Script Writing Lesson 1

POLITICAL THEATRE 

Political Theatre is a play surrounding a political or social issue.

Policies That Have Affected Me:

Merging First and Middle schools into Primary schools so that we start Secondary school a year earlier.

Having to stay in education until 18 years old.

The price of University Fees rising

The price of train fares rising

Where I Find Out The News:

Social Media eg Tumblr and Facebook

The BBC/ITV News

The Newspaper

Social Issues I Have Come Into Contact With 

Teen Pregnancy

Pot Holes

Rogue Landlords

My Character - Celebrity 

Apposing Character - Another Celebrity 

Set - A "This Morning" type chat show

There are two sofas facing opposite each other with a coffee table in the middle. The two hosts sit on one sofa and the two guests sit on the opposite sofa with a noticeable space in-between them. There is a large screen at the back between both sofas with the chat show logo on. 

Holly: Hello and welcome to Chatting on Tuesday. Over the weekend you may have seen or heard about a controversial charity campaign by X Factor contestant and Big Brother winner Cecillia Simpson. Incase you didn't, lets take a look at it.

A video appears on the large screen behind them. It is a film of one of the celebrities from the sofa. They are sitting on a chair in front of a black background.

Cecillia (on tape): Hello. My name is Cecillia Simpson. You may know me from shows such as X Factor and Big Brother. I am here today to tell you about the Pug Dog Welfare and Rescue Association. Each year hundreds of these adorable pugs are left abandoned and neglected. PDWR work tirelessly to find these pups a forver home. I should know as I have adopted 5. Boris, Bobby, Billy, Barney and Benji were lucky enough to find me. Otherwise they could still be neglected, feeling lonely and sad. Many people ask me how I could possibly fit my 5 babies into my busy schedule, but to be honest as soon as I saw their cute faces how could I not want to help? So be like me. Adopt a Pug today.

Holly: Hmm. Okay, well that video got a negative response on Twitter from quite a lot of people on twitter, including this user: @laurenrebbecca31 who says: "this video is atrocious. Cecillia obviously doesn't care about the Pugs as much as she does herself" and many other celebrities such as Emma Watson who says "Just another fame hungry person trying to save their career" and youtuber Zoella said she was "outraged" by the lack of respect and real want to help the pugs. Well we are joined now by Cecillia as well as Miranda Stevens who is from the Pug Dog Welfare and Rescue association. So Cecillia, what do you think about everything that has happened on twitter since your video appeal.

Cecillia: You know what Holly, I am hurt. I am actually hurt by all this. Honestly. I cannot believe how against this everyone is. I was just trying to do a good thing!

Miranda: I don't believe your intenttions were entirely to do good things for the Pugs.

Holly: So Miranda you agree with the tweets that have been pouring in?

Miranda: Yes, I'm afraid to say I do, Holly.

Cecillia: What!

Miranda: Sorry Cecillia but I am not stupid and I can see what you were trying to do

Cecillia: And what was that then?

Miranda: Using the Pugs as a poor attempt to make yourself look better.

Cecillia: Why would I need to make myself look better? I've only ever been honest for as long as I have been in the public eye.

Miranda: About 2 minutes then!

Cecillia: Sorry but who are you? Do you have your own book? Are you married to a high profile footballer?

Miranda: You know what, no I don't have anything of those things and I don't want them either. You want to know what I do have though? A genuine love for these dogs, I work hard to help them find homes and truley keep their welfare the closest thing to my heart.

 

Ugly Sisters Into The Woods Research

I have decided to design costumes for the Ugly Sisters. In my research I have found that a lot of already existing costumes use the same style dress but in a different colour:

 

In all three of these pictures, the dresses are either purple, yellow or red/pink. I think the designers have chosen these colours as they are bright and vulgar to reflect the fact that the sisters are supposed to be ugly. I am going to use the colours purple and yellow.

Most of the dresses I found in my research had overly puffy sleeves, tight waists and then long puffed out skirts with a petticoat underneath. I really like this design but it looks a bit more Victorian than Medieval which is when I have set my version of this production. 

Here is a picture of Ugly Sisters costumes that look more appropriate to medieval times. They still have quite puffy sleeves and skirts but they are both longer. Their costumes feature a lot more gold and embroidery. Gold is a symbol of wealth which is why I think the designer chose this colour. 

Electra Rehearsal 1

Today we started blocking Electra. We are going to have three stage blocks at the back of the stage and the three Electras are going to be standing on the middle block, with the family on the right and the men on the left. As all three Electras represent the same person, we will be standing in a triangle linking arms and as one person goes on stage there will be a struggle between us to break free and a struggle again to rejoin the triangle. Whilst one Electra is on stage, the other two will make sharp and distorted movements to represent her mental state. 

We didn't spend a lot of time on Act 2 today and focused mostly on my entrance. When I escape from the other Electras I walk around the stage staring at the audience. We are setting our performance in the round like a real Greek play would have been, so by walking around the stage I can connect with the whole audience, rather than just those in the rig. I then hide behind the chorus who in our performance are going to represent my imaginary friends. I stand behind them for protection. This is all we did in today's lesson. 


 

CATS Dance Audition

I have been watching a few videos from the live recording of CATS in the West End to get some inspiration for my own dance. I have noticed a lot of crawling on the floor, cat claw shapes and sniffing/licking like a cat would. Here is a spider diagram of all the movements I noticed: 



I have decided to do my dance to Macavity as it is one of my favourite songs from the show. Although it starts quite slow, the music builds up and I think this would be a good way to base my own choreography. I could start low perhaps crawling on the floor and end with leaps, rises and lots of extended arms. However the song is over 5 minutes in length so I will have to find a way to cut it down to 2-3 minutes. 

Check list

Beth Bayes

1. Make sure you are doing all work in posts and linking the posts correctly to their Unit (See Ashley or Katie for help if needed)

Costume

1. Upload pictures of each page in your Costume Portfolio, you should have;
   1. Character and text analysis
   2. Costume research – Period and social status
   3. Costume plot for THREE characters
   4. Written work about how no. 1 has contributed to no. 2
   5. Colours, fabric swatches and measurements
   6. Initial designs - Based on established period and social status
   7. Established designs with written work about practicalities, character portrayal, portrayal of mood/emotion

Dance

1. Reflect on your Bugsy dance
2. Reflect on how your CATS solo is progressing

Drama

1. Reflect on blocking and the rehearsal process for Electra
2. Look at each show of Electra and how well you are doing identify strengths/ weaknesses and what you could do to improve for the next one.
3. Include a review of Electra Performance at Old Vic

PAB Assignment 3

Here is a budget from Southampton Uni that i analysed in my presentation.

They thought they would earn £1189.57 but actually the show was more popular than they predicted and made about £400 more on ticket sales. However they thought they would get £50 from programme sales but they didn’t sell any.

They thought they would have to spend 217 on technical things but actually spent 282.24 but then because they didnt spend anything on other stuff where they thought they would need £30 and and nothing on programme printing where they thought they would need £30 they ended up not spending anything so it balanced itself out. In the end they made a profit of £788.37

Here is my budget for our production of The Wardrobe.

 

DIFFERENT TYPES OF FUNDING

Private Funding

Funding In Kind - This is where people you know help you out with your production. For insatnce if your mum is good at sewing she might be able to make the costumes for free. If your uncle is a carpenter he could make the set for you for free. You then work out how much this would have cost you if you had to pay for it, for instance if the costumes would have cost about £50, then you put it in your budget plan as "£50 Funding In Kind". Another good way to get FIK is to ask someone to perhaps do the lighting for free but say to them that they will gain experience and knowledge from it.

Match Funding - This is where Arts and Business look at what funding you already have and match it. So if you had £1000 Funding In Kind they will give you £1000.

Public Funding

Arts or Local Council - You can go to the arts council or your local council to apply for a grant. You can get between £1000 and £100000. It usually takes about 6 weeks to process. Some local councils such as our worthing one do not offer a lot to the arts so you may have more luck going to the arts council than your local council it just depends on where you live

Lottery Fund -  You can apply for a grant from the National Lottery who use money raised from lottery ticket sales.

PAB Bibliography

http://disneycareers.co.uk/en/career-areas/entertainment/theatrical-show-stage-production/

http://www.thestage.co.uk/recruitment/advert.php/8010/general?p=2

http://www.internwise.co.uk/events/details/11654/

 http://www.designingdisney.com/content/hong-kong-disneyland-celebration-air-photo-report

 https://nicksimmons.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/keep-the-magic-alive-an-interview-with-the-greatest-toy-shop-in-the-world/ 

http://www.mumsabouttown.co.uk/,

http://careers.theguardian.com/insiders-guide-to-becoming-screenwriter

http://courses.bournemouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate-degree/scriptwriting-for-film-television/ba-hons/34/course_information-course_overview/

 http://www.cssd.ac.uk/course/writing-stage-and-broadcast-media-ma-mfa

 http://careers.theguardian.com/insiders-guide-to-becoming-screenwriter

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/send-a-script

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/oct/21/how-do-i-become-scriptwriter

PAB Presentation

Here is my Performing Arts Business Presentation.

Here is the audition video I comment on in my presentation:

Faustus Performance Evaluation

Here is a video of our performance of Doctor Faustus:

I was very pleased with my performance. I found it more challenging to learn the lines as they were written in a way I am not used to. However I remembered them all and I think I did well. 


STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Strengths:    
The staging of our performance was visually interesting and different. Instead of everyone walking on and off stage for our scenes, we all remained on stage for the entire performance. When we were not performing we were standing on a stage block and when it was our scene we went into the centre of the stage. Another strength of this setting is that we did not stand in chronological order of scenes which made it unpredictable. 

The lighting was very simple which meant the audience could focus more on the action rather than being distracted by changing lighting. The blackouts also established the beginning and end of each scene

Weaknesses
I feel that the all black costumes stopped the audience from being able to differentiate the story between each scene. For instance my scene was about businesswomen so I would have liked to have worn a suit to represent this. If another group's scene was about a drug addict they could have worn a hoodie and ripped jeans and have make up to make them look like an addict, instead you could not tell between either character very easily. However a strength of the costumes is that it allowed the people on the blocks to mix in with the backdrop and not be noticed too much.

I feel like I rushed my lines as I was very worried about them. I need to learn to slow down and pace myself to make my acting seem more reliable.

I think I could have improved on my mime. My group had envy so I acted quite vain whilst Catrina looked at my clothes, hair etc and cried. Perhaps we both should have been jealous of each other so it was more clear we were representing envy instead of vanity.

If we had more time I think we should have choreographed the part where the angels bring me jewels into more of a dance, which was our original idea. If this was a bigger project we could have had music and more than two dancers to make it look really effective as if Mephistopheles is persuading and bribing Faustus into making the deal. It also would have contrasted with the rest of our scene. 

Faustus Lesson 2

After learning the story of Faustus, Catrina and I developed the story into a modern day context and this is what Catrina and I came up with:

A high flying but arrogant Oxford graduate who comes from a privileged family, has a beautiful girlfriend and seems to have the perfect life. He has just started at a big company. The boss sees potential in him and convinces him to take a promotion which will allow him to travel around the world and become super rich. The job involves him alienating all of his friends and family and becoming corrupt. 24 years later he looks at his life and although he has lots of money he realises that he is lonely and has no one to share his success with.

We read through a summary of each scene of the play to decide which part fit best with our idea. We decided to go with Act 2 Scene 1 as it is the part where Faustus makes the deal with Mephistopholes. We decided this was appropriate as we could set it as the boss persuading the employee to take a promotion. 

After we were given the script we shortened it slightly and then decided on parts. I took on the part of Faustus and Catrina, Mephistopholes. We debated whether to play men or women. At first we decided to play men as they are more stereotypically the ruthless business person, however we changed our minds because we thought it might not be clear to the audience. We used the parts of the good angel and bad angel to be represented by the current boyfriend (played by Josh) and the guy she has a crush on at work (played by John). We came up with this idea as the boyfriend is good and doesn't want her to take the promotion and be corrupt. However the office crush is another temptation to go bad.

                                              

Into The Woods Research

Into The Woods is set in a fairytale land which is traditionally thought of as in a medieval time period. This means the females should wear long dresses and the men puffy sleeves, tights and boots. Here are some examples of medieval clothing.

 


I have chosen to design costumes for the Witch, the Ugly Sisters and Rapunzel.I think each character's costume needs to reflect their personality and look similar to how we would imagine the traditional character so that it is easy for the audience to recognize who everyone is. 

The Witch is an old hag so her costume and make up need to show this. After some research I have seen a lot of Witch costumes with a fake chin and nose like this:



I think this is too much and looks too stereotypical. I don't think we should use this look in our production. Instead she should have a big curly  wig with some braids in it and lots of leaves and dead looking flowers weaved into it. I think she should have the leaves because she loves her garden and is into making potions. Her wig could look something like this:



During my research I found that a lot of costumes were either very glamorous etc:

  

or very scary and ugly:

 

I am not particularly keen on either and I think we should instead go for somewhere in the middle. I think her costume should have a colour scheme of green, brown, red, black and purple (similar to the ugly witch in the pictures). Black and red are often associated with danger and evil so show that she is a bad character whilst the brown purple and green goes with her love of potions and plants. 

Here are my initial ideas:  

Electra Costumes

Here is a pinterest board of inspiration for Electra and her friends.

We want to base the friends on Kat Von D who has a very gothic style. Electra has a similar look but more grungy and homeless looking. Our production has an autumnal theme so we have decided to have a colour scheme of orange, brown, purple and black. Here is a Pinterest board with some inspiration for costumes on it.

We have also thought about make up. The friends should have very sleek make up with dark purple lips and orange/dark eyeshadow. Electra should also have this make up to represent the goth/emo look but it should be a lot messier to reflect her outcast status.

PAB Assignment 2 - Job Roles Research

Casting Director

What do they do?

The main role of a casting director is to find the best actor possible for a role in TV, Film, or Theatre.  They are usually are the first person you see in an audition. Once they have chosen someone they then have to convince the director that this is who should get the role. Some casting directors work for a specific company but most work freelance on different productions. (artofmanliness.com, So You Want My Job: Actor, 19/08/09, available from: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/08/19/so-you-want-my-job-actor/, accessed on 24/10/14) For instance, Lauren Tritton is a casting agent from Lancashire who has worked for the BBC, ITV, SKY and Warner Bros. (uk.linkedin.com, Lauren Tritton, available from https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/lauren-tritton/79/b25/861, accessed on 24/10/14)

The first thing they have to do when given a job is read the script and work with the director, producers and writers to create a "breakdown notice". This is where they decide on all the physical qualities, skills and experience they will be looking for in an actor. They then look through hundreds of head shots and CVs to decide who they want to call for an audition. They usually have a casting assistant to help them do this. Depending on how big the production is there will be a number of different rounds of auditions. On a small production the casting director may choose the actors then and there, but on a large scale production they may narrow it down in lots of different rounds until they have a small number to audition for the director who then ultimately decides. The casting director may advise them in their decision. (education-portal.com, Casting Director: Job Description, Duties and Education and Requirements, available from: http://education-portal.com/articles/Casting_Director_Job_Description_Duties_and_Education_Requirements.html, accessed on 24/10/14)

Sometimes casting directors become very invested in a particular actor. If they particularly want a certain actor for a big role but they don't get it, they may work with them to gain lots of other supporting work so that they have more experience when another big role arises.  A good example of this is casting director Lara Kennedy who pushed for Henry Carvill to be Superman in Man Of Steel. She wanted him to be Superman in the 2006 film Superman Returns but the director chose someone else. It took her 7 years but eventually she got him the role of Superman in Man Of Steel. She said "Get them in a movie in a smaller role, bring them back, bring them back, and then just slowly move them up." (vulture.com, How Casting Directors Find (and Make) New Stars, 11/10/13, available from: http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/how-casting-agents-find-and-make-new-stars.html, accessed on 24/10/14)

How do you become one?

You need experience more than any educational qualifications to become a casting director. Most people start out as a casting assistant or apprentice and work their way up. However you can increase your chances by taking a degree or classes in film, business or acting.(vulture.com, How Casting Directors Find (and Make) New Stars, 11/10/13, available from: http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/how-casting-agents-find-and-make-new-stars.html, accessed on 24/10/14)

Here is a job advertisement for an internship at the West End Theatrical Agency. 
http://www.internwise.co.uk/events/details/13165/?utm_source=Indeed&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Indeed
You would probably have to start as an intern and work your way up. It doesn't require you to have a big range of skills, only good phone manner and able to use a computer. This probably means that you won't have a lot of involvement with the actual casting but one of the duties is to assist the casting director so this job is more about learning than anything else. It would be very good experience for someone who was aspiring to do this. 
It is only for 3 months as most casting jobs are only temporary. Most casting directors work from production to production.

http://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/Five-Entertainment-Management/jobs/Event-Manager-Casting-Director-25a443af88581d7a
This is a slightly higher job within the casting industry. It requires you to have a lot more skills and experience. This company want you to be an events manager as well as a casting director which shows you need to get as much experience in different things as possible if you want to get as much work as you can. This job requires you to be able to manage a budget and book venues as well as the typical casting director jobs such as arranging auditions and working with agents.


Here is a video of two casting directors, Kim Davis-Wagner and Justine Badeley talking about what they do, how they got into casting and what you need to succeed. 

Here is another video which goes into a little bit more detail about the procedures casting directors go through to cast people for a production.

In this video she also talks about how she is hired and how she knows whether or not she is right for this production. She mentions how casting directors have their own sort of audition where they have a meeting with the director and producer to make sure they all are on the same creative wave length. She says when she reads a script she will know if she is really invested in the production because actors will already be popping into her head, if they are not then maybe this production isn't right for her.


Bibliography

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/lauren-tritton/79/b25/861

http://education-portal.com/articles/Casting_Director_Job_Description_Duties_and_Education_Requirements.html

http://www.vulture.com/2013/10/how-casting-agents-find-and-make-new-stars.html

Script Writer

What do they do?

Script writers, also known as playwrights are in charge of coming up with the stories and writing the scripts for productions. Once written, they give the scripts to the production company who will then hire cast and crew and eventually turn their script into a play. Some playwrights are kept as part of the production team throughout so that they can get the best interpretation from the script as possible. Other times their involvement ends when they sell the script. 

Some of their responsibilities include:

Keeping to deadlines
Rewriting parts of their script based on criticism from the director and actors
Working with the production team to turn their script (also known as the "map") into something the actors can follow easily
Writing something interesting and unique
(myjobsearch.com, Playwright Career Guide - Creative and Media Jobs, available from: http://www.myjobsearch.com/careers/playwright.html, accessed on 24/10/14)

How do you become one?

You need certain skills to be able to become a script writer. These include:

A good grasp of language
An analytical mind
A good understanding of story telling and work of others
The ability to self promote
(myjobsearch.com, Playwright Career Guide - Creative and Media Jobs, available from: http://www.myjobsearch.com/careers/playwright.html, accessed on 24/10/14)

It is important to read other scripts and go and see lots of existing plays to see what is out there and to give you inspiration. Writing a lot is also important to practise and improve. You could start out with one act plays and build from there.

You don't necessarily need any qualifications but an A level in English and Drama would be very helpful to give you the ability to work at a high level. The Royal Court offers an eight week course for young aspiring script writers twice a year. They also offer something called "Rough Cuts" which helps script writers to experiment and collaborate with others. A lot of writers also take acting classes to get a good understanding of how the actors understand and interpret scripts. (theroyalcourttheatre.com, Introduction to Playwriting Group at The Royal Court, available from: http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/playwriting/the-studio/introduction-to-playwriting-groups/, accessed on 24/10/14)

Once you start writing scripts you are happy with another important thing to do to get started is to send out your finished work to theatre publishers and local production groups to get yourself noticed. You should research into different publishers and find ones who produce similar plays to your own and try and submit your work to them.

Here is an example of a job as a script writer:
http://jobs.theguardian.com/job/4972724/senior-script-executive/?CMP=jan_ind_dir
It is a very high job as an executive for the BBC and would be for a more established writer who has already got a lot of successful productions under their belt. The main responsibilities within this job is to come up with interesting ideas rather then writing the whole script yourself. You also have to collaborate with other writers and producers. It is important for a scrip writer to be able to work in a small group without getting defensive about their ideas. 

Here is another job:
http://www.cadellentertainment.co.uk/blog/2014/9/8/looking-for-a-short-film-script
This is for someone who is starting out. It involves you writing a short film which the company will then turn into a full production. Once finished it will be entered into a lot of festivals and promoted "aggressively" online so this is ideal for someone who is new to the business and wants to get noticed. 

Here is a video of two playwrights talking about what it is like to do this job and some of the challenges they face:

Bibliography:

http://www.myjobsearch.com/careers/playwright.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_4486772_become-playwright.html

http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/playwriting/the-studio/introduction-to-playwriting-groups/

Faustus Lesson 1

Today we were shown how our performance of Dr Faustus is going to be staged.

Each square represents a stage block and each group will be standing on one. When we perform our scenes we will go down into the space below.

We then had to think of some modern day scenarios which would fit within the story of faustus. We needed one character that was arrogant and needed something and another character who could give them something. At first I thought of a super Kardashian style celebrity who feels they can do anything due to their fame and their agent who is getting them more and more  money. The hell is ending up lonely not knowing who you can really trust.

 



I also had an idea about a sucsessful business man who was offered more money by a new company. We then had to get into pairs and discuss our ideas. I worked with Catrina who had a similar idea to me. This was our final idea:

 

A high flying but arrogant Oxford graduate who comes from a priviledged family, has a beautiful girlfriend and seems to have the perfect life. He has just started at a big company. The boss sees potential in him and convinces him to take a promotion which will allow him to travel around the world and become super rich. The job involves him allianting all of his friends and family and becoming corrupt. 24 years later he looks at his life and although he has lots of money he realises that he is lonely and has no one to share his sucsess with.

 

 

 

Akrahm Khan - RUSH Review

Akrahm Khan's RUSH delves into the ideas of free falling and paragliding by using a mixture of Katak and contemporary dance and exploring extremes of speed and space.

The piece opens with three dancers all dressed in black standing in a triangle formation. They are all quite far apart from one another, giving them more than enough room to perform the strong, sharp, powerful upper body movements traditional to the Katak style. The stage is black with a black back drop and the lighting is quite dim. The plainness of the costumes, lighting and set allow the audience to really focus on the dancers and their movements and not get distracted by pretty patterns or coloured lights. It also makes the dance more intense. The music is also very minimalistic, almost giving it a slightly sinister feel.

The dancers start off facing the front with their knees bent, feet in parallel  and a downwards focus. The dancer in stage left begins by whipping his arms back like propellers and then bending down again. The dancer centre stage repeats this, then stage left again, then centre again and then finally the dancer on stage right. These movements are very slow, as if the aeroplane is just starting up. Suddenly their movements become faster and more complicated, as if the plane is taking off and the adrenaline is starting to pump into the sky divers. Each dancer has a quick burst of movement and then goes back to the starting position. Although they are each doing similar movements, none of the dancers are doing the same thing at the same time which makes it look quite chaotic but also creates interesting visual rhythms. All of their movements are on the spot, representing how claustrophobic and restricted sky divers can feel when they are in the aeroplane before a jump.

About 40 seconds into the dance they each end up in the same position with their arms above their head, palms flat facing out whilst twisting their torso and head slightly to stage left. This is held still and contrasts with the fast movements we just saw. This could be the calm before the storm, the sky diver preparing themselves before they jump. They begin moving in canon but this time slower than before. They then repeat the whipping arm movements again but this time in unison, as if they are all pieces of the sky diver's mind which was racing before but now is together and prepared. They then glide their arms very slowly and hold them out, rigid towards stage left. They hold this moment of stillness for such a long time that I actually had to check that I hadn't accidentally paused the video or my computer had froze. This represented the final few seconds of calm before the sky diver jumps.

Suddenly they all spring into action, turning and rolling faster than before and using more of their space. They are all now in unison which makes it look more effective to the audience. This extremeness of speed represents the initial sensation of falling from the plane. They begin moving differently again, bringing the chaotic atmosphere from the beginning back again but this time on a higher level as they are all now using more of the space and using their legs as well as their upper bodies. This dance features a strong use of repetition as some of the same movements from the beginning, such as the arms above the head, are used again throughout the piece, showing Khan's use of splicing and recycling.

The movements are shared equally between all three dancers, showing that no one character has more or less power or significance than the other. They are all representing the same person and the same feelings and repeat the same movements but at different times. There is never any contact between them which creates a formal relationship between this trio and perhaps symbolizes how they are all supposed to be the same thing/character.

Faustus Research

The Play

Dr Faustus was written by Christopher Marlowe about an arrogant man who sells his soul to the devil for power, experience, knowledge and pleasure. It was written in the 1500s and is considered the

most controversial Elizabethan play outside of Shakespeare.

Elizabethan Theatre

• Theatre companies toured all around England and some of Europe but most of the theatre happened in London.
• Unlike today, most theatre groups rarely performed the same play two days in a row.
• Costumes were usually bright and beautiful. However they were very expensive so often actors would wear their own clothes no matter what time period their play was set in.
• Only males were allowed to act. They used younger boys in female costumes to play the women. This was the same in Greek Theatre. 

An Elizabethan Theatre

Social, Political and Cultural Themes

The main theme in Dr Faustus is sin. Faustus makes a pact with the devil because he was greedy and arrogant. He formed an interest in magic which some would view as sinful too. Other prominent themes in the play are satanism and death. No matter how much Faustus had in life, death was inevitable and came for him in the end. You could also say that there is a theme of good vs evil. Faustus is torn between the two but in the end chooses his pleasures, regardless of whether or not they are good or bad.

How Are They Meaningful To The Original And Modern Audiences?

Christianity was a huge part of society in Elizabethan times so the theme of sin was prominent in every day life. Although it might not play such a big role in society today, everyone has temptations in their life and can relate to trying not to give into them. Good vs Evil is a universal theme that is found in many plays, it is something everyone has to face at some point and is not necessarily to do with religion. 

How Did You Ensure You Fully Appreciated The Context Of The Play?

Our performance of Faustus was modernized, we came up with our own modern day scenarios that fitted the story line. For example my group used a business man who has to decide whether to earn more money but become corrupt and ailenate his family, or stay a good person but not be as rich or go anywhere in his job. 

Although it was modernized we kept many features of the original play. For instance we used the same language in the script. We also wore our own clothes rather than costumes which as I mentioned before was common in Elizabethan theatre. When performing we addressed the audience a lot as this was something done by actors in that era. Something different that we did though was include female actors. in fact most of the time girls played male characters, whereas in the Elizabethan times it would have been men portraying women. 

What is Choreography?

Expression


Exploring

Themes                                               
Stimulus

Motif

Movement

Choreographic Devices


WHAT




HOW




WHERE




WHO


Actions + Dynamics + Space + Relationships = Movement Motif

Movement Motif = Series of movements often repeated in a dance


Stimulus - Motif - Choreographic Devices

Choreographic Devices

• Changing The Tempo
• Retrograde (Backwards)
• Repetition
• Canon

First Impressions of RUSH

A trio

Very quite music

Sharp arm movements

Stay in the same place at the beginning

Canon

Creepy atmosphere

Change Tempo 

Stimulus - Paragliding, extremes of speed, restricting space

Assignment 2 PAB - Theatre Structure

THEATRE STRUCTURE OF PRODUCTION HOUSES

Production houses are theatres which put on their own productions, rather than booking in plays from other theatre companies. I have researched into two the theatre structure of two production houses, The Polka Theatre and The Royal Court.

Click here to see the video of our group explaining the difference between the Polka and Royal Court Theatres.

THEATRE STRUCTURE OF THE POLKA THEATRE

THEATRE STRUCTURE OF THE ROYAL COURT

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOTH THEATRES

As you can tell just by looking at the two diagrams, the Royal Court has a lot more job roles than the Polka. This is because the Polka is a much smaller theatre so they don't need as many people, instead one person may do a few things which would be covered by different job roles at the Royal Court. Also the Polka is a charity which relies on donations so they probably can't afford to hire as many people. (polkatheatre.com, About Us, available from http://www.polkatheatre.com/editorial/about-us, accessed on 3/10/14)

(1)
The Polka also does a lot of work to make theatre accessible for disabled children and children with autism.

The Polka focuses on children's theatre and makes the whole building accessible and interesting for young children. There is a train cafe and a playground inside. It has a capacity of 30-300 people in different areas which makes the productions very intimate but also doesn't overwhelm the children. It also means that everyone will be close enough to get a good view, if the children couldn't see very well they could easily get bored. (polkatheatre.com, About Us: Venue Hire, available from http://www.polkatheatre.com/editorial/venue-hire, accessed on 3/10/14)

The Royal Court is a bigger theatre at 465 capacity. This could be because it produces a wider range of theatre than just children's theatre. It is "dedicated" to new work so appeals to people with a very strong interest in the theatre or perhaps casting agents and other people who are linked to the business who are looking for new talent. (royalcourttheatre.com, About Us at The Royal Court Theatre, available from: http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/about-us/, accessed on 3/10/14)

(2)
The Royal Court has a much more traditional look than The Polka

Photo Referencing:

1) accessbileguide.co.uk, The Polka Theatre | Family Days Out, available from: http://www.accessibleguide.co.uk/familydaysout/attraction/london/the-polka-theatre/, (accessed on 3/10/14)

2) reiss.com, Places ti visit and things to do in London - - the REISS GUIDE, available from: http://www.reiss.com/guide/london/see/, (accessed on 3/10/14)