Tristans view on Lily

This would be in the character of Tristan. This acts as an internal monologue about the character Lily Cahill. This would take place before the killings.


She's nice enough, nothing special I guess. I mean, she has nice hair, I'll give her that. I haven't known her long, but I'm pretty good at reading people I think. She seemed quiet at first, perhaps she was nervous? But then this entire different person came out. She was confident and most of the lads seemed to like her, especially Nicholas and William. But yet again, William does get attached to anyone with a heartbeat that carries a conversation longer than 5 seconds.


She's very smart, academically and common sense wise. She's not another Cissy thank god. She doesn't seem to follow the crowd, and she's not all about her boyfriend like most girls. We had a conversation about our future the other day, she's clearly quite understanding, and is saw a side of her I didn't think existed. We all know about her and Nicholas' affair, but I never would of guessed they would have slept together already, I guess she moves around a lot so she doesn't really have time to build up a relationship first.


She's become a good friend of mine if I'm honest. She got moody with Cissy when she didn't stick up for me when Bennett roared up...again. Its nice to have someone that understands. I feel like I'm the only one that stands up for people in this group, at least someone supports me with my decisions. Williams infatuation with her is a bit odd though. I feel a bit sorry for him if I'm honest, I mean she doesn't lead him on, but she doesn't exactly tell him how she feels towards him. He doesn't have a sense of closure with his feelings.


She's a nice girl, I don't know her well enough to make a clear judgement, but I like that about her, you don't need to know her to know that you like her.

Scene 3 analysis

In scene 3 I wanted to show the nervousness that usually bubbles with new relationships. We decided to be seated apart from each other, so the audience have full view of our movements and facial expressions. Within this scene we wanted the audience to focus on what we were saying, instead of what we were doing, so we kept the movements simple, refraining from over dramatizing parts of the scene. Instead of making the scene flow we decided to add some pauses in there, we wanted the audience to feel the awkwardness in the scene, a clear sense of tension between the two characters.


The conversation switches a lot between subjects, we had to try out different ways to change the topic of conversation. We tried different styles, firstly an making the changes awkward, pausing for a long time. We then decided that this method had been used too many times in the scene, and found it can become a bit tedious. Instead we opted for a change in movements as we changed the conversation. This then stops the pauses from seeming too long, as the audience can focus on what the characters are doing.


As the scene develops there is a part in the scene that strains with sexual tension. This is to show the characters affection towards each other. Halfway through I state "And I have to admit, some of the things I've been thinking about, are a bit dirty". We were stuck on what movements to match with this, that would be appropriate for the audience, refraining from making the audience feel uncomfortable. We decided that my character Lily would could stand behind Nicholas, hugging him from behind. This portrays their feelings through movements as well as context, showing intimate gestures, that reflect there feelings.


Throughout this scene we switched to direct eye contact, to looking away from each other. We didn't plan out when we would switch as we wanted the movements to be free and natural, instead of planned and sculpted. I also suggested that Nicholas should keep fiddling with his hands or objects around the table. This would reinforce the nervousness that he is feeling, radiating an anxious and timid persona, a complete contrast to the classical "player" label that can be placed with his character. We wanted to show how different he can act around some one he likes as oppose to his friends. This is a very common trait that teenage boys have these days.

Scene 2 analysis

This is the scene where William and Lily get to know each other, this is also the scene where William lies about his parents being dead and where he asks Lily out. In this scene the two characters seem to bounce off each other a lot when describing how horrible their home town is. We wanted to emphasise this idea through our movements. As appose to a lot of the other scenes where all our characters mainly stay sitting down, occasionally standing to go get another book, we wanted to portray an excited atmosphere as the characters express there opinions confidently. To do this we walked around the room a lot as we said our lines, running at some points. We jumped on and off the table creating larger gestures with our hands than usual. After we finish bouncing off each other we sit back down on the table facing the audience.

This is when William lies to Lily about his parents being dead. We decided to face the audience for this so the audience can see are facial expressions clearly, instead of just seeing the side of our face. With this part of the scene we didn't want to move around a lot, we wanted to maintain a serious atmosphere and we wanted the audience to focus on what we were saying as appose to our movements. Then came the part where William calls Lily up on the burns on our arms. This is when Lily shows William how she burns herself. To do this I got a lighter and placed it a few spaces behind were my arm was resting. So from the audiences perspective it looks like the lighter is burning me, but from where I am standing the lighter is no-where near me. Using this illusion maintains the safe environment.

After this part in the scene we are supposed to talk about how we are like machines and animals. This part was cut from our script to stop the play being too long. Instead the scene jumps straight to William asking Lily out. After rehearsing this scene a lot we found that it disturbed the flow of the scene, it made it seem too jolty. We wanted it to flow into the same fluent conversation we had evolved. I decided that William needed to make contact with Lily at some point before he asks her out. To do this, we made William take the lighter from Lily, but linger as he slowly takes the lighter from her hand. This creates tension between the characters as they hold a position including physical contact in. This then allows a short pause to be placed as he stirs up the courage to ask Lily out.

After Lily denies his offer of a date we wanted the last few lines to be rushed as Lily attempts to reassure him that he isn't the reason she said no to his burst of affection. This creates a panicked atmosphere but also a comedic one. Just as William leaves the scene I suggested he comes back on again after realising he has forgotten his book. Again this makes the scene a lot more laughable rather than awkward.

Letter by Lily Cahill

This letter would be written after the murder at the school.

Dear William

I must have written and re-written this letter thousands of times by now. I think it's because I'm not too sure as to what to say. At the beginning I furious with you. This letter would be all about how you ruined my life, and how I wish you were dead instead of them. I'm still angry, you're not exempt from that. But, I realised something. Something about the situation. I wasn't shocked by it. It's as if I expected something like this to happen, that's why I didn't come in when you told me to. I just wish you would have told the others to do the same. I'm not too sure what was going through my head when I told my mother I was sick and I didn't want to go to school that day. I don't know why I didn't tell the others about our meeting we had the day before, I don't know why I didn't warn them. Yes, there was a part of me the expected something to happen, but there was also a part of me that clung on to the hope that you would see a different light. Never did I expect to attend 3 funerals in the end.

I had so many questions I wanted to ask you. Questions like "what were you thinking?" or "why did you do it?" but I realise now, that it doesn't matter how or why. I realise now that I don't really care. The answers won't bring them back, so why bother. You were famous for a while, did you know that? But like all tragic stories, they were covered up by celebrity drama crap. Now you are no-one, rotting In that cell, I can't help but feel that I should be in there with you, paying for the 3 lives I could have saved. Instead I bathe in the sun in the field of another new school.

You will be pleased to know I have stopped burning myself, not for you of course, for Nicholas. He noticed the scars too, I made a promise to him I would stop. I kept that promise for him. I miss him a lot, I think about him all the time, I think about the life we could have had together. A life you took from us for no reason. Yet again a life I could have saved, if I would have just warned them. I think about Bennett and Cissy too. As horrible as they might have been, death was not the answer.

This is usually the part where people say that they forgive you. If that's what you're hoping to get from me then you will be greatly disappointed. I don't forgive you William, and I never will. I hate you, almost as much as I hate myself. I don't want a letter back from you, I hope you have a long and lonely life.

Lilly.

Lily Cahill - Diary Entry

Dear Diary
Today was my first day at a new school. I'm no stranger to being the new girl of course, but still, it can be unnerving. It started off like all the other schools, I was able to establish the different groups immediately. I made a note not to fall back into the same routine by sticking with the geography nerds. This year would be different, isolation seemed to be a good way to go, you don't get attached to anyone, which makes the goodbyes a lot easier. The library seemed like the perfect place, no one talks in there and if they do its mainly small talk, nothing that can lead to any kind of friendship. This would allow me to focus on my studies, not that I need the extra work.

Of course, like all my plans, they don't seem to work. I was immediately addressed by a boy that seemed to want to know everything about me. My attempts to shake him off failed completely, the boy clearly didn't seem to get the message. I think his name is William, he is an odd little thing, but nice enough, though I cant help but get the feeling he is slightly un-hinged. But the introductions didn't end there, I had clearly stumbled into the "popular" group in school, most of their parents must be filthy rich, hence giving them the hierarchy. Bennett was the man in charge, a classic bully with a foul mouth, but that's expected when your "daddy" can pay for any legal issues. He has a girlfriend, she's a cute little thing, clearly smitten with the rich twat, defending him over anything and everything he does wrong to others. Then there's Tristian, the preppy lad, that's far more confident than I would have expected from his skinny body. He's gay and he doesn't seem to be shy about that, which I admire.

Then we have Nicholas. Oh my lord alive, what a man. He's utterly gorgeous but not in the obvious Brad Pitt kind of way. He has these strange quirky features about him that always catch my eye. I know he likes me, his hints are about as subtle as a grenade, but I don't mind. If I'm honest, I feel the exact same. We spent the whole day acting like 8 year olds, giggling every time we caught each other staring. He made a comment about my favourite band "The white stripes" trying to impress me. I believed he liked them too until William revealed his white lie, I would usually get annoyed over petty lies like that, but I couldnt help but laugh at his effort to connect. He's clearly rich seeming as he prances around in extremely expensive brands, not that his wealth phases me, but I have to admit, its an added bonus.

Chadwick was the last person I met. He seems lovely, and extremely intelligent. It's obvious he got into the private school through his grades, rather than an unlimited supply of cash like the others. Unfortunately he seems to be the runt of the group, constantly bullied and picked on by Bennett, but he doesn't seem too disheartened by it, perhaps he's grown immune to the negative attention. They are an odd bunch, and I wouldn't have put them together as a friendship group, but we are who we are, and although I intended to spent the year alone, I guess a bit of company never hurt anyone. Anyway, I should get back to my studies. Until next time...

Lily xx

Weeks Review - 4

This week we finished off our character profiles. I found when doing this task, we created different way to interpret each character. For example, we came up with the idea that Bennett is hiding his feelings for Chadwick. We thought that the reason Bennett picks on Chadwick so much is because he actually likes him.




When doing this task we developed part of our character that most people don't notice. For example we defined different class between characters. We decided that Bennett came from a wealthy family, this is why he is so horrible to people because he is able to control others with wealth. We also came up with the idea that Nicholas is also from a wealthy family, possibly on par to Bennett, this is why Bennett never really picks on Nicholas because they are equals in terms of wealth and class. In private schools, the pupils usually come from wealthy backgrounds or are of high intelligence giving them a full scholarship to the school. In these schools the pupils of high class and wealth are stereotypically seen as being in control, and the pupils on scholarships are picked on.


We ran through the entire play and worked on scenes that needed it. We worked on scenes with William and my character, Lily a lot. I helped Tom with his character (William) as he has to portray a psychotic character. When playing a psychopath it is easy to over act. This can distract the audience from the play, making them focus on the acting rather than the story line. When we were given feedback from our teachers we were told to act subtle rather than over do the acting as it can make it look stylised.


We also played a game including sub-text. When a character claps they have to say what that character would be thinking at that time. This helped us with our characters, allowing us to develop our characters with our own context.

Weeks review - 4 - Work profiles

Weeks review - 3

This week we ran through the last few ending scenes. The last few scenes of the play are the most difficult to interpret within the play, the lack of stage directions makes it hard to know how the other characters react to the situation. We decided to workshop a few ideas.






Our first approach to the situation was to act scared and shocked. This is when we looked into the fight or flight theory. When we looked at each of our characters we all decided that none of our characters were the fighting type. Instead we decided to all react shocked and scared, fleeing from their chairs and screaming for a few brief moments. I decided that Cissy would be the most likely to hide behind Bennett for protection, although Bennett wouldn't be of much help. Tristan (Tanya) would be the one to scream out of the group, possibly fall of his chair. Nicky, I believe, would freeze in his seat, but I'm not he would freeze out of fear, more out of caution. Chadwick is already standing so I think he would back up to the wall with a look of shocked fear. When trying out this idea, we showed it to our teacher. Our teacher picked out the fact that it looked too staged, and perhaps to over the top. After reflecting upon this, we found this scene was to similar to the wasp scene. The wasp scene is dramatic for comedic values, this scene had to be far more serious.





We then tried a different approach. We all sat and discussed what we would do if this situation was to occur in real life. We all decided that we wouldn't know what we would do, we would be frozen in fear. We then work shopped this idea. When we showed this back to our teacher he told us that this idea was far more realistic and would work perfectly for our play.






We came across another problem within this last scene when rehearsing. We had to include 3 deaths within this. Murders are extremely hard to perform in a play in a realistic way, especially with a gun. We have two main problems with a shooting in the play. The first is we have to make their deaths believable. The second is that we have to do so from a long distance with a fake gun, so the timing and gun usage has to be perfect. When discussing this scene we decided to invest in a fake gun that fires nothing but sounds real. Dan told us that he has a few guns like this where he works. I came up with the idea of blood capsules that the characters can either place in their mouth or in their pockets. Bennett is the first character to die and he is shot twice. Cissy then runs over to him, screaming. If Dan had a blood capsule in his pocket, Cissy would be able to run over to him place her hand in his pocket and pull it out with blood all over her hands. This adds a gory, horror effect to the scene, making their deaths more realistic.


I have never worked with a naturalistic death scene before, so the challenges we face are fun to experiment with, working with different ideas to compose the perfect outcome.

Weeks Review - 2

This week we managed to run through the entire play, using our scripts. I find running through the script continuously helps me learn lines. I begin to remember my queues for when to say my line. It also helps me understand the story and allow me to develop and workshop different tones and emotions to portray.

When looking at the first few pages of the script where Lilly and William begin the play, we are introduced to Williams obsessive behaviour. Within these first few pages all the characters are introduced to the play. We were told that first impressions are crucial to the play as it allows the audience to see how the characters develop. When I first read through the first scene, when work shopping the play I thought Lily might be an eager character, possibly seen as nerdy. I tried this style when performing the first scene. After discussing with the group about characters I decided Lily is more of a refined character with a confidently subtle persona. Within the first page of the play, Lily and William meet, and we can see from the start that William is infatuated with Lily. William asks her questions like "where do you live?" and "what house number". Instead of taking on an over-friendly co-operative personality, I decided to perform this scene as if Lily were slightly annoyed and cautious of William. I kept the responses blunt, with minimal tone or eye contact. This is a stereotypical outline of the average person attempting to end conversation. I then work shopped this idea and found it worked far better.

Once we walked through the first few pages, Lily is introduced to all the other characters. Throughout these pages Lily doesn't say much other than introducing herself. The script doesn't include a lot of stage directions so it is mainly down to us a group to decided on tactical movements. I noticed that when performing this play we spend a lot of time sitting down. I decided that when other characters are talking I would make an effort to move around the stage, whether it be moving to another seat or moving to get a book off the book case. This stops the play from being to central and boring. I found that moving even the slightest bit, having conversations standing can make a difference to the play.

What I hope to do is draw a set design and work shop a lot of ideas between the group.

Lilly Cahill - profile

If i were to picture Lilly i would see her as classically pretty. I used Chloe Grace Moretz as a model for my ideal look, as i believe she portrays an ideal look for my character. She has delicate features, but she can show an intriguing side.

 I also like the makeup in this picture. She has been given a flat base, highlighted on the cheekbones and nose bridge. This is paired with dark eyes and a plumped pink/nude lip gloss and defined eyebrows. This is a common natural look that would be perfect for this play, seeming as i would say the school would be strict on dress code. I also like the tied back hair in this picture. This would be perfect for a casual school look, as a messy bun seems effortless yet captivates and frames the face. I really like the dark smokey eye as it would help build the characters persona. Lily is a seemingly lovely character, but can have a mean and supposedly inapropriete streak within her. The formal and clean swept face would portray her pure side, where as the dark eyes symbolise her darker side.

When reading through the script, looking at her conversations with different people, she doesn't seem to be that involved in the group. She only fully interacts with William and Nicholas, talking to them for full scenes. She also doesn't seem to follow the hierarchy rule that is commonly placed by Bennett. She mainly keeps her self to her self making her a more refined character. Although everyone mocks Chadwick in the group, Lilly is the only character that treats him as an equal. She never makes fun of him.

In scene 5, William often intimidates and handles Lily physically in an aggressive manner. Despite these aggressions she still often checks on him "William are you alright?". Her affections for her friends seem to overpower any violent gestures made. It's clear she is a brave and caring character.

Weeks Review - 1

This week we were given our script on the play "Punk Rock". We had been work shopping a few plays, and had eliminated all but two "Punk Rock" and "The Handbag". Our production team would be split in two, 1 group for each play. After looking at a few scenes from both scripts I decided that I preferred "Punk Rock" and was delighted when I found that I was put in the group performing this play. In my group I have:

• Tom - playing William
• Dan - playing Bennett
• Kyle - playing Chadwick
• Meg - playing Cissy
• Theo - playing Nicholas
• Carl - playing Tanya

I play the character Lily Cahill who is Nicholas' girlfriend and Williams love interest. I am extremely happy with the people in my group as all of our differences can be brought together to make a brilliant performance. After getting our scripts we did a read through of the play. This is when I noticed that I have a lot of lines. Though I like the fact I have a strong role in the play, I am slightly apprehensive about remembering lines. I really like my character as my character has a lot of different sides to her. Allowing me to challenge my capabilities and develop skills. I haven't played a character that has a love interest before, so I am very excited to start pushing out of my comfort zone. This play is also a naturalistic performance, which I am not used to doing.

We also decided to make a few rules that we must all follow in our group. This will help us maintain a strong working order allowing us to stay focus and perform the play to the best of our ability. Our main issue, in my personal opinion, is staying on task. We are a close group and we are all very good friends, and often drift off task, wasting time. We also have a lot of disagreements in our group, because we are all so close and comfortable with each other. We recently had a disagreement in the group, that ended up being nothing more than a silly misunderstanding. This argument was resolved before the next rehearsal so we wouldn't waste any time.

In our play we have a shortage of girls. In our group Carl plays Tanya, who is of course supposed to be a girl. We decided to mould this character into Tristian, who is instead, a gay male. This also adds a comedic view on the play as Carl often has to imitate a girls scream or comment on other boys. I think this will still have the same effect on the audience as Tanya would have, if not better.

We were able to stage the first 2 scenes this week. We also staged the play, as it is all performed in the common room/library. The layout is simple, and we hope to get a backdrop with library shelves to put on the back of the stage.

School that fits the script

When looking over the script we decided to all look up schools that we believe would best suit the script. I found a school called: George Watson’s College:
Annual senior day school fees: £10,983

Based in Edinburgh, George Watson’s College is a large co-educational school, with over 2,000 pupils. Academically the school is highly successful, offering a broad range of International Baccalaureate, Scottish Highers, Advanced Highers and some A-levels, with over 90 per cent going on to higher education. In 2015, 55.4 per cent of A-level results were graded A*/A. The school has a technology centre devoted almost entirely to electronics, up-to-date science labs, and Mandarin Chinese is on offer as a language. Sports wise, the school is famed for its rugby and has a huge choice of over 20 sports clubs, in addition to 80 other clubs and societies. Sir Chris Hoy and former rugby internationals Gavin and Scott Hastings are former pupils. Money wise, pupils may apply for short term financial help at any stage, there are up to 13 academic and music scholarships annually, and a variety of bursaries offer assistance to over 100 pupils. I really like the look of this school. I like how it looks aged on the outside, and to me, this seems like a well classed private school.

As most of the script is set in the common room/library I decided to look up the library of the school and see if that would also fit in with the atmosphere in the play. I really liked the look of the library. I like how the library is sectioned off by books, and I think this would be perfect for our characters, as I could imagine them having their own section of the library that they stick too. I also liked the stereotypical olden wood that is the desks. I like how it has a historical feel to it, it makes the school seem aged and experienced. I also like how simple the layout is, it hasn't been modernised, so it keeps the educational feel to it, rather than a technical approach.

Punk Rock Research

Punk Rock is a play by the British playwright Simon Stephens which premiered at the Royal Exchange in 2009 and transferred to the Lyric Hammersmith directed by Sarah Frankcom. The play concerns a group of private school sixth formers during their A Level mocks exams. I was given the character Lily Cahill. Within the original performance of Punk Rock Lily is played by: Jessica Raine.


Google interpretation of Lily:
Lily Cahill: to play 17, tries to appear quite sophisticated beyond her years, tries to be enigmatic and mysterious. She is in fact struggling for that image, and does not have the confidence she projects. Sexy in her mysteriousness, seemingly casual sexually but really trying to discover the limits of her new-found allure. Smart and quick to understand and reply…new to the school but sassy and unafraid.


My interpretation of Lily:
I believe Lily has 2 sides to her personality. I think part of her is timid and caring, this is clear in the first few scenes when we are first introduced to the characters. But as Lily meets Nicholas we see a more sensual side of Lily. I think Lily is a confident character, and I also think she is confident within herself.


I think my opinion on Lily may change in time, the more I develop my character.