Journal

Date What we did? New problem? What do we do before

the next rehearsal?

November 3rd This was the first class that was

dedicated to IP. Our group united

and went over every person’s role

in the group. We wrote down our

role in the group and stated that

we will be showing commitment

to our group and signed it.

My aim was to focus on acting

for my Independent Project,

however since I am very

passionate about, I want to also

be the set designer. We are

doing a minimalistic set, hence

it will not deduct a lot of time.

Start researching on

bet design and write an

action plan for the set

designer.

November 4th As a group, we created a blog to

be able to update all our

preparation, progress and

reflection into it. Then, we

updated the research on Steve

Berkoff and the play that we did

in summer.

As a group, we discussed our

research together and I realized

that my research on Steve

Berkoff and Physical Theatre is

very limited.

Research more on

Steve Berkoff and how

he was influenced into

Physical theatre.

November 5th Update the research on Berkoff

and his play Decadence on the

bog.Indivually, I worked on

research on the character I am

playing (Sybil).

I am not very comfortable with

creating and working with

blogs. Therefore it is a little

hard for me to be able to

understand how to work with it.

Sit down with the

director (Mikhail) and

ask him to guide you

on how to edit and

upload files onto the

blog.

November 6th I continued on researching on my

character and started creating a

character analysis.

Finish researching on

Sybil at home and

create mind maps and

finish he character map

on Sybil’s character.

November 9th Today, we had a group meeting

for the director to tell us which

lines are cut out of the scene.

Then I researched and

investigated indivitully on the

relationship between my character

(Sybil) and other charatcers that

she is interacting with.

I am little behind on the

research compared to the action

plan I set out for myself.

Because I want to research

idepth about women’s status at

that time and also behavior of

high-class women.

I will use the weekend

and next week, at

home, to focus on

researching on these

topics and expand on

my knowledge about

my character (Sybil)

and how women

behave at that time in

England.

November 10th Today, I started researching about

set design. I focused specifically

on Steve Berkoff and the reason

he chose to have a minimalistic

set.

I am not familiar with a

minimalistic set; therefore I

need to do more research in

order to make sure that I do not

add too little or too much

furniture or props to the set.

Look at past

productions that had

minimalistic sets to get

an overall view on how

it is suppose to be.

November 11th Today, I continued on researching

on set design and benefits on

using a minimalistic set,

especially on how it helps to break

the forth wall.

To be able to understand how

minimalistic set helps to break

the forth wall, I must research

about the forth wall and it’s

benefits.

Research about the

significant of breaking

the forth wall in

physical theatre.

November 13th Design team meeting. In the

meeting we viewed each other’s

work and made sure that a team

we are on the same page and all

our technical work collaborate

well together.

Even though we were just

comparing ideas, some of the

ideas that Raphael (costume

Desginer) had for costumes did

blend in with the thoughts that I

had for the color of the coach in

set. By next week I will make

sure that I have some sketches

ready so I can compare it with

the costume designs that he will

Research on the

suitable colors for the

couch and start

sketching the designs.

have to see if it collaborates

well with one another or not.

Sunday

November 16th

Today we had our first workshop

on miming. Check the word

document to see the notes. In the

workshop we saw a video that

demonstrated how physical

theatre works. I though the video

was very useful, as I am a visual

learner and it helped me to

understand better how physical

movements are. After watching

the video, all the actors had to

demonstrate what the woman was

doing in the video (putting our

hand in the air pretending it’s on a

table, taking a pretend cup, drink

it several times, and put it back on

the imaginary table, then move

your hand from the table. ) each

actor tried doing it separately

twice, then we came together as a

I had trouble with loosening up

my body and being able to free

myself to do the imaginary

movements.

At home, try to

analyses the daily

movements you do.

Example, drinking

water, sitting down,

listening to music. Pay

close to attention to the

movements, and try to

repeat them over and

over again (by using a

prop), then stop using

the prop and see how

the muscle miming

works.

group and tried doing the physical

movements at the exact time.

Wednesday

November 19th

The objective of this lesson was to

continue to work on the set design

research. I searched past

productions of “Dependence” and

examined what was different and

similar in their couch. I put up

pictures on my research and

annotated what worked well with

each of their choices to help me

determine what is the best choice

for couch in our performance. I

also looked at the lighting what

will be used, because the lighting

will affect the color of the couch

that will be chosen.

I have so many ideas for the et

of this production, however the

school’s budget and what they

are providing for us is limited,

therefore it limits my choices

Think of the coaches

available in school that

can be borrowed to be

used for this project.

Before next rehearsal,

my aim is to finish up

with the set design

research and start

working on my

sketches.

Thursday

November 20th

Everyone was working on their

technical work. I was sketching

my first draft for the set. I drew

my bird’s eye view and front view

sketch.

I had trouble with the

measurements on the set.

Go to the performance

place, and measure the

set yourself. And use

your measurements in

the sketches, to have

more accurate

measurements.

Sunday

November 23th

Each actor in the team

continued memorizing

lines and writing cues to

I pause constantly to

come up with new ideas

for the movement.

Go over your

lines, make

sure you have

help in making sure the

lines will not get mixed up

or forgotten.

I went through the script

and tried coming up with

physical movements that

would match the script.

memorized

them so well,

and then think

of what the

words you are

saying in the

scrip actually

mean. And try

to demonstrate

movements

unconsciously

for them.

Wednesday

November 25th

Going over the lines and making

sure the lines are fully learnt.

Trouble with coming up

with physical

movements that match

the script

Watch post

production to

get ideas

Loosen up and

try to think of

the movements

November 26th Today, I focused on my character

and tried bringing her personality

into the script as I went over it

again. I went through my lines

and made sure my cues were clear

on when the actions are suppose

to happen.

Trouble with coming up

with physical

movements that match

the script

Watch post

production to

get ideas

Loosen up and

try to think of

the movements

Go over the

notes from last

week, when

you focused on

your everyday

routine and the

movements you

do and try to

link them to the

physical

movements in

your script

except add

more

exaggeration.

Go over

character

mapping to

understand

your character

better and it

will help you to

imagine if you

were her, what

would she do

(movements).

December 3th Today we tried rehearsing without

using any script or notes, and see

where we stand in knowing our

lines and movements.

There are several

words that I

disremember and

skip to say them.

Im either focused

on saying the

lines or doing the

physical

I will first focus on

knowing all my lines

by heart and then when

I get comfortable with

the lines, I will focus

on the movements for

them.

movements, it is

challenging to

focus on both at

the same time

December 5th Today, individually we focused

on the finishing the designs. I

made sure all my sketches and

research is done.

I needed more

research for the

set design to help

me have more

options for the

most suitable

couch.

I set a goal for myself

to finish all the set

design research by end

of this week, so in the

next week I can start

writing the

built/Borrow/Buy list.

December 12th Today, I made sure I have all my

character’s objectives written

down and rehearsed the scene

according to those objectives.

I still got confused at

several stages. It was

challenging for me to

apply movements

according to some

objectives because I

thought they do not flow

and make sense

together.

In the upcoming class,

I will perform what I

did today for the

director to get

feedback on how to

improve.

December 14th I performed my scene for the

director and received some useful

tips and feedback on how to

improve and how to connect my

characters to the movements.

I had to change some of

the movements and

gestures and come up

with new ones to replace

them.

I will rehearse the new

movements and

gestures, so next week

I will be ready to do

the full performance

and focus on the new

techniques I can use.

December 17th Today we worked on scene 8, we

reviewed it several times to

practice the physical movements

for each character. First we

During the performance,

I kept looking at

Antonio, which showed

that I was obviously

Take notes for

the actions you

need to do for

each action,

rehearsed with our psychical

movement, then added the

movement that the 2 characters

are applying it together and then

worked on how each character

should react to the script of the

other character.

talking to him, which

was wrong and I have to

focus on the audience

and look at the audience

while performing.

Also trying to create

physical movements for

every word in the script

is very challenging for

me, because I am not so

comfortable with

stepping out of my

comfort zone and just

creating random

movements and

especially over

exaggerating actions. I

need to take risks and

not be afraid to use

gestures and overplay

the movements I use.

and rehearse

over and over

again.

Do exercises to

worm you up

and make you

more relaxed

before starting

rehearsal

Make notes for

reactions that

you must do

upon Antonio’s

Make sure

notes for the

gestures that

Antonio and I

must do

together

Rehearsing and

practicing is the

best option to

help improve in

this activity.

January 22th Today I was rehearsing my lines

and gestures at home in front of

the mirror to make sure I still

remember the, and they are

organized

I noticed that I still rush

into some of the lines in

the script.

I will try to rehearse

my lines alone first,

then rehearse then with

their movements and

then do an overall

rehearsal. This way I

will get used to the

doing several things at

the same time and will

not panic and rush.

January 23th Today, I prioritized on the

exaggeration of my gestures and

movements. Considering

exaggeration is one of the main

aspects of physical theatre and

one of my weakest points, I spent

the entire lesson trying to find

ways to exaggerate my

movements.

When rehearsing, at the

beginning I focus on

applying big and

exaggerating

movements, however as

the script goes on, I

forget and reduce the

level of my movements.

By Rehearsing the

movements alone and

try to exaggerate them

as much as I can it will

help me get used to

doing it on stage.

January 24th Today, I researched and found a

workshop related to Physical

Theatre focused for actors online.

I spent the whole day focusing on

that and taking notes on how I can

improve.

My group focused so

much on actors

individually applying

the physical movements

that we forgto that we

can even work as team

and apply the same

movement together for a

bigger impression!

I will get together with

my partner next class

and try finding

movements that we

can apply together

when performing.

January 25rd Today, my partner and I started

rehearsing couple of movements

that we can apply together at the

same time while performing to

have a greater impression on the

audience.

We faced a lot of

problems when we tried

to do the movements at

the same time, one of

was always late.

By rehearsing more

and by watching my

partner form the side

of my eye at all time, it

will help me to adjust

my movements with

him and be more

precise when doing the

movements at the same

time.

January 27th Today, My partner and I changed

some of the movements that we

agreed we would apply the

movement together and ten

rehearsed it to see if it fits in with

the scene.

We focused on words

that do not signify a big

part of the scene for the

first 20 minutes of the

lesson

By focusing on the

words that signify a

big part of the scene,

and use dong the

movement together, it

will have a bigger

impression on the

audience.

January 28th My partner and I continued

rehearsed our scene together and

focused on the movements that we

are applying together at the same

time. We rehearsed them to make

sure our timings are correct and

together.

The timings could be

better. At some points,

one of us are late in

adjusting the movement

compared to the other.

By counting before

each movement that

we are applying

together. If we count,

there chances of us

applying the

movement at the exact

time would be more.

February 1th We each worked on our technical

designs and made sure all our

designs and measurements are

correct.

The place of the coach

needs to move because

not all the audience are

able to see it.

I will go to the theatre

and take more pictures

and find an adjustment

for the coach, so that

all the audience will be

able to see it clearly.

February 2th Today’s goal was to figure out the

Build/Buy/Borrow. For the set, I

figured the best idea is to borrow

the Theatre Arts couch and just

put red fabric on top of it.

We cannot randomly put

a red fabric on the

couch, it will not look

professional. Therefore,

we need to give the

measurements to have

one made for the couch.

Find a tailor that would

do this In a short

amount of time.

February 3th Today, I rehearsed my lines, and

ended up changing some of the

movements and gestures that did

not flow in with dialogue. Then, I

rehearsed those lines again.

There is a gesture that I

constantly forget to

adjust it when I’m

performing.

I wrote down the

movement on a big

sheet of paper, and

when I’m rehearsing I

put the sheet in front of

me so I will remember

to adjust it, by doing

this several times,

unconsciously my

mind will get familiar

with adjusting the

movement in the

performance and

hopefully I would not

need the sheet

anymore to remember

it.

February 5st Today was a very useful double

lesson. I performed my part

several times to he other peers in

the group and got feedback from

them for my physical movements.

I also performed in front of the

My gestures and

movements that I apply

to the scrip are good,

however they are

understate. They need

lot more exaggeration.

One of the useful tips I

received today was to

imagine an imaginary

massive box on my lap

while I perform and try

to not touch the box

director and he gave me some

useful pointers to take into

consideration when I’m applying

the movements. And for the last

10 minutes, I focused on the

exaggerations that I could use to

immense my gestures to make my

message to the audience more

clear.

while I apply my

movements. Through

this, I HAVE to

extend my movements

higher and bigger and

use my atmosphere

better.

February 6nd In this class, the group sat down

and finalized all our designed,

making sure all the designs are

right and they match together.

And, for the last 10 minutes, the

actors were performing for the

director to make sure our level of

exaggeration is right and not too

low.

I still need to work on

my level of

exaggeration; it is more

challenging than I

thought. I constantly

forget that I have to

increase the

exaggeration and not

reduce it as the

performance goes on.

Practice my physical

movements more with

an imaginary box, so

that my body will get

used to exaggerating

movements.

February 7rd Today, the group worked on their

individual tasks. I focused on

improving on the points that the

directed gave me feedback on

before. I rehearsed to increase the

exaggeration of my movements by

pretending there is a box on my

lap.

While rehearsing,

sometimes I forget that

the is an imaginary box

in front of me, therefore

unconsciously my

exaggeration reduced as

I was acting.

By rehearsing at home

with an actual box on

my lap, so my body

will get used applying

big movements. I will

rehearse with an actual

box for a week, and

then I will remove it

and imagine the box,

this way I will not

reduce the

exaggeration of my

hands.

February 8th Today was a weekend, however

me and Antonio met up to

rehearse the movements that we

are securitizing together. We only

had couple of movements, so we

added some more because we

thought Securitizing movements

are great way to portray our

message to the audience.

Securitizing the

movements at the same

is a big issue at this

point. Antonio and I are

comfortable with the

movements at this point,

however applying them

at the same time in the

problem. One of us

always does it in a faster

pace than the other.

This issue can be

improved through

rehearsal and practice.

February 10th Today we worked on the still

image. After the peer assessment,

the director thought it is a good

idea to have several still images to

make it more clear to the audience

the relationship between the

characters on stage, so they will

not get confused when watching

the performance. Especially for

Antonio, considering he is playing

2 contrasting characters.

In one still image, my

character is “very upset

and angry” due to her

husband cheating on her,

I have to find the right

facial expression and

body still image to show

that emotion and anger,

which is a bit

challenging.

By rehearsing facial

expressions in front of

the mirror. And also by

not thinking about it

too much and using a

memory that will

trigger that anger on

stage.

February 11th Today we went over the ‘still

Images’ and created a new one for

the interval between the 2

extracts. I also focused on

triggering a ‘mad’ and ‘annoyed’

When the first still

Image is about to end,

Helen walks in and the

still image changes. The

problem is that Sybil

By having 1 count

down for all the

characters from the

start, it makes it

smoother and more

expression in the still image. and Steve do not know

exactly when the Still

Image is about to

change, because it relies

on when Helen walks in.

Which could be slow or

fast pace.

collaborative. The still

Image can be for 5

seconds then Helen

walks in by the 6th

count. This way, the

Still Image will be

more organized and

more in tandem

February 12th Today we had ‘Peer Assessment

of Blogs’. We got into pairs and

had to evaluate each one’s work

according to the criteria to help

each other to improve.

The person who was

peer assessing my work

had trouble finding some

of my work on the blog.

Which is bad because if

a student has trouble

finding my work, then

I’m sure an examiner

will have too which will

effect my grade in a

negative way.

At home, II will try to

find blogs that are

easier to post and find

files. If I find a suitable

one, I will transfer all

my work into a new

blog to make it easier

for the views to see the

files I post.

February 15th We had a double lesson today; in

the first lesson we went over the

BBB (Buy/Borrow/Build) list and

tried the red fabric on the couch to

see how it looks. And during the

second lesson we went over the

scenes and focused on the actors

objectives. I made more notes

about my character’s objectives

and noted down some points on

how to improve the level of my

exaggeration.

Sybil’s objectives get

confusing when Les

(Antonio) starts to say

his lines.

Focus and make notes

on Sybil’s objective

when Les is talking.

How does Sybil

feel Les at that

point?

What is Sybil’s

objective?

Is Les listening

to her?

February 16th The main objective of this lesson

was to have a full run though of

the project and see if everything

has fallen into its place. We had

time to do 2 run through. We did

one, got feedback from the

director and then did another one,

an improved one. I am pleased to

say that I really do see a progress

in my work and my peers. WE

came so far in this project and it is

amazing what we are capable of

now compared to beginning of

November when we first started

Independent Projects. We have

been able to put theories and our

thoughts into action and I am

pleased to see how it has turned

out.

Antonio and I

have to practice

on one of the

movements that

we are

securitizing to

make sure we do

it at the same

time, however

because he will

be standing up

and I will sitting

down, the levels

will make it

more difficult for

both of us to

cooperate.

The still Images

are not very

organized; the

actors need to

cope better with

one another.

Antonio

and I

need to

stay

aftersch

ool for

couple

of days

to

rehearse

on the

secreniz

ing and

practice

on those

movem

ents.

The

group

also

needs to

rehearse

on Still

Images

more

(the

facial

expressi

ons and

movem

ents of

the

actors

when

applyin

g the

Still

Image +

the

countin

g that

we do

to make

sure all

the

actors

are

changin

g the

Still

Image

at once

needs to

be more

organiz

ed).

February 18th Today, the close class’s objective

was to make sure that everything

we need to get to the theatre is

packed and ready to go. We made

a list of everything to make sure

nothing will be lost in the way.

My objective in the first

Still Image is not very

clear and obvious.

I must work on my

facial expression and

body language to make

it clear to the audience

how I am feeling and

my objective in the 5

And in the last 10 minutes, we

rehearsed our Still Images.

seconds of Still Image.

This can be improved

through rehearsing in

front of the mirror.

February 22nd Today in theatre, we rehearsed our

scene for couple of hours to make

sure we got the physical

movement of our characters right

and the synchronizing of the 2

characters. I noticed that

throughout the rehearsals in

school I was very comfortable

with focusing on the front

(audience) instead of my character

and broke the forth while

performing, however when we

rehearsed on stage, it was very

different. I was scared, seeing all

those empty chairs and thought of

people sitting there and me

performing scared me a little.

Especially that physical

movement is not a theatre that is

very well known. However, I am

glad I got this feeling, because it

made me realize that I have to try

I found it difficult to break the

forth wall and perform the

physical movement straight to

the audience, I kept looing at

Antonio (my peer), even though

I was suppose to stay focused

on the audience.

Rehearsing in front of

the mirror to assure

myself that I am doing

my role right and boost

my confidence about

performing in front o

others. Also,

rehearsing in front of a

small audience (family

or friends) will help to

break out of comfort

zone and challenge the

physical movements I

am using to make sure

they are superior and

the forth wall is being

broken.

even harder to illustrate my

objective to the audience. Thus, I

focused more and became more

alert of my movements and

myself when I was performing. I

concentrated on ways that I could

break the forth wall and used my

confidence to give me a boost to

be able to do all the physical

movements to the audience.