ACTING CLASS - 24 Jan 19

On Thursday, the Broken Heart Youth Theatre came to visit once again. We did some warm-ups, played practical games and they taught us more about the acting industry and we bought in our duologues that we made before Christmas and we spent half of the session finishing it off.

I was partners with Teigan Kalekezi and we made a script and called it The Edge of Eighteen. It tells the story of two teenagers who find out that other youth around the world are dying by the time they turn 18 at the stroke of midnight but they also realise that their time is almost up.

After that, we started acting out other people's scripts but there wasn't enough time to do all of them. Then finally, we talked about what we learnt. I learnt more about script-making and that acting is not as easy as other people think.

ACTING CLASS - 23 Jan 19

On Wednesday, I was very ill but I had the strength to catch the last half hour of our session and R-Alex, S-McK, B-Tay and S-Kam were all absent but we did have a supply teacher and she happens to be a receptionist of the college named Monique and throughout the entire session, we were just reading the script from Act 1.

ACTING CLASS - 21 Jan 19

On Monday, we were rehearsing Act 1 of Macbeth for the second time and it was official because most of the class were here and we were playing our official characters. Again, B-Tay was director and S-Kam was observing.

ACTING CLASS - 17 Jan 19

Last Thursday, with R-Alex and S-McK both away. Our fellow student Ben Taylor decided to step in as director of Macbeth. Throughout the entire session, we were practising all of Act 1. S-Kam was here to observe.

MACBETH - OFFICIAL FIRST LOOK

We have finally been cast into our official roles. I play Macduff. He is the Thane of Fife. He's a Scottish nobleman who questions Macbeth's tyrannical rule and refuses to recognize him as king. Macduff follows Malcolm to England, where he demonstrates his true faithfulness to Scotland. When the English army marches on Dunsinane, it is Macduff who slays Macbeth in a duel. For even though Macbeth is said to be invincible against any man born of a woman, Macduff was born by the equivalent of a Caesarean section.

We learnt more about objectives/actions but what are they? Basically, it is what your character needs to achieve in a scene and how, ACTIONS, they go about achieving these. An objective is both psychological and physical. An action carries with it emotive scenarios that we cannot and indeed shouldn't ignore. Remember "Acting is behaving truthfully under imagined circumstances", so the objectives/actions give us a foundation to achieve this. The action MUST be a verb (doing word).

The objectives WILL ALWAYS meet a counter objective, usually other characters' objectives etc., so it becomes a truthful emotive "game" of working together in order to determine what these objectives are and to work as a group in order to tell the story of the play, especially when it comes down to just us actors. We also learnt about SUPER OBJECTIVES. It's what your character wants/needs overall in the play. Simple! We are performing two scenes.

I think his objective is to take down Macbeth because he was this close to making a deduction that Macbeth killed Duncan after Lady Macbeth told him to by manipulating him and also Macbeth killed his family and destroyed his home after he went to England to persuade Malcolm for help to kill Macbeth. So, Macduff's objective is fusion of justice and vengeance.

APPEARANCES:

ACT 2 SCENE 3
ACT 2 SCENE 4
ACT 4 SCENE 3
ACT 5 SCENE 4
ACT 5 SCENES 7 - 9

He suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act. He can be seen as the avenging hero who helps save Scotland from Macbeth's tyranny in the play. Quite pivotal. It is because of his suspicions of Macbeth that everyone starts to question the king's motives. Macduff is a quiet man who is respected when he speaks and has loyalty to his country. Macduff wasn't naturally born but was cut from his mother's womb (Caesarean section or C-section). However, Shakespeare never elaborated on whether or not if Macduff's mother died from childbirth.

Macduff can be loyal because he risks his life and that of his family for his country. He's also emotional because when Malcolm tests his loyalty, he becomes very upset. Then he gets devastated by the death of his family. He kills Macbeth in a rage of revenge. Finally, he's also brave because he fights fearlessly, even when Macbeth tries to warn him that he is invincible.


PROPHECY - The plot of Macbeth is set in motion ostensibly by the prophecy of the three witches. The prophecy fans the flames of ambition within Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, serving as the primary impetus for the couple to plot the death of Duncan, and subsequently Banquo. But one also wonders: Would Macbeth have committed such heinous crimes if not for the prophecy? What if he had ignored the witches’ statements? Such speculation, however interesting, ultimately appears futile, since the prophecy itself is self-fulfilling. The witches know Macbeth’s tragic flaw: given the irresistible temptation to become King, he will choose to commit murder even though he could simply discard their words. As it turns out, the prophecies are not only fated but fatal, as Macbeth's confidence in the witches leads him to fight a rash battle in the final act.

ACTING CLASS - 14 Jan 19 / MACBETH (2019) - OFFICIAL CAST ANNOUNCEMENT

On today's Acting Class, we were supposed to be with R-Alex but he's away so we had a supply teacher to carry out our sessions. We were finally split into our official groups with our official characters. We did some warm-up exercises and we did a long exercise of modernising the language of the script in Macbeth. In the exercise, we were rehearsing the first three scenes of Act 1. I play the Captain.  But for real, I play Macduff. That's what we did today.

CAST:

Macbeth - Roman Norman / Jean Paul Caiceda / Ben Mills

Lady Macbeth - Mya Jarret / Chloe Hawthorn / Tia Scarlett / Maya George / Mya Howlett /                                            Danielle Bonsu

Malcolm - Lucky Asare / Madelina Bejat / Teigan Kalekezi

Macduff - Troy Wilson / Deja Lee / Daniella Obomanu

Lennox / Ross - Anakin Fox / Kadiatu Sumah / Sebastian Weislo

Witch 1 / Seyton - Elena Chiriac / Mya Howlett / Danielle Bonsu

Banquo / Argus - Diogo Cabral / Kieran Smith-Helder / Philemon Ameyaw

Duncan / Caithness - Ben Taylor / Michael Appiah / Pedro Small

Witch 2 / Doctor / Servant - Favour Dantes / Tristan Fernandez / Diamontea Burton

Witch 3 / Nurse / Murderer - Katie Miller / Harry Kelly / Rosely Litityo


ENSEMBLE - Anakin Fox / Kadiatu Sumah / Sebastian Weislo / Elena Chiriac / Mya Howlett /                                 Danielle Bonsu / Diogo Cabral / Kieran Smith-Helder / Philemon Ameyaw /                                         Maya George

MACBETH - CONTEXT

MACBETH

PROMOTIONAL POSTER

THIS SPRING

The play was written in 1606 by visionary playwright William Shakespeare. It is Shakespeare's 29th play. It was also first performed in 1606. It's a tragedy. Shakespeare's influence extends from theatre and literature to present-day movies, Western philosophy, and the English language itself. William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the history of the English language, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. The play was written during the reign of James, who was patron pf Shakespeare's acting company, who had been James VI of Scotland before he succeeded to the throne in 1603.

I have been cast as the Thane of Fife, Lord Macduff. I have read the entire script and it was magnificent. I wasn't extremely excited because everyone already knows this story but I could be excited because my older sister Yanique Prentice used to do this course in the college. She was Lady Macbeth. I guess I could see this as a remake of the 2008 school production of the same name.

ACT 1

On a bleak Scottish moorland, Macbeth and Banquo, two of King Duncan's generals, discover three strange women, who reveal themselves as WITCHES. The witches prophesise that Macbeth will be promoted twice: to Thane of Cawdor (a rank of the aristocracy bestowed by grateful kings) and King of Scotland. Banquo's descendants will be kings, but Banquo isn't promised any kingdom himself. The generals want to hear more, but the witches disappeared. Soon afterwards, King Duncan names Macbeth Thane of Cawdor as a reward for his success in the recent battles. The promotion seems to support the prophecy. The King then proposes to make a brief visit that night to Macbeth's castle at Inverness. Lady Macbeth receives news from her husband about the prophecy and his new title. She vows to help him become king by whatever means are necessary.

ACT 2

Macbeth returns to his castle, followed almost immediately by King Duncan. The Macbeths plot together to kill Duncan and wait until everyone is asleep. At the appointed time, Lady Macbeth gives the guards drugged wine so Macbeth can enter and kill the King. He regrets this almost immediately, but his wife reassures him. She leaves the bloody daggers by the dead king just before Macduff, a nobleman, arrives. When Macduff discovers the murder, Macbeth kills the drunken guards in a show of rage and retribution. Duncan's sons, Malcolm and Donalbain, flee, fearing for their own lives; but they are, nevertheless, blamed for the murder.

ACT 3

Macbeth becomes King of Scotland but is plagued by feelings of insecurity. He remembers the prophecy that Banquo's descendants will inherit the throne and arranges for Banquo and his son Fleance to be killed. In the darkness, Banquo is murdered, but his son escapes the assassins. At his state banquet that night, Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo and worries the courtiers with his mad response. Lady Macbeth dismisses the court and unsuccessfully tries to calm her husband. 

ACT 4

Macbeth seeks out the witches who say that he will be safe until a local wood, Birnam Wood, marches into battle against him. He also need not fear anyone born of woman (that sounds secure, no loop-holes here). They also prophesy that the Scottish succession will still come from Banquo's son. Macbeth embarks on a reign of terror, slaughtering many, including Macduff's family. Macduff had gone to seek Malcolm (one of Duncan's sons who fled) at the court of the English king. Malcolm is young and unsure of himself, but Macduff, pained with grief, persuades him to lead an army against Macbeth.

I've said it once and I'll say it again. I love doing period projects because it feels like time traveling and experiencing that life and learning how life was back then. I went to 1800s USA in The Crucible and it wasn't fun. I went to the 1950s and 1960s in Grease and Hairspray. I went 430 BC in King Oedipus. I went to 1900s Russia in The Cherry Orchard and now I'm in 11th century Scotland in Macbeth. This is really fun. I don't mind doing theatre or bigger.

Macbeth is a tragedy that tells the story of a soldier whose overriding ambition and thirst for power cause him to abandon his morals and bring about the near destruction of the kingdom, he seeks to rule. At first, the conflict is between Macbeth and himself, as he debates whether or not he will violently seize power and between Macbeth and his wife, as Lady Macbeth urges her husband towards a course of action, he is hesitant to take. Once Macbeth stops struggling against his ambition, the conflict shifts. It then primarily exists between Macbeth and the other characters, in particular Banquo and Macduff, who challenge his authority. Macbeth is the protagonist in the sense that he is the main focus of the narrative and that makes the audience frequently gain access to his perspective. However, as he often acts against his own best interests, as well as the best interests of the other characters and his country, he is also the antagonist. The characters who oppose Macbeth and eventually defeat him do so in order to restore order and justice.

This play does have some themes in it.

• The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition
• The Relationship Between Cruelty and Masculinity - Violence
• The Difference Between Kingship and Tyranny - Good vs. Evil
• Prophecy
• Guilt and Remorse
• Dichotomy and Equivocation
• Salvation and Damnation

ACTING CLASS - 9 Jan 19

On today's Acting Class, both R-Alex and S-McK weren't present so all for the next three hours was recap over our script and rehearse our lines.