Lesson

Today we did workshops in pairs based on the works of one of the practitioners we looked at. These were short workshops, no longer than 5 minutes but some people were missing so some of us had to do it without our partners.

I was supposed to have done my workshop with Marian, but she wasn't there. We had planned a workshop based on the works of Michael Chekhov and improvisation to help people learn the differences between themselves and their character. I decided that the best way to do this would be a game of park bench so I set up three chairs and an audience and had three volunteers go up and sit on the chairs. I then gave them a scenario and asked them to improvise as themselves, such as a waiting room and there is a god awful smell. When the scene fell flat, someone in the audience would say stop, tap one of the three on the shoulder, they would leave and the person who has just come in would change the scenario to a different one. I then got them to do this in their characters and the scenarios were more fitting to the time, such as three convicts and one morsel of bread and they decide who gets it.
For most people it helped but I really could have done better with the improvisation if I had set scenarios that I gave them and they reacted once as themselves and once as their characters. Choosing different scenes each time wasn't a wise move because there was just them reacting to one situation and their character to another. If they had reacted as two people in one situation, they would be able to see the differences between themselves and their characters, their attitudes towards each other, their ways of dealing with things and other stuff we haven't yet had the time or opportunity to discover ourselves.

Another workshop that was done today was Layla and Catherine's. They looked at Michael Chekhov's character types. They told us to put ourselves into the groups we thought our characters were best suited to and them Layla, as an officer came to tell us that due to technical and environmental matters we would be spending a few more months on the boat. Us thinkers went first and as soon as we were told the news, nothing was said. Not a word. We all just sat there thinking until Molly broke the silence and said that we should probably look at how much food we had left. There weren't many doers but when they were told, they were angry about it and showed us all how they felt by throwing chairs and kicking walls and cursing. The veils sat there and just spoke about it then wandered off the subject.
Then all three of us character types were put altogether and given the news. It must have been very interesting to watch because the thinkers were evermore still, the doers still got angry and the veils just spoke some more.
This workshop helped us and was in fact quite good because when we first did the exercise a few lessons ago, I couldn't quite take myself seriously and hadn't been able to apply it to my character. This workshop allowed me to do that and it created an atmosphere when we all reacted together. I was aware of all the various reactions, but I was concentrating on how to handle the situation. I understand my character a bit more now and can really see how different we are, because I myself would have been with the doers.

Lesson

Today we moved onto looking at declan donnellan.
He believed that everything an actor does on stage has a target and said the actor should focus on this rather than themself. You shouldn't look for the answers in yourself but outside your target, instead of worrying about what your character is doing, worry about what the other characters/target is doing.
Our warm up games today were based around having a target. We played:
Kill the president: this game uses a ball, someone as the president, another as their bodyguard and everyone else's target is to hit the president's legs with the ball. The bodyguard must make sure the ball doesn't hit the president, but when it does the bodyguard becomes the president and someone else is the bodyguard.
Dodgeball: for this game one person had the ball and their target was to hit everyone else's legs to get them out. Everyone else had to make sure they didn't get hit.
To be able to play situations realistically, you need to understand your target has two possible outcomes and you need to be able to play both of them. Every living moment has an element of quest and at one point, all characters will have their moments of doubt, but targets divide into a better or worse situation.
To look further into the better or worse scenarios, we compiled a list customised to our characters of possible outcomes of their lives. I had:
I might be promoted, I might not.
I might be able to study the plants, I might not.
Will the convicts be difficult or not.
I might have another heated discussion with the reverend, I might not.
We might get another ship with more food stock, we might not.
In a book declan donnellan once wrote, he relates all his target theories back to Romeo and Juliet. He wrote that actors should ask themselves the question "what is the target making me do?". He said attention is about the target and concentration is all about you.

Lesson

We did more on Michael Chekhov again this lesson. We did some work on physicality first and Chekhov believed that there are three main character types; thinkers, doers and emoters and they each have their own houses, or ways of moving.

• Thinkers: thinkers are sticks. Sticks, if they could move, would be very rigid and quite slow, so that's how most of us moved. We had to move around the space as a stick or anything else that was relatively stick-like, I was a stick insect/praying mantis. This was a bit strange at first but I understand why a thinker would move like a stick because when someone is really thinking, they don't think about anything else they're doing, so they'd naturally walk slower or not move at all. Also when people are in deep thought, they freeze like a stick.
• Doers: doers are balls. These are the type of people who will immediately do something when placed in a situation and don't sit around. A ball or any spherical object is constantly moving at a particular pace. I went around the space as an air particle which is round and moves freely which is my idea of a doer. 
• Emoters: emoters are veils. These are the type of people who will "float" around as they tend to get emotional in situations and they'll sweep through. They might get emotional or they might pace a bit. They're almost thinkers but they move and are vocal.

After that exercise, I thought about what kind of character type I would be. In a situation, I have different reactions but I tend to be more of a doer. I move around in anger or tension and can become quite vocal which is very different from what George is because I think he is very much a thinker. In the scene he is in he doesn't say very much, he just sits at the side, listens and occasionally chips in. I think all the officers are thinkers because they are men of many responsibilities and to be responsible, you must think things through thoroughly.

Thinkers also have the ability to remain composed in difficult situations and stay in control of all those who have lost theirs. I am more inclined to lose.

We also did an another exercise where half of the class was the audience and the other half were sat or stood opposite them. We (those who were opposite the audience) had to choose something that our character would be doing either in the script or in their own time. This could be a duty or a personal task. For example, Ralph was kissing his wife's picture which is something that means a lot to the character and is seen a lot in the play. I was polishing my boots which is something an officer would do a lot because keeping up appearances is important for them. Convicts may have been assigned to polishing boots, medals and other various things but I thought George preferred to do that for himself.