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y group was free from any preconceived limitations of what we should be creating from week to week and instead we were able to discover what our true, natural dynamic was; one of humour and camaraderie with an element of campiness and cabaret.

As aforementioned, certain weekly tasks made us query their relevance and it took time before we understood that no matter how unrelated an exercise may have seemed, everything we did had some form of impact on our final piece or the devising process. A good example of this would be the use of arts, crafts and prosthetics in certain weeks. Quite often, rehearsals and sessions would incorporate various objects or materials that would inevitably end up being worn or paraded by one of, or my entire group. At times this was encouraged, for example when we were asked to make a hat from various crafts and create a character to go with it. Other times, the costume element came from nowhere, an example being when asked to create a short piece of ballet using balloons. Regrettably the ballet did not transpire and the balloons were instead used as body parts to emphasise large stomachs, bosoms and headwear. However I cannot view this session as a failure due to lack of completion of the ballet as the ideas that lead on from the use of balloons and crafts had, what I feel was, a lasting impression on our final piece. Although our predominant costume for the performance consisted of all-black, many scenes, particularly the 'sewing' scene and the 'monster mash', were enhanced and defined by the use of material and colour and this most definitely originated from our early weeks of devising. As Etchells remarks, 'making by doing' [Etchells, 2009] is one of the most rewarding elements of devising and I feel I cannot discuss the early stages of development and their impact on our final piece without mentioning the week my group first performed the Peacock. What began as a light-hearted, somewhat alternative interpretation of an extract featuring a pompous General left an unforgettable imprint on the dynamic of our group and became a recurrent theme throughout the weeks that followed. Explorations of the Peacock performance lead to the development of a tone of flamboyancy and avant-garde as well as the use of voice based music that dramatically shaped our final piece. Scenes such as the 'monster-mash' and the 'finale' were centered on parading an individual in an egotistical, proud manner, at times bordering on narcissism and the 'preening' scene incorporated a 'cacophonic orchestra' [Greet, 2010]. These rehearsals made me question the way that in a lot of conventional drama tone, style and direction of a piece are decided before preliminary explorations have begun. In devising, this is not the case, as these decisions happen gradually throughout the process and Callery refers to this in her book stating that 'when everything comes from the actors, what happens in performance is determined by what happens in rehearsal, and accidental discoveries are part of that' [Callery, 164, 2001]. Although I had experience of devising work, I had never been involved in a comic piece of drama before and it several rehearsals before I became comfortable enough with myself as a performer in this style. My group comprised of many confident, able actors in this field and I felt that my lack of experience let me down at first but as the group rehearsed together more and more, any qualms or inadequacies I had became les