On the Homefront- Week Seven

It''s week seven of 'On the Homefront' and with the final performance just a few weeks away the cast were hard at work in this week's rehearsal to get everything ready. The goal this week was to finish the remaining scenes in the play, so that for the next two weeks we can work on perfecting the material before showing it to an audience on December 17th.

As usual we had a round of Ben's iconic shape making game. Interesting items to create this week were a Coke bottle (evidence of Ben's Coke Cola problem), a porcupine and a piece of modern art with a message. The group, as always, came up with some very abstract shapes, particularly for the latter; though the prize went to one pair who created 'The Balance' a sculpture which reflected the balance of the universe.

We kicked off work on the play this week by looking at the movement section which opens the show. In this section the cast go on a journey throughout a day in the life of their characters. This means coming up with actions that their character performs in the morning, during the day at work or school, in the afternoon and then in the evening.

Next we looked at the second half of the play and what happens during the interval between scenes four and five. It was important here to pause and reflect on all of the characters, as a lot will probably have happened to them during the year between scenes. We discussed how the relationship between the St Mary''s group has developed, as well as individual character's development.

This week we also tackled one of the toughest scenes in the play. In it a secret is revealed and the characters have to figure out how to react. We rehearsed this both with dialogue and without to see which would be the most effective means of communicating the correct tone and emotion in the scene. It was a difficult exercise for the characters involved and the rest of the cast were very supportive and helpful of then whilst the scene was being played out and new things experimented with.

It is strange to think that in just seven weeks we have gone to having a concept to now having a completed play. Back when we started we had ideas, but no characters and no definitive narrative. Obviously this was intentional, as the aim of this project was to get the company to create the characters themselves based on their knowledge of WWII, but it was a huge ask all the same. Now that the play is finished we can begin work on adding more layers and depth to it over the coming weeks so that it is ready to go when the 17th comes around. It's been a wonderful ride so far and we're all excited to see where the group take this show next!

On the Homefront- Week Six

It's week 6 of 'On the Homefront!' It's hard to believe that we've passed the halfway point now. Over the past five weeks we have done countless exercises and improvisations which had lead us here. Now, with the final show just four weeks away, we have a script, we have our characters and we have our story to tell. It's been a wonderful ride so far, but the journey isn't finished yet!

This week's rehearsal opened with a production meeting. The cast sat down and discussed what needed to be done in the time they had left. The aim of the AYC is for its members to be treated as young professionals. Perhaps more so on this project, as the material for the final performance was intended to be devised completely by the cast, we have treated them like a professional cast, all of whom are part of a professional company. The meeting outlined what remained to be done for the final performance so that everyone knew and had a chance to contribute to the production side of the performance.  

Once the meeting was finished it was time to move on to our, at this point, customary round of shape making. Ben worked hard to come up with some incredibly obscure ones this week, one of the favourites being a giant crocodile. Mean as he is, Ben also demanded the group create a pentagon, fully aware that the cast has more than five people. As a new spin on the game, the later rounds required the group to make still images (or tableaus) of a variety of weird and wonderful scenes, ranging from 'a swimming pool,' a 'fire engine' and a 'traditional comic book scene.'

Once the cast were warmed up it was time to launch back into the story of Blitz-time Exeter. This week we looked at the first few scenes in detail, as well as introducing all of the characters in the story. Each character is unique and was created by each member of the cast. They are:

Barbara- 

An evacuee from London who has decided to do what she must to survive.

Paul-      

A young man who works to provide for his younger brother, whom he has sworn to protect  after their father leaves for war.

Millie-

The headstrong leader of her, Patrick and Seymour's gang. She's not afraid of a fight and (though difficult to read) secretly wants to learn to become a doctor, despite her mother's wishes.

Patrick-

Paul's younger brother. Patrick hasn't quite grasped the horror of the war and instead sees fun in it. He is always looking to cause mischief and have a laugh.

Seymour-

Millie and Patrick's friend from school. Seymour is obsessed with the idea of German spies.

Craig-

An evacuee, also from London, who has decided to shut himself off from the world; feeling angry and abandoned after he was sent away from home.

The narrative sees these six characters coming together in what used to be St Mary's church, though that's all we will say! The first few scenes not only set up the characters at the start of their journeys but several plot threads which later affect everyone, so it was important that the cast work on establishing these so that they are clear when the show is performed for their audience.

There are a lot of fun moments in these scenes, such as the introduction of Craig, whom the gang stumble upon one day, and the confrontation between Millie and Barbara over a stolen bag of sweets. The cast worked hard on bringing out both the emotion and humour of all these moments, while using their knowledge of the characters to provide new depth and meaning to the words we had given them as an outline for the scene.

And so rehearsals continue. As mentioned earlier; only four weeks now until the show and things are coming together wonderfully. This could well be one of our best yet! It's so inspiring to see the cast working so hard to make the show the best it can be, while also remembering to have a heap of fun along the way! Until next week!





On the Homefront- Week Five

Five weeks down! In just five weeks our talented cast will perform for their audience. That meant that this week it was time to buckle down and begin to shape the initial scenes of the show. Using the characters whom the cast had created for themselves over the past four weeks, the cast fine tuned the narrative which the performance would take and what roles they would all play in the events to come.

We started this week with some ensemble work. Learning to move as a group. Strong teamwork is the basis for successful devising, so we wanted to give the cast a chance to link together as a whole in order to tackle the challenges we gave them as this week's rehearsal kicked off. The aim of the game this week was simple, but required lots of concentration from everyone in order to work. Together the group must start and stop walking. Usually it takes a few practices but once the ball is rolling the cast find that it is easy to synchronise the stopping and starting. Everyone tried hard to focus on the others in the group and were eventually able to make it to the point where they too, stopped and started at the same time.

Once the games were done the cast discussed the finer details of the narrative. As a group they performed a quick speed run of the play, focusing on the bigger events in each scene so that we could map out what happened where and what impact this would have on the larger narrative, as well as each individual character.

Once that was done we moved onto scene one. This involved two different elements of theatre. The first half of the scene involves a physical theatre sequence, while the second introduces dialogue into the play. Using the script, which had been devised for the scene, the cast explored the latter half of the scene. In this scene we establish the different personalities of the characters through dialogue and body language, as well as set into motion events that will have repercussions later on.

The story tells of several teenagers in Exeter during World War II, who oneday, for varying reasons, find themselves in the ruins of St Mary's church. Events unfold and suddenly the group find themselves stranded in the church during an air raid. While they are all trapped in the church, the individuals begin to bond and eventually the ruins become a meeting ground for them to all go to every day.

Once the cast had finished work on the scripted section of the scene it was time to return to the start and look at the initial physical theatre sequence. The choice of this style for the introduction was to incorporate both the sense of a regular day and that of being alive during a time of war, as things go from normal to life-threatening in mere moments.The sequence follows each characters 'journey' through the day and what their characters do when bombs aren't falling. Enough on that, however, we don't want to spoil the show by revealing everything!

Finally, with what time we had left in the rehearsal, the cast improvised 'snippets from St Mary's,' as Jake liked to call it. These snippets involved two or three characters interacting with each other on a normal night in the St Mary's church meeting place. All the stimulus the cast were given was that they had to interact with each other and not leave their designated area of the church. This activity lead to some interesting scenes, however. For instance, a group who were sat atop the broken stairs discussed the stars  and one character's obsession with watching the bombs drop. Another one featured another character revealing that his reasons for not joining the army, while a third involved one of the more abrasive members of the friendship group revealing personal information about himself which he had previously kept hidden. Again, it was incredible to see what the cast created through improvisation and what can be nicely transferred into the established narrative to make it even bigger and better.

Again, we are incredibly impressed with all of the hard effort the cast are putting in. The performance is shaping up to look absolutely brilliant and we can't wait to see it grow even more next week!    

On the Homefront- Week Four

Things were back in full swing with today's rehearsal, following the tragic events of last week which left us low of cast members and made the planned activities much harder. This week was our fourth week on the project and time to start pulling in what has been done over the course of the past four weeks and establish some characters and narrative for the final performance.

We started off this week with Ben's favourite game. After much googling of random objects and scenes, he threw the cast into creating them. Today featured such bizarre shapes as a sofa and a fashion show, the latter of which some members of the cast got quite into.

Once the posing was finished we want on to perform some physical theatre exercises. For this the group walk around the space while listening to calm music. Working together they need all find a similar rhythm and speed to walk at. Once this had been achieved they needed to stop walking at the same time. It is a difficult exercise and one that requires a lot of focus, but it can work and the cast did wonderfully at engaging with each other and working as a team.

 In the next activity the cast were asked to thing about their own ways of moving. With guidance from Ben and Jake, they experimented with moving at different speeds and looking at the transition between those speeds. For instance, running and then stopping abruptly, or walking slowly and then bursting out into a run. Then they were asked to focus on their feet. In the exercise the cast had to pretend they were painting a picture on the floor with their feet and think about how that affected their movement.  Some of the cast worked fantastically at exploring different levels and physicalities to complete their pictures.

After the break the group sat down and discussed the characters that they had shaped over previous weeks. The character whom had featured in our many improvisations all returned as we discussed which characters we would like to feature in the performance. With the framing device of the action being set within a half-destroyed St Anne's church, the cast had a great deal of choice in which characters they felt would best suit a story and provide interactions that an audience would find interesting.

Once the plan was made it was time to launch into some exercises that would help develop these characters physically, while allowing the cast to each explore his or her own self, deciding upon mannerisms and personalities. The success of this endeavour was proved when we sat down afterwards and were able to discuss the characters at length, along with their feelings towards the other characters in the story.

We went through each character's day, from when they got out of bed to them spending a night in an air raid shelter. From this we discussed what kind of lives these characters were leaving and focus in on what might motivate them to do the things they do.

For the final activity of the week we drew the blinds shut and turned on the ballroom lamps. The set up was simple; the cast were their characters and were inside the ruined St Anne's church, a place where they go to feel safe. Everyone was given the stimulus that they had to interact with each other in whatever capacity they felt was right. One person, however, had an additional stimulus. They would bring in a bag of sweets and would have to decide whether or not to share them with the group. During the exercise friendships were formed and enemies made as the sweets were eaten and the air raid siren started to go. Stranded in the church the characters seemed to bond with one another, if only from being trapped in the same situation together. When we discussed the exercise afterwards, every claimed it helped them develop the relationships between their characters. Alas, that was all the time we had this week, however the cast all produced some amazing work and the pieces for the final performance are starting to come together!