Acting | Assessment Preparation [Part 1]

The group met up during the Easter Break to flesh out some of the ideas we've had last session. This means running through the performance and creating ideas as we went along.

Below is the original plan of the scene, though this is likely to be updated later down the line:

Ellie also wrote notes of the structure, and potential topics we could include to help flesh out our characters more:

Ellie - The strict mother/lawyer
Rachael - The meek daughter/lawyer in training
Anastasija - New boyfriend/The artist

[1] Introductions

R & A coming up to door. R stops A and comes in alone. 
Ellie is in the kitchen, busy tasting the food and checking clock [impatient]. Suddenly Rachael comes into the living room. 

E: There you are. About time…
R: It is 8 isn’t it?
E: I thought you’d want to come and help me set up, I should have known better I suppose. 

R Introduces A. The group sit down with dishes.

[1] Food Talk
A: This is delicious, what is it?

E: It’s a family recipe, I’d have thought you’d recognise it, given the number of times I’ve tried to teach it to Amanda. 
A: Oh, she doesn’t cook.
R: (tries to cover)
E: I’m not all that shocked, to be honest.

[2] Job Talk
R: We’re very busy, working. 
E: Ah yes work. I know what you do; I write your pay-check, what about you?
A: Art [R tries to stop A, but it's too late]

E: No, I mean what’s your job? How do you make a living?
R: (Steps in to say it depends)
E: (Sees Amanda being the main breadwinner as awful, as she's more 'traditional') 

[3] The Dishes [Undeveloped Ideas]
There's a recurring theme of the dishes- whose cleaning them, whose taking them to the table etc.

The humour being that none of the actual problems are resolved, but instead are taken out on the plates. 

Eventually the daughter fights with the mother and tells her to "Do your own damn dishes!".

[4] Storming Out Scene [Undeveloped Ideas]
As the scene finalises, the situation declines suddenly. The conservative mother finds out about either i- the life drawing the new boyfriend does, and see's this as 'cheating', or ii- the family album, wherein the boyfriend compliments the daughter's progressing looks.
This imprudent/laidback attitude of the boyfriend is shown with his oblivious comment to the mother: "I'll send you those pictures."
The daughter/boyfriend finishes with the required sentence: “I’ve got to get through this”, as a plea to get through the family dinner.
Whether the daughter storms out or not has not been decided yet.