We performed our full performances to the class and in doing so, we easily found things that needed to be improved and which parts worked well within the context. Our issue that we explored was Climate Change and we explored this in a Brechtian style using many of his ideas I highlighted in my previous post about this Brecht performance.
We have three scenes in the piece and the timings are approximately as follows:
Scene 1: 0.00-1:53
Scene 2: 1:53-2:37
Scene 3: 2:37-4:09
Scene 1
Up to about 10 seconds in, the other actors in the group commented on a specific audience members hair which shows a Brechtian technique of interacting with the audience and breaking the fourth wall. It also reminded the audience that they were watching a performance and not a real life issue. While this was occurring, I was setting up the image of the world from Google Maps that was projected onto the floor. As this was done while the audience was watching the performance, this presented no illusions to the audience, another Brechtian technique. The Google Maps image was commented on by Maya ("You've left Google Maps on.") which again showed the audience that this is a performance by coming out of character.
The lighting that is shown in the first scene is kept the same throughout - a bright white light that didn't hide anything from the audience. This enables the audience to see any costume or scene changes which again shows that there were no illusions, keeping with the Brechtian technique.
At around 25 seconds Izzy and Alex burst out into songs of contrasting nature. Izzy sang songs about the sun (such as "Sunshine, Lollypops and Rainbows") and Alex sang songs about the night (such as "Rhythm of the Night"). I thought that this could represent two differing opinions on climate change; one that climate change is not real, hence why the sun is cheery about everything as the sun doesn't believe that anything is wrong with the world; another that climate change is real, hence why the dark seems miserable in comparison to the sun, as the dark knows that climate change is negatively affecting the world.
At 39 to 48 seconds we presented the weather, but instead of presenting the weather 'normally' like what we did in our original piece, we decided to exaggerate camera angles and exaggerate the role of the CameraWoman played by Izzy. Not only did this present multi-role for Izzy (the Sun and the CameraWoman) is also presents the Brechtian technique of 'spass' which pokes fun at the issue in the scene. This meant that the scene was more satirical than just presenting the weather normally.
At 1:09, we tried to show the weather being sarcastic towards the NewsPresenters which showed spass towards the issue. We used phrases such as "75 mile an hour winds, lets go 185" from the Wind (played by myself) and "Nice try b*****s" from the Rain (played by Maya) again showing the use of multi-role. This also presented archetypes and guestus of weather through the movements that we did as Sun, Rain, and Wind, as we showed them as stereotypes. This can be seen at the Rain's aforementioned line, as it shows that Rain always ruins Sun.
During the Transition (1:37-1:53) between Scene 1 and Scene 2, we used grey cloths (to signify the hurricane) and are planning to use more props such as sun cream, a model house, and general items that would remind the audience of the Wizard of Oz.. This again shows spass as it suggests that Hurricane Irmak, as mentioned in my previous entry about this topic, is akin to the twister shown in Wizard of Oz. It also remind the audience that this is a performance because they aren't watching a production of Wizard of Oz so may be slightly distanced from the action on stage (creating a slight Verfremdungseffekt) due to the familiarity of the objects flying past their faces. This section is supposed to represent the hurricane entering so we wanted sound effects that sounded like a hurricane. Instead of using sound effects pre-created, Lauren was able to make hurricane type sounds which reduced the amount of illusion and also broke the 4th wall.
A positive of this scene was that we immediately used a lot of Brechtian techniques which shows the audience that the performance is in the style of Brecht, even if they don't necessarily know who Brecht is and what his style is. In addition to this, this scene was a massive improvement from the first performance of this scene, as we could easily hear what all people were saying and we were more sure of what we were doing during this scene.
However a negative of this scene was that the pace was way too slow as there was lots of stopping and waiting for things to happen. To improve this we will probably move from each line slightly quicker, in order to keep up the pace of the following two scenes.
Scene 2
Scene 2 consisted entirely of a dance break from 1:53-2:37 and included music, both of which are Brechtian techniques. I had to turn the music on myself which showed the audience again that there were no illusions. During this scene we were trying to show the hurricane in full force hence why there are two lifts which show the hurricane picking things up and killing people in the process. During this scene we showed spass again when we said "die" and consequently died for 8 beats of the song and then did jazz hands. This juxtaposed the seriousness of the scene which again reminded the audience that they were watching a performance and not a real life situation. To improve this scene we could add dispassionate narration to part of it, which is another Brechtian technique that I don't think we used properly in the final scene. Moving it here would make the scene fit more into the overall performance as I think, at the moment, this scene is awkwardly placed and the transition into it doesn't really fit either.
Scene 3
One negative at the beginning of this scene was that the music didn't stop after the previous scene at around 2:40. I had to run off and stop the music. The loudness of the music coupled with my unexpected exit may have distracted the audience and missed part of Trump's (played by Izzy) speech.
At the beginning of the scene, Maya and I, rolled out a black cloth for Trump to walk on as it makes him seem 'important' because he believes that he's one of the most important people in the world, just because he is the President of the USA. We decided to include a satire of President Trump in our performance because he doesn't believe that climate change is as much as a global threat as other nations are making it out to be. Trump has pulled the USA out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement in July 2017, something that was signed during the Obama administration, which agreed to limit the amount of carbon being emitted from each country. In addition to this, I wanted Izzy to play both the Sun and Trump because they don't believe that climate change is real and that things will be alright if they don't pay attention to climate change.
At 3:14, Trump mentions Obama and the crowd which is current political satire and spass as Trump mentioned the large turnout at a speech of his which took place in support of Hurricane Irma to see what the President would say about the issue at hand.
At around 3:22, Trump mentioned "fake news" another current topic related to Trump and climate change as Trump could believe that climate change is fake news. At this, I exploded one side and Maya mourned me, and Alex exploded the other side and Lauren mourned her. This presents a sharp contrast between the comedy of Trump and the deaths that occur around him. It also shows Trump's obliviousness to the current situation of the deaths of Hurricane Irma and climate change in general.
At 3:43 Trump mentions a Wall and that the Wall "could have stopped the hurricane". This relates to politics and again using spass because one of Trump's main election points was that he was going to build a wall between Mexico and the USA. Trump literally breaks the 4th wall by stepping through the wall created by our bodies and immediately speaks to the audience. Trump also breaks the 4th wall by directing his speech towards the audience. To make this more obvious, we will need to include placards that specify that the other actors are playing the Wall.
A positive about this scene was that there was lots of spass and humour by the exaggeration of Trump. This also created guestus because Izzy made a stereotype of what Trump is usually like during his speeches. This was something that the audience can relate to but by using ourselves to make the Wall, it reminded the audience that this is a performance.
A major negative about this scene was that it confused the audience as to what the issue being presented was. Trump didn't mention anything about climate change only about politics involoving Trump. In fact, this was an issue throughout the piece as it wasn't made clear what the world issue was and didn't really leave the audience thinking. The world issue could have been about climate change, hurricanes, or US politics. To improve this, we would need to make the world issue slightly more obvious, but not so much that it is blatant.
Multi-Role
Me: NewsReporter, Wind, Wall
Izzy: Sun, CameraWoman, Trump
Maya: NewsReporter, Rain, Wall
Lauren: NewsReporter, SoundEffects, Wall
Alex: Night, NewsReporter, Wall
We will use placards to identify these roles which is another Brechtian technique.
SetThe image opposite is what our set looked like for the majority of the performance. The Risers gave height and also mad it easier to see people as they were acting. They also made it easier for Trump to be higher than all the other actors during the final scene. We did this because trump often presents himself as though he feels as though he is more important than everybody else.
Overall Improvements
In order to make this performance more Brechtian we would need to add in more of his techniques such as dispassionate narration and a more clear addition of the Verfremdungseffekt. We also need a more serious moment in the middle of the performance. For example, the scene could be about someone who's lost everything in the hurricane which would be juxtaposed by the comedy of Trump.
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