Evaluation of performance

Overall I thought our performance very well as everyone recovered from any mistakes easily and we managed to have an attentive audience who were fully engaged through out.

Sound and lighting
I lighting went really well as it changed between each scene as it should of done and it suited the mood of the scene correctly. For example when Christopher was reading his letters the lighting was a lot darker so that people could shine there torches on him so it gave of the right effect. Even though our black out may have been been pitch black and unable to see through at all we managed to work well with the lighting makes sure we were in the correct space where the light had been placed. Our sound was also spot on as it was played at the right time and gave of the right effect. If the music hadn't played at the right time we may have had to improvise a lot as some of our movement bass routines relied on the music. However it didn't come to this helped with our performance a lot.

The audience
The audience we had come to watch were very engaged by the performance and saw the funny side to all the jokes which really boosts your confidence on stage. through out the performance they all had a look of interest on there faces and seemed drawn in by the story line and how it was presented to them by us. There was also comment from the audience after how they thought it was a really thought out piece in the time we put all the different pieces together.

Remembering lines and ques
I was very impressed with how much everyone remembered there lines and if there was a mistake it was good how well every one covered up for each other. This was clear from the performance as it run smoothly for the audience even though we know there was mistakes. Every one had a clear outline of what they had to say even if they didn't use the exact words which really helped when someone had a difficulty with there lines as we were able to pick up from what they said. Our ques for certain movements where mostly good apart from one part when everyone went into Swindon station rather then the round about so the people who knew what to do started to so the round about until the others noticed but it want noticeable to the audience as it just looked like normal Christopher mind all busy and confusing.

How to improve next time
If we did this again as I think we would start by polishing sooner and using props and costume for more runs. This is because the order of the play wasn't as smooth as it should have been and it could have run better as we forgot a small scene however it did still make sense. This is also because we only used the props once before the show and some people weren't to sure when to take certain props on and of and forgot to use some of them which made them pointless. I also think we should have made sure everyone had equal costumes when changing between characters because in the train station scene there was people with more costume on then other wearing the basics. I also think we could have added more movement and lifts to it if we had more time for example in the London train station scene as we had a bit of music that was longer then our movement.

Christopher talking about Siobhan

Siobhan is my teacher and she is 27 years old. I like Siobhan as she helps me at school and she thinks that i'm very clever which I am as I got an A* in my maths A level and i'm going to further maths next year too. Siobhan has helped me with lots of things, she has helped me with reading facial expressions and to understand metaphors. She also read my book and helped turn it into a play which is exciting as it was my book which I wrote all by myself. I wrote it will I was dong detection work. She liked my writing and thought my book was very good even though it is short. I also think about Siobhan a lot when I'm worried or confused or upset and it helps to calm me down. Siobhan is very carring, helpful and encouraging person. 

Act 1

Week Review- 17th-20th

This week we worked on running the whole show beginning to end with little mistakes. We did this without scripts which was fun as we were more open with what we would do. This week we also added in music into our piece for example when my character Siobhan becomes Christopher conscience there is a piece of music that goes over the top to signify i'm in his mind and to make more of an atmosphere for the audience. As a group we also worked out different titles we could give to the running order as there are no set scenes this helped us to know the order better and when we needed to speak or move.

This week I worked on my character by learning my lines and going through different scenes in my script and researching how they performed it on west end this helped me to add empathsis to certain bits and using different emotion which really developed my character and how she is as an overall person. 

This week I researched busy London stations this helped to  show the difference between my passerby and Siobhan. This helped me by being able to use different props and the different types of characters that you would fine in a train station e.g police, office worker and tourists so I have to decide which one I want to fit into or do i want to play a variety. I also thought of different ideas to add to different scenes by looking at the photos as they gave me inspiration. This will help to develop the play as it will be more interesting for the eye.

This week I think one of my strengths was knowing act 1 of my script however I need to work on act 2 as the performance is less then a week away. I also think one of my strengths in knowing the running order of the show and know what comes where which is important as we never leave the stage so we are unable to check whats next. One of my weaknesses is remembering my big chunks of narration as they are very long and i have to remember ever detail that they include.

I think that this week we can improve on how clean the performance looks as a whole and work on the transitions between the different scenes as we don't want it to look messy. I also think we need to work on the lighting, costumes and props as these will complete our characters and we need to get the feel for them before the actual performance.

Research of busy London station.

This picture of  a busy London station helps me with my characterisation in our busy London scene as it shows me the kind of things that I could do for example text, walk quickly, pushing a bike, looking at train times, pulling suit cases, using escalators and carrying bags. All these movements i could use to develop my character in the station or makes a more defined change in character between Siobhan and the person in the London station by having props for example a hand bag or ruck sake to show i'm someone else.

In this picture it shows ticket gates which are used in train stations and I think we should use these within our train scene as it would be able to show something different that's going on in the train station. We could do this by using physical theatre to make them with people passing through them. This will make the effect that we have escaped Christopher mind and entered the train station. 

In the station there are also lots of shops and fast food places so I could also be sitting down and eatting or buying something from the shop or even being a shop keeper my self adding all these different things creates the atmosphere for the scene.

London underground

This is our London underground scene which we have recognised as being Paddington station in London. I like how at the beginning of the music we are all very organised like Christopher mind. Before the music starts my character Siobhan is talking to Christopher through his conscience which is in his head so would be organised so there for it matches  the beginning of it being structured. It then becomes very busy and loud when there is a drop in the music this shows how overwhelming it would be for Christopher to cope with being in a situation like he is.

Week Review- 10th-13th

1) This week we worked on improving the opening scene and London station scene by adding a lot more movement and music as the looked very basic and didn't look very good. When we worked on the opening scene we started of by splitting into groups. In our group on each count of 8 we created a different shape which created the effect that Christopher is always thinking about maths. We then showed our ideas and joint them together. We started by adding in the first groups idea of having a movement sequence that included moving back and forth using different arm movement. In the second section we added marching moving in 2 groups which then came in and combined. We then finally added or group creating the different shapes including a circle, triangle and square. These still need to be sharpened. The next lesson we worked on the London Train station scene where we started the music and I begin marching. When I pass each person they stood up and joint in until we got into the centre and after each count of eight we get into different positions like we would do in a station for example I look at my watch, read a news paper and look for the train. Once we did this we then go into a busy train station with each of the different word being shouted out and we do lifts within and as they are taking place everyone else slows down.

2) This week we didn't do much on our own skills however at the beginning of the week we completed the task from last week by talking about the annotations that we made on our script to help us work on how we used or emotion during the scene which was help full and helped me to understand how Siobhan's thought work better.

3) This week I did some research on how an autistic child deals with death and this can be very difficult to cope with as it could cause them lots of stress because it is a change in the routine which can really effect and autistic child. This is why it's i'm important to set them up for death for example what Ed done to Christopher even though Judy didn't die. I believe that it was the best thing for Christopher to be told this about his mother as it would be easier to explain and prepare for death rather than someone leaving.

4) I liked how this week the show started to come to life as we added music to some of the scenes which made it more exciting to watch for the audience. One of my strengths this week has been my lines as I have so many to learn and I've tried my best to learn as many as possible. one of my Weaknesses us knowing my scene order which is hard as we aren't allowed of stage to check so we have to remember everything at every point.

5) I think the main thing we need to focus on know is knowing all our lines and the scene orders as this will really help to complete the piece and make it look really good. I also think we need to start adding in the lighting and props to make the piece come to life and our character to able to be recognised by what we are wearing.

research about autistic children dealing with death

http://www.autism.org.uk/bereavement

On this website it tells us how a child with autism deals with death and how they can be prepared and it helps me to understand how Ed told Christopher that his mother had a heart attack before telling her she was dead. This is because he was protecting him and to try and stop him from reacting and finding this upsetting. This makes me think that what Ed does for Christopher is very thoughtful as it would be harder to prepare for someone leaving. 

Week Review 3rd-7th November

1) This week we run the whole show and I managed to do most of act one without my script. Through out the runs we focused a lot on the physical theatre as there are many different scenes involving train stations and tubes and this can be very confusing for what we have to do in each station. For example when we are in London train station we are acting as if we are in a busy station and sowing down for each lift we perform. However in Swindon we are all move around and push off of each other and project each other while each of the voices and Christopher. We have to remember all this while remembering the order they go in. We also focused on our scripts as we worked on learning them and worked on making annotations. We did this by firstly making notes on everything we had to do we then picked a scene and wrote out the objective of the scene and then we wrote out the subtext for each line which helped to develop our character skills.

2) This week I developed my skill of characterisation as we worked on our characters walks. This was hard for me as we decided that my character would be sitting down a lot of the time. I made my my character Siobhan have a very good posture as she is a teacher and I also made her have a slight bounce in her step as she seems like a happy character even though she is dealing with Christopher who can be very difficult. I also had broad shoulder which showed I was easy to confide in.

3) This week I did research on what my character should look like and the relationship between Siobhan and Christopher. These are in my 2 earlier posts. When I researched what I think I should look like i decided that i should have a soft face and wear soft colours to make me more welcoming for example pastel colours. The second part of my research helped me to decide how I wanted Christopher to be when i'm talking to him as I felt he should always be doing something when i'm talking to him.

4) This week I think one of my strengths was learning my lines as i managed to learn all of the first act even though I need to learn the second. This was important that we learnt our lines as much as we could as it showed how the play was coming together as people didn't have scripts in there hands. One of our weaknesses this week was how smooth and focused we are with our physical theatre. This is important as if this isn't right it could course an accident or it may be messy and misunderstood by the audience which isn't what we want.

5) I think we could improve our performance by adding some music to some of the train scenes to make the effect that is busy and gives more of an atmosphere for the audience which will therefore make it more interesting. I also think I should try and have more emotion in my voice when narrating to make it more exciting to listen to and not monotone which could become boring.

The Relationship between Siobhan and Christopher

This video has really helped with developing my Character of Siobhan as it gave me a perspective of the character from a different point of view. This really helped as I now think I need to be more bold and have more expression when narrating. Watching this also showed me how the lady who plays Siobhan on west-end and I have the same opinion of her being his subconscious some of the time.

'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' - the relationship between Christopher and Siobhan, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: From Page to Stage - BBC Two

What I want Siobhan to look like

 I like how soft they made the Siobhan on west end was as this made her Character more friendly and more approachable which is good as Siobhan is a teacher and for Christopher someone he confides in. I also like how she has here hair tied back so its out of her face because it is a more practical job. In my picture to the right I like how here face is soft and how she is wearing trousers instead of a skirt as I find this is more practical and more freely moveable. I also like how she has glasses as they make her more sophisticated and smart which as a teacher she has to be.

Week Review- 20th- 23rd

1) This week we worked on running the beginning of act one as far as we could without scripts as the performance is coming round fast and we have to know our lines so we have more freedom from not holding our scripts. This week we also worked on getting our physical theatre as sharp as possible as this stops any injuries during lift we do for example when we create the house we have to move quickly from our original positions. This needs to be smooth and safe as 2 people are being lifted at the same time. We worked on this by keep repeating the movement so we got used to moving between each of the different things we created for this scene. It starts with bins, then a van, then the house, after is the kitchen and utility room and living room in one. Then Christopher walks up some stairs which he is shot down from at the mention of murder mystery. This also needs to be smooth because if we don't catch him properly when he falls he could get injured. We the create the bed, then the dresser and finally the wardrobe. This is all happening while my character Siobhan is narrating Christopher looking for his book. This is a lot to remember and in the right order and if one person isn't it the right place then it could become messy and not look right.

  

2) I developed my skill this week by learning more into my character as we were running the play so I learnt more about my character and how they dealt with Christopher as I missed some information from the script when I first ever run it. I also worked how to distinguish between my main Character Siobhan to being a random person in the street. I did this by making my posture more slouched when I'm someone in the street but if i'm Siobhan I have better posture and a clearer voice. 

3) This week a researched about the Aspergers which is the autism Christopher has and found out what is actually is and how teachers deal with it ( this research is in my 2 earlier posts). This research I have done really helps my character when dealing with Christopher cause i'm his teacher. It has helped in developing my character cause I now know I need to slow down m speech when I talk to Christopher and talk clearly as it is very hard for him to take in what i'm saying at he can't read facial expressions or understand anything that is implied. However I don't treat him like he isn't smart as I now know that he has I sophisticated vocabulary and can be very smart in a certain subject. For example Christopher is very good at maths.

4) This week I think went really well with our run through as each of us made the effort to learn our lines as much as possible. This helped as it made it easier to run. However we need to work on our lifts during the train scene as some of them aren't at the right pass and some look like there going wrong as Carl hesitates when performing them and this could become dangerous also some people aren't in the right place at the right time. To engage the audience more we could also make sure our body language is bolder and we include more movement in a conversation as this could be boring to look at.

5) To improve more we need to make the transition between each scene clearer because at the moment there is no clear movement between the scenes as some people aren't to sure about the scene order. We could also work on the production by starting to add the lighting and props as this will start to make the production to come to life. For example the police having high visible jackets and a hat.

Aspergers Research- teaching a child with aspergers

How a teacher would deal with a child with ASD

People with ASD hate change and find it very difficult to cope with so they have to be prepared in advanced this could be anything from a time change to a complete change on what they have planned that’s day and this could affect them massively. Teachers have to be briefed by parents of the child to help to know what changes affect them most and how to prevent them or prepare for them as much as possible.

Communicating effectively

You need to be:

•   Be as clear in your communication as possible and say exactly what you mean. Anything that you may imply will probably not be understood.
•    Keep your language direct, avoiding the use of double meanings, sarcasm, teasing, complex open questions or subtle jokes, unless you are really sure the pupil understands.
•  Make sure that you have his attention before communicating.
•   Don’t gain full eye contact – this can be difficult for pupils with an ASD.
•  You will need to slow down your communication – allow several seconds for the pupil to process new information and to respond before you give more information, or repeat your request.
•     Check that they understands what they have to do in class or for homework. Processing verbal information tends to be harder for pupils with an ASD.
•    Be patient
• Ensure that there is a planned exit strategy available if a pupil has difficulty regulating his behaviour in class, for example, a quiet room he can go to when stress levels get too high, or a particular quiet area.
•   Avoid confronting an angry/upset pupil by arguing or raising your voice. Many people with an ASD are very sensitive to noise, some finding loud noise physically painful. A raised voice will not help them understand what is wanted. Use a calm, neutral tone of voice – do not shout, or expect him to be able to read facial expression and gesture. Instead try to divert and defuse the situation. 

Aspergers Research- What is Aspergers?

Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) considered to be on the “high functioning” end of the spectrum. People with Asperger have difficulties with social interactions and usually only have a limited range of interests and repetitive behaviour. Having Asperger’s can delay there development of motor skills and this can lead to clumsiness or no coordination. Compared to other forms of ASD, people with Asperger’s don’t have significant delays or language difficulties so even have an advanced vocabulary sometimes in a highly specialised skill. 

The following behaviors are often associated with Asperger syndrome:

• limited or inappropriate social interactions
• "robotic" or repetitive speech
• challenges with nonverbal communication (gestures, facial expression, etc.) coupled with average to above average verbal skills
• tendency to discuss self rather than others
• inability to understand social/emotional issues or nonliteral phrases
• lack of eye contact or reciprocal conversation
• obsession with specific, often unusual, topics
• one-sided conversations
• awkward movements and/or mannerisms