Here’s to my love!
(Drinks poison)

O true apothecary!
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.
(Dies.)

(Juliet rises.)

Juliet:

(sees Romeo)

What’s here? A cup clos’d in my true love’s hand?
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.
O churl, drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To help me after? I will kiss thy lips,
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make me die with a restorative.
Thy lips are warm.

(hears noise outside)

Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O happy dagger,
(Taking dagger.)

This is thy sheath;
(Stabs herself.)

there rust, and let me die.
(Falls on Romeo’s body and dies.)