Hedda Gabler Evaluation

Hedda Gabler Performance Evaluation

Overall when it comes to my performance i think that it went quite well and i am quite happy with the performance and how it was performed. I think that the reason for this is because I was confident when performing and due to my confidence it made the performance more realistic and effective as my character of Hedda is not the type that is openly nervous or scared therefore if i looked scared or nervous the scene would have been less realistic and that means that coming into the scene in a sense of calm and cool made the performance more effective than it would have been if i had not done this. Another reason that i think my performance was quite effective was because to some extent i was improvising and that meant that the audience didn't find the scene boring as it was almost as if it was the first time that it had been performed which meant that their was a lot of energy flowing throughout. In addition before we performed our director give us all notes and mine were to make sure that my voice was projected loud enough and filled the space as we were working in quite a large space and had to make sure that the audience could hear everything that was said, my other bit of feedback was to own my ending as in my scene their is a very dramatic ending as to where Hedda burns the manuscript and I had to make that even bigger and just more. Taking all of my feedback into account i think that my performance was also more effective because of it as after i was given this feedback i made sure to project my voice effectively to make sure that i was always heard everywhere in the space. Also i made my ending even more dramatic and did this not only through my physicality which had bigger and more tense, sharper movements but also through my voice. I made sure that my voice went crazed and colored it accordingly furthermore i projected it further and changed my tone.

However even though i believe that my performance went well it still could have been improved for many different reason, i believe that i could have made my ending even more dramatic when Hedda was destroying the manuscript as it was such a big moment in the play and i think that it could have been done even bigger on my part. Furthermore i believe that when my other two scene partners were conversing i could've had more of a reaction to what they were saying as even though i was supposed to be indifferent it may not have been the most effective character choice at this part in the play. On top of this i believe my voice could have commanded the space even more than it did as even though i projected my voice it could have been even more in terms of showing the authority Hedda had. Also my voice could've been more posh when acting and sometimes i felt as though i came in and out of my 'posh voice' and that it wasn't consistent throughout so i need to make sure that it is, as this is naturalism and it isn't very naturalistic to change voices in the middle of the play. However overall i am quite happy with my scene and how it went and look forward to performing again next term.

Women in Victorian society

Women in Victorian Society

• Prostitution offered independence
• Sex was seen as an insult to women and a trial to men
• 1 in 12 women over puberty were prostituting themselves
• 55'000 prostitutes during that time
• prostitution was considered the only woman profession
• women (unlike men) were arrested and checked for STD's
• They were seen as more irrational and animalistic
• Women were not educated and masturbation was seen as a demonic mental health problem
• Genital mutilation to females were very common during this time
• If an education was obtained motherhood could not be

By understanding what it was like for women during this time it will make more sense why my character says some of the things she says and the reason behind her choices will become more clear.

The Magic If

The Magic If

As i stand at the top of this hill i can see everything, feel everything. And for the first time in my life i feel free - i don't feel trapped i feel invincible even though i know it is only temporary i can enjoy it..enjoy something that i know deep down that i will never have. I can feel the breeze kiss my face and for once i don't mind the caress i feel that it is my choice to feel. Standing at the top of this hill i can see the city line with all the tall buildings..amazing no?

I begin to close my eyes and i can picture it, picture someone else life as they wake up in another house - one smaller and they open their eyes excited for the day to come as they know they can do whatever it is that they want, they have the whole world in their hands, unlike me. Trapped, Helpless, Pathetic. Can one really blame me for thinking all i possibly have left is a gun and a bullet to fill the void of...boredom and misery. I think not.

Hedda Gablers (Questions)

Hedda Gabler (Questions)

Uta Hagen was a very well respected practitioner and was born in Germany and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. She had a theory when it came to characterization called the nine questions which was adapted from Stanislavsky theory.

The Questions:

1. Who am I?
2. What time is it?
3. Where am I?
4. What surrounds me?
5. What are the given circumstances?
6. What is my objective?
7. What is the obstacle?
8. What am i going to do to get what i want?
9. What is my super objective?

As i am playing Hedda in the last scene of act 3 i answered the questions in character and as follows:

1. I am Hedda a 29 year old woman described as beautiful, I am recently married to a man that bores me and also have recently moved into a home that is too grand for my tasted. I am a generals daughter and a cold, bored, trapped woman. I am petite and my childhood can be described as a lonely time.
2. In my scene it is early morning and autumn in the late 19th century, i imagine it being those few hours just after sunrise. The leaves on the trees are turning a different color.
3. I am in my drawing room with Thea and Loevborg in the new house that my husband has bought for me but mentally i am far away and not living this trapped enclosed life. The only thing that i feel close to in this room is my gun the relationship i have to the gun is the closest thing ill ever come to love and/or adoration of something/someone.
4. I am surrounded by all the furniture in my drawing room such as suitcases as we have recently come back from our honeymoon, also by alcoholic beverages and manuscripts and chairs that are still on the tough side as they are not well used. I am surrounded by people who do not really know me at all. I have no relationship to the things around me - no fascination.It bores me and is simply a means to an end to make Tesman think i actually care...when i do not.
5. In the previous scene I have spoken to Judge Brack and found out that he is a lot more dangerous than he looks furthermore i have the manuscript and n-one but me knows what i plan to do with it. In the scene i find out what Eilert is planning to do and encourage him as i know that it is something i too dream of. Of making it beautiful.
6. In the scene my objective changes throughout however towards the beginning it is simply to listen to Eilert and Thea and react accordingly however as Thea laves i begin to play with Eilert and act oblivious in terms of his manuscript and what he thinks has happened to it. I later go on to pouring out anger and hatred and everything i have felt even longing into the destroying of the manuscript. I also think my objective is to make Eilert uncomfortable and to get rid of him.
7. A few things are standing in the way of some of my objectives, one being Thea as Eilert would not want to leave if she is their in addition he and she seem to seek comfort from each other and myself which means that this will prevent them from leaving.
8. I am willing to make both the character turn against each other or in this scene watch as it unfolds by itself and react accordingly, also wrap them and trap them in a false sense of comfort and understanding.
9. My super objective in the whole play (i believe) is to feel more free, to add some excitement to my life and escape this confinement i seem to ave found myself in.

Imagination Exercise

Imagination

This exercise is useful as it is used to become one with your character and also tap into your imagination and how you perceive your character and what he/she it like.

During our exercise we lied down on the floor and closed our eyes. We then begin to picture the world of the play, where our scene takes place and all the objects surrounding that scene. I then began to picture my character (Hedda Gabler) and different aspects of her.

• Physicality - I picture Hedda as someone who is quite short and very petite and very beautiful. I also think she has long dark hair and is always dressed in a somewhat sophisticated fashion.
• Psychological - I think that her eyes are tired and old and shows the things she has seen and the maturity behind them furthermore i believe she would walk around with a stiffness with her as if she is trapped within herself and doesn't know how to escape.
• Pockets - In her pockets i think that Hedda would have a picture of her father (the General) and also the key to her guns case.

Due to the detail we were able to truly see ourselves as the character and what the character would be like if he/she were alive today further more other peoples descriptions also helped the characterization of our own personal characters.

Circles Of Attention

Circles Of Attention

Stanislavsky trusted that a performer required a feeling of confinement with a specific end goal to deliver a characterization and stay away from pointless pressure. They expected to focus on themselves. This is the first circle of attention. Stanislavsky alluded to it as Solitude in Public. Past this, the performing artist may, in the 'second circle', be mindful of the character he is tending to and in the 'third circle', whatever is left for the production.

When working in class we performed an exercise where we focused on the circles of attention whilst slowly expanding our circles of attention, this is useful as using different circles of attention on stage to focus the attention on stage. We performed an exercise where they expanded and changed accordingly:

1. Inside the room
2. Outside the room
3. Inside the head of an older person
4. Whole of London
5. Taste/Touch/See/Smell/Hear
6. House/Home

The more circles of attention is the more depth added to piece as when we performed an exercise with a bus stop we had to groups the first having only having one Circe of attention and the second having two and we were able to see that having more added more depth to the character. 

Who Stanislavsky

Who Is Konstantin Stanislavsky?

Who Was Konstantin Stanislavsky?

Konstantin Stanislavsky was a Russian actor and theatre director in the 1900's who developed the more naturalistic method of acting that is now commonly known as method acting or 'the Stanislavsky method'.

Stanislavsky was born in 1863 in Moscow, Russia and started working in theatre as a teen where he went on to become one of the most influential directors and actors. He co-founded the Moscow Art Theatre in 1897 and developed a performance process known as method acting, allowing actors to use their personal histories to express authentic emotion and create rich characters. He eventually died in Moscow 1938.
He was born into a very wealthy lifestyle where his maternal grandmother was a French actress and his father constructed a stage on the family's estate. Furthermore Stanislavsky started acting at the age of 14 joining the family drama circle. He developed his theatrical skills considerably over time, performing with other acting groups while working in his clan's manufacturing business. In 1885, he gave himself the stage name of Stanislavsky—the name of a fellow actor he'd met. He married teacher Maria Perevoshchikova three years later, and she would join her husband in the serious study and pursuit of acting.

What Is The Stanislavsky Method?

Stanislavsky strongly believed that actors needed to have authentic emotion whilst on stage and even when off-stage, and he believed that to do this correctly one could draw upon feelings they had experienced or lived through in their own lives. He also developed exercises encouraging actors to explore the motivation of characters consequently giving performances more depth and naturalism  while still paying attention to the given circumstances of the play. This technique would come to be known as the "Stanislavsky method" or "the Method."