Evaluation of the performance

We have done three performances so far and I was surprised to see that unlike in rehearsals every performance was completely different. I think that this was because each performance had a different audience who brought a different energy.

The first performance went well but not as well as the other two. I think this is because everybody was very nervous to put on the first show and so there was a mad energy flying around. Also we knew all of the audience, as they were friends from the school. This made it feel a bit less professional and like more of a joke. Therefore, I think that overall the performance was funnier but not as realistic and I think that they were laughing more at us actors making jokes than the characters being funny.

The second performance was on the same day but a couple of hours later. The audience changed, as we only knew about two people each (who were our parents) and thus we didn’t know anyone else in the audience. The general age of the audience changed as they went from being our age to being our parents’ age. This made it feel more professional and more like something that you would get in a real theatre. Also the parents didn't know who most of us were, which would have made them experience the performance more fully and see us for the characters and not the actors. Personally, I was a lot more calm and collected in the performance, as my nervous energy had worn off. However I still had a focused energy. Therefore my performance was a lot stronger and more realistic. I was also more aware of my blocking and where to direct my performance to the audience as I was more open because there was less tension blocking it.

In the third performance we were in Brighton on an outdoor stage which was facing towards a café, which was an interesting venue and drastically different from what we were used to performing it on. People could put their chairs outside the café and watch, so they were not people that we knew and instead they were random members of the public. We had quite a big audience and the main problem was that it was going to be extremely hard to be heard as there was a lot of background noise, including a band that halfway through the play decided to set up just down the street. However I felt that I projected my voice extremely well and that every word was heard. This was one of my favourite performances because I was sure that it was going to be the worst of the lot and yet I think I did quite well. The only problem was that I could have lost some of my characterisation in trying to be heard.

During the performances my physicality was quite strong but it improved throughout. In my first performance I felt like my tension stopped me from as physically open with the audience and as physically free with my other actors. For example, at the beginning I did not have as much contact with my fellow actors where as by the end Conrad, Borachio and I felt more like friends getting excited for the evil which we were about to commit. You could see this by our physical interactions, for example we would pat each other on the back and put our arms around one another.

Vocally, my performance was strong as everyone could hear me at all times and my articulation was good. Also I feel like I managed to use the beautiful sounds of Shakespeare's words effectively to make what I was saying sound good. For example when I said 'I had rather be a canker in the hedge' I used the hard sounds to make this sound vicious and sharp. However, again I think that my vocal skills improved throughout as I became more confident with the different audiences as I became more aware of my surroundings.

I think my characterisation was strong because I had a very clear idea of who my character was and what he was doing in the play. In my opinion my performance was very realistic and yet still had a lot of energy. I was also extremely surprised that in all three performances I got at least one laugh, which I thought would be impossible as my character is probably the least funny character in the whole play.

My relationship with the audience changed throughout. At the beginning I still had a strong relationship with the audience, however it was quite frantic and as I said before I think they viewed me more as an actor than as Don John. In the second performance I had a more professional relationship which the audience as they understood my character better. I had a better interaction with them because I was less nervous. In Brighton there was a whole new atmosphere as I knew that none of these people would give us any leeway if it was not funny or not enjoyable, as they were not our family or friends and so if they didn't like it they would get up and leave. Luckily nobody got up and left as we obviously kept their attention throughout and this felt like they enjoyed it more genuinely than the first audience.

The Persian Gulf War

The fires in the background are the oil wells in Kuwait which Saddam Hussain's retreating troops set on fire.

The Gulf war took place between 1990 and 1991. The actual invasion was in January and February 1991. It involved Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Egypt also had a minor part to play.  It was a U.N Action of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq to push Saddam and his troops out of Kuwait.

Saddam Hussain was the dictator of Iraq, and interestingly he was a Sunni Muslim which made him a minority in Iraq. America supported Iraq in the Iraq/ Iran war by giving them money to fund their army.  Iran, at this time, was supported by the USSR, which was one of the reasons that America supported Iraq. Saddam was also financially supported by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. However, after a while Iraq got into huge debt and owed billions of dollars, and so both Saudi Arabia and Egypt refused to lend him any more money.

Meanwhile, Kuwait (Iraq’s neighbouring country) was also in debt and so to get out of this debt they were overproducing oil, which meant that the price of oil would go down. This was a violation of the OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) agreement. Therefore, Saddam put the blame on Kuwait and said that they had been stealing their oil. Saddam laid down almost impossible demands on Kuwait, which they couldn’t fulfil, and said that unless they meet these demands then Iraq would invade Kuwait. Kuwait refused to comply.

'Officially known as Highway 80, the Highway of Death runs from Kuwait City to Basra in Iraq. During the Gulf War (1991), it became the scene of one of the most haunting images of the war.'

In 1990 Iraq started moving 1 million troops towards the Kuwait border. Towards the end of 1990 Saddam started heavily bombing Kuwait. In response to this the U.N (heavily supported by Saudi Arabia and Egypt) were intent on rescuing Kuwait. On the 2^nd of January 1991 the action of the Desert Storm was put into place.  In this only around 300 of the U.N troops were killed as opposed to 20,000 – 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and civilians.  Of the 300 U.N troops ¼ of them were killed in friendly fire. This is very interesting to me because as Don Jon I know that I tried to kill my brother of the battle field, this shows that it would not have been too obvious that I was trying to kill him and so my brother, to have realised what I was trying to do, must have already thought of me in a particularly bad way and lacked all trust in me.

The remarkable thing about this war was that for the first time you could get access to live coverage of the war. I found this very interesting because it justifies the reasons for why Don Pedro and his troops were seen as almost celebrities, because people had seen the soldiers on television and would have admired their heroism.

To conclude this teaches me a lot about the context of our play and the characterisation of Don John. One aspect of this, which could be good to think about was that, a lot of soldiers came back from the war feeling ill etc. This was called ‘the Gulf war syndrome’ and affected the soldiers both mentally and physically. It could be fun to play with this and maybe use this a reason for Don John strange and evil behaviour throughout the play.

Character Improvisation

Myself, Don Pedro, Claudio and Conrade had to do an improvisation on what happened to destroy the trust and bond between Don John and Don Pedro. How did Don John try and kill his brother? Seeing as we had set the play in 1990s Gulf War we set it up so that Don Pedro asked Don John to call reinforcements as they were struggling and many men were dying. Don John and Conrade ran off without calling any reinforcements hoping that Don Pedro and Count Claudio would be killed in this battle. The outcome of this was that Claudio managed to get Don Pedro out successfully, however many men were slaughtered. During the improvisation Don Pedro and Claudio called Conrade and I into the office and asked what had happened and where the reinforcements were. I said that I had called them but they must've been some interference and the communication must not have been successful. They obviously did not believe me, however there was nothing they could do to prove this and so I put out my hand to encourage Don Pedro to shake it, and asked that we put this all behind us and that it was just a misunderstanding. Don Pedro reluctantly shook my hand.

I learnt a lot from the improvisation that helped me to add depth and understanding to the relationship between my brother and myself. This also helped build my relationship Conrade and fuel my hate for Claudio. The action of me and Conrad running away was both cowardly and evil, which made me realise that in some ways I am a coward, which was a new thought for me. This also showed me how deep my hatred for my brother was  that I was going to kill him. The next turn off the form room tonight don't go to the chemistry was extremely improved and you could see straight away my hatred for him and his reluctance to put any trust in me. This also made me realise that me and Conrad were very close and so after this my relationship with Conrad was even stronger as he help me through this time. my relationship with Claudio was made even stronger and you can now see that one of my main reasons for trying to hurt everybody is because I'm just want to hurt Claudia as he is my biggest enemy.

Character Observation

I was asked to observe one of the actors in my class thinking about their characterisation skills et cetera. I chose to observe Razaq who was playing the role of Conrade.  This was because of the fact that his character was the closest to mine as he was of a high status and was evil and so this could give me the most indication of what I could change to make my characterisation even better.

The first thing I noticed was that he had a clear embodiment of the role and a very clear choice of characterisation. I could straightaway see that he was a high-ranking gentleman who was quite snobbish and egotistical. However, I think his characterisation was slightly held back by the fact that his articulation needed some improvement and his natural accent came through at times. Also sometimes he said his lines too fast. However he still managed to have very good projection as I could hear him very clearly from where I was sitting and he was very confident with his lines.

His physical interpretation of the role was strong but could do with some improvement. I could see that he had clearly thought about his animal instincts. He stood in a clear posture with his head stuck out in his face scrunched up. He also looked around a lot, and looked as if he was on edge when partaking in something mischievous. However, sometimes this causes him to be quite stiff and tended to inhibit his freedom of movement. 

His ensemble work was very good and I could see that he was constantly acting and reacting to what was going on around him. He also kept his characterisation throughout without breaking role. I noticed this because I was watching him even when his character was not involved in the dialogue, however he was still very energetic and focused and seemed to be involved in the conversation. This is because he was always reacting and thus I would notice him laugh or cringe at what was going on etc. I also notice that he talked quite sharply to the other character apart from me, and talked very freely to Borachio, which showed that he had the most respect for me and that I was of a higher status than him.

Overall, I thought that his characterisation was very strong and there was a lot that I could learn from him. For example I will now be aware of the fact that my physical embodiment should be always present without being stiff or inhibiting me in any way, and I should remain focused and energised throughout and constantly react to what is going on around me.

Don Jon's relationships in the play

What are your relationships in the play?

I have a very dysfunctional relationship with my brother. I tried to kill him once but it did not work because Claudio jeopardised it. Now my brother has taken Claudio under his wing, therefore I detest Claudio and want him to suffer. I don't have much of a relationship with any of the women in the play, and if I were to have one it would be completely physical with no emotional connection. Conrade is the character in the play who I am closest to, like me he is quite evil and enjoys causing trouble. I enjoy plotting against others with him, he is probably my only friend. I pretend to like Borachio because he is useful to me as he is poor and so with a bit of money I can get him to do whatever I like.

From left; Claudio (x2), Benedick (x2), Don Pedro (x2), Don Jon, Conrade, Borachio

Who do you openly like? Who do you openly dislike? Who do you secretly like? And who do you secretly dislike? 

I openly like Conrade. People know that I dislike my brother and Claudio, however I try and make people believe that I like him in order to get what I want from them and at one point in the play I succeed in doing this. I pretend to like Borachio in order to get him to do what I want, I do not dislike him but I have less respect for him than Conrade and I think of myself as better than him.

What animal would Don Jon be and why?

I think that Don Jon would be a vulture. This is because he feeds on other peoples pain and suffering much like a vulture. He is also a predator. Thirdly, a vulture is quite a sad and solemn creature. Fourthly, similar to a vulture don John hides in the shadows until until the right time to feed on his victims. A vulture is a very powerful looking creature and in some ways it looks quite regal however it is also an ugly creature and it looks quite scary and dangerous.

I'm going to bring some different physical aspects of the Vulture into my portrayal of Don John. Firstly I will move my head from side to side with sudden movements. Secondly, I will stand with my shoulders high up. Finally I will move my arms violently when gesturing just like a vulture uses his powerful wings.