Week 1 of 13 by Mike Bartlett

13 by Mike Bartlett

 

Week 1

 

This week was the starting the process of our play for contemporary theatre. At first the title of the play '13' felt unusual because most titles are words.The words reveal a story behind it but when the title is just a number the storyline is a bold and broad title because the number '13' can have loads of stories and meanings. For an example '13' could relate to Friday 13th.This day is considered to be unlucky in western superstition.  However it may link to the amount of people that they are for an example '13' people or objects etc.

Reading a little of the play I gradually was beginning to have an idea of the themes and the plot of the play. This made me change the perspective of the plot. I started to think that Bartlett was linking the play to real life. For an example the character "Ruth" is the Prime Minster which a sense of naturalism in the play. Bartlett also describes the setting of each scene such as in Act 1 scene 7 the scene is in the drawing room at number 10. The words "number 10" gives us a idea where the setting of the scene is and atmosphere it will be like.  The first couple of scene are broken up into different dialogues with different people such as Act 1 scene 2 when Sarah, Ruby and Dennis have landed in England and see John followed by the next scene which is a riot with Amir and Racheal which were mat in the first scene.

Reading the play gave me more answers to my questions such as the actual plot to the play. The first act starts very mysterious for an example in Act 1 scene 1 was created when the 12 had an nightmare.

I started off with trying the character Ruth. Ruth is a superior character that takes charge of the political world. Ruth is a person with high status and I found that Ruth should be played as a high status which means that she will be either standing up or sitting upright. Ruth's character needs to be well spoken and persuasive to the crowd. I found that Ruth's character was a difficult part to play because of the status being implied in the play therefore tried for her assistant Carol. She is a slightly lower than Ruth therefore she is not as posh as Ruth. However Carol is a important character to play because she is the person that keeps the Prime Minster in mind. For example in Act 2 Scene 2 she describes to Ruth about the "final document of 2000". However Carols character is interesting to play because Carol can make up a purpose of the "final document". What could the "final document" be? Even though Carol was not right for me, I really enjoyed bringing ideas to the table of the state of mind that Carol is in.

Playing Carol felt comfortable and was a good character for me. However another called Shannon suited me better therefore I went with the Shannon character. Shannon's style is comedic was I was more comfortable to play rather than Carol because she is too robotic to Ruth. Carol is always sorting out documents Whereas Shannon is from a lower class is a cleaner hoover. I was more confident playing the character Shannon because I like playing comedic character. For an example Shannon is hoovering and taking no notice that the Prime Minster is talking. Shannon is just a normal person who doesn't really care who she is cleaning for but she does feel for the Prime Minster. For an example "oh hi! you alright?" means that she has a concern or worry on how the Prime Minster is looking because she is constantly fidgeting with her skirt. The phrase "oh hi!" makes Shannon's character feel innocent and friendly. However when the words "you alright" are said if sounds as if she is not sure about her outfit that she is wearing. This is why Shannon pulls a face to communicate her opinion on the character.

 I also tried a character called Alice who is Marks assistant. Mark is a lawyer so this means that Alice will have to sort of files and be responsible for them.  Alice needs to be organised and show this through her character. I thought that I played this well because of the involved with Mark in Act 1 scene 7 where banter is being said through Mark and Alice. The banter is friendly just through work colleagues. Alice is making fun of Mark by her reaction of his clothes and punctuality.

Act 1 Scene 7 started off with Mark listing "a toothbrush a new shirt and a double espresso". At first I thought that he was describing someone that her is representing by a s I read the script more I began to realize that he was listing what he needed. After a couple of times rehearsing I knew that this was the right character because of the banter and the truth being told.

My aims for next week is to picture in detail my character and keep that detail and show it to the audience.