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Reaction to our respective characters:
I was given the role of Cheswick in the play “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.” We openly stated what personality of character we would prefer to play, and subsequently read through as a group the extract of the script we had been given. I had said that I view myself good at acting eccentric individuals and enjoy portraying my character in colourful events. “Cheswick” fitted this description almost perfectly. I believe he is a fun character to play, and even though he isn’t among the main characters, he is quite important in linking conversations and also providing a colourful break in a piece of conversation if it seems to drag on a bit. We realised there were more characters in the extract than people in our group, so when designating specific roles to the different members of the group, one person was given the task of playing two characters, whom very often had lines one after the other. Although this was confusing to everyone at the start, we soon got used to the idea of a dual character. Again, we read over the script a few more times and gradually grew accustomed to our roles and how our players react to and treat the other characters in the play; we felt it would look more authentic and would help us to get in to the play more ourselves. I think everyone was satisfied with their respective given roles and with no friction, it would prove to be easier to learn lines for a character you have interest in rather than in one you don’t.

Preparation:
We had never done a piece of absurd theatre before, so this was a new challenge for us. I had heard of the play before and a rough idea of what the general idea was, however it was different from what I expected it to be. We had to discuss how we were going to act out playing a group of lunatics - it had to be humorous, but not stupid. We realised t would be easier said than done to effectively convey life in a mental institution, and needed some...