A2 drama. Character mind maps

Beautiful Burnout

Context on Beautiful Burnout: 

The inspiration for Beautiful Burnout came from many different places; at ten o’clock in the evening, through a hidden doorway in the street, the writing team went to Gleason’s world famous boxing gym in Brooklyn. They described it as “Mesmerising, entering a world you knew was there but never had a direct experience from.”

Bryony Lavery, one of the main writers, knew that she had to capture the credible physicality of boxing within the style of physical theatre. Boxing was thrilling, described as “The noble art – The Sweet Science” It was revered and idolised by artists, academics and those who dedicated themselves to it. The moral dilemma of boxing was always something that Lavery knew she would struggle with, as even those who love the sport can’t defend the bloody nature of going professional. Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett, the directors, explained that they found the “Issue of how damage is both present and buried in a sport fascinating.”

Beautiful Burnout is set in Scotland, Glasgow and this is shown in the play through Lavery’s use of language. She writes words as they are said in the Scottish accent, for example: “doon” instead of “down.” And her use of the local dialect helps relate the context back to its origin.

 

 

Vocal Awareness

Pitch, tone, speed, timbre, accent, pause.

1) Did the actor respond well to your direction?
 
      - The actor responded well to the instructions he was given, after a minor debate about accents, we managed to compromise and change the accent. However, the rest of the instructions were followed well.

2) What worked when put into practice?

     -  A buildup of tone and speed. Using a gradual process, that started off with a softer and quieter voice the actor could add a more dramatic side to the scene. I found that changing the emotional range in the voice quickly worked as it have the character a slightly erratic mannerism. This was achieved with contrating tones. However, it shouldn't be used too much otherwise it came across as over dramatic and insincere.

 3) What didn't work when put into practice?

    - Starting off angry. Immediately bursting into a loud voice technique made it seem too dramatic. For a realism piece, every sentence should be carefully considered and treated as if the actor is participating in a real conversation. Overdramatising it brings the audience out of the story and does not reflect on the actor doing a good job. This would be good if the play was a pantomime or other abstract piece where colourful reactions  work well. My actor didn't do this however, as he naturally understood the realism of the piece.

3) Is it easy to respond to direction from your peers?

    - At first no, you naturally want to interpret the piece in your own way, and being told what to do goes against instinct. It helps though, as an outsiders point of view gives you advice on how to act for other people and not just yourself.



My vocal techniques tend to hold and portray a lot of tension, in Gotcha especially, the whole play is building towards a climax so at any moment a fuse could blow.  In realism acting you want to be able to show 'real' emotions even if you aren't expressing them directly. This can be done with tone and speed. Someone who's pretending they're okay will often have a higher pitch and talk really quickly and loudly, despite the context of their speech.

Stage Design - Viusal, Spatial, Aural

Stage Design:
I chose a Thrust stage because I think this really gives the audience the oppurtunity to be a part of the play. It gives different perspectives and angles, offering sides of the story otherwise left unexplored.



The Thust stage gives us the useful advantage of a stage wall. This provides the actors with a security, it is a place to wait and perform any off scene parts. i.e The Headmaster talking through the door. The Thrust also allowed more freedom with design, the stage is narrow and thin, mimicking that of a store room, but as it is surrounded on three sides, it is still intimate with the audience and very visible. Opposed to if it was a Prosenium Arch, where some audience members may feel far away and excluded from the drama.

Lighting:  
The plays stage directions mention a window, which, at the beginning, has it's blind drawn. So at the start the lighting would be rather dim, warm colours, reflecting on the early morning light and the dusty wood of the stage. As the play progresses, the light should become brighter, and then darker at the end. The corners of the room and the back of the stage would be dull as the play is realism and these places wouldn't be well lit.
However, if there are any monolouges or climax's, dramatic lighting should be used to have a circle of attention on the person or object at hand. All lighting should come from directly above to avoid hitting an audience member.



Reactions to 'Gotcha' by Barrie Keefe

The play 'Gotcha' by Barrie Keefe was written in 1976, it was about a nameless boy who ends up holding three teachers hostage on his last day at school.

At the time, grammar schools were a big part of the Educational Debate. Keefe took the idea that many kids were ignored if they were not academic or sports orientated and wrote the play to show just how many slipped under the radar.
If a kid was considered "untalented" whilst in education then their name wasn't known and they literally became anonymous to the teachers and workers at the school. This is reflected in the play itself, as the main protragonist is literally called 'Kid.'

When it was released it caused a huge stir and the TV showing caused controversy among some members of the public. The 70's were a time of huge change, and quite a few people were still stuck in their ways and refused to accept it, Mary Whitehouse was one of them. She descrive the TV showing as "One long, vicious, obscene gesture." And forced the BBC to ban the repeat when she realised it was showing again. This was the time just before Margret Thatcher came to power and by Whitehouse banning the repeat, it actually made it more popular.

As the play is set in a grammar school, a lot of the students or people associated with it may have been looked down on by the upper class, however, the casual violance and smoking scene throughout the play was part of everyday life, very different to modern times. This meant that these actions would not of initially had a shock factor to them but Keefe directed 'Kid' and 'Lynne' to come across as shocked and offended by the violence.