QUESTION 3 - DEVISED

SECTION 3 

I researched different futuristic as well as modern issues and situations to ensure my piece is more well informed than it was before. Firstly, I researched human experimentation in the UK, particularly people who did not consent to the testing and had their identity removed. This acts as the base of our whole piece as our two characters ‘OBF’ and OBM’ were taken in against their own wills. Another example of human experimentation is when the CIA allowed Donald Cameron to see if he could ‘depattern’ the human mind by erasing their existing memories and minds. This piece of information impacts our performance in the ‘check in’ scenes where whoever is in charge of the whole experiment wipes the characters memory to conduct their physical/mental check-ups. This is done every month to make sure that the characters are clear of any past memories that could somehow interfere with the experiment. When trying to erase the memories of these ‘participants’ Donald Cameron palyed recorded messages to them while they were in a drug-induced coma. This fits in with the recorded ‘robotic’ sounding voice-over that plays to the characters in their check in’s.   Another part of the human experimentation research I carried out, mind altering drugs really stood out to me. In 1964 to 1968, the US army paid professors Albert Kligman and Herbert W. Copelan to carry out research on 320 prison inmates by giving them mind altering drugs. This relates to my naturalistic scene where all of the characters come out of their absurd state and return to what is suspected to be their ‘normal’ selves as they respond to a well-known ‘Queen’ song by all saying “I like that song”. This scene suggests that the characters have been given these mind-altering drugs to forget their past lives and personalities.  

CO2 emissions is the root cause of the issue within our performance piece but I specifically researched CO2 emissions from cars which is a modern problem that has been going on for years already, but our piece emphasises how this problem has escalated and effected the population and technology. This research links in with the scene regarding the invention of the automobile which is set in the Victorian era. The characters in this scene are astounded by the invention but some have concerns about the CO2 that it could release into the atmosphere, foreshadowing the current issue in the other scenes.  

Another futuristic piece of research that I looked into was ‘millionaire bunkers’. These bunkers have been designed to protect wealthy, important people from possible future disasters such as a nuclear war or World War 3. The idea I had to use this research in my performance is that the ‘lab’ that the piece is set in is held in an underground luxury bunker that all of its citizens can come to view. One particular scene which hints at the idea of being in an underground bunker is the ‘light scene’ where the characters react to a flickering light from above. The light in this case is a flicker of daylight from the world above and this greatly intrigues the characters as it triggers a vague unconscious memory inside them of their life beforehand. In my research I found a quote from Larry Hall (project manager of a luxury bunker) which reads “these are luxury, nuclear-hardened bunkers that are engineered…to accommodate not just for your physical protection but your mental wellbeing as well.” Which is ironic in terms of my performance as the characters in the piece appear to be very mentally unstable. This is shown primarily through dialogue, specifically in the first scene – OBM: “do you hear the owls howling?” OBF: “those are not owls they are fish!”. As you can see this dialogue is very absurd and doesn’t seem to make any sense. This dialogue wouldn’t be spoken by a mentally stable human which contradicts with the above statement made by Larry Hall. 

QUESTION 2 - DEVISED

SECTION 2 

Our practitioner Kneehigh are heavily influenced by myths and legends of which they base their work off, which usually results in them requiring strong emphasis on visual imagery which is a common method within their company. Other methods they commonly use include live music and puppetry. Their styles include surrealism, grotesque techniques abstract themes, epic theatre and darkness (especially within humour and undertones). They tend to be non-naturalistic as they use puppetry and masks. They do not limit themselves when devising a piece as this can prevent potentially great ideas from being used, I will be taking this idea and using it when doing my devised piece as I personally think it's a great piece of advice. Kneehigh's method of creating a show is vastly different to how the majority of other companies create theirs. They begin with an instinct (stories which emerge) and then they explore their natural environments along with music which are both used to inspire the creators and use them as a 'story telling tool'. They then map out the structure of the piece. 

Kneehigh use a range of styles and methods in their work and I have decided to incorporate some of these styles and methods within my rehearsal process and then hopefully in my final piece. One method that Kneehigh use which I have decided to experiment with in my piece is live music, Kneehigh do this by using instruments and also actor vocalists. In rehearsals I have been playing around with beats and rhythms by using the set and props instead of actual musical instruments. I’ve also experimented with lyrics to fit my piece. Another Kneehigh method is surrealism which is looking at things from different perspectives and stylised which is somewhere between surrealism and naturalism, in rehearsal I have been exploring both surrealism and stylised techniques, I think that the final piece will include a mix of the two styles depending on different parts of the piece. Kneehigh also feature dark humour and dark undertones in their work which I have been automatically doing in rehearsals as the piece has a naturally dark feel to it as the characters seem mentally unstable and unhappy in the place that they’re being kept which is called the ‘Glasshouse’ which has a dark and claustrophobic sounding feel to it. Physical theatre is another key aspect inspired by Kneehigh that I have decided to use but have done so in a slightly unique way using a rope. The rope in the scene represents how the characters are metaphorically and literally trapped in the glasshouse. The way the rope is used is that each character gets ‘tied up’ by the other two, representing the experiment as a whole. Kneehigh also use the unexpected in their work to keep the audience’s mind on its feet and I’ve taken this aspect on board in rehearsals by making the whole piece extremely absurd, especially in terms of character and dialogue.   

QUESTION 1 - DEVISED

SECTION 1 

The stimulus I was given for my devising piece was 'Wounds To The Face' by playwright Howard Barker. After a first read through of the extract, the first thing I noticed is that the stimulus I was given was rather dark and harsh in some moments. Another thing I noticed straight away was that there were multiple cases of certain lines written in capital letters, I thought that this could have been done to change the volume and tone for when the actor is performing it or it could show desperation, fear or even weakness in these characters, also it gives a non-naturalistic aspect to the piece. 

Another thing I noticed was that all of the characters are nameless (mother, lover, prisoner etc...)which was unusual, this could possibly have been done so the characters are seen as a blank canvas that can be further developed. A common theme throughout this text was the face, age, and appearance, although these are shown in a very negative light and reflects how important all of themes are within society and how it affects people. There were a few monologues in the stimulus which could possibly be interpreted as being non-naturalistic. There were no clear links between all of the scenes apart from the three themes mentioned earlier which all ran throughout. 

There were uses of a lot of pauses in the stage direction, this is usually done to create tension and also to make the audience really think about what they're watching, which is something Howard Barkers aims towards when creating a piece of work. The dialogue seems to be indirect, especially in the scenes including monologues, which gives an uncertain feel to it and makes the audience feel unsettled or uncomfortable, another one of Barkers aims in his work. There was use of a prop mirror in some of the scenes which links to the theme of faces and how you see yourself through your eyes, not anyone else's. The stimulus as a whole seems rather ambiguous and occasionally doesn't make much sense to an audience.  

When I first began the devising process, the first idea I came up with was scenes set in an Australian prison camp in the 1800’s, specifically showing the roles of authority and the prisoners and the harsh treatment of those prisoners and the emotional and physical effects on them. The scene involved 3 characters, a prison guard, a ‘dinner lady’ type character and a prisoner. The prison guard and dinner lady suspected the prisoner of stealing food from the canteen (which he didn’t actually do) and the result of this was a violent act upon the prisoner. This starting point focused a lot on narrative and character dynamics which we as a group struggled to develop much further and eventually decided to make a slight change to our piece. We started to improvise scenes using the basic ideas of our first devised scene, so the concept of prisoners and authority but most importantly the whole improvising process ended up being very absurd and having surreal and non-linear aspects to it and less focus on narrative, character and more on Kneehigh inspired styles such as physical theatre and sound. After more thorough improvising we eventually ended up with the concept of the ‘glasshouse’ which is the whole setting that our characters are kept in, our characters being extremely absurd and seemingly mentally unstable ‘test subjects’ called ‘OBF’ and ‘OBM’ as well as another character ‘anomaly’ who appears to be a part of an experiment on the other two characters. Once I had enough improvised scenes to have a solid foundation of a piece I decided to add context to it to give myself a more solid base to work from and also a background of my character to keep in mind when rehearsing to help my character development. Once all of this had been done, I began to add a more defined narrative which is ‘OBF’ and ‘OBM’ being captured for ‘human experimentation’ after a significant rise in CO2 emissions in the atmosphere in the near future (2051, making the piece a dystopia). Then how they cope and respond to different stimuli given to them in the glasshouse. ‘Anomaly’ is then introduced to do what the audience thinks is observe but this may not be quite the case as he is later terminated alongside the other ‘glasshouse’ members. 

 

BLOG WORK 1

1) INITIAL RESPONSE - Outline your initial response to the key extract from the performance text and track your performance contribution to the rehearsal process

-voice

-character relationship

-movement

-characterisation

-narrative

-staging

The stimulus I was given for my devising piece was 'Wounds To The Face' by playwright Howard Barker. After a first read through of the extract, the first thing I noticed is that the stimulus I was given was rather dark and harsh in some moments. Another thing I noticed straight away was that there were multiple cases of certain lines written in capital letters, I thought that this could have been done to change the volume and tone for when the actor is performing it or it could show desperation, fear or even weakness in these characters, also it gives a non-naturalistic aspect to the piece.

Another thing I noticed was that all of the characters are nameless (mother, lover, prisoner etc...) which was unusual, this could possibly have been done so the characters are seen as a blank canvas that can be further developed. A common theme throughout this text was the face, age, and appearance, although these are shown in a very negative light and reflects how important all of themes are within society and how it affects people. There were a few monologues in the stimulus which could possibly be interpreted as being non-naturalistic. There were no clear links between all of the scenes apart from the three themes mentioned earlier which all ran throughout.

There were uses of a lot of pauses in the stage direction, this is usually done to create tension and also to make the audience really think about what they're watching, which is something Howard Barkers aims towards when creating a piece of work. The dialogue seems to be indirect, especially in the scenes including monologues, which gives an uncertain feel to it and makes the audience feel unsettled or uncomfortable, another one of Barkers aims in his work. There was use of a prop mirror in some of the scenes which links to the theme of faces and how you see yourself through your eyes, not anyone else's. The stimulus as a whole seems rather ambiguous and occasionally doesn't make much sense to an audience.

2) PRACTIONER (KNEEHIGH) - Discuss how your chosen practitioner influenced your contribution to the rehearsal and to the performance.

-What was the practitioner influence?

-How did you practically explore this influence in rehearsal?

-What impact did this have in performance?

Kneehigh are a Cornwall based company who have toured internationally. They focus on physical theatre and are heavily movement focused. They create their work in their 'Asylum' which is a very natural looking environment which links to their love for nature and how they show that in their set designs in most of their shows, they bring the outdoor environment inside. They are heavily influenced by myths and legends of which they base their work off, which usually results in them requiring strong emphasis on visual imagery which is a common method within their company. Other methods they commonly use include live theatre and puppetry. Their styles include surrealism, grotesque techniques abstract themes, epic theatre and darkness (especially within humour and undertones). They tend to be non-naturalistic as they use puppetry and masks. They do not limit themselves when devising a piece as this can prevent potentially great ideas from being used, I will be taking this idea and using it when doing my devised piece as I personally think it's a great piece of advice. Kneehigh's method of creating a show is vastly different to how the majority of other companies create theirs. They begin with an instinct (stories which emerge) and then they explore their natural environments along with music which are both used to inspire the creators and use them as a 'story telling tool'. They then map out the structure of the piece.

3) RESEARCH  AND KEY MOMENTS - Connect your research materials to the key moments in rehearsal and state the impact on the performance

-Give a clear example/evidence of research

-Detail how that research was used in rehearsals (key moments)

-Explain how the research had an impact on the performance.


Draft 2

Kneehigh use many different methods and styles that can be identified through watching their work. I  have decided to use some of kneehighs methods and styles in rehearsals and in the final piece. For example, Kneehigh occasionally use live music in their work so to use this in my own piece, I have decided to compose lyrics and music (using props and set to create beats and rhythm) in rehearsals. Another aspect Kneehigh use in their work which I have explored in rehearsal is physical theatre, which is a balance between theatre and dance, in rehearsal I have explored this, especially when trying to take away some of the realism of the piece. Kneehigh also use dark humours and themes and even darker undertones in their work, for example they would include comedy in pieces and hide darkness underneath it. In rehearsal, dark themes have run throughout every scene in the way that the whole idea is very non-realistic and surreal and everything has a general dark theme, especially in movement and dialogue. The costume and set could also show the darkness within the piece, this can be done by dark colour palletes.


Draft 2

My practitioner Kneehigh, use a range of styles and methods in their work and I have decided to incorporate some of these styles and methods within my rehearsal process and then hopefully in my final piece. One method that Kneehigh use which I have decided to experiment with in my piece is live music, Kneehigh do this by using instruments and also actor vocalists. In rehearsals I have been playing around with beats and rhythms by using the set and props instead of actual musical instruments. I’ve also experimented with lyrics to fit my piece. Another Kneehigh method is surrealism which is looking at things from different perspectives and stylised which is somewhere between surrealism and naturalism, in rehearsal I have been exploring both surrealism and stylised techniques, I think that the final piece will include a mix of the two styles depending on different parts of the piece. Kneehigh also feature dark humour and dark undertones in their work which I have been automatically doing in rehearsals as the piece has a naturally dark feel to it as the characters seem mentally unstable and unhappy in the place that they’re being kept which is called the ‘Glasshouse’ which has a dark and claustrophobic sounding feel to it anyway.

4) YOUR CONTRIBUTION - Analyse and evaluate the contribution of your own theatrical skills and ideas made to the performance.

-Outline specific theatrical skill/idea they used in performance

-Analyse how that skill/idea was developed in performance (key moment)

-Evaluate the impact the theatrical skill/idea had in performance

Research - In my piece, I am contrasting my abstract, futuristic type era with a Victorian-esque scene. For this I have had to carry out research into aspects such as Victorian etiquette and also Victorian slang to help me with clear contrasting dialogue between the two different era's. I also researched a building called the 'Alexandra Palace' which was a palace built in the Victorian era as a sort of vanity project. This obviously fits in well with the main centrepiece of my work which is the 'Glasshouse'. By having this 'glasshouse' theme run throughout all of the scenes, I can show a clear contrast but also with clear links between scenes, so that adds a realistic element that again, contrasts with the very non-realistic theme running throughout the other scenes. I also researched the invention of the automobile which occurred in the Victorian era also, we use this information in the realistic scene by showing the different opinions of two upper class characters (a lady and a gentleman), one character shows a keen interest in the invention, and the other is frustrated about the invention and is concerned about the loss of jobs. This character eventually gets so annoyed and frustrated that he eventually storms off and 'evolves' or 'transitions' back into his 'glasshouse' character which is very non-realistic.