Lesson: Monday 18th December 2017
In this lesson, we started working on Scene 5 of AOAS which is, in my opinion, much more complex than the other scenes we have been rehearsing so far, largely because there is no pattern between which section is going to be speaking next.
In Scene 5, we see Carol after she has given birth to Anna. Not only does this show how Carol is affected by Anna's birth but it also shows the audience for the first time the relationship between Carol and Anna if they haven't worked it our prior to this scene because of the introduction of John and Anna's relationship in Scene 4. In this scene, it is clear to see that Carol is suffering following the birth of Anna because it was a traumatic experience. In the 60s and 70s, which is the time when Anna was most likely to be born, many mothers have no memory of giving birth - so called "twilight sedation" - and the husband was not allowed in the delivery room. This is most likely the experience that Carol had. Even so, the childbirth process was largely male dominated and not like the modern process we'd expect today.
In this scene it is clear to see that Carol is not coping after she has given birth, something which becomes more so when the Nurse requests to take Anna away. It could be said that Carol is suffering from postnatal depression but this could just be a wider symptom of her depression and unwillingness to live in the first place, something that has become more intense after she has given birth, especially because she now has more responsibility.
In this scene, we are introduced to the character of Emma who is Carol's sister in law. In the first scene it is mentioned that John's sister cleaned the floorboards of blood from when Carol tried to commit suicide before the play began. Birch makes a connection between that when Carol says "I appreciate you cleaning the floorboards that time" which allows the audience to make a link between the mention of Emma and of Emma herself.
There are many interpretations that could be said of Emma in this scene. One interpretation is that she has only turned up at the hospital because she has to as she is now aunt to Anna and has a responsibility (especially as Carol has never seemed to be well) to care for her niece. Another interpretation is that she sees Carol as selfish because Emma thinks that Carol has everything that she could ever want - a loving husband, a baby, and a house, seemingly the perfect life. Emma doesn't have a loving husband as shown by Daisy when she mentions to Anna and Jamie in Scene 9 that her father "turned out (to be) fucking the nanny" which shows that Emma doesn't have the best home life. This could also suggest that Emma couldn't take care of Daisy properly so had to hire a nanny to take care of her daughter; it could imply however, that because Toby was not a loving husband, Emma couldn't raise Daisy because of her longing for Toby so had to hire a nanny. Emma might not think that Carol appreciates having a loving husband especially as said loving husband is Emma's brother. Moreover, this could link to the interpretation that Emma sees Carol as the one who always gets attention, especially from John, which may show that Emma is severely jealous of Carol. Emma may also think that Carol is overreacting after giving birth, especially as Emma has given birth before Carol and seemingly no one has given any comment on how well she did or she wasn't as bad mental health wise as Carol appears to be.
In Scene 5, we see Anna meeting with Jamie, her future husband, for the first time. Up to now, we have seen Anna drunk, high, and in rehab, which isn't a largely positive impression of her, Now, we see a camera set up and Anna with a male that the audience haven't seen before. This could give the impression that the two are about to create a porn film which is further implied when Jamie asks Anna if she's been on camera before. This is discredited when Jamie starts to ask her to rephrase his question in her answer, which is potentially where the audience begins to understand that Anna is not as bad as she is made out to be in previous scenes. They may begin to feel sorry for her, especially when she begins with her monologue about how she came to be at the Commune and how much she regrets doing what she did.
Both Jamie and Anna are attracted to each other in this scene which makes it somewhat awkward, albeit a nice awkward as many people in the audience will be able to relate to meeting someone they have a crush on for the first time. Anna comes across as nervous and it could be possible that this is the first time she's felt such a strong attraction whilst being sober. It could be said that Jamie isn't as nervous as Anna is which could be down to him being cool and confident; he may also have a hero complex whereby he wants to save girls from destruction, which could be why he's so attracted to Anna. However, in my opinion, I think that Jamie is just as nervous as Anna in this scene because he feels such a strong attraction to her and doesn't want to mess up his opportunity. Jamie falls in love with Anna because of her monologue later in the scene and it could be said that their 'love' was just a fling. I however, believe that the two shared a deep love and that Jamie only chose to marry again because of the hole left by Anna after she died. I think this could have contributed to why he seemingly wasn't that involved in Bonnie's life, because Bonnie reminded him too much of Anna.
In Scene 5, we see Bonnie attend a work colleague's birthday party. The character Tim is only present for this scene so it comes as somewhat a surprise that Birch decided to include this scene in the play because it seemingly has no relevance to what has happened in her section before. Birch may have chosen to include this scene in the play to show that Bonnie doesn't stop thinking about work. Bonnie may have attended the birthday party to try and get over her break up with Jo that she admits to later in the scene. She may have also gone to the birthday to try and comfort Tim because he accidentally killed a child in that days surgery. Bonnie may see Tim as a friend, but Tim doesn't see Bonnie as a friend, he only sees her as a work colleague which highlights just how alone Bonnie is.
Thursday, 28 December 2017
Monday, 18 December 2017
Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 18
Lesson: Monday 11th and Thursday 14th December 2017
In these sessions, we worked on Scene 4 which we had discussed and read through in the lesson previously as highlighted in my previous AOAS blog post. In each section of the scene, awkwardness seems to transcend throughout the conversations that people are having. Both Carol's and Bonnie's scenes appear to be comical in their awkwardness whereas Anna's scene is more serious and the awkwardness is caused by the previous actions of Anna whereby she began to hit on her father, John.
In the beginning of Anna's scene, she is the only character who is talking, leaving John stood, staring at her whilst holding a balloon - the balloon is a sad attempt at John trying to connect once again with Anna, something it seems he hasn't been able to do for a very long time, and could suggest that John wants to see her as a small child again so that he doesn't have to think about what has transpired before. John appears to be trying to overcome his emotions during this scene due to seeing Anna look like her 'normal' self again. John doesn't say anything due to this which leaves Anna to try and take control of the conversation, and as there is silence when she doesn't speak in her section, makes the scene vastly awkward.
In the stage directions for the scene, there are no clues as to who is standing/sitting. We decided to have Anna sitting down and John standing throughout the whole scene. This could show that Anna is slightly more comfortable in this situation because she has been in the rehab centre for 78 days up to this point. John may be standing because he feels less comfortable than Anna, but also may be so overcome with emotion that he cannot physically sit as he is frozen in place, simply staring at his daughter.
A word that confused me when we began working on this scene was "facetious" and how it related to what Anna means/is saying. As it seemed to be a complicated word, it came as no surprise that Anna knew this because she has a degree and can also say the word "veracity" whilst drunk/high. The word facetious means treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour and as Anna wasn't being facetious, this means that she wasn't trying to be funny (in which the line could be changed to "I wasn't being funny"). This means that she was being sincere when she asks John is he was happy now.
In this scene, Anna is trying to make the most of the situation (as is John) as thy haven't seen each other for a long time which is why she is trying to keep the tone of the situation light to keep some of the awkwardness at bay - which just makes it more awkward to some extent, because she brings up the last time they had seen each other. When I first read the scene, I wasn't as light with my tone as I should have been, instead making Anna's tone more serious which made the overall tone of the scene heavy. The scene is meant to be quite heavy emotionally, but this comes later in the scene and mainly from John which is why I would need to change it at the beginning of the scene.
During this rehearsal, we played around with the speech in the scene, whereby the two Johns (Marlon and Peter) only spoke the consonants in a sentence and the two Anna's (myself and Bella) only spoke the vowels in a sentence. By using consonants, it makes John's speech stuttered which shows how emotional he feels he is in this scene and also shows how he can't get words out properly which is needed for his speech in the scene. By using vowels, it makes Anna's speech more earthy and calm which is what she appears to be earlier in the scene, which also links to how she is trying to make the tone of the scene light.
Below is a video of a section of the scene with all three generations, as performed by Cast B. The majority of the action and tone within the scene is the same so what Bella is doing in the scene is largely what I would also be doing in the scene and how I'd be reacting.
We worked more on this scene in Thursday's lesson where we took the time to analyse part of the script and choose where we should keep pauses within the scene or remove them if the script didn't allow this to work. For example we added some pauses when Carol says "I don't" (which is then echoed by Anna and Bonnie as it is said at the same time) to when Dave says "Sorry?". We added this here to show confusion for Dave as to what Carol is saying, especially as she doesn't finish the sentence and her speech comes after a long period of silence from her end of the stage. On Anna's section, after she says "I don't" at the same time as Carol, she says "It's a process" at the same time as Dave. The pause here for Anna allows her to think about the process she has gone through to be speaking to John again after so long. After Dave's "Sorry?" we again added a pause here before Carol says "Nothing". This could show that either Carol doesn't want to share what she was thinking with Dave (which is entirely understandable because he is an estate agent and Carol doesn't know him well at all) or that she doesn't realise that she's spoken at all as she was thinking about the house so intently. Her "I don't" could signify how she doesn't feel as though the house will fit into her idea of what her family home should look like, possibly because she doesn't want a family to begin with as she'd rather be dead.
We do need to work on this scene more to make it a lot more smoother so that the lines said at the same time are said accurately. To do this, we would need to work out what the cues are for our lines. In my opinion, I think that having cues from a separate scene makes it harder as an actor to respond to my own situation as Anna. For example, during a run through, I responded to Carol's
"Can I have a minute?" as though I was talking to her, so made my tone quite snappy and harsh, whereas it should have been softer because I was responding to John.
In these sessions, we worked on Scene 4 which we had discussed and read through in the lesson previously as highlighted in my previous AOAS blog post. In each section of the scene, awkwardness seems to transcend throughout the conversations that people are having. Both Carol's and Bonnie's scenes appear to be comical in their awkwardness whereas Anna's scene is more serious and the awkwardness is caused by the previous actions of Anna whereby she began to hit on her father, John.
In the beginning of Anna's scene, she is the only character who is talking, leaving John stood, staring at her whilst holding a balloon - the balloon is a sad attempt at John trying to connect once again with Anna, something it seems he hasn't been able to do for a very long time, and could suggest that John wants to see her as a small child again so that he doesn't have to think about what has transpired before. John appears to be trying to overcome his emotions during this scene due to seeing Anna look like her 'normal' self again. John doesn't say anything due to this which leaves Anna to try and take control of the conversation, and as there is silence when she doesn't speak in her section, makes the scene vastly awkward.
In the stage directions for the scene, there are no clues as to who is standing/sitting. We decided to have Anna sitting down and John standing throughout the whole scene. This could show that Anna is slightly more comfortable in this situation because she has been in the rehab centre for 78 days up to this point. John may be standing because he feels less comfortable than Anna, but also may be so overcome with emotion that he cannot physically sit as he is frozen in place, simply staring at his daughter.
A word that confused me when we began working on this scene was "facetious" and how it related to what Anna means/is saying. As it seemed to be a complicated word, it came as no surprise that Anna knew this because she has a degree and can also say the word "veracity" whilst drunk/high. The word facetious means treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour and as Anna wasn't being facetious, this means that she wasn't trying to be funny (in which the line could be changed to "I wasn't being funny"). This means that she was being sincere when she asks John is he was happy now.
In this scene, Anna is trying to make the most of the situation (as is John) as thy haven't seen each other for a long time which is why she is trying to keep the tone of the situation light to keep some of the awkwardness at bay - which just makes it more awkward to some extent, because she brings up the last time they had seen each other. When I first read the scene, I wasn't as light with my tone as I should have been, instead making Anna's tone more serious which made the overall tone of the scene heavy. The scene is meant to be quite heavy emotionally, but this comes later in the scene and mainly from John which is why I would need to change it at the beginning of the scene.
During this rehearsal, we played around with the speech in the scene, whereby the two Johns (Marlon and Peter) only spoke the consonants in a sentence and the two Anna's (myself and Bella) only spoke the vowels in a sentence. By using consonants, it makes John's speech stuttered which shows how emotional he feels he is in this scene and also shows how he can't get words out properly which is needed for his speech in the scene. By using vowels, it makes Anna's speech more earthy and calm which is what she appears to be earlier in the scene, which also links to how she is trying to make the tone of the scene light.
Below is a video of a section of the scene with all three generations, as performed by Cast B. The majority of the action and tone within the scene is the same so what Bella is doing in the scene is largely what I would also be doing in the scene and how I'd be reacting.
We worked more on this scene in Thursday's lesson where we took the time to analyse part of the script and choose where we should keep pauses within the scene or remove them if the script didn't allow this to work. For example we added some pauses when Carol says "I don't" (which is then echoed by Anna and Bonnie as it is said at the same time) to when Dave says "Sorry?". We added this here to show confusion for Dave as to what Carol is saying, especially as she doesn't finish the sentence and her speech comes after a long period of silence from her end of the stage. On Anna's section, after she says "I don't" at the same time as Carol, she says "It's a process" at the same time as Dave. The pause here for Anna allows her to think about the process she has gone through to be speaking to John again after so long. After Dave's "Sorry?" we again added a pause here before Carol says "Nothing". This could show that either Carol doesn't want to share what she was thinking with Dave (which is entirely understandable because he is an estate agent and Carol doesn't know him well at all) or that she doesn't realise that she's spoken at all as she was thinking about the house so intently. Her "I don't" could signify how she doesn't feel as though the house will fit into her idea of what her family home should look like, possibly because she doesn't want a family to begin with as she'd rather be dead.
We do need to work on this scene more to make it a lot more smoother so that the lines said at the same time are said accurately. To do this, we would need to work out what the cues are for our lines. In my opinion, I think that having cues from a separate scene makes it harder as an actor to respond to my own situation as Anna. For example, during a run through, I responded to Carol's
"Can I have a minute?" as though I was talking to her, so made my tone quite snappy and harsh, whereas it should have been softer because I was responding to John.
Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Artaud - Part 5
Lesson: Thursday 7th December 2017
Initial Ideas
For the past few weeks, we have been creating Artaud style monologues, duologues, and group work. Myself and Izzy decided to create an Artaud style duologue based on mental health because of Artaud's time spent in various mental institutions that provided the basis for much of his work. With additional research we found that Artaud had 52 rounds of electro-convulsive therapy which may have also impacted on his work, hence why we decided to include a section showing ECT (or thereabouts) in the piece. Moreover, I pulled inspiration from a GCSE Artaud piece I saw in Y10 where they said something along the lines of "At 11pm I will slit my wrists. At 12pm I kill myself" which I thought was really effective and allowed for more mental health type issues to be seen.
Our initial idea was to have two opposing personalities inside the same person's head, something which becomes evident at the end of the piece, and for the audience to see a 'typical' day in the life of this person (inspiration of "a day in the life" taken from GCSE criteria and from The Beatles song "Day in the Life"). We decided to have little to no speech so that we could focus on the stylised movement element of the piece, although the words and phrases that we did use, as I will explain in the performance analysis below, were effective and not overused.
We decided to use a traverse stage and have the audience members standing up so that they would become uncomfortable physically within the piece. Our initial idea was to have an in the round stage with people stood up, however, we thought that not everyone would be able to see the action on stage and miss vital parts of the piece. A traverse stage allowed the audience to see all the key parts within the piece and allowed for the filming of the piece to be much easier.
Performance
Entrance - 0:00 - 1:04
At the beginning of the piece we had the audience stand outside so that we could bring them into the performance space. We did this so that the atmosphere would be immediately made tense, which was enhanced by our stoic, emotionless faces. We wanted the audience to hold hands so that they feel somewhat comfortable when they initially enter the space which would contrast with the loss of comfort and touch after we split their hands later in the piece which allows for more uncomfortableness. One thing that we needed to be more aware of was the amount of people in the audience and who we were bringing to which line. This was brought to light when we accidentally forgot to add Miss Starbuck to a line, which I then had to go out of my way to rectify by going to the end of the line to connect her hand to Joel's. After linking the audience's hands outside the performance space, we brought them into the space and set them up as a traverse stage. Another slight negative of this was that the audience clumped together and didn't immediately go into the lines that we wanted. We had to spend a few seconds spreading them out which we didn't expect when we first came up with the traverse stage idea.
Our initial idea for this scene, when we had the audience in the round was that they'd already be stood in the circle and have myself and Izzy not in the room. This would have allowed for more tension within the beginning of the piece but the logistical side of how we would get them in the standing in the circle in the first place would have proven to be an issue. I think that the traverse stage was the best way to stage this piece because it was easier to bring the audience into the space and also meant that they could see the other people's emotions in the other line opposite them.
Stylised Movement - 1:04 - 1:44
We used ideas from the Frantic Assembly workshop that I went to in the summer. We used the idea of hands following one another because it shows that the character's are connected in some way as they appear to be mirror images. This was the starting point for the whole piece when we first began to devise it. The grabbing of my head by Izzy and the subsequent rolling and stomping shows the conflict between the two states of mind and also shows that Izzy's character is more in control than the state in which my character is in. The lift that we use when I 'ran' in mid air could show my character/state of mind trying to break free from the control of Izzy and her state of mind. As I am on Izzy's back and being restrained on her back, this could show that Izzy is again much more in control that my character is at this point in the piece. When we both bang our heads, this is trying to hint to the audience that the whole piece is taking place in someone's mind and that they are struggling with the two contrasting personalities/characters that are present in their mind. It could also show that the two characters are destroying the mind in their struggle for control. When I drop to the floor, I think that this could show the start of Izzy slowly losing control of the host mind and that I am beginning to the main personality within the mind. However, Izzy gains back this control when she pulls me into the middle of the stage.
Waking up - 1:44 - 2:10
This is the first section in which we use words which makes the scene have much more of an impact. Izzy's tone initially is a happy and soothing one which may make the audience think that the scene is getting somewhat less cruel, especially as Izzy comes to touch my face lovingly. This is immediately contrasted when she shouts in my face which is the only loud thing that we had in the piece thus far. The puppet like movement after shows that Izzy is still in control of the mind and of my character which is why I 'wake up' as Izzy instructed. I think that this could also show the mind set of people with a mental illness such as depression whereby they struggle to get out of bed or find anything that spurs them to do something.
Going to work - 2:10 - 2:56
Initially for this section of the piece, I was going to sit on Izzy's back and pretend to be working. This links back to or first Artaud lesson when we gave everyday objects the ability to speak. However, this wouldn't have achieved the same effect as Izzy's screaming and also seems natural (whereas Theater of Cruelty is very unnatural). The contrasts of my "bored" 's to Izzy's screaming is great, and shows how the person may feel on the inside but hides their emotions on the outside. This is why when Izzy is screaming and using physical movements, she can't touch me and is acting as though there is an invisible box around me. I tried to make my "bored" 's in time with the clock ticking sound effect so that is shows just how slowly the time at work is going. As Izzy collapses at the end of this scene, the power is seen to be shifted from Izzy to myself, something which can be seen in the next scene when I'm the one that introduces the next part of the day. We are on opposite sides of the stage in this scene so that both sides of the audience have access to an important part of the performance due to the aforementioned shift in power.
Going to therapy - 2:56 - 3:48
This section alludes to what I mentioned before about Artaud's ECT. In some ways this could link to Anatomy of a Suicide due to the ECT scene in Anna's story. Before the piece I forgot to put a pen on the floor that I should have used to poke members of the audience to see if they'd react to the ECT in the way that Izzy would. Instead, I had to touch members of the audience which in some ways was creepier than if I had poked them with a pen which they may have reacted to by flinching which wasn't the action that we wanted.
Stylised Movement 2 - 3:48 - 4:24
We did another physical movement scene here to initially show the effects of the ECT but it then developed into the same section from the physical sequence before, showing that again the two states of mind were fighting for control. During this sequence we did the running action again but this time both of us were doing the action because it showed that we both couldn't run from the mental illness that was ravaging the mind. We pulled from Brechtian influences here with the silent scream which is from "Mother Courage and her Children" but this can be turned into Artaud as shown here due to the use of exaggerated facial expressions, again linking back to the first Artaud lesson. When we ran to the edge of the traverse stage and were pulled back, this represented how we couldn't escape from the mind during waking hours and were pulled back into the repetitive fight for control. The repetition of this section and indeed the whole idea of having a day in the life, could suggest ritual, an Artaudian technique.
Dreamscape - 4:24 - 5:18
We used a dreamscape here to contrast between the harshness of everyday to the relief that dreams and sleep provide from society and world news. We deliberately changed our demeanor from a bored, sullen, blank feel, to a happy yet dreamy tone to highlight this. I think what made this section more uncomfortable was that we touched the audience members faces. This was to show that dreams are much more caring and could link to how Izzy was going to stroke my face in the waking up scene which could be a remnant of the dream state that happens every day. One thing that was an issue in this section was when we tried to disconnect the audience's members hands. We did this to show that dreams allow people to feel safe, however, many of the audience members were gripping onto each other's hands quite tightly which meant that it was difficult to separate them. I again used inspiration from GCSE when we went to the doors to escape from the dreamscape and from life (in the GCSE piece that I saw the actors shouted whilst banging on a door "Let me out! I don't want to be a part of this exam anymore!" which allowed for a stilted feel to the piece, anyway, I digress). I think that this was effective because audience members may think that the performance is over but may be shocked when we start screaming and creating a small soundscape. When this happens, we were trying to show that dreams aren't something that people can escape with as they will ultimately end and leave the person stuck in the real, dreamless world.
Death - 5:18 - 5:52
This is the key moment where the audience realise that myself and Izzy are the same person as we say the same words, kill each other and die at the same time. The phrase "At 12pm I kill myself" is quite a shocking thing to hear, as the words that we've said so far had been quite tame and didn't allude to this ending.
Props
During this performance we didn't use any props, but during rehearsals and during the piece, I was meant to use a pen for the ECT so that myself and Izzy had something to grab during the following stylised movement sequence.
Sound
Lighting
The lighting initially was quite dim with only a thin strip in the middle of the space being lit. This was to show how trapped and restricted the mind may feel by reality. In contrast, during the dreamscape, the light became lighter which showed how much freer the mind feels in dreams as there are no responsibilities to be faced.
Initial Ideas
For the past few weeks, we have been creating Artaud style monologues, duologues, and group work. Myself and Izzy decided to create an Artaud style duologue based on mental health because of Artaud's time spent in various mental institutions that provided the basis for much of his work. With additional research we found that Artaud had 52 rounds of electro-convulsive therapy which may have also impacted on his work, hence why we decided to include a section showing ECT (or thereabouts) in the piece. Moreover, I pulled inspiration from a GCSE Artaud piece I saw in Y10 where they said something along the lines of "At 11pm I will slit my wrists. At 12pm I kill myself" which I thought was really effective and allowed for more mental health type issues to be seen.
Our initial idea was to have two opposing personalities inside the same person's head, something which becomes evident at the end of the piece, and for the audience to see a 'typical' day in the life of this person (inspiration of "a day in the life" taken from GCSE criteria and from The Beatles song "Day in the Life"). We decided to have little to no speech so that we could focus on the stylised movement element of the piece, although the words and phrases that we did use, as I will explain in the performance analysis below, were effective and not overused.
We decided to use a traverse stage and have the audience members standing up so that they would become uncomfortable physically within the piece. Our initial idea was to have an in the round stage with people stood up, however, we thought that not everyone would be able to see the action on stage and miss vital parts of the piece. A traverse stage allowed the audience to see all the key parts within the piece and allowed for the filming of the piece to be much easier.
Performance
Entrance - 0:00 - 1:04
At the beginning of the piece we had the audience stand outside so that we could bring them into the performance space. We did this so that the atmosphere would be immediately made tense, which was enhanced by our stoic, emotionless faces. We wanted the audience to hold hands so that they feel somewhat comfortable when they initially enter the space which would contrast with the loss of comfort and touch after we split their hands later in the piece which allows for more uncomfortableness. One thing that we needed to be more aware of was the amount of people in the audience and who we were bringing to which line. This was brought to light when we accidentally forgot to add Miss Starbuck to a line, which I then had to go out of my way to rectify by going to the end of the line to connect her hand to Joel's. After linking the audience's hands outside the performance space, we brought them into the space and set them up as a traverse stage. Another slight negative of this was that the audience clumped together and didn't immediately go into the lines that we wanted. We had to spend a few seconds spreading them out which we didn't expect when we first came up with the traverse stage idea.
Our initial idea for this scene, when we had the audience in the round was that they'd already be stood in the circle and have myself and Izzy not in the room. This would have allowed for more tension within the beginning of the piece but the logistical side of how we would get them in the standing in the circle in the first place would have proven to be an issue. I think that the traverse stage was the best way to stage this piece because it was easier to bring the audience into the space and also meant that they could see the other people's emotions in the other line opposite them.
Stylised Movement - 1:04 - 1:44
We used ideas from the Frantic Assembly workshop that I went to in the summer. We used the idea of hands following one another because it shows that the character's are connected in some way as they appear to be mirror images. This was the starting point for the whole piece when we first began to devise it. The grabbing of my head by Izzy and the subsequent rolling and stomping shows the conflict between the two states of mind and also shows that Izzy's character is more in control than the state in which my character is in. The lift that we use when I 'ran' in mid air could show my character/state of mind trying to break free from the control of Izzy and her state of mind. As I am on Izzy's back and being restrained on her back, this could show that Izzy is again much more in control that my character is at this point in the piece. When we both bang our heads, this is trying to hint to the audience that the whole piece is taking place in someone's mind and that they are struggling with the two contrasting personalities/characters that are present in their mind. It could also show that the two characters are destroying the mind in their struggle for control. When I drop to the floor, I think that this could show the start of Izzy slowly losing control of the host mind and that I am beginning to the main personality within the mind. However, Izzy gains back this control when she pulls me into the middle of the stage.
Waking up - 1:44 - 2:10
This is the first section in which we use words which makes the scene have much more of an impact. Izzy's tone initially is a happy and soothing one which may make the audience think that the scene is getting somewhat less cruel, especially as Izzy comes to touch my face lovingly. This is immediately contrasted when she shouts in my face which is the only loud thing that we had in the piece thus far. The puppet like movement after shows that Izzy is still in control of the mind and of my character which is why I 'wake up' as Izzy instructed. I think that this could also show the mind set of people with a mental illness such as depression whereby they struggle to get out of bed or find anything that spurs them to do something.
Going to work - 2:10 - 2:56
Initially for this section of the piece, I was going to sit on Izzy's back and pretend to be working. This links back to or first Artaud lesson when we gave everyday objects the ability to speak. However, this wouldn't have achieved the same effect as Izzy's screaming and also seems natural (whereas Theater of Cruelty is very unnatural). The contrasts of my "bored" 's to Izzy's screaming is great, and shows how the person may feel on the inside but hides their emotions on the outside. This is why when Izzy is screaming and using physical movements, she can't touch me and is acting as though there is an invisible box around me. I tried to make my "bored" 's in time with the clock ticking sound effect so that is shows just how slowly the time at work is going. As Izzy collapses at the end of this scene, the power is seen to be shifted from Izzy to myself, something which can be seen in the next scene when I'm the one that introduces the next part of the day. We are on opposite sides of the stage in this scene so that both sides of the audience have access to an important part of the performance due to the aforementioned shift in power.
Going to therapy - 2:56 - 3:48
This section alludes to what I mentioned before about Artaud's ECT. In some ways this could link to Anatomy of a Suicide due to the ECT scene in Anna's story. Before the piece I forgot to put a pen on the floor that I should have used to poke members of the audience to see if they'd react to the ECT in the way that Izzy would. Instead, I had to touch members of the audience which in some ways was creepier than if I had poked them with a pen which they may have reacted to by flinching which wasn't the action that we wanted.
Stylised Movement 2 - 3:48 - 4:24
We did another physical movement scene here to initially show the effects of the ECT but it then developed into the same section from the physical sequence before, showing that again the two states of mind were fighting for control. During this sequence we did the running action again but this time both of us were doing the action because it showed that we both couldn't run from the mental illness that was ravaging the mind. We pulled from Brechtian influences here with the silent scream which is from "Mother Courage and her Children" but this can be turned into Artaud as shown here due to the use of exaggerated facial expressions, again linking back to the first Artaud lesson. When we ran to the edge of the traverse stage and were pulled back, this represented how we couldn't escape from the mind during waking hours and were pulled back into the repetitive fight for control. The repetition of this section and indeed the whole idea of having a day in the life, could suggest ritual, an Artaudian technique.
Dreamscape - 4:24 - 5:18
We used a dreamscape here to contrast between the harshness of everyday to the relief that dreams and sleep provide from society and world news. We deliberately changed our demeanor from a bored, sullen, blank feel, to a happy yet dreamy tone to highlight this. I think what made this section more uncomfortable was that we touched the audience members faces. This was to show that dreams are much more caring and could link to how Izzy was going to stroke my face in the waking up scene which could be a remnant of the dream state that happens every day. One thing that was an issue in this section was when we tried to disconnect the audience's members hands. We did this to show that dreams allow people to feel safe, however, many of the audience members were gripping onto each other's hands quite tightly which meant that it was difficult to separate them. I again used inspiration from GCSE when we went to the doors to escape from the dreamscape and from life (in the GCSE piece that I saw the actors shouted whilst banging on a door "Let me out! I don't want to be a part of this exam anymore!" which allowed for a stilted feel to the piece, anyway, I digress). I think that this was effective because audience members may think that the performance is over but may be shocked when we start screaming and creating a small soundscape. When this happens, we were trying to show that dreams aren't something that people can escape with as they will ultimately end and leave the person stuck in the real, dreamless world.
Death - 5:18 - 5:52
This is the key moment where the audience realise that myself and Izzy are the same person as we say the same words, kill each other and die at the same time. The phrase "At 12pm I kill myself" is quite a shocking thing to hear, as the words that we've said so far had been quite tame and didn't allude to this ending.
Props
During this performance we didn't use any props, but during rehearsals and during the piece, I was meant to use a pen for the ECT so that myself and Izzy had something to grab during the following stylised movement sequence.
Sound
The soundscape above is the one that we used throughout the piece. We started off with the clock ticking and then moved onto the slowed down music which then stopped after the end of the dreamscape. By using a soundscape we made the audience feel more uncomfortable and on edge from the beginning of the piece.
Lighting
The lighting initially was quite dim with only a thin strip in the middle of the space being lit. This was to show how trapped and restricted the mind may feel by reality. In contrast, during the dreamscape, the light became lighter which showed how much freer the mind feels in dreams as there are no responsibilities to be faced.
Sunday, 10 December 2017
Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 17
Lesson: Thursday 7th December 2017
In this lesson we read through Scene 4 which is the second scene in which three stories are playing simultaneously. However, in this scene, all three scenes have talking in them and often overlap, allowing for more similarities to be seen across the three time periods.
In Carol's scene, she is being taken around the family home that is present in all three stories by an estate agent, Dave. This is vastly important because the majority of the main events take place in this house such as Anna giving birth to Bonnie. As Carol is looking at the house by herself, whilst heavily pregnant, it suggests that she had more impact in buying the house. This could show that John is trying to give Carol what she wants such as the house to make her feel better after her attempted suicide. The buying of a new house could simply mean that they need more space because of Carol's pregnancy. There were many lines and actions in this scene that I thought were either important or were quite awkward/funny (all three stories in this scene were awkward). Carol asks Dave to face the back of the room so that she can imagine what her family will look like in the house. Although this is awkward, it could be something that someone would do so that they could imagine how they would live in the house; Dave complies with this request because he wants to sell the house as quickly as possible. When Carol says "I don't" Birch may be trying to imply that Carol can't imagine her family in this house, especially as it comes after a long period of silence which is why it's a surprise that she does end up buying the house.
In Anna's scene, John visits Anna in a rehab clinic. Much like Carol's scene, this is a very awkward situation because the last time Anna saw John, Anna was high and drunk and tried to have sex with John so that she could get more money for more drugs. As Anna is in rehab, it shows that she is trying to get better, something that John may have been trying to make her do for a long time now. In this scene, they mention the house that Carol is buying in the opposite scene. In Carol's scene, it seems as though Carol is not that enthusiastic about the house whereas in Anna's scene, John suggests that the only things he knew Carol loved were Anna and the house, both of which could be untrue as Carol may only be buying the house because it's what she should do and only seems like she loves Anna because that it also what she's supposed to do as a mother. Although, it may be said that Carol loved the house, Anna, and John in her own way. When John asks "What about a new house?" it shows that he is prepared to abandon something that he thinks his wife loved, to look after Anna. It could show that he is ready to be a father to Anna, something that she may not have had after Carol's death as John may have completely broken down. John may have said this to Carol after her first attempted suicide so that they could move on from their 'tragic' past; as he says this to Anna, he may be seeing that Carol and Anna are showing stark similarities and if John buys her a new house, then Anna will stop having the similarities and get better quicker.
In Bonnie's scene, Jo visits Bonnie with a fish so that Bonnie can cook the fish. This section is awkward like the other sections within the scene but has a funnier undertone. I have talked about this section is previous blogs. Additionally, Birch has cleared space for the lines in the fish scene which allow the lines to be funnier - this could show the Brechtian technique spass as the other sections in the scene appear to be more serious which contrast with the spass of Bonnie's scene.
On page 48, there is an overlapping section between Carol's scene and Anna's scene that I thought was interesting. Carol asks Dave "Who lived here?" to which Dave replies "A family". At the same time as this, John says "I I". This is showing that John used to live in the house that Carol is currently looking round. Dave's reply also links to how three generations of Carol's family lived in the house and could link to the final scenes for Bonnie where she begins to show people and an estate agent round the house - the estate agent for Bonnie calls the house a 'family home' which is something that may have been said by Dave to the previous family who lived in the house.
In this lesson we read through Scene 4 which is the second scene in which three stories are playing simultaneously. However, in this scene, all three scenes have talking in them and often overlap, allowing for more similarities to be seen across the three time periods.
In Carol's scene, she is being taken around the family home that is present in all three stories by an estate agent, Dave. This is vastly important because the majority of the main events take place in this house such as Anna giving birth to Bonnie. As Carol is looking at the house by herself, whilst heavily pregnant, it suggests that she had more impact in buying the house. This could show that John is trying to give Carol what she wants such as the house to make her feel better after her attempted suicide. The buying of a new house could simply mean that they need more space because of Carol's pregnancy. There were many lines and actions in this scene that I thought were either important or were quite awkward/funny (all three stories in this scene were awkward). Carol asks Dave to face the back of the room so that she can imagine what her family will look like in the house. Although this is awkward, it could be something that someone would do so that they could imagine how they would live in the house; Dave complies with this request because he wants to sell the house as quickly as possible. When Carol says "I don't" Birch may be trying to imply that Carol can't imagine her family in this house, especially as it comes after a long period of silence which is why it's a surprise that she does end up buying the house.
In Anna's scene, John visits Anna in a rehab clinic. Much like Carol's scene, this is a very awkward situation because the last time Anna saw John, Anna was high and drunk and tried to have sex with John so that she could get more money for more drugs. As Anna is in rehab, it shows that she is trying to get better, something that John may have been trying to make her do for a long time now. In this scene, they mention the house that Carol is buying in the opposite scene. In Carol's scene, it seems as though Carol is not that enthusiastic about the house whereas in Anna's scene, John suggests that the only things he knew Carol loved were Anna and the house, both of which could be untrue as Carol may only be buying the house because it's what she should do and only seems like she loves Anna because that it also what she's supposed to do as a mother. Although, it may be said that Carol loved the house, Anna, and John in her own way. When John asks "What about a new house?" it shows that he is prepared to abandon something that he thinks his wife loved, to look after Anna. It could show that he is ready to be a father to Anna, something that she may not have had after Carol's death as John may have completely broken down. John may have said this to Carol after her first attempted suicide so that they could move on from their 'tragic' past; as he says this to Anna, he may be seeing that Carol and Anna are showing stark similarities and if John buys her a new house, then Anna will stop having the similarities and get better quicker.
In Bonnie's scene, Jo visits Bonnie with a fish so that Bonnie can cook the fish. This section is awkward like the other sections within the scene but has a funnier undertone. I have talked about this section is previous blogs. Additionally, Birch has cleared space for the lines in the fish scene which allow the lines to be funnier - this could show the Brechtian technique spass as the other sections in the scene appear to be more serious which contrast with the spass of Bonnie's scene.
On page 48, there is an overlapping section between Carol's scene and Anna's scene that I thought was interesting. Carol asks Dave "Who lived here?" to which Dave replies "A family". At the same time as this, John says "I I". This is showing that John used to live in the house that Carol is currently looking round. Dave's reply also links to how three generations of Carol's family lived in the house and could link to the final scenes for Bonnie where she begins to show people and an estate agent round the house - the estate agent for Bonnie calls the house a 'family home' which is something that may have been said by Dave to the previous family who lived in the house.
Saturday, 2 December 2017
Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 16
Lesson: Thursday 30th November 2017
In this lesson, we looked at Scene 3 of AOAS which is the first time when all three stories are shown simultaneously on stage. In Carol's scene, Balloons, Carol is sat alone in a kitchen at Daisy's birthday party. She is smoking and is joined by Tim (Daisy's father and Carol's brother in law) and then by Daisy who asks Carol why she tried to commit suicide. In Anna's scene, Cooking, Anna is scene to be injecting heroin which is due to her addiction as shown in the previous scene and to numb her emotional pain which is something that heroin does. In Bonnie's scene, Hospital, Bonnie is treating Jo because Jo has managed to get a fish hook stuck through her hand. Out of the three, Anna's scene is the most shocking to watch because she is taking drugs on stage.
Anna only says two lines in this scene, the rest of her section is through movement. The line "Hello" from Anna is a relief at finally having heroin in her system due to her addiction. I think that the line should be said as though it is a sigh to show how relieved Anna is by the drug and also to show that this is the only thing that can calm her down due to her addiction. The line "I don't" is after Anna has started singing. I think in this sense, it could show that she has forgotten what the song is and what the next lyrics are in the song which shows the audience how far gone into her high she is already.
Initially, we thought that trying to get the lines to come at the right time was insanely hard to get our heads around, especially as some lines are said over the top of each other. However, as we read over the scene a couple of times, we found that it wasn't as hard as it first appeared. I think that if we go over the scenes enough times, our timings of the lines will become second nature as well as listening to the other sections to hear our cues.
Other cast members were attempting the first scene of the play with Carol and John where the two have a conversation after Carol has tried to commit suicide. As this is the first scene of the play, and has no other sections playing at the same time, the audience's focus is completely on Carol and John as they aren't having to dip in and out of the sections. This makes the scene more important for setting the basis for the play and the topics that the audience are expecting to hear. In other scenes, the audience's focus is drawn to whoever is speaking but this can be seen as different for Anna in Scene 3 because she's doing something quite shocking - the audience may be compelled to watch someone who's taking off their tights and taking drugs on stage.
In this lesson, we looked at Scene 3 of AOAS which is the first time when all three stories are shown simultaneously on stage. In Carol's scene, Balloons, Carol is sat alone in a kitchen at Daisy's birthday party. She is smoking and is joined by Tim (Daisy's father and Carol's brother in law) and then by Daisy who asks Carol why she tried to commit suicide. In Anna's scene, Cooking, Anna is scene to be injecting heroin which is due to her addiction as shown in the previous scene and to numb her emotional pain which is something that heroin does. In Bonnie's scene, Hospital, Bonnie is treating Jo because Jo has managed to get a fish hook stuck through her hand. Out of the three, Anna's scene is the most shocking to watch because she is taking drugs on stage.
Anna only says two lines in this scene, the rest of her section is through movement. The line "Hello" from Anna is a relief at finally having heroin in her system due to her addiction. I think that the line should be said as though it is a sigh to show how relieved Anna is by the drug and also to show that this is the only thing that can calm her down due to her addiction. The line "I don't" is after Anna has started singing. I think in this sense, it could show that she has forgotten what the song is and what the next lyrics are in the song which shows the audience how far gone into her high she is already.
Initially, we thought that trying to get the lines to come at the right time was insanely hard to get our heads around, especially as some lines are said over the top of each other. However, as we read over the scene a couple of times, we found that it wasn't as hard as it first appeared. I think that if we go over the scenes enough times, our timings of the lines will become second nature as well as listening to the other sections to hear our cues.
Other cast members were attempting the first scene of the play with Carol and John where the two have a conversation after Carol has tried to commit suicide. As this is the first scene of the play, and has no other sections playing at the same time, the audience's focus is completely on Carol and John as they aren't having to dip in and out of the sections. This makes the scene more important for setting the basis for the play and the topics that the audience are expecting to hear. In other scenes, the audience's focus is drawn to whoever is speaking but this can be seen as different for Anna in Scene 3 because she's doing something quite shocking - the audience may be compelled to watch someone who's taking off their tights and taking drugs on stage.
Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 15
Lesson: Monday 26th November 2017
In this lesson, myself and Peter focused on Scene 2 of AOAS where Anna is shown to be a combination of drunk and high. This is the first time that the audience see Anna and could be shocked to some extent that she is visibly addicted to illegal substances. In this scene, it is found that the other person on stage, Dan, is a doctor and used to be friends with Anna until she raped his younger brother which was two years previously. Anna is clearly not in a good state and it is implied that before the scene started, she had asked for an "IV to take the edge off a comedown" off of Dan which he refused to do so. The two are stood in a hospital corridor on Dan's break which has finished and Anna desperately wants to go home with him so that she can have the IV if the two have sex with one another - again Dan refuses. At the same time, Carol is organising a time for when she can go to therapy (in my opinion). John comes home later in the scene which is when the two scenes speech begins to overlap.
In Anna's section of the scene, Anna is trying to act as though she isn't drunk and that she doesn't find the situation as funny as she does. Dan is getting increasingly annoyed at Anna and is somewhat disgusted by her due to their given circumstances which is why he may have such an adverse reaction to when Anna begins to ask if he wants to go home with her and it is implied to have sex.
Whilst going over the play and looking at the script to write this blog, I noticed that the starting word at almost every scene for Carol is repeated by Anna and Bonnie. I thought that this was just in the Hospital scenes but this can be seen in the Cooking scenes and the Animal scenes. This further shows how similar each woman is to each other and could be something that the audience don't really pick up on that the actors do.
In this lesson, myself and Peter focused on Scene 2 of AOAS where Anna is shown to be a combination of drunk and high. This is the first time that the audience see Anna and could be shocked to some extent that she is visibly addicted to illegal substances. In this scene, it is found that the other person on stage, Dan, is a doctor and used to be friends with Anna until she raped his younger brother which was two years previously. Anna is clearly not in a good state and it is implied that before the scene started, she had asked for an "IV to take the edge off a comedown" off of Dan which he refused to do so. The two are stood in a hospital corridor on Dan's break which has finished and Anna desperately wants to go home with him so that she can have the IV if the two have sex with one another - again Dan refuses. At the same time, Carol is organising a time for when she can go to therapy (in my opinion). John comes home later in the scene which is when the two scenes speech begins to overlap.
In Anna's section of the scene, Anna is trying to act as though she isn't drunk and that she doesn't find the situation as funny as she does. Dan is getting increasingly annoyed at Anna and is somewhat disgusted by her due to their given circumstances which is why he may have such an adverse reaction to when Anna begins to ask if he wants to go home with her and it is implied to have sex.
Whilst going over the play and looking at the script to write this blog, I noticed that the starting word at almost every scene for Carol is repeated by Anna and Bonnie. I thought that this was just in the Hospital scenes but this can be seen in the Cooking scenes and the Animal scenes. This further shows how similar each woman is to each other and could be something that the audience don't really pick up on that the actors do.
Artaud - Part 4
Lesson: Thursday 23rd November 2017
In this session, we performed our final group Artaud pieces after making a few corrections to the pieces, improving parts, and adding parts.
Scenes
Entrances - 0:00 - 2:26
Freeze Frames - 2:26 - 3:50
Assaulting the Audience - 3:50 - 4:50
Ending - 4:50 - 6:01
Entrances - 0:00 - 2:26
At 0:00 - 0:19 Joel brought the audience into the space. The room was fairly dark, apart from the light of the torch that Joel was holding, which meant that the audience couldn't really see what was going on, only that there were shadows coming from the usage of the torch. This allowed for an element of surprise within the piece and meant that the audience were on edge somewhat from the beginning of the piece. From the limited amount that they could see, they could see that only two actors were visible which allowed for more suspense when they realised that the other three actors were missing as they already know that the other actors are part of the group. Moreover, the lack of music in this section made every small movement and small sound much more noticeable which allowed for a tense atmosphere. Furthermore, as Joel shined the torch in the audience's faces it made them feel like a suspect and uncomfortable before the piece has even begun.
At 0:50, the audience's focus is drawn to Kathryn which is done with the torch. Her position on the ground is a vulnerable, open one which makes her murder by Joel more serious. Much like with Kathryn, the attention is switched to the knife when it is lit by the torch as it glints in the light. This allowed the audience to understand easier what was about to occur. When Joel does murder Kathryn, the change of light is more noticeable because it is the first technological change in the piece thus far. The light changed from a white "innocent" light to a red "angry" light which could show the understanding of the Young Girl and Young Man's relationship because the two at first appear to be in love which is innocent and seems to be allowed by the audience. However, when the audience discover that their love is somewhat incestual, the love is not as accepted by the audience which may provoke a strong response to the script such as anger suggested by the red light. The red light also serves a much simpler purpose to show that Kathryn has been killed. Joel puts the knife into Kathryn's hands which could show that Kathryn is now the one who's in control of what is happening on stage in order to found out who had killed her and why they had done that, as shown by the line that is said later in the piece - "Tell me how it happened." This suggestion could make the line "Leave me alone God" imply that Kathryn is shunning God so that she can find out how she has been killed, which is then granted to her by God in the line "Tell me how it happened" in which she could be appealing to God to show her how she died.
At 1:15 Joel bangs on the door. This is the first loud noise in the piece which could shock the audience and set them on edge more so. Additionally, this served a practical purpose because it allowed myself and Lauren to enter the stage at the same time. We were both in sync (for example walking and sitting down) which made our movements creepier to the audience. As we both entered from opposite sides of the stage, some audience members didn't notice either one of us which made the shock of when they saw the other person, to be more prevalent.
One positive of this section is that every noise could startle due to the tense quiet atmosphere. Additionally, the lighting was well thought out as to when to change the lights so that they could make the biggest impact upon the audience. A negative of this section was that the entrances was slightly prolonged and could have been made shorter. However, this prolonged entrance tests the audience in a new way because they are forced to watch action that is really small and slow which assaults the audience in a different way.
Freeze Frames - 2:26 - 3:50
We made an improvement from last time on this section of the piece as the lights were now on for much longer during the freeze frames which allowed them to be visible to the audience (and the camera) for longer. The slight movement after each scrape of the knife/light change could make the audience question their own memory of what they had seen in the previous freeze frame. The lack of music/sound effects until after we banged on the risers, made a small soundscape and also allowed the audience to focus on the movements of the scene. The sudden noise after a prolonged silence assaults the audience's senses. Something that was totally coincidental was the ringing sound of the risers after we have finished making noise from them. This was effective because it easily flowed into the music.
Assaulting the Audience - 3:50 - 4:50
At 4:07 we use the phrase "I love you and everything is beautiful" which are specific words from the play "Spurt of Blood" that still allowed us to present the storyline. It may be difficult to see, but at this point we go to the audience and physically 'assault' them by touching them and stroking their faces. We could have done this for longer to prolong the audience's uncomfortableness. Eventually, we all get to saying the phrase together monotonously which could show how the Young Girl may be being manipulated by the Young Man because of the repetition from the both of them as shown here.
At 4:33 we again use a phrase from the play - "Bitch! Look at your body!". There is a contrast here from the slow movements that we have been showing before, to the sudden, quick jolt upwards just before we say the line, showing a change of pace. This quote from the play was said quite loud which again contrasts with the relative quiet from before, which adds to the assault on the audience.
At 4:46, we pull the crates out from under the chairs of various audience members. We made an improvement from the last time that we performed the piece as we used three crates spread throughout the audience instead of a singular crate in the middle of the audience. This meant that all of the audience was included and made all of their experiences of the piece relatively similar. However, it was hard to get the slam of all three crates on time, largely because the audience's clothes and legs got caught on the crates. This part of the piece was overall effective because of the assault on the audience because they didn't know who was touching them because of the darkness of the room.
Ending - 4:50 - 6:01
At 4:52 we use the quote "Leave me alone God". It is clear to hear heavy breathing from all actors which created a small soundscape. The quote that we used was again from "Spurt of Blood" by Artaud which emphasised part of the script making it seem more important. We also used inspiration from an Anatomy of a Suicide lesson when we did the Physical Essay work where we restrained people and they tried to get to the other side of the room. In this piece, we restrained Kathryn which made the other actors God because Kathryn says the aforementioned line. The light change after Kathryn says this line, represents the huge spurt of blood that is given in the stage directions; this stage direction is also seen by myself, Lauren, Maya, and Joel slowly leaning back. This juxtaposes the quick action from before which messes with the pace and makes the piece almost jolty which could suggest some form of stylised movements.
At 5:04 we again used an extract from the script - "Tell me how it happened." This links back to the beginning of the piece where we showed Kathryn being murdered by Joel as Kathryn's character could be asking how she was killed. The shadow image that we created answers the demand of Kathryn's character.
At 5:30 we used a walking lift to show the anger that Kathryn's character had towards Joel. It could have looked more effective if we had thought to use the shadow of it to hit the back wall, in order to create more shadow images. The lights showed the mechanics of the lift rather than the impressive movement of the lift itself. At 5:44, after we have put Maya on the ground, the music stops and we look at the audience; this is not visible on the recording because of the lack of light.
Overall, I think that this was an effective piece but we could have thought more about costume and make up so that we all matched and so that we would have assaulted the audience's senses more.
In this session, we performed our final group Artaud pieces after making a few corrections to the pieces, improving parts, and adding parts.
Scenes
Entrances - 0:00 - 2:26
Freeze Frames - 2:26 - 3:50
Assaulting the Audience - 3:50 - 4:50
Ending - 4:50 - 6:01
Entrances - 0:00 - 2:26
At 0:00 - 0:19 Joel brought the audience into the space. The room was fairly dark, apart from the light of the torch that Joel was holding, which meant that the audience couldn't really see what was going on, only that there were shadows coming from the usage of the torch. This allowed for an element of surprise within the piece and meant that the audience were on edge somewhat from the beginning of the piece. From the limited amount that they could see, they could see that only two actors were visible which allowed for more suspense when they realised that the other three actors were missing as they already know that the other actors are part of the group. Moreover, the lack of music in this section made every small movement and small sound much more noticeable which allowed for a tense atmosphere. Furthermore, as Joel shined the torch in the audience's faces it made them feel like a suspect and uncomfortable before the piece has even begun.
At 0:50, the audience's focus is drawn to Kathryn which is done with the torch. Her position on the ground is a vulnerable, open one which makes her murder by Joel more serious. Much like with Kathryn, the attention is switched to the knife when it is lit by the torch as it glints in the light. This allowed the audience to understand easier what was about to occur. When Joel does murder Kathryn, the change of light is more noticeable because it is the first technological change in the piece thus far. The light changed from a white "innocent" light to a red "angry" light which could show the understanding of the Young Girl and Young Man's relationship because the two at first appear to be in love which is innocent and seems to be allowed by the audience. However, when the audience discover that their love is somewhat incestual, the love is not as accepted by the audience which may provoke a strong response to the script such as anger suggested by the red light. The red light also serves a much simpler purpose to show that Kathryn has been killed. Joel puts the knife into Kathryn's hands which could show that Kathryn is now the one who's in control of what is happening on stage in order to found out who had killed her and why they had done that, as shown by the line that is said later in the piece - "Tell me how it happened." This suggestion could make the line "Leave me alone God" imply that Kathryn is shunning God so that she can find out how she has been killed, which is then granted to her by God in the line "Tell me how it happened" in which she could be appealing to God to show her how she died.
At 1:15 Joel bangs on the door. This is the first loud noise in the piece which could shock the audience and set them on edge more so. Additionally, this served a practical purpose because it allowed myself and Lauren to enter the stage at the same time. We were both in sync (for example walking and sitting down) which made our movements creepier to the audience. As we both entered from opposite sides of the stage, some audience members didn't notice either one of us which made the shock of when they saw the other person, to be more prevalent.
One positive of this section is that every noise could startle due to the tense quiet atmosphere. Additionally, the lighting was well thought out as to when to change the lights so that they could make the biggest impact upon the audience. A negative of this section was that the entrances was slightly prolonged and could have been made shorter. However, this prolonged entrance tests the audience in a new way because they are forced to watch action that is really small and slow which assaults the audience in a different way.
Freeze Frames - 2:26 - 3:50
We made an improvement from last time on this section of the piece as the lights were now on for much longer during the freeze frames which allowed them to be visible to the audience (and the camera) for longer. The slight movement after each scrape of the knife/light change could make the audience question their own memory of what they had seen in the previous freeze frame. The lack of music/sound effects until after we banged on the risers, made a small soundscape and also allowed the audience to focus on the movements of the scene. The sudden noise after a prolonged silence assaults the audience's senses. Something that was totally coincidental was the ringing sound of the risers after we have finished making noise from them. This was effective because it easily flowed into the music.
Assaulting the Audience - 3:50 - 4:50
At 4:07 we use the phrase "I love you and everything is beautiful" which are specific words from the play "Spurt of Blood" that still allowed us to present the storyline. It may be difficult to see, but at this point we go to the audience and physically 'assault' them by touching them and stroking their faces. We could have done this for longer to prolong the audience's uncomfortableness. Eventually, we all get to saying the phrase together monotonously which could show how the Young Girl may be being manipulated by the Young Man because of the repetition from the both of them as shown here.
At 4:33 we again use a phrase from the play - "Bitch! Look at your body!". There is a contrast here from the slow movements that we have been showing before, to the sudden, quick jolt upwards just before we say the line, showing a change of pace. This quote from the play was said quite loud which again contrasts with the relative quiet from before, which adds to the assault on the audience.
At 4:46, we pull the crates out from under the chairs of various audience members. We made an improvement from the last time that we performed the piece as we used three crates spread throughout the audience instead of a singular crate in the middle of the audience. This meant that all of the audience was included and made all of their experiences of the piece relatively similar. However, it was hard to get the slam of all three crates on time, largely because the audience's clothes and legs got caught on the crates. This part of the piece was overall effective because of the assault on the audience because they didn't know who was touching them because of the darkness of the room.
Ending - 4:50 - 6:01
At 4:52 we use the quote "Leave me alone God". It is clear to hear heavy breathing from all actors which created a small soundscape. The quote that we used was again from "Spurt of Blood" by Artaud which emphasised part of the script making it seem more important. We also used inspiration from an Anatomy of a Suicide lesson when we did the Physical Essay work where we restrained people and they tried to get to the other side of the room. In this piece, we restrained Kathryn which made the other actors God because Kathryn says the aforementioned line. The light change after Kathryn says this line, represents the huge spurt of blood that is given in the stage directions; this stage direction is also seen by myself, Lauren, Maya, and Joel slowly leaning back. This juxtaposes the quick action from before which messes with the pace and makes the piece almost jolty which could suggest some form of stylised movements.
At 5:04 we again used an extract from the script - "Tell me how it happened." This links back to the beginning of the piece where we showed Kathryn being murdered by Joel as Kathryn's character could be asking how she was killed. The shadow image that we created answers the demand of Kathryn's character.
At 5:30 we used a walking lift to show the anger that Kathryn's character had towards Joel. It could have looked more effective if we had thought to use the shadow of it to hit the back wall, in order to create more shadow images. The lights showed the mechanics of the lift rather than the impressive movement of the lift itself. At 5:44, after we have put Maya on the ground, the music stops and we look at the audience; this is not visible on the recording because of the lack of light.
Overall, I think that this was an effective piece but we could have thought more about costume and make up so that we all matched and so that we would have assaulted the audience's senses more.
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