Unit 2: Commedia dell'Arte Final Performance Task Final Draft Evaluation

Using the performance rubric, reflect on your performance and discuss the following: (Crit C)

What were the strengths of your performance? 

• We had improved a lot from our rough draft performance so we were more exaggerated and expressive and we also showed a lot of energy and enthusiasm towards it. We used a lot levels and made use of the space. We also used props that added humor (which was a strength) to it. We also added a little bit more of audience interaction. We decided to use Gromalot to make it more expressive, therefore for the understanding of the scene for the audience was much better. We incorporated a lot physical elements into m character, which was difficult to re-enact because my character was Pantalone. We also improved our miming and also incorporated more mimes and actions through improvisation to make our performance longer and make the scene and plot clearer.

If you were to score your performance, what would you score be? 

• I think that I would score my performance I would get a 4 in context of the rubric we were given. I think that we were able to portray the exaggerated personalities of the Commedia characters that we acted as and we were also able to create a mostly clear scene, which means that the audience had understood where we were going with our performance. We improvised and incorporated audience interaction into the performance. We also incorporated sound effects during our miming of the door and used a minimal amount of Gromalot but was still clear as to what we tried to communicate through our exaggerated actions. We also had a clear and fun partner relationship that was amusing to the audience and our scene was clear, overall! Our performance was also reasonably timed!

Overall, do you think you did your best in this performance? 

• I think I did my best in terms of the physical movement and use of space and props because I was able to get across what each of those things were to the audience. I also think that I was able to portray Pantalone's personality well throughout the performance, but I feel it could've been better. I think that some of the elements of the performance were my best, like the antics between Harlequino and Pantalone, I thought that my exaggerated actions were the best part. 

What could you have done to improve your performance if you had the opportunity to perform it again? 

• I think that I should've used more Gromalot throughout the performance and exaggerated my facial expression a bit more so that I could've gotten my point across to the audience instead of using the crown as a prop. I also could've added more sound effects from my part and some more audience interactions to take the performance up to a 5 on the rubric.

Arshad and Taseen: The group I thought did as well as us

• I think Arshad and Taseen did a great job and they were level with our achievement in their performance. They used a lot of humorous elements and they're mimed interactions were great. Arshad's exaggerated expressions were especially great because he was able to portray his character, Brighella very well with his body. They also had good audience interaction and good use of Gromalot. I think that needed to mime more clearly because they lost the audience at some points in their performance. Taseen used good approaches to portraying his character and the both of them had a great partner/character relationship. I think I would give them a 4 out 5 in context of the rubric we were given because they mostly completed and portrayed all the elements needed for the performance, much like us. 

Prabhanu and Afraz: The group I thought did not do as well as us

• I think that Prabhanu and Afraz's performance needed a lot work because it didn't have the correct use of Gromalot because you could literally hear Prabhanu speaking english but in a deeper tone. I also thought that they didn't use exaggerated expressions and didn't use their character's typical body language so sometimes the scene looked very messy and they had audience interaction but it was very unclear as to what they wanted the audience member to do. I think that Afraz needs to look into Zanni a little more because he was flapping his arms and hopping around and looking everywhere, but he was smiling the whole time as well. I think that Prabhanu (Magnifico) should make Zanni do some other things other than throw food at him all the time and be hostile and make him provel, I would give them a 2 on the rubric because they were able to accommodate all the key elements like movements, use of space and clarity of scene sometimes but they're character personalities and character relationship needs a lot of work 

Unit 2: Commedia dell'Arte Final Performance Task Rough Draft Reflection

Once you have performed your rough draft in class, you will need to write a blog post including the following:

Part 1: Evaluate your own performance using the language found on the performance rubric and Crit B descriptors. 

• What did you do well? 

- We had good partner interactions and the audience understood the relationship between me and Harlequino and understood what the scene was about. They also understood the miming even though it was bit messed up in some places. Our actions and exaggerated gestures were also good. 

• What did feedback did you receive? What do you need to improve? 

- We needed to work on our expressions because we let our character slip sometimes and snicker or sow pain but it was good. We need to structure our scene better because people understood the plot but were confused about the set-up of the space so we need to work on staging. We also need to work on sound effects and add Gromalot. We also need to add some more audience interactions. I think we would get a 3-4 on the grading criterion. 

• What specific things will you do to improve before performance?

- We need to mime for one door because at the moment we have three doors leading to the same room and I also have to mime the crown more exaggeratedly. We also need to improve our falls because I have to fall and I have to slow down my movements because of Pantalone's original back condition. Harlequino needs to be more jumpy as well.

Part 2: Evaluate another group's rough draft (someone who didn't do as well as you) using the language found on the performance rubric and Crit. B descriptors. 

• What did they do well? 

- Jawwad and Shopnil gave great performance. They had sound effects and very entertaining exaggerated expressions and a amusing and budding partner relationship. I think that they're miming was good and character personality of Jawwad's character, Pantalone, had good personality with the bitterness and mocking tone to teasing Shopnil, the doctor. 

• What feedback would you give them? 

- I think that their character personality was good and their partner relationship was good as well because they're personalities were portrayed in their actions, Pantalone had good exaggerated movements and gestures since he was mocking the Doctor. They'd get 4-5 on the grading criterion.

• What specific things could they do to improve before performance?

- They could work on different levels and staging because they need to mime more properly and Shopnil needs to do other things rather than eat all the time to show more character.

Part 3: Evaluate another group's rough draft (someone who you think performed better than you) using the language found on the performance rubric and Crit. B descriptors. 

• What did they do well? 

-  (Samrin and Arafat) They're character relationship was good and they made good use of space and a prop and they had good expression but they need to clean up their performance. 

• What feedback would you give them? 

- I think they needed to improve their actions and develop more character and just overall expression because they needed to clean up the whole scene. So they would get a 2-3 on the grading criterion.

• What specific things could they do to improve before performance?

- They needed to use more audience interaction and they also needed to clean up their scene it was all over the place and it needed to be more exaggerated. I think they should change the scene because their 'story' was bit bland because the only thing the story line was about was serving Magnifico.

Unit 2: Commedia dell'Arte Final Performance Task Process Update

What 3 initial ideas did you brainstorm with your partner?

• My partner was Saadman and he chose to be Harlequino and I am Pantalone. Out first initial idea for a scene between Harlequino and Pantalone was: Pantalone is trying to bribe someone from the audience to buy a deceitful obkect that would be useless later on but Pantalone wants the money. Then Harlequino jumps out from his hiding corner and foils Pantalone's plans by playing pranks on Pantalone's 'customer' and drives him away and then pulls a very mean prank on Pantalone when he goes to chase after Harlequino. 
• The second idea was of Pantalone getting inside the room where a crown is placed and Pantalone admires it and then plans to steal it. Harlequino sees this through the keyhole of the door, picks the lock and taps Pantalone on the shoulder and moves to the other side of Pantalone and Harlequino takes away the crown when he isn't looking and they fight each other in the process of fighting over it and the crown is destroyed. Harlequino tricks Pantalone again after that by offering him a sit but taking it away and Pantalone falls on the ground.
• Our third scene was of Harlequino mixxing poop and pee into the food that he would be serving Pantalone and then when Pantalone throws the food away, Harlequino pulls up people from the audience to mock Pantalone and play pranks on him.

Which idea did you choose and why?

• We chose the second idea because we thought that it was possible to fit in more audience interactions into it and more levels and emotions and physicality. We also that we could add tid-bits of the other ideas and put it into the piece for second idea, so it would be more diverse and humorous. 

How does your "story" choice fulfill the required elements? (Be specific.)

• Our story choice fulfills he audience interaction element because we bring up someone from the audience for pulling one of Harlequino's pranks on Pantalone. Pantalone also has to exaggerate his features in order to show his liking for the mimed crown since we aren't using real props. Harlequino has to be jumpy and use different levels all the time where as Pantalone has o be crooked-backed and uses a limited number of levels and he also has to be very slow when he's chasing Harlequino around. We also have good structure as in plot line and we also have good partner interaction and a good number of mimed interaction. 

Using the rubric, what strengths and weaknesses can you already identify within your performance?

• In our performance we already have emotions, levels, audience interaction but we have to add some more. We also have mimed interaction of opening doors but we need to clean up our scene because we have good miming but at the moment it looks like there are three doors to one room. We need to add sound effects and some Gromalot to make the scene more entertaining. But we have good partner interaction because we fight and play pranks.

Unit 2: (BLOG) Commedia dell'Arte--Emotion & Language

In class we watched National Theatre videos (links below) and explored the concepts of exaggerated emotion & the language of Commedia dell'Arte (Gromalot). We experimented with these through different applied theatre activities. In this blog entry, discuss the activities we completed in class and your own expanded understanding of Commedia dell'Arte performance in relation to these two elements.

• Emotion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlIFR6c7NZc 

- In class we did a activity that we had to get in a circle for and think of different actions and put emotions in it and the person next to you would mimic your actions and then that person will make one of theirs after mimicking your actions and it goes on till we reach the first person again. We also did another emotion activity which involved us brainstorming the primary, secondary and tertiary emotions/feelings in theatre and then having a scale from 1-10 of how much we can exaggerate the emotion. Like for example if my emotion was laughter, on 1 on he scale it would be a snicker or giggle and by the time you get to 10 you'd be on the floor laughing with tears streaming down your face. 

- Basically I've learned that since we can't really communicate in Commedia we have to use exaggerated emotions and expression in order for the audience understand and it also adds humor and meaning into the piece that w might be portraying. Commedia characters are all about their emotions and their actions and each of the different character's 

• Language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gTs9xWJcgg

- In class, we did a activity where two of us had to randomly get up and improvise a scene and use Gromlalot to put out point across but with Gromalot there was a lot of exaggerated gestures so the audience could understand. When speaking Gromalot, a lot of us tend to combine English words with Bengali to make words and some of us also just slip up and speak in English but change our tones in voice. I think speaking in Gromalot in Commedia is like adding more drama to it and it also helps to fill in he quite silence that would follow with exaggerated movements if Gromalot were not used.

- I think that we could use Gromalot to communicate better with the audience and improvise in our final performance and it would also add more humor and drama and all those other communicable elements. I think the speaking of Gromalot fills in the quiet space because if we weren't allowed to use Gromalot then it would just involve us miming with exaggerated movements which would be boring in Commedia without Gromalot because it gives the characters more background. Like each character might have differnt tone of voice, like Pantalone could be bitter-toned and have a nasal/kinda jealous tone of voice with heavy Gromalot words.

Unit 2: Commedia dell'Arte Summative Performance Task-- Exploration of Exemplar

(THIS wasn't actually this video but the one I watched was this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkjQUxedbGQ&list=PLduNxeUSH1tyQ8DqQNy6nplqZDMlNiAzR)

• Lazzi (what were your favorites within this piece? why?) 

My favorites about this piece was the part where he got a female volunteer from the crowd to perform an improvised piece with him, especially the part where he was trying to seduce the girl and she was very surprised. The other thing that I liked about the performance was his exaggerated expressions and sound effects that were used, it really made the act all the more enjoyable and it added life to the pantomimed objects and environment portrayed. I like these parts in the pieces because I thought it was these elements that made the act amazing and funny.

• Using varied interactions (environment, props, characters, etc.) 

Amo Gulinello, the clown, pantomimed different props and used the audience as his characters, so he used the theater environment to his advantage. He also used sound effects and pantomime to portray the environment his act was taking place.

• Taking out to audience 

Basically, the whole act was based around improvisation by taking out people from the audience. The linked video that I watched; the clown picks out a random girl from the crowd and improvises with a scene where he takes her on a date, in his comedic streak. From the surprise of the girl you could tell that it was totally random and he did a very good job to surprise her in the end and also with his antics,

• Exaggerated emotion (1 to 10) 

I think, I would give the clown a 9 for his exaggerated emotions because he showed very 'Disney-like' exaggeration. Like with the 'grinding' and the faces he made at the girl during the date in the act really stood out and he also showed a lot of emotion and the emotion was also present in his exaggerated actions.

• Exaggerated physicality (use of space) 

He used the front of the stage but he used a lot of levels in his exaggerated actions and he also did some little stunts on the chair, so he made use of the chair's platform by doing little stunts on it, like how he stepped over the girl's whole body and he made more big movements like that to use the space. He also ran across the stage as his entrance and ran across the stage as his exit as well.

• Exaggerated facial expression 

He had good exaggerated facial expression was good and it made the act really funny. It also emphasized the character's personality quite a bit and it was very expressive. I think the act included a lot of the basic facial emotions of anger, frustration, happiness and so on but in a more comedic and exaggerated manner.

• Stock characters of Commedia 

I think the character of the clown would be ranked as Harlequino, because he was comedic and funny but he wasn't necessarily stupid like Zanni. In some parts he was a bit of a flirt, which I can relate back to a sub-character of Commedia that I came across in the research stage; Mezzetino, who's a flirt but does pretty much the same antics as Harlequino. The clown was a bit of flirt and clown in this one. 

• Performance elements (sound, lights, staging) 

I think the sounds were great because it helped to make up the environment on stage. The setting of he chairs on the middle of the stage was also very good because it was visible to everyone. There was light focused on the place where the clown went and the staging was good too. He used a good amount of the stage, the front of it only but his levels of movements made it much better. 

• Working with audience member (how did he make it clear to her what she should do? how did he support and lead her through the scene?)

The audience member that he picked (the girl) was struggling in some bits because she was very amused and she wasn't thinking out all the exaggerations and extra actions of the piece so he had to improvise and instruct her using his actions since it was a silent act. I think that the instructions he portrays blended in smoothly with the piece, the clown also used extra emotions to instruct the girl on her actions.