Drama Coursework Essay

The main reason I chose this extract was that there were twain female parts in the extract and two female actors in the group. I liked the way the kindred between the two characters essential during the extract. At the beginning of the play, there is a professional, instead friendly relationship but by the end, two characters hate each other. I as well liked the way my character, Mrs Lyons, descends into madness.When I first started to rehearse this play, I embed that it was harder than I expected. This is the first serious play I have been pertain in, so I found it hard to say the lines convincingly and naturally.I suggested that I should dress down with a to a greater extent ameliorate voice and that my partner, Becky, should talk with a more common voice to emphasise the social dispute between the two characters. I also suggested nigh ideas for what we should wear.In my coursework I wanted to present a convincing portrayal of a wealthy, educated woman who, faced with a extremely distressing, seemingly insurmountable private problem, sees what purports like a perfect solution, but which ends up driving her to madness. I wanted to initially gain the audiences sympathy for her dilemma by showing how much she wanted children and to show her as a reasonable person.I considered the second scene the most important as this was when my character discovered that her employee was expecting twins and couldnt afford to keep them both and when the plan for Mrs Lyons to pretend to be pregnant and to keep iodine of the babies was hatched. In this scene, she promises Mrs Johnstone that the small fry will be better cancelled with her, and that Mrs Johnstone will be able to see him every day as she comes to work. However, in the beside scene, she breaks that promise by expiration her. I wanted to show that the sacking was motivated by Mrs Johnstones paranoia. In the final scene I wanted to demonstrate that my characters mental health had deteriorated.I tr ied to portray that she was wealthy and educated was by talking in an upper-class, educated accent, and by dressing in a smart suit. I could have improved my performance by making my accent more pronounced, doing my hair in a more sophisticated way, and wearing slightly tasteful make-up.In the first scene I tried to express her longing for a child by delivering the words as if I was completely wrapped up in my problem and as if I was talking to myself rather than anyone in particular. To demonstrate this, when I said the lines virtually only buying such a big house in the hope of having children, I looked down at the table rather than looking at my partner because I wanted to make it seem as if Mrs Lyons felt vulnerable because she was being so open.I concentrated on what I was doing at the time, which was getting something out of my bag, to try and convey that my character was fighting back tears, and didnt want to look at Mrs Johnstone in case she showed her any sympathy or pi ty, which might have do her cry. I think I could have emphasised my characters reaction when she found out that Mrs Johnstone was pregnant in a homogeneous way to Kara when she choked back her tea.In the second scene I wanted to show the first signs of my characters madness, when, on instruction that Mrs Johnstone is expecting twins, she comes up with the extraordinary idea that she should fake her pregnancy and take one of the babies. I tried to express how she got more excited by discourse more quickly and by the tone of my voice. I also travel around a lot and started to talk more to myself than to my partner as my character got more carried away with her plan.In the third scene, where Mrs Lyons sacks Mrs Johnstone, I started off talking in a very authoritative tone and avoided pump contact with Becky because the supply teacher explained that when you have a problem with someone, you wear outt look at them. As the conversation develops, and Mrs Johnstone threatens to take t he baby away or tell the police, I wanted to show that Mrs Lyons was manipulating Mrs Johnstone by playing on her superstition and lying to her that shell be locked up if she tells anyone what happens. I showed this by getting close up to Becky and talking quite tardily and with a deep voice, in a threatening way. Because I am quite a bit taller than Becky, I was also able to look down on her, which reflected the difference in class between the two characters.I think it was a mistake to avoid mannerisms as compared to some other groups, whose little individual touches made their plays stand out, our performance was quite boring.