Reseach and development.

In order to create an accurate and enjoyable performance, there is an extensive amount of research
and development that goes into the process. Considering “Buckets” is an abstract and interpretive
play, it was important to have an in depth understanding of each scene. Since each scene is so
different, it meant there were lot of different ways to build the play. This made listening and sharing
creative control with each other such a key part.

Beginning this phase, we started by reading through the script and sharing ideas around the circle.
This allowed us to get an understanding for the structure of play and the way it's meant to be
performed. Mine along with quite a few others had mixed feelings about the script as it wasn’t the
style or structure we had been preparing for. However, after adding our own ideas it began to grow
on us and we started to really see potential. One of our main worries was that the dark comedy
would really just play off as rude. After dwelling on this for a while, I learnt that you must accept
everyone has different opinions and it will not be to some peoples taste but you simply cannot help
that, therefore you must focus on those who will enjoy it. Baring this in mind, it made the process
less stressful, and I found I was able to relax into the humour. One thing I need to improve on is
pitching my ideas to the group. During the research and development phase, I mainly kept my ideas
to myself and let others take creative control. Another thing to work on is maintaining an energetic
approach to the work. Even though it became easier, at the beginning having to work through the
long days, it was often difficult to keep an upbeat approach due to being worn out. At the end of this
process, before the easter break, we were given our scenes and went through them with our scene
partners.

Rehearsal phase

This phase was around 2 weeks long, from 9-5 each day. It began after the easter holiday in which
we were told to learn our lines so we would be able to rehearse fluidly when we come back. We
began by working the through the scenes in chronological order, which stated with 1. Docter, which
we interpreted was about a mother deciding whether her child should stop getting treatment for a
terminal condition. Considering this was the opening scene, before the holiday we had decided we
would open “Buckets” with an ensemble. Using the choreography, we started before, we began the
rehearsal process. Our director, would call out which scene he wanted to work on, the people in
that scene would then go through their interpretation of the scene, ideas for props, lighting, etc.
Then they would run through lines and continue to block out the scene. This was useful as it gave a
mutual understanding of what the intentions for the scene were, while also giving each cast member
an individual voice which helped everyone to work much clearer together. We also had a structure
where we would split the play into 3 sections of 10, we would work on 10 scenes at a time until we
were ready to move on. By breaking down the structure, it made the job of figuring out each scene
less daunting and allowed us to fully focus on the scenes in that chunk. We would use tables and
chairs to block out where we might be using larger props as we only had the cast in the room during
a majority of the first week. By doing this it gave a better understanding how transitions were going
to work.

This was the week where I fully became involved with Buckets as I saw its full potential and it made
me want to work that much harder for it. I found in this period, the group became much closer
which made the rehearsal space such a peaceful place to be and created an amazing working
atmosphere. One thing I believe we struggled with as a cast was members not being present or
knowing lines. This was at the very beginning of the rehearsal phase as people had not completed
course work over the weeks off and therefore were pulled from rehearsal. This meant others had to
fill in for them, however this became an issue when people who had been filling in had another
scene to do or even was in the same scene as the person they were filling in for. I believe one of the
main reasons Buckets developed so well is due to everyone different perspectives and
interpretations all were went through the process and blended together to create a bold
performance. I enjoyed the ensemble work as we don’t always have the opportunity to do it, I
believe working as cohesive as we did as an ensemble played a huge role in the result of the play.

performance week

Moving into the egg space made the whole process seem a lot more real as you become able to
vision it. I thought it was better than rehearsing in the dance studio where it was difficult to form a
proper opinion on the play as we had hardly anything physical to work with. Comparing this to
moving into the egg, where we had costumes, props, lighting and were able to grasp a basic
understanding of the staging. This put me at ease and allowed me to relax into the process more,
making more exciting than a chore. However, since we hadn't been able to run it on the stage yet, it
was a challenge when were coordinating ourselves differently to how we rehearsed. Facing different
ways, having to swap sides, things like that. I feel like this became easier because of how well the
cast as a whole worked as an ensemble to help each other so issues could be fixed swiftly. Being in
tech brought life to our ideas and the play, it became more realistic and easier to get into character
and act to your full potential as you are finally in your characters setting. This had a big impact on
character development in my opinion, this is because you can get a sense of what your character is
feeling, what they might notice in the environment and what atmosphere they would want to build
in that setting.

The dress rehearsal was the first time we were able to do a full run through in the egg space, with
lighting, sound, props and costume. This meant mistakes were bound to come up but nothing that
couldn’t majorly be fixed. For example, people having to change what side of the stage they
enter/exit on as it may have been an issue. I know a huge issue in the dress run was traffic in the
wings. Where the whole cast had to be alert and in order in the wings it became very stressful to find
props, know what scene is next and even be in your position to enter the next scene as everyone
was doing something. This problem was mostly solved in a 3-hour session working through
transitions in the Ustinov. Another thing that went wrong was people blanking on their lines, since it
was the first time properly preforming with all these factors included, it was easy to do as everything
can be overwhelming. Also removing things like tables and other relatively big props cause traffic
which often meant cast members were left on stage after transitions waiting to enter the wings.
However, this was all down to poor communication and it being the first run. Other than that, it was
funny, engaging and enjoyable.

In the first performance not many things went wrong, however the factor of the play not being
everyone's cup of tea played a big role within the audience. Unlike the dress rehearsal, the audience
weren't very lively which made it abit more nerve racking as it became hard to tell if they were
enjoying it. I think a couple of audience members arrived late meaning they missed the beginning
screen which explains that the play will not make sense, without reading this the play could become
confusing and hard to track which ruins the enjoyability for the audience. I feel as it was opening
night, the nerves were high, so people were so aware of what they were doing that they forget to
communicate. This resulted in the same issue as the dress run, where we had people left on stage
after transitions. The cast did a great job at ordering ourselves and being prepared in the wings,
everyone knew what they were doing and when. I'm sure a couple of people had forgotten their
lines for a split second but anyone who did immediately picked it straight back up and it was very
hard to tell that they had slipped up. I found that when preforming, it's always good to keep
reminding yourself of what is next and to be well prepared.

In my opinion, the second performance was the better one. It moved through a lot slicker, and
everything ran so smoothly. This could be down to the fact that we had already preformed it in that
space twice, so we knew what worked before and what didn't. Not only this but the audience
sounded like they enjoyed it a lot more than the previous night. I think the fact that it was the last
night of preforming the play that we had spent the last 9 weeks working on, so everyone was in high
spirits and was less stress, it became more about having fun then everything being perfect. Nothing
went wrong the transitions, evryone knew exactly what they were doing but wasn’t as serious about
it creating a more relaxing atmosphere to perform in. A big factor as to why it went so well in my
opinion is because we all knew the play so well as a collective, in the wings helping get people in the
right places, finding eachothers props and costume parts. Just by having that basic understanding of
what needs to happen next made it, so the performance was close to flawless.