Useful links...

In the sidebar I am posting the address of a Chinese/British playwright, Benjamin Yeoh. He has some very interesting musings and writings as he responds to his practice and reading. Exactly the sort of things you should be posting or writing in your journals. He also has some fabulous links. I found him via the Yokahama IBTarts blog - thanks, Tim!

Also thanks to Tim is the following new link in the sidebar: British Theatre Archive which features interviews (with actors and directors) and scripts. Check it out!

Research Investigation

Please use this link to make sure your research essay is presented correctly:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/
Thank you.
Don't forget to make sure you include a cover sheet with your name, word count and correct essay title as well as which draft or version it is.

Photos of Medea!!!

Rehearsal - Independent Project

I have some video of one of our rehearsals for our Independent [Group] Project.
Considering it is 30 minutes long as we tried to get through a 6 minute long play; and didn't even get through to the end - yeah we did not work as efficiently as possible on this day (lol).
If you guys want it, ask me for it via email - because I am having trouble uploading it to this blog, as the file is so big...
Hopefully watching how we worked here can help us to take initiative and work more productively on our next student-directed production...


However, here is the final product of our work =)

Theatre Production

How does a theatre company really work? Who does what?

Tara Arts is one of Britain's foremost theatre companies, producing dynamic and innovative work from an Anglo-Indian perspective. Listen here to a podcast on how they put together their productions, courtesy of the Guardian newspaper podcasts:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/podcasts/2006/09/open_rehearsal_behind_the_scen.html



This is a clip from Tara Arts' current production of the Tempest. Read a review here and explore more about this exciting theatre company here.

On Acting....

I think it was James Stewart who said of the art of acting: "Just learn your words and don't bump into the furniture". Is there more to acting than just learning words and pulling faces? When you are playing a role, how do you take on a character and bring it to life? There are many theories and philosophies of acting, and we will be exploring a few of them throughout this course.

We are about to begin an exploration of the twentieth century's greatest influence on acting: Konstantin Stanislavski.

Before we do that, we will place Stanislavski's work in context by briefly exploring Melodrama.

Before any of that, I wanted to share with you a brief sample of one of Britains finest actors, Sir Ian McKellan, discussing how he took on one of his most famous roles, that of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films....