You need to consider Joan’s age. Will you portray her as a young girl? What effect will this have? How will you achieve this through costume and makeup?

I consider Joan to be around the age of 10, due to her acknowledgement that adults aren’t as faultless as younger children believe: she does not idolise Harper but question her. This curiosity is further enhanced by her more manipulative attitude, which I consider to be highly impactful on the audience; as, the more Joan dissects Harper’s story, the more engrossed they become in the unfolding events. Joan’s costume would consist of an off-white nightgown. The off-white colour is symbolic of Joan’s childhood innocence gradually being ‘infected’, and the use of a nightgown as opposed to pyjamas continues the scripts ambiguity surrounding the era.

Is it significant that she is merely a witness of shocking events and seems to have no understanding of them? Do you think Churchill was making a social comment here?

I would disagree, I consider Joan to be very aware of what’s going on even if she doesn’t understand why it’s happening. However I believe the same social comment is made whatever interpretation you have of Joan’s comprehension. Churchill appears to be demonstrating the dangers of the bystander effect. She is asking her audience if they saw something as atrocious as what Joan saw; whether or not they would step in, call for help, or walk away.

Do you think that Churchill has used the character of Harper to present meanings about our own behaviour? Do you think Harper’s responses to Joan are lies? Could you use costume to portray messages about Harper?

I don’t think Harper herself represents the behaviour of the audience, rather that she encourages the relatable behaviours of Joan. She lies to Joan thereby enabling the inquisitive and analytical nature of Joan’s character. Harper’s costume would consist of black trousers and a plaid shirt. This is as her character seems very practical, and this would allow for that whilst not being specifically attributable to one era and therefore giving her character generalisability to many different audiences.

Perhaps you feel that Harper is merely behaving as a responsible guardian would, trying to comfort a frightened child. Do you think there is any truth in what Joan witnessed? Is Harper ignorant of her husband’s actions or is she hiding something?

I believe what Joan witnessed was true, and that in itself is a sign that Harper is far from a responsible carer. Harper seems like a very aware character and her devising nature plays into the idea that she is not only aware of what her husband is doing but assisting him.

So far we have progressed through 2 full units of Beauty Manifesto and part way through another (the 2 completed of which as seen in the images bellow). The third we decided to draw upon the work we did in our Paper Birds workshop, by utilising the section of physical theatre involving putting pressure on your partner in a movement sequence. This is combined with repetitive speech and follows a segment said in unison. This movement sequence by Zoë and Abi allows time for me to transition between my character as one of the Birthday People, to Jasmine the Ambassador.

In addition we have decided upon a few elements we want to include throughout the performance. 

First we considered lighting and proxemics, deciding that in order to convey the restriction the room placed on the Birthday People, they would remain within spotlights, their movements therefore having constraints. This would also allow us to demonstrate the ever-changing relationships between the characters. Each time we revisit the storyline of the Birthday people the number of spotlights will reduce as groups form and mindsets are changed- the spotlights will reduce and characters will change groups until Alexis is in her own spotlight and all that their characters are in another.

Second we considered character changes and consequent costume changes. We decided that we would use a clothes railing with strips of stretchy, white fabric covering it; this means we can change behind it and step through it as a new character.

Jacques Lecoq (December 15, 1921 – January 19, 1999), born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor. He is most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement, and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in 1999.

Jacques Lecoq came to study theatre and mime through an interest in sports. He began learning gymnastics at the age of seventeen, and predominantly worked on the parallel and horizontal bars. Lecoq described these movements as abstract and a kind of physical poetry that affected him strongly. In 1941, Lecoq attended a physical theatre college where he met Jean Marie Conty, a basketball player of international calibre, who was in charge of physical education in France. Conty's interest in the link between sport and theatre had come out of a friendship with Antonin Artaud and Jean-Louis Barrault, both well-known actors and directors and founders of L'Education par le Jeu Dramatique. Although Lecoq taught general physical education for several years, he soon found himself acting as a member of the Comediens de Grenoble. This company and his work with Commedia dell'arte in Italy (where he lived for eight years) introduced him to mime, masks and ideas surrounding the physicality of performance. During this time he also performed with the actor, playwright, and clown, Dario Fo. He was first introduced to theatre and acting by Jacques Copeau's daughter Marie-Hélène and her husband, Jean Dasté.

In 1956, he returned to Paris to open his school, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, where he spent most of his time until his death, filling in as international speaker and master class giver for the Union of Theatres of Europe.

Lecoq aimed at training his actors in ways that encouraged them to investigate ways of performance that suited them best. His training was aimed at nurturing the creativity of the performer, as opposed to giving them a codified set of skills. He accomplished this through teaching in the style of "via negativa," never telling the students how to do what was "right." The goal was to encourage the student to keep trying new avenues of creative expression. His training involved an emphasis on masks, starting with the neutral mask. The aim was that the neutral mask can aid an awareness of physical mannerisms as they get greatly emphasized to an audience whilst wearing the mask. Once a state of neutral was achieved, he would move on to work with larval masks and then half masks, gradually working towards the smallest mask in his repertoire: the clown's red nose. Three of the principal skills that he encouraged in his students were le jeu (playfulness), complicité (togetherness) and disponibilité (openness). Selection for the second year was based mainly on the ability to play.

In collaboration with the architect Krikor Belekian he also set up le Laboratories etude du Mouvement (laboratory for the study of movement) in 1977. This was a separate department within the school which looked at architecture, scenography and stage design and its links to movement.

In 1999, filmmakers Jean-Noël Roy and Jean-Gabriel Carasso released Les Deux Voyages de Jacques Lecoq, a film documenting two years of training at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. The documentary includes footage of Lecoq working with students at his Paris theatre school in addition to numerous interviews with some of his most well-known, former pupils.

Features of a traditional Aristotelian tragedy:

Megalopsychia-

A greatness, an incredibly good person.

Hubris-

Excessive pride (a common fatal flaw).

Hamartia-

The action the tragic hero takes, due to their fatal flaw, that leads to their downfall.

Fatal flaw-

An aspect of the tragic hero's character that eventually leads to their downfall.

Peripeteia-

A sudden, dramatic change in fortune.

Agnorisis-

When the character discovers/ realises something important and the plot so far is revealed to them.

Antagonist-

A character (or institution/ group of characters) that oppose a protagonist.

Villain-

An evil character who the protagonist must battle against and who must contribute to the tragic hero's fall.

Machiavellian-

A character who is prepared to behave in an immoral way to achieve what they want.

Malcontent-

A character who is dissatisfied because of some unfair treatment, often as a result of a decision made by the protagonist.

The themes that are presented in A Number revolve around the morality of genetic engineering and “designer babies”. I believe Caryl Churchill had a clear vision of how she wanted A Number to impact audiences, as the fast paced dialogue between Salter and each of his sons and the dramatic differences in personality from son to son prevents the audience from becoming immersed in the action and the characters. This leads to them jumping from scene to scene picking up only on key plot points: predominantly what Salter agreed to and how this has impacted the lived of B1 and B2 in particular. this brings up the question of Salter's ethical integrity and whether or not he was right to do what he did. Churchill, however, does not allow this question to be answered as she first leads the audience to sympathise with Salter's decision by portraying him as desperate to recreate his son that he claimed had dies; but then steering their sympathies to B2 as he was in fact cloned in order for Salter to "try again", as he was very neglectful towards B1 and their relationship appears irreparable.

The Paper Birds workshop consisted of us creating short, movement based scenes constructed off our stimulus.

Our warm up was comprised of a series of activities that revolved around synchronised movement. We did a mirroring exercise whereby we started in pairs doing small movements, and progressed into moving around the room where we then grouped with other pairs until the whole room was working like an ensemble.  

Our first task was to create a sequence of movements based on themes we took from our stimulus and what we thought was happening in the photo (what they are doing in the sea, what they are thinking/ feeling).

Next we created caricatures of old people, finding stereotypical phrases we thought would be associated with the elderly and put movement to them. We developed this by doing the movements themselves but removed of any character whilst reading facts about loneliness, and then repeating with our over exaggerated characters.

Then we composed a version of a chair duet (for want of a better term), whereby one of us were in the chair (in a group of three) and the other two had to try and get them out of it; however, whilst there was no resistance, the person in the chair would return instantly. We tried this at different speeds.

Finally we watched a direct address devising technique in process. A group began at the back of the room and would say lines from various different texts they were given, interrupting each other and pushing in front of one another. Should we decide upon epic theatre for our devised piece, I feel this would be a good technique to experiment with to make direct address and educating the audience more dynamic.

Here are the roles we have decided on:

Myself- Jasmine, Sam

Charlie- Chloe, Alexis

Zoë- Silas, Hannah

Abi- Ella, Paloma and Rachel (we have combined their lines under the name Paloma)

We have cut the character David.

We have composed a chair duet to the song 'Mr Sandman', as inspired by an image from a DV8 performance.

We began this process by splitting in half and devising a chair duet each that only required the movement of our arms. This meant that when we came together we could act as if we were casually watching TV ad were in a normal scenario, whilst our arms moved robotically. We particularly liked the juxtaposition of the movements and our postures.

We laid out our chair duet whereby Zoë and myself did our chair duet, we all did a series of repetitive movements in unison, and we finished with Charlie and Abi' chair duet.

We also discussed our own opinions on human cloning and 'designer babies'. My beliefs on the matter are that 'designer babies' are ethical to the extent whereby we can eradicate life threatening illnesses. However, I don't agree with human cloning as it is unnecessary. Whilst I find it incredible that such a progression has been made in science that such a thing would become a possibility in the near future, as it is not serving any purpose in improving lives, it is best to avoid such an area of moral uncertainty.

We have decided on the play Beauty Manifesto, by Neil Leyshon. This takes place in a world where you are expected to have plastic surgery in order to be the most beautiful version of yourself you can be. The Beauty Manifesto, that specifies why such a system would be in place, is 'applied to all', 'there are no exceptions'.

In this lesson we began to decide our staging, which is four tall rostrum pushed together in order to create the surgical table. We decided we wanted the immanency of the surgery to be apparent throughout, as well as implying the omnipresence of the Beauty Manifesto.

Typical performance spaces-

A semi-circular area, with a round orchestra on a flattened terrace at the foot of a hill, the slope of which produced a natural theatron, (watching place). These spaces were very large, and there could be up to fourteen thousand audience members.

Size of casts-

Initially, the chorus was made up of 50 members, but this was reduced to 12 or 15 in tragedies and 24 in comedies, as time went on. All cast members were male, and the performance was competitive, with awards being presented at the end.

Settings-

Back drop later on- skene- changing area.

Props-

There were several scenic elements commonly used in Greek theatre:

-          Machina: a crane that gave the impression of a flying actor (also referred to as, deus ex machina, meaning, 'the god from the machine').

-          Ekkyklema: a wheeled wagon used to bring dead characters for the audience to see

-          trap doors, or similar openings in the ground to lift people onto the stage

-          Pinakes: pictures hung to create scenery

-          Thyromata: more complex pictures built into the second-level (3rd level from the ground)

-          Phallic props were used for satyr plays, symbolizing fertility in honor of Dionysus.

Costume-

Masks were made for the actors and for the chorus, who help the audience know what a character is thinking. The chorus all wore the same mask, because they represent the same character. The masks brought the characters' faces closer to the audience, as they had exaggerated features and expressions. This also meant that an actor could appear and reappear in different roles, since the audience did not identify the actor with one character. Their variations help the audience to distinguish sex, age, and social status. Also, they could show a change in a character’s appearance easily, for example, Oedipus after blinding himself.

Actors that played tragic roles wore boots called cothurni that elevated them above the other actors. The actors with comedic roles only wore a thin soled shoe called a sock.

Lighting-

As the stage was open-air, the performance relied on natural light. Plays were performed at certain times of the day, so the height and angle of the suns natural light could enhance the scene. They also used large mirrors to alter the lighting.  If they wanted to establish any type of moods then there would an intermission until the time of day was right, so that the position of the sun would suit the need scenes atmosphere.

Typical themes-

-          The impact of war

-          The state versus the individual

-          The state versus family

-          The nature of "barbarism"

-          Pride and the polis

-          The role of the gods in human affairs

-          Gender roles and relationships.

Intentions-

-          Was there typically a meaning or message?

Tragedies often conveyed the immorality of pride, and showed the downfall of those with hubris.

-          Did playwrights tend to have political or cultural motives?

Political satire was common, suggesting they had a political motive but not one that supported the contemporary politics. They also had a cultural influence as plays were often used as means for honouring Dionysus. 

Were the plays influenced by society?

Yes, due to religion and satire.

Did playwrights use typical plot/ structural techniques?

Tragedy:

Aristotelian theory suggests that the following factors contribute to a tragedy;

Fatal flaw- a trait in the character that leads to their downfall.

Hubris- excessive pride (in Greek tragedy this is specifically in defiance of the Gods).

Hamartia- the act, fuelled by the fatal flaw, which causes/ accelerates the downfall of the tragic hero.

Tragic hero- a literary character who makes an error in judgement that inevitably leads to their destruction.

Malcontent villain- a character who is discontent with their social status and manipulates the situation to overcome this.

Machiavellian villain- a character who will use any means possible to get what they want, regardless of how their actions affect others.

Mimesis- the audience recognises actions/ character traits, and finds a “truth” in what they are experiencing.

Peripeteia- a dramatic change in fortune.

Pathos- the suffering.

Agnorisis- the moment of realisation when a tragic hero recognises the source of their tragedy, and/or the way to be released from it (often death).

Catharsis- the audience are cleansed of their emotions, and feel satisfied by the end of the tragedy.

Comedy-

Although innovations occurred, a comedy play followed a conventional structure. The first part was the parados where the Chorus of as many as 24 performers entered and performed a number of song and dance routines. The second phase of the show was the agon which was often a witty verbal contest or debate between the principal actors with fantastical plot elements and the fast changing of scenes which may have included some improvisation. The third part of the play was the parabasis, when the Chorus spoke directly to the audience and even directly spoke for the poet. The finale of a comedy play was the exodos when the Chorus performed another song and dance routine.

We began the lesson with a warm up that centred round the importance of exaggeration in Berkoff styled theatre, taking everyday activities such as getting up in the morning and making them more dramatic. We also looked at a section of a Berkoff performance (see Zoë’s blog) and recognised the robotic nature of Berkoff that we felt really complemented the section of Beauty Manifesto we were then given. We then devised around the section of script:

Berkoff is a British practitioner whose career has spanned from 1965 to today.

His physical, exaggerated style of theatre is both popular and controversial, defying the norms of naturalistic theatre.

Background History:

Steven Berkoff was born in Stepney, London in 1937, and is still an energised actor, playwright and director. His grandparents left Russia for England in the 1890s. Diary of a Juvenile Delinquent, written by Berkoff, is an informative insight into the Jewish young man, growing up in the east end of London.

Berkoff trained as an actor at the Webber Douglas Academy in London and studied movement at the Ecole Internationale de Theatre de Jaques Lecoq in Paris. These two disciplines are key to his creative work. He worked as a mime and physical theatre practitioner at Webber Douglas and first experimented with The Trial using an ensemble of students. In 1968, Berkoff formed the London Theatre Group and like another influential actor/director, Laurence Olivier, proceeded to write, direct and perform with his own company.

The 1970s were a time of rapid change. With the end of censorship, a new writing culture permeated British theatre. Berkoff featured in his own experimental adaptations of Kafka’s The Trial and Metamorphosis, Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, as well as appearing in iconic films of the period.


Features of Berkovian Theatre:

What sets Berkoff apart from theatre is his focus on non-naturalism, his attention on movement rather than voice.  As an actor, director and playwright and general non-conformist, Berkoff wanted to shake naturalistic theatre and encourage experiment using the idea of Total Theatre. He believed that the only purpose of a script is to help minimalize and physicalize the story; stripping it down to the bare components.
Total Theatre maintains that every aspect of theatre must have purpose: every movement, that is choreographed; to each line, that is learned perfectly; to each lighting effect, that is used to convey a mood or message; to each sound effect, that enhances the audience’s experience; to each prop that has a use. 

The aim of Total Theatre is to create extreme moods to give the audience an overwhelming experience and to shock, amuse, scare, or amaze them. Berkoff particularly embraced this in his Kafka adaptations such as Metamorphosis, The Trial and In the Penal Colony. As a result of Total Theatre, performances are often minimalist, with bare stages and little language so that the focus remains on the physical movement and not on all the effects or the creation of a scene. This serves to detach the audience from the play and make them think about what was being said (much like Brecht, who greatly influenced Berkoff as a practitioner).

"Total theatre is a use of the imagination. Actors express the genius of the body. Express the story without a set".

Steven Berkoff said that his career owes much to his training as a physical theatre practitioner, but perhaps equally, to his working class origins, which, he maintains, give him a different perspective to those around him in a predominantly middle class profession.

Berkoff’s work is influenced by Greek theatre, Japanese Noh and Kabuki, Shakespeare, East End music hall and his Jewish heritage, as well as using the techniques of practitioners like Artaud and Brecht. His own actor training would have included Stanislavski and the techniques used by Lecoq. The use of mime, stylized movement, exaggerated vocal work, direct asides and improvisations within an ensemble environment are all key features.


Characterisation:
Berkoff was a Marxist and so often his politics would be mirrored in his productions. All parts of a play were created like a ballet, a Greek chorus as the actors became the style of the play. 

He tends to use actors as "malleable shapes and forms." 

'Decadence' is a satire - ungovernable prejudices performed by very upper class people. Berkoff used techniques in decadence such as: miming smoking and pouring champagne and making his own sound effects. He said that "like smoking, naturalism can damage your health." 

In Metamorphosis he used ritualistic miming in the scene with the eating family, which was mirrored in the ritualistic beetle/boy character. As an insect, he moved with sharp motions, staying completely still save for the short and snappy movements. 

Berkovian actors use techniques such as background movement, repetitive actions, and mime to explore further the ways in which Berkoff approaches exchanges between two characters. Berkoff said that it was important to see how he could bring mime together with the spoken word as its opposite partner, creating the form and structure of the piece.

Examples:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZQOEZO1n10

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X1hh8mPE9tw

We found our four themes could be separated into groups:

-          Lack of diversity and absence of personality, and

-          Liminal and Sonder

Lack of diversity and absence of personality:

Berkoff’s style was heavily influenced by Kabuki theatre. This implies he focuses mainly on physicality as opposed to voice, due to the fact that Kabuki actors would assume monotonous tones of voice, and convey emotion with body language. This has inspired the idea of using masks. We are considering the use of masks during transitions as, whilst there may be no speech, we will still be able to evoke a strong reaction in the audience.

Also with Kabuki theatre, the topics ae usually centred about a deep moral conflict. This combined with Berkoff’s Marxist influences has encouraged our ideas surrounding societal expectations and the discriminatory behaviour that can sometimes result from this. Berkoff’s theatre often has misogynistic elements because, as Berkoff says, “there are a lot of sexist people”.

Berkoff often uses ritualistic, exaggerated, repetitive movements; which would fit well with our idea of physicalizing compliancy.

Liminal and Sonder:

We felt like a liminal setting would support Berkoff’s style due to the shock he aimed for the audience to experience. Being in an in-between setting implies a generalisability to the performance. We were considering a sea/ river or crossroads setting.

In regards to Sonder, we have interpreted it as an extreme empathy, which we may pursue within our performance or as what we want from the audience.

Having chosen the image 'Another Place', we refined our ideas to the following key points-

- Lack of diversity 

- Sonder (the feeling of acknowledging that strangers/ other people's lives are just as vivid and intense as your own)

- Eliminal 

- Absence of personality

We found that the themes could consistently be applied to society and societal pressures. Of which, we discussed-

- Education (ref. 'Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, Pink Floyd music video)

- Laws and Rules

- Your conscience and the difference between what you say and what you think

- How people look and present themselves

- Religion

- Sexuality and gender (in particular we discussed the change in acceptance from generation to generation; and how "casual"-isms still seem to be prevalent, as demonstrated by toilet signs which not only encourage gender expression conformity, but also discriminate against those of a non-binary gender)