Shakespeare in da house evaluation

My overall performance for the Shakespeare in da house project was a great experience the idea to try something new and to get out of your comfort zone was very interesting. When I first heard about the Shakespeare in da house project I was a bit sceptic to how it works but it went great and everything worked out.

We performed on in people houses which was the main purpose of the project but we always performed it in the theatre also went to Ipswich and performed there. My performance at Jamie’s house was fun and engaging, me and Jireh had to adapt our scene a little to make it worked but because we always used to rehearse in a big space and Jamie’s living was smaller than the space we normally rehearsed but we still had enough space for everything else to go as plan.
Also performing at Jamie’s house was interesting because during our scene there is a part where I start hitting Jireh with a newspaper and Jamie had a dog so when we done that scene his dog got sacred and stared barking but me and Jireh didn't lose focus and stayed in character. We kept the moment and proceeded with the scene; we didn't lose the chemistry and stayed attentive to what was happening around us.

Finally our performance was funny and interesting to watch because of our knowledge of the scene, we did our research about the play and scene and look at many different interpretations of it done but different actors in different styles. From looking at many different versions of it we then decided how we were going create our own diverse scene which included changing and redoing the scene until we felt it suited the script and the audience. We tried to make our performance comedic because it was a comedy play but not too comedic then it would look over the top and unrealistic so as well as making our scene enjoyable for the audience to watch we also made it look naturalistic.

While working on our scene we also had some draw backs for examples while researching about our scene we found how that it was to do with two sets of twins both separated when they were young and in this scene they were all together but because they didn't remember each other. At first it was a bit of a challenge to get your head around but once you got it everything made sense, so our job was to find a way how we were going to portray to the audience that there was a mix up with the twins and the whole confusion is because of mistaken identity. Watching the scene at first glance you won’t understand what’s happening unless you knew some background information about the play and scene, our solution was that before we began the scene we briefly gave the audience a little insight about the scene so that they have some understanding of what’s happening and can pick up as the scene goes on.

Some minor problems we also faced was how to direct the scene but Rob helped us out by giving us some ideas on what to do, like with the part where I needed to hit Jireh we were thinking how should present it, some examples we came up with was for me to slap him or use a prop like a fake baton etc. In the end we decided on me using a rolled up newspaper to hit him which got a great reaction from the audience when we performed it.

Personally I thought I performed well but there are also some improvements I could make such as  being louder at some parts because watching back the video of me performing I felt that at the times where I was meant to be louder I wasn't. For example there’s a part where I have to do a stage whisper and I felt that I could have gave it more work and practice it more than I done.
Another improvement I would make is that I would think more about costumes for my character because that’s one part I didn't pay much attention to and I that it could have enhanced my character more for example status and what kind of person he is.