Evaluation of Performance

Prior to when the show started I felt the main theme of each character managed to feel at ease with themselves. When we were sitting at our tables I felt the the guests weren't sure entirely why we were sitting there. It felt that although the guests were having a meal etc there was an element of excitement between us at one table, stags and hens and the other table, my mother said I never should. It was having an awareness of them (the guests) and respecting their space. This might have had something about the fact that we were all sitting in a line behind our tables . Despite the fact that we were not eating I felt the guests who were sitting closest to our tables felt slightly uncomfortable as to where we were sitting regardless of the fact that we were in our characters.

If the restaurant had been bigger we could have intergrated more with the guests more and they would have felt more at ease as to why we were there. Our intention was to communicate to each other in character which we maintained.

The first performance, 'Bouncers' came across in a very realistic way and were really energised in their role. Luke really projected his voice well and let himself go in the role. There was a real sense of unity and clear communication between the four of them. At times I couldn't always hear Jack but I felt he made a really good attempt. I thought they did so well and the humour really came across and the dynamics between them. The play envoked wit and humour and at first when the four actors Matt, Luke, Ben and Jack came on to stage there was a comedy light hearted feel to their performance. They were playing the role of four bouncers in a nightclub and revealing cross gender roles. It reflected an example of a group of men from working class backgrounds in a nightclub setting portraying an insight in to an example of society which can be seen as a disposable one highlighting broken up relationships and how easy it is to replace the person with someone else very quickly. I didn't feel the roles of the actors showed any real depth of character as I didn't feel this was the aim of the play or the roles, but I did feel Luke's vulnerability shone through his outwardly appearance. The aim of the play was to reveal different stages of drunkeness and considering they were not in a real club or bar setting the target was their voice and how they manoevered and how they communicated their body language to the audience.

Shakers, took their role seriously as waitresses and waiters in the shakers bar setting. It was humorous, informative, quirky and each character was very individual. There was a bond between them and the dialogue was kept interesting as they had no props so they had the challenge of having to keep up the expectation of their character in role throughout. I felt each female character was intricately portrayed giving a real insight in to each one revealing their differences. Initially, I felt Sapphire's role showed a very distinctive character but then equally Lola and the quirkiness of Sophie's character really shone through and the fact that they all managed to maintain their character throughout was quite an achievement. Each actress very much showed their own individual style and appeared confident in their outward appearances. I felt the play was cleverly written showing a variety of gender roles and how they complemented one another. The play was an insight in to a working class background in which they highlighted men who had taken them for granted or worse, loneliness and isolation, alienation and social prejudices as well as economic that have had some degree of effects on all of them. I felt the actresses came to life even more as the play moved on and particularly when they were getting ready for a night out on the town.

We didn't see stags and hens performance as we were waiting to come on stage afterwards.

I feel the characters in the performances that I was able to see really kept in character throughout including my fellow performers in 'My mother said I never should' and I really enjoyed participating in the performance and look forward to our next challenge. Furthermore, although I felt the complexity of the play of 'My mother said I never should' I was concerned that the play may not be tangible to us as the performers but also to the audience as well. The scenes were fairly short so it was our challenge to intergrate a multitude of cross meaning and depth. Out of all the plays I felt ours was the most challenging as it highlighted changing roles of women and how they view themselves and also if we had performed the entire play I believe it may have made more tangible sense to the audience. I felt pleased with my performance and could have improved on my role to further expand my character by having more self belief.