Mrs. Culkin couldn’t be with us again today because she had
another year 11 revision session (you can’t blame her – it’s practically her
against the world at our school!), so Miss Bell rehearsed with us. There’s
something about English with Drama that just works; Miss Bell genuinely does an
amazing job at helping us bring the script to life!
To start with, we all read through our lines together - scene
4 first. We'd lost Widow Corney to a detention, so Miss Bell read for her. As we
read through our lines for scene 5, we worked with what we had from Tuesday's rehearsal in
terms of staging. Then, we all worked together to perfect the staging in both
scenes.
Miss Bell wanted to see how the scenes looked on stage as we rehearsed, so
she asked me to read for Widow Corney as she and Nancy aren't seen on stage together. The scene we were rehearsing is the one in which Mr. Bumble and Widow Corney argue and she kicks him out - it
was quite funny! The funniest bit would have to have been when I had to knock Mr.
Bumble’s hat off his head; I’m tiny – I couldn’t reach! As I read Keeley's lines, I realised how long she would have to wait in the wing for before this scene (she has to walk in from a particular wing; you can only walk into said wing from on stage)... I feel sorry for her!
Then it was time for Old Sally (Keira) to give Widow Corney
Oliver's mother's locket and die. We’re not really sure why
Old Sally dies and the fact that she does came as a bit of a surprise to us all so, I
have to admit, we did find this part slightly amusing…
As I waited for my cue, Summer and I decided we’d start a
little dance on the bench that was in the wing. Thinking it was funnier than it actually
was, we couldn’t stop laughing! After our little party in the wings, I heard my
cue: “Sir!” At that, I walked in, looking as annoyed as I thought Nancy would
have been at that moment, and began the conversation with Mr. Brownlow. I knew
my lines now, so I experimented with hand gestures and decided I probably don’t
use them enough… I’ll ask for advice on that and work on it more. Besides that,
the scene went well! I feel confident with my characterisation, thanks to my
mirror which I’m constantly speaking to and making a number of faces in!
Towards the end of the rehearsal, Mrs. Culkin came in and
asked us how it went so, of course, we showed her. Summer had to go though, as
her mum was waiting for her, but Husnaa read her lines. When we performed the
scenes back to Mrs. Culkin, she found the argument between Mr. Bumble
and Widow Corney funny (as do I), and Lee’s (he's playing Mr. Brownlow) fake burp, which
he kindly let Johanthon pass off as Mr. Bumble’s, certainly added to the
effect! Moreover, she was impressed with everything we had done and
even, despite her stressing yesterday, exclaimed “We have a show!” The only
thing she told us we need to work on was the death of Old Sally, but only
because the scenery might affect where it would be best for it to happen.
This may sound morbid, but I (as Nancy) will die in tomorrow’s
rehearsal – I’m excited!
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