First Collaborative Reflection

In the beginning of this process my group, me, Caroline, and Helena started by doing different exercises to explore our stimulus. Our stimulus was the song “Just a Dream” by Carrie Underwood. This song is about a newlywed couple starting their life together. The husband eventually decides to go into the military and leaves the wife alone. He dies in combat and the wife is now a widow. After we decided on the stimulus we did improv exercises to explore possible topics as well as a lighting exercise. After we did this we wrote a general outline of the major plot points that we want to hit during our performance. We have also outlined what lighting we want to try for each scene. This week we wrote the script for out first scene and rehearsed it three times. Each time we tried to make sure there were changes in emotion at certain crucial points. We also changed the placement of props and set pieces to make the scene more natural. My contribution was helping to write the script and lighting cues. I researched lighting in my chapter of the Tectonic Theater book, so I was able to contribute a lot regarding the different types of lighting I learned about. I am also not in the first scene so I was able to watch it and give suggestions on how we can make it more intense while keeping the conversation natural. 

Trying a variety of things has been working well for us. We have been writing lines and then trying them out to see if they flowed naturally. In addition we have been trying different arrangements of props on stage to ensure that where we are on the stage makes sense. Something that needs more clarity is the plot. I think that we need to clarify sooner what our narrative is about. We can do this by changing the script, or the emotions that we are conveying on stage. From here I would like to keep working on the script and developing the more specific points of our plot. We also need to work on the lighting and sound. We have not decided what sounds we want yet or even if we want any sound. We are considering using gunshot noises to illustrate a time when one of our characters, Sophia was in the military. We also might use soft, calming music to illustrate that one of our characters is going to sleep.