The Beginning to an End

December 14-18 2009 

The troupe spent the entire week sweating over the play. It is going to be the grand finale of the drama class for this term. Everyone will be doing their best to show what they have learned and prove how much they have improved on their acting capabilities. 

I am very excited yet a little bit nervous because there is no written script. I guess that is what makes Commedia Dell'Arte interesting. We can rehearse it over and over again but the dialogues are different every time.  At the advice of Mr Smeed, we added Lazzis to our little play to make it truly funny.

Finally, the big day is here! In my opinion, I think we did a really good job because we managed to make our audience laugh. The other troupes were very funny too, especially Christie's group. I must say that 7F truly has talents!!

SHOWTIME :)

December 7-11 2009 

This week, the Commedia Dell'Arte troupes had a chance to practice their plays in class, in preparation for their presentations on the 17th of December. 

The first problem that our troupe encountered during our practice session was that the play only lasted for 2.5 minutes which was much too short from the required 5-7 minutes. In order to overcome this issue we decided to add on monologues for each of the characters. As Commedia Dell'Arte has no written script, we have to think fast and be quick on the feet. At first, I was worried but I managed to make up lines as I went along. I found it rather strange, having to face the audience when I was arguing with Capitano. I guess it takes time to get used to this type of performance. 

My Masked Face :)

November 30 - December 4, 2009 

At the beginning of the week, we concentrated on perfecting our script. The original idea was to say something that could reflect on the personality of the character. However, mid-week Mr. Smeed told us that if we were to make fun of someone, it should not be the audience but another Commedia Dell' Arte character. I had to quickly come up with a new idea and I pretended that I was conversing with Brighella. 

The difficulties I encountered when I was rehearsing was to walk in a slow jerky manner and speaking in a high-pitched tone. I think I did quite well at the presentation today because I managed to make the audience laugh at my movements and my story. 

Now, Cherri, James and I are working on a rough draft on "misunderstanding". I will be Pulcinella, James, Capitano and Cherri, Brighella. This is going to be the last project on Commedia Dell'Arte, and we have every intention to make an excellent job out of it.