Diploma in Perfor

Performing &
Production Arts
Unit 8 Project Proposal

Candidate Campbell James Maddox

Name
Candidate 544858
Number
Pathway Preforming and Production Arts Level 3: Acting

Project Title Final Major Project- buckets by Adam Barnard (performance on the 5 th
and 6th of May)

Section 1: Review
When I first ventured on the course, I was looking to develop my skills as an actor and to create industry
connections from my practitioners, teachers, and friends. Hoping they might help me to find work or
provide references in the future. I was excited to try something different from the typical school
curriculum. Over the year I have become better at tuning into the performers around me, becoming a
stronger actor because of it. Before this course I acted by myself in trinity exams so building trust
through team exercises and performances was a vastly dissimilar experience for me. I feel my skills in
pitching my ideas to a board of directors have come a long way. Over that unit I was challenged
creatively to produce convincing ideas to present to a panel of professional creatives. In the long term I
would like to become better at explaining my ideas, so I look more professional.

Section 2: Project Concept

The concept of my project is to create and perform a play called buckets. Written by Adam Barnard and
premiering in 2015 at the Orange Tree Theatre, buckets explores the theme of bucket lists, attempting
to plan your life and facing the fact that you aren’t going to live forever. In buckets there are no
prescribed characters or attributed lines of dialogue leaving everything open to interpretation for both us,
young actors/theatre makers, and our director. Each scene is separate from another (apart from ones
listed with attributed numbers, e.g. ‘Kiss Me’ 1-3). This creates a universal feeling that this play is about
life and these scenes could happen to anyone. We dive into each scene with the intent to create
interesting characters through unique staging and performance choices. I think this performance would
benefit from lighting and sound design as this will help engage the audience with the characters we
create. To develop my understanding, I plan to make a buckets’ ‘dos and don’ts’ list. This will help us
learn what worked in a previous performance and what was less successful. As the absurd themes
employed in buckets can deter some audiences, it is important to know how audiences received past
performances of buckets and how to ensure they engage with the material.

Section 3: Evaluation
To evaluate my work every week I will create a detailed action plan to help me keep a record of what I
had completed and what I could do to keep on track in the weeks going forward. This will help ensure
that I stay on top of all my work and have a good idea of what I achieved in class. Additionally, I will
record a video log weekly that shows what my ideas and thoughts were when working on my project.
This will show how my ideas about character changes, themes and concepts about the piece develop
 over time. Collaborating on a play like buckets is beneficial as a cohesive ensemble is needed for the
flow to feel natural and to share ideas that will improve it. It can feel demoralizing to face criticism of an
idea so we should always be supportive of each other. Listening to everyone's creative ideas can only
help the piece grow.

Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format)

FMP Research Presentation

A Akbar Tuesday 18th February 2020 ‘Be more chill review- glorious misfit musical for the age of
oddballs,’ The guardian (online) available at Be More Chill review – glorious misfit musical for the age of
oddballs | Musicals | The Guardian) (Accessed on the 6th of March 2023)

A Akbar Sunday 30th October 2022 ‘A dead body in Taos review- a spiritual exploration of what it means
to be really free,’ the guardian (online) available at A Dead Body in Taos review – a spiritual exploration
of what it means to be really free | Stage | The Guardian (accessed on 6th March 2023)

J Khalili August 28th, 2021 ‘I went to a play written by an AI; it was like looking in a circus mirror,’
TechRadar.pro (online) available at I went to a play written by AI; it was like looking in a circus mirror |
TechRadar (accessed on the 7th March 2023)

B Perrigo August 23rd, 2021 ‘An artificial intelligence helped write this play. It may contain racism’ The
Time (online) available at Artificial Intelligence Wrote a Play. It May Contain Racism | Time (accessed 7th
March 2023)

FMP Context Poster Political

C Ellis 31st December 2014 ‘Review of 2014 England's biggest stories’ BBC (online) available at Review
of 2014: England's biggest stories - BBC News (accessed on April 11th, 2023)

M Keneally 26th December 2014 ‘The biggest news stories of 2014’ ABC News (online) available at The
Biggest News Stories of 2014 - ABC News (go.com) (accessed April 11th, 2023)

NBC News 25th December 2014 (updated December 30th, 2014) ‘Top 10 biggest political stories of 2014’
NBC News (online) available at Top 10 Biggest Political Stories of 2014 (nbcnews.com) (accessed April
11th, 2023)

BBC Economics 31st March 2015 ‘UK’s economic growth revised up’ BBC (online) available at UK's
economic growth for 2014 revised up - BBC News (accessed April 11th, 2023)

FMP Context Poster Social

M Duggan, N Bellison, C Lampe, A Lenhart, M Madden January 9th, 2015 ‘Social media update 2014’
Pew Research center (online) available at Social Media Site Usage 2014 | Pew Research Center
(accessed April 11th, 2023)

A Sifferlin August 18th, 2014 ‘Here’s how the ALS ice bucket challenge actually started’ Time (online)
available at ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: How it Started | Time (accessed April 10th, 2023)

A Wyers January 11th, 2015 ‘Top 100 social media trends of 2014’ Trendhunter (online) available at Top
100 Social Media Trends of 2014 (trendhunter.com) (accessed April 10th, 2023)

A Fleet 27th January 2021 ‘Detectorists: a sitcom about amateur archeologists that’s a bonafide
heartwarming joy’ The Guardian (online) available atDetectorists: a sitcom about amateur
archaeologists that's a bonafide heartwarming joy | TV streaming | The Guardian (accessed April 10th,
2023)

J Kerber 9th February 2015 ‘Whiplash a story of anger and ambition’ Film Inquiry (online) available at
WHIPLASH: A Story of Anger and Ambition - Film Inquiry (accessed April 10th, 2023)

A Codinha December 17th, 2014 ‘The top 10 trends that shaped 2014’ Vouge (online) available at The
Top 10 Trends That Shaped 2014 | Vogue (accessed April 9th, 2023)

B Carreon April 28th, 2014 ‘top five men’s style trends for spring 2014’ Forbes (online) available at Top
Five Men's Style Trends For Spring 2014 (forbes.com) (accessed April 9th, 2023)

M Schlossberg, D Roach August 18th, 2015 ‘20 fast food chains that rake in the most money’ Insider
(online) available at The 20 Fast Food Chains That Rake in the Most Money (businessinsider.com)
(accessed 9th April 2023)

Fine Dining Lovers' editorial staff 15th September 2014 ‘Good foods guide’s top 50 UK restaurants’ Fine
Dining Lovers (online) available at Good Food Guide 2014 - Best Restaurants in The UK
(finedininglovers.com) (accessed April 2023)

FMP Context Poster Historical

T Simonite 29th December 2014 ‘2014 in computing: breakthroughs in artificial intelligence’ MIT
Technology review (online) available at 2014 in Computing: Breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence | MIT
Technology Review (accessed March 29th, 2023)

G Devictor 30th November ‘year 2014 fun facts, trivia and history’ Hobby Lark (online) available at Year
2014 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History - HobbyLark (accessed March 29th, 2023)

N K 12th July 2021 ‘7 years ago Eminem became the first rapper to headline Wembley stadium in
London’ Eminem news (online) available at 7 Years Ago Eminem Became First Rapper To Headline
Wembley Stadium in London | Eminem.Pro - the biggest and most trusted source of Eminem (accessed
March 28th, 2023)

World Health Organization 15th May 2014 ‘World Health Organization Statistics’ World Health
Organization (online) available at World Health Statistics 2014 (who.int) (accessed March 28th, 2023)

K Reid updated March 24th, 2020 ‘Ebola virus outbreak: facts symptoms, and how to help’ World Vision
(online) available at Ebola virus outbreak: Facts, symptoms, and how to help | World Vision (accessed
March 29th, 2023)

M Fabrega December 20th, 2013 ‘30 ideas for your 2014 bucket list’ Daring to live life fully (online)
available at 30 Ideas For Your 2014 Bucket List - (daringtolivefully.com) (accessed March 29th, 2023)

L Carter January 13th, 2014 ‘2014 bucket list’ bucket list publications (online) available at 2014 Bucket
List | Bucket List Publications (accessed March 29th, 2023)

A White 2006 ongoing ‘The Ultimate Bucket List’ Bucket List Journey (online) available at 1000+ Bucket
List Ideas: The Best Things to Do Before You Die (bucketlistjourney.net) (accessed March 29th, 2023)

buckets Do’s and Don'ts

M Billington 4th June 2015 ‘Buckets review- 27 scenes of life, lust and longing’ The Guardian (online)
available at Buckets review – 27 scenes of life, lust and longing | Theatre | The Guardian accessed
February 26th, 2023

H Loxton 28th May- 7th June ‘buckets’ the British Theatre Guide (online) available at Theatre review:
buckets at Orange Tree Theatre (britishtheatreguide.info) (accessed February 26th )

Theatre of Minds 7th – 8th September 2018 ‘buckets by Adam Barnard’ Theatre of Minds (online)
available at buckets-programme.pdf (wordpress.com) (accessed February 26th, 2023)

Independent’s Theatre review team June 4th, 2015 ‘Buckets theatre review: a witty take on morality that
ticks the right boxes’ Independent (online) available at Buckets, theatre review: a witty take on mortality
ticks the right boxes | The Independent | The Independent (accessed February 26th, 2023)

Project Action Plan and Timetable

Week Date Week Activity / What you are intending to do - Resources / What you will need to do it -
Beginning including independent study including access to workshops

We met our director Scott and read Script as well as rehearsal notes. I
1 20th through our script and discussed the went away and watched a performance
February potential themes and messages we of buckets. Complete first reflection
could explore for our performance. We video.
were then given time to create small
scenes and told to change the genre to
see how this affected the scene.
We rehearsed the first scene of the Complete research task and second
2 27th piece in small groups and then reflection video as well as project
February performed them to each other and gave proposal form.
feedback. We then looked at diverse
ways to interpret the scene by merging
groups in order to take inspiration from
each other's performances.
We used movement-based games to Reorganize my script and rehearsal
3 6th March warm up and later were given prompts notes and put them in a folder.
to create scenes around them. For Complete interview and analysis and
example, we created a big fish and reflection video 3
moved around as it to help establish a
connection as an ensemble. We got into
pairs and followed the hand of our pair.
We also learned a lift that could make
for a cool transition.
We did some improvisation with props Think about how to stage scenes in
4 13th March from a box which helped turn on our buckets in a unique way as we did with
creative brains. We did puppeteering Pet Project and Doctor.
with clothes to create a character. Later
creating a scene with those characters
in the vein of theatre of mind’s
performance of the buckets scene 22
Better Belieber (Harry Me). We also
 discussed how to stage scene 3 Pet
Project. My group decided to stage it in
a courtroom.
We were tasked to create scenes that I will work on my website keeping it
5 20th March staged an A.I. in a household setting updated as well as record my reflection
that helped us later stage Terms and videos and uploading them to my
Conditions. My group staged it as a birth website.
(someone new to life signing the terms
and conditions) using a power cord as
an umbilical cord.
We got cast in our scenes and got to Over the Easter holiday I will learn all
6 27th March work on assigning lines as well as my lines as well as complete all FMP
thinking about the context in which to related work.
stage each scene. For example, the
location character dynamics and what
props we could use.

28th March We looked at the scenes Stan and

Doctor with our choreographer Deeps.
For Doctor, Deeps suggested that we
walk in straight lines which would create
the effect of corridors. Deeps introduced
us to a sidestepping technique that we
used in Stan to create a concert
atmosphere.
We had our website spot checks. We Go away and think about costumes.
7 17th April then looked at stage and costume Look at my lines. Find out how court
design. We rehearsed scene 1 proceedings work.
Doctor and helped remind ourselves
of the movement we learnt with
Deeps before the holidays. Then we
ran scene 3 Pet Project and
discussed the staging of our court
room (jury in a row at the back judge
center stage, prosecution stage right
and defense stage left) and
18th April discussed how people in a court
would talk.

Today we worked on scene 11 Stan Scott said to look at an accent to

with Deeps putting the movement he help differentiate characters.
taught us previously together with
the dialogue from the scene. We
then staged scene 21
bungeeabseilskydive which is now
set in a plane with people waiting to
jump. We also practiced scene 7
Journalism. We decided to set it in a
journalist's office. We then worked
19th April out how our characters moved in the
 scene and their relationship to each
other.

We devised scene 8 Being There

with Deeps forming a protest, then a
mob and finally a riot. Then we
freeze in a fighting position while the
scene plays out. Next, we looked at
Status Update and dived deeply into
the ensemble movement of the
scene. We then worked with Lex
from Greedy Pig showing her every
20th April ensemble scene we worked on.
Next, we worked on a Spoonful of
Cinnamon Powder or Something
Else Entirely. We staged it as the
characters attempting a trend on Tik
Tok while the ensemble films them.

Ran through Stan scene with Deeps

then looked at the begining of the
scene doctor. Next, we staged
Charity in a marketplace where I am
playing one half of an elderly couple
who donate money to charity. We
then went over the scene 22 Better
21st April Beleiber (Harry Me), where I play the
doctor character Dr Jaeger. We went
through the scene establishing the
character movements and
motivations within it. We staged it in
a hospital.

Deb announces in depth website

checks. We ran through the Kiss Me
scenes revising ensemble movement
learned with Lex in the first scene
and then devising movement with
Scott for the second scene. In the
first Kiss Me the ensemble
represents the emotions of the
characters and in the second we are
characters going to the cinema
reacting to the film we are watching.
Then we looked at the final scene
The End. We decided to play
ourselves as it made sense to be the
actors closing the play. I also felt that
it complemented buckets’ absurd
 nature.

8 24th April Worked on the opening sequence for

the play. We are all creating hospital Keep working on my Australian
corridors by moving in straight lines accent for Journalism.
across the stage. This contributes to
the cold opening to the play and Bring any props you can find. E.g.,
leads into scene one Doctor nicely. I gravel, plain lanyard, headphone
was then told by Deeps to use my chord, hamster stuffed toy.
arms as I yawn so that it is a visual
cue as well as an audible signal to
stop the ensemble movement. We
also looked at props / costume
movement for scenes 1-10. The
desk for Journalism is brought on
during the first Kiss Me scene, scene
6.
25th April
We looked at transitions and prop
movement for scene 11 Stan to
scene 20 In Point of Fact. During the
scene Days the characters break
through the fourth wall and talk to
stage management. In Pet Project
scene 3 we were advised to be
snappier with the lines so as to make
the characters interrupt each other.
We had to cut the scenes Terms and
26th April
Conditions and Teacher 2 (we have
to go) as the play was overrunning.

We looked at scene 21
Bungeeabseilskydive and improved
the realism of our miming with the
rope. Then we revised scene 22
Better Beleiber (Harry Me) and
looked at how the characters would
interact with each other. My
character, Dr Jaeger, is overjoyed at
the concept of his patient finally
getting to meet her idol and is
shocked to find out how hard the
celebrity lifestyle is. We then ran the
27th April
transitions of scenes 21-33 which
were all the ones we had not looked
at yet.

A monologue workshop was held for

 people who have monologues. We
then went through scenes 1-11 with
sounds and practiced transitions that
used sounds. In the afternoon we
went through these again. During
Kiss Me 2 we went through the
scenes and tried to be ‘strong and
wrong’ with the reaction cues. In the
Pet Project scene, the jury were told
to commit to their strong reactions.
We were all told to push on our
28th April volume as we will be competing with
the auditorium next week as well as
the new sound.

We had a check in with Deb about

our websites. Then we went through
scene 12 until the end of the show
with sound. We then did a full run
through of the play with Kris and Deb
watching. In this run through we had
no stops or prompts. A general note
that will be useful for scene 7
Journalism is to talk up to the
audience so they can see my face
when I am delivering lines.

9 1st May Bank Holiday.

2nd May
Tuesday - did Status Update, Doctor
and Being There scenes looking at
ensemble connectivity and
movement. In Being There we
looked at the final moment. This was
when the rioters and mob swung for
each other. It is now a more
coordinated snap that we do
together as we fall out of slow motion
to normal speed. Worked on body
language for my doctor character,
found out he has a stiff posture (like
a headteacher) and that he plays
with his stethoscope when he feels
insecure to reassure himself. We
worked on Bungeeabseilskydive and
added moments of turbulence for the
characters on the plane. I am now
understudying as a doctor in the first
 scene doctor. We ran through the
entire play as we will not have a
chance to during tech.
3rd May

Wednesday- first day doing tech in

the auditorium. Ran through the
starting sequence to scene 27 Not
Working. During the movements
sequence we are bringing on the
chairs earlier due to the stage getting
cramped quickly. During Kiss Me it
went smoothly with the ‘bing’ noises.
I should walk with intention to my
desk in journalism from the transition
in Kiss Me. During Journalism I have
to remember to plant one foot on the
floor for stability as the table is on
wheels. I should also practice my
Aussie accent. The riot in Being
There needs to pop more when we
switch to fighting at the end. The
Charity elderly couple need walking
cane umbrellas. During Stan, Deeps
switched the direction we are facing
as the stans can no longer stand on
the table. During Teacher 2 the
transition was clean.
Bungeeabseilskydive rope miming
was good but, because the curtain
was not long enough, we had to take
large steps and use our momentum
to make it seem as though we were
skydiving. I moved my costume for
Better Beliber (Harry Me) so I can
4th May have more momentum and make it
more convincing.

Thursday - we need to have intention

in the wings and need to be coming
off and on as the characters. Ran
tech for scenes 20 to 30. I am now
bringing on the coffin for In Point of
Fact. For Leading Question, we were
told to make the change from neutral
to our characters snappier and to
time it better with the lighting
change. During So Happy I Could
 Cry I have to make room for the
chairs from On the Phone to come
off and be aware that as the tables
are on wheels and the people have
to crawl around the side of me. In the
afternoon, we worked on transitions
and movement off and on to the
stage to avoid wing congestion in the
performance. To achieve this, we
ordered ourselves using numbers so
5th May that we could exit enter and perform
transitions effectively. We did this in
the Ustinov theatre in the afternoon
for every scene.

Friday- we had our first dress

rehearsal today and it went quite
well. With minimal mistakes.
However, it did get quite hot in the
theatre spaces we used due to the
weather, body heat and the show
lights. Overall, the second
performance (our first show) of the
day was quite hampered due to
fatigue from the previous
6th May performance and the heat in general.
Energy and morale were lower but,
even though it was the worst of the
three shows, it was still good, and no
major mistakes hampered it.

Saturday- the final performance of

buckets went off without a hitch.
Overall, in terms of acting and tech
support it was the best by far. My
scenes went very well with no
fumbled lines and good movement.
On top of all this we had an audience
that I felt was engaged and behind
us all the way (laughing at the jokes
and immersed in the more intimate
scenes) and this spurred the cast on
to deliver the best performance of
buckets we could.