Rehearsal Update #2 | Placards, Narration & Character

In this session we had a workshop on placards; learning the meaning of them, demonstrating our utilization of them and how they can change meaning of a scene, give the audience clarity to a scene and ways in which they can benefit performances in general.

Here are some notes that I made which have enabled me to understand placards more;

Placard- sign or notice giving subtext to the audience, doesn't strictly have to be a physical placard
Text- what is said
Subtext- pragmatics and implication behind what is said

Narration & Character

We also learnt about narration and how that is used in TWOWC through characters.

Narration (coming from Greek Theatre) is all about storytelling which exists throughout the play in the chorus, and we will be all be splitting up the narration and all having lines which with physical theatre I think we would create an eerie atmosphere. I think the mood of thee scenes when narrating should be very important, and through the music, and projection affects along with the class adopting a disturbing projected voice that tells the story in 3rd person narrative.

'Once Upon A Time That Never Was...' #1 | Monarchy

Russ Tunney, when adapting 'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase' from Joan Aiken's novel into a play included a repeated phrase. Throughout the play the phrase is repeated 'Once upon a time that never was...' which does not only introduce the play through the chorus' narration but that 'sets the scene' and gives context to the play's (and novel's) setting.

When really considering the world that has been created as the setting for the story, a lot of historical, scientific and social related facts have been either twisted, made up or just adjusted in order for this 'time that never was' to exist. Some may say the setting of the play and novel is a parallel universe in which a different version of England exists.

As a class, we were instructed to research and consider the similarities and differences in 'the real and fake' England that existed in 1832, when the play is set. The main features that I looked at were; clothing, transport, treatment of women, treatment of orphans, hunting and monarchy. All that Joan Aiken and Russ Tunney have altered from England in 1832 as we know it has, in my opinion been done with purpose and are all nuances that craft the ultimate story that they wanted to tell. The first feature I will explore is Monarchy.

Monarchy

"Once upon a time that never was,

In 1832,

In an England that never existed,

In the reign of King James III..."

In reality, King William IV was on the throne in 1832 England. However in Wolves of Willoughby Chase King it is James III of Scotland that is portrayed to be ruling England (the 'England' that never was). After researching, I personally think that Aiken has deliberately decided to make this adjustment with great purpose.

King William IV of England 1830-1837

During King William IV's time ruling he was responsible for the success of the Reform Act in 1832. His reign was and still is today by enlarge associated with the abolishment of slavery and restriction of child labour- I personally think that Aiken was very aware that this would create some restrictions and contradictions for the play. 

King James III of Scotland  1460-1488

Like any historical figure can sometimes be exaggerated and falsely portrayed, however I feel his reputation as a ruler strongly correlates with the villaneous characters within the text; Miss Slighcarp, Mr Grimshaw and Mrs Brisket.

 I feel like Mrs Brisket particularly seems to mirror the behaviour of King James. A source states that King James shown 'unwillingness to administer justice fairly' and like Mrs Brisket both had the power and status to do good through leading a country and running an orphanage, however they focused more on leisurely interests- King James with hunting, riding and leading his country into war, Mrs Brisket with her impulsive infactuation for cheese and cruel abuse towards the orphans.

By replacing historic fact and shifting monarchs for the purpose of the play- Aiken has reinforced and empowered the  theme of mistreatment. Although King James' actions while on the throne are not mentioned throughout the text, the reference to him being in reign in Act One, Scene One is a nuance to the play that I think silently 'says a lot'. 

'Once Upon A Time That Never Was...' #2 | Transport

In relation to the similarities in the real and "fake" England in the play- another feature that has evidently been altered regards transport. As this play is set in 1832, and steam trains were invented between 1771-1833 despite the accuracy of this, it comes to my attention the steam trains of this time would definitely be too heavy for wolves to knock over off the tracks which the book states. We can only speculate that the author has done this to intensify the negative connotations of the wolves being more malicious, more corrupt and stronger than reality. This could further mirror the traits of the villainous characters (Slighcarp, Brisket and Grimshaw) who also seem to accomplish more than social fact would probably allow.

Rehearsal Update #1 | Opening of Play Physical Theatre

Originally five members of the class including myself were directed to  roughly choreograph a sequence of movements that conveyed wolves to open the piece to eerie music;

First 8 counts- we were to begin by peering through the set with a slow tempo and subtle physical movement- by doing this we aimed to create suspense and alienate the audience. By constantly staring at the audience we wanted to incorporate and element of Brecht's verfremdungseffekt technique by making the audience feel involved from the outset.

Second 8 counts- we then begin to change position and create some abstract physical theatre movements that portray the physicality of a wolf (by being crouched, panting and sharp movements.) We also wanted the tempo to shift at this point and begin to focus more on the audience suggesting suspicion of the audience.

Third 8 counts- we used this time to get into a position of different levels on the set of stage right, all scattered and peering at the audience still, then on the last beat of the music, we all creates a sharp head turn that when done in unison look into a diagonal. This could foreshadow the events of the play and symbolise the unison and 'wolf-pack-like' quality that some groups of characters have in the play (whether it be Bonnie, Sylvia and Simon for good or Mrs Briskett, Miss Slighcarp and Mr Grimshaw for evil.)

Rehearsal Update | Justine Choreography & Wolf Physicality

A choreographed piece that Justine has taught the class is no going to replace the opening sequence we had previously created. In this practical rehearsal we were introduced to the physical theatre element in more depth which will be featured in our play. To convey the wolves we were taught a devised sequence from Justine that included many characteristics that reflect a wolf. As a class we discussed that dynamics and key words like 'sharp, slick, strong, fierce' etc. would be things we had to bare in mind when developing the routine's choreography. To further portray this I discussed with the class that whilst the physical theatre piece reflecting wolves is completely abstract and unrealistic, we should still try to incorporate genuine wolf mannerisms- the way a wolf moves, looks and pants is something that we are going to research in order to develop our physical theatre opening piece.

One characteristic that I noticed when researching images of wolves is the way that they are always alert and a pack of wolves give their attention mutually to the same direction in most situations. 

Another observation I made is that wolves move in a pack and remain quite close together- I feel we could apply this to our physical theatre piece by adjusting the proxemics and creating a sporadic yet tight formation which should remain throughout the piece when in character.

The angry, fierce and 'hunting' side to wolves is usually dominated by the stern looks and sharp head turns which create an intense focus- if we were to apply this to out physicality when performing the routine and at any other point the wolf physicality may come up in the play, we would also create an intensity that would make the physical theatre aspect in the play a lot more powerful and evocative from the audience's point of view.

Applying Brecht to our performance #1

The first main points that we as a class learnt about Brecht and his work were that his work came at a time when naturalism was the norm and most common style if theatre.

Verfremdungeffekt loosely translates from German to 'make strange/alienate' an audience. 

This concept that Brecht introduced to theatre aimed to challenge the audience when watching a piece- the idea that theatre was and had to be comforting to watch and that mild emotions such as sympathy and sorrow were the limit of discomfort for an audience was changed completely with his style. I feel like there is a lot of potential for our class performance of 'TWOWC' to utilize these elements of Brecht's Epic Theatre.

As we learn how Brecht's work evoked reaction from the audience of his time because they were not used to it, I think to create a similar reaction, we really need to consider what our modern audience is used to, what will shock them and what they maybe haven't seen before. We also need to consider the family and friends our audience will be made up of- whether they know anything about theatre theoretically anyone from the general public of today has a somewhat tolerance of brechtian style theatre. 

3 minutes into this clip there is a prime example of  Miranda breaking the fourth wall by addressing the audience at home through the camera directly.

TV programmes like Miranda, Mrs Brown's Boys etc. aswell as the majority of stage theatre has a lot brechtian elements and this is something we need to strongly consider when aiming to create verfremdungeffekt for this piece.

Dictact

Brecht is a didactic theatre teacher 

Character Developing #1 | Auditions

Caricature- "a picture, a description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect"

Today's lessons in which we had to audition for different character roles by reading lines and improvising, I found quite challenging. I felt I knew the characters well enough to improvise a physicality, voice etc. but I didn't feel I shown my full potential. When reading as characters like Sylvia and Bonnie ( characters that I consider less eccentric) I think I struggle to commit to that character who display the themes of innocence from the play. As I have mentioned before in my 'Stand Up Comedy' blog, the more eccentric, 'berkovian' and exaggerated a character is, the easier I find I can commit to it. Otherwise, I notice I come out of character easier and struggle to create a physicality that is closer to a naturalistic one- like my own.

After reading the play and getting to know the characters initially, I was interested in playing Sir Willoughby, Mrs Brisket and Miss Slighcarp. I think with these principle characters who demonstrate the themes of corruption and mistreatment etc. I could create a real 'caricature' if I had the chance to work on the character development overtime. 

Other smaller roles such as the Doctor and the Inspector I feel can 'make' the production. Although they are not featured in a lot of the scenes, frequent appearances of grotesque characters can compliment the style of the play, especially one such as this (similar to Dickens productions I have previously seen.) Both of these characters can evoke assessment of the justice and symbolize the view of a moral civilization (ther audience aswell as the actual two characters) interrupting this odd series of events in the play which seems to lack justice, fairness and morality.