SWOT Analysis of Hansel and Gretel

Strengths

Anecdotal evidence

Following the performance, I received feedback from the audience members. The following comments are evidence from the strength of the performance:

“I could clearly understand the storyline, the mood, everything”. I agree with this statement as we all worked really hard through our facial expression and physicality to portray each scene in a way that the audience were never confused as to what is going on. They also said that they really enjoyed the theatrical affects such as the thunder and lightning sound and lighting affect and the red lights for the oven were really effective and added to the tension of the scene. “Everything ran really smoothly, everyone knew what they were doing”, I agree with this statement because from seeing previous rehearsals, we have come a long way in terms of having smooth transitions all the way through. We worked hard for this and its good that it showed. “The combined skills, like the unison movements throughout worked really well”. I agree with this strength as it made us look more like a community, all going through the same struggle, which obviously added to the story.

Anecdotal evidence from teacher/director (video)

“You had good awareness of your queues and responsibilities throughout... you were a reliable member of the ensemble”.  I did work very hard to remember my queues so that I didn’t ever have to worry about remembering where I’m going, what I’m saying or doing in the next scene etc. I wanted to be able to transition from scene to scene smoothly without any hesitation, as this is obvious someone hasn’t rehearsed to an audience. “There was no loss of focus”. I made sure I had a focus point for each scene and remembered where Michael had told us all to focus. For example, either out to the audience, at a character or at my bamboo stick. “A big skill you showed was your singing skills… in an expressive way and an accurate way”. I agree with this statement because I held a strong top harmony line and also sang on my own (with tara singing the lower harmony line). “It was very beautifully sung and was sensitive to the quality we were trying to capture in the scene.” I did try to make it sound sort of like a choir hymn, as that is what we were trying to achieve, it needed to sound delicate but holy. In the house of sweets section he said I had great characterisation, good diction and a sort of playful quality that contrasts to my characterisation throughout the piece as the exhausted or aggressive spirit. I purposely upped my game for the house of sweets as this was the only part of the piece where we got to have a bit of fun and up the mood. I really wanted to get this change of atmosphere across to the audience.

 

Responsibility	Describe and explain
Movement duet	In the first section, I had the responsibility of performing a slow movement duet with Lola to portray the idea of the famine. It also included getting into the right position to be in the lighting and form a formation with the rest of my group. I needed to memorise the movement, and stay in character, if not, we would have stuck out and caused a distraction for the audience. If I didn’t get into my position the audience wouldn’t have seen me as I would have been in the dark, and the rest of the formation would have messed up because most of us interact.
Lines	In some of the scenes, I had my own lines. It was my responsibility to remember these lines, remember any gesture or movement that goes with them, and when I’m supposed to say them. If I did not remember any of these elements of my lines, many scenes would have been awkward and ruined as other characters are waiting on me as a que for their line. The performance wouldn’t have run smoothly.
Bamboo sticks	I had many responsibilities with the bamboo sticks. One was in the forest section, when I was carrying two bamboo sticks between me and my partner. We had to move for two beats of six and freeze for one beat of six while twisting our bodies to create a threatening forest atmosphere. My responsibility was keeping in time with the beats, as the rest of the ensemble were also doing this, and we needed to move together. If this was unsuccessful, it wouldn’t have looked as effecting for an audience member, and we might have bumped into and distracted other performers, resulting in an even bigger distraction for the audience. Another responsibility of my own was creating a steady beat with my stick for the “so tired, so weak, so scared” section. Without my stick, the choral speaking wouldn’t have started, I was there prompt and their speed initiator.
Singing/solo ‘ahh’	Another responsibility was to learn the lines and melody for the song. I also had to make sure I wasn’t being thrown off by the other harmony line half of the group were singing. This was for just after the crazy forest section, where things slow down for a second and hansel and Gretel decide to pray. If I hadn’t learnt my melody, lines, or got distracted by the other harmony line, it wouldn’t have sounded as pretty as i did and maybe would have thrown off other people. My main singing responsibility was to ‘ahh’ the melody of the song on my own with tara ‘ahh’-Ing the harmony line in the last section when our souls as an ensemble were being freed. If I forgot about this, messed up my melody, or messed up the timing with tara it would have ruined the peaceful, holy atmosphere we created. It wouldn’t have accompanied the lines happening at the same time, it would have just been a distraction for the audience away from the storyline.
Dance	A responsibility of mine was to choreograph some dance work for the forest section with Lola and Caitlyn. Once we had created the movement, we taught it to the rest of the class. We then had to ensure we were remembering this every week and adding characterisation into our movements. If I forgot this dance or wasn’t in my right position on stage, the dance would have looked unorganised and messy. Also, if we hadn’t had made this dance for the group, it would have maybe put us behind by a week on rehearsals as this was our responsibility.

 

Weaknesses

Responsibilities

Responsibility	Describe and explain
Use of props	Throughout the piece, there was a lot of use of the bamboo sticks. During many of the rehearsals both me and my partner would both get hurt in some way or another by the sticks.  To overcome this situation, we should be more aware of other peoples sticks on stage and more careful with our own sticks. We were taking extra precaution while also looking like we aren’t really focusing on not hurting each other, staying in character etc was a challenge.It was a challenge in terms of making sure we aren’t hurting eachother with the sticks, while also performing to the best of our ability.
Integration of props	In the dress rehearsal, following the line “you will be roasted tomorrow” my stick had to be discarded and thrown into the wings offstage. However, at the end of the piece when Hansel and Gretel exited offstage, they tripped over the sticks as it was dark, and it created a distracting noise and potential injury to them. The scene they exit in was the calmest and most heartfelt scene of the piece, so hearing a big noise of sticks over the top of it ruined it. This could be overcome with an alternative place for the sticks, or an alternative route for the exit.
Beat with the sticks	Just after the line “I want to taste your flesh!”, it was my responsibility to start a solid beat for the choral speaking for Gretel. In the dress rehearsal, I got a note from my teacher/director to say that it was hard for the audience to understand what Gretel and her small group were saying on top of my strong stick beat. To overcome this, I need to make my beats slightly less powerful so that its easier to hear the voices. Otherwise, the audience may lose the delivery of that part and may cause confusion for the audience and throughout the rest of the piece.

 

Opportunities

Opportunities	Example and explanation
Influence of professional artists who work in a combined arts style- Matthew Bourne	In our Matthew Bourne skills workshop, I watched and analysed the way in which Matthew Bourne’s dance actors perform on stage. The combination of characterisation while dancing was extremely intriguing to me. In the house of sweets section, I applied my knowledge of his dance- theatre style to my line, “seductively, suckable, strawberry lollipop”. I delivered my line, coming out from our close clump leading with my hips to create a sensual movement whilst adding exciting and enticing facial expressions so that I embodied my sweet. I have a lot of experience with acting and some dance experience from the CTEC course, but this was the first professional time I put them both together to create a dance theatre style. Watching some scenes from Matthew Bourne’s ‘Nutcracker!’ helped me realise how effective it is for an audience member when a dancer is not only amazing at moving, but also adds pure characterisation to everything they do.
Music and sound	In skills workshops we explored creating sound to underscore the action or dialogue to exaggerate the mood of the scene. I applied this skill in the oven scene where hansel and Gretel hear the horrible sounds of the oven. I was responsible for holding a sustained humming note that harmonised with the other notes around me creating a drone to layer with the dialogue. This created a heavy, not very pleasant noise to portray the oven. I have a lot of experience as a singer outside of college and in my CTEC course so finding a harmony and sustaining my note wasn’t difficult for me. However, I am used to using a backing track and singing normal songs. I have never had the opportunity to create a drone with an ensemble before. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and has extended my versatility as a singer.
Integrating props	Throughout the piece I used bamboo sticks to dance with, portray the environment and to create noise with. For example, I had to bang it on the ground, slash it on the ground, and use it to portray a sheltered area etc. In previous performances, I have only used naturalistic props, I have never used props to create sound or visual effects. This pushed me out of my comfort zone from day one of rehearsal and has formed me into a more outgoing, versatile performer open to more ideas while performing.
Devising	In the skills workshops, we worked on creating original material from an idea or stimulus. This then helped me when we started to create original material with the ideas from hansel and Gretel. For example, im not a dancer so choreographing a dance movement piece threw me out of my comfort zone, but I was also more familiar with it thanks to the workshops before hand. This has helped me to develop as a performer because I know understand new ways to devise new material without getting as stuck or holding on to certain ideas that maybe wont work.

 

Threat	Description, impact, solution
Absence	The threat of absence comes from either illness, especially in these days when covid is at an all time high or open days which are popular at the moment. The impact of an absence on me would be not knowing the material if I don’t catch up online. The impact on others would be if you are supposed to be doing movement with a missing person, you cannot do it properly. If you have dialogue, it will mess up the smooth flow of the run for the rest of the class as someone will have to read out your lines. To sort out this problem, you will need to watch the work done in lesson to catch up and familiarise yourself and learn the new material.
Integrating props	Working with props like the bamboo sticks, blocks and fabric could cause health and safety risks or break the mood of the piece if used incorrectly.The impact on me would be getting injured from other peoples sticks when we are waving them around/dancing with them. They could also mess up my performance if they weren’t placed in the right area ready for me. The impact on others would again getting injured and noise disturbance of other people getting their props or setting them down. The solution to this would be a lot of rehearsing to develop confidence with handling the props and knowing I wont accidentally hurt someone and to be wary of other people accidentally hurting me.
Mistakes	A mistake in the performance such as dialogue, movement, singing, focus or distractions. A mistake would impact me in terms of losing my confidence through the rest of the piece, losing my concentration, and most probably coming out of character. The impact on others would be messing their actions up too, as I could be a queue to other people, making the piece run smoothly. It could also disturb the ensemble work such as the movement, dance, and song if I make a noticeable mistake. It could ruin the tension or mood of the scene. The solution would include taking a professional approach to making a mistake on stage by carrying on, hiding the mistake so it isn’t obvious to the audience. Making sure our rehearsal is repetitive and detailed so all members know the piece like the back of their hand. This way, they can adapt the performance if a mistake is made, ensuring a smooth performance regardless of mistakes.