Rehearsal 6

What do you need to find in yourself to become your character? And how is my character different to me?

I need to find the desperation that Mary has due to the war. Mary has a lot of innocence and religious beliefs due to her desperation. The desperation and over emotion is something i struggle to connect with as i have had a more privalaged life than Marys. However in many ways Mary has been desensitised by the war and doesn't feel lots of emotion as going through such hard times and experiencing the things these women have such as rape or torture, living with the constant fear of being taken by soldiers. The women in this story have experienced so much vulnerability that they have learnt how to block themselves from it and not get effected by whats happening around them. However I need to find the struggle from small parts of my life so i can commit to the life of a person effected by war. Also i feel that although Mary has a lack of control due to war and she lives in a very patriarcle society where she is most probably abused by men often due to her desensitised nature to the topic. I feel Mary has a lot of control as she is influencing madame and the way the story goes, they controll what is happening on stage a lot and i am a very controlling person which i feel can both benefit and hinder my performance as in an ensemble you have to work as a collective unit and not as an individual meaning i cant take control i can only be an opinionated member of the unit. 

Write up about the style? 

The style of the performance is very fluid and ensemble led. The piece is very physical and shows emotions by visual representation and levels. The ensemble works to add dimension and story telling. There are lots of linking actions to create fluid movement such as when the soldiers carry the bodies from one place to the next to create space and signify the start of the maid scene or when we go to collect the shoes and as an ensemble create the infinity sign by crossing through each other into the spinal and out to linking arms to show the rush and hurry to get shoes whilst also adding movement and excitement creating energy before the next scene begins whilst also setting up the shoes for the next scene. 

What character would i most easily be cast as? Servant- theresa. Theresa is quite similar to me as she has a bitchy nature but has a much deeper backstory and intensity which i know i can bring to the character. She doesnt have overly graphic storytelling or actions which wont force me to be uncomfortable and negatively effect the acting however it wont push me out of my comfort zone as doig something graphic or not natural to me would allow me to explore a different side of theatre. However the choral/ ensemble work will push me out of my comfort zone and teach me new skills about ensemble and physical theatre. 

What character would be a challenge for me? Madame- due to her her over sexual atmosphere and confidence would be challenging because its unlike me and push me to be out of my comfort zone. Also the dark topic of rape can be difficult for me to portray as it is so unrealtable for me as i've never experienced anything as dark as that. 

rehearsal 5

interrogating scene 9

In chronological order
- human chain phone wire soundscape in cannon
- article maria "atmosphere changes in a heart beat" foley immitate heart beat
- chorus lean in to listen to conversation slowly bunching together
- chorus forms window in bodies
- freeze heart beat
- when cast moves chorus is still
- lapin and conrad lifted by chorus as they become enraged "a reverse, a reverse"
- swears chorus recoils
- when generalisimo paining is ripped down david shillinglaw sketch is shown
- metronome on foley
- andreas "fuck" chorus repeat
- chorus rain down badges
- maria stood observing through scene
- " you must be quiet" chorus picking on her covering mouth toughing arms ext
- shoe boxes form set with desk, inside there are shoes
- pulling house down shoes everywhere
- everyone manic panic looking for stuff aided by chorus
- maria is observing chorus walk through with items
- "gargoils" chorus embody
- inside shoe boxes are papers and guts to show hidden parts
- "and you collect your posessions" article maria telling maria what to do puppiteering
- chorus covers both marias with papers
- transport her onto block writing article
- madame steps from chorus through papers, chorus dress her
- chorus freeze looking at madame
- sieze her to behind papers
- maria stands on block

foley table

• Corn Starch in a leather pouch makes the sound of snow crunch
   
• A pair of gloves sounds like bird wing flaps
   
• An arrow or thin stick makes a great whoosh!
   
• An old chair makes a controllable creaking sound
   
• A water soaked rusty hinge when placed against different surfaces makes a great creaking sound. Notice how various surfaces act as a sounding board to amplify and change the sound: this is an important principal of Foley and sound creation!
   
• A heavy staple gun and a other metal parts make can make a good gun sound
   
• A metal rake makes a great fence sound (and when scraped across metal makes a great metal screech - if you can stand it!)
   
• You will need a car door and a fender which you can pickup at a wrecking yard - they are good for car and other heavy metal sounds. If you can fit a whole car in the studio, even better!
   
• Burning black plastic Glad garbage bags (cut open a bag and strip it into thin pieces) will make a cool sound as the bag melts and drips to the ground
  THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS!!!

• 1/4" audio tape when balled up sounds like grass (we walk on it!) or flowers
   
• A wet balloon makes a weird sound when rubbed: this is funny more than practical!
   
• 'Flubber' (they sell it in toy stores) is great for wet swuishy sounds; so is gelatin and liquid hand soap.
   
• Frozen romaine lettuce (I used this in the 'War Of The Worlds' television series for alien head squishes!) makes a great bone or head squishy noise
   
• Coconuts shells cut in half and stuffed with padding makes great sounding horse feet (I swear I still use this trick): it takes some skill to make good sounding ones (not too hollow or thin) but it works!
   
• Cellophane can make the sound of crackling fire (the effects editor should do the fire but in a pinch it does work)
   
• You will need a wooden door - apart from door knocks and other movement sounds, they make great wooden boat noises when laid across a heavy wooden stool (the stool gives the door a resonance and helps with the creaking
   
• A heavy rolled and taped up telephone book makes a good 'body punching' surface

microphone should be three feet away from foley artist and faced away from the face to stop the sound of breathing. 

foley artist Greg Barbanell who works on the walking dead said "A lot of it has to do with physics — especially sonics and resonance. Being able to get the right resonance out of something and being able to manipulate it — it’s too woody, it’s too “metal-y” — you can change that. You can know how to do that by having a good sense of the world, but it’s also about learning the physics.”

lesson 23/01/17

DIctatorships

Link to presentation

Saddam Hussein- Iraq- 1979-2003
seen as a family man, progressive, effective, liked.
Manipulator, mass murdered and tortured.

Augusto Pinochet- Chile - 1974-1990
3200 people murdered, 30000 tortured. Lack of media. Lots of support. Military ran.

Francisco Franco- spain - 1939- 1975
totalitarian state- facist- nazi and italy support.

Dictators can either be created politically or by force of opposing groups. Use talents to manipulate into believing its the best option 

under a dictatorship information is filtered and dictators have total control. 

only one opinion, propaganda. 

The Effects of War on Civilians

PTSD
sending families to war

Increase in homelessness due to bombing

Many people turn to religion

Become desensitised to death

Use of Foley in Theatre
in radio plays as prerecordings

Jack Donovan Foley- worked for universal filming the audio in sync to to actors

Katie Mitchell

Waves- National Theatre

The Forbidden Zone - Barbican

dark material
feminist

Actors look straight into the audience's eyes.

Leo Warner filmmaker

tubaca was walrus sounds with lion sounds and more.

horse hooves for walking 

meat for punches

Living in Devastation - Presentation Link

get bombed
want to die
70% have no education
physical harm, danger and loss
forced to grow up with trauma
7.5 million syrian children effected
50% of syria in aid
100 flee per hour
child soldiers

ptsd
deeply scaring
ptsd can occur after a life threatening event
psycological symptoms-
re- experiencing trauma
agrivation
night mares
substance abuse

imelda Marcas
-first lady from 1965-1986 philipinnes
3000 pairs of shoes
iron beauty
maybe an influencer of madame
stole billions from phillipines econemy
eliptocrat- uses power to steal from econemy

"win or loose we will go shopping after the election"
"im allergic to ugliness"

talking head theatre- here lies love

why is Illyria in this state? 

A murderous dictator tortured millions secretly. Another country tried to get involved in the dictatorship creating hope for the civilians and spurring on a revolution. The secret got uncovered by an undercover reporter and there was a rebellion against the dictator. Due to his power the rebellion failed and now the country is under tonight military control. The media is under total control. 

casting solutions 

3 maria vargas as news reporters controlling live feed 

madame is a person using puppitry 

conrad or lapin could be media handlers 

violent is ensemble

3 narrators conrolling foley box 

more soldiers than named

translator doesn't fit as well as female war correspondants are told to speak the language, magda could be handler till she dies then handler becomes someone else. 

2 madames, one before the rape and one after, puppet of madame gets head ripped of after rape. after rape is more aggressive and crazy, before is more obsessive. 

lesson 19/01/2017

female war correspondants

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/7872900/Women-war-correspondents.html

Ciaran carson 7 poems on war correspondants

http://www.frontlineclub.com/the-first-female-war-correspondents/ -video talking about people

women war correspondant rules- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17288577

• what to wear- keep conservative, remember a hat, flat shoes or boots, wear a wedding ring.

• what to take- if you need glasses carry them with you, aerosol or a pin

• where to go- avoid large crowds, go local

• what to say- speak the language, good manners matter. 

• give off the right vibe- don't be agressive, dont show fear, dont look men in the eye, dont shake hands

• be prepared- check in with base. 

finding the play- the representation of our performance through visual art
foley items/ sfx use of live sound effects
live feed to direct attention and add another layer of emotion picking up on extra detail

David Shillinglaw


creating 2 sketches one of our view on the show and one on our character.

lesson 16/01/17

Data mining

Costume

Theme

Atmosphere

Location

Set

Props

LX

SFX

Page Number

Act

Action/Physical Theme

Context

Opportunities

Important lines

scene 9-

the generalissimo has been delayed

what happens- trying to escape- rape- shoemaker-stabbing

atmosphere- tense- energised

characters- all alive

location- safe house

opportunities- rape- shoemaker- stabbing

important line- you know shoes are only something to cover the human foot, you have come from a country where this doesnt happen you switch on the light light you switch on the warmth warmth. it is war.

props/ set- telephone, bunting, flags, portrait, badges, papers, cigarettes, lighters

what theatre excites you?

i enjoy watching unnaturalistic theatre that has a moral/ point to learn through the theatre and by watching it i learn and discover something different. I enjoy physicality and ensemble work. It excites me when a play uses all the senses to captivate the audience.

performance opportunities for scene 4-

physical theatre to show the climbing of the stairs, using the ensemble as the stairs.

moving the set around the actors as they are performing the scene.