16/5/16:
Today we had a run through of act one to four and even blocked the majority of act 5. The run through went pretty well despite some pacing issues especially between acts but overall was quite good. We blocked the whole of act 5 and then ran through it afterwards and that pretty well too despite needing obvious polish and practice so it gets much better.
Blocking:
After running the first four acts we finally had to block act 5 and I only really have one scene in act 5 so the process was pretty simple for me today though it was still very enjoyable and I think the act is coming along very nicely. Today when running act four we blocked that Me, Chloe and Katrina do not stay on for the earthquake when it shakes and I believe this was because the try we had either looked very silly or probably awkward. I think that was a good decision although if it is reversed I cans see it working in the theatre with the correct sound and set up. My scene in act 5 involves me coming on right after or during the prologue of the act and sitting on the sofa on right centre stage. I have to wait there for Sarah to come in start our final conversation. The scene itself doesn't involve me doing much other than talking while not really looking at Sarah and then standing up at one point before leaving. Overall the blocking fairly simple yet still sticking very well to the style.
Input:
One thing that I did today without even suggesting was a choice for Colin to have. Sarah says about his new jacket "It's not really you". At that moment he could just choose to give up trying to convince her it was a good choice or try to really convince her. Even though he has to do the latter I wanted to make it look like he has a choice and does that but also puts a little effort in so I improvised standing up, looking out and looking at the suit and saying the line "It's absolutely who I am". Thankfully that quick moment got a positive response Also I made sure not to look at Sarah in this moment so it seems as though I could be trying to convince the spectators as well as myself and Sarah. It's a little moment I'll keep in and I did on the subsequent run through of the act. Also an Idea I had was for Colin's last line in the play "Things change". Initially I looked at Katrina for this line but afterwards I thought it would be cool to look forward for just that last line but have a slight pause before it to give it some dramatic emphasis. Now I say this because of all the research I did on the environmental issues being discussed at the time of the plays release. I was thinking that Sarah and Colin's problem could possibly represent the argument for environmental issues just happening regardless of our interference. Neither of them are really responsible for the relationship deteriorating it just ended up happening due to change. This could be a nice subtle moment to suggest that and even besides that it just adds some confirmation to the end of that scene and their relationship.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: I finally got to see the opening scene with Grace and Young Robert on our actual staging. It looked great in my opinion, the scene was generally just very well paced had good focus and the gradual build up of them walking down the catwalks with distance between them to ending up standing to getting to coming into con tact and very close together. It's a nice set up and pay off for the scene and one that honestly does secure my confidence for the style. Also today the actual blocking for act 5 happened surprisingly fast, everyone was focused and excepting of directing and the staging was fairly simple or it seemed it because of the time it took and the smoothness of the process today.
Weaknesses: One thing that was definitely weak about today was that the pacing of the scenes was slow for today and I don't believe that the energy levels were high enough to help make the slow pacing a little more engaging. This could've been to that we didn't do a warm up today which we should have but couldn't due to limited time. A result of this what that I couldn't do my singing scene in it's entirety or even any actual singing since it's a moment we could not speed up. I thought it was unfortunate I couldn't try it but it really was dragging and I could understand why we had to move along for time. Also today Katrina pointed out something that I do while acting. According to her I don't keep direct eye contact with a person, my eyes sort of dart around confusion although it's only when I'm acting because when talking in real life I don't do this. I think this is a recent habit that I have developed because it has never been mentioned in any feedback I've had to my knowledge. I did pay attention to this in my last scene with Katrina as it was the only scene I had with her after she told me but any moment where I looked at her I kept my focus and thankfully it seemed quite easy but I'd just never noticed that I had done that while performing so I'm very glad she pointed it out.
17/5/16:
Although we didn't have an actual lesson on "Earthquakes" today I feel as if I should discuss the performance demands. I wrote about them before but I'm going to asses how I feel I'm doing in meeting them:
- I feel that I have had a very good sense of focus throughout the process in terms of paying attention to every bit of direction given and just not messing around but for the performance I still think my focus is great. I'm able to stay still for the time required on stage or at the very least keep my movements minimalist. I'm doing well in that regard.
- In terms of vocal delivery I think I'm delivering a good variety of tones in my performing. I am being quite articulate and I'm being quite subtle according to my feedback. Whether or not I'll keep up this vocal quality while in theatre I'm not too sure but I have faith in myself since I've done it before according to my feedback.
- I think while performing him I'm presenting Colin pretty well although it does seem that a fair few of my scenes are done in a somewhat naturalistic manner but I still think I'm showing his problem with subtly and I think I'm getting across my interpretation of him not being too bothered overall with the environmental stuff.
- I am definitely showing the flaws in him but at the same time making it seem as though he has the choice of keeping them hidden to the best of his ability. According to my feedback they are coming across but also feel intentionally held back as to not cause more trouble.
- I do feel that I am showing his ability to make choices especially in the scene with Sarah in act 4 since I have moments where I want to leave or just stop talking to her. The subtlety is coming along and it's gotten some positive feedback.
- I'm performing with a very good amount of energy for this character and I'm doing it and balancing being subtle at the same time which I'm very happy about.
We also had a presentation on the play to present as well. We had to present the background info for the play and discuss elements of it. The scenario was that we were asking for funding for the play from investors. I compiled all the relevant research I had done for the play plus some more. My research tasks were to research epic theatre and discuss it's origins and characteristics and how they apply to the play. Also I had to research debates on environmental issues which I had done before but looked up a few more arguments which a re listed below.
Research:
As I mentioned I found some more arguments for and against the debate if climate change is real and if it is, is it man made?. Here are those arguments:
- The amount of sea ice or in the polar ice caps according to ESA satellite studies that measure the amount of ice in the sea, the amount has actually increased in the last few years since 2012.
- Ice ages. Many of them have happened of the last several million years and the just come and go. The last one ended around 11,500 years ago
- Carbon Dioxide emissions. Some sources claim that the sea actually emits more carbon dioxide than any man made source and over all man has no way near as much as effect as nature does although this is still in debate since experts argue whether or not the sea absorbs what we emit but releases it at a later point.
- Quote by Madhav L. Khandekar, UN scientist, a retired Environment Canada scientist: "Unfortunately, the IPCC climate change documents do not provide an objective assessment of the earth's temperature trends and associated climate change….As one of the invited expert reviewers for the 2007 IPCC documents, I have pointed out the flawed review process used by the IPCC scientists in one of my letters. I have also pointed out in my letter that an increasing number of scientists are now questioning the hypothesis of Greenhouse gas induced warming of the earth's surface and suggesting a stronger impact of solar variability and large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns on the observed temperature increase than previously believed."
The argument of whether or not it's man made is a definite theme of the script since most of the characters reference the damage caused to the environment by the airport expansions. The bribing conspirators of the play say that they want people to think that we have very little to no effect on the environment where as it is generally believed that we are responsible for the current changes. Characters reference man involvement with nature such as Steve who says that we can change it to the point where can beat nature. Robert and Tom on the other hand says we can't they are on the side of it being too late and as Robert says, "To remove you. she'll succeed because she's stronger than any of us." He thinks that the world will win. People debate the existence of climate change and whether it is man made so hopefully those arguments gave a bit of perspective on it and the play.
I even looked into some statistics and facts for Becca who ended up not turning up but I still found them and presented them.
Sticking with the fact that he wanted to use more grounded people to focus on to show the effects he wanted to use a dysfunctional family to fit with theme or the division between generations. The divisive nature of the family is used to show the division between generations in general. The last generation are mostly responsible for the issues to come and the current or next generation have to face it. It's also mentioned by Mike Bartlett that Freya's fear of the impending disasters is heavily linked with Robert's absence.
It's also a serious issue with this country as seen by these statistics:
- It's official: Most of Britain's 72,000 dysfunctional families have no father at home.
- Britain has a very high rate of teenage pregnancy more so than any other country and since these pregnancies are mostly unplanned, the parents don't usually stay together and then more and more families become divided and more issues come around.
- It's estimated that around 1 in 3 children in the UK have divorced or separated parents.
19/5/16:
Today we had a run through of the first half of the play and even spent some of the session discussing costume. It was a fun day and I'm overall glad about the decisions made.
Development/input:
A change was made to a scene during the first act. In which I have to google student girls partying. Karen thought in the last session that the idea of Colin dancing in that scene wouldn't work although today she changed her mind on it. Now I have to get up and dance in a manner that is similar to when I'm high in act 3 although just more subtle. At first I quite liked this although after the session when talking about the day with my classmates I started to get mixed feelings about it. I feel that the fact he dances to it similar to how he dances later takes away from the impact his dance has later. The dance should be the moment where Colin is finally letting go and showing how he wants to be wild and live more than he has. Also it's meant to be quite contrasting to his subtle singing earlier for some comedic effect. I do however feel that if we just downplay it to something even more subtle so it could have more of a build up since it's meant to be Colin's stand out funny moment while also being symbolic of his arc of confidence finding. This is all being considered mainly from the point of comedic impact although I am looking into my character as well. I'm not really bothered too much because I'm considering the Brechtian style since I'm not supposed to become too invested in him and nor is the audience so from a Brecht perspective this change shouldn't matter at all but I'm just talking from a comedic stand point. I do really like me doing something there such as at first I sing and move and bob my head to the music in a noticeable fashion which I think is great and I am completely up for keeping that in, just not going too far and ruining the other scene. I will discuss this with Karen as soon as possible. Also A minor change is that I must now say what I type into google rather than it being projected.
Today we also discussed the costumes for the characters and this was really fun. My initial idea for Colin's suit in act 4 was quite traditional even though I was considering the Brechtian nature of costume and simplification for Colin's other clothes such as the white jumper with the stripes since he's not exactly innocent but not impure either and the stripes because of how I apparently play him in a more colourful manner than expected but still works. Karen showed me what she thought Colin's suit would look like which was a big sparkly purple jacket and I must admit that I loved it, it actually made me laugh and that's a good thing. When wearing it it made perfect sense in terms of both the characters feeling and arc but also meshes with the style pretty well. It does represent Colin as a role in society, people driven by aspiration or people who just want more and I think that summing that up in one extremely exaggerated detail is great. I also tried on a pair of flared trousers that were found in the costume cupboard but they were far too big for me which is a shame because besides the size they really suited Colin.
Even though Brecht sometimes has the characters costumes represent their role in society it sometimes uses them to simplify a character so I think using it to make it blatantly obvious how Colin wants to be viewed and feel in a visual sense works very well. It sums up his feelings but is distracting enough to the point of not really being too invested with it. Also to hammer this in I was thinking (Although I'm not too sure if it'll work) that I should make him wear sunglasses when he comes out so it just adds more and more to the contrast to the point where it is distracting.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: A good thing about today was that I noticed for the first 3 acts I'm almost off book. there was only 2 times I can think of where I needed to look at the page and that was at for one line at during the scene with tom and Jasmine and then when I had to read my google search out aloud.
Weaknesses: One thing I noticed today (Or at least had confirmed more so) is the trouble I'll have projecting in the theatre. When Karen gave me feedback on my vocal delivery and general performance she said it was great but a problem she had was that she didn't know whether or not I'd be loud enough for the theatre because I'm generally a subtle actor. This is something I'll have to make sure of next week during the tech rehearsal. I'll make sure to keep doing my vocal warm up and then do my best to project. Another thing was that we didn't get to run act 4 or 5 but that is only due to tight scheduling although I'd still like to have gone over them since we have only been over act 5 once. But thankfully we still have time so I'm confident in the play still. The final issue was that unfortunately we didn't get to do the planned character work today but I think that is just due to the limited time we had although maybe the costume talk was the character work? I don't know as of now but I doubt it.
Problems and solutions:
An issue that I thought of while doing today's run through was that would I have enough time to change into another costume between act one and act 2. I'm assuming that I would only have to put a swimming hat and goggles. Initially I thought that It would go straight from Colin singing "Viva La Vida" to me having to swim but it turns out that the swimming happens at the end of act 2's prologue not before. So hopefully I should have at least two minutes to do it but this just means that I'll have to practice putting them on quickly during rehearsals although and I feel that I can but we'll see. I hope it goes well and flows and doesn't look awkward when I come out.
Aims:
An aim I have for the upcoming days is to learn the song "Deep Water" by Portishead since me and four of the guys dance in the background and also "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay, then I'll see if I'm able to change my costume in time because I do have a few minutes in which to do it. Also the fact we're in the theatre next week means that I want to aim to get my projection to a good level while keeping the tone of voice I have had in rehearsals. I need to keep and take on my performance feedback from last time about looking down when I perform, it happened a couple of weeks ago and it happened a lot through out the devising project. I think it's especially important to make sure I'm looking up this time when I talk outwards to the audience because there's a lot more focus on it in this project and if they can't see my face and what I'm saying or doing then it will affect the experience but not in a good way. The performance is not long away now and I'm very hopeful for it. There are of course a few issues that need resolving, mainly pacing and the technical side of everything that is yet to be arranged but I'm hopeful that I'll meet the demands.
This weeks research links:
http://educationatsignature.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/influences-and-characteristics-of.html
http://www.oneplusone.org.uk/content_topic/breaking-up/limiting-the-effects-of-separation-on-children/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-28860/UK-tops-league-teenage-pregnancy.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113026/Its-official-majority-Britains-dysfunctional-families-dad-home.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/earth/water_and_ice/ice_age
http://www.ibtimes.com/arctic-sea-ice-50-thicker-last-year-scientists-didnt-expect-growth-wake-2012-shrinkage-1510902
Sunday 22 May 2016
Earthquakes in London Blog 6
9/5/16:
Today we had a run through of acts one, two and three, going through them and then going through them as tableaus and then had a time run for them. I had to do act one and the majority of act 3 since we didn't have time to finish
Developments with Colin: Today I was thinking a bit more about Colin in terms of who he could represent and I thought of something. I had this idea about Colin representing the people that don't overly care about the issues presented and just more about living while he can. Overall he never really expresses any interest in the environment or the themes presented, The only time it's ever mentioned by him is after the burlesque scene in which he says, "I thought you made a very good point" where he's referring to the destruction of the rain forest. After that it's never mentioned by him again and it just goes to an arc of him trying to change his life or being upset with it. He wants Sarah out of his life and wants to do the things he never could, he looks up girls partying and wants to do it or at the very least recapture his youth. I have a feeling Colin only went to a few parties when younger and feels he could've done more. I originally thought he probably went to none when he was younger but then it's mentioned in act 5 about a jacket he wore to "Suzie's party" so I feel as though he probably did but not that much.
Also I have been thinking about moments where to make it seem as though Colin is making decisions despite him having to go with what the script says. I have already mentioned the moments with Sarah in act 4 but I also thought about some moments in act 1 and 3. I was think that during the scene where I'm with Tom and Jasmine there should be a moment where you can see that I decide to leave due to it being quite awkward and knowing that probably not much is going to happen. Then during act 3 after Jasmine just walks past me into the house I should have a couple moments where, one, I decide to follow her and two, I want to change the subject when things get too serious and she says that things are getting bleak. The last I thought of was to get up when Jasmine and Sarah start talking since I'm finding it rather annoying and don't really want to listen. I want to try out these subtle actions just to get across what he's feeling. He's not very happy and to properly get across who he represents I think this might help even if only a little Also they may add to the humour of Colin since I do see him as a sort of tragic yet funny character.
Idea/input:
Something I tried out today was a costume idea. I brought in a pair of glasses to see if they would work on Colin. I thought of this since it would go along with the idea in epic theatre of using costume to denote a character. Glasses can suggest a few things such as intelligence and that you have an attention to detail but can also signify a flaw or a weakness so I thought it would fit with showing that. The issue it would show is his lack of confidence.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strength: The scenes are actually coming along very nicely and I'm really enjoying their developments, their getting faster and more flowing although apparently still have pacing issues. Today I had a good sense of focus especially during the moments where I was supposed to be still. If I can keep that up on stage then I think it'll look great. All the scenes should flow yet overlap each other and I think if everyone does that it will look amazing. The feedback I got from today was that I am doing very well and I'm quite funny as Colin and do the singing scene quite well.
Weakness: My projection wasn't very good today and I realised that even though I'm trying my best as of now to go crazy during these dance scenes today's energy for me was quite lacking. That's quite bad because if I don't have the right amount of it in the actual performance then it won't give the right effect so I'm going to have to really try and go for it next time. .
Research:
Today I heard gestus being talked about and realised that I haven't done much research on that even though I'm basically aware of what it is so I decided to look into it when I got home.
Gestus is Technique in which you use gesture in order to show a characters essence or attitude as an overall character rather than using it to show specifics to do with an individual. For example a greedy corrupt capitalist would be shown smoking a cigar, sticking his fat belly out and laughing at his fortune and wealth. These are used to show a characters role in society rather than the character themselves. This means that the gestures only show a general person not a specific one. This means for Colin I could say that he represents the unemployed/people or possibly even just the shy people in the world so I was thinking to give him a sort of lowered posture where his stance isn't one of overly confident although he will get that later after the suit has been put on. He'll stand with more confidence and just seem an overall stronger person just from his stance and gesture. However it seems as though our play isn't really using gestus or at least not yet because we might have a small workshop on it at some point. I am definitely going to stick with changing his physicality after the suit is on since I have done it in class and it all seems to be fine.
Considering all the info/research I have given throughout this process, how would I sum up this play in a sort of synopsis? As of now I'd sum it up like this:
A play about a dysfunction and estranged family who are mostly aware of an impending earthquake. They all react in different ways such as the daughter Freya worrying about what kind of world she'll bring her unborn child into, The father, a man of the generation responsible for the way the earth is going warns one of his daughters so she doesn't give birth and doesn't even speak to the others because of his issues with fatherly duty and devotion to his wife. He never felt like he was there father so when his wife died he left them on their own. The play definitely focuses on issues of climate change and family and these two themes interlink. His motivations are driven by both of them. It shows this family among all this happening and their dysfunctional nature having an effect on everybody around them. Such as the Sarah's preoccupation with her job dealing with environmental issues in the government is affecting her marital status and even the other daughter Jasmine turned into rebellious All this while the inevitable earthquake is getting closer and closer to arriving. It shows the dangers and hopes to make you actually care and think about it.
The official synopsis on the earthquakes education pack doesn't even have much of a detailed synopsis it only really sums up the characters so that shows how complex it is to sum up all the interlinking themes, arcs and plot into a short summary. As the script even says the play is packed and scenes even overlap so it makes sense that shortening it means omitting details. I found it hard but I like what I came out with.
10/5/16:
Today we ran through the remainder of act 3 and then most of act 4 although unfortunately we couldn't finish it since we ran out of time.
I got some feedback from Karen after class about my performance. She says that she loves what I'm doing with the character and how I'm portraying him, my physicality, vocal delivery and timing are very good overall. Her concern was whether or not I'd be able to maintain the vocal quality in the theatre. She said how it's good that it's clear Colin has issues but is trying to keep them hidden instead of just making them apparent which she said would probably happen under any director. That feedback made me quite happy with how it's all going. I still obviously have some vocal issues to sort out so that my performance is effective while in the theatre but I'm very confident with how my portrayal of Colin and how the play as whole will go.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: I still think the scenes are looking great and love the staging especially how while the scenes themselves overlap we never actually block anyone when we're not supposed to such as Becky (Mrs. Andrews) doesn't get in front of me and Chloe during act three at the wrong points and it all flows well. Also I got some positive feedback from the class about my dancing scene and they say my physicality is good yet may need to be bigger in the theatre and I completely agree. I feel that my dance moves and over all movement to be honest are actually excellent from a comedic standpoint.
Weaknesses: One weakness of today is that the acts are still becoming too long and the general pacing is quite slow. That's what it seems from the feedback although I did look up the run time of the play and the average is just over three hours according to a review I read by The Telegraph so I'm not sure that means Karen wants it to be less than that or if we're genuinely going too slow since it's always quit hard to tell when you're on stage as time goes slower (For most people) while performing anyway. If we really are just going too slow then we'll have to step it up. Also I said that I think my singing is bad and the response I get from the students is "Is supposed to be isn't it?" and while I've realised that is true I have been trying to actually sound good and it hasn't been going to well I sound quite flat and just barely in tune. I'll keep it because it seems to suit it and it is my best attempt so overall that turn out well.
11/5/16:
Today we ran through the remainder of act 4 and even ran through it working out some extra blocking and details.
Input/Ideas: I brought in a costume idea for Colin today. It was a white stripey jumper with glasses. I thought this would suit him because in the original production Colin (Played by Tom Goodman-Hill) wears a light brown cardigan so I thought a sweater/jumper would be a good equivalent since I have the costume anyway and my feedback seems to be that they think Colin is a little more colourful when I play him so the stripes seemed to be a good way to symbolise that and express a bit more of what he's like as a person or a representation of shy or aspiring people in society.
Demands:
Since we overall didn't do too much in terms of development I thought I'd talk a little about the performance demands of this play taking into account general demands and the demands for going with the epic theatre style.
- A good sense of focus and control since this perform will require us to stay still for long periods of time and we will be facing out to the audience a lot. If we seem unable to focus it will take them out of it in a bad way.
- The ability to present a character on stage. This means I should have the ability to not play a character naturalistically if required to do so although keep it as a possibility for certain scenes. In this performance we do speak using generally naturalistic voices but our physicality is not for, for the most part.
- I must be able to show a flawed character even if only subtle for example my character Colin isn't a bad person and overall could be quite likeable but I have to show the issues that this role in society would go through and in my case it's issues of isolation, regret and social awkwardness. From my feedback I've been getting the issues across but also that I'm trying to hide them.
- Not get too connected to the character. This is so that I don't get too invested in Colin so that I attempt to get other people such as the audience to care about him or get invested in the character instead of getting involved in the themes and drama.
- Be able to project my voice especially as Karen calls me subtle actor and this may downplay my vocal strength and volume in the theatre but I will try my best to audible and completely articulate.
- I must be articulate and not be monotone so I can show a range of tones. It doesn't have to be natural for this but any performance that is too one note isn't a good one.
- To have the right amount of energy to perform such as in my dancing scenes or moments where I have to present being lively, whether or not I'm doing it naturalistically I still need to show that to some capacity also having little energy means that the audience could be taken out of it in a bad way since no one wants to watch a dull or drab performance
This weeks links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7929004/Earthquakes-in-London-National-Theatre-review.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/7
Today we had a run through of acts one, two and three, going through them and then going through them as tableaus and then had a time run for them. I had to do act one and the majority of act 3 since we didn't have time to finish
Developments with Colin: Today I was thinking a bit more about Colin in terms of who he could represent and I thought of something. I had this idea about Colin representing the people that don't overly care about the issues presented and just more about living while he can. Overall he never really expresses any interest in the environment or the themes presented, The only time it's ever mentioned by him is after the burlesque scene in which he says, "I thought you made a very good point" where he's referring to the destruction of the rain forest. After that it's never mentioned by him again and it just goes to an arc of him trying to change his life or being upset with it. He wants Sarah out of his life and wants to do the things he never could, he looks up girls partying and wants to do it or at the very least recapture his youth. I have a feeling Colin only went to a few parties when younger and feels he could've done more. I originally thought he probably went to none when he was younger but then it's mentioned in act 5 about a jacket he wore to "Suzie's party" so I feel as though he probably did but not that much.
Also I have been thinking about moments where to make it seem as though Colin is making decisions despite him having to go with what the script says. I have already mentioned the moments with Sarah in act 4 but I also thought about some moments in act 1 and 3. I was think that during the scene where I'm with Tom and Jasmine there should be a moment where you can see that I decide to leave due to it being quite awkward and knowing that probably not much is going to happen. Then during act 3 after Jasmine just walks past me into the house I should have a couple moments where, one, I decide to follow her and two, I want to change the subject when things get too serious and she says that things are getting bleak. The last I thought of was to get up when Jasmine and Sarah start talking since I'm finding it rather annoying and don't really want to listen. I want to try out these subtle actions just to get across what he's feeling. He's not very happy and to properly get across who he represents I think this might help even if only a little Also they may add to the humour of Colin since I do see him as a sort of tragic yet funny character.
Idea/input:
Something I tried out today was a costume idea. I brought in a pair of glasses to see if they would work on Colin. I thought of this since it would go along with the idea in epic theatre of using costume to denote a character. Glasses can suggest a few things such as intelligence and that you have an attention to detail but can also signify a flaw or a weakness so I thought it would fit with showing that. The issue it would show is his lack of confidence.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strength: The scenes are actually coming along very nicely and I'm really enjoying their developments, their getting faster and more flowing although apparently still have pacing issues. Today I had a good sense of focus especially during the moments where I was supposed to be still. If I can keep that up on stage then I think it'll look great. All the scenes should flow yet overlap each other and I think if everyone does that it will look amazing. The feedback I got from today was that I am doing very well and I'm quite funny as Colin and do the singing scene quite well.
Weakness: My projection wasn't very good today and I realised that even though I'm trying my best as of now to go crazy during these dance scenes today's energy for me was quite lacking. That's quite bad because if I don't have the right amount of it in the actual performance then it won't give the right effect so I'm going to have to really try and go for it next time. .
Research:
Today I heard gestus being talked about and realised that I haven't done much research on that even though I'm basically aware of what it is so I decided to look into it when I got home.
Gestus is Technique in which you use gesture in order to show a characters essence or attitude as an overall character rather than using it to show specifics to do with an individual. For example a greedy corrupt capitalist would be shown smoking a cigar, sticking his fat belly out and laughing at his fortune and wealth. These are used to show a characters role in society rather than the character themselves. This means that the gestures only show a general person not a specific one. This means for Colin I could say that he represents the unemployed/people or possibly even just the shy people in the world so I was thinking to give him a sort of lowered posture where his stance isn't one of overly confident although he will get that later after the suit has been put on. He'll stand with more confidence and just seem an overall stronger person just from his stance and gesture. However it seems as though our play isn't really using gestus or at least not yet because we might have a small workshop on it at some point. I am definitely going to stick with changing his physicality after the suit is on since I have done it in class and it all seems to be fine.
Considering all the info/research I have given throughout this process, how would I sum up this play in a sort of synopsis? As of now I'd sum it up like this:
A play about a dysfunction and estranged family who are mostly aware of an impending earthquake. They all react in different ways such as the daughter Freya worrying about what kind of world she'll bring her unborn child into, The father, a man of the generation responsible for the way the earth is going warns one of his daughters so she doesn't give birth and doesn't even speak to the others because of his issues with fatherly duty and devotion to his wife. He never felt like he was there father so when his wife died he left them on their own. The play definitely focuses on issues of climate change and family and these two themes interlink. His motivations are driven by both of them. It shows this family among all this happening and their dysfunctional nature having an effect on everybody around them. Such as the Sarah's preoccupation with her job dealing with environmental issues in the government is affecting her marital status and even the other daughter Jasmine turned into rebellious All this while the inevitable earthquake is getting closer and closer to arriving. It shows the dangers and hopes to make you actually care and think about it.
The official synopsis on the earthquakes education pack doesn't even have much of a detailed synopsis it only really sums up the characters so that shows how complex it is to sum up all the interlinking themes, arcs and plot into a short summary. As the script even says the play is packed and scenes even overlap so it makes sense that shortening it means omitting details. I found it hard but I like what I came out with.
10/5/16:
Today we ran through the remainder of act 3 and then most of act 4 although unfortunately we couldn't finish it since we ran out of time.
I got some feedback from Karen after class about my performance. She says that she loves what I'm doing with the character and how I'm portraying him, my physicality, vocal delivery and timing are very good overall. Her concern was whether or not I'd be able to maintain the vocal quality in the theatre. She said how it's good that it's clear Colin has issues but is trying to keep them hidden instead of just making them apparent which she said would probably happen under any director. That feedback made me quite happy with how it's all going. I still obviously have some vocal issues to sort out so that my performance is effective while in the theatre but I'm very confident with how my portrayal of Colin and how the play as whole will go.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: I still think the scenes are looking great and love the staging especially how while the scenes themselves overlap we never actually block anyone when we're not supposed to such as Becky (Mrs. Andrews) doesn't get in front of me and Chloe during act three at the wrong points and it all flows well. Also I got some positive feedback from the class about my dancing scene and they say my physicality is good yet may need to be bigger in the theatre and I completely agree. I feel that my dance moves and over all movement to be honest are actually excellent from a comedic standpoint.
Weaknesses: One weakness of today is that the acts are still becoming too long and the general pacing is quite slow. That's what it seems from the feedback although I did look up the run time of the play and the average is just over three hours according to a review I read by The Telegraph so I'm not sure that means Karen wants it to be less than that or if we're genuinely going too slow since it's always quit hard to tell when you're on stage as time goes slower (For most people) while performing anyway. If we really are just going too slow then we'll have to step it up. Also I said that I think my singing is bad and the response I get from the students is "Is supposed to be isn't it?" and while I've realised that is true I have been trying to actually sound good and it hasn't been going to well I sound quite flat and just barely in tune. I'll keep it because it seems to suit it and it is my best attempt so overall that turn out well.
11/5/16:
Today we ran through the remainder of act 4 and even ran through it working out some extra blocking and details.
Input/Ideas: I brought in a costume idea for Colin today. It was a white stripey jumper with glasses. I thought this would suit him because in the original production Colin (Played by Tom Goodman-Hill) wears a light brown cardigan so I thought a sweater/jumper would be a good equivalent since I have the costume anyway and my feedback seems to be that they think Colin is a little more colourful when I play him so the stripes seemed to be a good way to symbolise that and express a bit more of what he's like as a person or a representation of shy or aspiring people in society.
Demands:
Since we overall didn't do too much in terms of development I thought I'd talk a little about the performance demands of this play taking into account general demands and the demands for going with the epic theatre style.
- A good sense of focus and control since this perform will require us to stay still for long periods of time and we will be facing out to the audience a lot. If we seem unable to focus it will take them out of it in a bad way.
- The ability to present a character on stage. This means I should have the ability to not play a character naturalistically if required to do so although keep it as a possibility for certain scenes. In this performance we do speak using generally naturalistic voices but our physicality is not for, for the most part.
- I must be able to show a flawed character even if only subtle for example my character Colin isn't a bad person and overall could be quite likeable but I have to show the issues that this role in society would go through and in my case it's issues of isolation, regret and social awkwardness. From my feedback I've been getting the issues across but also that I'm trying to hide them.
- Not get too connected to the character. This is so that I don't get too invested in Colin so that I attempt to get other people such as the audience to care about him or get invested in the character instead of getting involved in the themes and drama.
- Be able to project my voice especially as Karen calls me subtle actor and this may downplay my vocal strength and volume in the theatre but I will try my best to audible and completely articulate.
- I must be articulate and not be monotone so I can show a range of tones. It doesn't have to be natural for this but any performance that is too one note isn't a good one.
- To have the right amount of energy to perform such as in my dancing scenes or moments where I have to present being lively, whether or not I'm doing it naturalistically I still need to show that to some capacity also having little energy means that the audience could be taken out of it in a bad way since no one wants to watch a dull or drab performance
- To get across who the character I am portraying is supposed to represent. In this case the unemployed or someone who aspires and wants to live.
- Being able to show a characters free will to make their own choices but they still end up going with what the script says.
- Being able to show a characters free will to make their own choices but they still end up going with what the script says.
This weeks links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/7929004/Earthquakes-in-London-National-Theatre-review.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/7
Earthquakes in London: Blog 5
3/5/16:
Today we did some blocking on act 3 and did an activity in groups on the play.
Blocking:
Today we started blocking from where we had left off last time which was a few pages into act 3 and I had just sat down and had a slightly awkward exchange with Jasmine. We focused on the dinner scenes with Sarah and carter but also with Robert and Steve. This mainly required me and Chloe to sit on the chairs and pretend to be high for almost the entire time. We did get to do one brief scene that is interspersed with the other scenes. Me and Chloe are still on the middle of the catwalk on stage left and we have to remain there for a very long time. I assumed that this meant at points we could/would move so things would still be happening but we wouldn't be focused on due to the other scenes. This doesn't seem to be the case for now as we're asked to stay still and I believe it was mentioned that us moving (Or anyone who is not in a scene) would be distracting. So this means that we won't be able to go and get props such as the wine that it mentions in the script that me and Jasmine are drinking. We would have to move and get/pour it I assume this just means we won't have it and to be fair it's not anything drastic but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Activity:
After we started blocking we were asked to get into groups of people we are in scenes with and make a graph of a given act to do with the "Musicality" of that act. This meant keeping track of the act in terms of pacing, sound scope, timing, tension and etc. Me and Chloe were given act 1 to draw on the graph and the result is the top graph on the picture below. We thought that the act overall got higher or louder in most of these aspects as it went along despite dipping now and then as you can see in the picture. We agreed that Jasmine's scenes generally make the graph stats increase when going from the last scene although I must say that my character Colin (At least his scenes) doesn't have a consistent effect on the graph with it fluctuating a lot with him. This was interesting since it gave a good sense of the plays impact and importance of certain characters, arcs and stories. Seeing the dips and peaks in the graph and act structure was cool and seemed to give a little more context and understanding to the plays elements such as it definitely seems to escalate when Jasmine is on stage and sometimes dip when I'm onstage or when the tone may change between scenes such as the change from any of Peter and Freya's scenes to Jasmine's scenes.
Strengths and weaknesses:
A weakness of today's activity was that initially I had no Idea what it was actually about but that was a small issue since I just asked for some clarification and I got it although it still took me a while. A bigger issue of today was that in terms of blocking we didn't get too much done. We got two scenes mainly blocked which is good and it's only due to the scenes needing to be staged correctly and working out the scene will play out so it's not bad because the scenes are coming along very nicely so don't get me wrong and it is justified I just wish we had some more time in order to make some more progress because it was going so well.
A strength of today was that I am really beginning to love the staging despite some issues that we have when trying to get it organised. The scene that we left on with Max and his monologues is great. It's really great. The direction given and the performance mixed with the ideas for the background and the Brechtian staging with him looking forward and almost lecturing the audience I think it's coming along brilliantly.
Input/Idea:
Karen mentioned to Chloe about an idea for the burlesque scene. It was an idea I had told Chloe a week or so before but didn't think to suggest it because I thought it wouldn't go well with the staging. That turned out to be wrong since Karen also thought of the same thing. The idea we had was for Chloe to stand behind the screen but in front of the projector so that she could do her erotic dance but only see her silhouette this both keeps it somewhat subtle and even adds to the surreal aspect about it. The one part of my idea Karen didn't seem to agree with was that instead of her having signs we have the messages projected above her and have markers for her to dance on so she doesn't get in the way of the words unintentionally. She didn't seem to keen on that but instead suggested having the spectators hold up signs that can be found underneath the platforms we'll be around. I like that idea and just has less risk than the projected signs since there is still the issue of whether there's actually any room to do the projected signs anyway. I have no idea if it will actually be used but I hope so because I think it has potential especially what we could do with in terms of lighting it.
5/5/16:
Thursday 5/5/16: today we continued to block act 3.
Blocking:
We continued with where got to with the blocking on Tuesday. We actually blocked my singing scene with Jasmine. I have a conversation with her while high on drugs and then I get an urge to dance. I put on the song "Rebellion (Lies)" by Arcade Fire by holding up the CD to cue the songs start and then going crazy dancing although I have to start off subtle yet still very awkward. This was fun I wasn't disappointed about the scene at all and even the things that had to be changed such as CD being used in a more symbolic manner to suit the Brechtian approach which I really like. It keeps things simple. We have to get certain things timed right such as Sarah and Carters moments that cut into our dance scene. They are cued for specific moments in the song (Specifically the instrumental breaks) and these bits may take a while to time correctly and I don't know if Katrina or Rhys have listened to the song to get there cues. They should now but to be fair it was just blocking and it was pretty good for the first ever attempt. Today was really fun and I'm glad of what we got done, not just my scenes but everybody's.
Ideas:
An idea I suggested was for one of Max's monologues in which he talks about Mrs Andrews. He is literally talking about her but the subtext heavily suggests that he's talking about Mother Earth. I suggested that in order to convey this properly since it's not spelt out in the monologue itself, we could use the projector, starting with a black screen and slowly having a picture of earth fade in and be completely visible as his speech finishes. He's talking about how wart could just take everything away from us (using Mrs Andrews and an example). The fact it slowly fades would mesh well and be a subtle reminder of what he's really talking about. I hope the idea is used since it was received well and should be quite simple to pull off. It also fits with the Brechtian devise of using signs to convey information but this one shows the subtext visually and not using text although it's the same intent and principle. he style also uses projectors to convey information if the play allows it
Problems and solutions:
During my scene today I was skeptical about singing since I wasn't sure how I'd sound or really how I should should sound. I tried the scene trying to project as much as possible without my voice cracking. Thankfully for the majority of the song before the key change in the last verse it was apparently quite good and they all seemed to like it. I think i may have missed a few notes but overall it was fine thankfully. However when it got to the key change both me and Chloe sounded quite bad in my opinion. This is something I think we need to practice because trying at home and then showing the class like I did payed off so I'll continue with that and see if the key change will work. If not then I may have to mime it or it may not matter since it never specifies Colin can sing so hopefully it may get played for laughs or something along these lines.
Another thing that seemed initially tricky was that during the scene I am supposed to put the CD into the CD player and then start dancing but there was no was to actually have one on the stage and and to be able to show me doing it properly. So Karen said to just have the CD on stage already (Brought on by Becky I believe) and then I simply hold it up to cue the music to stop. I like the potential of the that visual moment to be honest, it's simple and conveys what's going on and is different enough to enforce Brecht's distancing effect more.
Research:
When looking at a document on Brecht there was a section talking about how characters are often simplified in Brechtian plays. They often become stereotypes or are just presented in a simple manner. It's either that or extremely complex but I believe those are for very few exceptions. This has made me wonder if it's OK to play Colin as his simplified one sentence character. A lonely, unfulfilled man who aspires to be more and lose his past life to do the things he missed out on. Brechtian characters are often simplified and some times quite complex but I'm not too sure if Colin can be portrayed this way. I want the shy and dreaming side of him to show but also just the moments where he can't stand being around Sarah so it's 2 distinct emotional states but I may vary or change my mind on this as the blocking goes along but for now I'll try my best to get him to be simple with in each contained scene or episode as Brecht would call it. Also I found that since Brecht plays often are presented simplistically I find it very fitting that we are using simplistic and minimalist set and props.
This week's research links:
http://www.thedramateacher.com/epic-theatre-conventions/
Today we did some blocking on act 3 and did an activity in groups on the play.
Blocking:
Today we started blocking from where we had left off last time which was a few pages into act 3 and I had just sat down and had a slightly awkward exchange with Jasmine. We focused on the dinner scenes with Sarah and carter but also with Robert and Steve. This mainly required me and Chloe to sit on the chairs and pretend to be high for almost the entire time. We did get to do one brief scene that is interspersed with the other scenes. Me and Chloe are still on the middle of the catwalk on stage left and we have to remain there for a very long time. I assumed that this meant at points we could/would move so things would still be happening but we wouldn't be focused on due to the other scenes. This doesn't seem to be the case for now as we're asked to stay still and I believe it was mentioned that us moving (Or anyone who is not in a scene) would be distracting. So this means that we won't be able to go and get props such as the wine that it mentions in the script that me and Jasmine are drinking. We would have to move and get/pour it I assume this just means we won't have it and to be fair it's not anything drastic but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Activity:
After we started blocking we were asked to get into groups of people we are in scenes with and make a graph of a given act to do with the "Musicality" of that act. This meant keeping track of the act in terms of pacing, sound scope, timing, tension and etc. Me and Chloe were given act 1 to draw on the graph and the result is the top graph on the picture below. We thought that the act overall got higher or louder in most of these aspects as it went along despite dipping now and then as you can see in the picture. We agreed that Jasmine's scenes generally make the graph stats increase when going from the last scene although I must say that my character Colin (At least his scenes) doesn't have a consistent effect on the graph with it fluctuating a lot with him. This was interesting since it gave a good sense of the plays impact and importance of certain characters, arcs and stories. Seeing the dips and peaks in the graph and act structure was cool and seemed to give a little more context and understanding to the plays elements such as it definitely seems to escalate when Jasmine is on stage and sometimes dip when I'm onstage or when the tone may change between scenes such as the change from any of Peter and Freya's scenes to Jasmine's scenes.
Strengths and weaknesses:
A weakness of today's activity was that initially I had no Idea what it was actually about but that was a small issue since I just asked for some clarification and I got it although it still took me a while. A bigger issue of today was that in terms of blocking we didn't get too much done. We got two scenes mainly blocked which is good and it's only due to the scenes needing to be staged correctly and working out the scene will play out so it's not bad because the scenes are coming along very nicely so don't get me wrong and it is justified I just wish we had some more time in order to make some more progress because it was going so well.
A strength of today was that I am really beginning to love the staging despite some issues that we have when trying to get it organised. The scene that we left on with Max and his monologues is great. It's really great. The direction given and the performance mixed with the ideas for the background and the Brechtian staging with him looking forward and almost lecturing the audience I think it's coming along brilliantly.
Input/Idea:
Karen mentioned to Chloe about an idea for the burlesque scene. It was an idea I had told Chloe a week or so before but didn't think to suggest it because I thought it wouldn't go well with the staging. That turned out to be wrong since Karen also thought of the same thing. The idea we had was for Chloe to stand behind the screen but in front of the projector so that she could do her erotic dance but only see her silhouette this both keeps it somewhat subtle and even adds to the surreal aspect about it. The one part of my idea Karen didn't seem to agree with was that instead of her having signs we have the messages projected above her and have markers for her to dance on so she doesn't get in the way of the words unintentionally. She didn't seem to keen on that but instead suggested having the spectators hold up signs that can be found underneath the platforms we'll be around. I like that idea and just has less risk than the projected signs since there is still the issue of whether there's actually any room to do the projected signs anyway. I have no idea if it will actually be used but I hope so because I think it has potential especially what we could do with in terms of lighting it.
5/5/16:
Thursday 5/5/16: today we continued to block act 3.
Blocking:
We continued with where got to with the blocking on Tuesday. We actually blocked my singing scene with Jasmine. I have a conversation with her while high on drugs and then I get an urge to dance. I put on the song "Rebellion (Lies)" by Arcade Fire by holding up the CD to cue the songs start and then going crazy dancing although I have to start off subtle yet still very awkward. This was fun I wasn't disappointed about the scene at all and even the things that had to be changed such as CD being used in a more symbolic manner to suit the Brechtian approach which I really like. It keeps things simple. We have to get certain things timed right such as Sarah and Carters moments that cut into our dance scene. They are cued for specific moments in the song (Specifically the instrumental breaks) and these bits may take a while to time correctly and I don't know if Katrina or Rhys have listened to the song to get there cues. They should now but to be fair it was just blocking and it was pretty good for the first ever attempt. Today was really fun and I'm glad of what we got done, not just my scenes but everybody's.
Ideas:
An idea I suggested was for one of Max's monologues in which he talks about Mrs Andrews. He is literally talking about her but the subtext heavily suggests that he's talking about Mother Earth. I suggested that in order to convey this properly since it's not spelt out in the monologue itself, we could use the projector, starting with a black screen and slowly having a picture of earth fade in and be completely visible as his speech finishes. He's talking about how wart could just take everything away from us (using Mrs Andrews and an example). The fact it slowly fades would mesh well and be a subtle reminder of what he's really talking about. I hope the idea is used since it was received well and should be quite simple to pull off. It also fits with the Brechtian devise of using signs to convey information but this one shows the subtext visually and not using text although it's the same intent and principle. he style also uses projectors to convey information if the play allows it
Problems and solutions:
During my scene today I was skeptical about singing since I wasn't sure how I'd sound or really how I should should sound. I tried the scene trying to project as much as possible without my voice cracking. Thankfully for the majority of the song before the key change in the last verse it was apparently quite good and they all seemed to like it. I think i may have missed a few notes but overall it was fine thankfully. However when it got to the key change both me and Chloe sounded quite bad in my opinion. This is something I think we need to practice because trying at home and then showing the class like I did payed off so I'll continue with that and see if the key change will work. If not then I may have to mime it or it may not matter since it never specifies Colin can sing so hopefully it may get played for laughs or something along these lines.
Another thing that seemed initially tricky was that during the scene I am supposed to put the CD into the CD player and then start dancing but there was no was to actually have one on the stage and and to be able to show me doing it properly. So Karen said to just have the CD on stage already (Brought on by Becky I believe) and then I simply hold it up to cue the music to stop. I like the potential of the that visual moment to be honest, it's simple and conveys what's going on and is different enough to enforce Brecht's distancing effect more.
Research:
When looking at a document on Brecht there was a section talking about how characters are often simplified in Brechtian plays. They often become stereotypes or are just presented in a simple manner. It's either that or extremely complex but I believe those are for very few exceptions. This has made me wonder if it's OK to play Colin as his simplified one sentence character. A lonely, unfulfilled man who aspires to be more and lose his past life to do the things he missed out on. Brechtian characters are often simplified and some times quite complex but I'm not too sure if Colin can be portrayed this way. I want the shy and dreaming side of him to show but also just the moments where he can't stand being around Sarah so it's 2 distinct emotional states but I may vary or change my mind on this as the blocking goes along but for now I'll try my best to get him to be simple with in each contained scene or episode as Brecht would call it. Also I found that since Brecht plays often are presented simplistically I find it very fitting that we are using simplistic and minimalist set and props.
This week's research links:
http://www.thedramateacher.com/epic-theatre-conventions/
Earthquakes in London Blog 4
25/4/16:
Today we could actually carry on with blocking since some cast and myself are back from helping with "The Man of Mode". Karen decided that instead of blocking act 2 we'd instead block act four since the set will change at this point and she wanted a better idea of how it can work also our rehearsal room will be used so no is the best time to start that. The stage has gone from 3 catwalks connected by a back to a back catwalk with two sections of stage in front of it and a ladder in the centre.
Ideas in my scenes/Input:
One feature of Brecht is that a characters decision should be shown. As in you should show them them making it regardless of which option you end up choosing. A moment like that happens in my first scene of the act. A moment where Sarah is telling me she has a new job I thought that Colin wouldn't want to hear about it and would only say he has a headache just in case she ends up going on another rant pressuring g him to get a job. It's that moment that I get up and decide to leave but I'm stopped.
Me and Chloe mad a little moment where we quickly yet awkwardly look at each other when Liberty says "Why she's trying so hard". The look just quickly establishes the awkwardness between them since I feel Colin isn't attracted to jasmine and the fact that he going through this whole situation with his wife's sister is slightly awkward and they both acknowledge that with this small look.
The moment when we are walking to the south bank and Jasmine goes on about how many people are checking Colin out, the script just says "!". At first I didn't know what that could mean so I just went with what felt natural after reading that. When walking off and she says "Six" to trigger it I just sharply turn round and make a face that says "Shut up" in a somewhat playful yet serious manner but only showing it in my face.
Karen said to us today that if there was any point that we felt like moving then do so, do what feels natural to try it out so the scenes aren't too static but also keep the movements in while the style and not be too naturalistic. A moment for me was when I walk around to the front when Sarah is talking about getting her job for a company. I walk around to the front of the stage and face out to the audience as though I'm talking to her. After I've had my rant while facing forward I walk to the right or the platform I'm standing in front of. I did this which gave Katrina a chance to come up and be more direct with Colin. It's a very nice scene and probably my favourite one so far. The moments I moved did seem to help the flow of the scene and it looks good from what I can tell, I'm happy that these little moments of experimenting worked.
While in the shop "Liberty's" I come out with my suit on and I had an idea for when I come out and show them. While Jasmine and Liberty are on the platform, I could stand at the front beside it looking outward to the audience as if they were a mirror and I'm checking myself out and playing with the suit while talking to them. We showed Karen and she liked it but felt it could be better so she asked us if we could put jasmine on the sofa, Liberty next to it standing up and me come out on to the platform above them. I do think this is an improvement and I even kept my mirror idea in although now I'm facing to the side so I can see both the audience and the other cast members.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: A strength of today is that me and my groups and people I was in scenes with were very focused today and very willing to go along with direction and also decide things for them =selves even if they weren't stuck to such as Karen changing our staging in liberty's but even then we all tried and I'm glad we did. Also I really like the staging for the second half of the play. The difference in how it looks and how it will still keep consistent with the style I think is great. It still has the same potential for a Brechtian approach and I like it.
Weaknesses: To be honest there was nothing really wrong with today, I guess I could say that some of the scenes took a while and a few attempts to get right such as me coming in to talk to Katrina but that's a good thing from my point of view. It's trying to get the scene right no matter what and it wasn't frustrating. It was good to see the gradual improvement of what I was doing and the effect it had. Also I could say that our staging idea got changed is a bad thing but it was improved so that's good as well so overall today was good day and I don't really have anything negative to say about it.
Information on Colin:
What does Colin say about himself?
- He says that he is in big trouble because he might come home with the wrong ingredient which gives an idea about his unsteady relationship with his wife.
- He said he's never "Fucked shit up" meaning that he has never really had the chance to be rebellious and have a free spirit. He claims it's for the sake of dignity it's best to avoid this but it is definitely something he's regretting thinking as he's gotten older. He never says that latter part but it's obvious that he does want to act a bit more like that.
- He says he's never been a city boy meaning that he has never experimented with drugs and partying or just a wild lifestyle. He doesn't even smoke so he's probably never done anything out of his comfort zone probably other than picking up Sarah from her protests but even then he wasn't too involved with them.
- He mentions a girl pinching his behind and then seeing his face and being disgusted by him. This gives me the obvious impression that when Colin was growing up he was not very popular with women or even just people to be honest. I think that Sarah has probably been his only committed partner. Also I feel he views himself as very unattractive because of that little story.
What do other characters say about Colin?
- Sarah says that she thinks him buying a Coldplay album is similar to what an old woman would do.
- Sarah mentions she thinks Colin is an amazing man to carter but all he does is look at her when she comes in so it means Colin also feels resentment towards her instead of just her feeling it towards him.
- Sarah says Colin used to think she was more attractive when she stood up for things that mattered and now that she's moved on to something less exciting it has made him long for something more. He used to actually help her to a degree but now she's more independent and gone against her older morals he has lost respect for her a little.
- Sarah is often telling Colin to get a job. In fact it's the first thing she says to him when she comes in. This annoys my character. He feels that the love has gone from their relationship. He also finds it extremely annoying and even at points goes to walk off when she mentions it such as in act 4 when he says he has a headache. It doesn't say in the script if it's real but I say it's fake because he doesn't want her going on another rant about finding work.
- Jasmine says he would probably be on his own and has a lot of time on his hands. This adds to what I was saying about him wanting more. To most people just spending all their time at home is not enough so to Colin, a man who wants more out of life it's definitely not enough to satisfy him and that's why he is looking up things that give him hope or just make him a little happier.
- Jasmine says Colin is going through a midlife crisis which is true since he wants to change his life and he's got issues with how everything is going. He's having marital issues and he wants more but can't get it since things such as pressure from his wife are getting in the way.
- Sarah says that he used to hate what she used to do such as throwing things through windows or protesting and Colin replies with "At least we argued about things that mattered"
- Jasmine says he's had a tough life to which he replies "Fuck it" meaning he is ready to move on and can see the potential in this as 5 women have checked him out while he is in the suit in a very short amount of time.
- Both Steve and Sarah are surprised by him buying the suit so this means no one would expect someone this shy and reserved to go all out like that so suddenly. It's quite jarring to them.
What does the writer say about Colin in the script?
The writer puts a fair few of Colin's felt emotions in the stage directions and their is no character biography in the script to my knowledge.
- It says after the burlesque scene that he is STILL carrying his shopping which can also suggest something about it. Maybe Sarah told Colin to go instead of her meaning that she can boss him around a bit.
- It says I enjoy watching the student girls dance that I'm looking at on the Internet. Also that I want to join in to point where I literally stand up. This shows my enthusiasm for it and how much I desire to be a part of it and need to try it.
- It says that when I sing to myself I am restrained and shy and this is when I'm on my own so it means I have very little self confidence.
- It then says that I sit motionless and sad, this is due to him realising that he'll probably never actually be able to get involved in all this since he's stuck in this situation.
- It says that his sigh when being told he'll be helped and sorted out is a strange depressing one. This could be him realising "Yeah, I really do need to sort myself out or I am gonna be stuck like this". It will take effort and time but if he doesn't do anything now then he can't at all.
- During the dancing scene it says he is not used to moving his body. When I gain confidence it isn't ironic and that he is really going crazy because he wants to. It shows what he wants to really be like, wild and generally care free.
- It says he stops her kissing him which to me confirms my idea of him having no real attraction to her.
- It says that when Colin comes out with the suit "He looks fantastic". I get that when he sees himself he also feels fantastic, he sees what he's wanted to see for years. He's gone all out but worries that he may look slightly silly due to lack of confidence.
28/4/16:
Today we blocked the first few pages of act 3 in the script. This means we staged the prologue and only the slightest bit with me and Jasmine in it.
Input:
Me and Chloe decided that this scene would take place on the stage left catwalk in the middle of it. We would stand at the front facing outwards when speaking to each other at the door. She then walks past me to sit down on the sofa and I don't sit down on it until she offers the drugs and alcohol. This was a very small amount of scene that we blocked although I quite like what we have done with it and I'm starting to see what the rest of the scene can lead to when we block the rest of act 3 such as how we can move forward to sing at the front of the stage and possibly even go crazy and go off of the catwalks which would be quite fun although it means that we could potentially distract from the moments of Carter and Sarah which would not be a good thing.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths: A strength of today was that despite the very short amount of time we had did get something done. Everyone was off blocking their individual moments and came back with some good results. Even though me and Chloe only got a small section of our overarching scene in the act we liked what we came out with and even what other people had done such as I really liked the way the scene between Max (Robert) and Jack A (Steve) turned out. It's an engaging, funny and well performed scene.
Weaknesses: The only real weakness of today was that due to other arrangements with college the class didn't actually have that long in order to block the act so that resulted in only a few scenes being properly blocked and it meant the cast had to block them individually instead of going through the acts as usual with Karen however what we got was still great and even if it was a small amount it was great what we got.
Aim:
My aim for the next session is to hopefully expand on this staging and I hope I can suggest going off of the stage at some point for the dance scene if we get that far because I'm really hopeful with how it's all going. I also need to carry on my research because I feel there's still more to uncover such as theme work and of course anything to do with Colin.
Today we could actually carry on with blocking since some cast and myself are back from helping with "The Man of Mode". Karen decided that instead of blocking act 2 we'd instead block act four since the set will change at this point and she wanted a better idea of how it can work also our rehearsal room will be used so no is the best time to start that. The stage has gone from 3 catwalks connected by a back to a back catwalk with two sections of stage in front of it and a ladder in the centre.
Ideas in my scenes/Input:
One feature of Brecht is that a characters decision should be shown. As in you should show them them making it regardless of which option you end up choosing. A moment like that happens in my first scene of the act. A moment where Sarah is telling me she has a new job I thought that Colin wouldn't want to hear about it and would only say he has a headache just in case she ends up going on another rant pressuring g him to get a job. It's that moment that I get up and decide to leave but I'm stopped.
Me and Chloe mad a little moment where we quickly yet awkwardly look at each other when Liberty says "Why she's trying so hard". The look just quickly establishes the awkwardness between them since I feel Colin isn't attracted to jasmine and the fact that he going through this whole situation with his wife's sister is slightly awkward and they both acknowledge that with this small look.
The moment when we are walking to the south bank and Jasmine goes on about how many people are checking Colin out, the script just says "!". At first I didn't know what that could mean so I just went with what felt natural after reading that. When walking off and she says "Six" to trigger it I just sharply turn round and make a face that says "Shut up" in a somewhat playful yet serious manner but only showing it in my face.
Karen said to us today that if there was any point that we felt like moving then do so, do what feels natural to try it out so the scenes aren't too static but also keep the movements in while the style and not be too naturalistic. A moment for me was when I walk around to the front when Sarah is talking about getting her job for a company. I walk around to the front of the stage and face out to the audience as though I'm talking to her. After I've had my rant while facing forward I walk to the right or the platform I'm standing in front of. I did this which gave Katrina a chance to come up and be more direct with Colin. It's a very nice scene and probably my favourite one so far. The moments I moved did seem to help the flow of the scene and it looks good from what I can tell, I'm happy that these little moments of experimenting worked.
While in the shop "Liberty's" I come out with my suit on and I had an idea for when I come out and show them. While Jasmine and Liberty are on the platform, I could stand at the front beside it looking outward to the audience as if they were a mirror and I'm checking myself out and playing with the suit while talking to them. We showed Karen and she liked it but felt it could be better so she asked us if we could put jasmine on the sofa, Liberty next to it standing up and me come out on to the platform above them. I do think this is an improvement and I even kept my mirror idea in although now I'm facing to the side so I can see both the audience and the other cast members.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: A strength of today is that me and my groups and people I was in scenes with were very focused today and very willing to go along with direction and also decide things for them =selves even if they weren't stuck to such as Karen changing our staging in liberty's but even then we all tried and I'm glad we did. Also I really like the staging for the second half of the play. The difference in how it looks and how it will still keep consistent with the style I think is great. It still has the same potential for a Brechtian approach and I like it.
Weaknesses: To be honest there was nothing really wrong with today, I guess I could say that some of the scenes took a while and a few attempts to get right such as me coming in to talk to Katrina but that's a good thing from my point of view. It's trying to get the scene right no matter what and it wasn't frustrating. It was good to see the gradual improvement of what I was doing and the effect it had. Also I could say that our staging idea got changed is a bad thing but it was improved so that's good as well so overall today was good day and I don't really have anything negative to say about it.
Information on Colin:
What does Colin say about himself?
- He says that he is in big trouble because he might come home with the wrong ingredient which gives an idea about his unsteady relationship with his wife.
- He said he's never "Fucked shit up" meaning that he has never really had the chance to be rebellious and have a free spirit. He claims it's for the sake of dignity it's best to avoid this but it is definitely something he's regretting thinking as he's gotten older. He never says that latter part but it's obvious that he does want to act a bit more like that.
- He says he's never been a city boy meaning that he has never experimented with drugs and partying or just a wild lifestyle. He doesn't even smoke so he's probably never done anything out of his comfort zone probably other than picking up Sarah from her protests but even then he wasn't too involved with them.
- He mentions a girl pinching his behind and then seeing his face and being disgusted by him. This gives me the obvious impression that when Colin was growing up he was not very popular with women or even just people to be honest. I think that Sarah has probably been his only committed partner. Also I feel he views himself as very unattractive because of that little story.
What do other characters say about Colin?
- Sarah says that she thinks him buying a Coldplay album is similar to what an old woman would do.
- Sarah mentions she thinks Colin is an amazing man to carter but all he does is look at her when she comes in so it means Colin also feels resentment towards her instead of just her feeling it towards him.
- Sarah says Colin used to think she was more attractive when she stood up for things that mattered and now that she's moved on to something less exciting it has made him long for something more. He used to actually help her to a degree but now she's more independent and gone against her older morals he has lost respect for her a little.
- Sarah is often telling Colin to get a job. In fact it's the first thing she says to him when she comes in. This annoys my character. He feels that the love has gone from their relationship. He also finds it extremely annoying and even at points goes to walk off when she mentions it such as in act 4 when he says he has a headache. It doesn't say in the script if it's real but I say it's fake because he doesn't want her going on another rant about finding work.
- Jasmine says he would probably be on his own and has a lot of time on his hands. This adds to what I was saying about him wanting more. To most people just spending all their time at home is not enough so to Colin, a man who wants more out of life it's definitely not enough to satisfy him and that's why he is looking up things that give him hope or just make him a little happier.
- Jasmine says Colin is going through a midlife crisis which is true since he wants to change his life and he's got issues with how everything is going. He's having marital issues and he wants more but can't get it since things such as pressure from his wife are getting in the way.
- Sarah says that he used to hate what she used to do such as throwing things through windows or protesting and Colin replies with "At least we argued about things that mattered"
- Jasmine says he's had a tough life to which he replies "Fuck it" meaning he is ready to move on and can see the potential in this as 5 women have checked him out while he is in the suit in a very short amount of time.
- Both Steve and Sarah are surprised by him buying the suit so this means no one would expect someone this shy and reserved to go all out like that so suddenly. It's quite jarring to them.
What does the writer say about Colin in the script?
The writer puts a fair few of Colin's felt emotions in the stage directions and their is no character biography in the script to my knowledge.
- It says after the burlesque scene that he is STILL carrying his shopping which can also suggest something about it. Maybe Sarah told Colin to go instead of her meaning that she can boss him around a bit.
- It says I enjoy watching the student girls dance that I'm looking at on the Internet. Also that I want to join in to point where I literally stand up. This shows my enthusiasm for it and how much I desire to be a part of it and need to try it.
- It says that when I sing to myself I am restrained and shy and this is when I'm on my own so it means I have very little self confidence.
- It then says that I sit motionless and sad, this is due to him realising that he'll probably never actually be able to get involved in all this since he's stuck in this situation.
- It says that his sigh when being told he'll be helped and sorted out is a strange depressing one. This could be him realising "Yeah, I really do need to sort myself out or I am gonna be stuck like this". It will take effort and time but if he doesn't do anything now then he can't at all.
- During the dancing scene it says he is not used to moving his body. When I gain confidence it isn't ironic and that he is really going crazy because he wants to. It shows what he wants to really be like, wild and generally care free.
- It says he stops her kissing him which to me confirms my idea of him having no real attraction to her.
- It says that when Colin comes out with the suit "He looks fantastic". I get that when he sees himself he also feels fantastic, he sees what he's wanted to see for years. He's gone all out but worries that he may look slightly silly due to lack of confidence.
28/4/16:
Today we blocked the first few pages of act 3 in the script. This means we staged the prologue and only the slightest bit with me and Jasmine in it.
Input:
Me and Chloe decided that this scene would take place on the stage left catwalk in the middle of it. We would stand at the front facing outwards when speaking to each other at the door. She then walks past me to sit down on the sofa and I don't sit down on it until she offers the drugs and alcohol. This was a very small amount of scene that we blocked although I quite like what we have done with it and I'm starting to see what the rest of the scene can lead to when we block the rest of act 3 such as how we can move forward to sing at the front of the stage and possibly even go crazy and go off of the catwalks which would be quite fun although it means that we could potentially distract from the moments of Carter and Sarah which would not be a good thing.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Strengths: A strength of today was that despite the very short amount of time we had did get something done. Everyone was off blocking their individual moments and came back with some good results. Even though me and Chloe only got a small section of our overarching scene in the act we liked what we came out with and even what other people had done such as I really liked the way the scene between Max (Robert) and Jack A (Steve) turned out. It's an engaging, funny and well performed scene.
Weaknesses: The only real weakness of today was that due to other arrangements with college the class didn't actually have that long in order to block the act so that resulted in only a few scenes being properly blocked and it meant the cast had to block them individually instead of going through the acts as usual with Karen however what we got was still great and even if it was a small amount it was great what we got.
Aim:
My aim for the next session is to hopefully expand on this staging and I hope I can suggest going off of the stage at some point for the dance scene if we get that far because I'm really hopeful with how it's all going. I also need to carry on my research because I feel there's still more to uncover such as theme work and of course anything to do with Colin.
Earthquakes in London Blog 3
18/4/16:
Today we actually started blocking our play as well as doing more work on the style of Brecht/epic theatre. We managed to get the basic blocking for act 1 done in the session we had although there will still be adjustments.
Tableau work:
We had a little workshop about slogan tableaus. We had to create a propaganda frame and a reality frame. I was going to suggest the phrase we should use for our reality frame but Katrina got there before me and said the same thing. The phrase "This planet can sustain 1 billion people and there are currently 6 billion people" The propaganda frame was all of us standing in a triangle with proud triumphant faces and stances making it seem as if the amount of people in the world isn't a problem and that it will have no effect, everyone is just fine. The reality frame was everyone being a lot more cramped in and even having some of us much lower and grabbing onto Georgia (who was in the centre) to show how crowded society really is and the difference in status, position, and dependability of everyone in it. After this we were given a word to do the same thing with. "Refugees" was our word and the propaganda frame showed of us standing facing away from the refugees but at the same time they are ALL stealing from us. The reality frame showed people struggling and needing help and begging for it. People turning away and not helping and even people that do help them to show the divisive opinion and that they're still human and need help even though some of them still may have bad motives or want to exploit the help some are offering. This was interesting and showed the contrast between the two. It showed what we could do when portraying a situation with conflicting opinions which fits into "Earthquakes in London" as it has a divisive subject matter, environmental issues. It helps us decide whether the play is judging the issue from one perspective or another. In my opinion the play seems fairly balanced with some characters saying we can't beat nature and others saying we can even though the play write was inspired to write this play after reading a theory about the world being doomed by a climatologist called James Lovelock which I found out from reading an interview from Mike Bartlett himself.
Brecht work:
We went through a sheet with the names of devises used by epic theatre and dramatic theatre. The sheet lists the differences between the two for example dramatic theatre uses plot and epic theatre uses narrative. I initially thought there was no difference between the 2 but I looked into it and found that a plot is a series of events connected to each other where as a narrative is more how those events can be shown or at the very least variations on it. It means that a Brecht play doesn't have to follow a three act structure or even really have plot threads resolved conventionally, they may get cut off at certain points to focus on other things. Earthquakes does this to an extent.
Some of the examples listed are that the audience member should like a spectator/observer rather than feeling like they are involved in the characters journey's or drama. It wants to present an argument rather than making a suggestion which the more passive dramatic theatre would do. Each scene can stand on it's own rather than just setting up another which is generally the case with dramatic theatre. Epic theatre aims more to give a balanced view of the real world rather than give the audience an experience to escape reality.
Earthquakes fits into these by giving the characters opposing or concerning views such as Robert and Steve disagreeing about the fate of the planet and whether we can beat nature. Since each scene is very broken up and intersperse with other it means those individual segments or "Episodes" can be viewed on their own and still most likely get their message across and in my opinion that applies the most to any scene with Robert and Steve.
Blocking:
We managed to block all of act 1 today which was surprising in how fast we did it. Although it's not all the final and complete blocking since some moments such as Jasmines strip tease will need to be done another time and the opening scene with Grace and young Robert. Our staging is catwalks joined by one at the back with section of the catwalks varying in height. I'm not sure whether the height variation was intentional but I really think it works to our advantage since it does give a few more opportunities for staging such as people can us the higher stages as chairs or tables or just stand on them if something like exaggerated status of character will be implemented. If we are in the act then it seems as if we will have to stand there and stay still until it's time for our scene to start. Unless it's changed I have to do this for a while with Daniella. While I know that doping that is difficult from when I had to do it in "Teechers" I know that it looks very impressive from an audience members perspective which is why I'm actually somewhat looking forward to this, it may be hard but the end result will hopefully be worth it. I love when a performer has the ability to lock in and out of place and it's a skill I'd love to have. It fits with the style because it keeps the stage non-naturalistic. It keeps it feeling theatrical and artificial but still being visually appealing if done correctly otherwise it will look sloppy.
19/4/16:
Today since I was not with my class and helping on another college acting project I thought I'd make up for that by doing some research in the time I had. I wanted to link the Brechtian approach we're going with to a play I had done before. During a devising physical theatre project a few months back my group created a play called "Welcome to Roy's", a play about a man's life after he moves to America and opens up his own diner, it follows him throughout his life as he encounters things such as racism and other turmoil that goes on in his diner. Now the feedback given was that our piece was very reminiscent of a Brecht play. We did use some devises of epic theatre such as:
- We used narration. We would have Max playing Roy for all the modern day reflection moments where he looks back on the pat events through out his life. Similar to "Earthquakes", if we took these moments out the play would be linear but since they are they make the play more non linear and disjointed but in a good way.
- We used a projector. W used it to project the dates and pictures of the scene context in the back ground such as for a new years eve party, we put a picture of a bunch of people celebrating and holding up new years eve signs. Also we had a couple of quotes thrown in. For example when all of us were attacking a black man in the 1960's racism scene we have a Martin Luther King Jr quote projected in the background. The scene itself was quite surreal and to have to quote in the background was trying to get the message across in a way that a Brecht play would. We didn't use it enough unfortunately but we still did have a few moments of this.
- We had a non linear time line. Each time period such as either "February 3rd 1976" or "September 11th 2001" seemed very distinctive and were generally separated to focus on a different issue so you could call the "Episodes" like Brecht would. Most of the episodes were broken up by going back to the present with the main character dying and reflecting on these episodes in his life. While we weren't entirely consistent with this as it was abandoned half way through the piece but still used in the first so the time line jumps and weaves in and out of itself.
- We had simple characters. The main character Roy was and most of the characters in it were basically archetypes for the average man or woman as they go through these situations. In the final version of the play they really didn't have any actual traits that stood out too much about their actual characteristics. The fact they can represent the average person going through these events keeps it simple and doesn't mean you can get too invested since there isn't much of them to get invested to so you've just got the drama and themes left.
- We broke the forth wall. There was a scene in which we just broke character and started arguing about the quality of the performance we were doing. I walked out into the audience and even spoke to them while being noticeably unhappy and asking them if they like the show but telling them that I REALLY do not. We used it to also help explain some things in the play encase they were unclear but we still wanted them to be taken out of it. Also the moments where Roy is reflecting on his life are done by Max talking directly to the audience and explaining context for the given moment so still keeping them aware they are an audience.
I will say that after doing the research over this project and style I can easily see why our play was considered to be Brechtian because we did use a fair few of the elements from the style without really knowing it or at least I didn't really know at the time. We were criticised at the time for not utilising some of these devises to there full effect such as inconsistent use of narration and lack of use of the projector. At first I couldn't really see why this was the case but now I definitely can and I feel it would've actually been beneficial to our piece to have known more about epic theatre at the time although I am still proud of the final version of the play we came out with.
21/4/16:
Today I decided to do some research into the themes, more specifically the environmental issues. A major theme is climate change and whether or not it is man made. So I found some arguments that were for and against it's existence. Also I looked into the background of the play itself, what inspired why it adopted the style
For man made:
- Rise in sea level. The sea level in certain areas of the world is rising and is generally believed to be caused by the polar ice caps melting but it's actually more attributed to the change in the levels of gases in the sea. The fact it has gone up in the time man has been polluting more it's a strong correlation.
- Rise in the earth temperature. The temperature has allegedly been steadily rising since the 1800's although does fluctuate with it dipping after the 1970's but then coming back up during the 2000's.
- Rise in the ocean temperature. Since we have been polluting more and the heat and gases are having a harder time to get out of the atmosphere it's absorbed by the ocean so this means that the ocean is getting hotter.
- Shrinking glaciers and ice caps. The polar ice caps are apparently melting very fast and the amount of see ice in general is believed to be decreasing rapidly.
Against Man-made:
- No major changes in earth's temperature since 1997 it has only been a couple of degrees if that and people say that due to the fluctuation in the decades and how there hasn't been much change lately the idea of it being us us unlikely
- Predictions about whether have been proven wrong and were previously used with outdated methods which were less accurate.
Background info research:
According to an interview with Mike Bartlett himself he was inspired to do the play after hearing the theories of a climatologist called James Lovelock who has a very pessimistic view of the future. He believed that we are all doomed and that saving the planet is now "Beyond our ability" and that we should just stop trying since it's just delaying the inevitable. The damage is done. Also the fact that he thought that most plays with environmental issues were a bit on the preachy side and didn't really connect with how it would affect real and generally grounded people so he wanted to do just that and that was what got him started. The Weimar republic being a period a period where Germany tried to ignore there financial troubles and began printing their own money they made excess of it and the money became practically worthless very quickly. So we are all trying to say things will get better but really whatever we do won't really help at this point.
Mike Bartlett thinks that the company he is with had quite an epic theatre style to start with but this time thought the Brecthian approach would have a greater impact and he said that he wanted to challenge the audience and make them think about it. In contrast to his play "Cock" which had no set according to the scripts stage directions, this play had the directions to fill the stage with as much set as possible for two reasons, one was to hammer in the theme of excess and consumerism that is an an underline throughout but also he used it as a tool to help create the sense of scope that fits with the epic style. It may have been distracting to the point where it enforced the message while not keeping so it does enforce the V effect of the Brechtian nature and he liked to call it that because he thought it was a more suitable and academic term for it. He also felt that going with a non linear time line and sticking with having almost every scene be self contained and referred to as "Episodes" as Brecht did gave him more freedom since he wasn't bound by a three act structure which can have some limitations. The style also makes it clear that the play is presenting a problem that it wants you to resolve yourself and not so that the characters will do it for you and this was a very important part of deciding to make it Brechtian since that is what he wanted. For them to think about it.
Earthquakes has a huge cast and a significant step up from his others such as "Game" that only had 15 characters and "Contractions" only had 2. Earthquakes all of a sudden had a jump up to 32 so this means that if you do a full cast with one actor per character which is possible and has possibly been done in that production before. Although the fact that the play has so many character to the point where they have to be double cast also goes along with excess theme since there's way too much too cope with.
Also I wanted to mention a play I love that uses projections and how it uses them differently to a different effect. The play is called "Lovesong" and it's by the physical theatre company Frantic Assembly. It has several screen in the background and it projects things such as the sky, birds flying or even just being plain black or any colour really. They use this to set a mood or atmosphere because they want you to be invested in the story and get emotionally involved with the characters and the feel a way to help the audience do that is to help the world feel as real as possible. They do not project information on there or anything to make the themes extremely apparent or blatant. It is very different to how epic theatre presents itself due to their different aims. One is to get you invested and the other wants to stop you getting invested.
This weeks links for research:
http://community.dur.ac.uk/m.p.thompson/brecht.htm
https://headlong.co.uk/media/media/downloads/Earthquakes_in_London_-_Education_Pack.pdf
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/is-global-warming-real.php
http://www.drroyspencer.com/global-warming-natural-or-manmade/
https://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/plays-to-perform/Book/1526/13.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev1.shtml
Today we actually started blocking our play as well as doing more work on the style of Brecht/epic theatre. We managed to get the basic blocking for act 1 done in the session we had although there will still be adjustments.
Tableau work:
We had a little workshop about slogan tableaus. We had to create a propaganda frame and a reality frame. I was going to suggest the phrase we should use for our reality frame but Katrina got there before me and said the same thing. The phrase "This planet can sustain 1 billion people and there are currently 6 billion people" The propaganda frame was all of us standing in a triangle with proud triumphant faces and stances making it seem as if the amount of people in the world isn't a problem and that it will have no effect, everyone is just fine. The reality frame was everyone being a lot more cramped in and even having some of us much lower and grabbing onto Georgia (who was in the centre) to show how crowded society really is and the difference in status, position, and dependability of everyone in it. After this we were given a word to do the same thing with. "Refugees" was our word and the propaganda frame showed of us standing facing away from the refugees but at the same time they are ALL stealing from us. The reality frame showed people struggling and needing help and begging for it. People turning away and not helping and even people that do help them to show the divisive opinion and that they're still human and need help even though some of them still may have bad motives or want to exploit the help some are offering. This was interesting and showed the contrast between the two. It showed what we could do when portraying a situation with conflicting opinions which fits into "Earthquakes in London" as it has a divisive subject matter, environmental issues. It helps us decide whether the play is judging the issue from one perspective or another. In my opinion the play seems fairly balanced with some characters saying we can't beat nature and others saying we can even though the play write was inspired to write this play after reading a theory about the world being doomed by a climatologist called James Lovelock which I found out from reading an interview from Mike Bartlett himself.
Brecht work:
We went through a sheet with the names of devises used by epic theatre and dramatic theatre. The sheet lists the differences between the two for example dramatic theatre uses plot and epic theatre uses narrative. I initially thought there was no difference between the 2 but I looked into it and found that a plot is a series of events connected to each other where as a narrative is more how those events can be shown or at the very least variations on it. It means that a Brecht play doesn't have to follow a three act structure or even really have plot threads resolved conventionally, they may get cut off at certain points to focus on other things. Earthquakes does this to an extent.
Some of the examples listed are that the audience member should like a spectator/observer rather than feeling like they are involved in the characters journey's or drama. It wants to present an argument rather than making a suggestion which the more passive dramatic theatre would do. Each scene can stand on it's own rather than just setting up another which is generally the case with dramatic theatre. Epic theatre aims more to give a balanced view of the real world rather than give the audience an experience to escape reality.
Earthquakes fits into these by giving the characters opposing or concerning views such as Robert and Steve disagreeing about the fate of the planet and whether we can beat nature. Since each scene is very broken up and intersperse with other it means those individual segments or "Episodes" can be viewed on their own and still most likely get their message across and in my opinion that applies the most to any scene with Robert and Steve.
Blocking:
We managed to block all of act 1 today which was surprising in how fast we did it. Although it's not all the final and complete blocking since some moments such as Jasmines strip tease will need to be done another time and the opening scene with Grace and young Robert. Our staging is catwalks joined by one at the back with section of the catwalks varying in height. I'm not sure whether the height variation was intentional but I really think it works to our advantage since it does give a few more opportunities for staging such as people can us the higher stages as chairs or tables or just stand on them if something like exaggerated status of character will be implemented. If we are in the act then it seems as if we will have to stand there and stay still until it's time for our scene to start. Unless it's changed I have to do this for a while with Daniella. While I know that doping that is difficult from when I had to do it in "Teechers" I know that it looks very impressive from an audience members perspective which is why I'm actually somewhat looking forward to this, it may be hard but the end result will hopefully be worth it. I love when a performer has the ability to lock in and out of place and it's a skill I'd love to have. It fits with the style because it keeps the stage non-naturalistic. It keeps it feeling theatrical and artificial but still being visually appealing if done correctly otherwise it will look sloppy.
19/4/16:
Today since I was not with my class and helping on another college acting project I thought I'd make up for that by doing some research in the time I had. I wanted to link the Brechtian approach we're going with to a play I had done before. During a devising physical theatre project a few months back my group created a play called "Welcome to Roy's", a play about a man's life after he moves to America and opens up his own diner, it follows him throughout his life as he encounters things such as racism and other turmoil that goes on in his diner. Now the feedback given was that our piece was very reminiscent of a Brecht play. We did use some devises of epic theatre such as:
- We used narration. We would have Max playing Roy for all the modern day reflection moments where he looks back on the pat events through out his life. Similar to "Earthquakes", if we took these moments out the play would be linear but since they are they make the play more non linear and disjointed but in a good way.
- We used a projector. W used it to project the dates and pictures of the scene context in the back ground such as for a new years eve party, we put a picture of a bunch of people celebrating and holding up new years eve signs. Also we had a couple of quotes thrown in. For example when all of us were attacking a black man in the 1960's racism scene we have a Martin Luther King Jr quote projected in the background. The scene itself was quite surreal and to have to quote in the background was trying to get the message across in a way that a Brecht play would. We didn't use it enough unfortunately but we still did have a few moments of this.
- We had a non linear time line. Each time period such as either "February 3rd 1976" or "September 11th 2001" seemed very distinctive and were generally separated to focus on a different issue so you could call the "Episodes" like Brecht would. Most of the episodes were broken up by going back to the present with the main character dying and reflecting on these episodes in his life. While we weren't entirely consistent with this as it was abandoned half way through the piece but still used in the first so the time line jumps and weaves in and out of itself.
- We had simple characters. The main character Roy was and most of the characters in it were basically archetypes for the average man or woman as they go through these situations. In the final version of the play they really didn't have any actual traits that stood out too much about their actual characteristics. The fact they can represent the average person going through these events keeps it simple and doesn't mean you can get too invested since there isn't much of them to get invested to so you've just got the drama and themes left.
- We broke the forth wall. There was a scene in which we just broke character and started arguing about the quality of the performance we were doing. I walked out into the audience and even spoke to them while being noticeably unhappy and asking them if they like the show but telling them that I REALLY do not. We used it to also help explain some things in the play encase they were unclear but we still wanted them to be taken out of it. Also the moments where Roy is reflecting on his life are done by Max talking directly to the audience and explaining context for the given moment so still keeping them aware they are an audience.
I will say that after doing the research over this project and style I can easily see why our play was considered to be Brechtian because we did use a fair few of the elements from the style without really knowing it or at least I didn't really know at the time. We were criticised at the time for not utilising some of these devises to there full effect such as inconsistent use of narration and lack of use of the projector. At first I couldn't really see why this was the case but now I definitely can and I feel it would've actually been beneficial to our piece to have known more about epic theatre at the time although I am still proud of the final version of the play we came out with.
21/4/16:
Today I decided to do some research into the themes, more specifically the environmental issues. A major theme is climate change and whether or not it is man made. So I found some arguments that were for and against it's existence. Also I looked into the background of the play itself, what inspired why it adopted the style
For man made:
- Rise in sea level. The sea level in certain areas of the world is rising and is generally believed to be caused by the polar ice caps melting but it's actually more attributed to the change in the levels of gases in the sea. The fact it has gone up in the time man has been polluting more it's a strong correlation.
- Rise in the earth temperature. The temperature has allegedly been steadily rising since the 1800's although does fluctuate with it dipping after the 1970's but then coming back up during the 2000's.
- Rise in the ocean temperature. Since we have been polluting more and the heat and gases are having a harder time to get out of the atmosphere it's absorbed by the ocean so this means that the ocean is getting hotter.
- Shrinking glaciers and ice caps. The polar ice caps are apparently melting very fast and the amount of see ice in general is believed to be decreasing rapidly.
Against Man-made:
- No major changes in earth's temperature since 1997 it has only been a couple of degrees if that and people say that due to the fluctuation in the decades and how there hasn't been much change lately the idea of it being us us unlikely
- Predictions about whether have been proven wrong and were previously used with outdated methods which were less accurate.
Background info research:
According to an interview with Mike Bartlett himself he was inspired to do the play after hearing the theories of a climatologist called James Lovelock who has a very pessimistic view of the future. He believed that we are all doomed and that saving the planet is now "Beyond our ability" and that we should just stop trying since it's just delaying the inevitable. The damage is done. Also the fact that he thought that most plays with environmental issues were a bit on the preachy side and didn't really connect with how it would affect real and generally grounded people so he wanted to do just that and that was what got him started. The Weimar republic being a period a period where Germany tried to ignore there financial troubles and began printing their own money they made excess of it and the money became practically worthless very quickly. So we are all trying to say things will get better but really whatever we do won't really help at this point.
Mike Bartlett thinks that the company he is with had quite an epic theatre style to start with but this time thought the Brecthian approach would have a greater impact and he said that he wanted to challenge the audience and make them think about it. In contrast to his play "Cock" which had no set according to the scripts stage directions, this play had the directions to fill the stage with as much set as possible for two reasons, one was to hammer in the theme of excess and consumerism that is an an underline throughout but also he used it as a tool to help create the sense of scope that fits with the epic style. It may have been distracting to the point where it enforced the message while not keeping so it does enforce the V effect of the Brechtian nature and he liked to call it that because he thought it was a more suitable and academic term for it. He also felt that going with a non linear time line and sticking with having almost every scene be self contained and referred to as "Episodes" as Brecht did gave him more freedom since he wasn't bound by a three act structure which can have some limitations. The style also makes it clear that the play is presenting a problem that it wants you to resolve yourself and not so that the characters will do it for you and this was a very important part of deciding to make it Brechtian since that is what he wanted. For them to think about it.
Earthquakes has a huge cast and a significant step up from his others such as "Game" that only had 15 characters and "Contractions" only had 2. Earthquakes all of a sudden had a jump up to 32 so this means that if you do a full cast with one actor per character which is possible and has possibly been done in that production before. Although the fact that the play has so many character to the point where they have to be double cast also goes along with excess theme since there's way too much too cope with.
Also I wanted to mention a play I love that uses projections and how it uses them differently to a different effect. The play is called "Lovesong" and it's by the physical theatre company Frantic Assembly. It has several screen in the background and it projects things such as the sky, birds flying or even just being plain black or any colour really. They use this to set a mood or atmosphere because they want you to be invested in the story and get emotionally involved with the characters and the feel a way to help the audience do that is to help the world feel as real as possible. They do not project information on there or anything to make the themes extremely apparent or blatant. It is very different to how epic theatre presents itself due to their different aims. One is to get you invested and the other wants to stop you getting invested.
This weeks links for research:
http://community.dur.ac.uk/m.p.thompson/brecht.htm
https://headlong.co.uk/media/media/downloads/Earthquakes_in_London_-_Education_Pack.pdf
http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/is-global-warming-real.php
http://www.drroyspencer.com/global-warming-natural-or-manmade/
https://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/plays-to-perform/Book/1526/13.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev1.shtml
Earthquakes in London Blog 2
11/4/16:
Tableau work:
We were tasked with making tableau (Freeze frames) sequences based on the relationships between some of the characters. The characters in question were Robert, Grace, Freya, Sarah and Jasmine. I was Grace in my groups. We started off with a family photo where it all seems normal, then to a version of that photo where Robert seems to be pulling grace back and jasmine is laid over me but also being supported by another sister to show that Robert has more of an attachment to Grace rather than his daughters and how the sisters are the ones are the ones who jasmine will have to fall back on. The frames after were about her death and how the family copes after wards such as the distance between the girls and Robert and even Grace's ghost saddened by what's happened.
We then had to get into pairs and then choose five moments of our scene and then show how the character acts and how they are feeling. Me and Chloe did the scene where both Colin and Jasmine get high. The five reality frames were of me opening the door to see Jasmine and I seem slightly taken aback by it, her making herself comfortable and me looking uncomfortable, then her with her legs across me and me looking confused, then her offering me a cigarette and me being reluctant and finally us high with Jasmine being mellow and me being wide eyed. Those were the literal frames but the frames to show how we act internally have differences such as when she comes in I'm more annoyed by her presence in my house. Also I may be more angry during the moments she's comfortable and intrusive and during the high scene I'm more happy about the fact I've done this and am almost child-like happy.
This exercise (Especially the latter one) was great and even quite fun. It's helping to look further into Colin and get a feel of what he is really like. It's helping me discover the essence of the character and the "Attitude" of him. Colin seems very reserved and from the events that happen mainly the scene where he's watching the girls partying on the Internet. A quick may to sum him up is to say that he's a man who wants to live his life to the fullest but just needs a push to get it going. Showing this feeling in the tableau actually helped me to understand him more and want to bring this desire out more. It's helping me showing his feelings and motivations so I might use this as an exercise for all scenes that I'm in whenever I can and even confirmed it for me that Colin is not romantically interested in Jasmine at all since any scene with her he's generally annoyed but admires her free spirit and to a degree her arrogance since she seems quite free and in no way reserved.
Categorising characters:
We also went through the characters today an putting them into categories such as protagonist, antagonist, norm, foil, confidante and the Raisonneur.
Protagonist: Central character that drives the action forward. They can have flaws and be of high status. An ensemble can be a protagonist or focal point of the narrative.The class came to the decision that Freya is the primary protagonist of the play. I actually agree with this since Freya is the one with the most significance to the plot due to the fact she is the sister going through the most turmoil, she is the most developed of the three sisters, seems to have the most stage time, she has the most relevance to the actual earthquake of the play and she has one of the most important decisions. Whether or not to listen to Robert about aborting the baby or whether or not to go to the bridge and jump off. She's the one with seemingly the most conflict and is the one who firmly believes that the titular event will happen.
Antagonist: Is a a character that is the opposite to the protagonist. More specifically they are part of or even caused the conflict and turmoil the protagonist is going through in the story. They can be justified in their actions and have understandable motivations and it's generally believed that having that quality can make them more engaging and more threatening. When discussing this in class most people agreed that Robert is the most likely antagonist and I do agree with it. He is the reason that the arguments towards aborting the baby are in Freya's mind and causing her all the mental distress or at least a strong factor in it. He's also the reason that the expansions and environment pollution over the past 20 years have happened and is the reason why people like tom protest and is responsible for getting us so close to the point of no return.
Foil: Is a character who due to there different traits make those of the protagonist more clear or understandable. A foil can be an enemy or a friend. For example a character who is confident/brave their foil could be cowardly or shy. Usually it is the protagonist a foil is compared to but sometimes characters can be foils to each other so in that regard I think Colin and Jasmine a foils to each other due to the fact that one is so shy and the other is so open it can really make the others trait stick out. But over all I'd say that there are two main foils and they would be Jasmine and Sarah who are foils to Freya. All three sisters are very different and Sarah and Jasmine do have different reactions to the potential earthquake or possible future. The fact that they either just don't care or only deal with it in a somewhat more logical and passive manner helps Freya's more caring yet worrying and unstable view and her questionable mental health seem more significant.
The Norm: Is a character who has no weird or eccentric traits about them. They are just normal and are the element to help the stranger or weirder and eccentric characters stand out. My character Colin is definitely a norm. Besides being a little awkward and debatably pathetic he has noting that stand out too much and doesn't really fit into any of the other archetypes. Although I must say that Colin is not the most normal in the play that would go to Steve. Steve seems the most grounded and normal in terms of his actions, motivations and general attitude. He just wants his wife and baby to be safe and happy and not to have all these horrible things happening around her where as Colin is a little more self centered and wants to improve his life rather than Sarah's.
Confidante: Is a character who the protagonist with speak truthfully to, someone who they trust with this information and a way to convey the truth to the audience. There is no doubt that the person she speaks truthfully to is Peter and since he is a figment of her imagination. He is the character she talks to the most throughout the play. She openly seems to do anything such as drink while she's heavily pregnant right in front of him but also tells him about the earthquake and even asks what his experiences in one was like as if she is trying to mentally prepare herself for the one she is insistent will happen. She also discusses her concerns about the pregnancy with the doctor Tim so you could also how he is also one as well as Peter.
Raisonneur: Is a character who acts as a mouth piece for the play write and a tool for communicating the themes and intentions of the production. This mean they often express the themes verbally. The prime examples in my opinion are Tom and Robert. Both of these characters try to get across that we have ruined the planet or at least are nearly at the point of no return. Tom even remarks in his scene with Sarah and Carter that they only have five years or so and it'll be too late and as of now they have done nothing. It's as if tom is projecting Mike Bartletts dislike of society's laziness and lack of motivation to look after the earth just to indulge in harmful things such as transport to make it more convenient for themselves.
12/4/16:
Today in the class we discussed the themes, ideas and things we things we think of when discussing "Earthquakes in London".
Themes:
Commonly mentioned themes were that of pollution, over population and anti consumerism due to it being commonly mentioned by characters like Robert although the latter theme is more suggested through set design rather than explicitly stated. The themes that came to my mind were that of regret and inevitability. I mentioned before that most of the characters seem to regret something such as Robert having children and possibly taking the bribe, Sarah for how she treats Colin or how she has changed, Freya regrets her pregnancy and bringing her child into the world that she thinks will happen. I thought of inevitability since Freya and Robert are insistent that the earthquake happen no matter what and other characters seem to disagree with the idea that humans are powerless against natures will. Steve especially is someone who states this in a scene with Mrs. Andrews "We build tunnels, we fly, we go to the moon, of course we can beat nature."
Theme task ideas:
We were put into groups and asked to quickly make a small piece (Whether it be a tableau or actual scene) based off of the themes or senses listed from the class. My group chose both "Coffee" and "Black and white television". The idea I suggested was for us to all be quite monotone, bored and empty and then when we drink the coffee that the group wanted to use we would become more colourful, energetic and happy. The idea seemed like a coffee advert and that's exactly what I imagined, as if the ad was saying drinking this coffee will Becky suggested that it should be in a cafe and that we should all be in a queue. It went from side to the other and we got excited. Becky then had the idea of us becoming angry afterwards. We put it in and overall the minute long piece we did seemed quite funny and was well received. I'm not sure if were actually supposed to represent the themes in a style similar to the play or something along these lines but I'm happy with the little piece we did.
Structure discussion:
We had to discuss what kind of plot or narrative structure the play has. Over all I'd say the play follows a non liner time line. If you exclude the prologues of each act then the time line of the play is very linear even including the scene where it jumps to 2525 since that technically is still taking place in the present because it's in Freya imagination. However since they are there and while watching the play you don't know that it's due to the act change it would seem to have a somewhat non linear time line since it cuts back to the past for each act and even begins the play with a scene set forty years or so before the main events of the play. We were asked if we thought the play had a causal narrative and I had no idea what this meant and it was surprisingly hard to find it but from what I could find it seems to be that it's a narrative that focuses on events that cause or lead up to an event with focus on the lead up rather than the event although that still may be included.
14/4/16:
Today we discussed more about the themes present in the play and any ideas regarding the set for it.
Ideas:
The main idea that I had was actually thought of after the session. Karen had said that the set may not be completely full like it says in the script since we may not have the time and space to do it and also the fact that it may unintentionally look very lazy and that since there would most likely be less set we could give environmental clues towards the theme of anti consumerism and even foreshadowing for the earthquake in the play. My idea is for the earthquake. It's something that I think could be quite subtle but somewhat in your face at the same time. My character Colin has a scene where he's looking on the Internet and his search is most likely going to be displayed on the projector so we could have some articles that he scrolls past that predict the earthquake so it could be subliminal to an extent.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: A strength of today was that we all giving some very good and creative ideas and we overall were considering them with the Brecht/epic theatre style in mind. My idea was to help subtly suggest something through a projection which is a Brechtian devise I believe.
Weaknesses: A weakness of today is that overall we didn't get too much done and haven't progressed to blocking it yet (Which I'm excited about) so I hope that happens soon but what we did today was productive so I have no real fault with today since we were creative and got a fair few idea down.
Research:
Today I decided to do a little more research into the style of Brecht. I looked up elements of the style and key features or what it generally includes. A page I found gave me a detailed list of features and history notes. Brecht hated naturalism in theatre and anything to do with immersing the audience in a way that gets them emotionally invested. He apparently compared dramatic theatre to drugs saying that the effects of them are similar in how they "Pacify" the audience which means any message or effect the play is trying to convey will most likely be dealt with in a passive manner and not thought about. He claimed that audiences "Hung up their brain with their hats" whenever they watch dramatic theatre.
He wanted to use his plays to convey his Marxist beliefs (Marxism being a belief about economic and social structures being as fair as possible and not so that in tips in some people's favours and also not letting economy states change ideologies and give people ideas about society that shouldn't be there with how things actually work, so Marxists are completely against a capitalist structure) and express them and since then others have done so including earthquakes in London to an extent. The style includes the alienation effect or the distancing effect depending on the translation that means the intended result of the style is to make the audience know they are in a theatre watching a play and watching a message being conveyed so it means it may be less subtle and completely destroys the forth wall. Brecht never wanted anyone to feel sorry or to relate to the characters in an emotional way.
The term "Epic theatre" was most likely made up by someone Brecht worked with called Erwin Piscator although it is still debated whether or not the term has been used before. Brecht plays use non linear time lines and scenes were often on their own and not connected to the rest of it, so much so that he even referred to the scenes as "Episodes". The scenes would generally not have/need any relation to each other. He liked to have a focus on presenting society not just characters with individually defined personalities so this means that a character in his play would represent a member of society. An example would be Yvette from "Mother courage and her children" being called "The plays whore" and other roles in general such as I read that a farmer in a brecht play would just be a farmer to represent their role in society or a general view of them. If I had to say what Colin represents right now, I'd say he represents the unemployed, the people who aspire to have more in life and need it to survive both in a literal and metaphorical sense. I feel that if Colin did not split up with Sarah at the end, his mental health wouldn't have stayed the same as some people stuck in bad relationships often go bitter or enter depression.
This weeks research links:
http://www.thedramateacher.com/epic-theatre-conventions/
https://prezi.com/jkgkdekw1xsz/causal-narratives/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQ_ti1r4gU
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/2
Tableau work:
We were tasked with making tableau (Freeze frames) sequences based on the relationships between some of the characters. The characters in question were Robert, Grace, Freya, Sarah and Jasmine. I was Grace in my groups. We started off with a family photo where it all seems normal, then to a version of that photo where Robert seems to be pulling grace back and jasmine is laid over me but also being supported by another sister to show that Robert has more of an attachment to Grace rather than his daughters and how the sisters are the ones are the ones who jasmine will have to fall back on. The frames after were about her death and how the family copes after wards such as the distance between the girls and Robert and even Grace's ghost saddened by what's happened.
We then had to get into pairs and then choose five moments of our scene and then show how the character acts and how they are feeling. Me and Chloe did the scene where both Colin and Jasmine get high. The five reality frames were of me opening the door to see Jasmine and I seem slightly taken aback by it, her making herself comfortable and me looking uncomfortable, then her with her legs across me and me looking confused, then her offering me a cigarette and me being reluctant and finally us high with Jasmine being mellow and me being wide eyed. Those were the literal frames but the frames to show how we act internally have differences such as when she comes in I'm more annoyed by her presence in my house. Also I may be more angry during the moments she's comfortable and intrusive and during the high scene I'm more happy about the fact I've done this and am almost child-like happy.
This exercise (Especially the latter one) was great and even quite fun. It's helping to look further into Colin and get a feel of what he is really like. It's helping me discover the essence of the character and the "Attitude" of him. Colin seems very reserved and from the events that happen mainly the scene where he's watching the girls partying on the Internet. A quick may to sum him up is to say that he's a man who wants to live his life to the fullest but just needs a push to get it going. Showing this feeling in the tableau actually helped me to understand him more and want to bring this desire out more. It's helping me showing his feelings and motivations so I might use this as an exercise for all scenes that I'm in whenever I can and even confirmed it for me that Colin is not romantically interested in Jasmine at all since any scene with her he's generally annoyed but admires her free spirit and to a degree her arrogance since she seems quite free and in no way reserved.
Categorising characters:
We also went through the characters today an putting them into categories such as protagonist, antagonist, norm, foil, confidante and the Raisonneur.
Protagonist: Central character that drives the action forward. They can have flaws and be of high status. An ensemble can be a protagonist or focal point of the narrative.The class came to the decision that Freya is the primary protagonist of the play. I actually agree with this since Freya is the one with the most significance to the plot due to the fact she is the sister going through the most turmoil, she is the most developed of the three sisters, seems to have the most stage time, she has the most relevance to the actual earthquake of the play and she has one of the most important decisions. Whether or not to listen to Robert about aborting the baby or whether or not to go to the bridge and jump off. She's the one with seemingly the most conflict and is the one who firmly believes that the titular event will happen.
Antagonist: Is a a character that is the opposite to the protagonist. More specifically they are part of or even caused the conflict and turmoil the protagonist is going through in the story. They can be justified in their actions and have understandable motivations and it's generally believed that having that quality can make them more engaging and more threatening. When discussing this in class most people agreed that Robert is the most likely antagonist and I do agree with it. He is the reason that the arguments towards aborting the baby are in Freya's mind and causing her all the mental distress or at least a strong factor in it. He's also the reason that the expansions and environment pollution over the past 20 years have happened and is the reason why people like tom protest and is responsible for getting us so close to the point of no return.
Foil: Is a character who due to there different traits make those of the protagonist more clear or understandable. A foil can be an enemy or a friend. For example a character who is confident/brave their foil could be cowardly or shy. Usually it is the protagonist a foil is compared to but sometimes characters can be foils to each other so in that regard I think Colin and Jasmine a foils to each other due to the fact that one is so shy and the other is so open it can really make the others trait stick out. But over all I'd say that there are two main foils and they would be Jasmine and Sarah who are foils to Freya. All three sisters are very different and Sarah and Jasmine do have different reactions to the potential earthquake or possible future. The fact that they either just don't care or only deal with it in a somewhat more logical and passive manner helps Freya's more caring yet worrying and unstable view and her questionable mental health seem more significant.
The Norm: Is a character who has no weird or eccentric traits about them. They are just normal and are the element to help the stranger or weirder and eccentric characters stand out. My character Colin is definitely a norm. Besides being a little awkward and debatably pathetic he has noting that stand out too much and doesn't really fit into any of the other archetypes. Although I must say that Colin is not the most normal in the play that would go to Steve. Steve seems the most grounded and normal in terms of his actions, motivations and general attitude. He just wants his wife and baby to be safe and happy and not to have all these horrible things happening around her where as Colin is a little more self centered and wants to improve his life rather than Sarah's.
Confidante: Is a character who the protagonist with speak truthfully to, someone who they trust with this information and a way to convey the truth to the audience. There is no doubt that the person she speaks truthfully to is Peter and since he is a figment of her imagination. He is the character she talks to the most throughout the play. She openly seems to do anything such as drink while she's heavily pregnant right in front of him but also tells him about the earthquake and even asks what his experiences in one was like as if she is trying to mentally prepare herself for the one she is insistent will happen. She also discusses her concerns about the pregnancy with the doctor Tim so you could also how he is also one as well as Peter.
Raisonneur: Is a character who acts as a mouth piece for the play write and a tool for communicating the themes and intentions of the production. This mean they often express the themes verbally. The prime examples in my opinion are Tom and Robert. Both of these characters try to get across that we have ruined the planet or at least are nearly at the point of no return. Tom even remarks in his scene with Sarah and Carter that they only have five years or so and it'll be too late and as of now they have done nothing. It's as if tom is projecting Mike Bartletts dislike of society's laziness and lack of motivation to look after the earth just to indulge in harmful things such as transport to make it more convenient for themselves.
12/4/16:
Today in the class we discussed the themes, ideas and things we things we think of when discussing "Earthquakes in London".
Themes:
Commonly mentioned themes were that of pollution, over population and anti consumerism due to it being commonly mentioned by characters like Robert although the latter theme is more suggested through set design rather than explicitly stated. The themes that came to my mind were that of regret and inevitability. I mentioned before that most of the characters seem to regret something such as Robert having children and possibly taking the bribe, Sarah for how she treats Colin or how she has changed, Freya regrets her pregnancy and bringing her child into the world that she thinks will happen. I thought of inevitability since Freya and Robert are insistent that the earthquake happen no matter what and other characters seem to disagree with the idea that humans are powerless against natures will. Steve especially is someone who states this in a scene with Mrs. Andrews "We build tunnels, we fly, we go to the moon, of course we can beat nature."
Theme task ideas:
We were put into groups and asked to quickly make a small piece (Whether it be a tableau or actual scene) based off of the themes or senses listed from the class. My group chose both "Coffee" and "Black and white television". The idea I suggested was for us to all be quite monotone, bored and empty and then when we drink the coffee that the group wanted to use we would become more colourful, energetic and happy. The idea seemed like a coffee advert and that's exactly what I imagined, as if the ad was saying drinking this coffee will Becky suggested that it should be in a cafe and that we should all be in a queue. It went from side to the other and we got excited. Becky then had the idea of us becoming angry afterwards. We put it in and overall the minute long piece we did seemed quite funny and was well received. I'm not sure if were actually supposed to represent the themes in a style similar to the play or something along these lines but I'm happy with the little piece we did.
Structure discussion:
We had to discuss what kind of plot or narrative structure the play has. Over all I'd say the play follows a non liner time line. If you exclude the prologues of each act then the time line of the play is very linear even including the scene where it jumps to 2525 since that technically is still taking place in the present because it's in Freya imagination. However since they are there and while watching the play you don't know that it's due to the act change it would seem to have a somewhat non linear time line since it cuts back to the past for each act and even begins the play with a scene set forty years or so before the main events of the play. We were asked if we thought the play had a causal narrative and I had no idea what this meant and it was surprisingly hard to find it but from what I could find it seems to be that it's a narrative that focuses on events that cause or lead up to an event with focus on the lead up rather than the event although that still may be included.
14/4/16:
Today we discussed more about the themes present in the play and any ideas regarding the set for it.
Ideas:
The main idea that I had was actually thought of after the session. Karen had said that the set may not be completely full like it says in the script since we may not have the time and space to do it and also the fact that it may unintentionally look very lazy and that since there would most likely be less set we could give environmental clues towards the theme of anti consumerism and even foreshadowing for the earthquake in the play. My idea is for the earthquake. It's something that I think could be quite subtle but somewhat in your face at the same time. My character Colin has a scene where he's looking on the Internet and his search is most likely going to be displayed on the projector so we could have some articles that he scrolls past that predict the earthquake so it could be subliminal to an extent.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths: A strength of today was that we all giving some very good and creative ideas and we overall were considering them with the Brecht/epic theatre style in mind. My idea was to help subtly suggest something through a projection which is a Brechtian devise I believe.
Weaknesses: A weakness of today is that overall we didn't get too much done and haven't progressed to blocking it yet (Which I'm excited about) so I hope that happens soon but what we did today was productive so I have no real fault with today since we were creative and got a fair few idea down.
Research:
Today I decided to do a little more research into the style of Brecht. I looked up elements of the style and key features or what it generally includes. A page I found gave me a detailed list of features and history notes. Brecht hated naturalism in theatre and anything to do with immersing the audience in a way that gets them emotionally invested. He apparently compared dramatic theatre to drugs saying that the effects of them are similar in how they "Pacify" the audience which means any message or effect the play is trying to convey will most likely be dealt with in a passive manner and not thought about. He claimed that audiences "Hung up their brain with their hats" whenever they watch dramatic theatre.
He wanted to use his plays to convey his Marxist beliefs (Marxism being a belief about economic and social structures being as fair as possible and not so that in tips in some people's favours and also not letting economy states change ideologies and give people ideas about society that shouldn't be there with how things actually work, so Marxists are completely against a capitalist structure) and express them and since then others have done so including earthquakes in London to an extent. The style includes the alienation effect or the distancing effect depending on the translation that means the intended result of the style is to make the audience know they are in a theatre watching a play and watching a message being conveyed so it means it may be less subtle and completely destroys the forth wall. Brecht never wanted anyone to feel sorry or to relate to the characters in an emotional way.
The term "Epic theatre" was most likely made up by someone Brecht worked with called Erwin Piscator although it is still debated whether or not the term has been used before. Brecht plays use non linear time lines and scenes were often on their own and not connected to the rest of it, so much so that he even referred to the scenes as "Episodes". The scenes would generally not have/need any relation to each other. He liked to have a focus on presenting society not just characters with individually defined personalities so this means that a character in his play would represent a member of society. An example would be Yvette from "Mother courage and her children" being called "The plays whore" and other roles in general such as I read that a farmer in a brecht play would just be a farmer to represent their role in society or a general view of them. If I had to say what Colin represents right now, I'd say he represents the unemployed, the people who aspire to have more in life and need it to survive both in a literal and metaphorical sense. I feel that if Colin did not split up with Sarah at the end, his mental health wouldn't have stayed the same as some people stuck in bad relationships often go bitter or enter depression.
This weeks research links:
http://www.thedramateacher.com/epic-theatre-conventions/
https://prezi.com/jkgkdekw1xsz/causal-narratives/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gQ_ti1r4gU
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zwmvd2p/revision/2
Earthquakes in London Blog 1
We have been given our play "Earthquakes in London" by Mike Bartlett. This is a blog about the rehearsal process for the production.
Audition process:
We went through a different process for how we get cast this time. Instead of just picking people to play certain characters we actually had an audition process. 2 weeks of trying out different parts in which I tried out young Robert, Steve and Colin. 3 parts that are quite different but actually quite fun to try out. I must admit I'm very proud of the way my version Steve turned out since it was quite wooden although I didn't have much time to think about how to play him. I am quite proud of how I played Colin and Young Robert. I think I captured their personalities and charm or physicality quite well. The character I had the most and probably enjoyed the most was Colin despite me not actually knowing much about him at the moment. He seemed the most fun to play but that may have been due to the scene we had do which was very fun and got some very positive. Although I did enjoy Robert to, it was nice to play someone who was shy yet keen and somewhat innocent.
I was cast as Colin which I'm actually quite happy with since I had a lot of fun doing his scenes in the script and I apparently suited him quite well. I was torn between Colin and young Robert during the process but I am glad I got Colin because from the few scenes I've had and the descriptions of him given by Karen and people who've read it, I like the sound of him, someone who is very reserved wanting to be more than he is. That sounds simple but I'm gonna say there is definitely more to him than that basic summary but I won't know til I read the script.
Response to full text:
I didn't fully read the script until after the audition process had finished. I must admit that I was initially a little disappointed by it since it was hyped up to no end in class but overall I still think it's a very very solid play. I do think that it does have some utterly brilliant scenes and interactions especially those that involve the older Robert since in my opinion he's the most interesting of all the characters due to his change of character plus his relationships with everyone around him. Freya's struggle throughout the piece to and the lengths she goes to were also very engaging. Discussing the characters with other people also made me think that even though a character like Robert does some questionable things such as telling Freya to abort the baby, you can understand his motivation even if you don't agree with it. The other responses to the that I heard were quite varied with some people even saying that they cried when reading it. I didn't have that reaction but I was certainly intrigued by the characters arcs, motivations and overall actions. As I read it more I have no doubt that I'll pick up on more details of the script and like it more even though as of now I think it's pretty damn good.
The themes that I picked up throughout the the auditions and the read through were that of regret. All of the characters seem to have some form of regret or at least most of them. Robert for having his children since he never ever felt fatherly toward them, Colin since he regrets not really having lived much in the past few years of his life if at all and wishes for more, Freya seems to regret getting pregnant due to her fathers disapproval, and Sarah seems regretful of how she treats Colin. This could be an interesting element to play on with the characters although as of now I'm not too sure since the style is Brecht and I don't really know much about it. So I am definitely going to do research into that. Also the themes of pollution, over population and excess were apparent partly due to the script making them clear although I would've noticed them eventually. An interesting choice of themes especially the one about excess and how it is said to be shown in the play. Filling the stage up with as much set as possible sounds like a brilliant idea in my opinion.
My response to reading my character Colin is that I do find his character arc to be quite interesting and reading the script made a scene I had to perform multiple times seem different now. The scene in which I talk to Sarah about how she used to act now seems to have a different side to it. At first it seemed as though I was ashamed that how she used to act but now with the added context it's seems more that he's ashamed of the fact she has changed and this does seem to make some of the dialogue make more sense. I get a mostly reserved feeling from him and that he does want to escape the life he currently has. He has a wife that he is distant from and he wants to get out more, get more confidence meet women and just be a generally more free person than he feels he is. I spoke about all this with Chloe (Who is playing Jasmine) I asked whether or not her character is attracted to Colin and she said that she probably isn't in terms of commitment but probably a quick fling and that makes sense to me. She then asked me the opposite and I thought about it. My eventual conclusion was that he isn't directly attracted to Jasmine in terms of looks or general personality but does admire and love her free spirit even if it's a bit too blatant sometimes. That's all my current thoughts on Colin as of now but I'm going to go over the script and think more about him and even have to think about how to perform him in a Brecht manner.
Research:
From the research I've done and from what we have been told in class, Brechtian theatre is a style that focuses on not immersing you emotionally in a piece of fiction, it wants you to realise it's a play and then think about the plot/issues it's talking about from the most objective stand point as possible. So it will be unrealistic and have aspects that take you out of it such as a play I found where the director made the crew go on in their own clothes so you know it's a play. Brecht apparently believed that getting emotionally involved with something in a play clouds your judgement of the issues presented in it. Also I'm assuming Brecht plays are very balanced and not one sided. For example this play doesn't really have a clear protagonist and antagonist although people have argued that it is Freya and Robert respectively but all of them have flaws and reasonable motivations for what they do so it makes you think about it harder and it works in my opinion. Although I'm a little skeptical of the style at the moment. I'm hoping the more I look into it, the more interesting and exciting it will be.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-828KqtTkA
Audition process:
We went through a different process for how we get cast this time. Instead of just picking people to play certain characters we actually had an audition process. 2 weeks of trying out different parts in which I tried out young Robert, Steve and Colin. 3 parts that are quite different but actually quite fun to try out. I must admit I'm very proud of the way my version Steve turned out since it was quite wooden although I didn't have much time to think about how to play him. I am quite proud of how I played Colin and Young Robert. I think I captured their personalities and charm or physicality quite well. The character I had the most and probably enjoyed the most was Colin despite me not actually knowing much about him at the moment. He seemed the most fun to play but that may have been due to the scene we had do which was very fun and got some very positive. Although I did enjoy Robert to, it was nice to play someone who was shy yet keen and somewhat innocent.
I was cast as Colin which I'm actually quite happy with since I had a lot of fun doing his scenes in the script and I apparently suited him quite well. I was torn between Colin and young Robert during the process but I am glad I got Colin because from the few scenes I've had and the descriptions of him given by Karen and people who've read it, I like the sound of him, someone who is very reserved wanting to be more than he is. That sounds simple but I'm gonna say there is definitely more to him than that basic summary but I won't know til I read the script.
Response to full text:
I didn't fully read the script until after the audition process had finished. I must admit that I was initially a little disappointed by it since it was hyped up to no end in class but overall I still think it's a very very solid play. I do think that it does have some utterly brilliant scenes and interactions especially those that involve the older Robert since in my opinion he's the most interesting of all the characters due to his change of character plus his relationships with everyone around him. Freya's struggle throughout the piece to and the lengths she goes to were also very engaging. Discussing the characters with other people also made me think that even though a character like Robert does some questionable things such as telling Freya to abort the baby, you can understand his motivation even if you don't agree with it. The other responses to the that I heard were quite varied with some people even saying that they cried when reading it. I didn't have that reaction but I was certainly intrigued by the characters arcs, motivations and overall actions. As I read it more I have no doubt that I'll pick up on more details of the script and like it more even though as of now I think it's pretty damn good.
The themes that I picked up throughout the the auditions and the read through were that of regret. All of the characters seem to have some form of regret or at least most of them. Robert for having his children since he never ever felt fatherly toward them, Colin since he regrets not really having lived much in the past few years of his life if at all and wishes for more, Freya seems to regret getting pregnant due to her fathers disapproval, and Sarah seems regretful of how she treats Colin. This could be an interesting element to play on with the characters although as of now I'm not too sure since the style is Brecht and I don't really know much about it. So I am definitely going to do research into that. Also the themes of pollution, over population and excess were apparent partly due to the script making them clear although I would've noticed them eventually. An interesting choice of themes especially the one about excess and how it is said to be shown in the play. Filling the stage up with as much set as possible sounds like a brilliant idea in my opinion.
My response to reading my character Colin is that I do find his character arc to be quite interesting and reading the script made a scene I had to perform multiple times seem different now. The scene in which I talk to Sarah about how she used to act now seems to have a different side to it. At first it seemed as though I was ashamed that how she used to act but now with the added context it's seems more that he's ashamed of the fact she has changed and this does seem to make some of the dialogue make more sense. I get a mostly reserved feeling from him and that he does want to escape the life he currently has. He has a wife that he is distant from and he wants to get out more, get more confidence meet women and just be a generally more free person than he feels he is. I spoke about all this with Chloe (Who is playing Jasmine) I asked whether or not her character is attracted to Colin and she said that she probably isn't in terms of commitment but probably a quick fling and that makes sense to me. She then asked me the opposite and I thought about it. My eventual conclusion was that he isn't directly attracted to Jasmine in terms of looks or general personality but does admire and love her free spirit even if it's a bit too blatant sometimes. That's all my current thoughts on Colin as of now but I'm going to go over the script and think more about him and even have to think about how to perform him in a Brecht manner.
Research:
From the research I've done and from what we have been told in class, Brechtian theatre is a style that focuses on not immersing you emotionally in a piece of fiction, it wants you to realise it's a play and then think about the plot/issues it's talking about from the most objective stand point as possible. So it will be unrealistic and have aspects that take you out of it such as a play I found where the director made the crew go on in their own clothes so you know it's a play. Brecht apparently believed that getting emotionally involved with something in a play clouds your judgement of the issues presented in it. Also I'm assuming Brecht plays are very balanced and not one sided. For example this play doesn't really have a clear protagonist and antagonist although people have argued that it is Freya and Robert respectively but all of them have flaws and reasonable motivations for what they do so it makes you think about it harder and it works in my opinion. Although I'm a little skeptical of the style at the moment. I'm hoping the more I look into it, the more interesting and exciting it will be.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-828KqtTkA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)