1) What character were you playing and how did you try to portray this character to the audience? (how did you want the audience to think of your character?)
I was chosen to play the character of Iago. Iago spends all of his time plotting against Othello and Desdemona, eventually convincing Othello that his wife has been cheating, despite the fact that Desdemona has been completely faithful. Iago's capacity for cruelty seems limitless, and no motivation he gives for his actions seems enough to explain the incredible destruction he wreaks on the lives of the people he knows best. when portraying Iago, I ensured to show his demise through subtle aggravated body language; this included tapping of the feet, rolling of the yes - any slight body movements that would show how fed up Iago was of Roderigo. with regards to playing Iago I obviously faced some challenges as evidently I am a girl. I was required to lower my voice, change my body language. I occasionally would be to girly, in which I corrected myself by looking at videos and comments as inspiration.
I wanted my audience to view Iago as a sympathetic character at the start of the act, however then come to realise how creepy evil he truly is. I did this by raising my voice gradually through the act intensifying the performance along with melo-dramatizing my body language more and more.
2) Was there a part of your scene that you thought was the most effective? or a line that you think you delivered well? (explain and describe)
I think the most effective part in our scene was my monologue to Roderigo telling him what to do. If felt like this was the essence of the whole scene and play as it is where Iago is actually explaining his plan to both Roderigo and the audience. This is don’t through lines such as "So let’s join forces and get revenge. If you seduce Desdemona and make a fool out of him, it’ll be fun for both of us. Many things may happen." and "I’ve told you I’m your friend, and I will stick by you. I’ve never been more useful to you than I will be now."
3) What was the greatest challenge for you in this task? how did you overcome it?
I felt like my biggest challenge throughout this task, was how was I, a female, going to play the role of Iago, a male. I evidently knew I had to overcome this challenge and I did that by researching and asking for advice. For starters I searched for tips and tricks on how to portray a male character, I was given very helpful notes such as lowering my voice correcting my posture etc. etc. During our first draft performance to Ms. Justine she assisted me by tell me some body language that I could do, such as instead of folding my legs I would need to bend one of them over the other, or to walk in a slow pace occasionally with my hands behind by back. I felt like these small corrections definitely did make an impact on my final performance in a positive way.
4) How do you think the performance went overall? Was there anything that could have been improved? What could you have done better?
I believe our performance was successful and was initiated as planned. To improve I feel like Deniz and I could push ourselves that extra mile and do the Shakespearean version of the play. Lastly, I would improve my articulation. Although I did project well, I managed to mumble at some of the louder lines due to me speaking to fast, therefore I would slow down my pace and enunciate each and every word.
5) If you think back to the start of this unit, what performance skills do you think you have developed across the term? (confidence, voice projection, use of gestures and movement etc..)
As mentioned preciously I feel like I develop my body language more throughout this unit. By body language, I am referring to mostly expanding my range to different characters. Before this unit I have never played a male character and was used to playing really feminine characters. Throughout this unit I have learnt things about posture, use of gestures and movements with regards to a male character therefore have expanded my knowledge and use of body language.
6) What was the best part of the Othello unit and all the work you did in class? What was valuable to you about learning about this play?
In my opinion I loved the unit as a whole, the fact that we were using script work to develop a whole performance, I personally love the thrill that comes when performing to an audience, and in this scenario the preparation that lead to that was fun as well. I enjoyed working in a smaller group, where we were able to share opinions and feedback better than when in a larger group. Overall, I enjoyed performing to an audience and working in a smaller group.
7) If you had to do this unit again, what would you do differently or what would you improve?
If I were to repeat this unit I would definitely look into different perspectives in the play and maybe assign a task related to that. This in regards to maybe how all the other characters in the play feel about one person, such as a hot seat. And lastly I would maybe try challenging myself by doing the Shakespearean version of the play rather than sticking with the modern version.
8) Anything else?
Here is a collage of photos from our performance
(Made by Deniz)
I was chosen to play the character of Iago. Iago spends all of his time plotting against Othello and Desdemona, eventually convincing Othello that his wife has been cheating, despite the fact that Desdemona has been completely faithful. Iago's capacity for cruelty seems limitless, and no motivation he gives for his actions seems enough to explain the incredible destruction he wreaks on the lives of the people he knows best. when portraying Iago, I ensured to show his demise through subtle aggravated body language; this included tapping of the feet, rolling of the yes - any slight body movements that would show how fed up Iago was of Roderigo. with regards to playing Iago I obviously faced some challenges as evidently I am a girl. I was required to lower my voice, change my body language. I occasionally would be to girly, in which I corrected myself by looking at videos and comments as inspiration.
I wanted my audience to view Iago as a sympathetic character at the start of the act, however then come to realise how creepy evil he truly is. I did this by raising my voice gradually through the act intensifying the performance along with melo-dramatizing my body language more and more.
2) Was there a part of your scene that you thought was the most effective? or a line that you think you delivered well? (explain and describe)
I think the most effective part in our scene was my monologue to Roderigo telling him what to do. If felt like this was the essence of the whole scene and play as it is where Iago is actually explaining his plan to both Roderigo and the audience. This is don’t through lines such as "So let’s join forces and get revenge. If you seduce Desdemona and make a fool out of him, it’ll be fun for both of us. Many things may happen." and "I’ve told you I’m your friend, and I will stick by you. I’ve never been more useful to you than I will be now."
3) What was the greatest challenge for you in this task? how did you overcome it?
I felt like my biggest challenge throughout this task, was how was I, a female, going to play the role of Iago, a male. I evidently knew I had to overcome this challenge and I did that by researching and asking for advice. For starters I searched for tips and tricks on how to portray a male character, I was given very helpful notes such as lowering my voice correcting my posture etc. etc. During our first draft performance to Ms. Justine she assisted me by tell me some body language that I could do, such as instead of folding my legs I would need to bend one of them over the other, or to walk in a slow pace occasionally with my hands behind by back. I felt like these small corrections definitely did make an impact on my final performance in a positive way.
4) How do you think the performance went overall? Was there anything that could have been improved? What could you have done better?
I believe our performance was successful and was initiated as planned. To improve I feel like Deniz and I could push ourselves that extra mile and do the Shakespearean version of the play. Lastly, I would improve my articulation. Although I did project well, I managed to mumble at some of the louder lines due to me speaking to fast, therefore I would slow down my pace and enunciate each and every word.
5) If you think back to the start of this unit, what performance skills do you think you have developed across the term? (confidence, voice projection, use of gestures and movement etc..)
As mentioned preciously I feel like I develop my body language more throughout this unit. By body language, I am referring to mostly expanding my range to different characters. Before this unit I have never played a male character and was used to playing really feminine characters. Throughout this unit I have learnt things about posture, use of gestures and movements with regards to a male character therefore have expanded my knowledge and use of body language.
6) What was the best part of the Othello unit and all the work you did in class? What was valuable to you about learning about this play?
In my opinion I loved the unit as a whole, the fact that we were using script work to develop a whole performance, I personally love the thrill that comes when performing to an audience, and in this scenario the preparation that lead to that was fun as well. I enjoyed working in a smaller group, where we were able to share opinions and feedback better than when in a larger group. Overall, I enjoyed performing to an audience and working in a smaller group.
7) If you had to do this unit again, what would you do differently or what would you improve?
If I were to repeat this unit I would definitely look into different perspectives in the play and maybe assign a task related to that. This in regards to maybe how all the other characters in the play feel about one person, such as a hot seat. And lastly I would maybe try challenging myself by doing the Shakespearean version of the play rather than sticking with the modern version.
8) Anything else?
Here is a collage of photos from our performance
(Made by Deniz)
