Diploma in Performing &

Production Arts
Unit 8 Project Proposal

Candidate Alma Bode

Name
Candidate 371334
Number
Pathway Performing and Production Arts Level 3: Acting

Project Title Final Major Project- A Series of Public Apologies

Section 1: Review
I chose to do this course because a traditional academic program was something I struggled in and
having trained at the Egg through the theatre royal bath theatre school for many years this course
allowed me both comfort and the ability to thrive in an area I loved. This course has allowed me to
expand past my knowledge in acting and into other specialties something that has intrigued me. During
our vision unit, I was able to work with a practitioner who specialised in immersive theatre which
interested me as it allowed me to look at theatre through a new lens. I’ve also enjoyed stage
management through the training we received during our scratch unit. This work came naturally to me
and I enjoyed it. I’ve been able to explore beyond traditional acting which is hard to access without this
course. I also came onto this course with a love for puppetry. Despite only having had 2 sessions
working on it being able to work with a professional reaffirmed my love for it. Going forward I have been
seeking out internships in these areas to run parallel to my training on this course. Following this
course, I hope to attend drama school, either to study theatre-making or with a specific focus that I will
narrow down next year.
Section 2: Project Concept
Our final major project is A series of public apologies by John Donnelly. The play was originally
written without scene breaks and has a recommended cast size of 8-100. The play follows a
senior management team giving public announcements trying to deal with the fallout of an
incident within the school. The play touches on topics of the intentions of those in power, how
optics can change the way people feel about an event and internet vitality. As it is an ensemble
piece I am looking forward to how we as a cast convey the more abstract concepts within this
show such as hashtags and widespread communication. We also have spoken a lot about how
we can emotionally impact the audience and what we want to convey to them. This has excited
me as it allows us to push ourselves to be as creative and emotive as possible differing from
naturalistic theatre. We also are working on how to balance the comedy of the piece with the
message we want to share, especially by embracing the script's absurdity. Wanting to make the
show comedic and enjoyable without cheapening our message will be an interesting challenge
for us to develop.

Section 3: Evaluation
To evaluate my work throughout this process I will take regular notes. This will allow me to
have a resource when evaluating my work week by week while also allowing me to identify any
areas that I may need to focus on to ensure I’m able to get as much work done in the rehearsal
space as possible. I also want to ensure that I am pushing myself when trying out creative
ideas. This was something that was identified by previous practitioners as a development point
as well as being useful in allowing me to collaborate in a space without being held back by
insecurities or fear. When working on a piece that has so much collaboration being able to set
aside my ideas to be able to collaborate, and while this has been identified as one of my
strengths in the past continuous self-reflection will allow me to continue to be as useful as
possible in the rehearsal space.

Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format)

Head Office Sustainability BAE systems. ”Ethics and anti-corruption". BAE systems website [Online]
Available at: Ethics and anti-corruption | Sustainability | BAE Systems [Accessed 29 February 2024]
Office of Public affairs US Department of Justice. “BAE Systems PLC Pleads Guilty and Ordered to Pay
$400 Million Criminal Fine” Office of Public affairs https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bae-systems-plc-
pleads-guilty-and-ordered-pay-400-million-criminal-fine [Accessed 29 February 2024]
Committee of Public Accounts Available at:
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/40919/documents/199374/default/ [Published 18 July
2023]
David Wallace Lockhart “Tory peer Michelle Mone 'regrets' denying links with PPE firm” BBC news
website [Online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-67674683
[Accessed 28 February 2024]
BAE systems. “Our company” BAE systems website [Online] Available at:
https://www.baesystems.com/en/home [Accessed 29 February 2024]
Transparency International. “Corruption and the UK” Transparency.org website [Online] Available at:
https://www.transparency.org.uk/corruption-and-uk [Accessed 29 February 2024]
Kemi Badenoch MP and Rishi Sunak MP “Prime Minister welcomes historic Airbus, Rolls-Royce and
Turkish Airlines deal worth billions to the UK” UK department for business and trade [Online] Available
at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-welcomes-historic-airbus-rolls-royce-and-
turkish-airlines-deal-worth-billions-to-the-uk [Accessed 29 February 2024]
US office of Public Affairs “Airbus Agrees to Pay over $3.9 Billion in Global Penalties to Resolve Foreign
Bribery and ITAR Case” U.S. Department of Justice website [Online] Available at:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/airbus-agrees-pay-over-39-billion-global-penalties-resolve-foreign-
bribery-and-itar-case [Accessed 28 February 2024]

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

- Read through the script as a - The script, broken up into

1 19th
February company. scenes by our director
- Interrogate the themes of; - Notebook
language and communication, - Pens
things not being what they - Moveable shoes
appear, and rage and art. - Time with director
- Make tableaux of the key themes
to give us a springboard of what
 scenes we may want to make.
- Discuss the cast’s initial
impulses and perceptions of the
script and what we may want to
develop.
- Talk through songs we chose - Song that reminds you of the
2 26th - Devising games based off key piece
February themes in order to have a more - Paper
complete idea of the piece. - Pens
- Ensemble work to connect us as - Script
a company. - Time with director to understand
- Physicalized what the show text
meant to us.
- Put scenes on their feet for the
first time
- Call and response game.
3 - Watching first casting for act one - Water
4Th March work through their scenes - Pens
- See the questioner and the fourth - Script
speaker do act 4 scene 3. - Time with director to devise
- Work out scenes for act 2 (lift
idea, white board idea, war table
idea,)
- Idea of PA’s in Act 1
- Blocking Act 1 Thursday.
4 - Casting act 2 - Water
11th March - Hana as constant SLT - Script
- Character work of SLT2 based on - Notebook
a tech startup - Pen/highlighter
- Blocking Act 2 - Chair to support joints
- Movement first attempts at riot - Dutch movement piece somebody
that i used to know
scene
5 - Illness - Water
th
18 March - Casting act 3 - Pens
- Final choreography for riot scene - Script
- Notebook
- Discussions with cast

6 25th March - Harry and Lindsey absent

- Script
- Focused on research based tasks
- Water
- Ensure all theory work is done over
Holidays
- Healthy Food

7 15th April - Learn lines

- First week of intensives - Script
- Casting for Act 4 scene 3 - Notebook
- Act 2 blocking - Pen
- Riot scene - Water
- Discussion around feelings of the show - Moveable clothes
- Viewpoints
-
8 22nd April - Water
- Viewpoints - Rest
- First run - Character work
 - Act 5 - Black cargo trousers
- Showed Act 4 Scene 2 - Black socks
- Police scene
- Bodyguard act 4 Scene 3
-
9 29th April - Tech day one
- Tech day two
- First dress with audience
- Second dress
- Rehearsal
- First show
- Second show