Evaluation on MOJO

Strengths

• When first entering into the mayhem of the scene, Mickey got a laugh being its chaos around him and he’s just standing there, looking out into the audience with a look of disappointment, waiting for the rest on stage to realise his presence.
• I kept a neutral expression throughout the whole performance apart from when Skinny died at the end when I broke down which I was proud about. My facial expressions consisted of shock, fear, horror, pain, tears and then when Skinny was officially dead, I pulled my mouth back into a pained snarl as I looked round at my surroundings discombobulated. I held him close and cried and whimpered.   
• I showed dedication towards my character.
• When Kirsten kicked me, I believe it was very realistic and worked really well for the situation. She moved fast enough for the build-up and excitation which she nailed. Her foot hit my stomach but not in a way that caused me harm, it was a light tap meaning the excruciation was all on me and everyone says it was very effective, my cry of pain and how I collapsed to the floor before crawling back over to Skinny.    
• I got inspiration from the movie’s version of Mickey who was played by Ian Hart.
• The rivalry between Mickey and Baby was always fun to play even during rehearsals.
• I loved how Izzy and I had a face off at the end of Act 1 Scene 2.
• Though I missed out some lines it did not matter because what I said still pushed the play forward. Mickey as the character is the reason the play happens, he carries the play on his shoulders and in a way that is a challenge that I got through.
• The whole joke about Mickey and Skinny’s relationship was spot on and hilarious, we really made it seem like something was going on.
• I believed I portrayed Mickey well considering he contrasted from every other character. He brought Potts and Sweets back down to earth, kept Baby in line for a while and he had complete control of Skinny.
• Considering there was only five of us we pulled the play off with flying colours!  

Improvements

• I paused which meant the guys cut some of my lines, if they had just given me a few more seconds I would have spoken.
• I had practiced with Susie and Kayleigh so much that when I finally got to rehearse with Awo and Kirsten it meant explaining the whole of the scene to them both and then practicing which took longer. I didn’t get a lot of time to rehearse with them at all so we did really well being we had limited time but we could have done better.
• We didn’t get a lot of time to practice in the space, it was a lot smaller than we originally thought meaning our movement was restricted and MOJO    isn’t that kind of play.
• I felt like I made Mickey move too much but at the same time he’s on edge.
• When facing away from the audience our speech was missed and that goes for all of us but most of the time I was heard apparently which I’m happy about.
• For someone who wasn’t familiar with the play it was very hard for them to follow so perhaps we should have produced a program to give them a better understanding, or set the scene at the beginning.
• I felt like through the rehearsal process there was lack of leadership and discipline that we needed in order to bring out our best characters. One of us should have stepped forward and taken on that role instead of following the herd.  
• Self Confidants
• As grown ups we do not need someone babying us and telling us it’s OK because we do look for that way out when things don’t go our way as a whole group.
• The demand of being accurate! Think about the writer and director what do they expect of us as the actor.

Set

My Outfit

Overall and Reflect

Did I behave professional?

Yes, I believe I kept my process professional in the sense that I always came into rehearse, I didn’t complain, I just got on with it but when learning lines that was a challenge. Mickey repeats himself a lot and it was finding those moments, when they actually came into play.

Also no in the sense that I doubt myself and when performing I believe my group lost faith in me at points to the extent that we all didn’t believe in each other anymore but we fought through the wars and we came back victorious because we cracked on and did it!

Sadly I didn’t enjoy my character who I loved at first as much as I wanted to because of the bad communication between my group. The performance got the better of us and in many ways people weren’t pulling their weight.

All I have to say to that is, “Live and Learn,” I’m Helen Irvine goodnight.