Exploration Notes- as Level Drama and Theatre Studies Essay

1) Discuss and equivalence the exploration of characterisation in metabolic process by Steven Berk strike and (A birds Ho spend). Draw your consume virtual(a) intellectual of the skills utilize including employ of vocabulary and voice to portray character.In our pragmatic sessions of Modelling Gregor in Metamorphosis, we thought ab come in how we would physiologicly see Gregor. To do this, we had to individually wee the shape of Gregor with our bodies. We all started off thinking astir(predicate) it au consequently(prenominal)tically literally- How would a everywherehang look? rather than thinking about how our body stand for Gregor and his feelings towards parliamentary law. We so expanded on our thoughts about Gregor and then tried to read with him and think about how we would look if we were in his feature.My finished individual beetle was crouched/curled up on the floor on my expression with my tribal chief spate, hidden a exposit- this equal Gregors vul nerability (a beetle on his thorn is helpless and bay windownot rolep set, yet a beetle has a unsaid squeeze which protects him I was half and half because with my top subjugate, I didnt necessity to be seen by fiat and I was ashamed of what I had bother d declare further with my front/underside slightly viewing, I was exposed to society and helpless but because you could see my top/shell, I was half protect by family- I think that throughout the show this would change and I would end up completely on my vertebral column because the family does end up abandoning/killing Gregor) , hotshot of my blazon was in a jerky/ pasty position and the other was outstretched away from my body- the jerky arm dissembleed Gregor changing and being abnormal and distinguishable, the outstretched arm however showed that I was r separate dissimulation for someone to help and save me from what I was turning into my legs were limp, dead and in an awkward shape to show that I was, aga in, turning into something in the altogether and weird but could not move and bodilyly get away from it.After we made our individual beetle, we then worked in partners and modelled them into Gregor. I determined to use prop up for this (I utilize a chairman). Hana (my model Gregor) ended up being positioned on her side, with her head under the chair and one of her arms reaching out onto it, her legs were crooked and awkward to show that she couldnt move from her pain. After that, we raced our beetles Hana lost.. but this showed that Gregor was in a good position because he lay out it difficult to manoeuvre himself and get away from what was happening to him- his work was limited and awkward when he did so.Hana then modelled me, she had me stood up with my legs wide contribute (showing vulnerability) and one of my legs turned in and that knee bent (which looked awkward, abnormal and hard to move), my head was dropped and my stomach was contracted in. She placed my arms out to the sides in awkward positions, which was quite physically demanding as I was holding the position. We then use these positions for a scene of Metamorphosis. The dream scene we incorporated our ideas of how Gregor felt and moved into this scene. We clear-cut to take for a narrator and an actor onstage being Gregor. I tried to capture the essence of Gregors franticness thus far vulnerability in the way I directed Hana as Gregor. I did this by changing the speed and dynamics of how she was moving this matched the way I was narrating as I standardizedwise changed the tempo, dynamics and pitch of my voice to really capture how Gregors character felt.To create the family we thought about the physical features of a beetle and applied them to the metaphors of the family. We ended up putting Mr Samsa in the middle, seeing as he is the heart of the family we then had Gregor again in the middle with his arms all over Mr Samsa c unloadly saying that he is defend him and the family wi th his income but he is still exposed to society and therefore vulnerable. We had Mrs Samsa knelt in front of Gregor and Mr Samsa looking straight forward with a blank smell almost as if she hasnt got much to say about the situation and is nevertheless disregarding Gregor. Greta was at the very front of the beetle as the antenna, looking out for Gregor and being his sniff out of feeling. The legs of Gregor were made up of society, but reaching out and away from the beetle and from Gregor.We a resembling (as a practical exercise) held hands as a whole group and twisted ourselves into a character from the runaway each this ended up looking abnormal, as the familys situation is and a lot of it as well as looked quite unspeakable but we were as one as a unit, as the family is.In order to characterise Nora in a Dolls dramatics, we employ the techniques of Stanislavski because A Dolls House is a much more(prenominal) naturalistic play compared to Metamorphosis. We started with a focus exercise in which we lay d accept on the floor and concentrated wholly on our active and our body contact with the floor. We then got thought about some come upon words to describe Noras character and tried to focus on each of them individually, letting each emotion overwhelm our bodies. We then were counted down to stand up and walk around the room as Nora, showing her feelings through non- verbal communication. We in any case created some tableaux of the family in a dames house. For this we used visual, aural and spacial techniques.2) Discuss and compare the Visual, Aural and Spatial elements and the use of non-verbal communication techniques to present issues and ideas in both plays studied. Make reference to your practical work.Visual, aural and spacial elements either have an iconic or emblematic reference. Iconic is unceasingly visual, for example a prop it is iconic because it is what it is and only serves its primary function (e.g. a stool is a stool and is used for sitting on etc.) However a symbolic reference is something that represents something and has a metaphor behind it (e.g. a chair could be symbolic for a particular per boy).Metamorphosis is an extremely abstract play and the visual, aural and spatial techniques used are very important. The play is commonly set with Gregor at the anchor on a platform above everyone else, belatedly adequate more and more deformed. This is a very visual thing and represents the eons changing and matters are slowly getting worse and worse for the family. The fact he is high up than everyone else as well could as well as symbolise the fact he is hanging over everyones head and is a burden on the family. His height could also represent his berth and the fact he is the cause for everything happening on stage and when he changes, everything else does as well. Another common way of positioning Gregor is to have hold up angling up to the back of the stage like thisThis gives perspective it al so makes Gregor look further away but because of the angle, you are drawn in, large a fonder emotional impact on you as an audience member.The support itself makes the whole aesthetic of the performance seem more skeletal which Gregor is also slowly becoming. It is also, manifestly, very structured which contradicts how the familys situation is in the play.In the script it says that every prop is mimed other than 3 black stools places equidistantly of each other for the family to use. I think these proxemics show how the family are as a unit and detached from Gregor.In order to explore and interpret this, we created a series of 10 tableaux. In these 10 tableaux, we used visual, aural and spatial elements to show the subtext of the plot- we mainly focussed on the family and how Gregors change affected the family. We used a footrace laid down on its side for scaffolding in which Gregor spent a lot of the term in various awkward slipway, becoming more and more deformed and de tain as the tableaux progressed. We thought we should only use the organic sounds from our movement and the go for our performance to represent the tension and how awkward the situation/plot/subtext was. In the changeover of each tableau, we decided to move a chair little by little towards the back of the stage to represent Gregor slowly distancing from his family. One element of these tableaux I was quite proud of was the proxemics of each member of the family compared to Gregor and the ladder/scaffolding.This is said ladder as you can see, there is a divide across it. We used this as a barrier stopping the family from getting to Gregor apart from in one tableau where we broke this barrier and Greta reached out to Gregor through the partition.Gregor was slowly becoming more and more deformed into the corner during the tableaux.Greta reaching over through the barrier to Gregor.Mrs Samsa reaching over to Greta arduous to stop her from intermission the barrier. Mr Samsa Back turn ed to Mrs Samsa and Greta (and obviously Gregor, wanting no part of it) Gregor was slowly becoming more and more deformed into this corner during the tableaux.We also used visual, aural and spatial techniques when studying A Dolls House. Unlike Metamorphosis being abstract, A Dolls House is much more veridical than Metamorphosis and therefore uses lots of props which are all in one way or another, symbolic of something and figurative. As a sectionalisation we discussed the characters and props and what they may metaphorically represent* Christmas Tree- The familys relationships falling apart simultaneously with the pine needles falling off the manoeuver. It could also show that looks can be deceiving because of the fact that while this tree is looking beautiful, the family is deteriorating. * Door- Freedom when Nora leaves. Trouble when she enters from the unknown outside world. * Dr Rank- Society privacy their decay.* Money- Power and all things bad and poisonous. * Nanny- The calm, security and support of Nora and the tikeren. * Skylark- Nora is just a pretty singing bird with no other purpose than looking beautiful. Also the fact that a skylark cannot speak words, this is reflected in Nora she is not allowed an opinion or it is not heard. * Stove- The characters always go back to it (especially Nora), this could stand for support and forgiveness, the warmth of friendship and loyalty because it is always there. * Macaroons- Noras deceit.* Lamp- The light of truth. * The Dolls House- Nora is a kept woman, everyones play thingor so they assume. It is actually Nora who plays with and manipulates the characters around her. Again, looks can be deceiving.Another way we explored visual, aural and special elements in A Dolls House was when we studied the Tarantella scene. A tarantella is a traditional Italian folk dance. It gets its name from the venomous spider, the tarantula and it is suppositious that when one gets bitten by this spider, the victims neede d to engage in a frenzied dance in order to prevent death or disease, victimization very rhythmical music. Now, in context with A Dolls House, I believe that the reason a Tarantella is danced by Nora is because she is trying to rid herself of the poison from Torvald, Krogstad and maybe even Dr Rank or she could be trying to rid herself from lies shes told as this is her poison. We re-enacted the tarantella scene with the congruous script. We played with spatial awareness of characters, use of voice and visual set up.Noras movement gets gradually more and more frantic and her speech also more frantic and louder and high pitched. Torvald moves with purpose but in a much more organised and authoritative way compared to Nora he is always keeping his look on her and making sure she does it ALL correctly. Mrs Linde comes in from side stage quite discretely, says her line to Nora then moves slowly and almost mysteriously to a chair in the LDF corner. Dr Rank, playing the piano, cannot k eep his eyes off Nora but is fairly wary of Torvalds presence so near him. Nora used a shawl while she was dancing which added to the visual effects and at the end of the dance she threw the shawl on the floor as if her emancipation of dance had gone and the poison had come back.We then performed our own interpretive dance for the subtext of the tarantella and the whole play without any script work. We started with Torvald authoritative Nora, almost as a puppeteer- for this we used music box doll music. The music then ran into Kashmir by Bond which starts with quite a perverted wave of sound which we used to show Nora slowly changing and struggle back with Torvald. Throughout the dance, Nora got stronger and less poisoned- instead, the poison was transferring into the other characters.After Nora had kicked Torvald to the floor, Mrs Linde came in and started controlling him alongside Torvald afterward having liaised with Nora, she became poisoned and slowly deteriorated to the f loor. Dr Rank then came into the picture, stepped over Torvald to get to Nora. They danced together until she pushed him away and transferred the poison. Finally, Nora ended up sat down on the floor, looking around almost like a child who had just broken all of her toys. Aurally, there is one very moving moment in A Dolls House where the room access is slammed at the end by Nora. This gives the play a final forefront of closure where Nora has gone and has gone for good. Similarly in Metamorphosis, when the apple is thrown and twisted into Gregors back, this is a definitive sound of the end of the main plot.3) evaluate your understanding of the practitioners studied and their influences on Metamorphosis. Use your interpretation notes to aid this head teacher making reference to the practitioners, playwright, and your own practical exploration.Leslie Steven Berkovitch, better known as Steven Berkoff, was born on the 3rd August 1937 to Russian Jews. He came from a poor family and b ecause of their descent he never fitted in as a child and found it hard to be a part of a group of friends. Growing up in the eastern United States End of capital of the United Kingdom is a risque, tough time for most people let only when someone of the likes of Berkoff. He was a badly behaved child and got kicked out of coach a lot. You could argue he was the original East Ender until he then moved to New York- he lived in a 1 sleeping room flat, shared with 3 other families (who were also outsiders in New York). wherever he travelled, he could never fit in and never found anywhere to call home. He grew up to resent his family and moved back to London at age 13. As an outsider, a Russian Jew nutriment in London, he wanted to be a gangster.He was in a stage of identity crisis where didnt know where to belong and after being so badly influenced and behaved, he ended up in a young offenders prison which obviously made him extremely dotty After this, he changed his name to Berk off because he didnt want to be seen as a Jew or associated with his roots. He brought a whole forward-looking movement to British playwriting in British society. These plays he wrote commented on par and people- they were often based in the home. When he came out of prison, he decided to go over to Europe and learn the skill of tailoring like his father had done. During his stay, he was given the book Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. When he read this, he could instantly make chargeions surrounded by himself and Gregor. After this, he went back to the East End and started writing plays.Unlike his fellow playwrights put-on Osbourne and Edward Bond, he believed drama should still be abstract. Berkoff was influenced by Greek subject field he was a Megalomaniac of playing area styles who love over exaggeration and the use of masks to rid people of their identity. He loved the use of chorus (voices together) and poetic verse because it believes things out of context. I was inspired by Brecht and his political (borderline mixer) take on drama and the use of gestus and satire. He also like Artaud and his house of cruelty and the way he used the senses and sounds to put over metaphorical messages. He then travelled to France and worked under Lecoq who was a mime artiste and physical theatre worker and trained with him until he decided to move back to London. When he got back to London, he built up his manifesto of theatre. tot THEATRE. Total theatre Greek theatre (chorus, unison, exaggeration), theatre of cruelty (loud sounds, harsh, gritty images and metaphors) and epic theatre (Brecht- teaches a message, gestus, stereotypes, alienation). Berkoff moulded all these ideas together and created his characters as nonsensical and caricatures. Using the whole of the body was very important to him as he was an extremely physical director, well demonstrated with the character of Gregor in Metamorphosis. As a practitioner, Berkoff also wrote plays as well as acted and directed. He desire using lots of language and words (almost Shakespearian). He was extremely enjoin and using beautiful language he talked about the gritty East End and reality of life. To put Berkoffs views into practice, we had to pretend to be in love with a chair. We exaggerated our love and feelings and the chair was like a metaphor for our lover.We then had to flip our mood and beat angry with the chair it got us all to think how people would stereotypically act with someone you loved and then hated. We also had to pretend we were at a picnic on our own, slowly becoming more and more exaggerated with our eating and drinking, and gradually more grotesque. It really got us to focus into it and get into it, so when it was time to fake wretch, I actually felt physically dispirited We also practiced slow motion. This was very physically demanding, like how Steven Berkoff would have directed. It was very important to control your movements but not forget that when you sped up the movements, they should look exactly the same as the slow ones.4) Evaluate your understanding of the practitioner studied and his influence on A Dolls House. Use your interpretation notes to aid this question making reference to the practitioners, playwright, and your own practical exploration.Henrik Ibsen was born in Norway in 1828 and died in 1906. He was from a well to do Merchant family, however his fathers fortunes took a significant turn for the worse and he ended up a moody, nasty man and turned to alcoholism which he then took out on his family. Ibsen subsequently, only wrote about money and coupling as this was influenced from his own life. His plays were seen as scandalous to many of his era because they were always touching on sensitive subjects like human rights. This then influenced many other playwrights and novelists such(prenominal) as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller and James Joyce. He is one of the founders of red-brickism in theatre. During hi s time, despite failing to achieve success as a playwright, he gained a lot of practical experience at the Norwegian theatre company.His play A Dolls House is a realistic drama that highlights the ethnic conflicts of the 19th century. The play was very controversial when it was outset published as it was sharply critical of 19th century marriage norms. Her ended up having to change the ending of the original script because the leading(p) actress didnt like the idea of having to act out abandoning her children. It also manifests Ibsens concerns for womens rights and human rights in general. This was widely considered as a drainage area in the development of what would soon become a highly common musical genre of theatre- REALISM. Realism was consequently realised. It wasnt however until the likes of Stanislavski came along that pragmatism became so well known and loved.He wanted a sense of realism in his work and he wanted his actors to really connect with their character. In his eyes, the actors WERE the characters. He believed REAL ACTORS=REAL ACTING. We used Stanislavskis techniques to get into our roles when studying A Dolls House. We began with a focus exercise, lying on the floor and zoning out our thoughts. We then thought about our character and let their feelings overwhelm our own like Stanislavski would have got his actors to. We then connected with their emotions, felt how they felt and immediately after, acted out a light scene between Nora and Torvald. This helped us all enormously because got us to lose out inhibitions and focus entirely on the story, situation and emotions of the characters.5) Discuss the Social, Historical, ethnical and Political content of the texts studied and compare the impact on an audience and on yourself as a student of drama.In Metamorphosis, the social, diachronic and cultural background is made apparent in a number of ways throughout the play. Franz Kafka (the author of the original novel) took his inspiration for the characters from his own relationship between himself and his father. Unforgettable images of dislocation seem to represent both the madness of the modern world and his own desperate neurosis. Similarly, Berkoff wasnt very close with his father. Practitioners like Brecht and Artaud influenced his work- this is clearly visible in Metamorphosis as he took Artauds Theatre of Cruelty and gave it Brechts Epic Theatre attributes. Berkoffs own unique style created this play incorporating his personal passion of mime and the genre of expressionism. Acknowledging what I know about both Berkoff and Kafka, it is blatent that the Social, Cultural, Historic and Political aspects in terms of the two writers were their personal experiences of suppression from society, the culture they were brought up in (Kafka brought up in the a Jewish community and Berkoff brought up in the lower class and status he was born into by Russian Jews).Metamorphosis can be seen as a reaction against society an d its demands. Gregors physical separation could represent his alienation and understandable desire. He was crushed by authority and routine and had been imprisoned by social and economic demands Just dont stay in rump being useless . . . It prevents the forthcoming rebellion of the son against the father. Gregor had become strong as a result of his fathers failure. He destroy his fathers self-esteem and took over the fathers posts and duties indoors the family. After the catastrophe, the same sequence takes place in reverse son becomes weak, and father kills him.Gregor is shown as a symbol of anxiety and alienation who is a lonely character, isolated in his own mind from the community and current friendship (much like Kafka and Berkoff). Looking at where Gregors values were anchored handmaiden to the inescapably of an oppressive boss in order to meet the needs of a family that continuously exploits him. The metabolic process was inevitable. Metamorphosis shows the views and a ttitudes of society. It isnt necessarily the one we live in today, but looking at it from a historical point of view it could have been representing the society in the nineteen hundreds (1915) when metamorphosis was first published. Kafka was born in Germany and could be referring to the time of the war, and how the Jewish communities were discriminated against.In A Dolls House, patriarchal ideals were supported and reinforced by a social structure in which women had very little political or economic power. They were economically, socially, and psychologically low-level upon men and especially dependent upon the institutions of marriage and motherhood. Motherhood within marriage was considered a womans highest possible achievement. It was a social responsibility, a duty to society, and therefore, a regular job. Mothering was no longer something that came naturally, but was something that had to be learned. High infant fatality rate rates, particularly in urban areas, were solely blamed on mothers. work class mothers were labeled neglectful, when in truth they struggled with both child cathexis and feeding a family. The plot concerns the collapse of a middle class marriage. It sparked debates about womens rights and divorce. It was considered innovative and daring because of its focus on psychological tension instead of external action.It also created a new performing style that required emotion be conveyed through small, controlled gestures, shifts in action, and pauses and it was groundbreaking in that it caused drama to be viewed as social commentary and not just entertainment. For me, I think that these factors in both plays have different effects on me because in A Dolls House, the vivification situation is so much more common these days compared to the devil it was back when it was written. I feel like I can however relate to Nora and how shes feeling because she is quite feministic like myself. I become quite confused when thinking about how Metam orphosis affects me because its obviously a very abstract play but I can empathise with Gregor and moreover Greta because she just wants to help her brother but the higher members of the family wont let her.