On Good Friday, my father, my sister and I set off to explore the little town of Acland which is not too far from the town of Oakey. We chose this town because when I read about it – it really reminded me of Eldridge. It is literally deserted – it used to be an old mining town but then when the mines shut down everyone had to leave. There was also coal dwelling beneath the whole town, so they didn’t have much of a choice whether they stayed or left. The place and everything in it is going to be bulldozed over to dig up the coal.
It was so eeery when we drove into Acland because no one was there. The whole time we saw no one. There are a few people still living there, the only proof of this was their cars still parked in the driveway, but the school and everything has been closed so you can imagine there are only a few stragglers still hanging around. There were really old abandoned, decrepit houses and buildings. It looked as if everyone quickly just packed up and left and it really did feel like a ghost town. We walked into a few of the abandoned homes – the doors were open and you could just walk in. It was so scary and in one of the houses – there was still a dressing table in the bedroom with a little toy car just sitting on top of it. That was so eery, it gave me goosebumps. There were also newspapers in one of the rooms that was dated 1989. I couldn’t believe it – the paper was all yellow.
I nearly had a heart attack because as I was about to walk into another one of the old deserted houses – a murder of crows came out and nearly hit me. It was disgusting because they were like occupants in this house and when I finally got the courage to go in again – there was feathers and bird droppings everywhere. The birds had taken over this old abandoned house and it was like they owned the town. I could feel their eyes on me. I wonder how much rent they pay?
I found two old churches and I snooped around a little but it looked like they had been closed for awhile. I looked through the old key lock and could just see this really old pew and a big Jesus cross on the back wall. It was scary.
When driving down another back road in the town, we came across what was left of a house. The only thing left standing was the door frame, mailbox and white picket fence. The rest of the house was lying around in pieces. As I took photos of this peculiar sight I thought to myself “Why did they bother to leave just the doorframe standing?” Also throughout the town there were mounds of rubbish and old clotheslines. We tried desperately to see if there was a cemetery in the town but there were only about 7 streets and unfortunately did not come across one.
One of my favourite parts of this town was an old convenience store with an even older petrol pump out the front. I made sure I got plenty of photos of this as I felt it really did portray the history and abandonement of this town. Right beside the convenience store was the old mine and it has signs saying ‘stay away’ and ‘not open to the public’ displayed on the fences. That just made us want to enter even more. Throughout the streets grass was growing up through the concrete. The day was overcast so it really did look spooky and set the mood.
While I was in Acland – I stood in the middle of the deserted road, at what would have been the main street, and I imagined all of the characters around me and different stages of the play. It was a surreal experience and I did a lot of imagery work out there.
I now have so many more images in my head and I really recommend to everyone to take a trip out there! It is only about 40 mins from Toowoomba and well worth it. I have taken some great photos as well – I am not sure how to add them on this so I have emailed them through to you Kate so if you could post them that would be great!! Thank you!
Well its Easter Sunday and i just had chocolate for breakfast.. nice..
I am still thinking about Thursday and our first official read through. I thought yeah why not - i will give the american accent a go but i didnt realize my whole body, pitch, volume and posture would change. It felt so weird and it was almost like i had to change my whole body to get the words out in that accent. I never thought that would happen!! Defianlty an experience. It did feel unnatural and well …i sounded quite funny.. ha ha!! but i cant wait to work on it!!
Wow.. production week is ..NEXT WEEK AHH!! We did our a run of ACT 1 yesterday which was quite an experience.
Because each scene that i do - skips through different times and places of the play - i am really trying to make sure i know what is REALLY going on with Patsy at that particular time to make sure that i portray that to the audience. There is alot of underlying meanings in all the things i say and i really want to make sure i really get it right. I am in love with Patsy and intrigued with her which is really great to that passionate about the character your playing.
I am also trying to not play Patsy on just one level. I want to make sure that i show in some paricular scenes - the jealous and insecure Patsy, the natsy patsy, the worried Patsy, the devastasted Patsy.
I have really put so much into the character that i find myself saying things the way Patsy would or even saying something to someone and then realizing that what i just said is actually a line in the play. Its great.
Emma
Patsy … all of her guises … are developing very well. Keep focussed and continue to develop her engagement with all of the scenes. Watch the speed of speech delivery working in the higher register. Difficult to understand so ensure that you compensate with really firm articulation so words are clear.
i’ve been thinking about which characters in the play get ‘bruised’ by the town. we know you are beaten by your dad and ‘knocked up’ by walter. could you please go through the script to clarify which scenes take place after you’ve been beaten, as i think you need to be wearing a sweater …or something of that nature…to hide your bruises.
looking forward to seeing your work again on tuesday : )
oh my god - i just did the longest blog and they rejected it because it had the word F**k in it - AAAHHH im so annoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it just disappeared!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRRRR!!!!!!! ok - give me time to get over it and then i will write it again. F**K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok i think i am finally ready to re -write the blog i had written on the 9th May (after opening night) here we go…. (with no swear words!!)
Wow - opening night has come and gone!! And i am feeling pretty proud of it. I was really nervous. I was actually suprised at how nervous I was - i think it was because of the contriversy with our class regarding everything with The Rimers of Eldridge. I was just really hoping that our directors (and audience) thought - ya know what - you bloody pulled it of and we are proud!! And i think they were.
So here i was before we went on and i was still so nervous - so i said to myself - you know what - I KNOW THIS - I KNOW Patsy, I KNOW the story of Rimers and I KNOW what the audience needs out of every scene. So get over your nerves and go tell the story of the Rimers of Eldridge. Its at this point where you just have to trust your process and just take in every direction and notes that the directors have given you and go out there and do it. Listen to your partner in the scenes - act react and well..enjoy it!!!
We had a great (generous) audience for opening night. I felt like the story became alive again for me instead of being routine. Things became new again because it was new to the audience and it was exciting. When the audience were laughing or gasping at points in the play - i thought to myself - oh yeah you know what - that really IS funny ..or yeah that line really IS gasp worthing. It was excited for the Rimers of Eldridge to become new to us again and i think an audience is what we really needed to give us that extra boost.
I think we also all felt like F**k it- lets just do it, see how far we can take things and it was great. Thats what its all about. I think once you just let go of everything thats in your head and just say F**k it - it really works.
I was pretty happy with my performance although of course it wasnt perfect. There was things that i didnt like and that i knew i did wrong but i know that i have three more performances to fix it and even experiement more. Thats when Kate’s voice came in and said “you can never be perfect” and thats what i thought. You just live and learn.
There was a scene with Lena(Fiona) in which she slipped off the platform, just a little-nothing major and thats when i thought to myself - should I (Patsy) have reacted to that. Although not rehearsed because things happen and maybe Patsy would have laughed or something. But i did not have the impulse to because it was when i was on my big rant about Elridge and driver and ava. So i thought i was too busy in my own world to care or notice what Lena was doing. - she was just there to listen to me and agree.
I am really going to miss Patsy. A few of my peers have said they would not be missing their character and thats not unusual but i think i will be quite sad to let go of her. I just really hope i did her justice and that i potrayed her well. I know myself and i know when Sunday comes - i will be thinking dam it - i could have done this and this with that particular scene and i wish i had done this differently but hey what can you do. Live and learn.
And this process had defiantly been a BIG learning experience.
Hey everyone,
On Good Friday, my father, my sister and I set off to explore the little town of Acland which is not too far from the town of Oakey. We chose this town because when I read about it – it really reminded me of Eldridge. It is literally deserted – it used to be an old mining town but then when the mines shut down everyone had to leave. There was also coal dwelling beneath the whole town, so they didn’t have much of a choice whether they stayed or left. The place and everything in it is going to be bulldozed over to dig up the coal.
It was so eeery when we drove into Acland because no one was there. The whole time we saw no one. There are a few people still living there, the only proof of this was their cars still parked in the driveway, but the school and everything has been closed so you can imagine there are only a few stragglers still hanging around. There were really old abandoned, decrepit houses and buildings. It looked as if everyone quickly just packed up and left and it really did feel like a ghost town. We walked into a few of the abandoned homes – the doors were open and you could just walk in. It was so scary and in one of the houses – there was still a dressing table in the bedroom with a little toy car just sitting on top of it. That was so eery, it gave me goosebumps. There were also newspapers in one of the rooms that was dated 1989. I couldn’t believe it – the paper was all yellow.
I nearly had a heart attack because as I was about to walk into another one of the old deserted houses – a murder of crows came out and nearly hit me. It was disgusting because they were like occupants in this house and when I finally got the courage to go in again – there was feathers and bird droppings everywhere. The birds had taken over this old abandoned house and it was like they owned the town. I could feel their eyes on me. I wonder how much rent they pay?
I found two old churches and I snooped around a little but it looked like they had been closed for awhile. I looked through the old key lock and could just see this really old pew and a big Jesus cross on the back wall. It was scary.
When driving down another back road in the town, we came across what was left of a house. The only thing left standing was the door frame, mailbox and white picket fence. The rest of the house was lying around in pieces. As I took photos of this peculiar sight I thought to myself “Why did they bother to leave just the doorframe standing?” Also throughout the town there were mounds of rubbish and old clotheslines. We tried desperately to see if there was a cemetery in the town but there were only about 7 streets and unfortunately did not come across one.
One of my favourite parts of this town was an old convenience store with an even older petrol pump out the front. I made sure I got plenty of photos of this as I felt it really did portray the history and abandonement of this town. Right beside the convenience store was the old mine and it has signs saying ‘stay away’ and ‘not open to the public’ displayed on the fences. That just made us want to enter even more. Throughout the streets grass was growing up through the concrete. The day was overcast so it really did look spooky and set the mood.
While I was in Acland – I stood in the middle of the deserted road, at what would have been the main street, and I imagined all of the characters around me and different stages of the play. It was a surreal experience and I did a lot of imagery work out there.
I now have so many more images in my head and I really recommend to everyone to take a trip out there! It is only about 40 mins from Toowoomba and well worth it. I have taken some great photos as well – I am not sure how to add them on this so I have emailed them through to you Kate so if you could post them that would be great!! Thank you!
- Emma
Well its Easter Sunday and i just had chocolate for breakfast.. nice..
I am still thinking about Thursday and our first official read through. I thought yeah why not - i will give the american accent a go but i didnt realize my whole body, pitch, volume and posture would change. It felt so weird and it was almost like i had to change my whole body to get the words out in that accent. I never thought that would happen!! Defianlty an experience. It did feel unnatural and well …i sounded quite funny.. ha ha!! but i cant wait to work on it!!
Wow.. production week is ..NEXT WEEK AHH!! We did our a run of ACT 1 yesterday which was quite an experience.
Because each scene that i do - skips through different times and places of the play - i am really trying to make sure i know what is REALLY going on with Patsy at that particular time to make sure that i portray that to the audience. There is alot of underlying meanings in all the things i say and i really want to make sure i really get it right. I am in love with Patsy and intrigued with her which is really great to that passionate about the character your playing.
I am also trying to not play Patsy on just one level. I want to make sure that i show in some paricular scenes - the jealous and insecure Patsy, the natsy patsy, the worried Patsy, the devastasted Patsy.
I have really put so much into the character that i find myself saying things the way Patsy would or even saying something to someone and then realizing that what i just said is actually a line in the play. Its great.
Cant wait for ACT 2 this afternoon…
ems
Emma
Patsy … all of her guises … are developing very well. Keep focussed and continue to develop her engagement with all of the scenes. Watch the speed of speech delivery working in the higher register. Difficult to understand so ensure that you compensate with really firm articulation so words are clear.
emma,
i’ve been thinking about which characters in the play get ‘bruised’ by the town. we know you are beaten by your dad and ‘knocked up’ by walter. could you please go through the script to clarify which scenes take place after you’ve been beaten, as i think you need to be wearing a sweater …or something of that nature…to hide your bruises.
looking forward to seeing your work again on tuesday : )
oh my god - i just did the longest blog and they rejected it because it had the word F**k in it - AAAHHH im so annoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it just disappeared!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRRRRR!!!!!!! ok - give me time to get over it and then i will write it again. F**K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok i think i am finally ready to re -write the blog i had written on the 9th May (after opening night) here we go…. (with no swear words!!)
Wow - opening night has come and gone!! And i am feeling pretty proud of it. I was really nervous. I was actually suprised at how nervous I was - i think it was because of the contriversy with our class regarding everything with The Rimers of Eldridge. I was just really hoping that our directors (and audience) thought - ya know what - you bloody pulled it of and we are proud!! And i think they were.
So here i was before we went on and i was still so nervous - so i said to myself - you know what - I KNOW THIS - I KNOW Patsy, I KNOW the story of Rimers and I KNOW what the audience needs out of every scene. So get over your nerves and go tell the story of the Rimers of Eldridge. Its at this point where you just have to trust your process and just take in every direction and notes that the directors have given you and go out there and do it. Listen to your partner in the scenes - act react and well..enjoy it!!!
We had a great (generous) audience for opening night. I felt like the story became alive again for me instead of being routine. Things became new again because it was new to the audience and it was exciting. When the audience were laughing or gasping at points in the play - i thought to myself - oh yeah you know what - that really IS funny ..or yeah that line really IS gasp worthing. It was excited for the Rimers of Eldridge to become new to us again and i think an audience is what we really needed to give us that extra boost.
I think we also all felt like F**k it- lets just do it, see how far we can take things and it was great. Thats what its all about. I think once you just let go of everything thats in your head and just say F**k it - it really works.
I was pretty happy with my performance although of course it wasnt perfect. There was things that i didnt like and that i knew i did wrong but i know that i have three more performances to fix it and even experiement more. Thats when Kate’s voice came in and said “you can never be perfect” and thats what i thought. You just live and learn.
There was a scene with Lena(Fiona) in which she slipped off the platform, just a little-nothing major and thats when i thought to myself - should I (Patsy) have reacted to that. Although not rehearsed because things happen and maybe Patsy would have laughed or something. But i did not have the impulse to because it was when i was on my big rant about Elridge and driver and ava. So i thought i was too busy in my own world to care or notice what Lena was doing. - she was just there to listen to me and agree.
I am really going to miss Patsy. A few of my peers have said they would not be missing their character and thats not unusual but i think i will be quite sad to let go of her. I just really hope i did her justice and that i potrayed her well. I know myself and i know when Sunday comes - i will be thinking dam it - i could have done this and this with that particular scene and i wish i had done this differently but hey what can you do. Live and learn.
And this process had defiantly been a BIG learning experience.
ems xoxoxo