‘Plays for the Poor Theatre’ – plays with minimal theatrical requirements and small casts but incredibly fierce.

 I have been given 'The Saliva Milkshake' to direct for my mock. My first thoughts were how intense the dialogue was. 
Summary: When Martin comes home to his flat, he finds Joan who has broken in and made herself a coffee, after killing the Home Secretary. They were revolutionary socialists in their student days, but while Joan is still rebelling, Martin has settled into a middle-class academic position, and he is horrified to find Joan appealing to him for help. The play is the story of an intellectual forced into action in an oppressive and watchful society.
http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/plays/the-saliva-milkshake-iid-15798

 From my research, I have found out that: 

  • Brenton was born into a poor family in England in the 30s, his fathered retired from the forces and became a Methodist preacher, they moved around UK a lot. 
  • The 30s was a difficult time financially. 
  •  "Disrupting the spectacle is a valid artistic aim; it can be enjoyed by writers and audiences. But I wasn't a bomber. There was a horrible psychodrama developing on the left at that time: middle-class Maoists telling you you're impure, bourgeois, because you won't go and kill someone. Horrible, but understandable. And interesting."- Brenton
This week we spent time working on our directors notebooks, however we did some practical sessions where we explored Stanislavski.

Tuesday:
In Tuesdays session we talked about the differences between naturalism and realism. This was to understand Stanislavski's methods. Stanislavsi was very into Naturalism and believed that theatre was supposed to depict a 'slice of life.' In his time theatre tended to be practised by inexperienced mediocre actors who had never been trained, Stanislavski wanted to train these actors in order to allow them to become believable characters. In class practised some of his techniques.

  1. We were asked to imagine that we were in various situations such as looking out onto a dessert, on top of a waterfall, in a field picking daisies... 
  2. We were then also asked to imagine that we were in our kitchen/bedroom and the things we did when we had to get up in the mornings. 
I found this task interesting as during the whole thing we were never once asked to act however all of us did. I found that at the beginning when we had our eyes closed it was a lot easier to imagine a setting then when I had my eyes open. I think this was because there were a lot less distractions. I also found that as the task went on it became easier to lose myself in the different scenes, this was probably because I was slowly losing my socialised self and instead taking on more of a character. By the end when we told to imagine our own rooms and houses I found it a lot easier as they were places that were so familiar to me that I could just see them. This task really showed the power of imagination, and how it is really key for creating believable characters and situations, your whole disposition changes due to where you are.

Second task:

  1. We were asked to imagine that we were a watchmaker who had just received a broken rolex.
  2. After a few minutes of individual silent acting we proceeded to do a relaxation exercise where we lay down and relaxed our whole bodies by tensing and untensing muscles.    
  3. After this we got up again and were asked to do the same task that we had previously done before the relaxation exercise. 
I found that the second time I became the watchmaker I moved a lot more of my body, and personally I think I became a more believable character because of this. I was a lot more aware of what every different part of my body was doing and found myself doing different movements from what I was doing previously. I also found myself imagining the space I was in more easily, which helped me to understand my character better. I think the relaxation exercise really helped to get rid of my socialised self and become more focused on the task I was doing. By giving me a blank mind I was able to imagine more clearly. I would imagine that this relaxation exercise is perfect when in rehearsals and you want to be able to step into character. We could use this technique at the beginning of a lesson, if ever we are performing a short piece. 

Third task: 
  1. We were asked to get into pairs and try and transmit a colour to our partner without use of voice or any type of movement. We were only allowed to use our eyes. 
  2. We had to think of a colour and transmit it by staring into the other persons eyes. 
At first I was slightly sceptical about whether this would work however it actually seemed to work (some of time) which was actually quite shocking. This exercise was meant to show that believable acting is not only about stage business but also about 'rays' which is Stanislavski's word for the connection between two people and the ability to make a character believable, for example you could get the same two people to do exactly the same thing the exact same way but one would still end up being more believable than the other. I think this exercise really helped to show this idea. 

Thursday:
On Thursday we spent the lesson talking over some of the things we had done in our directors notebooks. We also talked about how although Katie Mitchells guide to directing is different to Helen Leblique's it is also very similar in many ways. From the first 4 chapters I would say that Katie Mitchells rough guide goes something like this: 
  1. Read the play 
  2. researching any questions you have on the play 
  3. Creating a good knowledge of the historical time of the play 
  4. Timeline of play
  5. List of immediate circumstances 
  6. Researching writer and linking ideas in life to play 
  7. Researching Genre 
  8. Naming each act &scene 
  9. Noting down both characters intentions in each scene and their overall super objective. 
We also started work on the tasks in each chapter. 
 
Friday: 
On Friday we discussed how the theatre that we do is influenced by different areas of our life such as: 
  • Culture 
  • Society 
  • Home 
  • Family 
  • Friends/Relationships 
  • history 
  • School 
  • Interests 
  • activities
We were asked to write down how they affected our work individually, however I found this quite hard as I'm quite used to talking as a group (we) and when it came to finding my own individual reasons I found it difficult. We were then asked to decide which one we thought had influenced us individually the most and which one the least. I chose: 
  • Society (most) - I think the way people act in society and the pressures of society has really influenced my theatre. I find the topic of pressures of society really interesting and found myself using it in a lot of my previous theatre pieces such as my monologues in GCSE. For example in one I explored the pressures put on a teen when at a party. 
  • Home (least) - Mostly just because I didn't really know what it meant as there was a separate one for family. 

Preforming our piece:

We decided it was time to preform the Artaud piece and to not let it drag on any longer. At first i was very nervous as i do not like showing people something that isnt perfect and finished. But, i am very proud of the group for putting on a brave face and doing the best performance we could with little rehearsal and a lot of improvising! We did miss a lot of key moments and there were a lot of accidents (falling over bits of props!) and trying desperately not to laugh but i am quiet pleased with the out come. I asked a couple audience members what they thought:
Cristina Morales (a week later):
What did you think before, during and after the piece?
Before the piece I didn't know what it was about (so maybe you could have a title?). During the piece: I found it quite a shocking and harsh piece, mostly because of all of the sound effects as they were very loud and sudden. I also thought this because you guys had no face expressions which made it quite a misterious piece. I understood that it was a piece about all of your fears. This was very well transmitted as the audience was involved which was very effective. I also found the fact that there was one actor for one person of the audience very effective and made it much more personal as if we were part/involved/felt your emotions.
Things we could have done better on?
A title and turn the masks around so that they are facing the audience and do the dance closer to the audience.
What was the best part for you and which nightmare did you relate to the most?
i really liked the opening train doors part and just being involved in general and Meera's running away from something.

Kieran Gray (later the same day we preformed):
What were your initial thoughts?
I actually found it really good, I think because it was so different to what id expected and was used to.
Did you understand what were trying to portray?
Yeah, I thought the it was preformed helped me to understand it with the interaction with the four of us in the audience.

Directors Notebook:

We are now creating a directors note book on the play "A Servant to Two Masters" by Carlo Goldini
We are using the directing tips of Katie Mitchell, here are some notes i made reading the first chapter of her book:






I then created this mood board after choosing my scene (Act 1 Scene 14)
I chose to set my version in the 19th century because when i first read it, this era was the way i could see it.
I focused a lot on costume and set because i really want to bring out the posh, lavish 19th century life.
My chosen scene  - Act 2 scene four 

Brief summary: 

Beatrice and Silvio have just been involved in a sword fight which has ended with Beatrice's sword to Silvio's chest. This scene is the exchange between Silvio and Clarice after the fight and how Silvio is feeling hurt and betrayed by Clarice. The scene ends with Clarice claiming that she is capable of committing suicide because Silvio claims he does not care about her anymore. 

Character development: 

Beatrice - Is in fact based of he stock character 'Inammorati' in classic Comedia Dell Arte, however in this play the character is slightly adapted as Beatrice is a women who acts like a man to get back her lover. They are only really seen together as lovers in the last scene. In this scene she acts strong and fearless against Silvio however at the same time she knows she is only there for the money so doesn't kill him. She also acts tender and caring to Clarice.  

Clarice - Clarice is also based of the Comedia Dell Arte Stock character 'Inammorati' however she is portrayed as the more classic version unlike Beatrice. She is portrayed as totally in love and completely infatuated by Silvio. She is so crazy in love that in this scene she threatens to kill herself over the fact that Silvio says that he doesn't care about her anymore. Her love makes her stupid which is exactly how the lovers behaved in the classic comedia dell arate performances. 

Silvio - Like Clarice Silvio is portrayed as the classic 'Inammorati' He is completely in love with Clarice and his love makes him do stupid things. In this scene although he says that he doesn't care what Clarice does he really does, however his anger at her comes out viscous. Although he is in love with her, his jealousy gets in the way of things. In the scene he is feeling betrayed, jealous and angry. 

Pantaloon - Pantaloon is present in this scene however he does not say a word. He of course want his daughter to marry Beatrice (The man she is pretending to be) as he is meant to be of a better class. Pantaloon is based off the Comedia dell arte stock character Pantalone who is greedy and completely based of money. He has a low regard for Silvio and therefore would be unimpressed at his fight with Beatrice. 

The stock characters: 

The lovers - 
  • Elegantly dressed (colour co-ordinated) 
  • Use of a handkerchief and fan 
  • Feet tend to always be in ballet positions / or facing towards their lover 
  • Tend to always be up in the clouds
  • Very self obsessed constantly looking in mirrors and looking for imperfections they will then focus on this even if it is extremely tiny. 
Pantaloon - 

  • Stance like a hunched back old man 
  • This stance is used to protect his money bags which he usually carries with him
  • large strides 
  • Hips forward when walking 
  • Often falls back when hearing bad news
When directing my scene I will be using some of these movements/costumes for my characters however I will be leaving out others that I think aren't relevant to a particular character or just don't go with how I want to direct this scene.

My approach: 

For my scene I really want to mix both the traditional 'comedia dell arte' style with a more modern 'naturalistic' technique. I really want to bring out the hurt in both Silvio and Clarice and show how strong their relationship is, while also bringing out the greediness and selfishness of Pantaloon. I do realise that Pantaloon has nothing to say in this scene however I think his reactions to Silvio and Clarice could be really interesting. 

Where is this scene set? 

This scene is set in the courtyard of pantaloons house. For this I would use an end on stage three pieces of set on each side of the stage (not the front obviously) . The three pieces would portray a 3D effect house. The house would be a range of different greys which could change in intensity as the fight becomes more vicious. e.g. The lights go darker making the grey paint look darker showing the shift in mood and atmosphere. This would also create a darker atmosphere. One path would cut through the stage setting running from stage right to stage left, Silvio will always be on stage left wheres Pantaloon and Beatrice will always stay on stage right. Clarice stays in the middle slightly to stage right. This shows differences in opinions and where loyalties lie. It also shows the clear divide between what Pantaloon finds acceptable and what he doesn't find acceptable. This might even make the audience feel sorry for Silvio as it clearly shows that he is all alone. There is fake grass covering the rest of the courtyard, there are no flowers or trees however slightly to stage right there is a massive ornate fountain covered in ornate golden lines. This would show the power and wealth of Panatloon. 
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