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.

Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 37

The past week has been packed with tech and dress rehearsals and with three performances of Anatomy of a Suicide. I have completed both performances that I had to do as Anna in Cast A but we still have one more performance of Cast B on Monday before we move on to the interviews for this piece and then onto Berkoff.

Monday - Tech Rehearsal

We worked through the play methodically from Scene 1 to Scene 16. At the end of every scene, the lights go dimmer and music plays - if there was music playing in the previous scene then that is used for the transition. If scenes are omitted from the following tech list, then assume the only tech part of the scene was the lights and music at the start and end of the scene

Scene 2
The telephone rings on Carol's side of the stage.
Carol switches on the radio - Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground plays.

Scene 3
Anna switches on the radio - Venus in Furs by The Velvet Underground plays.

Scene 8
A baby cries on Carol's side of the stage.

Scene 15
Lights dim at Anna's line "Lights are gone."

Tuesday - Dress Rehearsal

There was little to be said about the dress rehearsal apart from a few small adjustments and a rather big adjustment for Scene 15.

In Scene 3, I had no sponge for the shooting up sequence which meant that I was inaccurately 'taking' heroin. Before I take the heroin, I should put the bag of sugar into the larger bag that I take on stage. This is practically done so that Bruce doesn't have to pick up a large number of props off the floor - during the scene 3 to 4 transition, I saw Bruce drag a lighter across the ground with his foot which we don't want to happen. In Anna's mind, this is done so that some other person steals her bag of heroin. I was also told not to fiddle in changeovers.

During the Scene 4 to 5 transition, I take too long getting the dungarees on even with the help of Bella. As I am centre stage, this meant that the audience's focus would be on me. Chipp introduced a simple walking sequence for the characters of Tim, Jamie, and the Nurse. This distracted from the changing of my clothes in this transition.

Scene 15 Adjustments

We decided to change Scene 15 completely before the dress rehearsal. This is because the bath has awful sightlines for the audience when placed behind Anna's door. It also doesn't make it obvious to the audience that Anna is committing suicide. We changed it so that now Anna is holding Bonnie as a baby and is also holding a knife. This makes the scene much more worrying as a mentally healthy person wouldn't hold a knife that close to a newborn baby. It also shows that Anna is severely mentally ill and needs professional help that doesn't involve ECT.

At the beginning of the scene, Anna like before is sat at the bottom of the stage holding Bonnie but this time is rocking her violently whilst holding tight onto the knife. She is looking straight ahead at the audience rather than looking at Bonnie - this is where she says the first two lines of the monologue. Now when she tells Bonnie not to cry and go back to sleep, it is more like a plead for her to do so. Towards the end of the lines of "To sleep" Anna begins to become hysterical because she herself can't sleep.

At the line "Lights are gone" the lights change. In my version of Anna, she slows down her words and her movements and looks up at the ceiling. This directly contrasts with the following line of "Hello" which is said after a quick look down to Bonnie. This word is softer than what has been said before - perhaps Anna does love Bonnie and doesn't want to harm her in any way. There should be a gap between this lines and the following lines so that Anna has time to put down Bonnie on the floor and leave her there - which is concerning for a mother to do.

After Anna has put Bonnie down, she is still rocking back and forth. This lets the audience know that Anna is rocking for herself rather than for the sake of Bonnie. At this point, Anna's grip on the knife is hard allowing her hands to turn whiter. The following lines are said whilst Anna is in the process of standing up. The line "Wrist has gone" is said when Anna is stood up and has put the knife close to her wrist to further emphasise that Anna is going to commit suicide. The "finger and thumb" lines are said whilst Anna is backing away to the door, knife still held firmly in grasp, and Bonnie left abandoned on the floor. Before she exits the door, she relaxes and has a sense of calm as she looks into the audience. She then walks off stage - I am allowed to walk straight through Anna's door to offstage right showing that Anna has died.

During the dress rehearsal, the knife wasn't inside the Moses basket for Scene 14 which meant that Joel had to go off again and bring it on again, meaning that the transition went on for a longer period of time and almost resulting in me not having the knife for the scene which would have been disastrous.

For the dress rehearsal for Cast B, I was doing transitions. I still find them quite difficult as I haven't practised these sets of transitions for as long as other people have practised the Cast A ones. In the dress rehearsal, I put the New York tee on Bella for Scene 15 which we had agreed on beforehand. However, this extended the transition for far too long and it didn't look as effective as all the other transitions we had done before. Scene 15 still looks effective with Anna still wearing hospital scrubs.

Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 36

Throughout this rehearsal process, we have been making small and large changes to the scenes which allow for a better viewing experience for the audience. The following changes are only applicable to Anna's scenes and notes that apply to Anna. 

Scene 2

This scene works well overall but there were a few adjustments that needed to be made in order for the scene to be better. When Anna says that she "could wait" for Dan (Peter), she should rub her hand 'sensually' (or as sensually as she can whilst high and drunk) across his chest. This shows that she is propositioning sex in return for the IV to take the edge off her come down.

 On the line "Massive fucking burn" Anna should move right to the edge of the stage. This keeps the audience's attention and moves the scene forward so that we aren't constantly at the back of the stage. this also means that we are much more likely to be heard by the audience.

After Dan has said "you fucked my fifteen-year-old brother" Anna should pause for a second, allowing what Dan has just said to sink into the audience's mind and allows Anna to look confused and become defensive after this line and the following lines.

Scene 3 

This scene is technically complex as I have to burn sugar in order to make it appear as though I'm burning heroin ready to inject. We decided to used heroin as a substitute for heroin because its white and when it is burning it gives off smoke which will draw the audience's attention to Anna's scene. When I was practising for this scene, it took me a while to learn how to use the lighter which may have become a problem. Now, however, I can light a lighter if I use two hands. When heating the spoon, I have found that my hand shakes a lot which although does look as if I'm more of a heroin addict, it also means that I am more likely to burn myself on the lighter or spoon. In this scene, I also bring on a bag and the radio. I have to ensure that the bag that I use is behind my head so that my face isn't blocked from audience view.

Scene 4 

There were a few adjustments in this scene which made the scene much better than what it was before. Whilst running this scene, I realised that when John says "But not since you were a little girl, not since you were-" about Anna calling him dad he is talking about when she called him that when he told her Carol was dead which is the final scene in Carol's part of the stage. This certainly should have a larger effect on Anna than what I was showing before. I think that much like John she should also be holding back tears. In my opinion, I think that this is the most emotional scene in the play for her as she is reminded of her mother and of the immense pain she has caused her own father.

When John says "I'm very proud", Anna should have more of an adverse reaction to it. She should be internally questioning why he's proud of what she's done to herself and to him. Anna has been a mess for years so John shouldn't be proud of her at all - maybe a bit for attempting to recover but she doesn't want to recognise this. To be proud of her is very forgiving of John. He may be forgiving because he doesn't want her to end up the same way as Carol and wants to build a positive relationship with her that he didn't have with Carol.

After John's monologue (which I think I need to react to a bit more), he takes his time to place the balloon on the floor and comes to a squatting/kneeling position in front of Anna. At this moment, the two share eye contact and attempt to smile at one another. He puts his hand on top of her knee and she then places a hand on his hand. this would show that the two are almost reconciled and are promising to get a better relationship with one another again.


Scene 5 

There were a couple of additions and changes to this scene. The height of the camera had to be lowered because it was blocking Carol from view from the audience who are sat near Bonnie's side of the stage. It also made it easier for Jamie to reach up as though he's going to turn the camera off during the scene. Additionally, it meant that it was at a height that looked as though it was actually pointed at Anna rather than pointed over her head.

The line about "Communards" in the middle of the scene is a reference to a popular band The Communards which were active in the mid-1980s which places the time period of this scene about this time or a little while afterwards. I would have to add more humour and 'pizzazz' to this line to indicate that Anna was making a reference to the band rather than making a joke about it being a commune which was what I was suggesting before.

In this scene, Jamie (Bruce) hands me a coffee mug which I would need to use a bit more during the scene rather than just using it in the middle of the monologue - I use it just before the line "But that's not what you're asking". 

An issue that appears during the monologue is that Anna is drowned out by Carol's hysterics on the other side of the stage. In order for Anna to be heard, I would need to increase my volume which I think I achieved in the last run through of the scene that we did. Before the monologue, Anna should move around a bit on her seat which would prompt Jamie to believe that she's camera shy and that she wouldn't be good for the film hence giving him a reason to attempt to turn off the camera in the scene. I don't think that Anna is necessarily camera shy. The nature of her past and what she reveals in her monologue would make her be anxious about whether to tell Jamie or not but once she starts speaking about what has happened to her, she can't stop and spits out words as fast as she can find them which makes her seem more alive which would explain why Jamie is so attracted to her.


Scene 6

There has been a lot that has been changed in this scene as well. Jamie gives the flowers to Anna when he says "Thank you for meeting me" which is when they've had the discussion about the flowers. We have done this because it doesn't make sense for Jamie to be holding onto the flowers for such a long time. This does mean that we lose the physical humour of Jamie trying to hold onto two takeaway drinks and flowers but it doesn't seem realistic for him to be holding onto the flowers for such a long time. Anna should be happy yet surprised about the flowers and I think that I should admire them by looking at the petals in more detail.

After this, when Anna reveals that she bought Jamie two drinks, she should become much more flustered than I am portraying her to be. It is strange for someone to order two drinks and also shows Jamie that she was overthinking the situation too much, giving an inkling that she likes him just as much as he likes her.

In this scene, the direction has changed so that Anna becomes angrier when Jamie says that he "can't stop thinking about" her. When he says this line, he kneels next to the chair that Anna is sat on and has to quickly stand up when she starts shouting about "abscesses in my leg and injecting fucking heroin into my shoulders". At this point, Jamie is trying to stop Anna from shouting so much as they are in public so he goes to touch her which forces Anna to push him away. I think that he should attempt to touch her shoulder during the silence when he says "I don't" because that would give Anna a reason to react and to go on her next spiel/big monologue.

When Anna says "I've come a really fucking long way to be here" before the big monologue at the end of the scene, she throws the flowers down. Even before this when she's making the decision to leave, she puts her 'lit' cigarette on the ground in order to put it out. When Anna is shouting at Jamie behind the chair, she shouldn't be there for as long as she should. In order for Anna to have such an adverse reaction that she walks away when shouting, she would need to be touched more. the suggestion above about Jamie attempting to touch her shoulder in the awkward silence would prompt the monologue and also the reaction to move to the front of the stage and to say the monologue out to the audience.

When Jamie says his monologue about "wanting to hold you (Anna). Very close. Just here" Anna should be slowly getting won over by him. This is because Jamie os offering her the normality that she craves and that she ultimately achieves with him in the end before she becomes pregnant with Bonnie.

Scene 7 

There was little to change during this scene. When running the play through with Cast B, Chipp pointed out that the Orange Pod wasn't placed in the correct position which was my fault. In Carol's scene, the Orange Pod needs to be placed next to Carol's chair so that Laura can reach behind Carol and get into her personal space. In Anna's scene, Anna needs to move slightly more to the right so that she's not blocked by Jamie who's stood near the front of the stage when she comes onstage again.

Scene 8 

A lot was changed in this scene in a short amount of time. Over the course of the week, we went from having bridesmaids on in this scene to having no one on Anna's stage apart from Anna to keep loyal with the script. We used the idea of bridesmaids so that Anna could have help getting ready - into her dress, and have her hair and makeup done. This didn't work too well because it was artificially silent. The audience will be used to words from the scene if there is more than one person in it. Additionally, we had issues finding a wedding dress as the dress that we were going to use had a broken zip.

We found a solution pretty quickly. We scrapped the bridesmaid idea. Instead, Anna gets changed from her dungarees (leaving them unfolded in a way that they are easy to get on for Scene 9) into the wedding dress with a broken zip. Anna zips the dress up as much as she can which she finds she cannot do so resigns to doing her makeup. When John enters at the end of the scene, he 'zips' up her wedding dress and puts a hand on her back so that the gap in the back is not as visible. During the dancing part of the scene, we don't move around as much which means that the back of the dress can't be seen. The lack of zipping on the dress also means that it's much easier to get off during the following transition. During the dancing part, Anna leans on John's chest to show that they are once again close and implying that John is going to give her away. The dancing is more about the emotion than it is about the accuracy of the dancing.

Scene 9 

There were only small changes given in this scene. When Anna goes off throughout the scene, I have to make sure I'm not visible to the audience so they believe that I've gone into a different room within the house. When Daisy (Maya) is talking about the man she met - "Scientist. Real one." - Anna should toss or dress the salad so that she has something to do in that part of the scene. The issue of not eating within the scene because it was too awkward to be eating air has now been solved with the introduction of carrot sticks. The Pragmatism monologue at the end of this scene should be slowed down so that it appears as though Anna is thinking about the words before she says them.

Scene 10

The addition of the pilates ball in this scene made it easier to rock back and forth to suggest that I was in pain and having contractions. Contractions come in waves, so I tried to manage my breathing so that there was the suggestion of contractions that were coming quite close together. At the end of the scene, Anna screams in pain. During the run through of Cast A, I managed to scream in pain at the end of the scene. As I was slightly embarrassed about this before, I think it was impressive that I managed to time the scream correctly and to scream at all.

Scene 11

There was little changed in this scene. The line about "Smack" in response to the nurses' question about whether Anna would like some tea should be said with a hysterical tone as it's funny to Anna due to her past. When the nurse - Lola (Lauren) - tells Anna to sit down towards the end of Anna's description about the nightmare she has, Anna should sit down. I and Lauren staged the end of this by Lauren having her legs to the side of the chair that she sits on and my head is rested on her knees. I would be able to say the rest of the monologue while staring out from my position at her feet with my head on her knees. This is because previously Anna didn't move during the whole scene, standing in one place. It seems much more natural for her to soften into the nurse because she appears to be craving comfort especially after the nightmare she has experienced.

Scene 12

The speech about having Bonnie in Anna's arms should be thought out more than I have been saying it. The line "And in that moment I have never felt so profoundly lonely" should be said slower than I have been with a pause just before lonely. When women have children, they are expected to feel a profound connection to their child rather than feeling lonely. This would allow the audience to be surprised about what Anna feels in this scene as she is the opposite of what would be typical for a new mother to feel.

Scene 13

Now that we have a hospital bed onstage and able to use, we have been able to practise the ECT that is present in this scene. At the start of the scene, the nurse should inject anaesthetic into her arm which is why Anna says that it feels cold.  There are specific lines where Anna should be shocked for ten seconds which will have the best impact on the audience. There are two instances where Anna gets shocked in the scene. the first shock occurs when Carol says "so beautiful" when she's talking about Anna on her side of the stage. This directly juxtaposes what is being done to Anna on her section of the stage and will shock the audience even more as Anna is no longer the seemingly innocent girl that Carol knew before she committed suicide. The second shock happens when the doctor on Carol's side says "In that case, we do have to talk about hospital again". This leaves enough time between the first shock and the second shock for the nurses to look over Anna's vitals and see if she is okay to be given another shock.

Scene 15

There was nothing major that was done in this scene. When Anna says "Cut it out" during her monologue in this scene, it was suggested that she isn't telling Bonnie to stop crying. Instead, she is begging for the part of her that wants to love Bonnie or perhaps the part of her that doesn't love Bonnie to be cut out so that she can be 'normal' again - she wants the sense of normality that she had with Jamie in earlier scenes which has been tarnished by Bonnie. There could be an issue with sightlines for the bath. The bath is located behind the door which means that the door will block off sight lines from the right and left of the audience. The bath should be placed closer to the door entrance so this doesn't happen but due to the structure of the set this would be impossible.

Cast B run through 

This run through went okay but it certainly isn't performance ready. This is because Cast B haven't had as many opportunities to run through scenes as Cast A have done. Additionally, the transitions were poor because we haven't had a chance to run through them properly. I think that we need to focus on Cast B more over the next two days so that it is performance ready. Moreover, people kept forgetting to take objects on/off stage resulting in people having to do transitions that weren't their transitions.

Cast A run through

This run through went much better than Cast B. This was because we had practised the transitions more which meant they were a lot smoother here than they were in Cast B. However, we did run out of time as we only got half way through Scene 11 when we had to pack up. In the next couple of days, we will finish this run through with the full set to make sure we are performance ready. 

Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 35

In order to get props and costumes on and off stage, we have to complete transitions to music in a fast but controlled way. The following image shows how I am presenting the transitions on a piece of paper so that myself and Bella (who is playing Anna in Cast B) can easily find what we are bringing onstage and taking offstage. During the transitions, we are expected to walk at right angles as though the stage is a square piece of paper which allows the transitions to look more effective and a lot smoother. I have made two copies so that we can put a copy on each side of the stage so that the transitions on our part are much better and quicker. These can be seen on the following images: 

There are severe issues that keep occurring for both casts in some of the transitions. For example, large objects such as chairs remain onstage or clothing isn't removed/put on during them. This could severely impact upon the performance and lower other people's grades if we don't put the objects in the correct place. It also means that the flow of the performance could be lost resulting in people forgetting their lines, of which their cues are important for other people's lines.

Thus far, I have made some mistakes regarding transitions. This is because Cast B is the cast that doesn't get to rehearse their scenes as much, something which has happened throughout the rehearsal process in my opinion. This means that I don't get to practise the transitions as much as I'd like to, to get them accurate. This has happened in the transition into Scene 11 where I forgot to put a cup and saucer inside the Orange Pod which meant that Marlon had to go off stage in the middle of a scene to find a coffee cup that shouldn't have been used in the scene.

We created the transitions in stages. To begin with, we moved the big props on stage such as the hospital bed and worked out what side of the stage we would need to be on to move the big props. After that, on Saturday, we added the small props into the transitions which were dubbed 'Saturday Problems' throughout the week. Surprisingly, these weren't as hard as I had expected and the transitions were completed within two hours.

The main thing during the transitions that were found to be complex for me was the removal and the putting on of clothing, particularly the dungarees that Anna wears in Scenes 5, 6, 7, and 9. It is important that the dungarees are folded in a way in which they can be unfolded on stage and put on Anna easily.

The above transitions shown on the piece of paper are transitions that myself and Bella do when we aren't performing as Anna. When we are Anna, we do have some transitions that we complete ourselves on stage. These are the following:

Scene 5 into Scene 6: Put on Cardigan that was taken off during Scene 5.
Scene 6 into Scene 7: Pick up cigarettes from the ground and put them back in the packet.
Scene 8: Remove dungarees and put on the wedding dress.
Scene 11 into Scene 12 (offstage): Change from nightshirt into a hospital gown.

It should also be noted that in other costume changes, I will unhook some parts of the dungarees and take some clothes off so that it is easier for other people who are dressing me to put on clothes and take them off of me.

The transition from Scene 12 into Scene 13 is a lot longer than the other transitions that happen. This is because a hospital bed and the hospital pod have to be brought on stage. To distract the audience from this transition, Jamie (Bruce), Anna (myself), and Carol (Izzy) stand at the front of the stage staring out (something which happens in all transitions for the three main women). In this transition, however, Jamie turns slowly to face Anna. When he has done this, Anna turns slowly to face Carol. When Anna has done this, Carol turns slowly to face the door of her stage. we then proceed with the scene. This allows the audience to be distracted by anything that is happening behind us.

On Thursday of last week, we attempted a line run, mostly for the benefit of Cast B. This allowed for any scenes that we were struggling with to be sorted out. The line run didn't go as well as planned. This is because we were all tired from previous nights rehearsing. Additionally, people who weren't in scenes get bored quite quickly which meant that it got harder for those running lines to concentrate as those who weren't working kept getting quite loud. Moreover, on Thursday it was sunny and hot which meant that people got uncomfortable rather quickly and so got angry because they wanted to go home and cool down. If we were to do a line run unattended again, we would have to make sure that people who aren't involved with the main line run are involved in running over their lines separately or are quieter. The lack of concentration meant that we didn't get through the line run for Cast B as quickly as we had hoped which also meant that Cast A only got to run through Scene 11, although, this scene is one in which as a whole we struggle with. 

Anatomy of a Suicide - Part 34

Over the past week and over the following weeks we have been preparing AOAS to be performed to four audiences with each cast taking 2 days. This means that we have been building the set and organising props and costumes which will be explained in this blog or in future blogs. We have also been adjusting some scenes due to difficulties with props and have been creating transitions to get props and costumes on and offstage. It has certainly been stressful thus far but I think that we are currently in a good place and in some aspects are performance ready.

Staging

The type of stage that we have chosen to use is a Proscenium Arch as shown below.

The dotted lines shown on the diagram indicate where one stage ends and another begins allowing the audience to differentiate between time periods and allowing the actors to not step into the wrong time period - this sometimes does happen but can easily be rectified if the actors think about where they are standing onstage or by moving props slightly so that each actor can remain in the correct time period.

A Proscenium Arch is the best type of staging for a Stanislavski styled play. This is because it maintains a fourth wall whilst the audience still being able to feel as if they are involved and are feeling some of the emotions that the characters are portraying.

The following image depicts the full stage when it had been built and painted:

When I took this picture, the staging hadn't been completed yet but you can still see what we are trying to achieve through this. The yellow paint that extends on Carol's side on the stage is also on a section of Anna's door in the middle. The bare wood that can be seen on Anna's door has been replicated on Bonnie's door. This is to represent scene 7 where Anna repaints the family house from Carol's yellow colour to Bonnie's neutral, natural colour. The flooring has a gap between each stage so that the audience and actors can differentiate between each time period as described above. The flooring, particularly on Bonnie's side of the stage has gaps in it. This is to show how the legacy of each woman has impacted on one another creating mental illness and profound sadness. The polythene sheet that can be seen on the image above is the only polythene sheet that can be lifted on a pulley system so that large props such as a hospital bed and the hospital pod can easily be brought on stage.