The Curious Incident- 14th October

In this lesson we worked on how Christopher's brain works as he has an autism. We started by walking out our way to school around the class and how long it would take trying to remember all the details possible. We then began discussing our routes and how we didn't notice little things apart from things that effect us personally. This is unlike Christopher as he would notice how many cars drive past and what colour they are. We then looked at metaphors and how it is hard for Christopher to understand metaphors. We did this by looking at a metaphor and explaining it like we would to Christopher which is very hard as he asks lots of questions and you have to say it in simple terms for him to understand. Our groups explanation is in the picture.

Week Review- 13th to 16th

1) This week we worked on the aspect of the production to do with the busy London street and we developed this part of the production using a sound scape and physical theatre we started by Kyle starting with a road work sound and then each off the group joined in with different sounds and phrases that relate to London. We had road works, cars, birds, shouting out and people shouting out as if there on a stall for example I was shouting ' does anyone want any souvenirs'. We then moved, weaving in and out of each other and bumping into Christopher while he reacts in the way Christopher would by barking and becoming very timid. We then all slowed down and watched as Dan is a London drug dealer and approaches Christopher. This create the effect that everyone in London is listening all the time. He then is pushed over and as he falls he is caught and pushed back and fourth will we returned to our seats. Working on this scene helped us to work on our voices and characterisation as we have to show the audience that we are not the same people that Christopher knows but just random people in the street. If I didn't do the right thing at the right time this could give off the wrong effect.

2) This week we worked on a monologue  which is in my blog named 'Siobhan's monologue on Ed'. This Monologue helped me to develop the character of Siobhan as it has helped me to realise that Ed must find it a lot harder then her as he has to deal with Christopher in a living situation and this must be difficult. It also helped to develop my emotion as it showed me that I'm not attached to Christopher as looking after him is my job but I do have a duty of care which I should show in my character.

3) This week we did activities that helped and to research and gain insight into Christopher's mind. We did this by walking through the steps of our way to school this we then discussed how we only notice the things that effect us directly where as Christopher will notice the amount of leave that are on the ground or how many care he sees and what colours. This shows how having aspergus opens your mind up to the world a lot more compared to someone who doesn't have the autism. This also helped Carl the person who plays Christopher as it helped him to see that he needs to open up his mind and understand the little things rather then the whole picture.

4) This week I think we worked really well as we managed to finish blocking the play and are no able to begin polishing it. I would say my strength this week was working on my character and how she becomes a passer by as I change my  body language and my voice to show I'm no longer Siobhan. I know need to work of how I develop my character Siobhan further as It will help me to play her better. One of my Weaknesses is engaging the audience by getting my tone of voice right when I'm narrating as this is through out and we need to keep the audience interested through out. 

5) To develop the play further I think that everyone needs to make all there shapes definite in physical theatre so each shape we make is obvious to the audience and so they understand what is going otherwise there is no point in doing it. I also think that Carl who plays Christopher should play Christopher with a big more inquisitive as he always wants to know everything. I think this will show his autism better as this is how someone with aspergus brain works. I also think that we should talk to the audience more like they are involved in the play for example in the London scene we talk to the them like they are on the street. I think this will keep them more intrigued into what is going on. 

The Curious Incident- 16th October

In the lesson today we started of by splitting into 2 groups where we worked on a change in scene between the tube and the London shop where Christopher buys his map. In our group we used sound scape and used different volumes so that you could hear conversations that are going on. We then joint our groups and added some physical theatre to the piece and what we created is in the viedo attached.I liked how we created the atmosphere of the busy street but I think we could have improved by becoming quieter when Christopher covers his ears. After we finished we started polishing part one and revising our scipts.

Siobhan's monologue about Ed

I feel sorry for the man. Mr Boone has it hard putting up like Christopher. I deal with Christopher every day but I could never do what he does. At the end of the day I get paid Ed doesn't. I could walk away at any time but he can't at Christopher is his son and he will stand by him even if he does do wrong. This is my job but this is his life he can't run away if his scared he's got to stick by Christopher after everything he has been through even though his mother may be back. I sometime struggle to answer some of the stuff Christopher says it must be heart breaking for Ed to deal with this. He may have it hard but he just doesn't know how to deal with Christopher as he lies to him. This may be the right thing in his situation as how do you explain something to a kid like Christopher. Parent like Ed have there children and unknown to them that they may have an autism. They have no warning to this. No training like me and no idea how to handle a child with such difficult problems. It's stressful business and you can see this through there family situation. I try to put myself in Ed's shoes all the time to see what he feels and if he does the right thing but I can't. Ed does the best he can even if it may cause a small lie now to be someone getting really hurt later.

The Curious Incident- 13th October

revolutionarts2016: Improvising off-script - Siobham & Christopher



Today in the lesson we began by creating a devised piece which involved our character and what we think there like off script. The video attached shows what we worked on. I didn't like the way I acted in this scene as I thought that i played my character a bit cold hearted  and think i should have been more sympathetic. After we did this we finished blocking the end part of part 2. finally we finished with doing a monologue on another character and I wrote about Ed from Siobhan's point of view.

The Curious Incident- 7th October

Today we began by looking through the mind maps that did last lesson on the characters of Siobhan, Mr Alexander, Christopher and Mr Shears. we discussed the different ideas that were wrote down and one for Christopher was being selfish but I didn't agree with this as I believe we are the selfish ones as we only think about something that effects us personally where as Christopher thinks about everything that happens around him. We then carried on with part 2 where we included lots of physical theatre which was in the train scenes and tube.

The Curious Incident- 6th October

 we began this lesson by starting to block parts 2. we did this as a group and each time we changed scene people would give input on how they thought the scene should be played. After this we got into groups of 4 and each group had a different character from the play and we began to write down our thoughts on the character. our group started with Siobhan and wrote how she is a very caring person and is a role model to Christopher. This character then moved onto the next group and we got Mr Shears and our group decided that Mr shears is very quite but stands up for himself when he believes he is right. we then got Christopher and this was the easiest character as there was a lot more to talk about as he is the main character. we discussed his likes and dislikes and how he is very intelligent when it comes to maths. we finally had the character of Mr Alexander and we spoke about him being a friendly old man who wants a friend and believe Christoper is his friend. I thought this exercise worked well we were able to learn more about the character and what others may have thought about this characters.

The Curious Incident- 2nd October

In todays lesson we began by watching the video of the play from the national theatre and was looking at the lifts and movements. After this we began to use some of these lifts which included the somersault in the air and Christopher diving into people arms. We then put all the different lifts we had done into a sequence which became one of train stations. In between the lifts we are using role play to create the train station and then when the lifts happen we slow down to make the lift stand out. This created the train station well as it showed how its busy and the lifts shows how Christopher mind would be all over the place. After this we finished of blocking act 1.

The Curious incident- 30th September

Today in our lesson we worked on act one and run through bits of act 1 and worked on the scene where Christopher is searching for his book all around the house and this is being narrated by my character Siobhan. we split into 2 groups and began working on it. in our group we used physical theatre to create the bins outside, sofa, bed, dresser, bathroom cupboard while Siobhan is sitting reading Christopher book. we then joint with the other group and combined our idea. we used there idea of making a stair case for Christopher to walk up and someone shooting him down them when a murder mystery is mention. i thought this was clever as it showed what may be going through Chrisopher's mind rather then just showing what he sees.

Siobhan's thoughts on Christopher

As I have a lot of responsibility over Christopher as i'm his teacher I have to handle Christopher in a certain way. I know a lot about Christopher as I spend a lot of time with him and had the pleasure of reading his book which is very exciting just like him. I think he is also very clever and deserves more credit for his writing as I believe it is very entertaining. He also has a lot of trust in me and listens to me so I try to encourage him to listen to his father about wellington the dog as all he wants to do is become a detective and this could be dangerous for him well-being. I however do worry about Christopher as his dad has a short temper with him and doesn't always tell him the truth which I don't think is right. Christopher needs to be told the truth otherwise it may affect him. He is very intelligent especially in maths and he managed to get his A* in his A level which made me such a proud teacher as it was the first A level taken at our school. I am also impressed by Christopher amazing memory as he manages to remember lots which is useful when if come to learning new things like facial expressions.