#dramalogue

3 Things I learned

- The stock characters of Commedia are the basis for many of the characters existing in the media today. - Little problems can be seen as forest fires in these scenes - Not all characters are masked as I originally assumed

- I grow impatient when things go too far off task - Portraying a servant often means assisting "Pantalone" up from falling on the floor. This means being prepared for physical labour. - I terrify myself with the sarcastic wit that was cut from our actual performance

- The six of us were a little like the Avengers but instead we cause mayhem -We all work really well together when we're on track -We all have a sense of dry humour

2 Things I still want to know

What materials were the masks originally made of

1 thing you should know

While we were being introduced to the characters Columbina really stood out to me because of her sarcasm and the way she didn't take flack from anyone. She was her own person and anyone who tried to take that from her would be put in their place.

I put some of myself into my portrayal of Columbina. I am a naturally sarcastic person and I've worked hard to ensure that people understand this. So I like that I was able to perform in such a way that would allow me to be a sarcastic person and hopefully drag a little bit of dry humour (Gah tumblr.. Trying to tell me humour doesn't have a u in it.)

Step by step outline

Pantalone accepts Capitano's marriage proposal to Isabella

Isa. and Lilio go to Columbina for help

Columbina recruits Signora to assist them in calling Capitano out as a fraud

Signora gives Lilio money to impress Pantalone

Columbina gets Capitano drunk so he tells Pantalone himself

*Insert phony English accent here and continue reading as such*

Shakespeare and I are friends. I can't say he's the only writer I admire, for I admire the works of Tolkien, Rowling, C.S. Lewis and that horrible, horrible George R.R. Martin and Stephan Moffat who all write amazing characters, allow me to become emotionally attached, and then kill them. (Doctor Who companions, Moriarty, "Sherlock", Eddard Stark, Fred Weasley, Lupin and Tonks, Boromir, Fili and Kili, etc.) This only leads to my complete emotional instability, how my mother looks at me like I'm insane.

But I digress. I admire the boldness of Shakespeare's plays and how he made light of situations, so being able to perform a much shortened version of one of my favourites, I was excited.

During our rehearsals, one thing I noticed was that when the whole class gets together to put on a performance, we really do band together. Lots of fun is had but the whole class really works hard to make something special. And that is something that is beyond amazing.

Having an audience for any performance can be unnerving. I think in think in this case having the audience was brilliant. It made me focus on the performance completely. I like having an audience from outside the class present because they have probably never seen me preform before, and they might never again, so I don't feel like I need to worry about them or what they'll think. Obviously, I hope they'll enjoy it but I realize I don't need to worry about it.

The mask presentations were terrifying. I loved watching others in their presentations but actually being onstage was beyond words. The thing I learned while working with the mask I used was that I had to try not to let the idea of being claustrophobic get to me. That was the hardest thing. To try and stop one of my biggest fears from causing me to panic during our rehearsal and performance. I was nothing but scared.

During the performance, I did what any self respecting girl with roots in small town Newfoundland would NOT do. I had a small and brief panic attack where I heard my own breathing and felt like I needed to get out of the mask. The thing that pushed me through was knowing that we were nearly finished our scene and that it would be over in moments, all I needed to do was forget I was wearing the mask. Unfortunately, due to my claustrophobia I felt like I didn't do as well as anyone else or as well as I could have done. Due to this I felt like I let my group down in some way because I wasn't fully understanding of my mask. I realize now, I wasn't fully understanding because I was afraid of my mask. Afraid of something that was intended to be a fun learning experience.

During the planning process, our group was usually on topic, although we did sometimes stray a little. For example, a comment about Dr. Oz being on a t-shirt when it was clearly the 10th Doctor. Something that could have been done differently was ensure that everyone was ready to work everyday and we had started an outline of where we wanted to go, on the very first day of preparation.

I felt that our performance went fairly well. It went pretty much as expected, except for a missing member but even then it still went very smoothly. I did not expect to forget a few lines of my monologue while onstage, so I attempted to smooth it over by quickly replacing them before moving back to my scripted words. I think our group handled these things very well, we had someone stand in as our missing member and I don't think anyone was confused by my mistake.

This year in drama I would like to play a different role instead of the sarcastic and angst filled teenager who allows herself to be pushed around by others. I would also like to contribute more during group preparations. 

While onstage, I like to try and forget what's going on beyond the stage. I like to think that the people onstage are the only people there and that the performance is just another rehearsal. Only without any mix-ups. Hopefully.

During this activity when I was not onstage I noticed that those who were, appeared a little bit uncomfortable. This in turn made me feel uncomfortable watching them. I was caught between looking at them and making brief eye contact and then quickly looking away.

The walking observation was strange. I've never before had people trail along in a line behind me attempting to mimic the way I walk. I didn't know if I should be self-conscious or confident. I received interesting feedback about my walk. I was told that my shoulders and back don't move much but that my lower arms move in time with my legs. Also that rather than my hips moving side to side, they move up and down while I walk. This was my favourite observation that was told to me because I myself had never noticed this although I had noticed everything else about my own walk.