The Caucasian Chalk Circle Preparation

          We received the script, it is an extract from the play "The Caucasian Chalk Circle", the storyline of our extract is: Years pass, and Simon (Grusha's unmarried fiancé) finds Grusha while washing clothes in the river. They have a sweet exchange before Simon jokingly asks if she has found another man. Grusha struggles to tell him she has unwillingly married, then Simon spots Michael. The following scene between the two is told predominantly by the Singer, who speaks for each of the two character's thoughts, and is the most heartbreaking part of the play.

          Before we get into details, we decided to read the script out a few times first, then we worked on the movement of the characters.

          For Simon, he will first have a confident standing position as he is proud of himself being a soldier, but as the dialogue continues, he gets to know something happened to Grusha. In order to express the change in Simon's mind, Daniel (Simon) will start to change his stand into a more defensive position, and then later in the extract, he will even wander around to show his impatience.

          For  Grusha, she will come in with a basket of cloths, and throughout the conversation, she is mostly trying to go forward, showing that she wants to reach Simon (sadly there is a river splitting them), but when Simon asked her about the child and if she is still single, we decided to show it by making Shari (Grusha) stepping backward when that happens.

         We spent our lesson mainly on these two main characters, then we are told by Oda to read the script a few times in our free time before the next lesson.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

Task title: 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle'.

Date of task: 28th October, 2011.

Aim of task: Team up into group of four, and work on an extract from 'The Caucasian chalk Circle'.

Description of task:

• I am in a group with Oda as the director, Shari as Grusha, Daniel as Simon, and I am acting as the singer.

Reflection:

• This is really the first time I am involved in a play, acting, according to an extract from an actual written play.

Conclusion:

• The performance is successful, the idea of using the audience as the river is accepted.

Research Homework Task: Arena/Amphitheatre

An amphitheatre (or amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.

Ancient Roman amphitheaters were:

• major public venues, circular or oval in shape, and

• used for events such as gladiator combats, chariot races, venationes (animal slayings) and executions.

A contemporary amphitheatre is:

• a curved, acoustically vibrant performance space, particularly one located outdoors.

A natural amphitheatre is:

• a performance space located in a spot where a steep mountain or a particular rock formation naturally amplifies or echoes sound, making it ideal for musical and theatrical performances.

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events.

One Person Show

Task title: 'One Person Show'.

Date of task: 10th October, 2011.

Aim of task: To reflect on our feeling on the play "Private Peaceful" through a one person show

Description of task:

• We are paired up, and we are going to create a one person show about other feelings about the show.
• I am paired up with Jason, as he did not go to watch "Private Peaceful", it is only me who is going to act out my experience, then Jason is doing the job of a director.
• This is the story of my one person show:
• Before I start my journey to the show, I am very excited, I am expressing it by walking out the stage jumping joyfully, and yelling out "Yeah! I am going to watch 'Private Peaceful', it is going to be very interesting! Just think about it, being nearly twenty characters in one performance, how awesome is that!"
• Then the setting moves to the bus, on my way there, I had an argument with some of the students about whether Economics or History is better, and at the same time I am still excited about the show. To show this, I will walk in a circle around a chair and talking about how good Econ is when I am in front, then expressing my excitement when I am behind the chair.
• Then I sit on the chair to symbolize the start of the play, and when I heard a gun shot that execute Private Peaceful, I stood up and talk about how I feel about his death, "After all the I have listened to his stories, he just died, in front of us, I already know so much about him that I treated him as a friend, but he just left the stage and *bang*." Then I fall on the ground to show the suddenness of Private Peaceful's death, and as the end of my show.

Reflection:

• After actually trying out a one person show myself, I realize that how difficult it is to be all alone on a big stage, I need to be very confident in order to act out well, also, as there is no other actor on stage, I need to memorize all the lines and I can't get any help from others.

Conclusion:

• We can use creative methods to express our feelings on things, I used a one person show to express my reflection on Private Peaceful.

Show watching 2: Private Peaceful

Name of the show: 'Private Peaceful'.

Date of show: 8th October, 2011.

Description of show:

• 'Private Peaceful'  is originated from a book by Michael Morpurgo, it is the story of a young teenager named Thomas Lugnut Peaceful, who tells the story in account format from the past to the present day events of his experiences of living in the village of Iddesleigh during World War I. He talks about his childhood, his brother Charlie and his love Molly. During a charge of the German lines during World War I, Thomas disobeys a direct order from Hanley and stays with Charlie while he is injured on No-man's-land. As a result Thomas is given a court martial and is accused of "Cowardice" .At dawn, Thomas is marched before the firing squad, where he dies happily singing their favourite childhood song, "Oranges and Lemons". The story ends with Thomas's execution.

• This is a one person show, the stage is set without any trappings, just a young man curled up on an old iron bedstead in a barn, awaiting execution by a firing squad.The young man is Private 'Tommo' Peaceful, and the play keeps returning to this location as his pocket watch "slowly slides away the seconds" towards the final moments of his life.

Reflection:

• This show is really powerful, I experienced flashes of his life as Tommo's story gradually unfolds during the course of the play, there is slowly an invisible bridge formed between me and Private Peaceful, I started to feel sad for him as the play goes on, I treat him as a friend as I know so much about him, he is basically sharing his life to me, but he just died after walking off the stage, just a loud "BANG!", and that symbolized his death. It really has a great impact on the audiences' mind and with such a shocking ending, they won't forget the play.

• I think making this play a 'One-Man Play', is really suitable, as one of the main aspects of this play is to share the story of Private Peaceful's life through his words from his mouth, if there are other characters in the play, it will be more complicated, and the audience may not feel as much as a single character telling his own life story to the audiences.

Conclusion:

• The show is an excellent one-man show, the ability of the actor to control his voice, tone and movement is amazing, he will just change into another completely different character in a click, very swiftly. I think it is a very important aspect for the actor of a one-man play to have to make it successful, and no wonder 'Private Peaceful' is a great one.

The Origins of Theatre

Theatre Guide (Syllabus)

The IB Theater Arts programme is made out of four components; two are internally assessed and two are externally assessed.

The internal assessments are the Theater Performance and Production Presentation (TPPP) and the Independent Project Portfolio (IPP). The external components are a Practical Performance Proposal (PPP) and a Research Investigation (RI).

TPPP:

The TPPP is a presentation on the student's involvement in their performance and production aspects of all areas of the core syllabus. The presentation is 30 minutes long for HL and should be supported by 7–10 visual materials (no larger than A4). For SL, the presentation is 20 minutes long and should be supported by 5–7 visual materials (no larger than A4).

IPP:

The IPP is an essay of 3000 words at HL and 2000 at SL in which the student reflects on his/her learning and development during the production of an independent project, which is a project in which the student explores and practices a role in the theater (actor, director, dramaturg, scriptwriter, etc.). It should also show a connection to their experiences in the core syllabus. There are two options: Option A: Devising Practice and Option B: Exploring Practice. The portfolio must include sections marked Preparation, Action, and Reflection.

PPP:

For the PPP, the student has to adopt a directorial perspective and write a concept for a play using one of the prescribed stimuli. For SL, it contains a 250-word pitch and explanatory, visual material that illustrates the student's understanding of the intended process of realization. For HL, it also includes a 1,000-1,250 word rationale.

RI:

The RI is a research essay in which the student presents his or her research on a previously unfamiliar theater practice. From the chosen theater practice, students should choose a specific aspect of a play or theater piece and create a research question to answer. Student's research should contribute to a realization of the play or theater piece from their chosen theatrical practice. The practice cannot be studied in class and must be no later than the 19th century. The question must be taken from a directorial, actor, or designer perspective. For SL, the essay must be 1,500-1,750 words with visual documentation and/or textual references. For HL, the essay must be 2,000-2,500 words with visual documentation and/or textual references. At HL, students must also write a critique of the sources in the research investigation.