Self-examination from the rehearsal

We have applied the elements in the story Little Red Riding Hood into the play of the peasant girl. The novelty of showing this topic with the proper performance can be relatively easy to notice. The aim of our group is to show the how fairy tales all share some universal plots to some extent and  how fairy tales are usually differ from the real life situation. All the characters in the Little Red Riding Hood are symbolized in our play （Papa Ge as wolf, Ti Moune as little red riding hood and Daniel as Grandma） except the Hunter, who supposes to save “Ti Moune” and “Daniel”. In our play, the love between Daniel and Ti Moune is eventually defeated by reality even with the help from the god, Erzulie.

From today’s rehearsal, I find out there are especially two  parts where I should focus to work on with other group member.  First one is the start of first scene where Daniel is suffering from pain and Ti Moune is trying to comfort him. Olivia and I both need to have more confidence and be more “professional” because we really need to show how Ti Moune can actually let Daniel feel that she is the one who is different and can give him hope. I do admit when I perform this part i just want to muddle through the part where Ti Moune should hug Daniel and let him lay down. For future performance, Olivia should really hug me with emotions and I should show the relief I feel under her arms.  Second part is when Papa Ge controls Daniel, I suppose to make some certain actions simultaneously when Leo says certain lines, but in the rehearsal, my actions are always slower than his lines. We need to practise more on that and try to find a pace that we can both agree upon. Other small details in the play are not clear or being realistic. For instance, I did not show the confusion when Papa Ge no longer possesses Daniel and I the shift of focus to Andrea is a little bit abrupt.  I need to work more on this and let the change from confusion of current situation to obsession with Andrea be viewed more natural by the audiences.

The later part of the play is where I feel much more comfortable with. I am quite pleased with the emotions and movement that I put into my performance with Andrea and Ti Moune. I show the love to Andrea and the reluctance to let Ti Moune go because of Andrea’s willingness to keep Ti Moune as a people, more like a pet,  who can humor them. Besides, I am satisfied that I can recite my lines without any hesitation and know exactly when all the other group members’ lines end now. In this rehearsal, I truly see the effort of all of our group members to make a better performance than before.