Drama is my life & my life is a Drama

i cannot believe it, semester 1 is over, unit 1 of drama is over!!! but hey im looking forward to doing the year 12 solos because they will help to prepare me so much for year 12 drama!! since i did a serious solo this time i think i might give comedy a go, but who knows!! anyway on to what has happened this past week:

Monday ~ 7:30 Bunjil, 6 girls performed their solos and they were all absolutely brilliant!!! well done guys on a great show then it was time for ensembles!!! Maddi, Heather, Jess and Leah went first, their ensemble was amazing!! so much research had gone into it, i was blown away!! well done girls on a fantastic ensemble!! then it was Adri, Merca, Chloe and Tara’s turn, their ensemble was so funny!! they showed a good use of timing and rhythm in their performance!! well done girls!! and then it was us, i fear that it was not our best performance, whether it was the fact that it was a small audience and we couldn’t really feed off their reactions or the fact that because we had done our ensemble so many times before we were bored with it i don’t know, to me it felt a bit flat. but above all it was still a great night.

Tuesday ~ drama SAC!!! i found this one fairly easy, i knew what to write and i hope that i put enough detail into it, i was feeling sick though and really i just wanted to go home so my mind was not completely focused on the task at hand.

Thursday ~ drama exam!!! omg i did my drama exam today, i wrote until the very last minute and boy did my hand hurt afterwards!! i did the questions out of order starting with naming and defining the 12 dramatic elements, i was in a state of panic at one point when i only had one element to go and i couldn’t figure out what it was. it wasn’t until that i got to the question about stagecraft elements that i realised it was sound!! anyway i hope i did well in my exam!!

YAY!!!!! semester 2 is right round the corner and i cant wait for drama!!!!!

love nadia xoxo

yay top acts tonight!!!! so excited i cant wait!! anyway on to todays lesson:

i love our new ending!!! well we performed our ensemble a fair few times, getting faster and more fluent, as well as getting more and more energy from random things that happened lol i love our new ending!!! it was really great, i cant wait to perform on the 18th!!!! i love our new ending!!! we now just have to fix our walkie talkie (it broke ) and then we are set!!! i love our new ending!!!

oh and did i mention that i love our new ending?? :P

love nadia xoxo

YAY!!!!!!! the creative genius’ that live in our brains have returned!!!! more on that later…………..

last lesson ~ Jacqui and Jess worked on their solos while Flick drew up our future sign, while Laura and i wrote down in our ensemble group some more detailed descriptions of how and why we changed our ensemble so many times…….. although at times we were distracted by themusic playing in the gym…(who can resist the nutbush?? ) anyway Laura and i then painted the sign and that was the end of that lesson.

todays lesson ~ well we started with a brainstorming session although we were having trouble focusing and kept on snapping at each other. we then decided to do a run through and see if we got any ideas while acting. two words to describe our run through……..flat and pathetic i had absolutely no focus, there was no expression in my voice, i dissolved into giggles during a scene where im supposed to be furious and i didnt even bother with movement. i am ashamed of my performance in that run through and i will never let that happen again!!! i dont remember who it was(i think it was Jacqui and myself) but we came up with the idea of the tv malfunctioning and switching between channels. we have grandpa sitting in his chair while Jess is a childrens show, im an sbs news show who changes accents and languages, Jacqui and Jess are a soap opera and Flick is a cooking show. in between each section of the shows we make static noises and turn around when we are the speaker. we then all turn around and it goes something like this: Jess “Look”, Jacqui ~ “How” Flick ~ “Technology” and myself ~ “Has Changed”

anyway i really like our new ending, Cashy even said it was “snappy”!!! now we just have to make sure our timing is perfect or the whole ensemble will go bottoms up!!

love nadia xoxo

hey there everybody!!! well lets go from where i left off……….

Monday morning 7:30am ~ a very productive rehearsal, we made our ending and cut out a lot of the gaps we had in between lines that weren’t needed in order to create tension in the performance, as well as making sure we didn’t talk over each other and that our character transitions were nice and smooth.

Tuesdays drama lesson ~ we performed for Cashy, granted it wasn’t one of our best run throughs, we were rather flat and the pace wasn’t as good as it has been. we then performed for the class to get their opinion on whether or not we needed to change anything to make our performance funnier or easier for the audience to understand. we did not like our ending so we asked for ideas on how to improve it, Boxy gave us the idea of not having the robots malfunction and then Adri gave us the idea of going back to the family so we then end and start as a family. we decided to collaborate both these ideas and now end with me going to kill grandpa, im taken away screaming by Jacqui and Jess and then Flick comes forward and says a line about how technology has changed but families never will.

creative arts ~ in the rehearsal we were just a little bit flat and everyone except me wasn’t projecting their voice enough lol as Cashy said, i have no problems with being loud Jess and i also discovered that trying to pull out our ipods, put in the earphones and then start dancing at the same time was a bit difficult so we decided to hold the ipods and mime putting in earphones. Jess and Jacqui also used beanies instead of footy jumpers because it was hard to pull them on plus we had to consider the fact that we were wearing microphones. the actual performance was exhilarating, i have always said i feel at home on stage, i wasn’t nervous and it was a really good show except for the fact that i stuffed up my ending line and Jess’ mic switched off so she had to scream so that the audience could catch her gags. all in all though it was a great night, our energy levels were really good, except the audience did not realise that we had actually ended the show.

todays lesson ~ we sat down and wrote in our ensemble book our thoughts on last nights performance, what we thought needed changing, adding, cutting, ect from our script. we all agreed that we need to end on a bang, the problem is we dont know how. i just had the idea that instead of staying frozen after Flick has said her line we can come back to life i can run after gradpa again, Flick can escort Laura off the stage and then once more Jess and Jacqui can grab me and carry me off stage. this way it is still funny and it is easier for the audience to get that we are finished. i will tell the other girls my idea 2moro!!

anyway i now have to go and do some photography h/w soo cheerio!!

love Trudy aka Nadia xoxo

well from where i left off in my last post, my ensemble group had just been picked for creative arts!!! the next lesson Cashy asked the 6 of us who would be performing on thursday night who would like to go first and open the show……….so in a moment of insanity i said i would do it anyway we then spent the first half hour of the lesson adding two new scenes to our ensemble because it needed to be longer, we added a mobile scene and a futuristic scene which i personally think is hilarious the next half hour Laura, Flick and i spent practising our solos while Jess and Jacqui made our props which look bloody fantastic!!!

in yesterdays we spent the whole time in Bunjil practising our solos, what props we would use, how we would set up our performance space, ect. i knew when i preformed mine to the class that it was flat and the rhythm didnt change, this was because i am very sick with a cold and sore throat, i literally had no energy

because we were performing that night Adri, Merca, Laura, Tara, Flick and i stayed at school and practised our solos until about 7:00pm!!! i wasnt really nervous for some reason, i think it was because i knew that no matter what happened the audience would still clap for me anyway we practised and practised and practised and practised and you get the picture well watched each other and gave constructive criticism as to whether their diction was clear, was the pace of the performance to slow, whether they needed to use the space a bit more or cut something out of their solo and add something else, ect. anyway we were about to walk in and Cashy was like, “ok so there is about roughly 100 people out there….” i was just like kill me now lol anyway we walked out, Cashy did his little spiel and then before i knew it he was announcing my solo!!! too be honest i cannot really remember much of my performance, just little snippets here and there. i do remember however that i just started inventing all these new lines into the show, i didnt change the plot at all just added a few lines in here and there for my secondary character, i made some them funny and then i was like, “why on earth did i do that?! this is a serious solo!!” i added some new lines when i spotted friends in the audience, bad nadia, bad!! i know how to block people out, see them but not really see them but for some reason that just didnt kick in last night like it normally does. anyway every-other girl who did their solo as well was amazing!!!your focus was great and the audience really got engaged with each of your solos!! well done on a fantastic show!!

and now on to the year 12 ensemble performance…….it was bloody brilliant and sooooooooooo inspiring and yet daunting at the same time cause that is what i will be doing next year!!! they were amazing at how well synchronised their movements and use of sound and voice were. it was soo eerie and creepy how they made the sound of the wind by whistling, my favourite scene however was when they were the marionette puppets, it was so well choreographed!! the language of their script was so sophisticated, you could tell that heapsof research had been put into it and that they had rehearsed a lot. they captivated us as an audience and got many different reactions from us all, including a few tears in the heart - wrenching funeral scene….the piano made it even sadder by adding to the mood..  well done to Elissa, Lucia, Vesna, Stef and Jess, it was a truly wonderful and inspiring performance, all your hard work really paid off!! :)  i cannot wait till we create our ensembles next year!!!

speaking of ensembles……..today we refined our ensemble and did a trial run using our newly made props!! it great, i love our ensemble, it is so enjoyable, we have a blast!! lol today we were laughing so hard that Laura was crying!!!:D  anyway we practised it twice then asked Cashy to come and watch us and tell us what he thought…..and……….he said it was really good, it was really tight, our timing was perfect!!!! all we need to do now is work out our costumes, we have a rehearsal at 7:30am monday morning and then hopefully our free study on tuesday morning as well as tuesdays drama lesson. and then it will be all day wednesday practise for creative arts that night!!!

anyway im off to have dinner, when in doubt call me, the Greaser, and i’ll sort it out!!

love nadia xoxo

hey there everybody, sorry it has been about 3 lessons since my last post, i have been very stressed lately anyway, we had to scrap the whole spy organization idea because it was too random and pythonesc (guessing the spelling there :P) so we went back to the drawing board and came up with the new idea that we are a family going to visit “the grandparent” anyway, i am the mum, Trudy, Jess is the dad, Garry, Jacqui is the son, Scot, Scotland to his mother, Flick is the daughter, Cassie and Laura is the grandfather!!!

we have kept the war scene from our previous ensemble and we now also have a musical technology scene, a footy scene, an sbs style intro and outro, and now we are working on another modern day scene and a futuristic scene. we practised our ensemble so much trying to get the character transitions perfect and making sure that we don’t stand in front of each other or speak over each other. we know have to work on creating our props and costumes, that should be fun, giant walkie talkies lol

 today Cashy went around and watched and timed all three ensembles so that he could make his decision for who gets to perform at creative arts, our ensemble went for about 6 mins, pretty mush the same as everyone else, that is why we need to add some more scenes in. anyway i am so happy and so proud because Cashy picked our group!!! :D i cannot wait to perform at creative arts, it is gonna be awesome!!!! now we have three weeks to perfect our ensemble, we want it to look really professional, and then its showtime!!!

 however, we lose one lesson of rehearsal next week because Laura, Flick and i need to practise our solos which we are performing on thursday!! argh so much to do!!! anyway this means that we will definitely be doing some lunchtime rehearsals in preparation for creative arts.

ah well i must be off, lol see how dedicated i am to drama, i wrote a blog at 12:50am hehe, i am going to bed now……. sweet dreams

love nadia xoxo

so excited!!!!!!! we made huge progress on our ensemble today, we already had our beginning, then today we made our ending, and then wait for it…………………………we made the middle!!!!!! it was a beautiful moment, i brought up the topic of randomly adding jess and jacqui talking zulu in our ensemble then they got on a role of talking zulu and then…………. jess figured out how to end our show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but that is a secret lol anyway we are having a great amount of fun in class as well as getting work done. now we just need to add some non-naturalistic elements and finish improving our scenes. by the way my character is an assistant called Trudy, she is a bit of a bimbo but at the same time smart lol anyway im off, bye for now!!!

love nadia xoxo

hey everybody its out with the solos and in with our ensembles!!! i am in a group with Jacqui, Jess (Perko), Laura and Flick and we have to create a 10 minute show dealing with the theme of the technological revolution but it also has to be a comedy. we have got so many awesome ideas, as scribe i find it hard to keep up sometimes!! we have developed characters and picked who is playing them, our ideas keep evolving which is good. the only thing i will tell you is that we are all spies, but if i tell you anymore i will have to kill you lol we have come up with so many funny lines already which we have written down so as not to forget them. our main concern right now is trying to keep the theme of technology in it because we get so many great ideas and then go off topic, so we have to constantly stop ourselves and focus on whether or not it fits in with technology. well thats about it for now so until next time bye!!

love nadia xoxo

p.s i am really happy cause i got a B on my solo which was the highest marks people got in our solos and an A+ on my “Destin” SAC!!!!!!! :D

they are all over ladies and gentlemen! thats it, no more unless of course your solo is picked for the showcase but anyway. well last lesson we had Jacqui and Chloe perform their solos for us.

Jacqui ~ brave new mum!! you had the most amazing facial expressions!! i felt frustrated at the imaginary baby just watching you!! your use of movement and gesture was also very good! very enjoyable to watch, well done!!

 Chloe ~ aww cute little nerd!! lol your portrayal of a nerd was a good one, i felt so sorry for Carly!! your use of sound and movement was very good. an enjoyable performance to watch, well done!!

well Cashy dropped a huge bombshell on us all when he told us the highest mark in the class was a B!!! i really want and don’t want my mark back now it helped me doing the small analysis of my solo as well, i cant wait to start our ensembles!!!

love xoxo

hey there!! yesterday the second half of the class performed their solos, except for Jacqui and Chloe because we ran out of time due to a shortened period. girls you all did very well and you should be proud of yourselves!!!

Tara ~ the brave girl who went first, your solo was very funny and dealt with an issue that most of us aren’t familiar with. your character transformations were excellent and your script was well written!! well done!!

Flick ~ peace out hippie!! yours was the only solo who used sound in the form of a backing track and it was effective. your costume was very good as was your use of props. well done!!

Laura ~ your solo of a street urchin was very good!! your script was very well written and was funny. your use of movement and space was excellent!! well done!!

Adri ~ aww little band geek!! your solo was funny with a good use of movement and sound. it was a bit long but then again this is your first ever solo so well done on accomplishing that!!

i cant wait to see the last 2 girls perform on friday, and if i have forgotten anyone like i did with Leah last time i sincerely apologise and will write a whole post dedicated to you!!

 love nadia xoxo