We performed 100 years 3 times and the performance improved each time, as the audience wasn't very full during the first performance I believe everyone felt disheartened before performing but after the show when some members of the audiences gave us there comments I felt confident in the performance again, members of the audience found the wives section particularly moving and emotive, which is what we wanted so we where successful in creating that atmosphere. Although rehearsal time for this performance was limited everyone managed to pull it all together at the end, we worked on the marching and some other sections before the performance this tightened it all up and made sure it looked sharp and professional. I was looking forward to taking part the two other performances we where doing of 100 years as I feel everyone was nervous for the first show and now everyone will feel more confident when taking part in it next time, delivering an even sharper performance.
Our next two shows where held at 4:30 and 7:30, we hadn't run through the show in detail on this day but took sometime before hand to warm up and map our journey this helped everyone remember what they had to do so that nothing could go wrong, I find the fact that we are on stage the whole time really helpful, this way we can see how the audience are reacting and it also means we are alert and ready to go on for our section, the wives section was much improved during this performance we had practised our waltzing which we hadn't done before the first show, all the wives fully committed to the dancing and when reading there letters they delivered there lines with more emotion and compassion that the first time, this performance was more successful than the first, it installed confidence in us and prepared us for our final performance and closing of the common ground season.
Our third and final show was the most improved we had become comfortable with performing the show and where well aware of what was going on and what we had to do, the only fault was the music not working in the couples final section which wasn't our fault, It did take away some emotion from the section but everyone remained calm and carried on performing as if there was no problem at all. The energy levels where at its highest during this performance we where all excited as this was the closing performance of the season. Working as a year group for this performance has been incredibly challenging as different people have different levels of focus, it was particularly challenging for the Wives as we had worked at such a high focused level getting things done quickly and precisely, although this was difficult It was an experience to work as a year group after not working with anyone else apart from our common ground company for a while, everyone pulled it together in the end and made it work, we showed our respect and delivered our messages about the war with confidence and truth. One section which did improve a lot over time was the ending, the soldiers managed to successfully place themselves in the correct lines leaving the Wives and Couples to walk around "The cemetery" as devised. I believe given more time this performance could of improved a lot we could of added more for the Wives as the audience seemed to emotionally connect with them the most, we could of also developed a section as a year group, seeing the whole group on stage working together perhaps in unison would of been really effective and interesting to add into the performance. We could of focused on war itself and fighting sections adding some physical movements and routines to add some extra pace and speed to the performance. This was an incredible challenging task and performance to be apart of, it was a massive task and it ended up being a beautiful and touching performance about the first world war. All the movements where given full energy and the performances improved as we went on and got to experience the piece as a whole, not having allot of rehearsal time did add allot of pressure and uncertainty to the first performance but we did begin to believe in ourselves and work. We wanted to present how people in the modern day think of the first world war and we presented that message clearly working with stereotypes and humour to add some light to such a sad and dark subject.
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