Full Cast Sketches

Using silhouettes I was able to visualise the entire cast together which created a richer and fuller context of my production of the chosen text. I am contemplating making a larger version of this to exhibit with my final costume designs for Algernon and Cecily However if I choose to incorporate the sketchbook into the exhibit it may be nicer to keep the walls cleaner.

Page from Unit 3 Sketchbook
Photography by: Marina Bussandri

The Cast

Melissa McCarthy - Dr. Rev Chausable

Diane Keaton - Miss Prism

Lauren Graham - Gwendolen

Brittany Snow - Cecily

Saskia de Brauw -Algernon

Tilda Swinton - Lane

Meryl Streep - Lady Bracknell

Corinna Ingenleuf - Jack/ John Worthing

Kathy Bates - Merriman

Characters & Their Costumes

Page from Unit 3 Sketchbook
Algernon, Act Two: Short Suit & Slippers

Page from Unit 3 Sketchbook
Cecily, Act Two: Dress & Ballet Pumps

Reworking Victorian Wallpaper Prints

Algernon Suit Experimentation

"Table"

Amazing! Just, amazing! Possibly the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life.
The collaboration of a well-written play with a touching message about family ancestry and relationships; backed with incredible acting, singing and choreographed movement made for a spectacular show.
At the beginning, things don't make sense. I didn't quite understand it all. However, it was so engaging, well performed, and consequently I could enjoy it greatly it even without fully comprehending all the character's relationship's. As it starts to piece together, and things start to click the performance became more and more enjoyable. By the end, the audience was on the edge of their seats.
There was an emotional journey, with highs of laughter and moments of pure emotion, sadness, anger, regret, sympathy. I found it astonishing how in one piece of theatre there could be such a contrast in laughter and comedy and then a silent room of audience members choking up.
Another aspect of the play that I was very impressed with, was that the cast (9 members) play six generations of family members, and people in their lives. Consequently one actor will be playing many parts, both incredibly different in character and age, yet it was so credible that a fifty-something year old actor could go from playing a grandfather to a child, and both were as believable as each other.
A highlight for me, is the 'hippy' scene. The characters are living in a communal home and are having their weekly meeting to raise issues of concern but have to speak in turn, by using 'the stone'. The manic but well choreographed movements along with the comedy just make for a spectacular scene.
Written by Tanya Ronder and directed by Rufus Norris; this special play family, heritage, and one precious piece of furniture is, without-a-shadow of a doubt, a must-see!

'Clydebourne Park' by Bruce Norris

Poster from Putney Arts Centre

I saw this production at The Putney Arts Centre, directed by Ian Higham.
This was a very enjoyable performance of both a witty and meaningful play. I had never seen or heard of this play before and immediately appreciated it. Later did I find out it was the most successful new play of 2011and is the only play to ever win the Pulitzer Prize for drama as well as the Olivier, Evening Standard and Tony awards.
The twist of how a Chicago neighborhood turns from elitely white to black is clever and I like the way the characters in the first act all play the characters in the second act.

Set for Act One
Photography by: Marina Bussandri

In this production Michael Rossi gave a strong performance as Russ, the All-American husband in Act One. Richard Brent was incredible in both his roles of Karl in Act one and Steve in Act two.

Scene from Act One
Photography by: Marina Bussandri

Some of the other acting was not so credible but the play was great nevertheless. I was impressed with the staging. In Act one it was the living room of a house in the neighborhood, which held histories. There was the front door of the house which led into it and a staircase that led up from it. Both were believable and used well. The lighting outside the 'front door' of the house was incredibly realistic of daytime and added to the idea of the house being part of the neighborhood, instead of singling the set out as a random house with no surroundings.
The Reverand character in Act One wore a wig (he was bald and used that look in Act Two). I understand needing to make a distinction between the two characters however the wig used was almost like an Elvis wig which was very distracting and in conjunction with the actor's terribly false American accent, almost took the play into a level of slapstick rather than actual humor.
However on the whole I really enjoyed this show, and was amazed at some of the performances given.

Scene from Act Two
Photography by: Marina Bussandri

DirectorIan I

Ian Higham

Director
Ian Higham

Cast
Russ/Dan - Michael Rossi
Bev/Kathy - Amanda Benzecry
Karl/Steve - Richard Brent
Betsy/Lindsey - Elly Lacey
Francine/Lena - Ade Gbinigie
Albert/Kevin - Brian Yansen
Jim/Tom - Charles Golding

Ian Higham

Cast
Russ/Dan - Michael Rossi
Bev/Kathy - Amanda Benzecry
Karl/Steve - Richard Brent
Betsy/Lindsey - Elly Lacey
Francine/Lena - Ade Gbinigie
Albert/Kevin - Brian Yansen
Jim/Tom - Charles Golding

Quotations About Illusion

"Illusion is the first of all pleasures." - Oscar Wilde

"If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion." - Noam Chomsky

"What if everything is an illusion and nothing really exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet." - Woody Allen

"Everything's fine today. That is our illusion." - Voltaire

"Infinite love is the only truth. Everything else is illusion." - David Icke

"Making films is sort of like pulling off a magic trick. It's sort of like an illusion. It's not real but you want it to appear real, and all kinds of things go into that, from the clothes you're wearing to the make-up, to the light." - Jeff Bridges

"The secret to film is that it's illusion." - George Lucas

"We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality." - Iris Murdoch

"The thing about performance even if it's only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities." - Sydney Smith

"One travels to escape from it all, but that is the illusion: It cannot be done, since one travels with one's mind." - Ella Maillart

"Illusion is an anodyne, bred by the gap between wish and reality." - Herman Wouk

""I no longer worry whether a painting is about something or not. I am only concerned with the expectation, from a flat surface, of an illusion." - William Scott

"We're living under the illusion that we have the power to determine what to do with it." - Mordecai Wyatt Johnson

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein

"It is far more difficult to murder a phantom that a reality." - Virginia Wolf

"Magic is the only honest profession. A magician promises to deceive you and he does." - Karl Germain

"Why do we call all our generous ideas illusions, and the mean ones thruths." Edith Warton, The House of Mirth

"To understand yourself: Is that a discovery or a creation?" - Pascal Mercier, Night train to Lisbon

"If you are not careful you will end up living the illusions that others have created for you." - Steven Redhead, The solution.

Notes on Deception

+ Deception, deceit, bluff and beguilement are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true or not the whole truth (half-truths, omissions).
+ Camouflage & concealment
+ Five primary types of deception are:
   1) Lies - Making up information or giving information that's opposite or very different from the truth.
   2) Equivocations - Making an indirect, ambiguous or contradictory statement.
   3) Concealments - Omitting information or engaging in behavior that helps hide relevant information.
   4) Exaggerations - Overstatement or stretching the truth to a degree.
   5) Understatements - Minimization or downplaying aspects of the truth.
+ Motives can include, parter focused, self focused or relationship focused.
+ Camouflage is a form of visual deception (e.g. Military)
+ A disguise is an appearance to create the impression of being somebody or something else.
+ Simulation consists of exhibiting false information.
+ The three simulation techniques are:
   1) Mimicry, copying another model.
   2) Fabrication, making up a new model.
   3) Distraction, offering an alternative model.
+ Rationale for such deceptions is that humans are sensitive to how they appear to others, this self- consciousness will affect how they behave and appear.

Improving Drawing Skills (Character Drawing)

These are all sketches in which I tried to improve my character drawing skills. I looked at how the body moves, proportion, faces and using different line techniques.