Solo Performance has been a fabulous module and I am thoroughly glad that I have chosen it. During the module of course you are working on your own and it has not been easy. When you have struggled to come up with an idea, you haven’t had another group member to fall on. The process and the performance is all down to you. Nevertheless, I have certainly enjoyed the challenge and it has been amazing to be given the opportunity to create any performance of your own choice. It’s not easy but when the hard work pays of, it is so worthwhile. The key for solo performance is to choose a topic you are interested in or are passionate about, then you are half way there already.

How I feel my performance went?

At the beginning of my performance, I was extremely nervous and I remember my heart pumping through my chest so fast. What if I do this wrong? Oh my goodness, I am so scared. What if they think it’s rubbish? However I told myself, I knew what I was doing. I had rehearsed this so many times now, what could possibly go wrong. I started to relax and really enjoy myself. I was over the moon with how many laughs I was getting. I couldn’t believe that the audience found the performance funny. The more I could see them enjoying it, the more I was relaxing and giving my performance everything I have got. I had worked hard to pull this off and it was an amazing feeling receiving that justification and acceptance from the audience. The impressions of my Mother and Yiayia went down tremendously well and audience members came up to me after the show telling me how that was there favourite part. I was embarrassed, in case I was making a fool of myself. With Solo Performance if something goes wrong it’s down to you, you haven’t got no one else to blame. Angelo Tsarouchas has been a huge influence in my work alongside elements of Eric Bogosian and Spalding Gray’s performance. There work has shown me how effective a solo performance can be and has helped to guide me in creating a successful performance. Comedic performances are very challenging as there is a risk of not having the audience on board which can defeat the purpose of the show. A repeated comment I received from audience members is that they liked the structure of my performance. As it was not all comedic throughout it had the dip of the Turkish invasion in which they found interesting as they never knew about it. I feel that the elements of having the food involved in the performance worked really well as it got the audience involved and created an intimate personal environment. To conclude, I didn’t think all the food would get eaten however the majority of it went which I was very pleased about!

If I was to undertake this module again and be given the opportunity to perform once more, I would definitely believe in myself! I do feel at the beginning I struggled with confidence which did however grow throughout the performance. On that note, I feel Solo Performance has been extremely valuable and has helped me develop many core skills for performing. I have truly relished this module and I am delighted that I had the opportunity to participate in it.

Originally for costume, I was going to dress up as a Greek dancer as I come in to the show with Greek music playing. This would have consisted of either a black skirt/black trousers with a black/white shirt and a red sash around the hips.

 However, I have now a day before the performance gone against this. As yes, music is a big part of my culture but my performance is set as a picnic. Therefore I think it would make more sense for me to be dressed as I would to go to a picnic. I will now be wearing a long flowery maxi dress with sandals as I feel this fits my Greek picnic theme a great deal more.

Tech day went extremely well which I am very pleased about however it did take longer than I had anticipated. This meant I did not have time for a run through as we needed the full 1 hour and 30 minutes to rig the lighting. Nevertheless I was chuffed with how the lighting and sound looked/went together. I believe my set will look aseptically pleasing for the audience.

The pre-set will be two spotlights on each of the picnics. For the picnics, I have bought multi coloured picnic blankets which will be surrounded by multi coloured bean bags. This will have matching plastic bowels, glasses and cutlery. I feel as though this will look good and create an intimacy with the audience.

While the audience are seated, I have decided I will be entering to a Greek soundtrack which will have multi-coloured cheesy disco lights going at the same time creating that party feeling.

When I begin my dialogue, I have decided to have a projection throughout the performance of the flag of Cyprus. This is important for my performance as the majority of the audience members know what Greece flag looks like but not Cyprus. The projection enables me to enhance the difference between the two which I believe will work well.

This follows on to a spotlight on myself sitting on the park bench which works well as it combines with the two spotlights on the picnic. This helps create a very personal performance.

During my performance, when I am talking about the invasion of Cyprus it turns in to a more serious tone. To portray this I have asked for a single spotlight on myself, with hints of red to surround the studio. I feel as though this particular lighting can help to create the change in atmosphere. While this is going on, the projection will show an image of the land that the Turkish troops have taken over.

Moving on to the portrayal of my mother, I will have a microphone to speak in to with a simple spotlight. I believe this will show the shift in the performance without me having to change my appearance. Additionally, I believe a simple idea of speaking in to a microphone makes this impression of my mother more powerful.

To end the performance, I will exit to the well-known Greek Zorba soundtrack with a simple wash.

To conclude, tech this morning went well and I am pleased with how the set/light/sound is going to combine with each other. This morning has made me extremely excited for my performance and I believe I am ready to give the Lincoln audience a bit of Greek!

These past few days the same thoughts have been circling around my head.

• Are my audience going to get my performance?
• Will they find it funny?
• Will they understand it because they are not Greek?
• Will I be able to create a connection with the audience?
• Is it boring?

I think I have drove my friends crazy as I have kept on asking them the same questions over and over again. They keep on telling me the context of the performance is brilliant and the way I perform it does it justice. They keep on telling me that I have nothing to worry about and the audience will find it interesting as they are not from a Greek background. They have told me it is all about how I deliver the performance as the dialogue is there.

With this in mind, I have carefully been working on my performance and how I am going to present myself on the stage. I do want it to be funny and light hearted showing of the comedy aspects. My ideal performance would be to show the dynamics of the script and versatility of the Greek Cypriot culture. While I have been rehearsing, I have realised that if I don’t feel confident it is going to shine through the performance, so I have to give it my all and believe in what I am doing. I am thoroughly enjoying the rehearsal process and have begun to have fun with it. There are moments in my performance where I genuinely think this is hilarious and it will more than likely make me want to start laughing along with the audience.

It is time to put my worries to bed and to just go with it. The key for me is the delivery and the only way I am going to nail it is to continue running through the script and rehearsing. I want to be myself in my performance as the artist is supposed to be present and with this it will enable me to be true to myself showing my bubbly quirky personality on stage. I have continued to watch solo performances by Angelo Tsarouchas as everything he portrays on stage is identical to what I would like to achieve. Tsarouchas performance techniques are the biggest inspiration for how I want to perform my show.

YouTube. (2016). Chinese Buffet – Angelo Tsarouchas: Comics Without Borders. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiid6ZpCxg4 [Accessed 25 May 2016].

So I now have a finished script!

After editing and cutting down my text, I now have 12 minutes of performance which I am really excited and pleased about!

Greek Cypriot, that’s me.

Come onto stage with Greek Music playing, busting a few traditional Greek moves.

Well that was fun wont It. So as you all know I’m Natasha Nicolaou, well that’s what you all believe I’m called anyways. In fact my name is Anastasia, Anastasia to be precise.

Sit down on park bench.

Now you’re all looking at me thinking, what am I talking about.

Well basically to get christened in the Greek Orthodox Church you have to have a Greek name. Natasha isn’t very Greek so that’s where Anastasia comes from.

 So I’m Natasha on my Birth Certificate and Anastasia on my christening certificated.

Named after my Yiayia which means grandma in Greek. I’ve never ever called my Grandma, Grandma but anyways she’s the first Anastasia, I’m the second Anastasia, My cousin is the 3^rd Anastasia and her daughter is the 4^th Anastasia. We’ve all got the bloody same name. Greeks and their traditions.

Couldn’t they think of anything else?

 At gatherings when someone says Anastasia we all turn around. Hopefully my family decides to not breed anymore Anastasias. Seriously.

 I just prefer to be called Natasha anyways, nice simple and easy.

So as you all know by now I’m Greek

And my family are from the little Mediterranean island called Cyprus.

Not bloody Greece. They are two very different places. No matter how many times I tell people I’m not from Greece they still assume I am.

Well no I’m not, I’m from Cyprus which makes me Greek Cypriot. And I’m very proud I must say.

Gets up and walks over towards the picnics. Sits down on the left picnic.

But yeah, as you can see guys, there’s some Greek bits and bobs in front of you. Some of my favourite selections.

We’ve got some traditional Greek Salad with feta cheese seasoned with Cypriot olive oil, lemon and salt.

You’ve got some Haloumi with slices of pita which will go lovely with dips such as tzatziki and hummus.

You’ve got some traditional olives all the way from Cyprus.

And one of my favourites Koupebia, vine leaves with seasoned rice inside. The Greeks from Greece call them Dolmades but to us there called Koupebia. There beaut, I don’t think mine are as nice as my Yiayias you can’t beat hers but there ok I suppose.

If you all would like to fix yourself a plate and help yourself. I’m going to grab myself one as well. Don’t mind if I do.

Grab a plate of food and start eating some.

Mmmm this is actually lovely…

Oh my god, right there’s this one Greek Guy I know, he’s a bit weirdo. Loves the gym very muscly like massive too big for my liking but anyways he’s called Hercules. Trust me I didn’t believe it when I first heard it.

I remember asking him so what’s your name and he was like Hercules and I was like ahhh hilarious… nah seriously what’s your name? And he was like Hercules and I was like Hercules Hercules Hercules, what’s your dad called Zeus?

He was not impressed but come on how was I supposed to know. You just wouldn’t name your son Hercules would you? Come on.

I’d rather be the 100^th Anastasia in my family any day. But I suppose each to their own.

Pick up the plate and eat some more food.

So the biggest insult you can ever give to a Greek person is asking them whether they are Turkish. Ergh No I’m not Turkish. We hate that with a passion. Hate it.

Where this stems from is in 1974 the troops from Turkey invaded the North of Cyprus and the island is now divided in to two half’s. The Turkish side and the Greek side. Before the invasion many of my relatives such as my yiayias lived on that side. I’ve heard the stories that it was absolutely beautiful and we had the best beaches over there. A lot of my family had to find new homes as they were banished from that side of the country. Many of the people who lived over there became refugees and thousands were left homeless and left for dead.

42 years later and it is still very raw for many people. The saddest part is The Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots all lived in harmony beforehand. They were friends, neighbours. One of my yiayias best friends was Turkish.

I have never crossed over to the Norther part of Cyprus until last year. I was on holiday visiting family and my auntie asked me if I would like to see what it was like.  So first things first if you wanted to drive across the borders you would have to pay a fee to the Turkish troops which I find absolutely disgusting. So me and my auntie walked across. We had to show them our passports and once they had seen our surname and realised we were Greek Cypriot we were treated so differently. I just felt uncomfortable to be honest.

Walking through I could see the damage of the buildings and how mistreated they were.  The writing on the signs were no longer Greek they were Turkish. Everyone kept of staring at us and watching us. Even though I wasn’t there when all this war had happened, crossing over the borders upset me and I couldn’t imagine what these people had went through. We won’t allowed to buy anything to cross back over with because they would search you and confiscate it from you. There was so many rules. I remember switching on my mobile phone and receiving a text message from my network provider, Vodafone… Welcome to Turkey. I was furious, was that some sort of a joke. I’m sorry but we are in Cyprus not Turkey. I was raging. I was ready to go back.

Like don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those people who think all Turkish Cypriot people are bad, of course not. There are good and bad in people in every race. Like I have friends who are Turkish Cypriot but that’s all it could ever be is friends.

Eat food guy’s help yourself, don’t be shy.

Walk over to the Microphone.

So being at university now is brilliant, I get time to myself, the freedom away from my family, even though I love them so much they can sometimes be annoying and everyone know each other’s business.

Well obviously as you lot know, being a 3^rd year Drama student is not easy. There is loads of work and sometimes you don’t even have time to catch up and do things for yourself.

Well my mother loves to ring me every day. And there will be times when I can’t answer the phone, so guaranteed she will leave me a voicemail saying..

Do an impression of my mum.

Hi Natasha, It’s your mother. The woman who gave birth to you. If you remember who I am. I’m just ringing to catch up with you. I haven’t heard from you since yesterday. It’s been ages. I know your busy but ring me when you can… if I’m still alive.

Headache. Greek Mothers are so dramatic.

Walk back over to the park bench.

My friends are always saying to me, I wish I had a big family like yours it must be amazing. You’re all so close. Yeah it is wicked don’t get me wrong but it can have its limits.

Every Sunday is family day, and when I say family day not just mum dad brother me its everyone. Me mum dad aunties uncles yiayias cousins nephews niece pehhhhh. And you can imagine that does get annoying, there’s 52 Sundays a year which is approximately 1248 hours with them lot. Bloody hell.

And if I miss one Sunday I’ll have my yiayia on my case

Impression of my Yiayia.

Natasha you no love me no more you no come see me.

It’s like come on yiayia give it a wrest don’t be like that.

Everything is the end of the world for these lot.

Then when I do go my yiayia is always on my case.

Impression of my Yiayia.

Natasha mou, when you going to find a nice Greek boyfriend none of this rif raf.

Ergh Jesus Christ. It’s like when I’m ready yiayia.

Thank god. Thank god proxenia don’t exist anymore. Proxenia is basically arranged marriage my yiayias had it. Yeah there happy enough but bloody hell if it was up to them I’d probably end up with someone like Stavros Flatly. No thanks.

Talking in Greek.

Kalimera ise kala di kamnede.

Yes I speak fluent Greek and my friends are always like that’s amazing teach me. And I’m thinking mate yeah I speak Greek but I had to go to bloody Greek school every Saturday without fail. While everyone had plans to go out and have fun I was stuck in bloody Greek school. Normal school Monday to Friday, Greek Schools on Saturday and Family Day on Sunday! Brilliant.

On that note I think I need a shot!

Who would like to try one of the famous Greek Shots of Ouzo.

Get the shots of Ouzo from behind the stage.

So after 3 I want us to raise our glasses and instead of saying cheers say opa and then drink!

The Greek music comes on and I leave the stage with it playing.