CRITICAL REFLECTION

The learning process through the process of staging the play was really effective. I have
learned how to be confident. Aspects of the performing arts, especially improvisation, helps
us in learning how to think outside the box, appraise situations and feel more confident in
unfamiliar situations. Students start to believe in themselves and their skills. The self-
confidence we gained from learning performing arts skills can be applied to education, job,
and everyday life.

   The strength of this drama staging is we were able to improve our communication skills. It
seems obvious to say that drama improves verbal and nonverbal communication, but it is
worth stating that this benefits college students like us through our life. It improves voice
projection, articulation, tone of speech and expression. Importantly, it also develops listening
and observation skills. Moreover, this drama staging brings elements of play, humour, and
laughter. We had so much fun through the process of staging the play. It also improves
motivation and reduces our stress. In addition, our memory requires exercise, just like a
muscle. Therefore, rehearsing and performing lines and movements helped us to improve
our memory. I also get to know my strengths and weaknesses of this stage production by the
reflecting group members. My voice projection was loud and clear. The costume I chose for
the staging was great and suitable. Moreover, I realised I have improved in having more eye
contact with the audience. However, the commentary group also mentioned our background
music. This made our staging more touching and emotional. Besides, the storm scene and
last scene we switched off a few lights and it made the scene more realistic.

   The weaknesses and problems we encountered were memorizing long dialogues. The
dialogues from the King Lear novel were very long and the language used was not the same
as our modern English. We had difficulty in pronouncing words like ‘thou’, ‘thee’, ‘thy’, ‘dover’
and ‘dower’. Being put on the stage and being told to act out a scene is very difficult for me,
and I require some direction for a stimulus of ideas. However, we had very short time for
changing clothes. We had to rush to act out the next scenes and this made us forget a few
lines. Stage fright and nervousness are considered weaknesses by many actors. I was
feeling nervous for the first few scenes of the staging. This made me have less eye contact
with the audience. We talked to each other, and not the audience for a long period of time.
We could have looked at the characters and the audience equally for the first few scenes. 

    Last but not least, we had good cooperation during the staging of the drama because
drama is a collaboration of different players and in many cases the quality of the
performance relies on an ensemble performance. Combining the creative ideas and the
abilities of all participants is required for the best outcomes and this requires all those taking
part to engage in discussions, feedback, rehearsing, and the performance.
 REFERENCES

 Brian Timoney. (September 1, 2016).  Overcoming Your Acting

Weaknesses.Borehamwood. https://www.briantimoneyacting.co.uk/overcoming-
acting-weaknesses/#:~:text=Stage%20fright%20and%20nervousness
%20are,emotionally%20vulnerable%20during%20the%20performance.
 Hamiltonesummerproject. (September 6, 2015). Strength & Weaknesses in
Performig Arts.
https://hamiltonesummerproject.wordpress.com/2015/09/06/strengths-weaknesses-
in-performing-arts/
 Stagewise. 11 Important Benefits of Drama. https://stagewise.ie/performing-arts-
helps-young-people-blossom/