Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 14

Lesson: Thursday 23rd November 2017

In this lesson, we tried to determine whether Anatomy of a Suicide was in the style of Brecht, Stanislavski, or Artaud. There are clear representations of each practitioner in the play, but in my opinion I think that the play is largely in the style of Brecht. This is because of the three scenes that are happening at the same time, almost continuously throughout the play which create the Verfremdungseffekt (the 'distancing' effect) which means that the audience can't get invested in what is happening in other scenes. For example in Scene 3 where Carol is at Daisy's thirteenth birthday party, Anna is taking heroin, and Bonnie meets Jo for the first time, the first two of the three scenes are largely serious and could be said to be Stanislavski due to how the audience could get invested in their emotions. However, the third scene of the three with Bonnie is largely comedic creating spass and also distancing the audience from the other two scenes.

Additionally, the Carol and Anna scene combat social issues which is another Brechtian technique, in fact, the whole play can be said to be combatting the social issue of mental health which presents the play to be largely Brechtian. The Carol scene targets drinking and smoking, both of which are somewhat acceptable in society. However, as Carol is doing this at a thirteen year old's birthday party, it can be seen to be socially unacceptable because she is hiding away in another room drinking it mainly to hide away from the other people. This could be trying to show the audience that Carol doesn't want to join the other people at the party because of their digs at her mental health, as shown by Daisy later in the scene. The Anna scene is showing the extent of her drug abuse which is definitely socially unacceptable. By showing it us at the same time as showing Carol's lone drinking and smoking, Birch could be trying to show that addiction can be passed down through the family as ways to deal with deteriorating mental health, of which mental health is a current social issue, showing that Birch is using Brechtian techniques.

However, the play can be said to be in the style of Stanislavski, especially Scene 1 and Scene 16. Scene 1 shows Carol and John after Carol's attempted suicide and Scene 16 shows Bonnie finally selling the family home. These can be said to be Stanislavski because they allow the audience to become invested in the action happening on stage. This is mainly because there is only one scene happening on stage compared to two or three which happen during the rest of the play which means that there is no Verfremdungseffekt. However, it can be said that Scene 1 is somewhat Brechtian because it alludes to mental health and suicides which is a social issue which is a Brechtian technique. I think that Scene 16 is emotional, and allows the audience to become invested once again in the character's, not only because of the lack of other scenes around this scene, but also because it shows the end of an era. It is also emotional because it shows that Bonnie is finally ready to let go of something that meant so much to her which many audience members may have had to go through themselves. The line "You should pick some of the plums." is very emotional because it is alluding to the plum trees which are relevant in all three stories, and also reminds the audience that Carol and Anna are dead which has only happened one to two scenes ago, meaning that the audience will already be somewhat emotional from their deaths - they may not be as emotional because of the Verfremdungseffekt on the previous scenes, which may make them less emotional when seeing the final scene because they may not have connected as much with the characters.

Although, the play can be said to be in some aspects in the style of Artaud especially in scenes 11 and 13 for Anna. In Scene 11, Anna explains to a nurse that she wanted a baby boy instead of a baby girl and says that she had a graphic dream where she crushed the baby between her "finger and thumb". This shows an Artaudian technique because of the graphic nature of what Anna is talking about which may shock the audience. However, as this scene is also taking place alongside Carol being talked into having another round of ECT and alongside Bonnie after a one night stand the shock of what Anna is saying is some what taken away due to the Verfremdungseffekt. Additionally, what is happening in all three scenes can be said to be somewhat socially unacceptable drawing upon social issues, which is another Brechtian technique. In Scene 13, Anna has a round of ECT which can be said to be an Artaudian technique as many of Artaud's influences was drawn upon his experiences of ECT, of which he had 52 rounds of. Additionally, this scene could be quite shocking for an audience to watch and could also be uncomfortable. At the same time as this scene, Carol is talking to a doctor about it being "necessary to end (her) life" and Bonnie is having a conversation with Jamie about why she hasn't yet sold the house. This again shows a Brechtian style through the use of Verfremdungseffekt whereby the audience may not focus on Anna's scene or may not feel properly attached to her.

Overall, I think that the play has the styles of Brecht, Stanislavski, and Artaud but is mainly in the style of Brecht. This is because of the somewhat constant Verfremdungseffekt which may disallow the audience from focusing and becoming attached to any of the characters. The play still has emotional impact which is what Brecht also wanted to achieve and draws upon Stanislavski methods.

After discussing this, we tried to stage a scene within the play. Our group chose Scene 5; Carol has just had Anna; Anna is telling Jamie about her journey to get to the commune; and Bonnie is at a work colleague's birthday party. We used our own words to tell part of this scene as we wanted to see the impact of how we were going to stage the scene on the audience. It transpired that where you sat was where an audience member would focus which could in turn influence what they thought of the characters and the play as a whole. Those who sat stage left mainly focused on Carol; those who sat in the middle mainly focused on Anna; those who sat stage right mainly focused on Bonnie.

At the end of the lesson we also found out our parts within the play and which cast we would be in. I am Anna in Cast A.