30|4|14 - Physical Theatre - Development - Curly's Wife

Development of 'The Girl in the Red Dress'

We went over the scene from the week before, and found a nice image where we placed our hands into the crate, from this we could physically see the Girls want for comfort but the fear of his strength when he finally grabs her hand and how this urges her to move away from him. 

We both worked on our characters emotions, meaning that we could show through the aggression in the movements the reactions within the Girl of her fear of his strength, and Lennie's unawareness of how to handle the situation once it goes to far and he touches the dress. We made that gesture more clear by showing him grab my dress and having a moment of still fear where I grab his wrist and neither of us are capable of moving showing the unpredictable event they have found themselves in. 

Curly's Wife

We wanted to show an idea of Curly's wife being trapped on the ranch, as in the book she longs to be a star but due to the economic state of America her dream was impossible. Living as the only woman on the ranch married to a man she does not belong to herself. I proposed the question to Emily as it was decided she would be Curly's wife, as to if she could fit inside a crate. She was able to sit in one half, and then we closed another crate on top of her so she was in-cased inside.

We played around with how Curly (Alex) could make Emily appear from the crates, we had ideas of moving the crate but all felt too vague and didn't say much about their relationship. In the end, we had a simple gesture of him pulling her hair out and from this, giving the illusion he was pulling the top of the crate up where Emily could actually pull herself up with the crate into standing. From this, we decided that we wanted to raise her as although she is trapped she can manipulate the fact she is the only woman on the ranch in order to sexually lure the ranch workers for her own power satisfaction. We created a simple lift where we support her legs and back so she is laying flat towards the ceiling effortlessly before placing her down and falling back. She then beckoned Matt and Chris and they responded to the lift and push down motion that Curly's wife offered showing her power to sexually lure. 

When she see's Crookes (Kelly) she is unable to attain a connection, a barrier caused by the race. As a result, we see an aggresive side to Curly's wife. We played around with the different lifts but felt the one that fitted best was the one where she had her legs wrapped around the waist of Alex and she could lean forward mimicking the intimidation of a monster, the horizontal image allows her to have an effect of being in Crookes' personal space. The position of the arms also makes her appear more regal. 

From this we wanted to create a conflict scene between Curly's wife and Crookes that showed how Crookes needed to stay in his place due to his race and the effects for if he didn't. 

As a group we got in to pairs and worked on using just our hands, where one person follows the motion of the other. We then started to play around with blocking each others hand movements and how the other person would regain control over the other. When Emily and Kelly started devising, we noticed that this type of movement had a limited time where it was engaging, from this they development the hand movement to becoming a full body movement in which Curly's wife was able to show her dominance. We used gestures such as the hanging to show the threatening nature Curly's wife had on Crookes which is why he must remain in his place. 

We then needed to show more of the relationship with Curly and his wife. We made it so he walked on this, from this the three devised a scene whilst myself and Matt rehearsed our first scene. When reviewing their scene I liked the way Crookes made a 'throne' for Curly's wife, but it is only Curly that can remove this. From this they created a scene where the crates were constantly being moved until they could realise their affection for each other. From this, the crates were in place for the scene where Curly's wife would meet Lennie. 

This meant we decided this would go before the flop house scene so we could have a continual character of Curly's wife for in the flop house scene Emily becomes a prostitute. 

We wanted to continue to show the sexual nature of Curly's wife, as Lennie had the situation with the girl. Emily Matt and Chris managed to develop a scene which used the proxemics of the crates to show the growing danger. And as it was Curly's wife pushing them closer and Lennie moving them away we can see Lennie learning from his past mistakes. The killing of Curly's wife comes from the temptation of her soft hair and Lennie's desire to stroke it. This has similar consequences as his strength gets the better of him, Matt holds Emily on his lap, suffocating her to her death, from this they proceeded to do a movement to show she was dead by showing the limpness in her body, this was a puppet like movement before he laid her down and concealed her body from the audience by towering crates and leaving the scene. 

9|4|14 - Physical Theatre - Girl in the Red Dress

Myself and Matt and Emily and Alex both decided to create a short movement sequence that showed the meeting between the girl in the red dress. By having two sets of people do it, we were planning on picking the best parts from each others to create a stronger section. We decided to make sure there were certain features with in the movement so we didn't loose the story, this meant we must include: 

- Lennie killing the mouse

- Girl trying to comfort

- attraction to the dress being clear

- implication of sex but nothing happen 

We both created these pieces of movement and as this was the part I was going to be portraying in the final piece I made sure I was aware of the characters emotions. As she is not a highlighted character in the story it meant I had a lot to work on. If she was near a ranch it was possible that she was feeling lonely, everyone was working and to find a man upset seems to be a chance for her to create an emotional connection. Her intentions aren't sexually but the idea for companionship. This worked well as Lennie had no understanding of any of this, only the danger that women bring and with this - is weary of the Girl. Lennie doesn't mean to imply sexual confrontation, only an admiration for the clothing. 

We decided that we would use the crate in this as we thought they should be used throughout the piece. We used the crate as a barrier in this scene between Lennie and the Girl. The danger within the scene was reflected in the placement of the crate, for example, when the Girl is stood on the crate, it implies she is the danger, which is why Lennie must remove her as a danger. When the crate is first pulled round it crates a barrier between the characters, and as Lennie is the one that moves it - it is almost like he has been warned and told what to do when put into this situation, but it is the distraction of the dress that gets the better of him. 

The movements I really like for this, were the lift over the shoulder that myself and Matt created as it showed Lennie's ease with his physical strength, as I go onto the floor after this, it could be interpreted sexually as 'laying her down' when in fact he is removing the temptation from himself but is so unaware he stumbles. This is where we used Emily and Alex's movement of Lennie falling on top whilst the Girl pushes him away with a kick. This created a nice image as well as showing that nothing actually happened betweened them, but the implications of what happened that meant that George and Lennie must leave. 

 

2|4|14 - Physical Theatre/Workshop - Of Mice and Men

We were commissioned to create a piece for Year 11's on the story 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck. We used two day of workshops to create this performance. We did a series of Video Logs throughout the day that tracked our thoughts on the development process. These are the links to these video's: 

workshop one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKCOe-Q6bE

crate improvisation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEzSkQ5uiiU

crate vlog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG32cDCww9w

first half of the day vlog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAMR7swDtGw

flop house scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buLXDm-_Ngw

second half of the day vlog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2FxODtzgQ4

From this, we were able to create a series of physical theatre pieces, which we then added realistic scenes inbetween to tell the story for the purpose of the commission. 

We wanted to make a full 15 minutes piece of physical theatre that used the story and incorporate these scenes we already have. We decided to pin point the key moments of the story that we felt we could manipulate into engaging theatre. These points were.. 

The girl in the red dress - who Lennie innocently tries to touch her dress and they are chased out of that location and have to leave 

Curly's wife - and her relationship with her husband and the power she has with her looks over the other ranch workers, except Crookes, who due to his race and strong hatred for the segregation it causes refuses to fall over her. 

Lennie and Curly's Wife - the killing scene of how she innocently lures him and his strength is overpowering

Lennie and George's relationship - and the equal dependence, Lennie needs George like a parent or brother, but George needs Lennie's incredible strength to show they are worth having has workers on a ranch to earn money. We also want to show the killing, and we decide that this will be our end point. 

We decided that we would work in chronological order to make a story that's easy to follow considering the lack of words. As the flop house scene and Curly's wife's death happens simultaneously, we shall decide the order of those when we have developed the scenes so we can see which have the best transitioning effect. 

26|03|14 - 'Find Me' - Site Specific Final Performance

Setting up:
We went around with two members of the MITIE company to discuss where we would like lighting to be dimmed, these had to comply to their safety regulations meaning every other light could be off, but the others had to be on but dim. This was, although not originally what we wanted, actually turned out to be a lot better as the audience had better sight of the performance and meant that less accidents could happen. For the stairs, the lights would be virtually gone, but as their are also windows we were counting on dim natural light as well as setting up our own LED lights to give scenes more atmosphere and colour. 

We then cleared out the classroom at the end, covered walls inside (and boards outside of the classroom) with black poster paper to remove any aspects of a school building, we then put up phrases said by a doctor's in order to calm down patients. We also took any posters that were on doors or stairs down so the building didn't feel so much like a school. I then painted the pictures that would be used, these were child like, as if I no longer painted to be talented, (as we later see a good drawing held by stage one verity) these paintings also looked more disturbing in such a way.

For the audience, we wanted to transport them into a different world, to do this instead of receiving a ticket, they received a badge and label in which they had to write their name on, on the back of this were instructions that complied with health and safety, encouraging them staying with the doctors. 

For costume, we borrowed lab coats from the science department and we were also fortune to be able to borrow some 'scrubs' to show differences between nurses and doctors, giving a more realistic feel to the institution as different people have different power status within. The three Verity's were able to buy the same nightie and created the same look with their hair in order to create as much familiarity for the audience to understand.

We recorded two videos of the performance: 

Overall, I think the performance went fluidly without issues. I felt we engaged the audience so they felt invested in Verity and added to frustration as she does not get better and instead becomes mentally unstable to the point she becomes suicidal. I think aspects we could've improved on, were the audiences sight as I think for the number we had in the audience the viewing was difficult for people who weren't on the first or second row. I also think if we had more LED lights we should've lit up the last classroom as the TV didn't light up the room as much as we thought it would. Here is my interview with Mr Chipp discussing further aspects of our Site Specific piece 'Find Me' : 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drt0Kig_KWo

19|3|14 - Site Specific - 'Find Me' - Piecing it Together

As we wanted the piece to run smoothly telling one story as a whole, we made sure we paid contribution to each others sections to keep a sense of fluidity. As there was not much need for me and Emily in the second half, we decided that as the last scene was Verity's suicide, and instead of having the whole audience crowd into the bathroom, which wouldn't allow everyone to have a clear view, we dicussed the idea of CCTV footage being shown on a TV in a classroom that the audience were lead too. As a full company we helped with the filming, giving direction and moving the equipment. We had a variety of thoughts into how it should be filmed whether it is in point of view or consistently CCTV. To keep with the logicality and realistic aspect of the performance, we decided it would make more sense to keep it to the CCTV footage. To make it eerie, we decided to have me and Emily stood either side of the TV screen to show the future that they are holding whilst in the institution. 

We then lead a full run through of the entire performance, making sure that we all had the ability to get to our next scene without being seen by the audience. This was especially for me and Emily, as the audience is directed the same way that we need to go, for this we had to run and hide in the room. This creates an eerie feel as the audience will not know how we have managed to get from one place to the other. With the use of the various stair cases we were all able to sucessful find ways to get to our next scene. 

We also added in extra elements of 'scare' by using rooms and corridors throughout the building with short snippets into the mental institutional life. This consisted of using the 'staff toliets' on the way to the stairs scene, and within Mia and Richard would create a distraught scene where she is bashing on the door and Richard as a doctor is telling her to 'calm down, count to 10'. After the stairs scene, we decided to show Abbie, the third Verity, being dragged across the top of the stairs just as the audience leaves to go to the third scene, this meant we had to have an extra room left unlock so that as soon as the audience came out the sight of anybody being there was gone making the atmosphere heighten. Especially when she next appears in the next scene as if she was never in the previous place. 

For the guides, they created simple and vague scripts that allowed them to keep control of the audience and allowed them to utilise the site around them in order to create a more engaging performance. 

12|3|14 - Site Specific - 'Find Me' - Legality

As we have to be aware that we are using a Site for the performance that is technically not owned by the school during the hours, we have to treat the location as a separate site. This means that we have discuss terms with MITIE the company that owns the school in order to come to an agreement on how we can use the building, with this we had to write a letter discussion what was needed, this is mine: 

Dear MITIE,

I am writing on behalf the N2C Theatre Company inquiring the use of your building that has the desired structure for a piece of theatre we’re hoping to present to a small public audience. The Play will require the use of the entirety of the school including A floor, B floor and the use of C floor for the cast members to move to their next scene. We will incorporate use of the voids and require the space outside of the music department and the student reception area. Staircases 1 and 4 will be used by cast members only and staircase 2 will be used for staging and for the audience to move around. We also require alterations to lighting for certain parts of the school.

Little alterations are desired to create a hospital institution feel; this includes removal of signs, such as those on the staircase, which will be returned to their places after the performance. We will also cover up school boards with black poster paper which will again be removed after the performance. During the performance we will stick our own pictures on the wall on staircase two and in the B7 classroom. These will be removed after the performance and will leave no damage to the school property. As a cast we will also empty the B7 classroom of tables and chairs to the classroom next door and will then be placed back to their original place after the performance. The company would also like to use their own LED lights, these will use the main plug sockets and we will take full responsibility of the set up and removal of them. We’re also hoping to cover a majority of the floor space outside the music department in toys; the audience will then be lead through the toys in order to reach the next scene. There is a low risk of any injuries as we will have normal high lighting for this section of the corridor.

As we are using members of the cast to lead the audience around the school we will feed in the health and safety talk directed at the audience. This will address the emergency exits and that they will need to listen to the cast members at all times. This will prevent people from leaving the group and wandering into parts of the school where staff may still be working. This shouldn’t be an issue as it will only be an audience in between 20 – 30 people which will be easy for 2 – 3 cast members to control.

There will also be a copy of the standard Risk Assessment forwarded to MITIE which will address any hazards we may see arise in development of the performance and how we will reduce the risk of injury to the audience and cast.

I hope that in reading this letter we have provided your team with enough information and detail into the use of the building in order to discuss a booking fee of the building and any equipment we intend on hiring.

Yours Sincerely,
N2C Theatre Company

And these are photos of the risk assesment done for MITIE evaluating hazards that may occur during the performance and how we can prevent/deter injuries or accidents happening: 

5|3|14 - Site Specific - 'Find Me' - Transition & Doctors

For our third scene we wanted to include the Verity from the other group in order to show we are the 3 stages of Verity's mental downfall. We found a part of the script where we saw the five Verity's tell the same story but with the same theme our piece had. We decided to use a Berkoff style with jerky movements and synchronisation to hint at the duality of the characters. We used the main stair case of the building as this allows us to create the vision of showing the stages and who's at the top (best mental health) Emily, and Abbie coming from the bottom  (lowest mental health) to meet after I read a poem that makes no sense and has input from both Verity's as if they are voices in my head. 

They physically meet and we begin our joint monologue that talks about our favourite hobby swimming. We can see the changes in our opinions, views and general ways of how we talk about the hobby and what that reflects on our mental state. The focus of why we swim changes in each, showing that Verity has, with time in the hospital, been able to uncover the true reasons. 

First Verity: the love of winning and going fair with it. 

Second Verity: her father supporting her and motivating her to go far

Third Verity: being alone, in the Verity Lake in the Verity mountains. 

This then allows a smooth transition into the second casts work as they can follow that Abbie is the third Verity. Abbie becomes hard to control when taking her away, and as the same happens to me and Emily, the audience is able to see the different levels of force needed when taking us away and how the stay in the mental hospital has not helped support Verity. 

Here are some pictures from the transition scene rehearsal process: