Karina's Drama Blog

New Schedule

2010-05-10T02:44:00.000-07:00

OK, plans have changed slightly not dramatically regarding the running of the two days, to include the story and the new amazing puppets that we have.

Saturday 22nd May- Build Day

2pm- 5pm

As I know of it.....schools and certain community groups have been invited down to the common on the Saturday to help build, make and organise things for the procession on Sunday.

Sunday 23rd May

Technically our day starts at stupid o’clock at the car boot sale. But this is a rough outline of the times for the common:

5pm- Participants gather on the common.
5.30pm- THE STORY- How Happy Birthday was lost and found is performed
6pm- March towards Ham- the parade begins along Ham Avenue and towards the house. Community groups have been placed in the order in which they are walking to Ham, to create the best aesthetic and aural spectacle.
6.45pm- Arrive at the house and disperse.
7.30pm-Raise Your Voices to Ham- Community singing event

Inside the Grounds

5pm-5.30pm- Choirs will arrive at the house.
6pm-6.50pm- Choirs will sing at designated intervals and spaces.
6.45ish- Choir (s) will meet the incoming parade at the South Gate
7.30pm- Raise Your Voices to Ham- Community Singing Event.
Phew......it seems like everything is coming together which is great, however in my mind the event still seems ages away! This of course, is stupid as this time in two weeks; it will all be over....which is both a great feeling and an absolutely horrifying, terrifying one.

Good Luck Everyone- 13 days to go!

Happy Daysx

The General Election and the Community

2010-05-10T02:38:00.000-07:00

I watched the alternate election night coverage on Thursday night, with a staunch Labour supporter, an advocator of the Tory Party and two seeming Liberal supporters; it struck me in any one community, you will find any number of affiliations to numerous different parties.

No matter what party you have ties or affiliations to, or if you are a floating voter, you will belong to a community that involves a myriad of different political opinions. You will also belong to a community of your own party supporters. Community and politics seems to go hand in hand. Voting brings a community together, all crammed into polling stations that are the centre of a district, the village hall, the primary school, the community centre. Everyone complaining loudly about the queues and how it is our right to be able to vote.

Even the policies of the candidates talk about bringing Britain back to that community spirit. Socialism rather that individualism. The Labour party’s campaign slogan ‘Fair for all’ is a reflection of this.

When I went to vote, there was a crowd of maybe eight to ten year olds, no older, chanting one word outside the polling station, ‘Labour, Labour’. I overheard one of the organisers at the stations saying, “I wonder who paid them to do that”. It is sad for her to believe that, because even at that age, a child can be aware of political parties and affiliations through their parents or indeed the community. The party that will get into parliament will affect us all, even young children.

In the first hung parliament since 1974, communities are both divided and united by their political views. If a Labour supporter meets a Conservative Supporter, and the conversation turns to politics, their will be an argument, no doubt about it. It is something that we all love to do, argue about politics, including myself. The main topic of conversation in the library on Friday was of course, the General Election. We all abandoned our individual work to crowd around one computer to watch Brown and Cameron’s speeches. Despite our individual political beliefs, it was important to each and every one of us, we all want stability and a return to that community state for Britain and it is yet to be decided which party will be given the opportunity to do so for Britain.

It can be argued that in an ever celebrity driven world, even the realm of politics is carefully stage managed to produce a certain effect. Take David Cameron for example, every move he makes is staged, almost fake, produced for the creation of something bigger. Politics has become a personality contest, for certain people it becomes less about what the candidate stands for and the work they have put in and more about how they look and their so-called personalities. Even the wives of politicians have entered into this, becoming WAG-like in their appearance and demeanour, proving it is all about the ‘show’ rather than the real merits of the individual standing for election.

7th May 2010!

2010-05-06T00:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Jorge came to the University for a short meeting regarding the logistics of the day, everything seems to be going to plan from their end of the event. In regards to choirs, there will be 18 choirs singing, who will be situated in the grounds singing at different intervals from approximately 6pm to 7pm. Patsy and the choir team are meeting the choirs at Ham House on Sunday to go over everything. Mark also showed us copy for the poster that will be distributed around Ham next week.

The liaison team are meeting with Ham House on Monday in regards to all information from our side of things.

Also in the afternoon, we had a session in the SU led by Jennie where we tried out the puppets made especially for the story. The basic structures are amazing, with special mention to the horse and the eager beaver, complete with whiskers made out of plastic forks; amazing! The puppets will be completed on the build day. We tried to give the puppets we were working with animation and characterise as the story dictates.

Jennie, as both the creator and director of the story watched us we moved and used the puppets, to try and cast certain people to certain roles. It was a generally nice exercise to unwind and let loose. We arrange to meet up several times over the coming weeks in order to rehearse the story for the 23rd May

16 days to go!!!

Happy Daysx

27 Days to Go!

2010-04-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

We had a really productive meeting today, all on track for D-day on 23rd May!! The design team came in and showed us the structures for the characters in the procession- the snotty goat and the oyster to name but a few, made entirely out of laundry baskets! Hats of for the Tina and the design team, they look amazing, well done!

We also organised the processional route, by dividing and spaced the community groups according to style, the circus act leading and the litter pickers ending, with everyone else spaced out in the middle. Of course, as with everything this is subject to change depending on the addition of any new groups. There seems to be a lack of noise in certain parts of the parade, but I think it was thought that schools could make basic instruments in their workshops alongside masks and flags

The brochure idea has been dramatically changed. Instead of having pages in the St. Mary's drama brochure, the event itself will now have a separate one, so advertising or copy is now available to any groups who wish to feature, which of course will help and placate a lot of groups.

The choirs have been organised for the event inside the grounds, which is great to hear! I love the idea proposed by Patsy in today's meeting to have a choir waiting at the end of the parade route (at the south gates) to welcome the parade in, merging the two seeming separate events into one. The whole point is to now stop thinking of the in house singing event and the parade as two separate events and instead as a one whole event to celebrate the birthday of Ham House.

Happy Days- 27 days to gox

Ham Community Day- 24/04/2010

2010-04-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

The Ham Community Day on Saturday was a great way to reach out to the community to try and recruit people and create interest in the 400th birthday, I was really happy to hear that a resident of Ham was coming to the event, after reading a leaflet that had been posted through his front door!!!!!

After a battle with the gazebo and taking about an hour to put it up with a helping hand from the man at the stall next door, we were ready to go. We spent the day promoting the event, face-painting and playing games with children. After a slow morning, we were over-run in the afternoon with children wanting their face painted. I thought the dinosaur I painted on a two year olds face was immense! It was really nice just to get the children playing games together and just having fun.

The day was really lovely, went really quickly and was lovely and hot (not like today, unfortunately)! However despite spending all day in the sun wearing shorts and flip flops, I did not have a tan! I thought I would at least have tanned a little, but no I'm still as pale as ever! I just went home absolutely covered in paint and walked through Twickenham High Street with flowers on my face, the shame! Just on a quick note, I bought a pasty that cost me £3.50!!!!! What is the world coming to?

Happy daysx

Another day, Another Dollar....

2010-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Two blogs in a day.... wow there is a first for everything.

So....Zoe, Jennie, Briony and I went to meet the co-ordinators for Heritage to Health today at St. George's Hospital in Tooting! After an eventful and long winded journey there, the meeting was really interesting and productive both on our part and H2H's part.

The creator of H2H, Denise was really enthusiastic about their involvment in the parade and are aiming to make a banner on the day. It was made clear that some of the less able participants will be able to be involved in the procession, so they were realy happy to hear about the singing event taking place inside the grounds. Denise however thought that some participants, who were wheelchair users would love to be involved in the parade.

On the same day the participants of H2H will be going to Marble Hill in the morning and then making the trip over to Ham for the afternoon/evening events. They all seem very enthusiastic and even praised our organisational skills! Hopefully, they will be bringing around 70 participants, which is absolutely amazing!

Happy Daysx

Yet another Monday...

2010-04-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Another week, another meeting!! The weeks are going by so fast, it seems to be all blurred into one. The meeting was productive however, things seem to be moving a lot quicker and a lot more efficiently now. The plans for Saturday also seem to be a lot clearer to me. The story will be introduced in workshops and on the Saturday, at the common. The puppets will be crafted with some of the really amazing ideas that the design team have in mind to bring the story and then be used to tell the story and as part of the procession.

The flag is being made to be signed and hoisted up on the day. Things seems to be in place and going generally to plan.

Just a short one. 30 days to go.

Happy Daysxxx

The Birthday Party

2010-04-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Last night (17th April), I went to see 'The Birthday Party' by Harold Pinter, by a community amateur theatre company, Shepperton Players at the Riverside Arts Centre in Sunbury. The cast is small, only six performers, yet this small ensemble managed to hold the play constantly throughout. I have previously performed with Shepperton Players, so knew the cast members, as well as attending Uni with another.

Pinter always leaves an audience guessing, the truth is never revealed. The facts are presented to an audience and they are left to interpret what they will from it. Shepperton Players, stamped their own mark and individualism on the play, yet still left the interpretations of the audience unmarred.

The Birthday Party is about Stanley Webber, an erstwhile piano player in his 30s, who lives in a rundown boarding house, run by Meg and Petey Boles, in an English seaside town. Two sinister strangers, Goldberg and McCann, who arrive supposedly on his birthday and who appear to have come looking for him, turn Stanley's apparently innocuous birthday party organized by Meg into a nightmare

All the actors filled the roles, all of them rising to the challenge. With such a small cast playing such diverse roles, it is very hard to point out one above the rest. The actor playing Stanley was both at times malevolent and sympathetic to an audience, while Lulu was bouncy and bubbly yet hid a darker side. The McCann and Goldberg double act were both darkness and light (with special mention to McCann's accent!!). The actress playing Meg was warm yet mad, while Petey was the innocent of the play, the only one to be aware of what is actually occuring.

At times funny, at times shocking, others bewildering. 'The Birthday Party' is a play that remains with you, forever asking the question, why Stanley Webber?

Meeting at the pub.....

2010-04-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last night, the house liason team had a meeting the pub with Jorge, Gary and Clare. From, everything they were saying, they all seemed really enthusiastic and excited about how well the project was coming along. The seemed particularly enthusiastic about the number of community groups we had and the diversity in those groups: bell ringers to laughter yoga, to be honest is a pretty eclectic group of individuals. Their positivity about the project made me feel a lot more enthusiastic about the 400th birthday as a whole.

Jorge also suggested other groups to contact including the Royal Ballet, who train at White Lodge in Richmond Park, which I will get onto, also the poppy factory and the British Legion, which I think are really good groups to get involved.

On the 29th April, they want us to give them a written plan for the day- included a detailed breakdown of numbers. This a meeting in which I may not be present, but hopefully will, as I have my dissertation due the next day!

By the way, the cupcake lady is going to be there! woooooo!

36 days to go!- sorry to pit in perspective xxx

The evil eagle, the annoying oyster and the eager beaver!...

2010-04-16T06:10:00.000-07:00

On Monday we had a really successful meeting where for the first time, I felt the project as a whole linking together as one. Ben and Jennie had written a story for the children to watch and get involved in on the Saturday and in the parade on Sunday. The story was really lovely, funny and well thought out and will work really well with the children. In the workshops we will introduce the story of the evil eagle and the annoying oyster (absolute genius by the way) and then on the Saturday at Ham Common, we will make masks and animals to parade with on the Sunday when we parade to the eagle's nest aka Ham House.

We actually have more community groups involved in the parade than first thought. We have five schools involved which could bring any number to the event. Other community groups include: morris dancers (yes please!), laughter yoga, free runners, karate groups, bell ringers, circus performers, the police and H2H. To be completely honest this a lot more than I originally thought, with the promise of more to come.

I (+ whoever whats to come) are meeting with Heritage to Health on Tuesday to explain what the day will entail and just to meet them, which I am particularly looking forward to.

Happy daysx

44 Days to go....

2010-04-09T00:57:00.000-07:00

Easter Holidays are nearly done, Ham House is nearly upon us and I'm just having a little moment thinking all that has to be done in between those times......!

I thought I would just write a little timetable for the day, as we have so far and that Gary and Jorge have seen.

We are going to be at Ham Common on Saturday, I believe? And all day Sunday, preparing for the event.

Sunday 23rd May

In House
5.00-5.30- Groups arrive and set up for performance in-house
6.00- Main Gates Open
On rota- choirs and music/performance groups will perform for 1 hour.
As Procession arrives the groups willl move to the back of the house/on to terrace to sing Happy Birthday.
After Happy Birthday, grops will be uided out.

Parade
5.00- Groups arrive. Groups will go to different coloured sections as already given to them.
5.30- Joint Vocal and Physical Warm- up.
5.50- Team Leader's put groups into smaller groups.
6.00- Each group marches of in turn. one after another according to colour given. Groups en route to join end of procession. Police to guide people across the road.
6.45-700- Procession nearing South Gates. Procession will fan out around wilderness- one colour on way, another colour the other. Meet at back of house to sing Happy Birthday.
Everyone to phase out at end.

44 days to go!

Meeting Monday.

Happy Daysxxx

Mexican Night!!!-24/03/2010

2010-03-29T12:35:00.000-07:00

We had a really good fundraising night in the SU last Wednesday, organised by the fabulous Jennie and Jade. The theme was Mexican, Spring Break and we spent a few hours in the day decorating the SU with flags, cactus' and palm trees.

I must admit that this night was one of the weirdest experiences of my uni life so far. I spent twenty minutes in the toilets with Emily and Jennie, transforming Jennie into a fajita!!! I never have and don't think I ever will again, have a conversation about how best to stick a pepper to someones head, sellotape, pin or glue? I also will never again write Old Elpaso across someones chest. Thanks for the memories, Jennie!

I think we made a bit of money and we had a really good night and managed to promote Drama in the Community- Ham House Project a bit more.

Also, despite the numerous tequila shots, I managed to be alive and kicking for Uni the next day!!!! Wooooooo.

Happy Daysxxx

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry.......

2010-03-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have just realised that I haven't written a blog in forever!!!! So apologies for that. From now on, I think I am going to write a blog after every meeting. Things are moving on quite well with the overall project. At the moment it still seems a long way off, as there is so much to do, between now and the 23rd May both in Drama in the Community and in my other modules. However, thinking logically, it is April 1st on Thursday and there is five weeks of term left!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!

Unfortunately I had to miss the last two liaison meetings with Ham House, so I am slightly out of the loop. However, everything seems to be going well with them, with plans to meet after Easter to further discuss the progress we have made and any further knowledge regarding numbers. At the moments the most important thing, seems still to be the recruitment of community groups, with many groups yet to reply.

Clare has mentioned a group to me that I am waiting to talk with, Heritage to Health, which I think will be a really great group to be involved with the parade. Heritage to Health is an organisation that is a collaboration of people from all walks of life, ages, abilities and cultures that focuses on a journey of learning through breaking down barriers between professions and the local community. They reach out and help those that are socially isolated and are deeply involved with the National Trust and particularly Ham House. I am looking forward to getting Heritage to Health involved with the 400th Birthday!.

A blog........

2010-02-18T06:17:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, the house liasion team had a successful meeting with Jorge, Gary, Clare and Vic at Ham House. It was decided that in two weeks, we would give the House team a presentation submitted with a written plan about our progress and where we are as a collective with the project overall. This gives us an opportunity to take stock of where we are and what we have to do in the coming months.

It was decided that we would slightly change the parade route, to go around the wilderness instead of straight through and here we could perhaps incorporate more choirs and/or acts into the processional route. As well as protecting the turf, will also offer a better aesthetic view of the gardens and better use of the wilderness.

I think there is a problem with exactly how many people are involved so far, although the numbers we have are based on how many people we have asked rather that how many people have replied, we do not want be in a position when we are forced to turn people away. There is always the worry that nobody will turn up to events like these, however we don't want the entire event to be made up of choirs and schools in the procession or singing in the grounds. This is a community event and we want people from the community to both be involved with it and to be part of the audience.

Happy daysx

I think I need a nap............................

2010-02-09T02:10:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging twice in one week, I'm not sure what's wrong with me! I think it's probably got something to with the fact I am sat in the quiet area in the library, denying the fact I have a dissertation to write, while listening to Bob Dylan (for a course, not just randomly). It is only ten o'clock and I have been up for over six hours already!!! So, some of this may not make sense.

I am really glad that we are moving forward and getting on with this project and it will get continually exciting as it gets nearer and nearer, and most people seem to be really focused and goal orientated. However, the group does seem still be a bit disjointed in some way, and I just think that by just continuing to work together and for everyone to voice their opinions, no matter whether they agree or disagree and things will get done quicker and more efficiently.

I am looking forward to going up to the house on Friday, to speak with Vic and Sandra about what we can and can't do in the garden and then we can have a clearer idea of what ideas are achievable are what ideas aren't.

I hate the quiet area and I'm sleepy. Happy daysx

January 2010

2010-02-04T02:07:00.000-08:00

So.............once again I haven't written for ages. I do find it really difficult to get round to writing blog entries, it's just something, I have never had to do before and I thing that I am still getting to grips with it.

We started back to Uni on the 18th January, with two meetings in the first week that I was unable to attend. The first one, I could not go to and the second I had no idea was going on. I made a point of going to see Mark to find out what was going on as I felt a bit out of the loop a bit. All students involved in the 400th Birthday have selected or been given a specific role that will help the preparation and planning of the Ham House project.

I decided to become involved with the House Liasion along with Emily, Jayne and Jess. This involves us attending meetings with Jorge, Gary and Claire along with Mark etc and reporting back to the group as a whole and generally liaising between the House and the group. This kind of role is something that I have never really taken on before and I am enjoying it at the moment. It is interesting to be involved with the decision making processes on both sides.

The rest of the class have divided into teams, including fundraising, press, internal liaison, events co-ordination, design and choirs. As always in a group like this there will be conflict and indecision. but the project has the potential to be really great and exciting.

The actual day, seems to involve a procession/parade into the grounds from Ham Common, that we want to be fun and colourful and a bit carnivalesque. In the grounds of the house itself, will be choirs situated around for visitors to see, this will all lead up to the participants singing Happy Birthday to the house among other things.

Last Friday (29th Jan), we all went to Ham and walked the proposed procession route to try and get a feel for the surroundings and get an idea of what we have to work with. The aesthetics are really important to this and the fact you can see the house as you are walking towards is vital. The walk itself is not to long or hard and the route itself has the ability for a lot things to happen. The south gates heading into the house are normally closed, but for the procession, they will opened, hopefully with ceremony. The gates do not seem to open that wide, only really allowing three people through at a time, this will allows us to funnel people in and control the flow of people into the grounds. The idea was proposed to Jorge to have adorn the gate in some way, hopefully even have people on the top!!

Next Friday the house liaison team are going to Ham House to see space for storage, and another look at the space we have to work with and speak with the gardeners etc. It will be good to get back in the grounds and look again what we have to work with.

The Ham House 400th Birthday project seems a lot more daunting this side of Christmas. I am looking forward to it but there is no denying the amount of work that has to be put in. I think that if everyone pulls together, we could put on a really exciting and fun community event.

1st and 2nd weekends at Ham

2009-12-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Once again I have forgotten to blog!! So sorry for it being a bit late, but......one more weekend to go and then it's CHRISTMAS!!!! I think both the weekends have gone well so far, if not a bit tiring.

The first weekend at Ham House was a bit of a learning curve in terms of timing's and positions. We found that some rooms worked better than others, so stories did have to be moved around a bit. For the Q and A, we found that perhaps the buttery was not the ideal spot as it didn't lead anywhere like we thought. We also had to somehow make people aware of the fact that we were up there, so we needed the help of the organisers to direct people up to the buttery. We found that we overantipated the age of our audience, I think we aimed at older children rather than younger children, who did not really understand. Our extended iQ and A session was only performed once or twice, and during the rest of our time slots, Mrs. Claus and Poppy the elf, who I really wanted to call Trumpy, interacted with the children on a more personal level. This, although was not how we planned, turned out well,however it made myself and Megan's role a little obselete, as we were no longer needed.

The second weekend worked differently as on the Sunday, as both Jenny and Hannah went to Spain. So, Megan and I, took the role of Poppy and Mrs. Claus respectively. I enjoyed taking on the role, and talking with the children on a more intimate basis. I also enjoyed being a character rather that simply myself introducing Mrs. Claus. However, people did think I was an elf as opposed to Mrs. Claus. As there was not many story tellers last weekend, our breaks were limited, but I think it worked well. We also roamed about a bit more and were more free, at some point we went into the bathroom and combined out piece with both the elves and Ed's story which I felt was effective fot the end of the day.

Two down, one to go. If one more person asks me what the buttery was used for in the old days, I will not be responsible for my actions!!

Merry Christmas!!!x

2009-11-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

Wahey!! Less than two weeks to go! Finally seem to be getting somewhere. It seems all the more realistic after going into Ham House on Friday and setting out where we would perform.

It has finally been decided what stories, for want of a better word, people are doing. I was struck by the idea of doing something as a double act and was not keen on doing an individual performance. I found an interview with Santa Claus that I thought was quite funny and a original concept. Myself and Megan decided to look at this piece together, and tried to adapt it. Last Wednesday (18th) we read it to the class, who seemed to like the concept very much, but weren't really sure about the content, which was understandable as some of it was irrelevant. It was also suggested that we could perhaps include other characters apart from the traditional Santa Claus. It was also suggested that we could have a sort of Q and A session with Santa, that the audience could participate in. Where children or adults from the audiences could ask Santa questions that have never been answered before.

Between Wednesday and Friday's rehearsal in the House, Megan and I adapted the interview to make it more accessible and came to the house with fresh ideas. Mark showed us around the house and the room that immediately caught our eye was the buttery. This room was also the way through to the main house so we would catch a lot of attention situated here. With guidence from Mark, Megan and I decided to drop the idea of interviewing Santa and instead concentrate on other members, like the 'Untold Story' of the Claus's, we decided to interview Mrs. Claus, an elf and the Claus's teenage son. Other members of the group decided they would like to be part of the interviews, Hannah and Emily will play the part of the elf on alternate days and Jennie and Jayne will play the part of Mrs. Claus and hopefully either Ben or Ed will play the son. We spent that session talking about the characters and how the sessions would run. Megan and I will run the interview asking a couple of structured questions at the beginning and talking about the characters. We will then run the questions or be crowd control!!! By Wednesday we decided to have written background information about each character and have our structured questions ready for the others to learn by Friday. Even though most of the interviews are improvised there needs to be some sort of structure.

Looking forward to run through in the house on Friday!!!

Happy Daysxx

2009-11-10T03:28:00.000-08:00

It seems like Christmas is just around the corner and we have so much to do before the beginning of December. I am a little bit worried that we are running out of time, but I am sure it will be fine, especially as we are having extra sessions on Wedsnesdays. Have been doing some research into Winter/Christmas stories, so am looking forward to getting together with the rest of the group to see what ideas we have.

I am thinking that it would be a really good idea to have some sort of performance/story at the entrance of Ham House while everyone is coming in, to entice children and adults to come down and see whats going on or alternatively have people in character directing people towards the servants bit. I also think that we could adapt the sketch that Chantelle, Sarah and I had into the storytelling. Perhaps some people playing a servant of the house and then tell a story as that character. I also think that Mark's idea of the travelling players or the comedy duo is an important one we could use to our advantage.

I haven't written in a while, so just catching up on all the tours. I thought that Harvey's talk about filming in the National Trust was really interesting and quite important to us really. My flatmate is writing about film tourism for her dissertation, so there were some really interesting facts about the influence of tourism to national trust properties through film.

I also really enjoyed the behind the scenes tour of Ham House and was particularly intrigued by the story of John and Emily and the window. I really wanted to find out more and was really suprised to find out that it was not usually included in the tour. To be honest, even though the true historical facts are interesting, I find the more personal stories such as this so such more so. Even the more personal stories about Elizabeth Murray were so much more inspirational to me as a Drama Student and the one that stuck in my mind the most.

Happy Daysx

2009-10-07T03:40:00.000-07:00

I apologise now for not writing in ages, just never seem to get round to it. I always seem to have stuff to say and never write it down, which seems stupid, I know!

I am really looking forward to devising/creating sort pieces for the christmas events at Ham House. After taking both tours of the house and the gardens, I can really start to see how these pieces will work as part of the events and how they will be set in the house.

The group as a whole seemed to like the idea of adapting short stories, rhymes or poems to mini performances over the three weekends. At first I was unsure if this would work and even though I really liked the idea of involving children and face painting (which by the way I cannot do) with performances, I wasn't sure if it would work overall. However, after seeing Zoe's and Jennie's performance of 'The owl and the pussy cat' in class on Friday, I changed my mind. I think the idea of dramatising children's stories or familiar stories/rhymes would work well with the audience and the space we are working in. We just have to think of ways to use audience interaction and it to be of interest to both adults and children, which I think is the direction which we are going in.

I am thinking that maybe that we could do a few stories/poems that fit in with the christmas theme, maybe 'The Little Match Girl', if anyone has heard of it? It's quite good and I think will fit really well in the space we have been given. I also for some reason can't get the idea of 'The Christmas Carol' out of my head, so may be we could think of something to do with that.

There is also loads of festive poems and songs that we could adapt or write our own The list is endless. We just have to decide what to do and who is going to do what as soon as possible.

Happy Days!!!xxx

Blog?????

2009-09-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

As part of my Drama in the Community module, I have to keep a blog about the module and what has been happening. I am a bit unsure about keeping a blog. It is something that I have never done before, and since I have trouble turning on a computer, to be honest I'm little bit out of my depth. As I take English as half of my degree, I am used to more formal essays. However I am going to give it a go and try my hardest to keep writing regularly.

Last Friday, we had our first lecture with Mark . The course seems really interesting and the partnership with Ham House sounds really exciting. It will be really good to get out of college and have lectures in Ham House and work within the wider community. I am slightly worried with the amount of work that has to be fitted in to one semester, but hopefully everything will go to plan.

Write soonx