15/02/23 Directing and Yolo

 I helped direct the understudy cast today, I sat next to Morgan as we went through scenes 5-7, we managed to get them blocked and sorted, we had some issues with the cast but for the most part it's been fixed, to my knowledge Tom joy has been given to a different year one, she seems to handle it really well, but I'd be lying if I said her portrayal of Tom was my favourite, but considering she was just given the role, she's exceptional. 

After connections, it was time for YOLO. We ran through scenes 9-10 and it went brilliantly. There was some trouble with scene 9 because of my height and how I needed to rest on Jose, played by Rebecca, who is much much shorter than me. We're both sat down and it was difficult and awkward, I went from trying to lie on her lap while in the chair which failed horribly to being on the floor and her being in the chair while I clung onto her leg with my head on her, to what we decided, where after one of her lines, she opens her arms and I collapse into her embrace, whilst we're seated which works much better than the other two and actually makes a warm moment. After figuring that out we did scene ten, the finale, and I can tell you this for certain, it was phenomenal, we blocked it and did really well with it, ran through it a couple times until we were comfortable and then we added music. The music of choice was my recommendation of playing Frank Sinatra's my way, it was powerful. With the morbidness and solemness of the scene, no lines being said after the musics on and it only being told by expressions and body language it creates a heart wrenching moment. Lucy and daf both rested their heads on my shoulder, and I breathed. I closed my eyes, breathed, opened and looked around. We added our own extra bit to that scene, because we thought it would boost the ending massively. Halfway through the climax of the instrumental, there's a blackout, I quickly run off stage, and that's when the lights come back on, people are in different positions across the chairs, such as daf laid across two asleep. The doctor walks on as the final part of the song plays, no lines are still said, and it's up to the audience as to whether that meant he survived the operation or not. 

I cannot wait to put this show on, if we do it properly it'll be fantastic and I am so pleased I get to perform as the lead in it. I couldn't be more excited.