Week 2 13 by Mike Bartlett edited

Week 2

We began this week with a introduction to Greek tragedy. To start the task was to come up with 6 emotions such as good news and bad news. Whilst we were doing this of the drum was our signal to change the emotion. Every time it was hit everyone's body language changes. A lot of people with shying away or curled in a ball. Some people were standing up. On the other hand in the good news the atmosphere changed again by the change of facial expressions.

There were some other emotions such as empowerment. With these emotions they were developed to a scene. This was interesting to watch because of the reaction that people were having. Having the emotion empowerment implied who was being supported and who was being unsupported. When I was in this scene I felt that good voice projection and standing on the chair gave the crowd something to the support. This way it gave the crowd something to listen to. It gives more impact to the crowd rather than being unsure to who side you will be on.

Following the workshop exercise we came up with developing the workshop exercise to Ruth's speech with the crowd.  For an example the first of Ruth's speech is "It's tough". I associated this as receiving bad news so I put my head on my hand to communicate to the audience that I was sad. However it could be seen as fearful because the hand could be defending the head to show fear but the doesn't link to the original words of "its tough".  When the scene started all of the people were on different levels to make it as though it is a park for a speech to happen. Ruth was on a platform to show that she is the person delivering the speech. Ruth was directed to out pauses every time she speaks. This was effective as it gave time for the crowd to react. This was the 1 to 10 technique. This is when the drum is tapped ten times and then the crowd would have changed emotion. I think that Ruth's speech is effective because the chorus react all together but come up differently to different words. I think this is a strength because it makes the audience interested about why do the people react differently. It also reveals some personality of the chorus. For example sitting forward on a chair  means that the person is interested about what Ruth is saying. 

Ruth's speech refers to Margret Thatcher. Margret Thatcher was one of the longest raining Prime Minister which indicates that she is strong willed. She was the leader of the conservative party. Her economical policies emphasized in deregulation. Deregulation is a process of removing and reducing state regulations. People have an reaction to this statement therefore the crowd have a choice to empower the thought or show fear or disagree with Thatcher's views. From my research of thatcher she said 

 ' I always cheer up immensely if an attack particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left' Thatcher 

Relating this to 13, Thatcher mentions a 'attack' which could relate to 13 and what Ruth is facing in reality with the London riots. The London riots is creating conflict is trying to explain about. I think that Thatcher is trying to say that violence such as verbally or physically is not the answer to everything because that wouldn't  be politics. There wouldn't be anything to talk about because there is arguments or 'attacks' happening. From Ruth's speech I think Ruth is supporting Thatcher's views because of the situation that is happening is similar to Thatcher's history. 

We then started to run though Act 1 to see which scenes need blocking or needing work etc. This was good for me to see because I didn't see some of the scenes being rehearsed. The blocking in Act One scene helped me see my character more. It gave some background who I was. For example giving Mark has files meant made me understand that I was his assistant. The part that I thought was effective was the guitar strum and we see John. It gives an impact and something for the audience to react to. To improve this I think the pace of the scene should be faster than we rehearsed and then when the turn to face John happens it becomes slow to change the dynamics of the scene. It makes it more exciting to watch therefore it will make the audience engaged.  This gave me an idea of what the first half of the play will look like. I think the first scene was so powerful to be part of because everyone was bringing something to the intense atmosphere. It made me nervous and felt like I was in a nightmare. Phoebe came up with an idea that the 12 were paper people. This was a great idea because the 12 are all dreaming about the same thing therefore they are connected such as the paper people are connected by holding hands. The circle in the middle of the floor could be the clock with the projector shining on the circle. The clock should be red to symbolize fear and tense feelings that are going on in the characters mind. The lights are dark to create a scary atmosphere but calm.

Another workshop we did was relating to our previous physical theatre project Frantic Assembly. They came up with the idea of chair duets. We then took that idea and put it in a scene where it is set in London and the chair duets are benches. It looked really effective but abstract and created chaos. Along with the chair duets we took the four corners exercise and transferred that into 13. This created even more chaos but in a structured way. It was clever the way it was structured because even knew where they are going. They had a purpose to get to the next destination. I imagined that I was in London and I was looking where to go next. Many others were doing this to which made it set like London. The main scene that was happening was Mark and Holly. When Mark shouted everyone went quiet for a couple of seconds which was a lovely effect to include because it breaks the atmosphere and then starts again.

Next week will be finishing and polishing Act 1.


Bibliography

Thatcher- www.brainyquote.co.uk  Published: 2011  Date found: 2/11/14