Imani C

1/25/2019

I would like to say that I am a very artistic kind of person. I've always had a knack for anything in the visual and performing arts, both participation and study of it. I took this class to have easy access to a small dose of everyday theater and to be able to learn more about the stuff that I haven't had access or been exposed to before. I would love for this course to be a launch into a career centered around art or theater.

13 Comments

Imani Cowart

1/25/2019 03:21:55 pm

1. Who is more important... the playwright or the cast and crew? Defend your assertion with your logic and some examples.
To me the cast and crew are just a smidgen more important. One of the best examples would be almost all, if not all, plays by William Shakespeare. A playwright makes the characters, but the crew and the cast are who bring it all to life. Without actor's interpretation and the crew's conveyance of the settings, the play falls down on its face. Sure, Romeo and Juliet is great, but how do we know hoe extravagant the characters are? What about the chemistry? All of that falls flat without the cast and crew.

2. Also, how did your first performance in class go? What did it feel like before, during, and after?
To me, it went absolutely nightmarish. I had not had any prior interacting with my group except for one activity, which I already knew wasn't going to work well. When attempting to work out a script and an overlying story arc, the plot changed obsessively and almost ended in two groups, one discussing the performance, and the other talking about something else. After working out a plot to rub with, half of my group wanted and was ready to jump into rehearsals, while the other refused to listen or cooperate with one another or rehearse. We were able to get about through one run through of the performance, but we had to speak and clarify throughout the rehearsal. That in itself left me feeling the most rage I have for a group performance I ever have, and pretty dejected and sick for the actual performance. So least to say by the time I had gotten on stage, the short totally bombed. Me and one other had to direct backstage, and two actors totally blanked when they got on stage. That left us having to totally cut certain aspects as people were forgetting their ques, and leaving me frustrated and disappointed in how everything had gone. Least to say, wasn't as smooth as I was hoping and it left me crying and tired by the time it ended. I have never been more frustrated in my life.

Imani Cowart

1/25/2019 03:23:53 pm

spelling error, "hoe" should be "how" in question 1.

Imani Cowart

2/1/2019 02:56:18 pm

1) How did you begin? Did you brainstorm, get struck by a spark of imagination, or begin with by recounting a personal story, etc?
I started how I usually do, I think of things like questions that I have a relatively strong feelings about. I took the question "who do you think you are?' and just thought about how much I utterly despise that question and the strong emotional reaction I have towards it and really ran to look at my own thoughts and possibly the flip side of the coin.

2) Has thinking about objective and tactics aided in your writing of an interesting story? Give an example of a tactic your character is using...
My character is honestly using a lot of questioning, she's very confused and is questioning herself and the people she knows in an attempt to try and understand the meaning behind a question.

3) What theatrical genre would you call your monologue at this point and why?
I would say that it's very, man i can't think of the genre right now. It's got tragic undertones but I'm not 100% on the official genre.

Imani Cowart

2/12/2019 02:07:51 pm

Consider your monologue... Give a synopsis of your story and the character you're going to portray. What are you doing to prepare yourself for the performance? How might you bring physicality to your character?
Well, Charlie is a college freshman who is struggling to figure out who she is, and is increasingly frustrated over being asked who she thinks she is. In preparation, I've really been trying to perfect the tired college student vibe. I've honestly put a ton of different faces on while memorizing it and haven't stopped trying to memorize it since I got it. Since my character is relatively tired and worked up, I'll probably be pacing around and moving my arms and hands all about, trying to make my frustrations clear.

Imani Cowart

2/13/2019 01:17:59 pm

Reflect on your monologue performance. What it like in preparation and anticipation? What was your experience during the delivery of your monologue? What parts do you feel went really well. What parts so you know you'd want to improve upon? Also, what was it like being an audience for your peer's monologues?
preparation wasn't honestly as bad as I thought it was gonna be. After I memorized a majority of the script things really toned down, I stopped really being nervous about the whole thing and more excited about being able to show off this cool little thing that I had wrote. When I actually got up onto the stage I was raring with excitement and I was just pumped to actually present my piece. I had a pretty good time up there and the whole experience was just super exciting. I feel like I was really able to hammer in the tiredness and the exasperation of a struggling college student and the stress and weight of that entire situation. I want to improve upon my body language if anything, I thought that it was good, but I just feel like it wasn't as strong as the vocal delivery. Being a part of the audience was super fun, and I was in all honesty just super excited to see what other people had come up with and written. And I was very pleasantly surprised with all the pieces that everyone presented.

Imani Cowart

3/18/2019 02:22:55 pm

Describe the beginning concept for your set design. What elements of your inspiration collage did you draw upon? What is the basic stage scene you're setting in your design? Is there a strong design concept yet it regard to style, form, texture, color, etc.?
The college had a heavy impact in how I chose my color palette and the choice to try and stick to a more vintage themed lay out. I'm setting up two separate scenes from the same play, a town center and a bedroom to have the ability to have two areas of interaction and develop the character's that are interacting with the environment. I did my best to try and keep a more vintage, almost false "gentrified" yet still failing deal for the town center. I wanted it to look a bit aged, dusty and i wanted the bedroom to look askew and messy, like it hadn't been cleaned in awhile and it was a bit crowded. I tried to keep things looking a bit aged, messy, and not so well kept.

Imani Cowart

3/25/2019 03:29:27 pm

What's your biggest takeaway from the interview?
I would say my biggest takeaway was to just go for it, even if you don't end up where you thought that you would. It's better to just take the shot and end up taking yourself down that road, and to not be stuck wondering "what if I had?' for the rest of your life. I think it was pretty good advice, especially since I always tend to second guess myself.

Imani Cowart

3/25/2019 03:34:12 pm

Reflect on the creative process of working from inspiration through to presenting your set design. What were the ah-ha moments of inspiration and the challenges you had to be creative to overcome? What's your overall impression of the growth of your creative muscle through the process of this project?
I would say my biggest ah ha moments were mostly while I was making the furniture, I had a ton of brilliant moments trying to come up with how I was going to piece everything together. My biggest challenges were probably trying to figure out the sizing and spacing, honestly the scale was a huge pain. I was honestly really happy with this project, I had a ton of fun. It was really fun to try and put everything together, especially since I don't do 3D art to often.

Imani Cowart

4/26/2019 02:09:20 pm

Tell about the process of creating your puppet. Give two examples of how the character you were creating influenced design choices such as painting the facial features and costuming.
Also, reflect on your puppet play performance. What was challenging and what went well? How do you feel your voice performance went? How did you enjoy watching the other puppet shows?
While I was making my puppet a lot of the design elements were honestly inspired by my own sense of style and how I wanted the character to look softer and more gentle. I painted a slightly neutral but happy face to help encourage that image of the character. The shirt and skirt were a whole issue to try and measure out and make look coherent as an outfit. I was super proud of the hair though, it was a huge process but I loved doing it in total honesty. I feel like my voice wasn't the most original thing in the world and it honestly gave me a bit of a headache, so I wasn't a huge fan of it. I did really enjoy watching the other stories groups came up with though, I liked the voices and characters that they created.

Imani Cowart

5/3/2019 02:15:48 pm

You have likely studied Shakespeare prior to this class, or at the least were introduced to him and his work this week. Reflect on why you believe one person's work could be so highly acclaimed and how you feel taking on one of his famous scenes for your next project.
Well, considering alongside this class I'm taking a whole semesters worth of Shakespeare, I would like to think I know just a little bit about him. I think that his works are really an interesting type of phenomena, How they went from highly and lowly regarded, to unknown, and then back up in the world. I love Shakespeare in the sense that I don't have to take it 100% seriously, since the scene we're performing is a comedy and is meant to overdone and dramatic. It's hard to get wrong, but since it's from a play I've performed before I'm not all that worried or nervous, I'm a bit excited.

Imani Cowart

5/10/2019 02:27:03 pm

Reflect on your "A Midsummer's Night Dream" scene performance. Offer insight into what it was like taking direction, memorizing lines, and performing a famous Shakespearean work.
I thought that it was nice being able to perform a piece of Shakespeare that I had more than a class period to prepare. On the other hand it was a pain to memorize all of the lines for a lead, and even though I screwed up a bit my first run around I think I did way better the second time around with the fill on. Even tough it was a bit of a stress and I wasn't a fan of my group to the max, I had a lot of fun.

Imani Cowart

5/24/2019 02:20:09 pm

This reflection should explain what your performance piece is about, how you’re putting it together, and what some of your thoughts and influences are as you’re constructing the performance.
Our performance is based of the murder mystery franchise Clue. It takes place in a mansion where a bunch of people with dirty pasts are put to work to solve a murder. Most of the ideas for it are based from the actual franchise, and some tropes off of the charters since they're relatively one dimensional. A lot of the influence is also trying to slip in comedic relief where it's possible, and a lot of color coding is being used. There's also a heavy dependence on the lights and sound effects. I'm pretty excited about it in all honesty.

Imani Cowart

6/4/2019 09:50:22 am

You will provide a Self-Evaluation Reflection on your blog following your performance basing your comments on the Evaluation Rubric’s criteria: Acting, Use of Space, Text, & Process.
The performance was somehow the best and the worst performance I've given this term. I loved the costuming and actually developing my character and being able to show my interpretation of him. While I wasn't a huge fan of the script writing and felt that it was a huge mess, things were changing constantly and it felt very chaotic. Because of the constant changing it become a bit hard to memorize the script. I felt we could've used the space a bit better, even though we managed to be able to use mostly all of it. The acting was in all honesty mostly improv and a bit of a mess, and it was very sweaty because of the stage lights. I both loved it and hated it at the same time, the process was very clunky but it turned out alright in the end.

Theatre 1: Blog Spring '19

Imani C

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