Everyman - Benji's Actor Log

7.11.17 Today's run through started without a warmup due to certain circumstances. We re-looked at the tsunami scene as we had this huge plastic sheet that symbolises the huge wave that covers everyone. The plastic ends up covering them after they have done the plastic bag sequence. Once the sheet has covered them, everyone underneath starts twitching and it gives the almost serene sequence from before into something horrific and morbid and raw. After this scene, I play the guitar and Robyn sings "Rain City" by Turin Brakes. The song really adds something innocent and beautiful to this scene of destruction and death. 8.11.17 Today we did a full run through of everything we have blocked so far. I ran my first scene and I don't think it went particularly well. I felt quite tense and I think it was because I was thinking about my lines too much. There were so many things I wanted to try out and play with but in all honesty, I wasn't brave enough to try th...

Death, also known as the Grim Reaper is frequently imagined as a personified force, due to its prominent place in human culture. In some mythologies, the Grim Reaper causes the victim's death by coming to collect them. In turn, people in some stories try to hold on to life by avoiding Death's visit, or by fending Death off with bribery or tricks. DEATH IN OTHER CULTURES Slavic In Poland, Death, or Śmierć, has an appearance similar to the traditional Grim Reaper, but instead of a black robe, Death has a white robe. Also, due to grammar, Death is a female (the word śmierć is of feminine gender), mostly seen as an old skeletal woman. Scandinavia In Scandinavia, in Norse mythology death was personified in the shape of Hel, the goddess of death and ruler over the realm of the same name, where she received a portion of the dead.[8] In the times of the Black Plague, Death would often be depicted as an old woman known by the name of Pesta, meaning "plague hag". She...

Today we were focusing on finishing blocking the play. We wanted to look at the senses scenes, and the last words scenes. These are both intricate scenes and require a lot of attention and detail. As I don't take part in the senses scene, I was watching from the outside and the first few times it was ran, there a sense that the energy needed wasn't there. As more people got the hang of it then the scene definitely came together and had the pace and sensitivity needed to make it flow. After the senses scene, I play "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" and the group sing it. This song is about loving someone and following them even in death. The song uses both religious imagery and belief, and skepticism of religion, to a great combined effect: whatever waits, they’ll be together.  The chorus: If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks Then I'll ...

31.10.17 In todays lesson we started by doing our normal sidestretch routine warmup, but when we did, two contrasting pieces of music were played for each side. The first piece was a piece of heavy rock music. It really affected how I did the movement and I was a lot more aggressive and put more force and power behind the movement. The other side, a softer piece of piano music was played. I found myself being a lot lighter on my feet and softer with the movements. I also did some independent rehearsals today and character work, which I will put into my character profile log. 1.11.17 We did our normal sidestretch warmup, but to another version of 'Through The Valley' which was the trailer for 'The Last Of Us Two', sung by Ellen Page. I felt shivers go down my spine when she started singing as there was a sort of sheathed anger underlying her singing, although it was so We were told that this version is the sort of vibe that is wanted for when we play the...

10.10.17 In today's rehearsal we started by running everything we blocked already. We ran my first scene with God and Everyman. I was a bit disappointed with my performance today and I think this is mainly down to me not knowing my lines. Having the script in my hand hindered me getting into the character as I was too focused on reading what I was saying than actually performing and feeling the scene. The script can really distract you from your character and I don't think I gave an accurate representation of the work I've actually done. One of the notes from Ben I got was to be 'wider'. The character I'm going for is one that is confident in himself and his presence and I am not really doing that at the moment. It goes to show how much a script can actually hinder you. Watching other scenes where everybody was off script (the family scene) gives a perfect example of how smoothly a scene can go when there isn't the hassle of a script. 11.10.17 In to...