I watched Program B on Saturday and was very dissapointed - this was the shittest OnStage I have seen - everything was so formulaic and unoriginal - standard drama performances. My group was rejected from OnStage, and I was hoping to gain some clarity - but going just rubbed salt in the wound. I am being totally objective here - I'm not a close-minded person, and I got opinions from other people who feel the same as me. Compared to "Jitter-Buffs" - you're "favourite" piece - my piece was infinitely superior. I compare our 2 performances because we were a group of 4 guys as well, and had many similar comedic elements - such as the sexual innuendo everyone in my audience found so hilarious. Stuck in an elevator? Not original - I have seen that done plenty of times. The story itself was just so dull. I have gotten in trouble on this board before for thinking I'm better than everyone, but seriously the selection panel for Onstage must have no dramatic sense at all.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total asshole - after all, I thoroughly enjoyed Newtown - both Luke's individual - which I thought was astounding, and their group, which although wasn't very original, in fact I've seen that idea done in workshops, drama festivals - it was their characters that made it great. I thought the people from Newtown were the only people who could act.
And that individual who played a hippie - no focus! Did she even BLOCK her piece? I got marked down considerably for moving around and using my arms too much - and my teacher worked me like a slave until I got it right, which wasn't until the actual day! I worked so hard, blocked every god damn line - took me forever! But here, she paced madly and flailed her arms around with every inflection, every exclamation, every sentence! I don't care if its "her character" - playing a hippie doesn't mean you have to be on the move continously like you're on a sugar attack - basically no awareness of her performance space. How could the markers not pick up on this!
And the Cloudstreet monologue? I suspect he was selected for his inventive use of a swing rope - gag! And don't get me started on the last group - where they played balance, pitch, tone etc. And the "black hole" army one was a blatant rip off of last years Nutcase - and the girl in the group was shit.
These groups all had great group dynamic, team work, movement and were very energetic - however all of them were so standard and unoriginal. I thought maybe we were rejected for some sexual innuendo, but after watching all those sex jokes I guess I was wrong.
My point is - don't be discouraged if you don't make it into OnStage - obviously they are very picky with what they choose - and are looking for something VERY particular. Just remember - OnStage sucks balls.
BTW, if you think I'm up myself - I'm not - I'm just bitter. And I ended up with 96/100 (with no study for the drama exam), so I think me thinking I'm good has a little merit.
And one of my Group Members got into ONSTAGE for his Absurdist script called "Jean's Machine" - anyone happen to see it. At least he made it! God bless that young talent!