In this section, Eddy's father tells Eddy the story of how he and Eddy's mother went to see a fortune teller at an Easter fair. This fortune teller reveals that Eddy will kill his father and have sexual relations with his mother. Much like in the other sections we staged it so that everyone gets to speak in each paragraph by splitting it up. In this section, Marlon (playing Dad) was the narrator for Dad's actions where I played Dad and Mum when they went to see the fortune teller - I played both roles in the following video because Maya wasn't at rehearsal. Izzy played the fortune teller and Kathryn was Eddy once again. The distribution of lines allows for a quicker pace and means that people won't have to learn a large paragraph.
As shown in the video above, we immediately go into the fortune teller as soon as the scene begins allowing the fast-paced nature of this scene to be revealed. In some aspects I feel that it has little variation in pacing and the parts of the scene that a slower pace can be adopted will be discussed a little later on. As shown we used a noise to signify going into the bulk of the scene. Not only does the noise suggest mystery, it also highlights that the bulk of the scene is told as a flashback. The pin lift that we do at the Easter Fair is easily recognisable as Jesus on the cross. This image is encompassed by a 'heavenly choir' which is also touched again later in the scene in a different section (that will be talked about in later blogs/later in this blog).
The line "don't talk to me about thrills" is said by all as shown on the video. This, therefore, makes the line louder, distracting from the lack of impressive movement on stage, allowing for a nice and simple transition into the reveal of the fortune teller. The use of Total Theatre is apparant here as we use Kathryn and Marlon to make the circus tent that leads into the fortune teller. The circus tent also means that we use more of the available stage area, something I think we need to be wary of, especially as I feel we've stayed mainly in the middle throughout the scenes we've made thus far. We could spread out more in this scene or in the dinner scene where each chair could be a ridiculous length apart. Externalisation is clear when I enter the tent (between Kathryn and Marlon), mouth agape, showing a different facial mask to what I had shown previously in the scene. Due to my changing role, I will have to adapt some of my facial masks, and indeed some of my movements as I will be Mum in this scene when we add Maya in as Dad.
The lack of significant movement at the line "Who don't have a son?" is a cause for concern as I felt awkward at this point. Although the lack of a large image contrasts with what we had done previously which does show a definition between the sections - entering the tent and listening to what the fortune teller has to say to Mum and Dad.
I am annoyed at myself for breaking character during the "I'm not taking it for gen" speech, which I shouldn't have done. Although, as this small speech won't be mine to say, I will be doing what the other three are doing and reacting to what Dad is saying - changing facial masks to highlight what Dad is saying.
The "violent death" that we showed is quite staccato with its movements. In this section, I wasn't quite sure what to do with my movements so I decided to react as though I was getting stabbed as well. I think that myself and Maya will have to come up with a series of movements that echo our characters' shock towards what's going on, that doesn't distract the audience from what I think is the most important image in this section, but also means that we aren't stood there with no movements. After this, I think there should be a short break of silence before the line "But I'm his dad" in order to have humour but also to vary the pacing and keep the audience interested. Moreover, this should be defined in order to stick to Berkoff's style.
The handshake that we do is quite fast paced and contrasts with the slower part that I have just identified. Due to it being fast paced it meant that both handshakes were out of time with each other. Although this is a small issue I think that the movements should be much tighter - in fact, this goes for all of our movements so far in every scene that we have done. The sound effects that we do allow the handshake to be more manly and as Eddy is seen as a hero would make him more credible in society if he was stereotypically manly due to societal norms. I don't know how we're going to fit Maya into this part of the scene - we may have to do a whole group handshake but this may get complicated. We will have to figure this out in later sessions.
At "You're having me on", I think that our vocal tone and group movement is reminiscent of the Sphinx which is the previous scene. I think that we should change this slightly so we don't stick with the same tone and type of movement all the time. I think that when we run outside the tent, we should have a much longer pause for breath to define where one part of the scene ends and another begins. Moreover, the "chinaman with jaundice" line feels a bit racist and I don't feel comfortable doing the action shown because of this.
The good bits of this scene are:
- large physical movements especially the tent and death sequence
- noises throughout that aren't a necessary part of the script allow for more immersement
The things we need to improve upon are:
- including Maya into the scene and ensuring that her part is just as inclusive as our own
- the prnunciation of words that are lost through our accent
- the definition of movements and between different pacings
- I need to come up with ideas as to what I could do in parts that feel uncomfortable or where I don't move as much as I could do.
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