22/05/23 - 25/05/23

 Week 32 of Milly's acting journey

This is the last week before half term which means the last full week before show week. I made sure that I was 100% confident on lines and if necessary, someone could prompt me if I had forgotten my cue or starting word. The day started with me and Millie leading a warm-up. We had seen this game where it tests your accent, vocal and volume work by having a classmate guess who is speaking by changing their normal voice. Everyone seemed to have a great time and enjoy it so we were really glad it worked well. Afterwards, we moved onto rehearsing with Cast 1 from the beginning, which meant that I was playing Marmee. I looked over lines and when my cue was said, I entered the scene. Tom, from Higher Education, helped us out for the entire day with Cast 1 and was so helpful. He was asking us questions as if we were the characters, so he could see how much we understood the character we were playing. He reminded the March daughters to be more youthful and fast paced, and after hearing his feedback on them, I made sure to keep the energy going and show who they get the caring side of themselves from. Later on in the morning, we as a team transported all of the set into dance studio 1, which allowed for more space and we could practice like we would width size in the theatre. We reached the end of Scene 11, which is amazing since we had gotten so many blocking ideas and kept going over scenes to make sure they were perfect. During lunch, myself, Emily Howard and Millie T had gone on a walk as part of our sponsored walk as a class. I was starting to get lots of sponsors so I was really glad we had time to earn that money and walk our first mile. We had lots of fun, the sun was shining and it honestly didn't feel like something we had to do, it was refreshing and light. The day was very productive, and I felt like moments I was concerned and wondering about were tightened and cleaner. 

On Tuesday, we began with Cast 3 going through the same rehearsal schedule as yesterday, where from Scene 1 all the way to Scene 11, they would work on scenes, blocking and get a new perspective from Tom on how it all looks. I am Sallie Gardiner in Cast 3, which mean't I wasn't needing in the number of scenes Marmee is in. Due to this, myself, Latoya, Sienna and Adam could practice our seagull scenes with Geoffrey for Last Resort. I was so glad that we could finally rehearse and get, for the first time, Geoffrey and Elliot's opinion on how to make it better and how it is already. Geoffrey suggested my already essex accent should be more gruff and manly, which has changed my entire seagull personality from annoying chavy gull to a manly selfish gull called Paul. I didn't know how to feel about since I had practised and came up with lots of traits for my gull like she would flick her hair with her wings now and then, and constantly look at the other gulls with an irritated face. She was very jealous of the sweet french gull played by Sienna, but I knew that Geoffrey had good ideas with other groups so trusted his opinion and changed my seagull. At Lunch, the girls and I went on our mile walk again and Keira and Adam came along with us this time. One again, it went by in a flash as we chatted all the way and by the time we knew it, we were back at college. When we all returned, we went through the ball scene that transitions into another scene and now we knew who the cast were, we could work through it. Since I play Sallie Gardiner in the cast 3 show, I had to dance with Fred who is played by Will. She starts the new scene so blocking here was crucial which we definitely, thanks to Tom, worked through and quickly solved. 

On Wednesday, some people went to do another walk as they hadn't yet, however I took the opportunity of not being needed in a scene to go and continue with my Last Resort programme. I am so happy with how it's coming along, and Gracie has helped me out so much with editing and how she thinks it should look like. We both agreed it needs to be fun and colourful to highlight the show will be exactly that. I definitely wanted to hear Geoffrey and Elliot's ideas with the poster and programme to see if it fit their criteria, and once it's fully completed, I'll check with them first. I got a decent way through before everyone returned and we began rehearsals. Much like the past few days have been like, Cast 2 began rehearsing from Scene 1 with their aim to reach Scene 11 so that every cast would have reached the exact same spot and have no cast left behind. I am Marmee in Cast 2 so I was happy that it was more practice for me as her, and going over scenes allows me to store the lines better in my head. Instead of going for my walk, I helped out a few of my fellow actors on set. I'd like to be able to talk about my collaboration on production that isn't just marketing as it shows that I helped across the board. We were glueing and painting the swords the sisters would use in the play scene. It's a crucial prop to make it feel more real, so I was really happy I could help with that. The lesson ended on reaching Scene 11 and starting Scene 12 as we had a little bit more time fortunately. Before I could enter the scene, the rehearsal ended and I met Tamara and Alex in the black box room to shoot the posters for their film 'Ode to Joy'. We managed to get so many interesting shots that worked with the theme of the movie and it was the last time I would actively be a part of the film, which was sad but I'm so excited to see the end result. 

On Thursday, everyone came in early with it being the last day before half term, so that we could get the most amount of time on rehearsing and getting through scenes so that we would all feel comfortable before leaving each other for a few days. Tom and Kelly chose to continue with Cast 1, the cast they started with, and managed to reach the end by the end of the day. Me, Millie and Kadie did our last mile walk which was a nice start to my day knowing I had done all 3 of my miles. We went through lots of new blocking ideas, and everyone was contributing with ideas which was great as you could feel how much more people are connecting to their characters. I feel like I'm really connecting Marmee and her storyline, in that she's very driven for her daughters, and wants them to be happy even if she isn't. I got told earlier that day that Cast 3 wouldn't have a Marmee, and if I could do it. Of course I said yes, but it mean't that I couldn't do Sallie Gardiner anymore. To be honest, it meant that I could really focus on my main character of Marmee, but I was really enjoying the challenge on the other hand. However, it was better for everyone and myself to just play her so I am now Marmee in all 3 casts. I still can't believe it's happened this way since I get to act on stage with every single person on the course at some point which is amazing. I got to work on more set work, where I helped Kadie and Emie out with dipping teabgs on the paper covered doors to get an auenthic feel and tie the set together more. I also glued some pieces of paper onto the red draws to further bring the set together and make you feel a part of the story. Overall, this week has been super productive for myself, and I ended the day with Adam and Millie, doing an interview with Elliot on what directing The Last Resort has felt like to hopefully post on instagram and other socials during the half term.