Unit 1 & Unit 2 - Principles of Performance and Principles of Production

                                                  IDENTITY



Principles of Performance


In our first unit we have been working on a piece based around our identity. we are hoping to bring all the different pieces together to form one great show we can perform for the rest of our peers.
In groups or individually, we created a piece of drama or speech that reflected ourselves and our own identities. some students really  opened up about their personal lives and experiences, this was good because first of all, we really got to understand the struggles some our peers face whilst also realizing we aren't all that different and can probably relate to each other far more then we realised.

also, it was good because it helped us feel comfortable with being vulnerable on stage, sometimes it can be really difficult or nerve-racking performing in front of people but standing up and talking about things that are personal to you, allowed us to let go of that fear.

 We were given a skills list that by rob that we would need in order to make our piece as good as possible and develop our skills as actors.


  • Confidence      
  • voice projection
  • eye contact
  • memory
  • practice
  • Creativity
  • use of space
  • respect
  • thick skin
  • range
  • flexibility
  • imagination
  • face
  • communication
  • witty
  • body language 
  • positivity
  • integrity
  • pacing
  • maturity
  • child like
  • control 
For my piece on identity I chose to open up and talk about myself and experiences that I have had to face too, this Is what I wrote:

The last line " you's see me right? acts as a cue  for another actor who comes along placing her hand on my shoulder and looks to the audience and says " we see you " as a transition to the next scene.


                  Evaluation of The Performance



 I was very nervous about the performance and how it would go as it was the first time we would be performing as a collective and In front of an audience of our peers which isn't an easy crowd to impress. We also had the sound technicians helping us create sound effects and it was their first time on a live production too, so in my head there were many things I thought may go wrong.

 However, there wasn't really anything to be worried about and I feel like the performance went really well, especially for our first one.
I was able to enter the stage space perfectly on cue , I didn't really mess up any of my lines and I was able to express how the subject of identity made me feel.

I was quite worried about what I had chosen to talk about when it came to identity - as along with others my piece was very, very personal. It isn't always easy to be vulnerable - especially on stage and without the mask of a character to hide behind. This was about me, being centre stage by myself and talking about myself. But, I was proud of myself afterwards and everybody stood and cheered and afterwards I got a lot of positive feedback from audience members.

Unfortunately the only things that did go slightly wrong was that some people did struggle to stay in character and there was quite a bit of corpsing which I felt was the only thing that let us down a little as staying in character is a crucial skill in acting.

overall, I was really happy with how the performance went and also ( and I think more importantly ) , how it made me feel. My part of the performance going well and being cheered afterwards gave me a sense of relief and confidence that encouraged me to continue enhancing my skills as an actor on this course and made me feel like this was certainly a feeling and job I wanted to experience in my future.




The performance was filmed and here is the video:


 https://youtu.be/T-afUrE8bFQ




Principles of production:

For Unit 2, we began looking at all the different roles and jobs involved when producing a piece of theatre or a film etc. We spoke as a group about all the different people and things that would be needed when putting on a performance and some of the job roles that we came up with where:

  • producer
  • sound technician 
  • costume
  • props 
  • set design 
  • director
  • make up 
  • light technician
Our next task was to choose one of the roles from our list - I chose producer,  and write an essay about what would be involved in undertaking the job of a producer and any other facts and information around the production stage. 

My essay:












































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