Performance Unit 2

Character 

In the radio play I am Lauren and Lauren friend's is Emmanuale. Susan is the narrator and music is made by Patrick.


The radio play script is about Lauren who is a teenage girl studying at school. She alway uses Facebook and has many friends on it. She likes one guy on Facebook and trusts him so much that she goes to meet him. The radio play shows what happens to her.


Lauren is normally a light-hearted, stubborn and carefree girl.  She lives in London with her parents and she has one brother. Lauren is tall and slim, has large brown eyes and long, black hair. Lauren is studying creative media at school and she is enjoying her course. Her hobbies are using the computer and making friends on Facebook.

Aims of a performance

What is the theme of the piece?


It is about a young girl using a Facebook and the dangers of it.


Why did we choose the theme?


We chose the theme because Facebook is very popular with young people.


Who is it for?


It is for teenagers and school children.


What do we want our piece to do?


We want our piece to educate and entertain.


What style(s) of performance will we use?


The performance will be a radio play.


What are the dramatic possibilities of the piece? (E.g. for plot and character development, staging.)

The beginnings of performance

Blue music


Started by African American communities in the deep south in the USA at the end of the 19 century. Blue music generally means sadness. The first true blues song ever published was "Dallas Blues", written by Hart A. Wand.
Early examples of the artists were in 1918 Wilbur Sweatman's Jazz Band, 1920 Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra and 1925 Fred Hall's Sugar Babies.

A minor pentatonic scale;  play (help·info)

Melodrama

The word Melodrama joins together Melody from Greek meaning 'song' and drama meaning 'action'. Beginning in the 18 century it  brought together music and action. You know by the music if a character was the hero, villain and comedy.
Early examples:
18 Century
J. E. Eberlin's Latin school play Sigismundus (1753) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Pygmalion with music by Horace Coignet (1770)
19 Century
Operetta, incidental music and salon entertainment used were Melodrama.


Morality Plays


It is thought that the Dominican and Franciscan orders of Christian monks developed the morality play in the 13th century. They added actors and theatrical elements to their sermons. They did this to help the people understnd the message of their sermons more easily. The Morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. the idea is that they educate their audiences through entertainment.The plays were most popular in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries.Morality Plays, such as 'Everyman', flourished in the 15th Century. Morality Plays are known for their mobility because they can be performed almost anywhere. They do not need a stage or many props.The main theme of the morality play is this: Man starts off as innocent, he then falls into temptation, he then is sorry for his sins and is eventually saved.


Classical Ballet


Classical ballet is the oldest and most formal of the ballet styles, it is the traditional ballet technique. It is the ballet of the Russians.Italians and french. Classical ballet is best known for its unique features and techniques. The classical style based on the turn out, the five positions of the feet, pointe work and technique of beats, turns, elevation, and extension. The art of Ballet can trace its origins to the early seventeenth century, when dancers performed to entertain audiences between scenes of an opera. Formal ballet requires a particular style of dress. Tutus are traditional and when agirl is about 12 years of age she can progress to 'en pointe'. Examples of classical ballets are Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.


Ragtime Music


Ragtime music started in America was most popular between 1897 and 1918. It is began as a dance music in the red- light districts of cities like St. Louis and New Orleans before becoming sheet music for the piano. The ragtime composer Scott Joplin became famous for "Maple Leaf Rag" and other hit songs. After 1917 its became less popular but there was a revival in the 1950s and again in 1971 when Scott Joplins work was published in a compilation of songs.


Sattriya Dance


Sattriya dance is a one of eight principal classical Indian dance traditions. It was created in 15 century Assam by Srimanta Sankardeva to be performed with one act plays in the 'sattras' (Assam monasteries). The dance developed in its own from and it became more widely recognised. It became a way of representing mythological stories. Today it is performed on the stage by all men and women and for different themes. 


Lindy Hop


The lindy hop is the based on Charleston dance and it gets its named form Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing in 1927. It envolved in black communities of Harlem, New York in the 1920s/30 it is a mix of different type of dance for example jazz, tap, breakaway and charleston. Some of the people involved at the beginning were "Shorty" George Snowden and Leroy Stretch Jones.


Restoration Comedy


They were known as the first english comedies written and performed in the restoration period from 1660 to 1710.
Early Examples
George Eltherege, The Comical Revenge (1664), She Would if She Could (1668), The Man of Mode (1676) and William Wycherley, The Country Wife (1675).
Companies involved at the beginning were the King's Company and the Duke's Company led by Thomas Killigrew and William Davenant.


1980s alternative comedy


Alternative comedy is started in United Kingdom in 1980s and it is a type comedy. It is style of comdies it's different from other mainstream comedies. Alternative comedies might include observation humours jokes about daily life and political satire, commentary on politions.
Early example are 'Ben Elton' who was leading figure in alternative comedy. His must well known show was 'Saturday Live' which 'Friday Night Live'. He went on to 'The Ben Elton' show (1993) and other people involved at the beginning  Rick Mayalll and Adrian Edmondson and Rowan Atkinson they all started Blackadder television shows.


Punk Rock


Punk rock is a rock music whhich began between 1974-76 in USA, UK and Australia. It was a fast-edges music aways such as Sex Pistols and The Clash were well known for this type of group. The Sex Pistols are Englsh punk rock band members of the band included Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones. Their single God save the queen it was very controversial. 

The beginning of the performance scene

Firstly, Emmanuale wrote the script of radio play. Then the other member of group read the script. The group member start rehearsing the script to check the script lines are in correct sentences before we do our first performance in the studio. The group members found mistakes on the script of radio play then we made some correction and after that we start rehearsing in the music studio.

The beginning of the radio play, there is title of the story and after that there is an introduction of group members particular roles which is done by the narrator. Then, the narrator start reading the script line until the other group members dialogues begins.     

Evaluate the recorded performance.

 In our first performance, the group members did some rehearsal for the radio play script in the music studio. The group members who were characters in the radio play script their main focus was to improve their vocal acting because when we were doing our dialoges it didn't catch up as we expected. So, we were given some advice from the music tutor.

The main problem in our group was fixing the background music on the computer because the background music was not working in the beginning and the end of the story. The background music due to problem in the computer system.

As for sound effects there were problem in continuing the sound effects with the dialogues.

History of Radio Play 

Radio play is telling the story of the play on the radio. You cannot see anything the listeners have to imagine the story through the dialogue, music and sound effects. Radio plays started in America in the early 1920s when networks began adapting short stories, and even writing original scripts, for broadcast. One of the early examples of American radio drama in 1920s and 1930s was 'The Eveready Hour' by Freeman Gasde and Charles Correll. It was heard on WEAF radio in New York and was the first radio sponsored network programme. 


During the 1930-31 season, the comedy dramatic form became an important part of radio programming, when Amos 'n' Andy adopted a story line. This show was so popular that it survived even into the TV era. In the early 1930's advertising became important and advertisers began to buy air-time and sponsor programs. As the result of advertising they made lots of different programmes, for example, dramatized news programmes, programmes built around a comedian, advice/interview programmes, amateur contest programmes, town meeting programmes, daily network news programmes, daytime "soap opera" etc.
During the 2nd world war there were more news and human interest programmes and during this time evening dramatic programmes grew more and more popular.


Between 1944-45 there were 8 hours of comedy variety, 8 hours of comedy drama programmes, and 14 hours of thriller drama each week and at the end of this time networks offered 47 hours a week of dramatic programmes during the evening and on Sunday. Thriller drama programmes counted for about 25 hours of these each week. Some of the successful radio plays went on to TV, for example, Gunsmoke was a successful western drama and was one among several that could be heard on radio and seen on TV. Suspense, radio's longest running thriller series, was another.