The first challenge was the plank challenge. Admittedly when Ben mentioned the idea I was not a massive fan, probably because I knew it was a competition I couldn't win; and if there is one thing that Claudia and I share it is an (occasionally) unhealthy competitive nature. Looking around the room at the physically fit company I was in, I entered this particular challenge with a bleak outlook. My prediction came true; although I was determined not to be the first person to drop I was within the first 10; a disgraceful performance, but when my other competitors began to fall shortly after and I observed the array of talent left, I could see that I would never have stood a chance. Ben then asked those of us not competing to pick someone to support. With Iris being the only girl left at this point, us 5 girls stuck together and all got behind her. We cheered and offered encouragement (possibly some threats), anything to keep her up. Eventually, not even our words of wisdom could battle gravity for Iris and she dropped out in a very respectable 3rd place. So then it was down to Courtney and Vlad and I took my chances with Courtney. Now there were about 11 people surrounding each boy, screaming at them to keep going and screaming at the others to give up. Accusations of cheating were flying around the room and any underhand tactics were allowed, as long as the other team didn't catch you. Although I did not win, Courtney did and that was as close to winning as I was going to get with the challenge.Why was getting a group of students to plank, scream at each other and take on the character of a dance mum helpful in our character development? Because it showed us everything someone needs to ignite their competitive nature. Entering the challenge with my mind set meant I was definitely going to lose. If you don't have faith in yourself to win, then what's the point in even trying; you are your own worst enemy. That teaches us many things: we must have confidence in other characters- 'I believed in Enron'- we have to believe that this company is going to work, even though we know the ending we must believe in those moments that we are working for a company that is godlike and untouchable; it is what will make the story work for us and the audience, we must have confidence in ourselves to pull of these characters, which on a personal level means letting go of inhibitions and doubts because they are going to become the very thing holding me back and finally we must believe in the piece- we want this piece to be the best? Then we have to believe it is. This challenge also revealed a nature in all of us that we can all channel in the creation of the play and our characters- we are animals, competition is our nature, it is a survival instinct and to survive in the business world you must tap into that. I have nothing against Vlad and yet some of what I was saying to try and persuade him to drop just so I could win, is unacceptable, explained only by the need I felt to be on the winning team. It is instinctual, beneficial, egotistical and it feels good. The joy and excitement Enron generated was by making people believe they were winners. We need to know what that feels like and on a deeper level what we sacrificed to achieve it. The importance of winning is something Claudia and the company share and this exercise allowed me to access the recesses of my body and mind that crave this like a drug which is hopefully something I can refer to as stimulus.
Our second competition was a devising challenge which was something I was more confident walking into. The team leaders: Tat and I, Alfie and Amber and Sam and Charlie. We were given a group to direct in a physical sequence to appear at the end of scene 6; a pinnacle moment in our physical timeline seeing as this was written in by the playwright. Tatenda and I used the phrase organised chaos as our inspiration: its mad and crazy but ordered and precise. The world Enron created was bizarre to the outside eye and the audience should feel that, but the companies work was slick which was why they continued as long as they did, so the combination of the two was what we wanted to bring. We worked with 2 tables and 3 props- paper, phones and keyboards. The paper was dropped, but then promptly picked up by someone following, a phone was picked up thrown around the group and then someone would stand still take the call and then carry on and keyboard leads were used to walk the employees like dogs and then they got up and continued to type; so to reiterate, hectic but stylish. I am happy to report that our team won and I'm sure Claudia and Lay would be very proud. Although, on a level similar to the plank challenge this allowed me to experience what it is to spend energy and get a reward for it and it fed that element in me that wanted Claudia to beat the group led by 2 Skilling's.
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