INTRODUCTION:

HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY ACTORS LOG BOOK!

I started this log book on the 3rd of September and since then I have been developing my skills, knowledge and passion as an actor.

My Actors log book will contain the following:

• Konstatin Stanisvasky by Bella Merlin (Summer work essays)
• 'A Dolls House' by Henrik Ibsen (Summer work essays)
• Diary entries for every Tuesday lesson; practical exercises, rehearsal techniques, character development, scene development,evaluation of exercises; strengths and weaknesses 
• Additional research/ findings on Norway  
• Shaping Kristine; a day in the life before and after, transition through the play
• Evaluation as a whole.

HOPE YOU ENJOY

ASHLEIGH BROWN.

STANISLAVSKY AND THE RUSSIAN THEATRE

Before attempting the essay i researched Stanislavsky and found lots and lots of information  however i feel that this was a concise and general summary about his life experiences and the way he wanted to make an impact on people by implementing change.

Key points:

• Social, political, technological change
• Developed ideas in fierce competition
• Understanding of self could create a natural, living experience 
• Acting and theatre had a beneficial influence on humanity 
• Themes such as humanity run through Russian society

KONSTATIN STANISLAVSKY BY BELLA MERLIN

'KONSTATIN STANISLAVSKY' by Bella Merlin

Stanislavsky was a Russian actor and theatre director who was able to develop his own system of acting, this was achieved through trial and error as the main aspects of his system have derived from rehearsal techniques, personal experiences and many more. 

His work was able to span a time of international events which were social, political and technological. He was able to portray these aspects through his system as he effectively embodied the language that was able to reach out to many actors and audience members, as a result he was able to create an authentic and living theatrical experience which therefore was able to address universal truths and touch on subjects that related to the social context at the time.

'Stanislavsky system' as a method of actors training:

This system is very systematic and requires serious dedication, discipline and integrity from both the director and most importantly  the actors as they are being trained and taught. Within Stanislavsky's system there were various areas that were taught and therefore had to be studied by the actors and these included; concentration, voice, physical skills, emotion memory, observation and domestic analysis . After establishing  his system he started to think about his aim and this was to produce a universal and applicable approach that all actors could use and eventually the idea was that they would be able to create their own methods that was tailored to themselves.

Concentration: 
This aspect of Stanislavsky's system was to be able to develop concentration, observation and imagination on stage and as a result of this your attention on stage will strengthen. The idea of a 'fourth wall' ( the invisible wall between the audience and the stage). This is very important however Stanislavsky said that the audience played a vital part in the live performance.

Small circle:  This was the idea that the smallest circle of concentration was the actor, in the centre of the small circle which was secure and within this circle,you could then travel on stage with the actor, enveloping the actor.

Large circle: As the circle grew larger, the actor learned to concentrate or focus on relatively larger areas of
, still excluding whatever was not in the circle.

Stanislavsky differentiated between ‘external’ and ‘inner attention’ or concentration. External attention was directed to material or objects lying outside of the actor. Inner attention was based on imaginary life created by the actor that was consistent with the given circumstances of the play. This inner attention incorporated all the five senses of the actor.


Emotional memory: 

Stanislavsky believed that all characters should use their personal experiences in order to create a vivid character by using a 'bank of emotions'. The process involves consciously  recalling the sights and sounds form the original experience to excite sensations such as taste, touch, and smell. This was a vbery deep aspect of his method of training

Tempo rhythm:
Tempo-rhythm can act as a powerful bridge between the inner experience and its physical expression. For Stanislavsky, tempo-rhythm was both inner and outer. Emotions to him, had a distinctive pulse and pattern to them. ‘Tempo’ referred to the speed of an action or an emotion. The tempo could be fast, medium or slow. ‘Rhythm’ was, internally, the intensity of the emotional experience. Externally, it was the pattern of gestures, movements and actions.

Responses to practical exercises:

1) Relaxation:

This was always the starting point for Stanislavsky because it was always vital for the actors to be physically relaxed and prepared as everything is related back to the aspect of being 'psycho-physical'.

• EXERCISE 4.1: This is a very physical exercise as it is able to help your mind focus and specifically be in tune with your own body and from doing so, you start to become more aware and therefore pay close attention to details in your surroundings and with this being a starter exercise you slowly start to prepare as you are trained in each section.

2) Given circumstances: Pieces of information needed by actors in order to make appropriate decisions when interpreting their character/s

• EXERCISE 4.2: Working with ONE given circumstance:

'Limitless attention to your partner and constant adaptation'

In this exercise you are only given one circumstance which is 'place'. You have to have 

your focus on exploring that circumstances, alongside one person put of your pair knows the place which therefore makes the exercise more intriguing because it allows room for interpretation and improvisation that is spontaneous. With this exercise the actors eventually discover how significant a given circumstance is as the y act as a stimulus building block that allows further aspects to develop such as; dialogue, story and themes etc.

EXERCISE 4.3: Working with TWO given circumstances:

• This exercise is very different to exercise 4.2 as now TWO given circumstances have been introduced, this being 'time' and 'place' again. This now requires justification in which you need to logically think about why you are in this specific place at that specific time. The idea of having to think logically brings about a sense of difficulty as the dramatic action is hard to maintain as the purpose is unclear.

3) Objectives: The main desire motivating a characters behaviour in a scene which is directed to 

the on stage partner. Labelling an objective needs attention as it must provide simple interest, passion , excitement, desires, aspirations and actions.

EXERCISE 4.4: 

This exercise able to produce amazing results because although the characters both know the TWO given circumstances , they are only aware of their own objective which means they are each trying to attain their objective by 'testing the waters' first as they are unaware of what the other persons aim is.

My favourite objectives are:

2a: To win admirers                              5a: To win admirers                             6a: To control the situation

2b: To deflect attention                         5b: To deflect attention                        6b: To control the situation

4)  Inner actions:

EXERCISE 4.5:
This exercise introduces and relies on spoken word in order to develop but also sustain the improvisation taking place. You are given one line of text that has to be used throughout, The idea of this allows actors to find the precise moment and this is triggered by your own inner actions and what your partner reacts with/ produces etc.
Furthermore it also is able to explore subtext which hindsight can help you to lay out the basis of a story/ play etc.

5) Actions: Every moment that the actor is on stage and every line of text is spoken consists of an action. It is directed towards other characters in the scene and ended up being a line of actions.

EXERCISE 4.6
This is the same as the previous exercise however there is slight variation because now an action is introduced. This is able to dictate the way in which your line of a text is presented and therefore is also able to unlock/ reveal more information.

Actions are as follow; to shock, to frighten, to bewitch, to provoke, to impress etc.

6) Sense memory and emotion memory: 
Stanislavsky system is always reiterating that we have the necessary tools that an actor needs, this being, body, imagination, emotions and human experiences . With this he believes that it is just a matter of provoking these tools so they are then available any time.

This is a very cautious aspect of his system because it can result in being beneficial or non beneficial. A certain type of significant to different people because some people are able to really relate and think back to the emotion they felt in a given time and sometimes this can be damaging towards the actors performance 

RESEARCH: ACTORS DISCUSS PART 1:STANISLAVSKY METHOD OF PHYSICAL ACTIONS:

• Analyse the script; what the character says about themselves, what other character say about them, what the playwright says about the character
• Given circumstances; Work out what's at stake in the script and work scene-by scene
• Objectives; What the character physiologically wants
• Actions; What you are doing physically in order to achieve your objective 
• Emotional memory; Emotion makes you respond eg feel fear and your body reacts to the fear.Have a relevant object in order to get the emotion. However this is unreliable and other practitioners were 
• Do something first and as a result of doing so, you then feel

HENRIK IBSEN- PLAYWRIGHT

HENRIK IBSEN:

Ibsen was born in 1828, into a wealthy family due to his mother’s inherited wealth and his father’s successful merchant business. When Ibsen was four, the family moved into a larger house and held lavish parties. This initial period of comfort, was punctuated by tragedy. Ibsen’s elder brother had died several weeks after his own birth. He was born into a house that was suffering a loss; in addition, the family enjoyment soon disappeared. By the time Ibsen was six the family was bankrupt. The pain of loss and the anxiety created by the threat of poverty run as strong themes through A Doll’s House. 

Ibsen became an unhappy child, shutting himself up in a disused pantry away from his siblings – drawing caricatures of them and bursting into rages if they interfered with his papers or his toy theatre. He initially wanted to be a doctor however a lack of family money meant he was only able to become apprentice to an apothecary in Grimstad. He spent six unhappy years there. He had no privacy during this time, being forced to share his lodgings with the children of his boss. While he was there, he fathered an illegitimate child by a woman ten years older than him. He would go on to be financially responsible for this child even through his most poverty-stricken years. 

His position as the ‘resident poet’ at the Bergen Theatre turned out to be more of a stage management job, but at least Ibsen was working in the world of theatre, as he wished. He continued to write plays through his employment. He was soon offered a job at the Norwegian National Theatre, and he experienced a brief period of some comfort as they paid him twice the wage the Bergen Theatre had paid. However, when the theatre – which had established itself  due to a lack of good Norwegian material, Ibsen was let go. Ibsen was desperately poor once again and now had a wife and a four-year-old son to support. 

It was at this time that he finally secured a bursary for travel, heading first to Denmark. Ibsen’s patriotism became complicated by this trip to Copenhagen in 1864 as the Danes were fighting a war with Prussia. He was so moved by the courage of the Danish fighters that he wrote many poems and articles to try to motivate the rest of Scandinavia to become Denmark’s allies in their struggle. Norway did nothing, and, as a result, the Danes were defeated. Ibsen was so ashamed by his countrymen that he swore never to return to Norway. 

This distance from his homeland offered Ibsen critical distance from his native culture and made him more aggressively Norwegian in his work. Perhaps, now living in Rome, his cultural identity became more potent as he marked his difference from those around him. The first play he wrote while living in Rome abandoned a romantic verse style influenced by the song and legend of his own country, and instead was written in a strong Norwegian vernacular and coined a nationalistic spelling.

Ibsen was at one of his poorest moments when living in Rome – at this time the Norwegian National Theatre wrote to offer him the post of director which would have solved all of his family’s financial worries. However, his principles were stronger than his fear of poverty. Ibsen turned down the offer on the basis that being in Norway would have restricted him creatively. 

While in Rome, in 1867, Ibsen wrote Brand and he finally achieved financial success. This play afforded him a state pension and he could escape the anxiety of poverty that had followed him his whole life – the concern did, however, live on in his work.  

A DOLLS HOUSE BY HENRIK IBSEN; SUMMER ESSAYS

A DOLLS HOUSE BY HENRIK IBSEN:

Henrik Ibsen 'A Dolls House' (written in 1879) is a controversial play which is set in Norway in 1878 and was first performed at The Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, in Denmark on 21 December 1879. The play centres on the lives of Nora and Torvald Helmer,  who are a married couple living in a house with three children. Throughout the play we are introduce to many people such as Nils Krogstad, Kristine Linde, Dr Rank At the start of the play we see them as a collective/ tight unit as they portray an idealistic marriage however throughout the play we start to see the what lies behind this façade and the qualities of each character, as individuals start to show. The story takes place over three days and Nora is present in every scene, this reveals to us how confined Nora is towards every aspect in her home in terms of meeting her husbands needs and caring for her children. This set out lifestyle reinforces the aspect of Nora being a doll in the house as she is 'played' with / 'used' mentally and physically.
Ibsen wanted this play to be a realistic as possible and so naturalism was used. Naturalism. Naturalism was introduced in 1868. The preoccupation of Naturalists was to investigative 'man' as a product of his heredity and his environment, this then brought about the question are we simply born the way we are or can we do something about it?
Overall the play explores themes of marriage, wealth, women, secrets and lies, betray, loneliness.


ACT 1: 
Nora Helmer enters her home, truly enjoying life. An old widow friend from her past, Mrs Linde, stops by hoping to find a job. Nora's husband Torvald recently earned a promotion, so she happily finds employment for Mrs. Linde. When her friend complains how hard the years have been, Nora replies that her life has been filled with challenges too.Nora discreetly explains that several years ago, when Torvald Helmer was very ill, she forged her dead father's signature in order to illegally obtain a loan. Since then, she has been paying back the loan in secret. She has never told her husband because she knows it would upset him. Unfortunately, a bitter bank employee named Nils Krogstad  is the man who collects the debt payments. Knowing that Torvald is soon to be promoted, he tries using his knowledge of her forgery to blackmail Nora. He wants to insure his position at the bank; otherwise he will reveal the truth to Torvald.

This turn of events greatly upsets Nora. However, she keeps the truth concealed from her husband, as well as Dr.Rank, a kind yet sickly old friend of the Helmers. She tries to distract herself by playing with her three children. However, by the ending of Act One she begins to feel trapped and desperate.

ACT 2: 
Throughout the second act, Nora tries to think of ways to prevent Krogstad from revealing the truth. She has tried to convince her husband, asking him to let Krogstad keep his job. However, Helmer believes the man possesses criminal tendencies. Therefore, he is bent on removing Krogstad from his post. Nora tries asking Dr. Rank for help, but she is put off when Dr. Rank becomes too flirtatious with her and claims that he cares for her just as much, if not more, than her husband.
Later, the Helmers prepare for a partyl. Torvald watches Nora perform a traditional folk dance called the Tarantella. He is disappointed that she has forgotten much of what he has taught her. Here, the audience witnesses one of the many scenes in which Torvald patronizes his wife as though she were a child, or his doll. (Hence, Ibsen titled the play: A Doll's House). Torvald constantly calls her pet names such as "my song bird" and "my little squirrel." Yet, he never speaks to her with any degree of mutual respect.

Eventually, Mrs. Linde tells Nora that she had a romantic attachment to Krogstad in the past, and that she can perhaps persuade him. However, Krogstad does not sway in his position. By the end of Act Two, it seems that Torvald is bound to discover the truth. Nora is ashamed of this possibility. She contemplates jumping into an icy river. She believes that if she does not commit suicide, Torvald will bravely assume responsibility for her crimes. She believes that he would go to jail instead of her. Therefore, she wants to sacrifice herself for his benefit.


ACT 3: 
Mrs. Linde and Krogstad meet for the first time in years. At first Krogstad is bitter towards her, but she soon rekindles their romantic interest towards one another. Krogstad even has a change of heart and considers tearing up Nora's IOU. However, Mrs. Linde believes it would be best if Torvald and Nora finally confront the truth. After returning from the party, Nora and Torvald unwind at home. Torvald discusses how he enjoys watching her at parties, pretending that he is encountering her for the first time. Dr. Rank knocks on the door, interrupting the conversation. He says goodbye to them, hinting that he will be shutting himself up in his room until his sickness finally wins. After Dr. Rank's departure, Torvald discovers Krogstad's  note. When he realizes the criminal act that Nora has committed, Torvald becomes enraged. He fumes about how Krogstad can now make any demand he wishes. He declares that Nora is immoral, unfit as a wife and mother. Even worse, Torvald says that he will continue to be married to her in name alone. He wants to have no romantic connection to her whatsoever.
Moments after Torvald raves like a madman, Krogstad drops another note saying that he has rediscovered love, and that he no longer wants to blackmail the Helmer family. Torvald rejoices, declaring that they are saved. He then, in a moment of  hypocrisy, states that he forgives Nora, and that he still loves her as his little "caged song bird." This is a startling wake-up call for Nora. In a flash, she realizes that Torvald is not the loving, selfless husband she had once envisioned. With that she also comes to understand that their marriage has been a lie, and that she herself has been an active part in the deception. She then decides to leave her husband and her children in order to find out who she truly is;. Torvald desperately begs her to stay. He claims that he will change. She says that perhaps if a "miracle of miracles" happens they might one day become suitable companions. However, when she leaves, slamming the door behind her, Torvald is left with very little hope.


CHARACTERS:

Nora Helmer: When we first meet Nora she is portrayed as a 'typical wife' and seems to be completely happy with her married life to Torvald, however all is not as it seems. Her and Her husbands relationship is shown to be affectionate and playful which therefore creates her childlike enthusiasm to certain things and especially money. The interaction between her and Torvald varies at different points in the play because at some moments Nora seems to allow Torvald to be a suppressor towards her and therefore his attitude is quite controlling. For example Torvald calls Nora his 'skylark' , 'squirrel' and 'lovely little singing bird'. This is contrasting to modern day relationships because people call each other words like 'babe' 'honey' etc and so showing this play to a modern audience is very interesting in terms of the reaction as it makes you feel uneasy  The way m which he uses these as a way to dares his wife is very intriguing as it almost objectifies Nora and dehumanizes her making it seem like she is an an animal and therefore needs to be caged (doll in a confined house)
Overall Nora has a huge development as she goes from child to a woman. At first she had a Kate and childlike nature however after her secrets and lies are reeled she realizes not only that she has to grow up but also to understand her self worth and therefore she is able to analyse the situation she is in and how it can be better for her in the future which results to her leaving her husband and children. When this play was fist performed it received allot of controversy and this was also the case behind the scenes as actress


Torvald Helmer: Is a very dominative character and he also has allot of views and ideas which he feels strongly about as he significantly believes that a mans role in marriage is to protect and guide his wife, with him having this view about this specific role it is interesting to see how he embodies this and further it also i able to give us an idea of what his beliefs are towards his wife an her role. This view develops from the beginning to the end.
Torvald enjoys the idea of Nora needing guidance as he has control over her (this further reinforces the title as she is allowing herself to be treated like a doll) alongside this he also acts like Nora's father who passed away and also goes on about the ideas a values that her dad had in which he holds them against
Torvald also has strong values and morals towards 'family life' for example he says that 'to lie in a family home diseases the place' this is very interesting to see Nora's reaction to his strong implemented expectations and values because what he doesn't know is that Nora has been doing exactly that, ly


Nils Krogstad:
Krogstad is a 'friend' to Torvald and is in a subordinate position at the bank and it is in jeopardy. Although he is presented as the antagonist he is not necessarily the vilan because at first his motives were bad but eventually they turn into good intentions. However with this being said he does have reasons for why he behaves the way he does as he needs to try and keep his job, spare his children form the hardships that come with a bad reputation and also to rediscover his past. His spoiled reputation mainly derives from the crimes he has committed, this being forgery of signatures. Later on in the play it is revealed that Nora has committed the same crime in which Krogstad threatens Nora. He says to Nora that she needs to help him save his job otherwise he will reveal the lies and secrets that Nora has been keeping form Torvald as she took a loan from Krogstad and is now in debt.


Kristine Linde:
Kristine is a tough and strong world wise woman and also an old time friend of Nora's. This lady has been through a lot. She tells Krogstad, " Lifes, hard Nils, lifes bitter there is no room for sentiment". In her younger days, she had to sacrifice love for the sake of her family. Rather than marrying Nils Krogstad, she married a businessman who she didn't love, she did this so she could support her sick mother and her two younger brothers. In order to sever herself from her beloved Nils, she wrote him a nasty note saying that she didn't love him any more  Now her brothers are all grown up and her mother is dead. Her husband has passed away, too. Mr. Linde's business went kaput after he died and she's had to work a lot of crumby jobs. Still, Kristine is finally free. It's true that Kristine is free from the responsibilities of family, but she absolutely hates it. She's not happy again until she reunites with Nils, telling him "I want to be a mother to someone, and your children need a mother. We two need each other". This was a very  interesting thing for a woman to say, in a play that's often painted with feminist ideology. Here we have a woman who is capable, intelligent, and self-sufficient. Kristine is a liberated lady smack dab in the middle of Victorian Europe, and what does she go and do? She willingly jumps back into the role of wife and mother, because it's the only way she knows how to be happy. 


SITUATIONS:

1) Initial situation:
In the beginning all 'seems well as Nora and Torvald appear to be a happy couple. Torvald is getting a new high position at the bank , meaning that the Helmers wont have to worry about money, and so we start to get an insight into Nora's playful, naive mannerisms as she loves money and likes to spend frivolous amounts . Later we meet Nora's old friend Mrs Linde who is experiencing hardship as she is a widow that has been left with nothing and is jobless.


2) Conflict:
Things start to go bad for Nora when Krogstad shows up because earlier on in that year Nora had took a loan from Krogstad but she done this by forging a signature and as a result she still is in allot of debt (but Torvald doesn't know this) So when Torvald wants wants to fire Krogstad, Krogstad is able to threaten Nora by saying that he will reveals Nora's secrets by writing a letter if he ends up getting fired


3) Complication:
Nora begs Torvald not to fire Krogstad. His begging makes her husband mad and so he fires Krogstad . As a result of this Krogstad tells Nora that he's going to blackmail both herself and her husband. He writes a letter which details everything that she has done, before its too late she tells Kristine all everything and she then tries to stop Krogstad (later it is revealed that they have history)

4) Climax:
To stall Torvald opening the mailbox, Nora starts to talk about her performing for Torvald however she also lies and says that she doesn't know how to dance the tarantella' any more. She convinces him that he must do nothing other than helping her practice until they go to the party which is next evening. The next evening the Helmers are at a party upstairs in which Kristine has a visit from Krogstad, what could e want?, why is he there?


5) Tension:
After Mrs Linde and Krogstad has a heart-to-heart with Krogstad he changes his mind about the blackmailing instantly, however Kristine tells him to let Torvald read the letter. She understands and is aware of the many lies there are in the Helmers household and she believes that Nora can not keep running away from the truth.

6) Judgement:
When the secrets and lies are revealed to Torvald, he abruptly flips out on Nora and speaks without thinking first. It is here when Nora realises her doll like nature and the way in which Torvald plays with her physically, mentally and emotionally. Torvald forgives Nora but she doesn't forgive him. She tells him they are strangers and that they never had a real marriage as he 'liked the idea of being in love with her'.

7) Conclusion: 
The play concludes with Torvald alone in the room and Nora has left him. Nora plucks up the independence and courage to leave him. However at the time when this play was shown it received allot of controversy because it was seen as barbaric to leave your husband and children and so the actress who was




THEMES:

Appearance VS Reality                                        Wealth                                        Marriage:

                                                           Sacrificial role of women

Parental obligations/ roles

                                                                   Importance of appearance in the social realm


KEY QUOTES:

NORA: "How painful and humiliating it would be for Torvald to know that he owed me anything! It would upset our mutual relations altogether." 

HELMER: "Well, we will share it, Nora, as man and wife should. That is how it shall be."

TORVALD: "I actually find your lack and ability of understanding rather quite attractive"

TORVALD: "I now understand that you are a man and i am a woman"

FURTHER COMMENTS:

The whole play is a very interesting development because it deeply explores attitudes at the time

• The actress Hedwig Niemann-Rabbe refused to perform the part of Nora, claiming that she couldn't relate to a woman that acted so savagely. Ibsen was forced to write an alternative ending in which Nora doesn't leave her husband and children but instead breaks down and cries at the sight of her children – suggesting that she will stay in the marriage for their sake. Ibsen referred to the new ending as ‘an act of barbarous violence against the play’.Ibsen was eventually vindicated, however, when the new ending damaged the popularity of
• The story is inspired by Henrik Ibsen s friend who at the time was dealing with a hard marriage which consisted of the many issues that a dolls house ha
• A film called the dead letter had an effect on writer Betsie Davies and her book was insred by the story of 'A Dolls house; 

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
A Dolls house summary:  http://plays.about.com/od/plays/a/dolls_summary.htm by Wade Bradford

TRIP TO SEE A DOLLS HOUSE, AT THE DUKE OF YORK THEATRE