THE HISTORY OF THEATRE7 final concept presentation

 

THE HISTORY OF THEATRE6

 

THE HISTORY OF THEATRE5

 Today, we split into 3 separate groups, with there being one director per group. We were tasked with coming up with our own unique interpretation of Lucky's monologue. Amelie was directing Emma and Silvana and interpreted it as having 2 contrasting emotions portrayed by 2 different people I was working with James, as the director (with him being the actor). This worked very well, as they split up the text into different possible emotions. The two actors communicated well, portraying the relationship well. It was clear that these two were similar to a brother and sister/sibling relationship, with the characters clearly disliking each other, however being forced to stay together.

Hugo was directing Tristan, and they played their contemporary interpretation in a bar. This was another scene that worked well, however, the movement of the piece was quite static. I felt the idea worked very well though and is a concept that I would consider using as my own. If I would be performing it myself, I would use my space a lot more.

I directed James, and interpreted it as a presentation given by an old man. In the context of the piece, Lucky would come out of his usual role and step out to tell it as a story. This is a very contemporary interpretation, as it is breaking the fourth wall. Halfway through the performance, I introduced some church music into the background. This completely changed the view of the audience on the meaning of the piece. Emma interpreted it as wedding music however I saw it as a funeral setting, with Lucky celebrating Pozzo's death. Ms Williams referenced a story surrounding a flood, suggesting that Pozzo and Lucky could have been sent to Vladimir and Estragon by god, and Lucky's speech is his frustrated expression as Vladimir and Estragon aren't using them as they should be.

THE HISTORY OF THEATRE4

VLADIMIR - CHARACTER ANALYSIS

One of the two main characters of the play. Estragon calls him Didi, and the boy addresses him as Mr Albert. He seems to be the more responsible and mature of the two main characters.

In any comedy piece, there are two characters, the “straight man” and the “fall guy”, Vladimir is considered the “straight man”, the more intelligent of the two characters, being concerned with a variety of ideas. Vladimir is the one character of the two who makes decisions and remembers significant aspects of their past and constantly reminds Estragon that they need to wait for Godot.

Even though neither of them knows anything about Godot, there’s an implication that Vladimir knows more about Godot than Estragon does, even though neither of them knows what Godot looks like or who he is.

Vladimir correlates some of their actions to the general concerns of mankind. In Act II, when Pozzo and Lucky fall down and cry for help, Vladimir interprets their cries for help as his and Estragon's chance to be in a unique position of' helping humanity. After all, Vladimir maintains, "It is not every day that we are needed . . . but at this place, at this moment in time," they are needed and should respond to the cries for help. Similarly, it is Vladimir who questions Pozzo and Lucky and the Boy Messenger(s), while Estragon remains, for the most part, the silent listener. Essentially, Vladimir must constantly remind Estragon of their destiny — that is, they must wait for Godot.

In addition to the larger needs, Vladimir also looks after their physical needs. He helps Estragon with his boots, and, moreover, had he been with Estragon at night, he would not have allowed his friend to be beaten; also, he looks after and rations their meagre meals of turnips, carrots, and radishes, and, in general, he tends to be the manager of the two.

THE HISTORY OF THEATRE3

Today, two groups, Tristan and Hugo and Silvana and James, performed their interpretation of the first few pages of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Each group contextualised the play and made it relevant for contemporary youth.

In today's lesson, we split into groups of 2, to work on duologue from Waiting for Godot. Tristan and Hugo worked together, while Silvana and James worked on theirs. Each group were tasked with contextualising the play and to make it relevant for contemporary youth.

Tristan and Hugo

Tristan and Hugo experimented with accents and stuck to the Russian accent at the end. This portrayed a sense of comradeship and I interpreted it as two brothers in the army together. There were specific lines that stuck out which anchored this, such as, "crawling around in the mud". This is relevant to today as there are wars going on in the world.

Silvana and James

Silvana and James were initially looking at doing the play in the style of Steven Berkoff but eventually went to the style of Stanislavski but they kept the East London accent which they were using with Berkoff. This made the piece appear to be set in the cobbled streets of London outside a bar or pub. I interpreted that Godot was the bar owner who they were waiting for. This also lead to the idea of poverty and homelessness which is more relevant than ever right now due to the high unemployment rate from the global pandemic.

THE HISTORY OF THEATRE2

SAMUEL BECKETT (1906 - 1989)

Novelist, playwright, short story writer, theatre director, poet.

Irish, resident of Paris for most of his life, wrote in both English and French

Style: black comedy (tragicomedy)

Brought up in Dublin, Beckett was brought with a sports influence (later inspiring him to play first-class cricket for his university). His family were involved with the Anglican Church of Ireland. He studied modern literature at Trinity College, Dublin. He then went on to study French, Italian and English (at the same college) between 1923 and 1927. Beckett graduated with a BA and, after teaching briefly at Campbell College in Belfast, took up the post of 'lecteur d'anglaisat' (English Lecturer) at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris from November 1928 to 1930. While there, he was introduced to renowned Irish author James Joyce by Thomas MacGreevy, a poet and close confidant of Beckett who also worked there. His first work was with this writer, assisting him on writing 'Finnegans Wake'. In 1929, Beckett published his first work, a critical essay entitled "Dante... Bruno. Vico.. Joyce". 

THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

The theatre of the absurd was a short-lived yet significant theatrical movement, centred in Paris in the 1950s. Unusual in this instance was the absence of a single practitioner spearheading the form. Largely based on the philosophy of existentialism, absurdism was implemented by a small number of European playwrights. Common elements included illogical plots inhabited by characters who appeared out of harmony with their own existence. The typical playgoer had never seen anything like this on the stage before. The theatre of the absurd will be remembered in history for many things, the most significant of these being Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece Waiting for Godot, one of the great plays of the 20th century. Absurdism is commonly studied in senior high school and university drama and theatre courses. Below are the main conventions of the theatre of the absurd.

WAITING FOR GODOT

En attendant Godot was composed between 1947 and 1949. The French version, whose title actually means “while waiting for Godot,” was published in 1952 and opened in Paris on 5 January 1953, for a run of more than 300 performances. The English version was published in New York in 1954, played at the Arts Theatre in London the following year, and had its American première at Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami on 3 January 1956.

But almost every opening night of Godot has been marked by extreme reactions. The Paris production was hailed by many critics as a major dramatic breakthrough.

Godot is a masterpiece that will cause despair for men in general and playwrights in particular.

En attendant Godot was first performed in the small auditorium of the Théâtre de Babylone in Paris in February 1952. It was directed by Roger Blin, a respected French director in the years after World War II, who also played Pozzo.

"Two men, Vladimir and Estragon, meet near a tree. They converse on various topics and reveal that they are waiting there for a man named Godot. While they wait, two other men enter. Pozzo is on his way to the market to sell his slave, Lucky. He pauses for a while to converse with Vladimir and Estragon. Lucky entertains them by dancing and thinking, and Pozzo and Lucky leave.

After Pozzo and Lucky leave, a boy enters and tells Vladimir that he is a messenger from Godot. He tells Vladimir that Godot will not be coming tonight, but that he will surely come tomorrow. Vladimir asks him some questions about Godot and the boy departs. After his departure, Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave, but they do not move as the curtain falls.

The next night, Vladimir and Estragon again meet near the tree to wait for Godot. Lucky and Pozzo enter again, but this time Pozzo is blind and Lucky is dumb. Pozzo does not remember meeting the two men the night before. They leave and Vladimir and Estragon continue to wait.

Shortly after, the boy enters and once again tells Vladimir that Godot will not be coming. He insists that he did not speak to Vladimir yesterday. After he leaves, Estragon and Vladimir decide to leave, but again they do not move as the curtain falls, ending the play." (reference)

Like most of his work, Samuel Beckett originally composed Waiting for Godot in French. After studying the language as a student at Trinity College, Dublin, Beckett moved to Paris in 1928 at the age of 22, where he lived for much of his life. En attendant Godot premiered at Paris's tiny Théâtre de Babylone on 5 January 1953. Directed by Roger Blin, who also played Pozzo, the production starred Lucien Raimbourg as Vladimir, Pierre Latour as Estragon and Jean Martin as Lucky. (source)

Beckett's English language version of the play, which he translated himself, premiered at the Arts Theatre in London in 1955, directed by Peter Hall.

EXISTENTIALISM

Existentialism is a philosophical theory that people are free agents who have control over their choices and actions. Existentialists believe that society should not restrict an individual's life or actions and that these restrictions inhibit free will and the development of that person's potential.

Here are examples:

• You identify yourself as an athlete and have a promising career. Then you have a severe injury and your career is over. At that point, you would have an existential crisis because you have defined yourself as an athlete.
• If you are raised to believe that God rewards good people and punishes bad people, you may have a problem coping with injustice or cruel acts inflicted by bad people on good people.
• You see yourself as a parent so when the children leave the home, you are faced with a crisis in how you perceive yourself.
• You are a soldier and you have been told that you will be considered a hero by people you are trying to help. Then you find out that they hate you.
• You fall in love and want to live with that person forever. Then you discover that person does not feel the same way. (source)

THE HISTORY OF THEATRE

 GREEK THEATRE

• Created to celebrate religious festivals
• Chorus used to sing or chant a script
• Unkown if Thespis was a playwright, an actor or priest, but he has been credited for creating the "first actor" who broke away from the chorus, speaking to the chorus as an individual character. (THESPIANS)
• lead to the creation of character
• Masks were used

CREATION OF CHARACTER

• Aeschylus introduced the idea of using a second or third actor which allowed for interactions between characters
• Sophocles continued, using chorus less + creating more dialogue

ROMAN THEATRE

• Romans were influenced by Greek theatre
• "Play" comes from the Latin word "Ludus"
• Roman playwright Terence introduced subplots
• Less influenced by religion than greek theatre
• The audience was loud and rude
• Much of the plays were repetitive
• Actors developed a code which would tell the audience about a character just by looking at them

E.G.

• A black wig (the character was a young man)
• A red wig (the character was a slave)
• A yellow robe (the character was a woman)
• Yellow tassel (the character was a god)

MEDIEVAL EUROPEAN THEATRE

• After the fall of the roman empire, cities were abandoned, Europe became increasingly more agricultural
• Towns re-emerged
• Roman Catholic Church dominated religion, education and politics
• Theatre was "reborn" as "liturgical dramas" which were written in Latin and performed by priests or church members.
• Plots were taken from the Bible
• Performances held to celebrate religious festivals
• Later "vernacular dramas" were written in common language
• Plays were performed in town squares on wagon stages

Vernacular dramas were

• Mystery plays 0 based on the Old and new testament
• Miracle Plays - based on the lives of the saints
• Morality plays - taught a lesson through symbolic characters representing virtues or faults

COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE ITALY'S CONTRIBUTION

• required few props and no sets
• Didn't come from scripts but by scenarios which were an outline of a plot
• Actors improvised the dialogue with comedic stunts (called LAZZI)
• Actors wore half masks which indicated to the audience which character they were playing
• A Commedia troupe typically consisted of 10 to 12 members
• Plays were based on stock characters
• Pantalone, an elderly Venetian merchant (Mr Burns)
• Arlecchino, a servant who was a trouble maker (Bart)

RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION

• Italy - Further contributions to Theatre were made by Italians through the development of the proscenium.
• England - "apron stages" were used
• Audience members surrounded the stage, sometimes on the stage
• The emphasis in plays was on the dialogue.
• Later religious themes were replaced by themes of loyalty to the government
• Performers were organized into troupes or companies who developed a repertory of plays that they could perform
• The 16th century, England government swung back and forth from Catholicism to Protestantism
• Playwrights working to revive plays in Latin were believed to be supporting the Catholic church
• Playwrights working to revive Greek plays were seen at Protestants
• Depending on who was in power at the time, a playwright could be put to death for reviving the wrong play
• Many playwrights began to avoid the revival of classic work and wrote non-political and non-religious plays
• political problems in England made theatre dangerous
• Civil unrest could be inspired by performances
• Associated with the temptation to spend time watching performances
• Theatres were also associated with prostitution
• Added to the political problems, fear of the plague closed theatre
• These conditions lead to the licensing of acting companies which lead to more government control of theatre by state

ELIZABETHAN THEATRE

• Shakespeare is the most notorious playwright in the history of theatre
• + Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson
• Shakespeare and his contemporaries encouraged a more natural style of speaking and acting. They also explored the theme of "good government"
• Shakespeare's characters were also more "human" with both positive and negative aspects of their character being explored
• During this time, players were still presented in open-air theatres or at times, presented in court

THE REPUBLIC AND THE RESTORATION

• In 1642, the English Parliament closed all English theatres
• English actors fled to France
• Theatre focused on the scenery
• Plays now included costume, dance and clever scenery
• Theatres also used proscenium style of theatre
• The french allowed women to perform on stage. (When theatre returned to England in 1660, women were allowed on stage there too. 

18th CENTURY THEATRE

• Became popular pastime
• During the first half of the 18th century, actors assumed poses and performed their lines in a 'sing-song' manner
• Dressed in modern fashionable clothes
• The rivalry between actresses at to who would wear the finest dress
• The pantomime was popular and promoted the development of spectacular staging, slapstick and SFX
• David Garrick - one of Britain's greatest actors. 1741 to 1776 - actor, producer and theatre manager. He wrote more than 20 plays and adapted many more
• Emphasized a more natural form of speaking and acting
• Naturalism 
• Banished the audience from the stage
• Plays began to be written about ordinary people
• Theatre became more commercial

19th CENTURY

• Gaslighting was first introduced in 1817 in London's Drury Lane Theatre
• By the end of the century, electrical lighting made its appearance on stage
• Elaborate mechanisms for changing scenery were developed, including fly-lofts, elevators, and revolving stages.
• MELODRAMA  - poor quality lighting + advances of set design lead to theatre-style emphasising action.
• Comes from "music drama" music created emotions on stage
• Actors performed their characters using gestures and body poses
• Simplified moral universe
• SFX was part of the performance: fires, explosions, and or earthquakes
• The villain poses a threat, the hero escapes, end with a happy ending
• During the first half of the century, playwrights were poorly paid
• THE ERA OF THEATRE GREATS - later half of the 19th century, 3 incredible playwrights changed theatre
• Began "realism"
• Would be as if the audience were watching a film (fourth wall)
• Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekho
• The serious and realistic drama that was being created in the second half of the 19th century challenged actors to learn new method of acting
• Stanislavski wrote several works on the art of acting, such as "An Actor Prepares"
• Following actors include Jack Nicholson, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Benicio Del Toro, Johnny Depp

20th CENTURY THEATRE

• The world changed (2 world wars, and much social and political upheaval)
• Realism movement in theatre. and the creation of naturalistic acting style developed)
• Many other theatre movements also began; one such theatre style was Theatre of the Absurd
• Theatre of the Absurd, which grew out of the post-modern movement which believed that life has no meaning, and there is no god
• This style of theatre grew out of Europe in the later 1940s

THE END

• the craft of acting is constantly changing in reaction to audiences' tastes, political and social movements, and advances in technology

28/10/20 Final Performance + Post-performance evaluation

After rehearsing a lot after school, we finally managed to finish our performance, to a standard we were very happy with. A massive struggle was getting the lines matched correctly to the movements, and remembering all of this. We had 20+ attempts at recordings, therefore by the end, our energy was significantly low. I am very happy with the outcome, as I feel we didn't portray any of this in our final performance. Here is the performance...

Here is our post-performance evaluation...

26/10/20 Failed recordings and final Sarah Kane performance

 This weekend, we worked on our EAST piece by Steven Berkoff.  It took quite a long time to learn our lines and then add the movements to the lines.  Tristan and I recorded our scene quite a few times, but even when we thought we were happy with it, it still didn't look clean and smooth enough when we looked over it again today.  Silvana, Emma, Tristan and I have all decided that re-filming this is the best option for us to get it done the way we want. Here is our final rehearsal of EAST...

In the afternoon, we re-recorded our 4.48 Psychosis piece by Sarah Kane.  When we performed it in the Barthel Hall, it didn't have the eerie effect we wanted as the lights were all very bright and the audience was very close to the action so they could hear us moving and breathing. Here is that recording...

We decided to film it in the auditorium instead so that we could have the lighting a bit darker and the music louder.  I feel like this performance went so much better than last time and we were all really happy with it, so we finished off by recording our post-performance discussion. Here are both of those...

Performance

Post-performance evaluation

22/09/20 Psychosis rehearsal

 

20/10/20 rehearsing Psychosis by Sarah Kane

19/10/20 4.48 Psychosis rehearsal

 

15/10/20 chair duets for 4.48

 Today, we came up with 4 different chair duets, to eventually combine into a chair quartet. We used inspiration from an old series of chair duets we had put together at the beginning of our BTEC course...

14/10/20 working on 4.48 psychosis

 

12/10/20 working on 4.48 Psychosis blocking

 We started today by clarifying our plans for the day, along with what we have completed so far (and reviewed how much extra rehearsal we have to do). So far, we have:

• 2-minute physical theatre piece for 4.48 Psychosis
• Beginning already planned for this play
• Rehearsed East with Tristan
• Have started blocking our movements for our duologue

Today, we plan to:

• Block the whole of 4.48 Psychosis

We have decided to rehearse for an extra 2 hours after school in order to ensure this is completed for steady progress. In period 1, we recorded a long discussion surrounding 4.48 Psychosis. We have planned out our opening sequence, choosing to have the first 5 lines of the script before the first physical theatre sequence (being an impactful start to the piece, as we will all be facing away from the audience, leaving it enigmatic). We are still in the process of deciding which areas of the script we want to keep/scrap, as there are some divides in opinion within our group. I think we should use larger monologue sections (as I feel it fits Frantic Assembly's style better, giving us more opportunity to portray an actual piece of theatre), whereas other people think it would be more beneficial to use individual lines. We will discuss our decision in later periods today.

We have just completed rehearsals from period 5, 6 and after school rehearsals. We didn't progress as much as we had planned, however, we still feel as though we will have enough time to create a very good play. In this time, we added a scene to our piece. This scene is primarily scripted, but we also do some movement surrounding Emma/the bed. Emma sits at the edge of the bed, while the other characters circle around her. This short scene concludes with us all sitting aligned at the edge of the bed. In the after school rehearsal, we decided to have another physical theatre sequence here. We tried to devise this but struggled, therefore didn't get much done.

08/10/20 Improvising EAST

Today, we split into two groups (as mine and Tristan's duologue is separate to Emma's and Silvana's). We started off by improvising our monologue. We improvised some good movements that we will use in our final production. After this, we looked at some online examples to take inspiration from (as well as an example that I had done with Hugo a month back)...

05/10/20 Second piece choice

Although we decided on 'Noises Off' by Michael Frayn in our last rehearsal, we aren't sure on which practitioner we would pair with it. Along with this, we have read through a good chunk of the script, and there aren't any 10-minute sections that only have 4 characters, meaning we would have to cut between different sections, potentially creating a piece that doesn't make sense. After discussing these elements, we continued to look for more scripts, specifically on a website with 10-minute plays. I wasn't too fond of these plays, as there was always too much going on. We have essentially ended where we started today, with no second script chosen. Next lesson, we have made it our aim to get that second script found.

We also tried to work on 4.48 Psychosis today, however, we also hit a bit of a wall, as we weren't sure whether to continue working on our physical theatre or to start on the script. I think we feel a lot more comfortable working on physical theatre, despite finding it more challenging. This meant that we were hesitant to move on from what we produced last week, as we were confident it was good work.

UPDATE: we have chosen our second piece (EAST by Steven Berkoff). Here is a synopsis of this play...

East by Steven Berkoff is a comic play about London’s East End. Five characters relay tales about their shady lives in a rough district, covering the bases of romance, family and friendship. The murkiness of the action is offset by the elevated Shakespearean idiom that the characters speak in. The younger generation, Mike (James Craze), Les (Jack Condon) and Sylv (Boadicea Ricketts), form an uncomfortable ménage à trois where the darling Sylv is caught between two raging bulls. Mum (Debra Penny) and Dad (Russell Barnett), who are part of the older generation, watch over the younglings, often reminiscing about the good old days.

The coming-of-age theme is explored in a punch-drunk world. Mike and Les are two Cockney lads who are full of masculine energy and vigour. They have a disagreement over the affections of Sylv and hold razors at each other’s throats (and testicles). These snarling blokes are products of an upbringing where questions of honour are resolved in blood. The moments of violent tension are catalysed into a conflict by a braying crowd, who hurl profanities into the mix as the pair squares off. However, the eventual fight does not embitter them, but instead cements their friendship, after Mike and Les hobble to Charing Cross Hospital to bond as they recuperate.

Scene shifts are marked by vaudeville skits. These lighter comic exchanges are great ways to navigate the changes in time and location. We move away from the makeshift fighting arena behind a cinema to a breakfast table in two-up two-down. Mum is an easy-going domesticated woman, languorously contemplating the Radio Times crossword, and Dad is a furious misanthrope: it seems that sloth and wrath loom over Mike, Les and Sylv in the form of these parents. This tedium is what awaits the trio in the future should they fail to escape their surroundings.

Sylv is the most sensitive to the fear of smashed dreams. She can fancy her suitors at one point, with their raw virile charm, but also deplore herself being boxed into this role of ‘Queen of Sluts’ when she has to prettify herself and lay herself down (pun intended) for these men. On the other hand, if the role is reversed, a man who sleeps about is known an alpha-male player; there is less stigma attached. But Berkoff does not cast Sylv as plainly a man-hating feminist: her heartfelt oscillations between infatuation and disgust decry the sorry state of affairs that women have to suffer at the hands of belligerent apes, whom they are unfortunately attracted to.

East has performed in The King’s Head Theatre forty years ago: its return to this space has a kind of pleasing circularity to it. The venue is cosy, so the ornate language is a great way to account for the relative simplicity of the set design. These Renaissance inflexions to ordinary speech, grandiose metaphors of foggy breath being dragon smoke, help paint such vivid scenes that go into this panorama of the East End. The vernacular does not only serve the purpose of a hilarious dichotomy between low and high, for such courtly speech could not come from more unsuspecting mouths, but also makes a display of Berkoff’s writing prowess, so much so that the hard and grotesque textures of the back alleys and side streets can be felt and smelled in the performance.

28/09/20 matching Psychosis to music and finding our second script

 decided on copycat by billie eilish

decided on noises off by Michael frayn

In today's rehearsal, we decided to continue working on 4.48 Psychosis, and worked on our physical theatre a bit more. We felt it was important to match it with some music, and we chose 'COPYCAT' by Billie Eilish. We chose this song as it has quite an impactful bass, therefore it will match well with the Frantic Assembly style of physical theatre (with each movement being quite quick and joint). It also has a good variation of pace, therefore we can speed up and slow down our physical theatre. We rehearsed this and ended with this...

After rehearsing this, we finished by choosing our second script, which will be 'Noises Off' by Michael Frayn. Here is an online synopsis...

Noises Off is a play in three acts, showing what is happening on stage and behind the scenes while a chaotic theatre company is performing "Nothing On."

Act one shows the group during the dress rehearsal late at night. However, with only a few hours before the premiere, things run anything but smoothly. Dotty, for example, keeps forgetting where to take and leave her props, while other actors forget their lines and struggle with a faulty set. For example, doors that should open won't open, while doors that should close won't close. Therefore, Lloyd, the director, starts to lose his temper and resorts to sarcasm. As if the disorder were not enough already, Selsdon, an older actor with a drinking problem, keeps getting lost. Slowly but surely, the actors' relationships deteriorate and leave the audience wondering if they will get their performances right during the actual show.

For the second act, the stage is turned around, so the audience is able to see what happens behind the scenes during a midweek matinee a month after the premiere. With plenty of slammed doors and hostilities, it is clear that the actors' relationships have become dysfunctional, which also affects the production, as cues are missed, lines are forgotten, and actors are unwilling to turn up.

The third act takes place during the closing night performance of "Nothing On." The play and the characters are barely holding together, as personal feuds escalate and none of the actors seems to care for the production any longer. In the end, the disaster is sealed by the curtain burying the actors on stage.

"Nothing On," the play within the play, is an English bedroom farce. Roger Tramplemain, an estate agent who is in charge of renting the Brent's house, has a rendezvous with Vicky, pretending that the house is his own. However, it turns out that the housekeeper, Mrs. Clackett, is still around because she wants to spend a quiet afternoon watching TV and eating sardines. Later, the house owners Philip and Flavia Brent come back unexpectedly to make out as well. They have to keep their presence secret because they are trying to avoid the revenue department--and miss running into the other couple several times. In the end, a Sheik who is interested in the property arrives, as well as an elderly burglar, who turns out to be Vicky's father.

21/09/20 Finding our second piece + first rehearsal

 On Monday (today), we have 3 lessons split into p1, p5 & p6. In period 1, we immediately decided wanted to perform 'Psychosis' by Sarah Kane, as we had performed it the previous week and we created some quality while doing it. Last week, we performed it in the style of the theatre practitioner, 'Artaud', however the other group decided to perform it in that style, therefore we are looking at taking influence from Frantic Assembly. We also researched different texts and tried to link a practitioner to this text, however we found this task quite challenging as none of the scripts we had fitted our goal. One script we spent a while reading and watching was 'Accidental Death of an Anarchist' by Dario Fo. Although we found his slapstick style of comedy funny, we felt is would be difficult to execute, therefore we decided not to look any closer into this. We are still in the process of finding our second script.

In our final two periods of the day, we rehearsed Psychosis, we did a script read and we cut chunks of the script that we didn't want/need (and that prolonged it over the 20 minute mark). As this performance will be delivered to year 11's and year 12's, we felt it was necessary to cut the most graphic scenes. After this task, we set up a rehearsal schedule, choosing to rehearse after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then frequent lunchtime slots. This gives us enough time to feel comfortable in preparing a dress rehearsal for the week before the performance.

17/09/20 Introduction to 4.48 Psychosis

Today we worked on a very unique script, called 4.48 by Sarah Kane. I was not familiar with this script to begin with, however, after reading it briefly, I recognised a certain monologue within it that had been performed by Emma as a GCSE piece. It is an extremely abstract piece of theatre however we felt it was very engaging. It is definitely a script we will look at using for our final performance for this unit. We used Artaud for this piece, as his style fits well with the dark tone.

14/09/20 Group Work Practitioners

 Here are the scripts we looked at in todays lesson:

• DNA
• IT'S NOT ME IT'S YOU
• EAST

Here are the scripts we looked at in todays lesson:

• Amelie - Peter Brook
• Louis - Craig
• Silvana - Brecht
• Seth - Fo
• Hugo - Stanislavski
• Emma - Pinter
• James - Antoine Artaud
• Tristan - Jerzy Grotowski

All different practitioners gave me an intake into the different aspects and elements of directing and performing theatre, looking at a contrast of comedy and darker theatre styles. Our task was to split into 2 groups and decide on 1 script to look closer at, and then link practitioners to it, to then produce a short piece of theatre to perform in the afternoon. My group chose to mix Artaud, Brecht and Fo with the 'DNA' script. After audience feedback, we learnt it was a successful performance, making the audience uncomfortable. I enjoyed this style of theatre as it allows an actors and directors ideas spiral, meaning no performance will ever be the same. If I was to do it again, I would take inspiration from the other performance, alternating where to position the audience. This was effective in their performance because it made us feel intrigued yet uncomfortable (while lying on stage).

14/09/20 Edward Gordon Craig

 Craig

• Theatre practitioner
• English actor
• born 1872, Stevenage
• died 1966, France
• Craig's idea of using neutral, mobile, non-representational screens as a staging device is probably his most famous scenographic concept
• Known for his intricate set designs
• In 1975 The Gordon Craig theatre was built in his hometown of Stevenage
• As a designer, the sets he built and designed were made to be extremely symbolic and he was the first person with the idea of moveable screen / scenery (hinged flats which could be used inside and out).
• Edward Gordon Craig believed that a director was “the true artist of the theatre” instead of the actor

14/09/20 Berkoff

Berkoff

Who was he?

• Born in 1937 in London (currently 83)
• Actor, Playwright and Theatre director
• Partner: Clara Fisher
• His family is Jewish, with roots in Romania and Russia
• Berkoff attended Rain's Foundation Grammar school (1948–50),Hackney Downs School, the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts (1958), and L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq (1965)

Awards and Honours

• Kvetch (best comedy) - Evening Standard Theatre Award (1991)
• Total Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)
• Shakespeare's Villains (best entertainment) - nominated for Society of London's Theatre's Laurence Olivier
• East (best ensemble work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) - 1999
• Shakespeare's Villains (best solo performance) - LA weekly Theatre Award (2000)
• Messiah (Scotsman Fringe First Award) - Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2000)
• Secret Love Life of Ophelia - Bank of Scotland Herald Angel (2001)

Theatre

What sets Berkoff apart from theatre is his focus on non-naturalism, his attention on movement rather than voice. As an actor, director and playwright and general non-conformist, Berkoff wanted to shake naturalistic theatre and encourage experiment using the idea of Total Theatre. He believed that the only purpose of a script is to help minimalise and physicalise the story; stripping it down to the bare components. Steven Berkoff said that his career owes much to his training as a physical theatre practitioner, but perhaps equally, to his working class origins, which, he maintains, give him a different perspective to those around him in a predominantly middle class profession. The aim of Total Theatre is to create extreme moods to give the audience an overwhelming experience and to shock, amuse, scare, or amaze them. Total Theatre maintains that every aspect of theatre must have purpose: every movement, that is choreographed; to each line, that is learned perfectly; to each lighting effect, that is used to convey a mood or message; to each sound effect, that enhances the audience’s experience; to each prop that has a use.

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation OVERVIEW

“Contemporary theatre requires a combination of naturalism and non-naturalism to appeal to their audience”
Throughout this research project, I was adding more information onto each post, therefore when wanting to find information on a specific topic, I knew which post I had included it in. I split this log into 10 different specific research points, which are:

• General notes
• Stanislavski
• Brecht
• Love Song notes + summary
• Things I know to be True notes + summary
• The Seagull audience reviews + summary
• Macbeth audience reviews + summary
• History
• Website references

I am planning on refining each post into powerpoint slides, with a couple other slides that don't require research (conclusion, introduction, applying these styles to my own previous work). 

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation GENERAL NOTES

(Notes added throughout)

These notes are about both naturalistic styles and non-naturalistic styles. My hypothesis compares both these styles, so it is important to compare these two styles and understand them. In my powerpoint, I would do a slide describing both of these styles. This information is important because I can compare and contrast these styles. I will be able to apply this knowledge to analysing each style.

Naturalism notes

• in terms of style, naturalism is an extreme or heightened form of realism
• as a theatrical movement and performance style, naturalism was short-lived
• stage time equals real time – eg. three hours in the theatre equals three hours for the characters in the world of the play
• costumes, sets and props are historically accurate and very detailed, attempting to offer a photographic reproduction of reality (‘slice of life’)
• as with realism, settings for naturalistic dramas are often bland and ordinary
• naturalistic dramas normally follow rules set out by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, known as ‘the three unities’ (of time, place and action)
• the action of the play takes place in a single location over the time frame of a single day
• jumps in time and/or place between acts or scenes is not allowed
• playwrights were influenced by naturalist manifestos written by French novelist and playwright Emile Zola in the preface to Therese Raquin (1867 novel, 1873 play) and Swedish playwright August Strindberg in the preface to Miss Julie (1888)
• naturalism explores the concept of scientific determinism (spawning from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution) – characters in the play are shaped by their circumstances and controlled by external forces such as hereditary or their social and economic environment
• often characters in naturalistic plays are considered victims of their own circumstance and this is why they behave in certain ways (they are seen as helpless products of their environment)
• characters are often working class/lower class (as opposed to the mostly middle class characters of realistic dramas)
• naturalistic plays regularly explore sordid subject matter previously considered taboo on the stage in any serious manner (eg suicide, poverty, prostitution)

Non-naturalism notes

When what is occurring on stage is not being portrayed as real life, with several techniques being used to provide a message to the audience. The below techniques are some examples:

Still Image

A form of tableau where actors invent body shapes or postures to portray something. Things can be changed from one into another: eg. Cinderella’s pumpkin turns into a coach. Useful technique where you have not staging (as you won’t have for 4x4)

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tynyQj8Jayg

Soundscape

Using voices or body percussion, create a ‘soundscape’ (like a landscape, only in sound) of a particular theme or mood. eg the city at night?

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSomWOUUCQ4

Slow Motion

Quite a simple one: how can you create an effect to communicate something significant about your drama by running something in slo-mo? 

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZXILfwlf4U 

Exaggeration

Does this need any explanation? I must have told you about this a million times already. Think exaggerated physical business; exaggerated voice

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaKirQLv0eE

Mime

A complex and sophisticated art-form in itself - but useful at all levels especially where staging is minimal or non-existent.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxmXnucXlMQ

Alienation

Also called Verfremdungseffekt - get used to this. You’ll be hearing a lot more about it when we go on to study Bertolt Brecht. Basically it means reminding the audience (often termed ‘spectators’ in this type of thinking to add to the sense that they aren’t really part of what is going on) that what they are watching is all made up and pretend. It involves the use of techniques designed to distance the audience from emotional involvement in the play through sharp reminders of the artificiality of the theatrical performance.

Examples of such techniques include explanatory captions or illustrations projected on a screen; actors stepping out of character to lecture, summarise, or sing songs; and stage designs that do not represent any locality but that, by exposing the lights and ropes, keep the spectators aware of being in a ‘false’ and non-real activity.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWcoTXnrfkg

Soliloquy

Thinking out loud. Think Hamlet. Pretty non-natural but pretty damned important. If only I could think of ways to get this stuff over to my students more effectively...oh my, what a world this is...

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYZHb2xo0OI

Narration

Narration is a technique whereby one or more performers speak directly to the audience to tell a story, give information or comment on the action of the scene or the motivations of characters. Characters may narrate, or a performer who is not involved in the action can carry out the role of 'narrator'. Consider the opening scene of Henry V in which ‘Chorus’ introduces the audience to the play and outlines what is happening - and then reappears at points in the play to describe the change of scene.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uDcIZAfegk

Split Scene

This is where two scenes go on at the same time on stage, one stage left and one stage right. The scene stage left will begin, for example and the actors in the scene stage right will be frozen. The actors stage left will then freeze and the actors stage right will resume the action and then freeze at the end. This may go backwards and forwards several times. It is used to show events that are taking place simultaneously. 

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ume-7YCUA5U

Breaking the Fourth Wall

A good reason to know what the Fourth Wall is - remember a week or so ago? - is consider it being broken (eg in a pantomime where the actors may ask the chilren in the audience for help as they look for the villain…”He’s behind you…”). ie speaking directly to the audience as if stepping momentarily out of they play. Woody Allen does this a lot: watch ‘Annie Hall’ if you haven’t already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KncGldW1Nsw

Flashback

Familiar from film, television and literature. It can be done in a number of ways - eg. an old man on one side of the stage thinks back to events in childhood, played by another, presumably younger actor while he watches on as if watching his own earlier life. Flash forward also possible.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U27UYw8ePYA

Marking the Moment

Is just a term used to identify where one of the strategies above has been used to draw particular attention to a point in the drama. eg using slow motion and exaggeration to highlight a key point in a murder scene?

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 8

History

(post made on 04/06)

It was important to research this because it informed me on how the styles fit into contemporary theatre. To understand the theatre audience preferences, I needed to understand how each of the styles became popular in the industry, and how the audiences were reacting to each of them at the time. I learnt a lot from this research, as prior to this, I didn't know that Brecht received negative feedback for his political theatre. I will include a slide about the history, as it contributes to the overall conclusion.

Broader notes

Naturalism is a movement in European drama and theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality through a range of dramatic and theatrical strategies: detailed, three-dimensional settings; everyday speech forms (prose over poetry); a secular world-view (no ghosts, spirits or gods intervening in the human action); an exclusive focus on subjects that are contemporary and indigenous (no exotic, otherworldly or fantastic locales, nor historical or mythic time-periods); an extension of the social range of characters portrayed (away from the aristocrats of classical drama, towards bourgeois and eventually working-class protagonists); and a style of acting that attempts to recreate the impression of reality (often by seeking complete identification with the role, understood in terms of its ‘given circumstances’, which, again, transcribe Darwinian motifs into performance, as advocated by Stanislavski).

Naturalistic writers were influenced by the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin. They believed that one’s heredity and social environment determine one’s character. Whereas realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism also attempts to determine “scientifically” the underlying forces (i.e. the environment or heredity) influencing the actions of its subjects. Naturalistic works are opposed to romanticism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment. They often include uncouth or sordid subject matter; for example, Émile Zola’s works had a frankness about sexuality along with a pervasive pessimism. Naturalistic works exposed the dark harshness of life, including poverty, racism, sex, prejudice, disease, prostitution, and filth. As a result, Naturalistic writers were frequently criticized for being too blunt.

Naturalism was criticized in the twentieth century by a whole host of theatre practitioners; Constantin Stanislavski, for example, argued for a puncturing of the illusion of the surface of reality in order to reach the real forces that determine it beneath its appearance; in place of the absorption within a fiction that Naturalistic performance promotes in its audience, he attempted to inculcate a more detached consideration of the realities and the issues behind them that the play confronts. His approach is a development, however, of the critical project initiated by Naturalism; it is a form of modernist realism.

Naturalistic performance is often unsuitable for the performance of other types of theatre—particularly older forms, but also many twentieth-century non-Naturalistic plays. Shakespearean verse, for example, demands a rigorous attention to its rhythmic sub-structure and often long and complex phrasings; naturalistic actors tend to cut these down to the far shorter speech patterns of modern drama, destroying the rhythmic support that assists the audience’s process of comprehension. In addition, Shakespearean drama assumed a natural, direct and often-renewed contact with the audience on the part of the performer; ‘fourth wall’ performances foreclose these complex layerings of theatrical and dramatic realities the game that are built into Shakespeare’s dramaturgy. A good example is the line spoken by Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra’s act five, when she contemplates her humiliation in Rome at the hands of Octavius Caesar, by means of mocking theatrical renditions of her fate: “And I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness in the posture of a whore”; that this was to be spoken by a boy in a dress in a theatre is an integral part of its dramatic meaning—a complexity unavailable to a purely naturalistic treatment.

Refined notes

• Naturalism is a movement in theatre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Interest in naturalism especially flourished with the French playwrights of the time, but the most successful example is Strindberg's play, Miss Julie.​
• Naturalistic writers were influenced by the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin​
• Non-naturalistic theatre has always been present in theatre, however the style developed in the early 1900's, with the impact of Brecht

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 7

Audience

(notes taken on 4/06 and 9/06)

This is an article written about the progressing audience of theatre. To understand the contemporary theatre audience, it was important to understand what the audience was. This article was important for understanding how naturalism and non-naturalism are being seen differently in contemporary theatre. 

Many people go to the theatre to escape the hustle and bustle of modern society and want to be taken on a journey, different from the life they live in. A vast percentage of those who go to the theatre enjoy to watch their evening/afternoon’s performance without the disruption of people talking, rowdy crowds, loud eaters and most of all, the bright screens of mobile phones. However, recently, regular theatergoers are finding themselves encountering more and more disturbances during performances, thanks to audience members around them. This raises the question, are theatre audiences changing?

I think one of the main reasons that there has been a rise in disruption within theatres, is because of the kind of productions that are touring, running within London’s west end or running on Broadway. There is a considerable amount of commercial productions showing, which will entice patrons who have never set foot within a theatre before. There are many screen to stage adaptations which are peaking the interests of people who love the film and want to see it live. Or there are shows which are biographical and follow mainstream artists; therefore, the fans of that artist come to the theatre to relive the nostalgia. And last but not least, everyone loves a jukebox musical for a night out, they are promised to be entertained.

So, you ask, why would these people cause disturbances within the theatre? Well, there are several reasons. Some patrons of the theatre expect these shows to be like a concert, so they can get up to dance or sing-along whenever they want, and they do this without realizing it’s not correct theatre etiquette. Some patrons are just there for a night out with friends, so their main aim is to have a great night, have a few drinks, plus spend time with pals, rather than enjoy the performance; this could cause them to get a bit too drunk and disturb the audience around them. However, of course, it is at this point that the front of house team will step in and make sure that your night is not spoiled. Then there is the final reason, where someone has booked a show, realized it’s not for them halfway through, got bored, started being disruptive, don’t particularly care about the people around them and end up ruining your night.

I know from my experience, and also hearing other people’s experience, that there is a lot of disruption within audiences of particular productions which peak the interests of pretty much everyone. It does mean that there is a high chance that there’s going to be issues with people who are not familiar with the theatre experience. Recently a patron asked me during a show I was front of house for, why no one was standing up, dancing and singing, this question was asked during the interval of a brilliant musical, I had to explain to him that this was not a concert and was, in fact, more like a cinema experience where you are watching a story unfold in front of you, however at the end you will have a chance to sing and dance. The patron understood, yet halfway through act two, I had to tell them several times to get their phone away. And they asked after the show why they were not allowed their phone out, and I explained that it disrupts the audience members around them and the actors on stage would be able to see the light from their screen. The patron was very apologetic, plus understood why we were very strict with phones and disturbances.

This is only one of mine and my colleague's experience of where it is obvious the patron has not been aware of what happens within a theatre environment. I would say there needs to be more education out there for audience members, but there are clear signs and announcements in the theatre I work in and also those I visit. So, it just appears that there is a lot of occasions where the audiences are ignoring the clear signs and causing issues for the front of house, plus the patrons trying to enjoy the performance.

Theatre is being made more accessible, which I think is absolutely brilliant, as it means our theatres are filling up with people who are viewing a show for the first time, and because of that, they may follow a career in the arts, or even just come back time and time again to see a production at their local theatre. But the feeling that some avid theatergoers are getting is that their local theatres are no longer a safe space, this is due to a minority of audience members being disruptive by talking, drinking heavily, using mobile phones and even in some VERY rare occasions there is fighting.

To me, it seems that theatre audiences have changed in recent years compared to the ones I had experienced when I was younger. This is because going to the theatre, is once again a popular activity, which we should all be so glad it is, as it gives our favourite theatres and productions a boost, and also introduces new people into the world we love. The 21st-century culture is clashing with the old-fashioned aura that comes with the theatre; it just means that there is always going to be some issues. However, rather than blame theatres or productions for matters which are completely out of their hands, just spread the word that the theatre is a place which deserves respect and good manners to the other audience members around you, as well as the building itself. I can ensure you that the front of house team at your local theatre will do the best they can to make sure that every patron gets the best experience while visiting the theatre.

On that note, if you’re unhappy with the way someone is acting around you, rather than waiting until the end of the show to report it, and ruin your overall experience, tell the front of house team immediately! They are there with the purpose of making sure that you get to see the show you have spent your hard-earned money on.

Also, if you have a friend going to the theatre for the first time, tell them what the experience is like, while also noting what's acceptable, and what’s not... just in case.

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 6

Macbeth

(Notes taken on 2/06)

These are links to different articles on the audience reactions and reviews of different versions of Macbeth productions. Macbeth is a non-naturalistic play, however the style of some monologues and characters allow actors to prepare naturalistically. I wanted to know which parts were picked by the audience, and what ha the most significance. I will do a summary paragraph on this in my powerpoint.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/austin/article/BWW-Review-MACBETH-Bewitches-Audiences-at-The-Curtain-Theatre-20191013

https://www.playshakespeare.com/macbeth/297-theatre-reviews/

https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2020/05/13/macbeth-at-shakespeares-globe-online-theatre-review/

https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/play/macbeth-at-queens-theatre-hornchurch-review/

https://www.theatreinchicago.com/macbeth/reviews/2559/

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 5

The Seagull

(notes from 1/06)

Looking at the reviews of The Seagull meant I could understand the audience reactions of a naturalistic based performance. At the moment, I believe contemporary theatre requires both styles, and these reviews were important because it showed me how successful naturalism still is in contemporary theatre. 

Audience reviews

https://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/the-seagull-review

https://artsfuse.org/191178/theater-review-the-seagull-an-exceptional-staging-of-a-legendary-play/

https://chicagocritic.com/the-seagull/

https://www.londontheatre1.com/reviews/review-the-seagull-theatro-technis/

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/theater/reviews/14seag.html

https://www.redbrick.me/review-the-seagull-at-the-crescent-theatre/

https://dctheatrescene.com/2019/03/18/the-seagull-review-from-the-wheel/

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/oct/12/the-seagull-review-lesley-sharp-chekhov-lyric-hammersmith

https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/the-seagull-0

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 4

Things I Know to be True (Frantic Assembly) notes

(These notes were taken on the 29/05)

I took notes on this Frantic Assembly production because non-naturalistic productions like this are becoming increasingly popular in modern theatre. Frantic Assembly focus on non-naturalistic style, therefore it was important to include both naturalistic and non-naturalistic performance styles in my research

General notes

• Acting/movement 
• Series of monologues
• Physical theatre - series of hands over body - not in spotlight 
• Direct audience address 
• When addressing family, physical Theatre starts - various lifts 
• Girl lifted when mentioning making love 
• Lights pop up and spotlight changes 
• fast paced movement of furniture 
• Family under blue spotlight while dancing 
• Constant bell music 
• Change of backdrop 
• Lighting on fence and father 
• Duologue between father and mother 
• Father dressed in polo shirt and baggy trousers 
• Mother in shirt and suit trousers 
• Comedy element - identification 
• ‘Something’s happened’ 
• Fast paced speech 
• Comedic repetition 
• Props -table, chairs, teacups, fence, leaves, 
• Tableaux with chairs - comedy 
• Music introduced for transition (wind and piano) 
• Nonnaturalistic style 
• Always something going on during a monologue 
• Relationship between mother and daughter - abusive mother - trauma because sister climbed ladder 
• Humour due to dads ignorance 
• Argument scene 
• Father dominant in scene - leaving mother alone 
• Original music introduced when physical theatre takes place 
• Cuts back to kitchen where food is being prepared 
• A large amount of this takes place in the garden - significant 
• Props of - onion and carrots + bowl and cooking utensils 
• Ben introduced to the scene 
• Both parents have contrasting opinions 
• Mother has stronger relationship with son than daughter 
• “She’s me but stronger” 
• Pip enters the scene without acknowledgment from others (in the scene but spotlight shows different area
• Split through a letter and no eye contact 
• Young daughter leaves scene - mother daughter either side of a table 
• Link between scenes when singing - diegetic music 
• Physical theatre to present families relationship 
• Motifs of the character 
• Found love in Vancouver 
• Change of set - physical theatre used to bring desk on 
• Phone prop 
• Mother always on stage - showing it’s a letter to her 
• Letter ends 
• Lighting changes and whole stage is lit - then a spotlight on left side of stage (upper) showing older sun
• Raining on him 
• Cigarette being smoked under 
• Comedy in sad elements 
• Whole play describing moments taking place within their house 
• Change of costume 
• Set stays the same when conversation about sex change happens 
• Sympathetic for both mother and son 
• Son kicked out of the house 
• End of part 1 
• Part 2 starts with spotlights on each member of the family 
• Scene between son and Rosie packing suitcase 
• Transition - gentle spotlight on old brothers monologue 
• Ends with blue tint spotlight on parents dancing with lit up light bulbs 
• Costumes changed to suit and dress 
• Physical theatre including rest of the family 
• Showing relationship struggle 
• Direct audience address 
• Monologue by younger son 
• Passage of time shown by plants in the background 
• Funny ‘sexual’ scene brings contrast 
• Duologue between brother and sister 
• Ben on drugs - almost hits sister 
• Fallout between parents due to love separation 
• Music introduced at end of monologue after “u and me?” 
• Rosie enters 
• All other siblings enter 
• Physical theatre surrounding rosie 
• Rosie says she’s leaving for university 
• Rosie exits scene 
• Music introduced 
• Simple piano along with wind 
• Mother back in work clothes 
• Mother died and blue spotlight on father 
• Monologue from Rosie

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 3

Love Song (Frantic Assembly) notes

I have taken notes on this Frantic Assembly production because it is a non-naturalistic production, therefore I can compare this to The Seagull. I will do a summary slide on both Frantic Assembly productions and use this to fuel my conclusion

General notes

• Long time with no dialogue 
• Just old man on stage listening to music with headphones in 
• Slow piano music 
• Cuts out when he reaches for post it note on fridge and takes headphones out 
• Different music introduced when monologue begins 
• Static monologue 
• Other characters enter 
• Old man acknowledges them 
• Younger version of the old man 
• Backdrop used in transitions 
• Mix between a movie and a theatre performance style 
• Main title projected in the background 
• Old man and wife enter 
• Smart transition as old wife swaps out for younger version 
• String music introduced as contact improvisation between young couple 
• While old couple get on with normal tasks (reading and drinking) 
• Changing in proxemics with the chair downstage center 
• Comedy used to contrast serious issues 
• Relatable to the audience 
• Kiss used to transition to old wife monologue sitting on bed 
• Very nostalgic monologue - thinking of past 
• Contact movement on kitchen table 
• Old wife is watching to interlink scenes 
• Old wife falls into the contact improv 
• Backdrop projection causing a mysterious feel 
• Matched with the music 
• Young couple in tableaux while old couple talking 
• Blue tint light 
• Spotlight 
• Stage covered in leaves for a sense of realism 
• Simple set 
• Bed, leaves, table and chairs, fridge 
• Change in costume (clearly come from work) 
• Contact improvisation between young wife and old husband 
• Used to show his memories are walking away from him 
• Music is used throughout the play - sets the tone 
• Funny rant but with a serious message 
• Monologue about time travel - ironic with the style of the piece 
• Projection of hand running against a wall during duologue between old couple 
• Later referenced in speech 
• Man falls through bed 
• Young wife appears from the bed 
• Direct audience address 
• Change of set - moving the table

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 2

Brecht

With Brecht being the originator of non-naturalism in theatre, it was important to look at his method and his life. From this research, I have learnt about the various techniques he used, and the different topics he addressed in his theatre. I will include a slide on his life and his methods. I will then compare his techniques with Stanislavski's, and look at who has more impact now.

Bertolt Brecht was born in Germany in 1898 and died aged 58 in 1956. He was a poet, playwright and theatre director. His most famous plays include Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle. Brecht’s groundbreaking directing style has been hugely influential to many directors and designers over the decades. Playwright David Edgar once said ‘Brecht is part of the air we breathe.’

Brecht’s work was very popular in the 50s, 60s and 70s, but he is slightly less fashionable today. However his influence is still present in much of theatre and many would argue that Brecht changed the face of modern theatre.

Brecht was a Marxist and made his theatre highly political. He wanted his theatre to spark an interest in his audiences’ perception of the world. He did not want his audiences to sit passively and get lost in a show’s story, but to make them think and question the world they live in. He encouraged them to be critical of society. His work was often mischievous, provocative and ironic.

Brecht wanted his audiences to remain objective and unemotional during his plays so that they could make rational judgments about the political aspects of his work. To do this he invented a range of theatrical devices known as epic theatre.

Epic theatre is a type of political theatre that addresses contemporary issues, although later in Brecht’s life he preferred to call it dialectal theatre. Brecht believed classical approaches to theatre were escapist, and he was more interested in facts and reality rather than escapism. Epic theatre doesn’t attempt to lay down a tidy plot and story, but leaves issues unresolved, confronting the audience with sometimes uncomfortable questions.

Verfremdungseffekt, or the ‘estrangement effect,’ was used to distance the audience from the play and is sometimes called the alienation effect. Brecht did not want the audience to have any emotional attachment to his characters, so he did various things to break it. Here are some of the techniques he used.

Breaking the fourth wall

This is where the wall between the audience and actors on stage is broken. Rather than allowing the audience to sit passively and get lost in the show, the actors will sometimes directly address the audience with a speech, comment or a question - breaking the fourth wall.

Montage
Short movie clips are put together, often to show factual events. Sometimes clips are edited to juxtapose each other, and/or sometimes the montages are used to highlight the issues Brecht is trying to communicate.

Use of song, music and dance

Some of Brecht’s work includes songs, music and dance. This helps to remind the audience that they are not watching real life. Sometimes the songs are juxtaposed ironically, with cheery upbeat music but with dark lyrics. One of the most famous song lyrics comes from Brecht’s ‘The Threepenny Opera’: ‘Who is the bigger criminal: he who robs a bank or he who founds one?’

Narration

Narration is used to remind the audience that they are watching a story. Sometimes the narrator will tell the audience what is about to happen in the story, before it happens, because if the audience knows the outcome then they may not get as emotionally involved.

Minimal set, costumes, props and lighting

Brecht believes the stage should be brightly lit at all times. That sets should not be realistic, just suggestive. And that actors should use minimal props, often only one per character. Also props can be used in several different ways, for example a suitcase may become a desk.

Coming out of character

Actors will sometimes come out character, often at heightened moments of drama, to remind the audience that it is a piece of fiction that they are watching.

Using placards

A placard, or projection screen can be used to give the audience some extra factual information, for example it might say how many people have died in a particular war. Placards can also be used to introduce characters in generic ways, e.g. ‘mum,’ or ‘dad.’ Placards are also used to introduce a new scene, or to tell the audience when one has finished.

Freeze frames/tableaux

The actors may go into a freeze frame, so as to break the action. Sometimes it’s done so that the audience can stop and think critically for moment. And sometimes it’s done so that the narrator can speak, or so that an actor can come out of character and perhaps break the fourth wall.

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation 1

Stanislavski

(Information gathered on 27/05 and 5/06)

Stanislavski is a massive part of my hypothesis, with half of the question being focused on a style originated from him. On the 27/05, I worked on finding different resources so that I could include in my presentation (with some of that information being on this page, and some being on websites referenced on my REFERENCE post). From this information, I have learnt more about naturalistic theatre and understand Stanislavski's life story. When I next research Stanislavski for this project, I want to look deeper into his impact on the theatre industry, and how his method was used and taken on by modern directors/writers.

I have finished researching for today (5/06) and have gathered more information on the Stanislavski system. In my powerpoint, I will make a slide focusing on this method and dive into each individual aspect of the pie chart shown below.

Research

Born in 1863, Konstantin Stanislavski was a Russian actor, director and theatre practitioner. Stanislavski Technique stems from his theatre practice and is still used by actors all around the world today. Stanislavski’s principles of directing and his collective theories on acting were very influential in the late nineteenth century and are still used by actors and directors today.

The method is an actor training system made up of various different techniques designed to allow actors to create believable characters and help them to really put themselves in the place of a character.

Understanding the world of your character is absolutely vital to creating a believable performance; Stanislavski used this idea to create Given Circumstances. The first step towards doing this is going through the play and writing down all the facts about your character you can find! Example questions you might ask as you go through the script could be:

Where Am I? When is it? (The year/the day/time of day etc) Who Am I? (Name/age/your family history/what you do for work etc) What relationships do I have? What has happened before the play started?

Once you’ve found out everything you can about your Given Circumstances, you should have lots of material to help you to start understanding your character. They are just as human as you are and need to have as comprehensive a world as you do!

Stanislavski describes The Magic If as being able to imagine a character’s given circumstances enough to understand what that character might do in any situation that arises. So when something happens to your character in the play you can understand how they would respond because you know so much about the world that they exist in.

Unit 104 Special Subject Investigation REFERENCES

This post consists of various main links I used throughout the research process.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxn4mp3/revision/1

http://vanessadramamonologue.blogspot.com/2013/10/from-last-lesson-we-were-introduced-to.html

http://www.theatrecrafts.com/pages/home/topics/stage-management/theatrical-style/

https://thedramateacher.com/realism-and-naturalism-theatre-conventions/

https://susielj.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/theatre-styles-naturalism-and-non-naturalism/

http://jemimadramahz.blogspot.com/2013/10/non-naturalistic-techniques.html

https://libguides.gen.vic.edu.au/c.php?g=217331&p=1436322 

https://www.dramaclasses.biz/bertolt-brecht-techniques-and-factsbertolt-brecht-techniques-and-facts

https://www.dramaclasses.biz/the-stanislavski-system

https://www.city-academy.com/news/what-is-stanislavski-technique/

THE HEALTHY PERFORMER3 First workout on new schedule

Here is a video I took after my first workout...



CORRECTION FROM VIDEO - THIS WORKOUT WAS TARGETING CHEST AND BACK

Points raised in this video:

• Working on chest and back
• Need to lift more attainable weights
• Had to reduce difficulty of push ups half way through
• 35 minute workout

Other points:

• In the video, I was in the recovery stage, keeping on my feet and working on breathing
• I made sure I was hydrated before the workout and remained hydrated throughout
• Next time, I will try reduce the time between each exercise in each superset (I was taking too long to change position from one exercise to the other)
• I will stretch post workout as well as before

THE HEALTHY PERFORMER2 Week 1 workout schedule

After having a discussion with my teacher, I have decided to change my workout plans slightly, Previously I was thinking of doing around 75% aerobic exercise and 25% anaerobic, as my focus was to get fit. After the discussion with my teacher, I have decided to do aerobic exercise 4 days a week, and anaerobic once or twice a week. I am also following a specific online workout found on this website. This website gives me different exercises that allow me to build muscle for my whole body. It is specifically designed for a home workout using only dumbbells. It guarantees results if the plan is followed correctly, including important pointers on what tempo to carry out, how many reps to do and how many sets. It is also important to follow the breaks/no breaks it suggests, as the 'supersets' optimise results, supposedly getting the best results by keeping your muscles under tension for as long as possible. Throughout this program, you build up the difficulty of the exercises per week, altering the weights duration or tempo, going on for the whole 4 week duration. Here is my week 1 workout schedule.

THE HEALTHY PERFORMER1 first run

Today, I did a 10 minute run-on the cross-trainer. my aim is to build up my fitness and run further distances as this unit processes. The first 10 minute run (yesterday), I ran 2.2 km in 10 minutes, burning around 100 calories. Today, I ran 2.45 km, burning around 120. This slight improvement could be because:

• Better and longer warm-up
• I was more hydrated
• I ate just before I ran the day before therefore I felt more tired

I chose to run on the cross-trainer because it is easily accessible and the weather conditions don't play an impact on my distances. I also feel as though it is important to mix up the different cardio activities I do, therefore I will be doing creative runs outside.

In todays recovery, I made sure I stood up, walked around slowly and was drinking water

MY PHYSICAL THEATRE