Rough draft performance: Brecht

For our rough draft all of us decided to do the first two pages of Act 2 the noble child. Initially I play Grusha through out the entire Act but in the first two pages there weren't any lines for me so I volunteered to play beggar and petitioners. Personally I think my individual performance was good as I had memorized my lines and I knew what I was doing throughout the scene. I also think Hamza did a great job on memorizing his lines and he was projecting his voice which is a good thing but I know he would've done a better job with memorizing because there were times when he stopped and did think, He would also stutter. Hamza and I both did a really good job and we both have small little details we have to improve on such as confidently delivering our lines and such. Even though both of us did do a good job for a rough draft I think the other members of our group could have put an effort like us and get the job done for today, we were given time to practice,discuss and memorize our lines and few of us didn't bother as much as others and left it till the very last minute which was today where some of us had to rush. Overall I think the group that I had to work with didn't take this so seriously which made it harder for the ones who take Drama quite seriously as they wouldn't listen and would be very much distracted. and I think in our today's performance this was very much evident as to who worked and who did not work. I chose "Acting" as my Brechtian element and I worked on that, memorized my lines and tried to practice our act with the group. There were a few others who also chose to do acting as well but there were people who decided to take up and do Montage and directing but they weren't really clear on that so all of acted instead. As for those who took directing, I had to direct instead so basically I had to tell people where they would stand, where they would face, when they would enter and things like that. As for those who took montage, They didn't do it because they were "confused" so nothing was done about it and I wasn't really aware about that either although its not really my responsibility to know what others are appointed to do but our rough draft had so many flaws so it leaves me no choice so I have to see what others are doing and if they are distracted I would be forced to be a bit harsh on them, this is exactly why working with this group is somewhat difficult but Hamza made my work less stressful because he would listen to what I have to say and would do things instructed to him. Our performance today was done very poorly because we misused the time given to us and also because there were people who wouldn't work or let others work and it was a bit hard working with these type of people so in order for us to improve we need to work and I have to take the initiative and look at what the other group members are doing and if they get distracted I would just snatch that item away from their hands and not listen to them.

The other groups did a great job on their rough draft performance (better than ours, we were the worst) only three groups performed today including us, the other two of those groups did do a better job than us. The first group consisted of Ryan, Vanessa and Umar their brechtian element was montage. So their story was linked with the two strong political figures in Bangladesh (this was in the montage) and a conflict between a Rickshaw driver and a Maid (this was what they acted out). I think they did a good job in memorizing their lines and projecting their voice. The downside of this performance would be the message that they were trying to convey wasn't really clear and also the positions they stood in other than that I think they did a good job. The second group consisted of Shubham, Mifrah and Noshin their brechtian element was playwright and Montage and I think this group did a really good job. So their story was linked to animal abuse (this was in the montage) and Rape (This was what they acted out). Overall this is how a rough draft should look like, this shows that they did work consistently throughout the time they were given. The downside of this would be emotion,While Shubham was telling his lines he was being emotional and in a Brechtian play we don't see emotions being involved at all, its blunt and straight to the point that should make the audience wonder what is happening and make them think while watching the play as well. Overall both of these groups did do a good job as I have mentioned earlier and I think their final ones are going to be really good if they improve on the feedback they were given in class. As for our group we have a long way to go.