new.. and i hope final crit com.. to be edited by Rachel....

Directorial Vision/Concept

The play serves to portray to the target audience of Singaporeans and others living in 1^st world and developed countries just how fortunate they are to live in this century, in a first world country where cultural and social rules are not imposed on them.

Lulama would be portrayed as a pessimistic and weather-beaten woman who refuses to give up despite the hardships. The two characters can be both loved and sympathized with or disliked by the audience.

Performance Theory/History of Tradition

It is a naturalistic piece set in the 60’s in Africa, Transkei. It is similar to contemporary realism as it is narrative and has a storyline format which is seen in many of the plays today.

Created behavior-

Using Stanislaski’s method to create a Dramatic ‘I’ that would behave as human as a real ‘I’, the Method of Physical Action is used. We researched on the environment – customs, tradition, climate – and the cultural situation and believed it. As Lulama, I needed to believe that *HER ENVIRONMENT eg in Durban* had led her to *CHARACTERISTIC*

Imagination-

To create an ampler character, we asked ourselves questions like “Is there visible influence from the environment?” We also imagined the possible answers and added more features to personalities. Lulama would have to imagine her past experiences of singing in a group, working in Durban, etc.

Emotion Memory-

By recalling past experiences, we managed to produce the feelings and emotions needed naturally. For Lulama, I related Lulama’s physicality to her intensive training in sports. Also, we observed the people around us. I observed mothers and other care givers on how they react and treat their children. We also had visuals like pictures of their dress sense so we could choreograph our movement accordingly.

Evaluation of creative process

We had initial problems with the set. At first, we had decided to mime the actions. However, we concluded that it was difficult to master the technique perfectly and we looked awkward. Thus, to help us and to also help the audience, we decided to use real grass.
At the beginning, I saw Lulama as a kind and motherly character. But after reading deeper, I realized that the character was actually unconsciously selfish to a certain extent, this changed the way I played the character out to the audience.

The characters in the script are supposed to be Africans, if we wanted to stay true to the script and the story, we would face the problem of the African accent. However, because I have an occasional hint of an Indian accent and Rachel has a chinese accent, the mix would have sounded funny. Also, if the accent was used, the audience might not be able to make out what is being said, thus defeating the purpose of the play presenting a message to the people. In addition, the accent may have caused people to laugh, and turn the play into a comical piece instead of a serious naturalistic story. Thus, we decided not to use an accent.

Addition to Crit Com..

Here are a few more turningpoints in the procces of creating out duologue piece-


When we first read the script, everyone, including us thought that Rachel should be the mother, Lulama and me the rebellious daughter Zandile, as it suited our prsoanlities more. However, we soon realised that even though Rachel did posses the qualities of a mother, the type of mother really depended on the way that the person playing the role interpreted the character with releveance to the story line given. Hence, we decided to switch roles.

Since the script was set in Africa, and the characters were supposed to be Africans, we faced the problem of the African accent. However, because Rachel has a chinese accent and Priscilla has a occasional hiont of an Indian accent, the mix would have sounded funny. Also, if the accent was used, the audience mioght not be able to make out what is being said, thus defeating the purpose of the play presenting a message to the poeple. In addition, the accent may have caused people to laugh, and turn the play into a comical piece instead of a serious naturalistic story. Thus, we decided not to use an accent.

Hey rachel.. hope it ok.. please cut as much as you want to.. this is just what i tot of writing on the spot..:D
thankz hun!! OWE YOU TONS~!!!!!

PROBLEMS...

1) Don't know where to find hay
S- Were using broom stick stuff instead a hay..

2)Don't know how to create a sun set for the last part.
S- Chen Xing said he can do it

3) We will be looking at the ground most of the time, light does not illuminate our faces all that well.
S- Chen Xing brought down a flood to floor level.

4) Rachel's voice to old for a kid.. and Priscilla's voice is to not old...


5) Priscilla's emotional transitions have to be more obvious, thorough hand action, expression, voice, tone, pitch, etc..
S- I'm (Priscilla) going to work real hard ton this, will try to create a distinct move or something that shows the audience my mood.

6) Priscilla going to fast sometimes. Remember, angry is NOT = fast!!! also, she seems to be stuck in this rhythm of saying her lines, BREAK out of IT!!!
S- Will get ppl to help me listen when i ramble so that i don't stick to the same pattern, will highlight AGAIN the words in a sentence I'm going to stress on.

- Priscila

My song.. -Lulama (pris)

Im only singing the green parts..
hope ya all don hate me for singing.. but the script dem,ands it..:D

Tonight's tonight's the wedding feast
The men arrive with the slaughtered beast
A wail, a chant soon fills the air
For miles around the people hear

Mama Tembu's getting married here tonight
All the spirits looking, shouting their delight
Mama Tembu's getting married here tonight
The bones are thrown and love is happy, shining bright

Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja

The neighbours kneel and kiss the bride
The warrior waits, he's filled with pride
The drummer starts to pound the drum
For miles around they hear the sound
Mama Tembu's getting married here tonight
All the spirits looking, shouting their delight
Mama Tembu's getting married here tonight
The bones are thrown and love is happy, shining bright

Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja

And I sighed and I called in the deep of the night
Because never before have I seen such a sight
As the bride Mama Tembu walks out through the door
And the valleys still echoes the sound of the roar
Mama Tembu's getting married here tonight
All the spirits looking, shouting their delight
Mama Tembu's getting married here tonight
The bones are thrown and love is happy, shining bright

Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja
Ela chle ghala chle thalakalela paja

link to the song- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3rpPl2qljw

Cric Com..

okie..
so this is basically what i have done for it.. invloves stuff that Boo has a;lready touched upon.. just more stuff or rather stuff that deal;s ONLY with my characetr..:D
(sorry for all spelling errors.. am in a rush)


Directorial Vision/Concept-
The scene deals with characters who are aged between 12 and 35, we feel that this is the age group that will be able to best relate to the issues being brought up. This scene shows the audience the way the people in third world Africa live and the various traditions that they are tied to. Our aim is to show them just how fortunate they are to live in this century, in a first world country like Singapore.
My character will be portrayed as a pessimistic, reserved, sober, realistic, careful, thoughtful and weather beaten woman who has given up on hope a long time ago, and now focuses on the only thing left, the present. She has experienced more hardship in life than a normal person, but still refuses to give in and give up.
The audience will feel that I am a rather backwards, tradition oriented person, a caring and loving mother who is very protective over her child and wants the best for her, but in doing so is being unknowingly selfish. There might be times when they think I am being unfair, or too strict, but at the same time they will be forced to respect me for my courage, strength and perseverance.
Performance Theory/History of Tradition-
It is a naturalistic piece, which is set in the 60’s, in Africa, Transkei to be more specific. It is very similar to contemporary realism, as it does have a very narrative, naturalistic and storyline format which is seen in many of the play produced and performed today. Following the plays genre, I have used the Stanislavski method to build my character. My first step was to read the script that I had and to research on the particular time period, the customs and traditions of the people, the region they stayed in, the climate, their main occupations, and the cultural and political situation. Since this was a whole new culture, it required a lot of time, effort and imagination, since not everything in the script could be accounted for by tradition and the lifestyle in those times.
After researching on the environment and other factors that could possible cause the character to be the way she is, I went on to study the character, keeping in mind all that I had researched. I picked the characteristic and feature of her personality and tried to reason with them, asking questions like how she became that way; is there any visible influence from the forces and environment at that time? Using questions like this, I managed to form a profile of my character and along the way, with the help of the script I managed to write out her tentative history.
There were some features that I could not work on by merely exploring emotion; expression of love for ones daughter, and experiencing pain and the effects of hard work on a person had to be experienced. Thus, I took upon the task of observing mothers and other care givers, and how they reacted and treated their children. The tender touches, words of encouragement and pat on the backs were some of the moves I noticed, and have tried to implement into my characters movements. In order to experience just how tired my character was after a days of hard work, I observed how I felt, walked and talked after training intensively in Track. I understood how sore she was, the backache, the numb feet, the sweat and the effort put into the days work.
Since this culture was alien to me, I had to use a lot of material to really understand what went on back then. I did use visuals like pictures of what their dressing was like, so that I could choreograph my movement accordingly, I had to search for the methods they cut grass and how they sit, so that I would do it the right way in my scene. I had to fins videos on how they danced and sang, and search for a song to sing, which is what my duologue requires.
Evaluation of creative process-
We did have initial problems with the set. At first we decided to just do a mime, where we pretended to do the actions we were supposed to. However, we decided that it was difficult to master the technique in such a short time and also juggle this with the acting, voice, other movement, etc. Thus to help us and to also help the audience, we decided to make the real thing.
The first few times we read the script, we did package Lulama as a kind motherly character, but the more I research and the deeper I looked into the script, the more I realized that she was in some ways just the opposite of that interpretation. I came to realize just how selfish she was, even though she does not do it consciously. Researching in her background really caused me to pity and admire her for her strength and courage, and this perception of her made me realize that I sympathize with her more that I disliked her for the way she treated her daughter, because that was just how it was in those days, the rules of tradition were harsh.

Zandile! (Finally....lol)

Omg I didn't realise that Priscilla had blogged so much! And I hadn't even touched the blog at all. Whoa.
I AM SO SORRY!!! Okay, cut the personal comments :x

ZANDILE
Character analysis:
I AM A CHILD.

Age: 12 (basically young)

Background information: Lives with GRANDMOTHER in Durban.

Durban:
- third most populous city in South Africa
- largest city in KwaZulu-Natal and is famous as the busiest port in Africa.
- also a major centre of tourism due to the city's warm subtropical climate and beaches.
- 1970s, Durban provided ample tourist attractions, particularly for people on holiday from Johannesburg.
- mild subtropical climate with warm wet summers and mild moist to dry winters, which are frost-free.
- 63.04 percent of Durban residents speak Zulu at home, 29.96 percent speak English (roughly representing the Indian, Coloured and White populations), 3.43 percent speak Xhosa, 1.44 percent speak Afrikaans, 0.7 percent speak Sotho, 0.2 percent speak Ndebele, 0.1 percent speaks Northern Sotho, and 0.93 percent of the population speaks a non-official language at home
- 10.0 percent of residents aged 20 and over have received no schooling, 13.3 percent have had some primary school, 5.7 percent have completed only primary school, 34.6 percent have had some high school education, 26.8 percent have finished only high school, and 9.6 percent have an education higher than the high school level.

Captured by natural mother, LULAMA, and expected to conform to the ways of life in the harsh, rural Transkei homeland

Transkei:
- is a region situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
- The main language is isiXhosa , which has distinctive click consonants.
- has not been invaded by large hotel chains or any of the Westernized luxuries found elsewhere in South Africa and is especially attractive to tourists who seek an "African experience".
- For much of the 20th century, many black male farmers in the Transkei were forced by punitive taxes levied only on Africans, known as poll taxes, to head north by train to work under contracts underground in Johannesburg's gold mines.
- Migrant labour has continued to shape the Transkei ever since.

Lifetime objective: "I want to get back to Durban to find GRANDMOTHER, GOGO!"
"I want to be a teacher!"

Personality:
Bright child full of dreams and hopes!
Curious about the world, full of questions (In script, she said lots of "but"s)
Stubborn; wants things to go according to her will
Determined, strong character (she finally got to her grandmother in the end)
Optimistic (her child innocence allowed her to think positively!)
Lively (kid element)
Carefree (she is still young)
Impulsive (acts and responds immediately; the first feeling she gets)
Real [is there a better word? -.-] (doesn't hide emotions; kid element!)
Excitable (kid element)
Restless (cannot just sit and listen)
Active (kid element)
Responsive (responds to everything around her)

Creative Process Write-up

1. DV/Concept:

What is the purpose of my scene?
-Show audience in Singapore how fortunate they are to live in this century and in this country
(target audience: youths in S'pore; 12 & above)
-Show how 3rd world countries operated in terms of marriage, education, traditions and how they faced poverty
= Compared against S'pore

How do I want my character to be presented to the audience to show this purpose?
- My stubbornness and determination must be shown clearly.
- Zandile must be strong in believing that she'll be a teacher (her dreams)
= Can see how badly she got put down by Lulama repeatedly (no support from her)
= Show that Zandile has no freedom to even dream; her life is totally controlled by her mum

What will the audience feel or think of my character?
-Evoke their sympathy for Zandile as Zandile has no support from Lulama
-> They'll feel that Zandile's just a child and need not to be put down so harshly
-They'll think that a child ought to have dreams so Zandile's not wrong in dreaming about being a teacher!
-Admire the pure emotions from Zandile and her strong determination

2. Performance theory/ History of tradition

To which genre or period does my performance belong?
1960s
(Needs to find out more about e genre!!!)

How is it different/similar to contemporary realism?
I think it's SIMILAR right? We've yet to really discussed about this! My views...
As it is set in 1960s, it's quite close to modern context. The ideas that modern plays are trying to present are quite similar to ours. Most are about viewing the world in another perspective, getting values about life and the world from the play etc. Plays nowadays are about learning something from it, not just pure entertainment (I guess so!) So I think we're similar to that in that way... Discuss more on this!!!

Which acting techniques or theories am I using to build my character?
Stanislavski. (Will elaborate further soon)

Have I used relevant quotes, ideas, visuals, etc. to help me build my character?
Visuals. (Will figure out more about this...)

3. Evaluation of Creative Process

Did I need to train to meet specific character needs or styles of acting?
- Observe and imply into character.
- Zandile = Kid. Therefore, I observe the kids around me in church. The way the respond, talk, walk etc.

Where were the turning points in my creative process?
(Discussion in process.......)

What insights made my performance take a different route or evolve into something better?
(Discussion in process.......)

Can I explain every single creative choice, from acting to costume to setting?
Acting: Looking at the character, I did what fits best. Some actions are according to script given.
Costume: Based on research done on their clothes in Africa~
Setting: Research on type of grass.
Own imagination of the space according to limitations of Bbox too.
References from the play about the field.

Today was kinda productive! :D I think we need to rediscuss points in part 2. and 3.!!! Deadline coming soon.............................
Let's jiayou for it! I'll try my best okay okay okay! Though you're more hardworking than me T_T!

Rachelboo :D

LULAMA's past...

Ok.. so i finally got it straight..
This is a very very usefull link!!!!

http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=yDIhriJtyScC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=gcina+mhlophe+have+you+seen+zandile&source=bl&ots=Wp3rz6jHoG&sig=L4cFGgva-q32VFL8J2PR-wTP5Vg&hl=en&ei=5tgISpHmIIeMkAWPvuywCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA169,M1

married first husband when I was 16...

moved from my hometown in Transkei to Durban...

Husband went to find work in the city.. suddenly disappeared and stopped sending money home.

I left daughter with mother in law and went back to my homeland to start afresh...

Married again when i was 18 and had 4 children by the time i was 22 , husband injured in an accident...so i had to go work in Durban..

Saw Zandile and just HAD to take her with me..

Went back to Transkei (a diff region) and from there i work to send back money to the family.. and also live and support Zandile....

Lulama

CHARACTER ANALYSIS-

Some background about the situation of Africa and the women there-

The women's stories reflect great strength and courage in keeping their families going and serving their community. The two eldest women had very different life experiences. For one woman there were childhood influences that opened up educational and other life opportunities and a way out of poverty. The other woman experienced early widowhood and the loss of her cattle. She accepted a life of poverty and saw no change possible in her lifetime. However, even with poverty and deprivation, there was a will to live and habits of survival that offered hope.

(The stuff in red are some of the characteristics and difficulties that my character has gone through.)

She is a strong willed, determined, 'nevr give up' kind of woman.
She married at a very young age, but her husband went away, like many of the men in those times, migarting from place to place in search of work and a better life. Thus, she had to take on the role as head of the house and take care of her children all by herself.

EXTRACT- Furthermore, many rural African women were without husbands for long periods, since the latter served as migrant labourers in cities. Their prolonged absence left the women to fend for themselves and their children. Many of these migrant husbands simply stopped sending money home or earned too little to be able to afford doing so. This, together with the landlessness and joblessness of the homeland system, forced many African women to make their own decisions about family maintenance and reproduction.

Her husband was propbably one of the men who had gone out to seek work, and then never came back. Thus putting her in a situation where she had to fend for herself.

She then married a second man, I am not sure of why. The reason could be anything, but one manages to fit into the situation the best. Maybe there was another man in the village who wanted her after her husband left her. After all, throught the play she does go yapping on and in about ones husband choosing you, not the other way around. It seems ironic that even though she is a strong willed and independant, she submits to the age old tradition of submitting to ones husband! That just goes to show how uneducated and traditionally influenced she really is.

Her second husband turned out to be a good for nothing. So she had to be the 'man of the family' and go to Durban to work. Durban, even in that time was a city, with quite a few oppertunities to work and earn money in. Why her 2nd husband could not work... Hmmm, mystery to me!! Too lazy? disabled?

USEFULL URL's-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCLSAYWMptc

http://db.jhuccp.org/ics-wpd/exec/icswppro.dll?BU=http://db.jhuccp.org/ics-wpd/exec/icswppro.dll&QF0=DocNo&QI0=114057&TN=Popline&AC=QBE_QUERY&MR=30%25DL=1&&RL=1&&RF=LongRecordDisplay&DF=LongRecordDisplay

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000104/page2.php

LOCATION-

The white area is Transkei, the region where the mother was from.

The Transkei has many rivers flowing from the mountains to the oceans, so unlike much of South Africa, it is relatively unscathed by drought.

The main language is isiXhosa, which has distinctive click consonants.

The time the play is set in, is in the 60s, and thus the state was still under the Souith African government, only gaining independance from it in 1976.

The climate of both Durban and Transkei are about the same since they are locvated in rel;atively the same region. An Average temperatre between 23 to 28 all year round. Thus the clothes of the people aren't that thin, but neither are they too thick.

As you can seee, Durban is located outside Transeki's borders, a little to its North.. Beter pick of Durban follows-




Yup, thats where Durban is located, right at the bottom of Africa, along the coast. It is a very very furtile place, with most people involved in agriculture.

Set, Costume, Light

Yeah.. so today we had a real short but very productive session...

We manage to finalize our set, and also discussed about the possibliities of the light needed for the play and the costumes.

SET- We will keep the same three rows of hay with a middle partation. something like-

___________ ________ ____________

l SAND l

___________ l_______ l ____________

____________ ____________

Yeah, the middle portion that says sand is going to consist of a tray with sand on it, on which my dearest daughetr will scribble out a letter to her grandmother.

The three rows of hay will be made by using brown paper, plasticine (donno how to spell it) and and Hay. They will be about 2 meters long?

LIGHT-

The script requires us to 'cut' the grass and talk at the same time. Thus, we will be looking down alot. We are considering using lights from the bottom, so that our faces can be properly lit up. Other than that, the light from on top should be relatively the same, lighting up the setting evenly, maybe a spot light on each of us. Nearing the ending of teh script, we will be using a red and orange light to signify the setting sun.

COSTUMES-

Lulama-

- A long skirt, a rap around.(something like the one you see on top)

- A shirt, yet not a shirt that you wear now a days...

- A shawl that will cover the shirt.

- A head kind of turban thing.

Zandile-

- Long wrap around skirt

- She will probably have to wear a shirt that has a traditional patern on it since she does not have a shawl to cover it. I have a poncho with a pattern like that, so we can tuck in a little bit here and there to make it look like a shirt.

- No shawl

- A head turban thing that is smaller than the mothers.

THE SCRIPT!!:O

HAVE YOU SEEN ZANDILE?

LULAMA Uphi Zandile? Where are you? What are you doing? It’s getting late and you must still cut more grass.

ZANDILE Hawu Mama, I’m afraid of the mice.

LULAMA What are they going to do? Are they going to eat you up? [Sees the letter] And what is this… this child is full of dreams.
[She rubs the letter out with her feet. Zandile and Lulama mime cutting grass with sickle. Lulama looks up at Zandile] Zandile bend lower. You must cut the grass at the bottom
.
ZANDILE The grass is cutting my hands Mama.

LULAMA I don’t know what to do with this child now.

ZANDILE And you don’t know what to do with me.

LULAMA I want you to grow up and be a strong woman and…

ZANDILE I’m going to be a teacher.

LULAMA Not here. You have to work outside here, where the men can see you.

ZANDILE Men can see me if I teach.

LULAMA Where are you going to teach here? Are you going to teach the goats? Sit down. I want to talk to you. What are you doing?

ZANDILE [Mumbles, scratching her left leg] The grass is itchy Mama.

LULAMA …In a few years you have to be married. Who do you think is going o marry if you can’t do a woman’s work?

ZANDILE I’m not going to get married. I am very good at school.

LULAMA… Zandile, listen to me. I was talking to Matshezi the other day. Do you know her son?

ZANDILE Yebo Mama.

LULAMA His family wants you.

ZANDILE But I don’t want him.

LULAMA What do you mean you don’t want him? His uncle has the richest family in the whole village. He could have chosen any girl in the village and he choose you. That’s how I got married as well. You must have you own house.

ZANDILE But I don’t like him. He’s got all these ugly scars on his face.

LULAMA But that’s our tradition…Life is different here. No time for rest- just work. If you learn that then you will make a good wife for Matshezi’s son.

ZANDILE I don’t know why you took me from Gogo, if you are just going to give me away to Matshezi’s son.

LULAMA Zandile I took you away because you are my child.

ZANDILE But you don’t even let me visit grandmother.

LULAMA I cant because if I let you go there, you will never come back again. I know you were happy there, I saw you that night.

ZANDILE You saw me Mama?

LULAMA Yes, when I went to visit your grandmother in Durban. [Sits] I wanted to take you then, but I knew Gogo would never let you go, after all those years, you had become her child.

ZANDILE But you shouldn’t have stolen me.

LULAMA How else was I going to get you? Wait till you have a child, you’ll know what I’ve been going through all these years. How do you think it feels to know that your child doesn’t even know you exist?

ZANDILE … Why are you in such a hurry to give me away, if you missed me so much?

LULAMA But that’s our tradition. It was the same when I got married. By the time I was 22, I already had four children.

ZANDILE But I don’t even like him.

LULAMA You don’t have to like him, he has to like you. Do you think I was happy with my husband? But he chose me. I had to stay married top him.

ZANDILE But he left you.

LULAMA Its easy for men to go.

ZANDILE And you also left me all those years.

LUOLAMA I left you because I had to. Do you think my husband would have accepted you? He would have killed me if I had come to his home with another man’s child. My going to find work in Durban was bad enough- even though he knew I was forced to because he was not brining us any money…1958…[pause] That was a difficult time for me. Then something happened, I bumped into an old friend that I grew up with here. Dudu looks so happy and beautiful and I could see that she had a good job.

ZANDILE She was a teacher?

LULAMA No, she was a singer with a successful group called ‘Mtateni Queens”, and one of their singers had just left the band, so Dudu asked me if I would like to join the group.

ZANDILE [Holding back laughter] Haai bo wean!

LULAMA Yes, before Duddu left here we used to sing together for all the weddings, we were quite famous around here. There would never be a wedding without us singing.

[Does a bit of the wedding song]

ZANDILE I wish I could have seen that.

LULAMA I thought I could earn better money, but it was hard work.

ZANDILE Harder work than here?

LULAMA [Laughs] Oho! Much harder and I had to send my money back to Transkei for the children.

ZANDILE Why did you stay then?

LULAMA I stayed, hoping for better things to come, but they didn’t. That’s why I have learnt not to live on hopes, that is why I am teaching you to work. The sun is going down, its time to cook supper. Run and start the fire, Ill call you back when the bundles are ready.

As Lulama mimes gathering the bundles, she starts to sing the same wedding song. As she picks up the last bundle, she stands and arches her back, and tries to rub away the pain.

SET.....:O!!!! -Priscilla

Yeah,,.. so costumes and scrupt and characterization aside, we moved on to the props that we would need. And well, had to do more research on what we could use.

Our scene is in a field, where Zandile is seen cutting grass.

PROBLEM 1- What kind of grass is found in AFRICA??!!

SOLUTION- Reaserch that brought me the pics up there.

PROBLEM 2- Where in the world do you find that kind of grass in Singapore!

SOLUTION- Buy it from a furniture shop? Fake OBV, or else it will rot!!!

PROBLEM 3- How do we get the grass to stand?? Afetr all, we are going to 'cut' it right??

SOLUTION- I forgot what it was called. but were suing some brown,. claty like chemical thing so we can press the grass into that and then proceed to 'cut' it out.

PROBLEM4- There was a part where i had to erase something that Zandile had written in teh sand. Thats right, SAND!!!

SOLUTION- So we decided to bring in a big tray, fill it with sand and then use it. SOLVED!!!

There are lots more to come i am sure, will scan the stage layout as well as the movemnet and blocking of the play this weekend.. when i go home..:D

PROPS? SET??!!! -Priscilla

AFRICA!!!! AWESOME COUNTRY!!!!!! right.. but NOT so awesome when you have to find the clothes, grass and about the culture and songs of that place...

Yes, that is what we had to do next...

I went to the library, and looked into the arts students sections, about dyes and prints,. An di found some stuff about African dyes and designs. Dyiong however will be difficult for us, so we will have to search the whole of Singapore for the right clothes... Managed to get the desings of teh clothes though, and also what was required of that tribe, as well as the difference between the younger and older generation. Here are some of the patterns-

Sorry, the pictures are all over the place.. i suck at stuff when it comes to blogging,.,. sorry...

but the imp part is that you can see the pics..:D right??

ok.. so that was what we planned for costumes..

SCRIPT!!!!!:O:O

Hey hey..
1st entry..
Well the 1st thing we had to do was to obviously get a script... So we did so..
We looked thropigh a couple of books, and i handed over some scripts to Rachel that i thought were ok and ineteresting.
Then, she looked through them and picked out one- "Have you seen Zandile?"
Its basicaly based on a real life story of Gcina Mhlophe, who was famous writer in Britain, who was brought up in Africa.
The 1st problem that we tackled was which one of us would take upo which character. Since we wanted to chakllenge ourselves,. we asked people to listen to uis line read and then tell us which characetr they though was the closest to us. According to feedback, we switched characetrs, thus making sure that both of us were challeneged to play roles that were more like the other person.

The rebel, the daughter, Zandile seemed to represent me, since she was rebellious, a teenager and also mopre educated than her mother.
The mother, Lulama meanwhile was not as educated, loving in a harsh yet at the same time kind way and was also trying to persuade her rebellious daughter. Since she was 'motherly', the part suited Rachel more.
SO, the result- I took on Lulama, and Rachel took on Zandile.