Berkoff - East

The first scripted piece that we attempted for Berkoff was East performed for the first time in 1975. It deals with growing up and the rites of passage in London's East End, meaning that it is full of cockney colloquialisms which made the first read-through of the section of the piece we were looking at (the very beginning of the play) very hard to understand. Berkoff grew up in the East End which means that he would have seen men act with bravado and confidence, traits which Mike and Les (two of the characters in East) present in the section that we looked at.

As we progressed through the creation process we added cockney accents which made the language easier to understand, but I think that this play is better suited to those who live in London or have the same background experience as Berkoff so that they have some understanding of the piece. The language appears to be Shakespeare mixed with cockney, allowing for great images to come through from the words that are done in a modern interpretation. This language alongside the premise of the play may be trying to show to the upper-class people - those who stereotypically come to the theatre - that those in the lower-classes are intelligent despite what many upper-class people may think. Even if people can't understand the colloquialisms, the movements that are done help tell the story which is what myself and Maya tried to achieve in the section we took from this first section.

In the section that we chose to perform in the Berkoff style, the characters Mike and Les describe how they met whereby Les tried to take Mike's fiance (Sylv) which resulted in them getting into a fight - Mike ends up with a smashed in head and Les has knife wounds all on his face inflicted by one another. This results in the two becoming best friends. We did the main fight sequence in the middle of the section where Les gets stabbed in the face, allowing for bigger facial masks and more moments of definition. It was difficult to remember lines when mixed with a cockney accent but this was made easier when we added actions.

The video below is our first attempt at East. 

The first section from "Use your iron" to "Shithead" demonstrates the violence that the people around the fight (the "five and fifty chinas") expect from Mike and Les. As the violence is outwards, it links to the first Berkoff lesson where we stood quite far apart. This allows for greater exaggeration and also breaks the fourth wall, making the audience feel more involved in the piece. During this section, we also attempted to define the moves more by having a break between them. I think that we could have done this for a bit longer to make the violence a bit more defined but the fast-paced movement still contrasted with the slower movement in the following section. The change of pace keeps the audience interested - the change of pace would be easier to do in the whole scene, not just in this section.

I stand on the chair at the line "Anoint the cunt with death" which sticks with Total Theatre by using everything on stage and also gives more focus to this line. Moreover, it allows for level variation. This next section has a slower pace compared with the previous section and the following section which gives the piece more definition. When Maya begins to talk about Sylv, I move my hands at the same time as she does. This is because both characters are attracted to Sylv so both would potentially react to what she said. At the line "raziory" we make a noise to signify Mike drawing the knife from his pocket. This draws more attention to the 'knife' - we didn't use a prop for the knife as Mike and Les are acting out how they met to the audience so most likely wouldn't have a knife on them - and uses total theatre due to the sound effect which makes Mike's motivation very clear to the audience.

We then move onto the next fast-paced section at "danced about his face like fireflies". In rehearsal, I initially jumped off the chair to the same side that I had been on previously. This meant that we weren't using total theatre as we weren't using the whole of the stage. By jumping to the opposite side, I used more of the stage, showing more total theatre. The quick movement here, although defined in pace, was not defined in movement which we would have to solve for the next performance of the piece. Moreover, the small part where we walk back towards the chair could have been improved upon as it seems boring by simply walking when we could explain the words more.

We utilised the chair more in the following section which was again more fast-paced than the walking in the previous section and showing total theatre by using all the props. We used it to stop the 'blood' from splattering against us, however, we could have used more sound effects to demonstrate this even more instead of just using the chair. The lifting of the chair also serves a pragmatic purpose as it allows for the soft thud in the next line.

I used a large facial mask in the piece when Maya 'stabs' me with a knife. Again, we did the violence not close together which allowed for greater exaggeration of my face. The exaggeration of this section is also evident when Maya became the flap of skin on my cheek - this again used total theatre as we used all the actors and props on stage.

In my section of the speech, I felt that we only did limited movement compared with what we did in Maya's section of the speech. Although defining between non-movement and movement parts, I felt that I could have done greater exaggeration at this point in the piece. Moreover, at "kissed death flush on the lips" I felt the movement that I did was too fluid and seemed less Berkovian than the other movements we had been doing previously.

Although the cockney accents were good, we needed more definition on certain words. Sometimes the words were mumbled as cockney accents (certainly for myself) made it hard to speak leading o incorrect pronunciation. Despite this, we still embodied the stereotype of 'hard' cockney men.

We performed the piece in class with some improvements made:

The first section that we changed was "danced about his face like fireflies". Instead of Maya saying this by herself, we changed it so that both of us said it, drawing attention to the fast-paced movements both of us were doing. This is directly juxtaposed by the slow movement of the word "fireflies" - we did this because fireflies are meant to be pretty so it felt wrong to be doing something violent in that section. We also tried to define our movements more in this section by having three quick moves however, they weren't as defined as I would have liked them to be so in the future we would have to make it abundantly clear where one moves ends and another begins. We could have potentially done this by leaving a small gap between each of the words, however, this could have slowed the pace down making the juxtaposition less so.

We also changed the part where Maya says "Little yellow gaslight" where previously we walked backwards, we now put in movement. There was no reason for the movement that we did but it did put us in a good position to move the chair in the following sequence. We took inspiration from Joel's group at the "soft and hard at once" as it gives Maya something to do in her speech juxtaposing my stillness and then her movement.

Overall, we could have added more sound effects and have bigger movements but we did manage to differentiate between movement and stillness as well as the pacing.

Berkoff - Introduction

Over next few weeks, the practitioner that we are studying is Steven Berkoff, a British playwright and director with a unique style of writing and performance which completely opposes the style of Stanislavski. He was born on the 3rd of August 1937 in the East End of London which has influenced the type of plays he has written, some of which focus predominantly in the East End such as East. Moreover, he has a Russian heritage as his grandparents fled Russia in the 1890's due to their religion of Judaism which will again have affected Berkoff's upbringing and will have influenced the plays he has written. Berkoff began his theatre training at Her Majesty's Theatre in Barrow-in-Furness before studying at L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris in 1965 where his main styles were naturalism; after this, he moved onto non-naturalism. His plays include the verse plays East (1975), Greek (1980), and Decadence (1981). He has written many more plays and has appeared on many TV shows and films, often playing the villain as he finds it "flattering" to play evil characters, saying that the best actors assumed villainous roles. His work is best described as in-yer-face-theatre coined by British theatre critic Aleks Seirz; this describes work by young playwrights who present vulgar, shocking, and confrontational material on stage as a means of involving and affecting their audiences - Brecht and Artaud could also fit under this description.

Berkoff's style is not natural and is unrealistic. It is not meant to be realistic in terms of form (which can be seen in his play East where the dialogue is reminiscent of Shakespeare but with added colloquial phrases taken from the East End of London hence the title of the play) and composition - this was something that he struggled with at first as he had studied naturalism before so his style was something completely new to him originally. Berkoff takes inspiration from physical theatre such as mime in order to create exaggerated facial expressions which is something called Externalisation. This aids the audience's understanding of who the character is, what feeling they're trying to show, and what their intention is without words. In some ways, this is similar to Brecht and gestus. Any words that are said (which are often many as Berkoff writes in a Shakespearean type manner but with more Cockey colloquialisms) should be pronounced properly so that they aren't lost to the audience - this is called Definition. Additionally, Stocatto is where an actor's movements are detached from one another so that they are defined. Berkoff uses Total Theatre which is where every part of the performance from lighting to where an actor places their foot is used to reinforce the key aims of the performance. Much like Brecht, Berkoff breaks the fourth wall in his performances which increases the audience's participation and emotional investment, making them more easily manipulated.

Berkoff has many influences. These include Edmund Keen (who performed Shakespeare in a melodramatic way much like Berkoff), Jacques Lecoq (physical theatre and mime - Berkoff attended his school in Paris), Artaud (physical theatre and shocking the audience), and Brecht (intention/message and the Verfremdungseffekt).

Lesson: Monday 14th May 2018

In this lesson, we were introduced to Berkoff and his exaggerated style. I feel that I need to let go of some of my inhibitions about physical theatre because I felt that at the beginning of this lesson I didn't exaggerate my movements a lot. I think this is due to a lack of confidence. Also, we have been heavily focused on naturalism in Anatomy of a Suicide which means that I feel slightly out of my depth. I think that in the following lessons, I will overcome these inhibitions and become much more confident with this style of theatre.

Face Swapping 

Much of the lesson consisted of exaggerated facial features. In this activity, someone would make a weird and overly exaggerated face and show this to the class. They would then "remove" this face and "throw" it to another member of the class who would then have to "put on" this face - they would create the same face back. This person would then "remove" the previous face and create a new face which they would then "throw" to another person and so on. This links to Externalisation. Moreover, with the faces, our whole bodies began to change with the changing faces, often changing stance. As I have mentioned previously, in this lesson I held back due to lack of confidence which meant that I didn't participate in this activity well, to begin with. However, as we understood the activity more, I found it easier to engage in the activity.

Fight 

This was a pretend fight where we understood definition and staccato. The physical movement of the fight should have a clear start and end hence why we paused after each movement. After getting the initial ideas of the physical movement, we added words to this. The words were simple at first and described the movement that we were doing. We ensured that the words, much like the movement, were defined and pronounced correctly. After this, we added some larger adjective words which linked to how Berkoff uses extravagant language in his work as shown in East. I feel that the combination of language and physical movement is hard for me personally because I found that I forgot the simple words during the physical movement. This will be something that I feel may have a negative impact on me throughout this unit.

Nose Circles

An invisible circle, as big or as small as we wanted, was attached to our noses which we had to follow around as though it was attached to our nose. This meant that our bodies got into strange, weird and exaggerated positions. Chipp told us to stop at a specific point in our circle and then told us to walk around in the position we'd been stuck in and adopt a facial expression for the 'character' that we had then created.

First Date 

We were told to create an improvisation using the stances and facial expressions that we were stuck in following the previous activity. During the improvisations, I found that the stance and facial expressions determined how I would speak. It also influenced the topic of conversation that occurred in the first date.

Laying the Table



The above video shows a staccato and definition practise. Mine and Bella's piece is the first in the sequence and, in my opinion, I don't feel as though it was much of a success as other people's in the sequence such as Lauren and Joel's shown at 3.47 in the video. There's was much more static and their movements much more defined when compared to mine and Bella's. thei actions were also much easier to understand.

Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 40

Costumes

Throughout the play, Anna has a variety of costumes that she wears. It was very important that myself and Bella acquired costumes that were true to the time setting of the play, but also showed the various stages of Anna's life from drug addiction to mother. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of Cast A in the dress rehearsal, so instead these pictures were taken during the Cast B run through. I chose slightly different clothing choices to Bella in some scenes, but for the most part, the clothing choices shown here are what I wore as Anna in Cast A. The base for my clothing choices were a black vest top and black shorts which were incorporated into the costumes for each scene.

Scene 2

Bella is pictured on the far right wearing a blue denim jacket, a leopard print skirt, tights, trainers, and the base layer as well as a bandage on her right wrist. This outfit was chosen as it portrays Anna as promiscuous and risqué. Anna presents these qualities in this scene, especially when she tries to suggest that she could go home with Dan, portrayed in this image by Marlon. The tights are used in the following scene where Anna takes them off and uses them as a prop to tie around her arm, hence why it was sensible for Anna to wear tights in the preceding scene. The denim jacket that she wears in this scene is worn by Anna (as portrayed by Leah) in Scene 14 when John tells her about Carol's death. The use of the jacket then allows the audience to see a direct link to Leah playing Anna and myself (or Bella) playing Anna. The bandage is used for a pragmatic reason as it shows the audience clearly that Anna has injured her wrist as pointed out by Dan in the scene.

Scene 3

The same costume as in Scene 2 is used in this scene which brings the scenes closer together in time. Anna is shown laid down in the middle of the stage. The denim jacket is discarded in this scene and used as a makeshift pillow; the tights are tied around Anna's arm; the trainers are also discarded.


Scene 4

Anna is shown at the front of the image sat on a blue hospital chair wearing blue scrubs. The scrubs easily show that Anna is in a place of medical attention, however, to some extent the scrubs don't show that Anna is in rehab, rather suggesting that she's in hospital. For the purposes of a school environment with limited choices, the costume was efficient in showing that Anna is attempting to recover from her drug addiction.

Scene 5

Anna is pictured in this scene sitting on the commune chair in front of the camera. In this scene, she is wearing the base layer, blue dungarees, flip-flops and a grey cardigan that isn't pictured. The dungarees were chosen to show that Anna has reverted to a more casual way of life especially as she's in a commune - this is also shown with the flip-flops. The grey cardigan not pictured was used in order to store cigarettes in the pocket for the next scene - we wouldn't have time in the transition to put the cardigan on so had to use it in this scene. Anna takes off the cardigan mid-scene in order to reinforce the idea of a porn film into the audience's minds before destroying this later in the scene.

Scene 6

The costume choices didn't change from the previous scene as there was no need to do this.


Scene 7

Anna is pictured in centre stage stood across from Jamie (Joel) in the denim jacket. The costume choice has again remained largely the same apart from discarding the cardigan. Bella added a green bandana in Cast B, however, as I couldn't work out how to put it on correctly, I decided to forgo this accessory.

Scene 8

As mentioned in previous blogs, Anna wears a wedding dress in this scene.

Scene 9

Again, Anna is wearing the dungarees as well as the base layer. She is also barefoot. Both of these clothing choices show that she is comfortable in the house whilst still maintaining the 'hippie' vibe she had in the commune. This 'hippie' vibe can be seen as she has naturalistic furniture such as the wooden commune chair, table, and wooden cutlery and bowl.

Scene 10

The clothing choices in this scene are the base layer and the New York tee pictured. I chose this tee for this scene because it is quite loose and allows for greater movement in the scene - also when people are giving birth they tend to wear loose clothing so that they can actually get the baby out. I also thought that this tee could have 'belonged' to Jamie and that Anna has 'stolen' the shirt from him showing how close they are in their relationship.

Scene 11

This tee is kept on. This is because Anna remains gave birth in her house so it would be assumed that she would wear the same shirt, possibly in order to feel closer to Jamie and to Bonnie.

Scene 12

Anna wears blue scrubs in this scene to show that she is in hospital. This would suggest to the audience that Anna is not coping after having Bonnie so has had to have special treatment - the ECT as shown in the following scene.

Scene 13 

Again, Anna is wearing hospital scrubs. This is needed because Anna has ECT in this scene.

Scene 14

Scene 15



Despite what is shown in these images, in the final performances we did not use this tee in this scene. in the dress rehearsal, we attempted to use this tee but it made the transition far too long. Instead, we used the same hospital scrubs from the previous scene. I think that we should have changed into this scene because Anna is home at this point and is desperately trying to find a connection with Bonnie and potentially with Jamie again which is why she'd wear this tee. Moreover, hospital scrubs would suggest she is in the hospital which she isn't and may have confused the audience as to her whereabouts.

Hair

In the play, I only varied my hairstyles twice. From Scene 2 to Scene 9 I had the following hairstyle (as seen from the back):

This allowed for none of my facial expressions to be blocked from view by my hair. 

The following hairstyle is what I chose for Scene 10 to Scene 15 (as shown from behind): 

This shows a marked decline in Anna's personal appearance. Moreover, it is practical for Scene 10 as people usually have their hair up when giving birth and also allowed Bruce's face to be at my neck without my hair getting in the way. 

Changes to Set 

There have been some small changes to the set since my previous blog about the set. Polythene has been put up between each doorway allowing for a better backstage area to store props. Moreover, the yellow paint that was applied to Anna's doorway has been rubbed away slightly to show that the paint has been there for a long time so Anna is changing it. the most marked change has been the timelines put above each doorway allowing the audience to understand when each story takes place. As shown in the image below, Carol's timeline begins in 1972, Anna's in 1995, and Bonnie's in 2024. 

Anatomy of a Suicide - The Stanislavski Method

The use of Stanislavski within the piece 

In order for me to explain how we used The Stanislavski Method within Anatomy of a Suicide, I must first recap Stanislavski and how he said a performer must prepare for a character/role.

Three Core Elements

The three core elements for acting, Stanislavski said, were to 1) read the script to 2) find out the character's motivation and 3) to find the given circumstance of each scene using the subtext within. I think that throughout this process, I have attempted to do each of these things. As soon as I got the script, I read through each timeline separately to understand the play and how each character related to the other, hence why I drew the family tree as shown the blog Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 7. I have shown Anna's motivation in Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 29 where her objectives and aims are given - her motivation throughout the play is to understand the reasons for Carol to leave her. I have shown the given circumstances in Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 7 where I created timelines for each of the three main women.

Circles of Attention

This was where an actor would create a 'circle' in his or her own performance where they would devote their entire attention. Anything outside the circle would cease to exist. This would mean the performance would be totally dedicated, without any disruption from anything else, like a noise from the audience, or anything out of the ordinary. When playing Anna, my circle of attention would be confined to the middle of the stage, however, when completing transitions, my circle of attention would be confined to the stage and the backstage areas - at any time, my circle of attention should not have been focused on the audience. It could be said that I broke this Stanislavski rule during Wednesday's performance of Scene 5 where I visibly looked out into the audience, slightly breaking character and therefore breaking my circle of attention. However, it could be said that my personal circle of attention separate to Anna's would be the whole stage in order to listen out to cues from other actors on stage - Anna's character would remain oblivious to this, but I as the actor would have to be hyper aware of this.

Moment of Orientation

Stanislavski described this as the moment on stage where the audience understands the relationships and history between the two characters, normally at the start of the scene and often (not always) before anyone speaks. The audience can usually gather this through subtext and body language.

Magic "If"

The Magic If enables actors to get in the mindset of their character at a point within the script which enables an actor to ask "What if this situation happened to me?". This enables an actor to think like their character. I think that I managed to do this in some instances - for example, in Scene 14 when John tells a younger Anna about Carol's death, I allowed myself to try and think about what I'd do in that situation as that scene appears to be the catalyst for Anna's timeline. This enabled me to understand Anna's super-objective more.

Observation 

Stanislavski encouraged his students to people watch in order to adopt physical traits for their character as well as their personality. He said that every person is unique so therefore every character should exhibit unique traits. I think that I managed to do this to some extent with Anna - in order for me to portray smoking in a believable and naturalistic way, I took to watching people smoke when outside which allowed me to some extent to be able to copy this. However, I don't think that I managed to smoke completely believable. I did, however, develop a unique character trait that Bella didn't have in her version of Anna - every so often I'd rub my nose with my right hand. I didn't notice that I did this until after the Wednesday performance when an audience member commented that I did this a lot as Anna. Therefore, I think that I managed to complete this section of the Stanislavski method.

Motivation and Super-Objective 

As mentioned previously, the motivation and therefore the main thing that I believe Anna wanted to achieve was to understand why Carol left. A better explanation of this can be found in the blog Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 29. 

Given Circumstances

The given circumstances are plot points and character history that an actor knows about the character before the scene starts which influences their actions throughout the scene. In some instances, the actor may have to read ahead in the script to understand the given circumstances for a previous scene. This can be seen in Scene 4 where John tells Anna that he hasn't heard her call him Dad since she was 16 which would be Carol's Scene 14. In order to understand the given circumstances of the three women, I created a timeline which can be seen in the blog Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 7 which would, therefore, give the given circumstances for each scene, dependent on where they fall on the timeline. I think that throughout the play, the given circumstances are different for the audience than they are for the actor playing the character - for example, I read the script which means that I know Anna's background and how she is influenced by Anna, however, the audience has different given experiences as they don't know (for example) how John told Anna that Carol had died which would have a severe impact on Anna for Scene 2 but this wouldn't be fully realised by the audinece until Scene 14 or by Scene 5 when Anna reveals Carol died.

Internal Monologue

Stanislavski said that people have a semi-constant flow of thoughts which would mean that the character and therefore the actor would have a stream of thoughts. This helps the actor as it makes them believe that each action is happening spontaneously. This also prevents the scene from becoming dull after a while. As shown in previous blogs, I did have an internal monologue in some of the scenes where my dialogue was limited which allowed me to act throughout the scene rather than just when speaking my lines and reacting to other people within my scene.

Objectives 

This is what a character wants to achieve in a scene or through an action. As shown in previous blogs, I and Bella chose three objectives that Anna wants to achieve throughout the play which coincides with the super-objective, regardless of Anna manages to achieve them or not. The objectives are as follows:
1) To stop being dependent on drugs.
2) To have steadiness.
3) To be a good mother.
Again, these are explained in more detail in a previous blog - Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 29. 

For each scene that Anna is present (in the timeline that I presented), I will aim to discuss how the Super-objective and Objectives relate to the scene, what the Moment of Orientation is, and what her motivation is.

Scene 2

In this scene, Anna is attempting to get an IV from her "mate Dan to take the edge off her (your) come down". This would, therefore, relate to her motivation as her motivation in this scene is to simply get the IV whilst simultaneously trying act less drunk and high than she is - she fails in both her motivations dramatically as Dan doesn't give her the IV and she certainly seems very drunk and high. At this point, Anna is somewhat invested in her super-objective because the cause of her drug/alcohol addiction could be attributed to her trying to figure out why Carol committed suicide as she may not have found a reason or blamed herself for her mother's suicide - as shown by her Scene 5 monologue; "if my Mother couldn't, well then, I must be an almighty piece of Shit". It doesn't appear that any of Anna's smaller objectives fit into this scene.

The Moment of Orientation (MoO) in this scene I think occurs within the first few lines in the scene where it is clear that Anna is drunk and/or high shown through my stance and the word choices given to Anna - this allows the audience to understand that Anna is drunk/high but is trying to show that she understands the situation when she clearly doesn't. Another MoO within the scene is when Dan says "You came in and asked for an IV off your Mate Dan to take the edge off your come down" - this would clearly identify to the audience that Anna is high and is becoming a problem for Dan in this situation. This line also identifies the audience what Anna's motivation is in this scene which is to get an IV so that her come down isn't as bad as it would be without it.

Scene 3

In this scene, Anna is taking heroin which would, therefore, go against one of her objectives; to stop being so dependent on drugs - this objective is realised after this scene. It could also relate to her Super-Objective for the same reason as I outlined in the previous scene - she felt as though Carol committed suicide because she had done something wrong as a child. Anna's motivation is simple in this scene: she wants to get high, potentially in order to forget what Carol had done but also to fulfil her own needs as she is dependent on drugs at this point. The MoO in this scene occurs when Anna takes out heroin from her bag - that is for the members of the audience who can see this as the position of Anna on the ground near the front of the stage caused some sight lines to not be able to see her do this. For those who did not see this immediately, the MoO would, therefore, be when the 'heroin' (sugar) begins to smoke.

Scene 4

In this scene, Anna is in rehab which directly links to one of her objectives to stop her dependence on drugs. It would also link to the objective of trying to find stability as once she's off drugs, she tries to find it which can be seen in this scene as she's trying to reconcile with John. The super-objective is also present here due to the mention of "she" (Carol) within the scene which shows that Anna has been thinking about Carol and about how Carol left. The MoO in this scene happens when Anna says "Dad" which allows the audience to understand the relationship between the two characters. This links to the motivation for Anna which in this scene is to try and re-establish a healthy relationship with John which further links to the objective of Anna trying to achieve stability - she knows she cannot achieve full stability through John but it appears as though she could achieve some small amount of stability by allowing John back into her life.

Scene 5

In this scene, Anna speaks to her future husband, Jamie, about how she got to the commune she is staying in. Certainly, the Super-objective is present in this scene as Anna mentions her mother directly and indirectly within the scene - "The Shock and something else" "my mother, she was, she was Dead by this point" "If my Mother couldn't" "My mother's name was Carol" - which would, therefore, show that Anna has been constantly trying to understand why Carol left, something which is acutely obvious in the Scene 5 monologue. The audience is given two MoOs within the scene - the first MoO is at the start of the scene where it is clearly obvious that Anna and Jamie are attracted to each other. However, at this point, their relationship isn't made quite clear as it is suggested by the camera that the two are about to engage in sexual activities for a film. The relationship is identified when Jamie asks Anna "I'm just sort of asking everyone how they came to be here" which shows that the two are just filmmaker and speaker, rather than the aforementioned idea. The motivation for this scene for Anna is to speak to Jamie and the camera about her experiences - I don't think she expects for the splurge of detail about Carol to come out as it did, rather she wanted to keep that section of the story closed but once she starts speaking she can't stop as she seriously wants to tell someone who won't judge her. Or maybe she does want someone to judge her, especially someone whom she clearly has an attraction to so that she can warn them away. Although, this would directly contradict with the stability objective but I don't think she expects to find stability with Jamie in the way that she eventually does.

Scene 6

In this scene, Anna meets Jamie to discuss and watch the film but this turns into an argument about how Jamie sees her - "Radiant". At the beginning of the scene, Anna is smoking which links to her objective of trying to quit smoking - studies have shown that people who have recovered from drug abuse are more likely to take up smoking in order to curb their addiction to the more destructive drug. Moreover, it is increasingly hard for smokers and drug users to quit both at the same time. This would suggest that Anna is trying to curb her dependence on drugs by smoking. It may also relate to the Super-objective of trying to feel closer to Carol as it is shown that Carol smoked throughout Anna's childhood. Moreover, the objective of Anna trying to find stability without actively seeking it is shown when she responds to Jamie's words about how he "wants to hold (her). Very close. Just here" which is exactly what Anna wants in her stability. The MoO for this scene is when Jamie walks in with the flowers which allow the audience to understand that Jamie believes that this is a date - further on in the scene, the audience understand that Anna doesn't want this to be a date as her motivation is to watch the film. However, it could be argued that part of Anna's motivation is to start a relationship with Jamie as shown by her buying a tea and coffee and her response to Jamie's monologue at the end of this scene.

Scene 7

In this scene, Anna and Jamie are preparing for their new life together in the family house. This can immediately be seen in the MoO when Anna is painting and Jamie is putting boxes at the front of the stage. this sets up their relationship nicely for the audience as the audience are now aware that Anna and Jamie have started a serious relationship and it must be serious as Anna has moved into the house that she told John in Scene 4 that she didn't want/couldn't move back into. This links to one of Anna's objectives of finding stability because if she feels safe enough with Jamie to move into the house her mother bought, then she must have found something secure and stable within him. It may also link to the Super-objective because as Anna feels stable with Jamie, she is allowed to explore why Carol left - I think that because she's with Jamie, she is no longer afraid to search harder for her mother within the house which is why Anna says that this is "a Good Thing". Anna's motivation at the start of the scene is to paint the house but this changes when she becomes scared later in the scene with her motivation turning to the Super-objective.

Scene 8

In scene 8, Anna is getting ready for her wedding. The MoO is obvious straight away - that Anna is getting ready for her wedding. This is due to the wedding dress that she puts on in the scene - the audience can recognise what may happen in the scene from the transition when the wedding dress is being put on stage. Anna's motivation is therefore easily recognisable as to get ready for her wedding. I think that Anna finally achieves one of her objectives within the play in this scene which is further consolidated in the following scene - she has found stability through Jamie and their relationship.

Scene 9

In this scene, Anna tells her cousin Daisy that she's pregnant something which is identified by the MoO when Daisy says "Collection of cells ... sitting in your wife's uterus that you helped put there with your wonderful almighty penis". This further links to Anna's objective of stability because she is certainly grounded by Jamie (now her husband) and the baby Bonnie to be. This is also the first scene in which Anna uses the objective of wanting to become a good mother as shown by the line "I think I might be good at it. Being a mother. I think I might be okay". This quote also links to the Super-objective in some way because she has somewhat identified (or feels as though she has identified) one of the reasons why Carol committed suicide. She may also feel closer to Carol as she may finally get to understand why Carol began to unravel more after Anna's birth. Anna's motivation is simple in this scene - to tell Daisy about the pregnancy and host a dinner party successfully where she succeeds in both.

Scene 10

In this scene, Anna is shown mid-labour giving birth to Bonnie. Anna's motivation in this scene is to, therefore, give birth. The MoO in this scene is shown straight away, in fact, as soon as the pilates ball is brought onstage as the audience - after being shown the given circumstance of Anna's pregnancy - will most likely know that pilates balls are used to help in labour. This MoO is enhanced as soon as the scene starts as Anna begins to breathe heavily, appears to be in pain, and is sitting on the pilates ball with her legs outstretched slightly - all things which happen during labour. The main objective in this scene is to be a good mother despite the harsh words that are said by Anna to Jamie - "How Dare you try to get Anywhere near my Fucking Vagina when I'm trying to Shit a Fucking Baby out of it!" - which is certainly called for as Jamie does try to "move things along" in a sexual way. Despite this, she is trying to be a good mother, it's just that under the strain of labour, she is finding it increasingly hard to put up with Jamie's antics.

Scene 11

In this scene, Anna is shown to be deeply disturbed after Bonnie's birth and tells a nurse, Lola, about the nightmare that she had about a baby boy. She is certainly beginning to realise her Super-objective even more as she will be acutely aware that Carol most probably felt like this after Anna's birth as is shown in Scene 5. This allows Anna to understand clearly why Carol left due to severe post-natal depression. Another objective that Anna clearly wants to achieve in this scene is to be a good mother. Although this is not entirely obvious, I think that she is trying to look after Bonnie as shown by her concerned "She doesn't eat". Although, she could be trying to fault herself for not providing for Bonnie properly as shown by her line "There's no milk". The motivation for Anna in this scene would, therefore, fall towards concern for Bonnie but to also tell Lola about the nightmare that she had as well as to tell Lola about the things she is already doing 'wrong' as a mother. The MoO is shown straight away as Anna seems severely affected by the birth hence why she is standing there. This, coupled with the given circumstances from Carol's side of the stage - such as the anxiety Carol showed after giving birth to Anna - underpins the audience's view that Anna is suffering from post-natal depression.

Scene 12

In this scene, Anna has been walking and returns to her hospital room to find John waiting for her which sparks her motivation in this scene which is to tell John about her walk and to reveal how she feels about herself, Bonnie, and Carol. This would show that the Super-objective is used in this scene as Anna is evaluating the impact Carol made on her and on John. She uses the line "Live very big. She said" which I think is revealing how Anna finally understands why Carol said that to her - to give Anna an idea of something to live for that Carol couldn't achieve herself. The MoO is shown immediately when John is sat onstage as the audience recognise that he is Anna's father from Scene 4. The relationship between them is further shown when Anna walks onstage and tells him about her 'walk' to which John visibly sinks in his chair showing that Anna has become detached from him and the reality around her.

Scene 13

In this scene, Anna is given ECT. Her motivation in this scene, possibly influenced by Jamie and John, is to have ECT to 'get better' however, this motivation doesn't follow through as she seems more mentally affected the next time the audience see Anna in the following scenes. As the audience has already been open to the idea of ECT from Carol's side of the stage, the MoO is much easier for them to identify - when they see the hospital bed being brought onstage and the shocking that follows in the scene, they understand the treatment that Anna is being given. The objective for Anna in this scene is to become a good mother as she enquires about Bonnie in the scene. This would show that she still wants to be a good mother and is prepared to have ECT in order to return to normality which never happens in the play.

Scene 14

In this scene, Anna is staring at a Moses Basket which Bonnie is inside and wants to pick her up (the motivation for the scene) but can't. The MoO is established throughout the scene as Anna becomes increasingly distressed that she can't pick up the baby which is identified by the audience the more distressed Anna becomes.

Scene 15

In this scene, Anna is shown rocking Bonnie and then shown walking offstage in order to kill herself which is the motivation for this scene. The motivation for the scene could also be to stop what she is feeling in order to return to normality - when this doesn't happen, she resorts to suicide.  

In my opinion, I think that Anna does achieve her Super-objective because she manages to come up with her own reasons for her mother's suicide - Anna's influence on Carol's life - which I think she fully believes certainly at the start of the play and towards the end of the play. Moreover, she does succeed in quitting drugs and finding stability, although this doesn't last. She is also partially successful in being a good mother, particularly in Scene 9, however, after the birth, this declines and ultimately spirals out of control.

Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 39

Evaluation of Cast B performances 

The Cast B performances were as follows:

Thursday 26th April 2018
Monday 30th April 2018

I was doing the transitions for both of these performances and for the most part did well. However, there were some small mistakes in both performances that although were hardly noticeable to the audience, were noticeable to others on stage.

Thursday

Into Scene 4 - struggled to get Blue Scrubs on Bella which made the transition look messy and slower. On Monday, I made sure that the scrubs were folded in such a way so that I could easily put them on Bella.

Into Scene 7 - struggled to get Carol's bag to Kathryn on time due to the number of things that I had to do in this transition which meant that I appeared to rush the transition. Moreover, there were no cigarettes in the bag, which wasn't my fault but still impacted on Kathryn's performance. Before Monday's performance, I made sure that there were cigarettes in the bag and checked again throughout Scene 5 and 6. I also didn't rush the transition as much outwardly even though on the outside I was panicking about the amount I had to do in the transition.

Into Scene 10 - bumped Bella when trying to get to the table which made the transition look messy. Instead of squeezing past her, I should have gone around her, which I did on Monday to avoid making the transition look messy.

Into Scene 12 - there was no chair on Bella's stage so I had to bring a Hospital Chair on from offstage to Bonnie's side of the stage.

Monday

The transition into Scene 12 was again messed up slightly. In Scene 11 the hospital chair that was supposed to be on Anna's stage, was on Bonnie's stage. From my position backstage Stage Right, I couldn't see the chair on Bonnie's stage and as the chair wasn't on Anna's stage, assumed that there was no chair for me on stage to take across for Scene 12 which meant that I brought on another hospital chair. When I got to Bonnie's stage, I had to put down my hospital chair in the position and take off the hospital chair that someone had put on Bonnie's stage. Not only did this extend the transition, it also made it look extremely messy as Peter also went for this hospital chair. Despite this, myself, Peter, and Kathryn all timed our sitting down at the right time and much better than we had timed it previously in rehearsal and on Thursday.

Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 38

Evaluation of Cast A performances 

Cast A got to perform the play two times over a four day period. The dates that I, therefore, performed as Anna are:

Wednesday 25th April 2018
Friday 27th April 2018

There were marked differences between these performances largely because of how tired I was - over the past two weeks we had been working late until 8:30pm and the previous nights until 9pm. I don't think the tiredness affected me that much so I couldn't perform at all, I just felt that I wasn't as enthusiastic as I had been, particularly on the Friday performance due to a Cast A and B performance over the previous two nights. The following blog will detail my thoughts on my performance in Cast A and evaluate which performance I felt I portrayed Anna better in, in each scene.

Scene 2

On Wednesday I think that this scene went better than it did on Friday. It overall went very well as I feel that my drunk portrayal of Anna was much more natural whilst sticking to her somewhat enthusiastic character. However, there were some instances where Izzy, as Carol, struggled to get her own lines in the correct place. I think that this could be because myself and Peter (who played Dan in this scene) were used to performing the scene as a duologue hence why we left hardly any gaps for Izzy to fill in her lines. Despite this, the scene ran smoother on Wednesday. On Friday, I think that I showed Anna less drunk and although I tried to boost my enthusiasm in the scene, my energy levels were not as high as they should have been which meant that the scene was overall very lacking - I certainly didn't feel as happy with my performance of this scene on Friday as I had been on Wednesday.

Scene 3

I feel that this scene went better on Wednesday. The number of props that this scene has definitely played a role in how well the scene went - on Wednesday I got all the props out of the bag before burning the sugar whereas on Friday many of the props were left in the bag until I needed them which meant that they weren't displayed on the front of the stage long enough for the audience to see them and deduce what they were. On Wednesday, the sugar burned at the right time in order for me to say "Hello" whereas on Friday the sugar didn't burn as fast, causing the effect to be ruined slightly. As an overall improvement for this scene, Anna could take the heroin further back on the stage. As some of the audience were sat directly behind another member of the audience, they couldn't see what I was doing because I was so low down and forward on the stage which somewhat ruined the effect of the scene.

Scene 4

Again, I feel that this scene went better on Wednesday because I engaged more with what both Marlon (as John) was saying and with what I was saying. This was evident before John's monologue, where John says that he hasn't heard her call him dad since (presumably) he had told her that Carol had died. This would have a huge effect on Anna and I think I showed this more on Wednesday as I began to tear up at this point. I also felt as though I had an internal monologue in this scene, more so on Wednesday than on Friday. During this part of the scene, I was thinking something along the lines of why would you bring this up again?. Additionally, later in the scene when John says that he is proud of Anna my internal monologue was questioning why John was proud of me. This allowed for much purer emotions - something which Stanislavski wanted from his performers - and even allowed myself and Marlon to begin to cry slightly at the same time after his monologue. I felt as though I was much more emotionally invested in Anna on Wednesday than I was on Friday which impacts on how well I thought my performance went.


Scene 5

I felt that my performance of this scene was again much better on Wednesday. This was because I was much more enthusiastic with my lines due to a higher energy level which therefore meant that Bruce (Jamie) and I had a much better relationship - I think it was easier to see the 'crush' that Anna and Jamie have on each other on Wednesday. Additionally, during the monologue in this scene, we maintained eye contact for longer periods of time which showed that Anna was comfortable expressing her life story to Jamie, to some extent at least. I certainly felt more comfortable as Anna on Wednesday - on Friday, I felt as though I was forcing her character more than I had done before which again I think was due to lower energy levels.

The transition from Scene 4 to Scene 5 went much better on Wednesday in my opinion. Before the performance, Chipp suggested that as I could not get changed into the dungarees quicker than I had been doing, we should introduce something more to the transition. We added some walking to the transition from Joel (as Tim), Bruce (as Jamie), and Kathryn (as the Nurse). This meant that the transition went on for longer and distracted the audience from the changing of my costume. On Wednesday, getting into costume went much smoother than it did on Friday - on Friday, I began to put the dungarees on the wrong way which extended the transition and may have allowed some panic to show on my face. On both days, the commune chair that we use in the scene wasn't placed correctly, possibly because I sit in the place where the chair needs to go in order for the hospital gown to be taken off. On Friday, Bella (who was dressing me) moved the commune chair to the correct place during the transition which made the transition look a little messier. On Wednesday, I moved the commune chair myself in the scene. This may have suggested that Anna was only moving the chair so that she had an excuse to look to see what Jamie was doing in setting up the camera.

As the scene at first appears to be one in which Anna is in a porn film, I played to this interpretation by taking Anna's cardigan off slowly and showing part of my shoulder to the camera at the front of the stage that Bruce had set up at the start of the scene. I did this on both Wednesday and Friday in order to keep this interpretation fresh in the audience's minds.

Bruce (as Jamie) brings on two mugs 'filled' with coffee in the middle of the scene. On the Wednesday performance, these mugs were not filled with water which meant that my throat kept getting dry - at one point I remember that my nose kept getting blocked which dropped my ability to speak. On Friday, however, the mugs had water in them which meant that during the monologue especially, I could keep taking sips of water from my mug. Not only did this enable me to speak clearly but it also made the scene look much more natural as I was actually having a drink rather than pretending.

In this scene, Leah who plays Child, throws a bottle over the audience - we had only practised this a few times in rehearsal and in those attempts, Leah had managed to throw the bottle over the audience seating successfully. However, for whatever reason, on Wednesday Leah threw the bottle into the audience accidentally which distracted me from the scene at hand. I looked into the audience for an extended period of time and felt as though I broke character for some of that time. This impacted me emotionally in the scene as for the rest of the scene my internal monologue consisted largely in berating myself for breaking character which somewhat distracted me from the large monologue. This didn't happen on Friday, but due to my subdued energy levels, I feel as though I still performed this scene much better on Wednesday.

Scene 6

Again, I felt that this scene went better on Wednesday. Despite not being in time in the scene in some places, I felt that the emotion that I was showing was much more real than I was showing on Friday - again, this may have something to do with lower energy levels. I felt that on Friday the shouting at the end of the scene wasn't as powerful as it had been on Wednesday as Bruce didn't touch my shoulder at "I don't". On Wednesday, he did go through with my suggestion which allowed me to move away from him and become more angry with Jamie as a result. Although in both performances, Bruce touched me on the shoulder during his monologue at the end of the scene which allowed me to shy away from his touch - additionally, in both, I had to remind myself to become invested in what Jamie was saying (he describes what Anna wants - stability). There were criticisms to both performances of this scene. On Wednesday, Chipp pointed out that I needed to learn how to hold a cigarette properly which I think I had achieved by Friday. Also on Wednesday, there were no fresh cigarettes in the packet which I could 'relight' at the end of this scene which meant I had to 'relight' an already partially used cigarette, however, I don't think that this was as noticeable to the audience. On Friday, the chair was in the wrong place for the scene - it was too far back which pushed the entire scene further back than it was meant to be which messed up some of the proxemics and movement such as Bruce's touch on my shoulder at "I don't". 

Scene 7

Personally, I think that this scene went much better on Friday rather than on Wednesday. I felt as if I was much more invested in Anna's character, certainly towards the end of the scene. At the end of the scene when Anna is explaining to Anna that she "felt scared" for a second, I allowed for some tears to form in my eyes. These weren't there on Wednesday, but on Friday, I think I encompassed how Anna feels both happy that she can feel her mother, but also sadness that she can no longer access Carol. In both performances, I flicked water at Bruce which was something that was directed by Miss Starbuck during a lesson where I was away - this would show that Anna is comfortable with Jamie. Overall, both performances seemed the same as all times we had done so in rehearsal.

Scene 8 

Despite having no lines in this scene, I felt as though there were major differences to my performance of this scene which was better on Wednesday. The wedding dress was easier to get on on Wednesday compared with Friday and thus was easier to sit down and put on makeup. In both performances, I made sure that the makeup was on properly which may have seemed over the top in some instances however, I didn't want my foundation to be uneven for the remaining 7 scenes. On Friday, part way through doing my makeup sat on the ground, I realised I was sitting on the wedding dress in such a way that I wouldn't be able to securely get up off the floor without tripping/stumbling over the dress slightly. This made for an awkward couple of moments where I found I couldn't actually get up off the floor which may have shown on my face - I did manage to get up eventually and it luckily wasn't much of a problem that disturbed other scenes. Luckily, Carol's scene was quite loud which distracted the audience from much of my distress. On Wednesday, I didn't sit on the dress which made me feel better in the scene, although, the lights did change quite soon after Marlon (as John) had joined my scene which meant that we didn't get to dance as much as I'd have liked to - on Friday we were able to dance for longer, however, with the dress situation I still feel that Wednesday's performance of this scene was much better.


Scene 9

In my opinion, I think that this scene for me went only slightly better on Friday. In the small rehearsals leading up the show - e.g. line runs and some runs of scenes two hours before the performance - we decided that we were going to change the angle of the table to match how it was presented on Carol's side of the stage. Not only does this show continuation through the generations, it also allows for easier transitions, better sight lines for the audience, and furthermore, a bigger area of space to act within the scene. In both performances, I think I acted similarly, however, in Wednesday's performance, there were no napkins backstage (something that we hadn't checked before the performance), something which was rectified on Wednesday. Moreover, in Friday's performance, I put my hand on Bruce's hand at one point - this allowed for a nice moment showing Anna and Jamie's relationship and that it was normal - I did this completely randomly and luckily Bruce took the initiative to reciprocate by putting his hand on top of mine. It was this moment that I think has determined my opinion on which scene was slightly better.

Scene 10

I think that this scene went better on Wednesday. This is because my breathing was much more managed throughout the scene and sometimes matched with Bonnie's scene where Bonnie and Jo were having an argument. Despite the well-timed breathing, I did miss out the line "You must be sucking all the oxygen out of the room you're breathing so fucking hard" which I did remember on Friday. On Wednesday I physically moved Bruce's hands to where Anna wanted them on her back which shows their relationship better than allowing Jamie to put his hands where he wants them. On Friday, I don't think I did this - moreover, Bruce didn't put his hands on my thighs in time for my line of "Jamie" which meant that there was a small (but noticeable) silence which I had to quickly fill with my line despite Bruce's hands not being on my thighs. He managed to get the timing right on Wednesday. On Wednesday, I think that I timed the scream at the end of this scene better than on Friday as there appeared to be a silence between the last line of the scene on Friday which wasn't there on Wednesday.

Scene 11

I think that both performances of this scene were good in different ways. I think that the technicalities of Wednesday's performance were much more in time, especially in the simultaneous lines with Carol's scene towards the middle of the scene. This wasn't as prevalent on Friday where we missed out lines and were incorrect in our timings some of the time. However, the timings of the lines were better at the end of the scene on Friday with my lines matching up perfectly with Bonnie's scene which didn't happen on Wednesday as Bonnie and Ester went too fast for my own lines. In both performances, I think I managed to pinpoint exactly where Anna was on the distressed scale. On Wednesday I got so far into the role that I didn't think I said the sequence of "finger and thumb" lines - however, many people in the cast said that I had said them - I may have to consult the recording of the performance that was made.

Scene 12

I think that both performances were similar acting wise but this scene was better on Friday as the technicalities of the lines were much more accurate because we had spent the hours before the play going over this scene amongst others. On Wednesday, we were out of time for the majority of the scene because Bonnie's scene was going far too fast, however, we managed to pull it together as I missed a couple of my lines so that I matched up with Carol's scene.

Scene 13

This scene was the same in both performances. The shocks were timed correctly if slightly better on Friday as Maya then knew when I was going show the convulsions. I also missed out the line "Right down underneath where its cold" which happened in both performances but didn't impact on Carol's or Bonnie's scene too much.

Scene 14

I felt that this scene went better on Friday because I managed to time my breathing with Alex's own breathing and made myself seem more affected than what I had been on Wednesday. Although in both performances I did rock back and forth slightly, however, I'm still somewhat annoyed that I didn't manage to cry in either performance which would be an improvement to make if we were to ever do the play again.

Scene 15

This scene went much better on Friday for a number of reasons. I rocked much more obvious on Friday even when I was not holding the baby which showed clearly that Anna was not mentally okay. On Wednesday, a chair was left in the middle of the stage when I was backing away from the baby with a knife in hand which meant that I stumbled over the chair slightly - this was a bit concerning because I was holding the knife and didn't know that the chair was there. Chipp commented that on Thursday before Cast B's performance that I could not have any faith in Bella to remove the chair which could result in me looking around to see if the chair was removed and ruining the scene - this didn't happen as I did trust Bella to remove the chair but this is a valid point from Chipp hence why I made it my personal mission to remove the chair for Bella in Cast B. Another issue on Wednesday that didn't appear to me until the end of the play was that the knife that is placed in the Moses Basket went missing for a time backstage which could have caused a serious issue - at this point we hadn't had the back up option of having the razor blade in the Moses Basket - from then on, myself and Bella made sure that the razor blade was in the Moses Basket before the performance and that after Scene 2 when Carol uses the knife that the knife is put in the Moses Basket. We also had a conversation about this safety blanket with the rest of the cast so that they didn't remove the knife or razor blade from the basket.

Overall

In my opinion, I think that I portrayed Anna better on Wednesday than I did on Friday throughout the whole play due to higher energy levels and a higher level of enthusiasm. The earlier scenes were better on Wednesday than on Friday and the later scenes were better on Friday than they were on Wednesday. I think I did Anna justice in both performances and am surprised that I haven't lost my voice due to the sheer amount of lines Anna had in the play as shown by her various monologues throughout the piece. I'm certainly going to miss playing her.