The first performance we did today went well but i feel that it was the less better of the two. It started off quite well at the beginning when Lois and Naomi brought the children into the theatre where they began to explain what was going to happen and what they might experience. It then went into them telling the children about Story Land and the disaster that had previously happened to them meaning that story land was in a bit of a messy state. After this a mad wizard (Harry) entered and explained in detail what had happened which was that a big asteroid had crashed into Story Land and that the children had to help them.
Then the story stealer patrolmen (Charlotte and Gemma) came out and brought the children in the space where they explained to the children that they needed help cleaning up the boxes from the middle. Once they did this they found a box which they explained needed three keys to open to the box of magical things. They asked the children to help them find the first one by looking around the space where a key was hidden. Once the children had found the first key they were informed that the second key was in a big box filled with shredded paper and they had to put their hands in the holes around the box to find it. After this had been accomplished the wizard informed then that the whereabouts of the third key can be found on the scroll that he had previously given to one of the children. On the scroll there was a riddle which was a clue as to where to find the last key. It read "To unlock the box of incredible things, look on the back of the story stealers......". This was left empty for the children to guess the last word which was wings. Once they knew this they had to creep up behind the stealer (Fran) and get the key of her back in the style grandmas footsteps. Once the kids had collected the key, Charlotte and Gemma took all the kids out the front where the curtain to the stage behind them closed which was a good transition because as well as leaving the stage and allowing there to be time to pre set the next story up behind them, it still continued the story and kept the interaction with the children going and flowed nicely into the next story. Once all the kids were sat down they then proceeded to have three children come up and put their keys in the box which had the power to turn the story stealer good again. We then beamed lasers onto the curtain as if to show this is what was inside the box. The lasers represent portals to other stories which the children would experience as the play continued. As they continued to tell the kids about the portal they also said that the story stealer had become good again and would share the stories that she stole with the children which led them on the next story.
As Charlotte and Naomi spoke, two new characters Inky and Minky (Lois and Megan) appeared from behind the curtain. They began to tell the children about their land which was based around oranges. They then took the children through the portal which had been previously been opened up in the first story to their land of oranges. They then told the children to help them buy picking up all the oranges which had been scattered around the space which can be used to refuel the creature living in the land. Then as they had an argument over who was the better creature, the character called the Narrator (Raven) explained to the children what else happened such as things like eating healthily. The argument continued between them until the character of Baby Pinky (Jess) to start crying. They then had a competition where they split all the children in to two groups (one for inky one for Minky) and did things like pulling funny faces and best dance moves to decide who was the best and a new character. Then they both ran out of fuel where Orangina (Naomi) came out and did a mixture of activities including an original piece called the wake up song to wake them up. Once they were awake they took the children out of the space back in front of the curtain where they began to play a game about healthy food groups and categories. This gave us time behind the curtain to pre set up the next story which also works well as a good transition because it is focusing on one thing whilst over things change in the background. We used this time to place our groups props about this stage which consisted of a big spoon, bowl and cereal which we would use later with the children fro them to help us with our story. We also set up a small barrier around the are where the dragon/prince (Valencia) will be sitting on the stage.
However before we opened up the curtains for the children to come into our world we had myself, Maddie and Andrew go out the front of the curtain and tell the kids a story as our character of Juan, Sheila and Steve. We had previously provided the children with small paper bags with puppets of ourselves in them as characters such as a princess, a frog and a prince. We told them to use those puppets with us as we told them the story of the Princess and the Frog. Personally I think that this worked really well as an activity because it kept up interaction between us and the audience and also allowed us to directly address the children when talking about a character such as the frog and telling them to move their puppets. Once we had read the story to the kids, a dragon speaker (Vicky) came out and told the children about their problem and how an evil wizard Gaz (Maddie) had transformed a prince into a dragon. She then led them into the space where a cross fade in the lighting happened creating a blue/green wash to match the theme and atmosphere of the scene. Also in the space there was a spotlight on Valencia dressed as a dragon to keep them questioning as to what might the character mean and have to do with the story. Vicky then continued to tell the children to look for some items hidden around the space and some riddles for them to solve to help them understand what to use the items for. This then led into Victoria and Andrew leading the kids over stepping stones above lava so they could get to the dragon and feed him to help him change back into a prince. Once they had all crossed the lava they gathered around the dragon (Valencia) ready to feed him the cereal so he could change back. To do this however, they needed to sing the dragon feeding song which they needed help from the princess (me) to sing. Once I had taught them the song, we all gathered round the dragon, sung the song and watched him change back into a prince. Once this had happened the prince and the princess got together and requested to watch Shrek with the kids.
The show ended by all of the cast dancing the song 'I'm a believer' performed by SmashMouth from Shrek on the stage and then getting the children to dance with us too.
After the performance we all worked together to take down the whole set in the space of two hours (this is also known as a strike).
This is a video of our second to last performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoCcjGzTs9c&feature=youtu.be
Rachel's Feedback
1st story - Lois and Naomi needed to be more specific when talking about the disaster that had previously happened and go into more detail.
- When the children were looking for the keys around the stage, it would be more interesting and perhaps challenging for them if we added more keys around consisting of different sizes, styles and colours.
- There needed to be less shredded paper in the mystery box because it was hard for the children to find the keys in the box.
- More exciting, less obvious places to hide the keys such as attached to one of the moons hanging from the sealing.
- Harry, as the wizard, needs to talk more during the video about the story stealer and how she came about.
- Integrating the game grandmas footsteps into the performance when trying to get the key of the story stealers wings worked really well and was a good use of immersive and interactive theatre.
- The characters needed to explain and go into further detail about the land of 'Story World' and what else it involves such as other creatures that live there and different themes and styles such as a land of oranges.
- Change the activity of story time because it adds an unnecessary length and goes off topic.
- Raven needed to be in the play more rather than just the narrator, could potentially add more into the scene by telling the children more information about story land and the rivalry between Inky and Minky.
- When the competition between Inky and Minky comes up and involves the children, try and add more activities and rounds for them rather than pulling faces. Add things like best dance moves and loudest shouts.
- Me and Maddie telling the story of the princess and the Frog as Juan and Sheila went really well. It added comedy and was also a key point of interaction with the audience.
- Andrew should come to the front of the stage with me rather than being behind the curtain to add banter and make his character more involved.
- Andy and Valenica's characters need to be involved within the story more rather than the single parts they are in.
- Change the idea of leaping over lava to get across but every time a the children step on the spots in the stage, it builds up energy for the dragon to change back into a prince.
- Build a box barrier around Valencia when she is the dragon to stop children from getting too close due to the smoke machines and giving her enough room to change.
My Evaluation of the show
Children's comments
The comments we got from the children after this performance were probably the most useful because it was the first show and therefore we could apply to all the performances in the future. One of the comments we received from the children was that through out the performance they really enjoyed looking for things around the stage which they needed for the play to continue. An example of this is in the first story where we asked the children to look for keys to open the box of magical things. The keys were scattered around the space in areas such as boxes and on top of blocks. This was very effective feedback because it was not a specific thing but an activity which we could then weave into more parts in the story. An example of us applying this to another part was in our story section where after learning that they like looking for and finding things, adding it in by hiding our props e.g. spoon, bowl and cereal for the children to find.
Another thing that the children enjoyed was the use of puppets which our group incorporated into our piece when telling the story of The Princess and the Frog. We felt that this scene was not interactive enough and could have made the kids bored so we decided to add the use of puppets which consisted of the characters within the story e.g. a frog, prince and princess. We then gave them to the kids and told them to use them during the story as we read it so they could act it out along with us using the puppets. From the feedback we got about this, it think that it worked well and could have been something which we could have potentially applied more into the show but we seemed to get a good enough response from just the one use so we decided to keep it in just the one scene.
Another thing that the children enjoyed was the use of puppets which our group incorporated into our piece when telling the story of The Princess and the Frog. We felt that this scene was not interactive enough and could have made the kids bored so we decided to add the use of puppets which consisted of the characters within the story e.g. a frog, prince and princess. We then gave them to the kids and told them to use them during the story as we read it so they could act it out along with us using the puppets. From the feedback we got about this, it think that it worked well and could have been something which we could have potentially applied more into the show but we seemed to get a good enough response from just the one use so we decided to keep it in just the one scene.
Performance 2
My Evaluation of the show
Children's comments
The feedback which we received from this performance was good because it was diverse and involved different things rather than just focusing on one specific area of the play. An example of this is something that the children enjoyed was the use of having bags to hold with things in which they would use through out the play in various scenes and scenarios. An example of this that the children enjoyed was using the different things that came in the bag to help out in the play. After the second story, the children would take part in an activity identifying food groups and placing the food items which came in their bags into the correct areas. Another time this was used was in our section where we used puppets and they all had a puppet in their bags which they would use when the character name came up in the in the story which we were reading to them at the specific time.
Something else which they enjoyed about the play was the points where they would sing and dance. This was incorporated at multiple points during the play. For example during the second story, they were split into two groups, one half with Minky and the other with Inky, and they had to do a competition to see who was the better creature. One of the things they had to do was have a "Dance Off" which it was obvious that they enjoyed because of the enthusiasm and the movement which they portrayed across to us. This came across in every performance which is good because it shows that they like to be active and move about which was a key element when we were originally devising the plays.
Something else which they enjoyed about the play was the points where they would sing and dance. This was incorporated at multiple points during the play. For example during the second story, they were split into two groups, one half with Minky and the other with Inky, and they had to do a competition to see who was the better creature. One of the things they had to do was have a "Dance Off" which it was obvious that they enjoyed because of the enthusiasm and the movement which they portrayed across to us. This came across in every performance which is good because it shows that they like to be active and move about which was a key element when we were originally devising the plays.
Performance 3
My Evaluation of the show
Children's comments
This performance in particular didn't leave a lot to go through after because there was not a lot of feedback from the children however we did receive feedback on specific parts such as entrances and exits and lines of dialogue. An example of this is when the wizard (Harry) ran off stage at various points shouting words like "Eagle!" and "I Must Leave Now!". This, although simple was quite effective I think because it added comedy that the children can understand and enjoy. Short bursts and moments like this helped when keeping the play flow smoother, keeping the children entertained and moments of spontanuety which are recieved well.
This performance in particular didn't leave a lot to go through after because there was not a lot of feedback from the children however we did receive feedback on specific parts such as entrances and exits and lines of dialogue. An example of this is when the wizard (Harry) ran off stage at various points shouting words like "Eagle!" and "I Must Leave Now!". This, although simple was quite effective I think because it added comedy that the children can understand and enjoy. Short bursts and moments like this helped when keeping the play flow smoother, keeping the children entertained and moments of spontanuety which are recieved well.
Something else that they enjoyed in this performance was was activity during the second story when we all had to work together to wake up
trying to wake up inky
Performance 4
My Evaluation of the show
Children's comments
when the story stealer turned good
people act like monsters
performance 5
My Evaluation of the show
Children's comments
the keys (finding them)
the laser show
My personal goals
It was important to me that I got the children to understand that it is important to keep promises with people and not to break them. I believed that I accomplished this through my use of characteristics in the scene where I as Juan read them a story with my wife Sheila (Maddie). The outcome if this was that I felt more comfortable when performing with and to the children because it showed that they listen to things that they find interesting and it also keeps them entertained meaning they are easier to perform to and they get more involved with the story.
Another thing I wanted the children to know/understand was the value of working together as a group or a team to achieve things. This was weaved throughout the whole piece. An example of this is getting the children to find the spoon, bowl and cereal in our piece, finding the keys and collecting oranges.
