Peter Pan- Week 4: Characters

After four weeks of begging, the cast finally received their parts this week! It was a busy week for the Chameleons as we had a final few things we wanted to do before we finally revealed who was playing who. Once again everyone worked hard this week to create some fantastic work and we were so pleased with some of the creations they made.

First up we played our brand new Peter Pan themed version of Captain's Coming. Each corner of the room was given a location in Neverland, such as Mermaid Lagoon, the Hideout, Skull Rock and the Forest, and the group had to run to each area when instructed. We also added some new rules, such as Crocodile, where everyone has to snap like a crocodile, Mermaids, where everyone has to pair up and become mermaids and 'Mr Smee!' where everyone has to rush to the middle of the room and yell 'Coming Captain!'

After that we had  round of the shape game. This time the group needed to work together to make objects that moved. We asked them to make a bus, a train, an octopus and a spaceship. Needless to say the group's explosive imaginations resulted in some fantastic physical theatre as they moved around the room as these things.

We then played 'Buzzy Bees' where someone says a letter and everyone has to become something beginning with that letter. We had some nice objects, from people becoming slides, zebra and even a rainbow. The game is always fun and often everyone comes up with truly unexpected things that begin with each letter.

After the break we split the group in two and then asked them to create their own versions of Peter Pan. The aim of this activity was to test the group's knowledge of the story and see what kind of performance they would create. We also encouraged everyone to have a go at playing different characters, so that everyone had a chance to try before we revealed who would be playing those parts in the final show.

We had some really lovely quick versions made. Both groups were completely different, each with their own unique creative aspects. What was wonderful was hearing how eager the group was to feedback on each other before we went on to talk about characters. Everyone gave nice feedback to each other and it was delightful to see the chameleons being so supportive and complimentary to one another.

We then had the moment of truth. After many hours of debate and discussion between in the meeting room, we finally unveiled our cast list. It was particularly hard for us to match our chameleons with characters this term as we have such a talented group. It can take even longer to decide who should be who when any member of the group would be good at playing anyone. With our casting however we try and give everyone roles that they will not only enjoy, but that will challenge them and allow them to try new things. Everyone's roles will certainly do just that and we can't wait to see how the group rise to the occasion and make the characters their own. Everyone also finally received their Arts Award log books, which we will be filling with lots of fantastic arts award evidence so that our chameleons can earn their certificates this term!

That's all for now. We're very excited to be having our theatre trip to the Northcott theatre this Thursday to see 'Around the World in 80 Days' with the group! Next week we will do some more work on everyone's final characters as we begin looking at the first bits of the script! Exciting times ahead! As usual please enjoy some snaps from rehearsal, taken with the new camera (which takes very nice picture-we like the new camera)!