Exams and Solo Productions. . . .OVER!

Linking into this journal > > > http://www.theatre.asn.au/blog/tari_xalyr/exams_and_solo_productions_etc < < < THERE! Okay so my TEE practical drama exam was on Thursday just gone and I think it went well. Exam layout is as follows: - Enter exam room - 60secs to prepare - Original solo production (7mins in length) - 30 seconds to prepare - Improvisation - (2mins in length) - 30 seconds to prepare - Scripted Monologue (3mins in length) - Oral interview (up to 3 questions) - Leave exam room - leave vacinity. Other info: - Space = 4m by 3m - One deski and one chair provided - Tech assistant must remain silent throughout solo an dleave immediately afterwards. - Only bring in as much as you alone can carry. So probably the most intense 20-ish minutes of my life to date. lol. But it went well. The examiners were friendly enough and attempted to make you as compfortable as possible without going beyond professional. I "sat" my exam at Penrhos. (And didn't get lost!! :lol:) Anyhooz. My OSP "The Story-Keeper" - I have a funny feeling I was only just in the time frame because of nerves I sped a few sections up and because my timing was all over the place all Wednesday I cannot be definately sure. It's just a gut feeling. But it went well other then those two parts. One of the better performances of this piece. Nerves also made it harder to keep a steady breath so I know as the pice moved on I was running out of air - it's a fairly physical piece but the nerves added to the problem and the room was really hot (it was hot that day anyway) and there were no windows or vents etc for air circulation which added to my problems (in particular during my monologue. My improvisation was okay. I was asked to play my character of Jennifer on her 12th birthday opening up her presents. I had 2mins to d this in but I filled it without reaching my climax - I was so close to it but I think it was evident enough what I was going to do. My Monologue - Mary Warren - The dress I changed into had a 3m skirt! It was pure cotton and heavy but the heat in the room! OMG! It was so bad I've never had that much trouble with it. I was sweating because the heat mixed with the heavy dress. Eeeee! I'm not sure about the timing on this piece but generally it's within the time limits when I perform it so i'm not too worried. What I didn't do too well was the opening. It's a strong emotional opening when she runs into the space screaming and wailing. I began on the wrong side of the stage so I had to rework the piece to get the person I was talking to onto the other side so it would stop confusing me - but I managed to get "John" to move from one side to the other without it looking odd. My interview was all about my OSP which I think may be really good or really bad - i'm leaning to the first one. lol. The concept of the piece is hard enough to grasp and the questions they asked had no clarification as to the content of the piece needed to answer it. I was asked first how I conceived the idea which was a pretty easy question - although in hindsight I now know what I could have added but isn't that always the way? And the second question was why I chose to present it in this particular style - realism. Which in the exam I answered quite well I think but again I know now what I could have added. Overall - beside the heat issue - I think it went quite well. It's the beginning of the end! At last! Sad though - I'm not going to pull these characters out again. They're sitting in my costume box under my bed - with copies of their scripts and props. I am hoping beyond hope I will be able to play more with my OSP and expand it to incorporate all that I've mentioned in the piece. So 50% of mt TEE Drama exam is done. Good luck to those who are doing their exams next week! And congrat's to those who survived them this week. It has begun! *insert dramatic music please* ~ Tari