8/12/22 Show Day - Task two & Task 4

 Today has gone really well I'd say, I got in early so that I could get the makeup done on time for 11, where we performed for an elderly care home, I'd have said they're the best audience we've had yet, they were fully engaged in our show, laughing at what they found funny, being shocked and surprised, admiring the set and lighting, literally the ideal audience. 

The show started with a bit of a scuffle as Oz started his dialogue and said the Queue for Dorothy to go on stage, but she didn't go on in time, luckily Oz saved it by improvising and saying "I think I'm reading the wrong story" which made the audience laugh, before he said the Queue line again, meanwhile Dorothy's sprinted downstairs to get back into the wings and thus on stage. The meeting with the scarecrow went smoothly and the meeting with the tin man went well, people improvised where they needed too but kept their energy and commitment up, I really enjoyed doing this show.

Unfortunately, I had fallen quite sick before my shows. I had two different infections and the flu and conjunctivitis. But I pressed on regardless of which, I made sure to rest at every opportunity I could, but whilst on stage, regardless of how bad I was feeling, or how many times my tutor told me to just go home, I stayed and put on an excellent show. I did well with the monkey characteristics, as I took inspiration from the 1939 film Wizard of Oz, with how they had animalistic movements, they were sentient but they weren't human-like. Still, I tried to picture them, keeping their poses and how they moved around in my head. I also looked at Wicked's flying monkeys, how they're more humanoid but are still clearly monkey-like, I took inspiration from the head of the monkeys, Chistery, who shows loyalty to the wicked witch of the west, and whilst he couldn't speak at first, his loyalty prevails towards the end when he's able too. I tried showing that whenever someone was in control of the monkeys, for example with the obedience of us when the wicked witch is commanding us, and then the compassion and loyalty to Dorothy when she's controlling us. 

After my performances, everyone I spoke to told me that I was their favourite head monkey, they all agreed that my scenes were the funniest and we always got the best crowd reactions, no matter who they were, yes some audiences reacted less than others, but you don't let that affect you, and I know I didn't. I do however think I could've been faster and more monkey-like, I was weighed down by illness and It disappointed me that my shows weren't up to my standard because of it, regardless of what everyone else told me. If I were healthy, I truly believe I could've made it up to my standard, and therefore better. But regardless, I'm happy it was still good enough to be enjoyed.

To properly portray the king of the flying monkeys right, I had to do several things, first thing I had to learn was to hold myself like a monkey, how I move, how I stand, how I sit and my behaviour as a whole had to be monkey-like. I started off by making my back arched and lowered to a point where it was uncomfortable but believable, it got easier with practice. And then what came next was moving like a monkey. It was a lot of dangling arms, and moving with large steps, almost like skipping with my back arched, next was probably the most simple part, I just made sure to sound like a crazed monkey, a lot of bizarre noises were made during that production, when I was talked too by other people during the rehearsals my default response was just one of the noises, as I was trying to get used to it. And with my actual dialogue, I lowered the tone of my voice, taking out my accent and tried to sound like a generic neanderthal. I was quick to pick up on this during my audition. However, at first for that I had taken inspiration from Umbrella Academy, I tried being a Posh monkey, which did not fit the character at all, so my tutor helped me a little and brought life to the Monkey King the show knows. 

Overall, I enjoyed the production, it had Its ups and downs, but I'm happy I stuck through it, and I look forward to the next ones.