Berkoff - Greek - Final Performance

We performed the Berkoff piece on 26th June 2018 with success. The video below shows our final performance:

There are six distinct sections/scenes within the piece and I will critically evaluate my performance in each of the scenes before coming to an overall conclusion of the effectiveness of the piece.

1) Fortune Teller Part 1 - 0:00 to 1:48

The immediate sound effects in this scene set a good precedent for what was to come later in the piece, despite Marlon's mistake of not splitting up the line "When you were a nipper". We still managed to keep in time so that we went down at the same time. My initial externalisation and reactions are very good, however, as the scene progresses I feel like I lost my reactions at some point. This is because in the rehearsal process I didn't feel the need to add in more facial masks, but as I found in the performance, it transpired that I needed more externalisation of my facial expressions.

A mistake on my part is when Marlon says "His face meanwhile staring into the ball", I didn't make sure I was in time with everyone else. This line for me was always an area of concern in rehearsals because there was a lack of clarity as to when to do the movement. Moreover, at the line of "Course we took no notice" I moved too early with my arm - again I feel that this was because there was a lack of clarity as to when we were going to perform the movement. Despite this, I feel that I certainly had clear movements of staccato wherein my movement was defined.

During the performance, I felt that I lost my Cockney accent on the line "You're having me on". I think that this happened because the line is said as a group so I forgot to add the accent. I also nearly broke character on Izzy's long "No!!" because she hadn't done this in rehearsal so this was unexpected.

2) Fortune Teller Part 2 - 1:48 - 4:57

As suggested in the previous scene, the general succinctness of the scene was lacking as was my own externalisation due to the lack of time I realised I had where I had dead time where I wasn't reacting to any of the action. The first example of this can be seen immediately where the drop of our arms was out of time. I think that this happened because we didn't focus on this small section as much because it marks the border between the previous scene and this scene in my mind certainly so limited time was spent until close to the performance to make the action defined and in time with one another. I have a lack of externalisation as is the same with Kathryn when we make the tent but my facial expressions are contrasting at the line "What a load of old bollocks!" and "And how he upset my Missus" which captures the feminity that I had to give to the Mother and masculinity that I chose to apply to the Chorus.

The strut at the line "We went pale a bit but in we marched" could have been much more exaggerated but due to limited spacing, the movement wasn't as big or exaggerated as I'd have liked. Moreover, I noticed again the lack of externalisation after "Same old schmutter on the table" which is an issue as the audience won't necessarily understand what the Mother is thinking in response to this scene. Despite this, I believe I had great defined staccato type movement after the line "I got his powers now".

During the performance, I was very pleased that we managed to get the timing of the clap after the line "Like a trap" which we had never managed to do in rehearsal. I think this made the piece better as it showed the audience that we could successfully have some moments of synchronisation. Despite this, myself and Izzy are noticeably out of time with Maya and Kathryn at the movement on the floor which could have been addressed by clarifying on what words we were going to be moving - this is an issue that I believe hindered our rehearsal process.

The biggest issue within this scene was the line fumble from Kathryn at "They wanted not to hear the other word so turned and fled". This mistake made us all go out of sync but Kathryn had been having trouble with this line throughout the rehearsal process so it can't be attributed to her alone that she made a slight mistake. The mistake can also be attributed to the whole cast because we always forgot the movement on the word hear especially myself as I didn't realise we had this movement until it was fully ingrained into everyone else's movements so I couldn't ask for an amendment.

 At the line "Ripe to drop" we said that we'd put our arms down at the word drop but it's evident we didn't do this. I think there was a general lack of rehearsal for this section in rehearsal which made us forget when we were going to be moving. Again this is because this part of the scene was in between the big body of this scene and the following scene which meant we spent a reduced time going over this section.

3) Before Dinner - 4:58 - 5:53

As with the previous scenes, the section between scenes is largely undefined. This can be seen with this scene as I immediately have a fumble with my arm as I don't put it up at the same time as Izzy does. There was no clarification in the rehearsal process when we were going to do this action - I am beginning to think there was a slight lack of communication in the rehearsal process most probably because we all had a different idea of how we wanted the piece to look which brought up some differences in our performance style.

There are some really excellent parts within this scene. For example, I have good externalisation at the "Go down on Hitler" line shown by an excellent facial mask - I think I definitely embodied the role of the Chorus excellently in this scene as my movements are certainly reminiscent of a stereotypical Cockney man in this scene. Moreover, the vocal contrast between "Aggro" and "Tiz" showed a clear definition between sections. Kathryn and I forgot to put our arms in and out at Izzy's line of "I had to escape this cruddy flat..." which I think reduced the effectiveness of the box/trap movement that we'd encased Izzy in.

At my lines during and after "Her spotty apron.... darkie slave" I think my movement was an excellent addition that I included rather late in the rehearsal process which added a captivating sense to my portion of the scene which was lacking somewhat before. However, I needed to be more defined and succinct with my actions and I should have set words when I was going to do these actions. Although, it should be taken into account that I had to slow my speech down so that my cast members could bring their chairs on. This did allow for a variation in pace between the quicker pace before and after the slower paced section we have here.

4) Dinner - 5:53 - 7:31

The first issue that presented itself in this scene was that Maya placed the chair in front of me the worn way round but this was easily rectified. My own personal issue throughout this scene was, again, a lack of externalisation especially when I wasn't saying any of my lines. My major mistake also happened in this scene where I swapped the lines "More taters love" and "More cake love" around which caused an issue for Kathryn's following line but she easily solved this.

I think my droning tone/accent was excellent in this scene as it presented a direct contrast between the other characters I had. However, I lost continuation as when I was playing Mum in a previous scene I didn't have this droning tone. At the end of the scene, my instant switch from Mum to Chrous was easily identifiable to the audience as it was defined well.

5) Leaving Home - 7:32 - 8:38

I think that in this scene there was a distinct lack of knowledge of what we were doing movement wise because this was the last scene that we blocked and was the one that we rehearsed the least despite there being a rather large lift in. The initial good aspect on my part was the use of Total Theatre as I moved the chair right to the back of the stage which also meant that there would be enough room for movement in the following Sphinx scene. The lack of externalisation is effective in this scene when I'm stood on the chair as it directly contrasts with the externalisation I make after the "Mould on cheese" line.

During the first part of the lift where Kathryn is walking across the stage, I put my hand out because I wasn't as involved in the lift. I thought that this could represent Mum waving goodbye to Eddy as he walks "to the end of the road" and it also gives the added support of me behind Kathryn if we did drop her. We nearly did drop her in the main section of the lift, something which is clearly visible - the lift is hard to attempt when only two people are holding another above their heads.

The last synchronised sequence in this scene was really well done by all and it worked because we spent a lot of time on that particular sequence.

Transition

The transition I think worked well because it was quick and there was no need for any extra lifts or large movement. The simplicity of removing clothes offstage is reminiscent of Brecht which was one of Berkoff's influences where nothing is hidden from the audience. The noises that we made as well easily showed the audience that we were changing character and distracted them from us removing costume.

6) Sphinx - 8:38 - 11:21

The immediate change in tone was brilliant in showing the audience the change in character but I do think it got a bit grating for the audience and for myself as the scene progressed. The death at the end was well thought out especially the added humour with the spurts of blood.

At "Mistake in the middle of the night"  I forgot to do my gesturing at crotch movement and so my timing was different from everyone else's. Moreover, the movement through the legs was not as defined as I would have wanted it to be. We also spent too long in the faces at the back of the stage (using Total Theatre) and I think my facial expression was not as feminine as it should have been which removes the element of character development I had decided on. The facial expression I used does make her look terrifying to Eddy though. There was a lack of clarification at "Who could even kiss that mouth of yours?" which took away from the impressive movement of the mouth.

Overall 

Positives: 

1) The variation in tone was well differentiated between each character I played. I also improved upon the clarity of speech from the previous run-throughs which enabled a greater audience understanding.

2) The costume we used allowed for a difference in character, showing the audience what our main character was in each section.

3) The movement was overall okay as most of the staccato was done at the same time but could have been better if we had clarified what word we were moving on.

4) The sound effects were at the right volume to make an impact but didn't drown out what was being said.

Negatives: 

1) The staging was not as good as I would have hoped reducing the positive effect of Total Theatre. We didn't have that much time in the space so our moved were confined to centre stage when we could have moved out a lot more. During the piece we could have used our initiative to do this.

2) My externalisation was not as good as I wanted. There were some points where I wasn't emanating anything at all or I wasn't reacting to the things that were happening onstage when I wasn't in the main movement.

3) We didn't focus on the transitions between scenes so there was a lack of clarification.

Berkoff - Greek - Costume and Make-Up

Costume and make up are a vital part of Berkovian theatre. Both elements can add to a piece but too much of one can easily throw off the piece's balance.

Costume 

From what I have seen, the costume that Berkoff usually uses, particularly in his plays that take place in London, consists of suits, white shirts, and braces. This can be seen in the image below which is from a performance of East:

Also shown in the image is that each character has a defining feature/piece of costume that lets the audience know who they are playing. We decided to emulate this within the piece - I brought in short length, white dress shirts for myself, Maya, Izzy, and Marlon. Underneath this, we wore black bottoms and black/white shoes. For Kathryn, as the main character, she wore a white shirt and also a jacket which showed that she was Eddy. For my character piece, I chose a scarf which had a floral pattern, showing that my main character was Mum. My costume can be seen in the image below: 

The black base allowed for an easy transition into the Sphinx as shown below. It also shows a large difference between what Kathryn is wearing compared to what we are, making the scene visually interesting to look at.

Make-Up

Berkoff's make-up is generally dome so that it emphasises parts on the actors face that they move the most. He usually does this with a white background, black eyebrows, and black lips with the occasional black around the eyes and red cheeks. Some ideas that I found are:                                                                                           

 The bottom image appears to have excessive black make up which may detract from any facial expressions made. The top image is certainly much more suitable for Berkoff as it allows for facial expressions to be highlighted but not made lost.













The make-up that we decided on can be seen in the following image (please excuse the awful drawing):

Initially, we wanted to use white face paint to make the entirety of our faces white, however, the day of the performance we realised that this may destroy any/all of the facial expressions we were making. We still decided to have black face paint on our eyebrows, as eyeliner, and on half of our lips to accentuate those features. We have a marked differnece on each side of our face for those actors who were playing as the Sphinx. We decided this because it enhances the feminity of the Sphinx but also the masculinity of the other characters that we play. The feminity can be seen by the elongated eyeliner, the rose coloured cheeks, and the red face paint on the other half of our lips. 

Berkoff - Greek - Development of Characters

The three main characters that I had in the piece were Mum, the Sphinx, and Chorus.

Mum

The first scene where I was given this role was in the Dinner Scene where the mother is certainly overly caring and motherly to her children and to her husband, shown to be rushed off her feet but loving it never-the-less. The element of loving looking after her family makes it more of a disaster when Eddy decides to leave the home.

As I developed this scene and her character I was able to vary my tone of voice. I decided to elongate my vowels and lines not just on specific lines such as "Oh, he don't like my cake". I did this because it shows a marked difference between my 'normal' Cockney voice which I used as the Chorus which allowed the audience to easily distinguish when I changed character. This was also influenced by Berkoff's own experiences in East End London as the stereotype of lower-class Cockney women is that they're quite dumb - as shown by the inaccurate grammar in the line given previously in this paragraph.

My movement was more womanly than what I presented as the Chorus - this can be highlighted in the second part of the Fortune Teller scene where Mum and Dad go and see the oracle again. However, my movement was still quite telling of a Cockney woman as it wasn't as slinky as the Sphinx's movement. My facial expressions as the mother differed from general smiles in the Dinner scene to disgust in the Fortune Teller scene, easily showing the audience where her priorities and hatred lie.

Sphinx

This was the first character that we developed. Initially, we created the Sphinx as having a Cockney accent as well as the other characters, however, I suggested that the Sphinx should have a posher, higher tone of voice. The posh voice suggests that the Sphinx is more sophisticated than other characters and also shows a marked difference between Cockney women such as the mother and upper-class women. Moreover, the fact she's clever enough to come up with a riddle that hasn't been solved shows how much smarter she is than other characters within the previous scenes.

The movement for the Sphinx that I developed was slinky and cat-like because she has the body of a lion and she's portrayed as a woman. I, therefore, assumed that she may be slightly sexual in trying to put off Eddy especially as she makes references to brothels and Eddy talks about a "Hong Kong whorehouse" in their scene. I also attempted to make her sassy hence why she clicks at the line "Go now before I lose my cool". She is also much like a predator which is easily seen as she has the body of a lion (a predator) and the wings of a bird (also a predator). This is heightened as we have four people playing her which makes her seem a lot bigger than Eddy. I attempted to make my facial expressions gruesome in some instances to show how fearsome she is.

Chorus

The Chorus in this sense for me is when I say any line when I'm not presenting as the mother or as the Sphinx - for example at the line "mouth open and eyes like a carrier bag" in the Dinner scene. This relates to the traditional Greek Chorus which was a non-individualised group of performers who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action. This is certainly seen within this character as the majority of my lines as the Chorus were said simultaneously with the other actors such as "Don't talk to me about thrills" in the Fortune Teller scene.

The tone of voice that I used as the Chorus was more manly to contrast with Mum and the Sphinx. I also attempted to have a broader Cockney accent to make the setting more obvious - this would directly contrast with the Sphinx's accent. The movement I used was more manly and more traditional towards a Cockney man - I had to demonstrate confidence and overall cockiness as this is the stereotype as highlighted in previous blogs.

Berkoff - Greek - Dinner Part 2

We added Marlon and Maya into the piece in about half an hour from the scene we made before. We kept the chair duet that we made but we added some movements behind us which will be made visible to blogs in future instalments.

We finished the last section of the piece just before "Plotting and dreaming of ruling the world". At this point, as we're all in a line again of varying heights, we look at the person to the right of us so in my case it would be Izzy as she is sat next to me after the chair duet. This was done so that Eddy's dream transcends Eddy's head becoming much more real - as Eddy does ultimately end up ruling a small portion of the world in Thebes - resulting in Marlon and his stance of victory at the end of the line. We then move in canon - stomping - at the next word of "So" which we have since changed to simultaneous standing up as the canon never seemed to work during the rehearsal process. "In a ... flash" - at the ellipsis, we move the chairs that we moved during the chair duet to the edges of the stage using Total Theatre once again and making sure that the space on stage is clear for the following lift and Sphinx scene.

The next small section is where Eddy is saying that he saw his parents in the distance as he left his house. At "I waved to my mum and dad" me and Izzy whilst stood on the chairs - gaining height above Marlon and Maya in the main part of the stage - and waved in the opposite direction to what Marlon and Maya do. This creates a nice wave effect and the slowish movement of this contrasts with the next fast movement done by Marlon and Maya - slightly echoed by myself and Izzy. After the line "wed together like mould on cheese" Maya stands above Marlon externalising a facial expression and creating a sound effect that me and Izzy copy. The next line of "Dad was the mould" certainly needs to show that Eddy/Kathryn is correcting us which is highlighted as Marlon swaps around with Maya in an effective and smooth movement.

We then attempted the following Frantic Assembly style lift shown in the video below at 25-33 seconds in:

This is from a Frantic Assembly workshop that I attended last July and is staccato enough to be involved in a Berkoff style performance. I initially suggested this lift be used in the transition from this Dinner Scene to the following Sphinx scene as it would clearly show that eddy is walking away from home and toward the Sphinx. However, we used this lift when Eddy says "as I reached the end of the road". 

We then transferred it to the lift shown below which I also learnt in the Frantic Assembly workshop. This is much harder to do especially as only four people were holding Kathryn and as we immediately did this lift after the previous one which could make the lift unstable at some points. We also hold Kathryn above our heads with only two people maintaining contact with her as Maya says "and lost the figure" - after this we drop her onto mine and Maya's shoulders which allow for better safety. Kathryn doesn't stay in the air for too long due to the immense pressure that Marlon and Izzy are put under when they hold her above their heads.

The section of speech that we used appears to be somewhat too small for such an impressive piece of movement and I do feel like there is rather an extended period of silence as we lift Kathryn in the air.

When we lower Kathryn down safety we do the following sequence:

Again we do this in a line and simultaneously with a defined point in between each action and phrase. This can't be seen in this particular video because I was trying to remember the lines that other people say in this section. The final bit of "Bye boy" as shown by the hissing and clicking is when we turn into the Sphinx as we needed a transition to get from one section to another.

Berkoff - Greek - Fortune Teller Part 3

In this section, Dad is continuing to tell Eddy about the fortune teller. Again, Berkoff's language allows for vivid imagery.

The following short video shows the movement that we choreographed for the following sentence in the scene:

This movement implies that the other person who would be laying on the floor next to me is being controlled like puppets. We did this because Dad has been controlling the scene and I felt that we needed to pay homage to that within the piece. It also allows for greater staccato type moves enhancing the Berkovian style.

The next sentence is "like an earthquake was going on inside his nut". At this point, we all attempt to get up from the floor as though we are the ones that are being affected by the earthquake that is supposedly happening in the fortune teller's head. On the word "nut" we grabbed our head with our hands. This was done in a much more staccato manner than the earthquake part of this line. This allowed for clear definition between a section of movement and a section of acute stillness.

The next few lines that I say - "You see a son of mine..... Like a nasty accident perhaps" - are done as though I'm in the character of the mother. In this case, I would have to elongate my words in order to maintain the same tone of voice that I have for the mother in a later section - the Dinner scene as shown in a previous blog.

At the line "parted his lips enough to mouth the word death" we do a canon whispering of death where we stare at the audience when we say this. This allows for a variation in speech which means that the audience maintains an interest in the piece. The next line (which for me seems to be in the same small section as the previous line) of "he then stared hard at Dinah" is when everyone in the group stares at me as the Mum (we assume) is called Dinah. I haven't yet chosen what facial expression to make at this point.

There is some more movement where we all flee in different directions, "snatch the quid back from the table" and then return to fleeing before standing in a line behind Kathryn who squats down in front of us. The line about "sweet pics you get in Woolies" allowed us to create a nice image behind Kathryn. Myself and Maya smiled at one another whereas Marlon was picking his nose and Izzy was crying at him - this was done because these are stereotypical actions that children do. This image can, therefore, excuse the constant lines coming from Kathryn. The next speech from Dad I suggested be initially quite jovial but when he asks Eddy if Eddy would kill him, Dad should become serious as though he genuinely believes the prophecy - why else would he tell Eddy the prophecy if he didn't believe it would somewhat come true?

Clarifying Confusion

Initially, we thought that the fortune teller scene was described by Eddy's biological father describing what he had learnt, however, we soon understood that it is Eddy's adoptive family that go see the fortune teller. In the original myth, Oedipus' adoptive parents hear about the prophecy and so defer Oedipus to the oracle. This is why Eddy chooses to leave home. This would mean that the characterisation of Mum on my part would be slightly off especially in the following sequence, Mum wouldn't be as predatorial. The interpretation of her about cake and tea is still accurate because stereotypically mothers do like to look after their family. Berkoff's influence here is of his childhood where presumably it was very traditional London East End background. This is suggested in an interview with Berkoff where he said he saw burly men walking down the street pretending they were tougher than they actually are, something which is stereotypical of Cockney men in particular. This toughness can be seen in both Eddy and Dad.

Berkoff - Greek - Fortune Teller Part 2

In this section, Dad is telling Eddy about the second time they went to see the fortune teller. The fortune teller repeats what his father had said about Eddy and how he'll kill his father and have sex with his mother.

The first line follows on from the previous blog about the fortune teller - "Course we took no notice. Forgot about it like" which shows that Dad is being casual and that he forgot but doesn't really care about what the fortune teller said because it doesn't affect his own life. The next section of movement is shown at "fair is back in town" where me and Kathryn make the tent like she did with Marlon earlier in the scene. This is easier for the two of us to do because we're in the middle and frees up Marlon and Izzy to do their next series of movement where they stop her from speaking. An interpretation that I took from this was that we are in her mind and we're saying what her character wants to say. I'm not too sure about this though.

I do a quick movement in the next section where I turn into the mother again. I will need to show a greater variation in facial expression to show the change in character. This gives me the perfect opportunity for further externalisation and the range of facial expressions I can create which will be enhanced by the make up that we use.

The movement and sound at "pack of dirty lies" was done to show that we think that the fortune teller was disgusting for insinuating his prophecy. The following movement after "So off we went" allows for further staccato and definition. Total theatre can be seen after "but we waited our turn" when our hands became the clock behind Marlon. This obviously shows the passage of time but by doing this movement in multiple directions indicates that there is more than one time stream at work as shown by the prophecy.

At "it was the same name" we all pop out and gasp to show that we're shocked that its the same name as before - perhaps Mum and Dad weren't expecting it to be the same name. At this point, I think me and Kathryn should lunge out a little further than we did in this video so that our facial expressions can be seen much easier. The next line of "Have your future read Fantoni's magical crystal gazer" I suggested be shouted like newsboys calling out the headline as this is what it would have said outside the tent. In this video we definitely need more definition in this line and in other lines as they tend to get muddled up and confused otherwise the audience ins't going to know what we're saying. Even though we are speaking in a Cockney accent where movements are more vital than words, it is vital that the lines are pronounced correctly especially ts.

At "In we marched" I attempted to do a strut but the lack of spacing made this difficult in the room that we were in. I will have to make sure that my steps are exaggerated but not so much that we lose space on stage. The lifting of arms in front of us shows the tent and gives a nice visual of us moving into the tent and the tent moving over us.

The "same old shmutter on the table" uses Total Theatre as we use actors to be the table and the mess that is on the table. Mine and Maya's movement draws attention to this movement in the middle. "The beads we walked through" gives a nice point for us to walk to where we need to be in the next sequence. These points have limited big movement which allows for a defined moment where there is limited movement compared with the larger movement earlier in the scene.

The creativity to have Maya speaking for Marlon but have Marlon be in front of her is outstanding. Marlon should definitely be in front of Maya so the illusion of Maya being Marlon's voice is hidden. Moreover, this emphasises that Marlon is the real Dad and that Maya is the body that we're using to present this part in the story. This illusion is better seen when Kathryn speaks for Izzy - Izzy comes to the front of the stage and this allows her to be the centre of attention without having to speak. I think the following section after Izzy goes onto Marlon's back is particularly messy because the moves aren't defined and we don't do the movements simultaneously. Certainly, the choral singing after Izzy died is unnecessary as it takes away from the piece rather than adding to it.

The imbuing of the fortune teller's vision is a big deal hence why we made the transfer of power a large movement. Despite Dad still being sceptical about the vision, the fortune teller is telling the truth and by passing on his vision the prophecy can still come true. Just like in the previous payment of the fortune teller we do another 'ching ching' which allows a theme to run through the piece which I think is quite effective even though we don't do it every single time money is mentioned.

The sentence of "So Ed, your mum and I sat down just like before" is done incorrectly in this video as it shouldn't be split up it should be one fluid sentence. Despite the gestures that are made this sentence's movement should be removed so that the grammar becomes correct again. The movement to the back of the stage after this suggests the use of more Total Theatre as we use more of the stage than we had done before. When we run back to the front of the stage we're still cramped up - it could be more effective if we spread out when we run forwards and then come together when Marlon says that the tent was small. The hurtled back shows clear definition between a slower section and faster section.

"The whiff of stale grass" should be a louder, longer sniff instead of putting our faces on the floor. The trap line always results in us getting out of time with the claps that we do - the inspiration behind this was a Venus-fly-trap.

Berkoff - Greek - Sphinx Part 2

We only had a small amount of the Sphinx scene left to choreograph following on from the last blog. Straight from "Men need killing off before they kill off the world" which is said simultaneously, we go into the following video:

This video is not of all of us doing the movements, but should give a fairly accurate representation of what we did. Again we came to the front of the stage, partially in a line - I'm still getting slightly frustrated that most of our moves are done in a line as I feel there should be more elements of variation. These initial four movements are done at the same time - the challenge here was making sure that we were doing exactly the same movement as I especially wanted the Sphinx to have accurate movement as we're meant to all be one character.

At "You are so alone and pathetic" we tapped Kathryn once with one finger which made her drop to the floor showing the power of the Sphinx. We then walked far away from Kathryn, making use of the entire stage showing Total Theatre. This was also done for a pragmatic purpose as it allowed more room to stalk towards Kathryn in a later section.

We then included a fight sequence. In the original myth, Oedipus answers the Sphinx's riddle and the Sphinx then throws herself off a cliff. However, as we didn't have all the scripted parts for the Sphinx we had to improvise a fight sequence so that it was definite that Eddy himself has killed the Sphinx. This certainly makes Eddy more of a hero than before, perhaps even the tragic hero - a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat - as he end up winning his biological mother's hand in marriage due to defeating the Sphinx which is why he is a tragedy.

Kathryn hits us all in succession and we maintain our position and sound effect for definition purposes. We then, at the last moment, included the line "To love is to enslave a woman" which suggests a personal vendetta against men from the Sphinx. We then returned the violence to Kathryn via the audience, again breaking the fourth wall. After this we stalk towards Kathryn hissing who then strikes us at the throat meaning that we all squeal and die. We have a final staccato section where we freeze in the Sphinx with our arms extended as though we are the bird part of the Sphinx again. The fighting sequence was especially hard to choreograph in order to get it much more defined and staccato.