For these two weeks, i wasn't needed that much for my character, due to not being needed for a long period of time within the play. So taking this spare time to my advantage started to annotate my script, highlighting my lines and any words that i didn't understand the meaning of i researched into and wrote down the meaning. I also started to started to research into how women acted during the restoration period, for example their attitudes towards men. As i did some further research into my spare rehearsal time, i found out how women where oppressed during the 17th century. A very strict era from which the families rarely had any rights at all. Always having to obey by society such as the way they acted, got treated and even to the way they dressed up in public. Women's views, opinions and thoughts did not matter as they where thought to be very inferior to men. They worked and mainly focused on all domestic matters, such as family, getting married and looking after their children. Due to barely having any rights, women where discouraged from directly expressing political views. However many women did challenge this society such as Mary Dyer. Who was sentenced to death by a hanging for challenging the Massachusetts law that banished Quakers from the colony. By standing up for her own rights and opinions, of course the society and men overpowered her political veiw and caused choas, leading her to her death sentance. This element of courage and no-fear attitude has a connection to my character i belive.
Linking this to my character Valaria, i started to think of how opressed women would sometimes try to fight and rise above against the men who kept the women under a firm hand. Building on my charcterisation and her background, i started to base her attitudes around men as being very autious and strong headed. For example in the scene where Hellena starts to come to terms with her feelings for Willmore, Valaria tries to talk her out of it by taking the mick. I think she belives that it's either Hellena isn't strong enough to handle a man because she has been a nun all her life before hand or that being with a man would just cause her heart to brake because Valaira being actually a very smart and intellectual character when it comes to situations and helping out with the family knows what the real world is like for women. She knows that most women get took advantage of, convincing of 'love' and getting them into bed. So she is being very portective of her family. However as her cousins starts getting into relationships and go off in couples, Valaria starts to feel left out and desperate so any chance she could get to be with a man she would, which then she ends up with Fredrick. As i read this thorugh which was in the final act of the play, i realised it was her that makes the first move into hinting for them two to be a couple, in the 17th century it was normally the men that makes the move, so this shows her confidence and her feircness courage when it comes to men. She isn't one to be scared.
When practically in rehersal time, we once again tried to strengthen and work on the opening prologue to the show. Making it more fast paced and looking at any problems which could easily be resolved. For example when we all go onstage and pose in our tablues because they are so many of us moving around in getting to our places at the same time, also taking into consideration we have a time limit in which is based on the timing of the classical music which is played in the background throughout the prologue, we sometime bash into eachother, causing us to panic. So tried to plan our trails making it quicker, neater and more proffesional to look at. As i veiwed this from an audience perspective as my double cast took my place in the prologue the first time was very rushed, messy and the actors looks stiff and panicked. As they made their own trails, elxed body but walking with purpose to their spot confidently, it look so much neater and proffesional. The confidence helpes a lot with the resotration characterisations because in the 17th century all posses by men where always head and with confidence and looking down at people who are lower than them. As for the women, they would look up at confidence and use thier fan to emphasise their feminity and use the eyes to show their flirtishius side to 'whoo' the opposite sex.
