Once On This Island Review

This last Saturday night my family and I went to see the Cheshire Academy production of "Once On This Island." The play was great and seemed like a lot fun for the actors. I had a good time watching my fellow classmates on stage. They are all skilled actors with a lot of potential to pursue it as a career.

The life of Ti Moune was greatly portrayed  in the live performance. It started out as her being a youngling  and growing into a women over the time of a song. Ti Moune lived among the pescants before being chosen by the gods to nurse a rich man named Daniel back to health.  Ti Moune and Daniel fell for one another even when everyone condemned their love for each other. With the support from no one and the arrangement for Daniel to be predestined to marry another girl that is not Ti Moune, she was betrayed and fell into a deep depression. Ti Moune was given an opportunity  to save her life by killing Daniel and getting over her lost love. She ultimately chose his life over her own feeling her unreturned love was to much to bare for the rest of her life. She eventually died, and the gods pitied her casting her spirit into a tree where Daniel's kids would play once born.

The Cheshire Academy production of "Once On This Island" was one of the better high school plays I've seen. Cheshire Academy has a great drama program with skillful actors. The live music correlated  with the actor's movements perfectly. The band was so good that I actually thought it was a recording other than a live performance. The stage looked great. Everyone could see the effort that was put out into making the background look as good as it did.

The stage crew made it on and off the stage when switching scenes effortlessly. Sometimes I couldn't  even tell that they switched the stage setting until afte the lights were back on the stage. Two things Id try and improve were the memorization of lines/clarity while speaking, and making sure that some scenes are acted properly. Their were times where the audience found flunders in the actors performance and memorization of lines. And lastly their was one scene in the play that I felt was supposed to be romantic and serious but the audience interpreted it as funny which kind of threw the whole genre of the play off from being a romantic drama to a kind of romantic comedy.

Other than those to negative factors, I'd give the play a solid 7 out of 10 for a rating. Leaving room for improvement, but also appreciating the hard work and effort that went into producing the play. I give the producor/director amble credit for the performance and encouraging all the actors to do the best job possible. I would definitely recommend the play to anyone that wanted to see a good high school play showing. I would also definitely go see another Cheshire Academy production as soon as another comes out.

Script for scene in The Flash

Cisco: Barry, I think Doctor Wells is really not who we think he is. I need to find out what went wrong that night we captured the reverse flash and find out how he really  escaped. Can you cover for me?

Barry: sure I'll tell wells you went out of town to run an errand.

Cisco walls down the hallway to the trap they sent and captured the reserve flash. Cisco works on a computer. 

(Cisco watches the holograms) : Doctor Harrison wells we meet at last. Cisco plays it over again. : Doctor Harrison wells we meet at last. 

Cisco: It was a hologram wells tricked us 

Wells: hello Cisco your incrediblally clever. 

Cisco: your him the reverse flash. 

Wells: We never properly introduced. I am Eboard Thawne. 

Cisco: Thawne... like Eddie Thawne. 

Wells: let's call him a distant relitave. 

Cisco: you were there that night when Barry was a kid. You killed Nora Allen why? 

Wells: it was never my intention to kill Nora. I was there to kill Barry. 

Cisco: Your his friend. Your teach no him how to go faster. Why? 

Wells: I'll tell you why Cisco. I have been stuck in this time for 15 long years. And the flash, and the flashes speed. is the key to my way home. to the future.  And no one will prevent this from happening.

Cisco: I can help you

Wells: your smart Cisco. but not that smart. 

This is hard for me. Because have become quite fond of you especially you. And in many ways you have shown me what it is like to have a son. 

Wells: forgive me 

First Ever Monologue

Link to first ever monologue: https://youtu.be/-eUJqRT5C5w

My first ever monologue was both a fun and anxious expirence. I never peformed a skit in my life and it was a very fun experience. I think monologue is one of the harder projects that I will do in this  acting class, because you are on stage by yourself and you have no hint at  your next lines coming from another characters dialogue. My monologue was difficult because I was never truly able to find my characters place in the reenactment... I could not relate to the boy portrayed in my monologue  because I never as a kid wanted to be a hero. I was always quite as a kid, and I only became more outgoing recently. I think once time took its course and I became more mature I broke out of my shyness, but that still didn't help when I was trying to act as a confident younger boy around age eleven.

From watching the other students act, I pulled things out that I liked and incorporated it into my own piece. I think it was good that I received emails on how to make it better and took that to my advantage. My classmates were very helpful and it made me look at my character from another angle. At first I thought my character was around age six or seven, but then I realized after reading the emails my peers sent me, the monologue I was trying to grasp my knowledge around seemed more mature than what a six year old may say. The problems faced in my monologue would occur more in junior high or late elementary school.  The emails were both positive and negative, but the negative was put in words where it did not hurt my feelings and made me take it into consideration other than blocks it out.

What I could of done better  was practice more in front of the mirror. I read my monologue only about ten times. By then, I had memorized it and started practicing in front of a mirror. My projection was always solid and confident, but my movments could of been better with more practice. I also did not practice in front of a crowd other than my time in class. Practicing in front of people could of better prepared me for when I actually needed to present in class. Therefore with the lack of practice in front of people I got a little nervous in front of the students and teachers while performing my monologue. I knew my lines before the presentation and rehearsed them every night but when I got up in front of everyone I got nervous. Causing me to forget a couple of limes during the presentation. That will go away once I get more practice, I'm sure. Acting has been very fun, and challenging up to this point.  I have a passion for acting and I am not going to let one flunder hold me back.

Monologue

My monologue is about a little boy around age 13-14 who wants to be a heros, and tries all different things to become a hero. He is talking to himself in his room

PROTECTO

I've always dreamed of being a hero. I've tried everything to become super.  I let a spider bite me... no spider powers; just lots of itching.  I tried standing too close to the microwave oven hoping the radiation would change me.  Nothing.  And I got in trouble for making so many bags of popcorn.  But I took it all to school and had a popcorn party.  I was a hero that day. So I guess it kinda worked.

I love being a hero.  I love helping people.  I love making them happy.  And I hate bad guys.  I hate creeps who hurt people. 

There's this kid at school... he is always hurting everyone.  I am sick of him hurting us.  I just need those super powers.  I need something that will make him stop.  

(lost in thought) Maybe if I eat more of the school lunches.  They look radioactive.  If I get enough green hotdogs and brown ketchup in me... something is bound to happen. (nods in approval)

And I need a catch phrase like "gonna smoosh me a baddie"... and a cool costume... actually last time I was in the bathroom, I saw the perfect superhero name.  Protecto!  Instead of a telephone booth like superman, I could use a bathroom stall and those Protecto seat covers could be a cape... and make a toilet paper mask.  Nothing scares bad guys more than bathroom stuff.  (thinks then frowns)  Or maybe it will really make them want to give me a swirly.  I better rethink this.

The Longest Flight

 

  Our group performed a skit were four characters on a airplane all had problems that conflicted with the other three passengers building up to one epic fail that made the flight attendant give up. Our  project turned out to be very good with a great director and skillful actors that were determined to make a great film with both humor, and capturing the view of what it's like to be on a airplane were things constantly are going wrong. We had an experienced director that knew a lot, and guided us through the process of making our first film. Our group evenly paticipated in the movie and had a lot of fun making the silent movie.

From watching the other group peform I found there plot and setting easily detectable from the great acting shown on stage. There editing skills were unbelievable, and shot many different angles. Also there transition of music played a big part in their overall grade in the movie assignment. They had a funny twist at the end were they found a man dressed as a lady which was hysterical. The other group attacked the project from a different angle than we did which gave the movie project a different identity in both movies which I thought was great.

For my first performance ever I thought I overall did a good job. I am my own worst critic when it comes to anything I'm serous about especially football and now newly acting, and always know I can do better even if I did a good job to begin with. When rewatchimg the film I found my facial expressions were both goofy, funny and on point for the mood of the scene we were filming. I found my faults to be more movement based for example when reaching back to knock the water cup out of the flight attendent's hand was both obvious and delayed. I also had a tendency to slouch on stage while performing. Our group was determined to make a great short film, and I think that is just what we did. Our group was creative and everyone contributed to the making of the film.

What we could of done better as a group was staging and making the scene look more like a airplane. When I showed my mom the filming she got the gist of the film but it was hard for her to detect that we were on a airplane. Also could Have included more props and objects that contained words to give the audience a better idea of what was going on. Learning a few things from the other group, that they did well was move around a lot which made there film have more interesting.

Our group was determined to make a great silent film, and I think we did just that. Most of our actors and actresses had never even been in front of a camera before, and did a great job for being first time actors and actresses. It was a great experience and I really hope that we have more trips to the Blackbox.

By Josh Comune

My Story To Be Continuned...

  Hello. For everyone that does not know me my name is Josh Comune. I am a freshman here at Cheshire Academy. I am originally from northern New Jersey were I was born and raised. I came to Cheshire Academy because I was recruited for football to play here for the Fighthing Cats. The opportunity presented itself as my best option for achieving my dreams and goals. I want to go off to a major Division I college football program on a full scholarship, and having my ultimate goal to becoming an quarterback in the NFL. It's been a journey and a half already and I am both scared, anxious, and  excited to seeing what the future holds in my althletic career.

Now to be completely honest I have absolutly no expierence in theater, acting, singing, or anything in that nature. I have never even been in a play. What made me want to join this class is I remember when I was younger around age 6-7 I heard a commercial add on the radio quite a few times. It was about auditions for kid actors in my local area. I always though it would be awesome to go into school after performing a Scence on a real movie and having all my friends watch it. Although I never pursued it, it was always there in the back of my mind. Everyone who is involved in football always tells you to have a second plan if for some reason it does not happen for you. That being if your not good enough, fast enough, strong enough, big enough, tall enough, or even having a career ending injury you should always have a back-up plan. I have always been fond of acting when I was a kid, just never took an initiative to pursuing it. If I were to pursue acting I could see myself in two type of films. Sitcoms like George Lopez, or Two and a Half Men, and thriller action movies such as The Fast and Furious, or Mission Impossible. Something in that nature. I am also interested in broadcasting and could see myself on Sportscenter or the NFL Network.



What I plan to get out of this class is experience. To see if acting is really something I would want to do. I have some pretty appealing traits that I think could suit me well in acting. I can learn a football playbook and memorize things pretty clearly. I am comfident in myself, and I have a pretty good
stature and build as far as physical attributes go for my age. So I am lead to believe through myself that I am capable of pursuing acting. 3 Goals that I have for this class is to maintain A+ average, See what I'm really capable of in the field of acting, and to have fun while doing it.