IB Theatre - Not I Revealed

Monday 21st September 09 -

Not I Revealed - Our performances of Not I were completed today, we viewed each others performances and formed a group discussion on our opinions of our work. Everyone as I thought they would, had come up with completely different interpretations of Beckett's, what seemed random script. None of us even came close to the way in which Samuel Beckett originally staged and had the performance produced, which is shown in this YouTube video link (Not I Video). It shows the mouth of a female actress and the mouth alone, performing the entire script. I also am aware that a cloaked figure is also present on stage, who does nothing but point throughout the piece.
At first, the way this is produced appears plain and boring, but when the piece is studied I began to realise that actually it takes a very skilled actor or actress to perform such a piece. It is performed at a very fast pace without a break and the lips themselves become a character. If I learnt anything from studying the extract it was:

• That there often there can be no right or wrong answer in theatre, as everything can be interpreted in different ways.
• Never as an actor to underestimate the power of speech

IB Theatre - Not I

Friday 18th September 09 -

Last lecture on a Friday afternoon and we always find ourselves feeling shattered. Sadly I didn't dream that I was the only guy in our Theatre group, because now I AM! Jack my traitorous little friend had decided that the 150 hours of service required of us as part of the IB was too much for him (In other words he was too lazy ;) and had dropped out. This leaves me with me with seven girls. I'm not complaining, but the girly talk before lectures isn't exactly exciting. Well, at least that guarantees me the best male part ;)

DV8 Theatre Trip - Today we were informed of a theatre trip opportunity to see DV8 at Hall for Cornwall, Truro on Thursday 8th October. Tickets are limited as only a certain number could be purchased meaning there were less tickets than students, as it is also open to all performing arts groups including A and AS level students and they would go quickly at only £6.50 a ticket.

Not I - For the main part of the lecture we got into groups of 4 (Myself, Daisy and Alice) and were given an extract from Samuel Beckett's play - Not I. Cara instructed us that we could perform any section of it in anyway that we interpreted it. Yes, I know this does sound like an easy task but trust me it wasn't. As you can see from the attached image of the Not 1 script, it was difficult to interpret, but also could be interpreted in many different ways. I am sure that each group will come out with many different ideas.