The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe- Week Twelve: 'Dress Rehearsal.'

DRESS REHEARSAL WEEK!

That’s right; here we are again. It may have been a long term, but the dress rehearsal always feels like it comes around so quickly. It seems like only a couple of weeks ago we started out on the journey into Narnia with our Chameleons and now it’s almost showtime. This week we had one focus- perform the show!

The nice thing about the dress rehearsal, for any show in fact, is that it is the first time all of the work everyone has put in comes together in one place, along with the costumes, props and sound (well usually- we couldn’t get the sound working this week so had to pretend). We have spent thirteen weeks now working on this show and to watch all of the pieces we have amassed come together was particularly exciting.

The dress rehearsal is, as always, couple with the fear that perhaps everyone will simply forget everything we have done. It has happened before and is likely to happen again, for it is a common problem with dress rehearsals. Suddenly the pressure is on and panic sets in, so all memory goes out the window. However, our Chameleons performed outstandingly. As I have written many times this term- the story is long and so there is a lot to remember; and they remembered it all. There are so many lines, scenes, physical sequences, fight scenes and cues within this play, but that didn’t stop our Chameleons.

I think it can be said that this shows how passionate the group is to telling this story. Watching the show for the first time from start to finish yesterday it was clear how much everyone loved it- each member of the cast told the story of Narnia with fantastic energy; the scenes were tense and funny and so entertaining. It was a pleasure to watch, and while there are still plenty of nerves about performing at the Cygnet in front of parents, family and other audience, we are excited to see it with the lights on (and music too).

This project has been such a huge one and has just been so much fun. Excitement aside, we will be sad to see it end next week. While our Chameleon group will return next year with more exciting stories to tell; the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a show we have wanted to put on with the group for a long time and it is sure to be strange seeing it happen. A massive well done to our cast and also to our team; to Emma, Miles and Emma for always being there to support the group. There will be a much shorter post next week to round off the term but this more or less it for me for a while. Onwards now to the performance: FOR NARNIA!

Story Makers: The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat- Week 6: 'Backdrops.'

It's been a busy week at Anthos Arts- with our young company in the thick of rehearsals and our Chameleons gearing up for their Christmas show next week, and all of the admin to go with it-but this morning's session with our Story Makers was a fantastic way to round it off. The topic this week was backdrops and how they fit into storytelling. There was also some fancy dress as we dived into the costume box (or bag) to create some characters.

Some of our Story Makers had the chance to attend press night for 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' this year's pantomime at the Exeter Northcott Theatre this week. Within this show were lots of different backdrops which helped to convey setting to the audience. Given this, it seemed like a good opportunity to explore this with the group. We discussed the show and how the use of these backdrops helped the audience to understand where the action was taking place. We also began to explore the idea of what backdrops we could use to tell an adaptation of our story.

In order to help us think about what different backdrops would suit different characters, we used different costumes. This was to create characters which we would then specifically design backdrops for. The result would mean that we strayed slightly from the story this week; though it still linked back in through discussion. There was numerous costumes in the bag- we ended up with a king, a princess and a maid to name a few.

Once everyone had their characters their task was to get drawing a backdrop that suited them. We had some interesting settings- some drew castles, some drew houses, some drew underwater caves with sharks and some drew themselves jumping into space...drama. It was great seeing each member of the group create their setting and each put a unique spin on it.

Afterwards we had everyone show their backdrops off. One person would hold someone's up behind them so that we could see how it fitted with their character. Our group is full of energy and imagination which doesn't like to sit still very long, so it was nice watching them share their work like this.

As for why we decided to look at backdrops; they are an important part of theatre, especially children's theatre. Backdrops are a fantastic visual aid which helps to immerse the audience in the world of a story. Whilst not every show or every theatre use backdrops, they add another level for the audience to enjoy and wanted the chance for the group to use these to express the stories of their characters and get thinking about what backdrops we might use if we were telling the story of the Owl and the Pussycat.

Thus ends another week, our penultimate week with this group. It has been a wild first term for the Story Makers and exploring the story in so many different ways has been a lot of fun. Now to retreat back and make plans for our big finale next week. Hot on the heels of our Chameleon show as well, it will certainly be a busy weekend!

Story Makers- The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat: Week 4 & 5: 'Sea Cave' & 'Masks'

Greetings! Welcome back. Following a particularly long working week last week (14 days uninterrupted in total) it completely escaped me that there had been no post to cover last week. So, in the spirit of making up for lost time; this week there is a double post. It has been a pretty good couple of weeks with the story makers; with the themes for the weeks being creating a sea cave and masks respectively.

WEEK 4: 

Early into the term I had a conversation with a parent about one of our members and what they wanted to wear to the session. It went like this, though they wanted to wear a particular outfit they felt too self-conscious to do so. Thus, in order to highlight the fact that you should never be ashamed to enjoy fancy dress and that the group can wear whatever they want, providing its practical, we held a fancy dress week. It was the same as a regular week, but everyone was asked to come in fancy dress. Drama for the win: they all looked great.

The theme for our fourth week returned to the concept of set building; creating which can help you tell you story out of objects which individually don't help much. We had a suitcase of material, string and nets for the story makers to use in creating a 'seaweed' cave, similar to the one which features at the end of the story.

It was a mad hour as the group set about creating their cave using the items from the suitcase and a few chairs from the cafe next door. For the duration of the activity the group added more and more layers to their den and created a very fancy looking cave. It was wonderful watching the group help one another and work together towards their objective. Some would work on the roof whilst others worked on winding string around everything to hold it together and make walls.

It was nice watching the story makers working towards a shared objective for once. During week two they helped to make a boat, but still everyone seemed to find enjoyment in their own section of the boat. This week in particular saw them thinking about a unified goal and complimenting each other's work in order to achieve this.

WEEK 5

So far the story makers have looked at mapping stories, creating props and set, and puppets to help them tell the story. This week I wanted to explore with them a different means of telling a story yet again: through the use of masks. Masks were one of the first forms of theatre ever invented. Dating back to Ancient Greece when fantastically carved masks would feature in shared stories and performances. The masks would be key elements in the stories told and so it seems a wasted opportunity not to cover this with a drama group all about stories!

We talked about the characters from the story and which characters we might like to make. We had enough masks for everyone to create two characters. Most of the group went for a character from the story and one original one. The masks which we were focusing on today were half-masks, masks that cover some but not all of a person's face.

Half masks seemed more appropriate for the task. Full face masks are notoriously difficult to speak in, as they cover a person's face completely. Our masks needed to be functional, they needed to show what characters from the story we were, while allowing us to tell the story. We did, however, also find a couple of full masks in the bag and so some of our story makers decided to go ahead and make full face ones too. Feedback was that they were harder to colour because there was more mask.

At the end of the session we had some sharing time. The last few weeks haven't featured much of this, but allowing the group the chance to share and express work with each other is an important part of building confidence in themselves and trust in others. The Story-Makers sessions aim to give this space so that our participants can express themselves without worry. It was nice hearing the feedback from everyone and also listening to the group talk about what different masks they had created.

And so we come to the end of a longer-than-usual post. I will endevour to be more on the ball next week. There may be some delay, as our Chameleons have both their dress rehearsal next week and final performance the week after; which cross over with the final two sessions for our Story-Makers this term! A busy but fun couple of weeks they will be I am sure.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- Week Eleven: 'The Battle for Narnia.'

A busy penultimate rehearsal with the Chameleons this morning as we finally reached the end of the show and the battle for Narnia took place. With the performance fast approaching our amazing group wrapped up work on the show today- staging an epic conclusion to the story we have been creating. It's been a long term and today was especially challenging for everyone, as the final battle includes the entire cast.

To get everyone warmed up we got the group creating shapes in pairs and as a team. The bulk of today's rehearsal was to stage the final battle, and so we needed everyone ready to move. Over the past ten weeks the Chameleons have really become good at working together to create work. Whilst it may seem repetitive to talk about the game in these posts; the consistency of the group work has helped them bond as a cast. When creating such a diverse and dynamic show as we are, having the cast trust one another is incredibly important. Without that trust there can be no show.

Moving onto the final battle now; we have been preparing for this for some time. The battle marks the biggest that we have staged with the Chameleons; featuring the climactic showdown between Peter, Edmund and the White Witch. Given that it was such a long scene, staging it in parts was the best approach. With a single fight scene, a good deal of practice is required in order to ensure that everything is done safely. This one was long and the rest of the cast were patient as we practiced the moves for it over and over again.

There were several parts of the scene overall. Edmund and the White Witch engage each other first, which is the initial part; followed by Peter's turn to duel her. These first two parts consisted of swords and so require more practice to ensure that all parties felt safe and confident in performing it. Following this we have the appearance of Aslan and the remaining Narnians; each of whom have their own moment to shine. The scene looks good and shows all the work the cast have put into their individual creatures over the past few weeks.

With the battle staged, all that was left was to wrap up the story. Following the defeat of the Witch, the Narrators take us through the remaining events. Whilst notably shorter than the battle, no story would be complete without a good ending. We spent time working on ours, and finally working on the final bow for our Chameleons at the end.

And so, the play is finished! Next week we have our dress rehearsal. That means we will get to see the show for the first time with all of the props and costume that we shall have before the performance at the Cygnet. The cast are excited, we are excited, and now there is nothing to do but practice, practice, practice! On a separate note, the cast are also off to see 'Jack and the Beanstalk' next week as a post-dress rehearsal treat! Very exciting stuff indeed.