Filmed our version of The Caucasian Chalk Circle which we managed to get costumes for and a backdrop to have a bit of a setting. I edited the footage together and added in sound effects (for punching and slapping) and music for the beginning to have a bit of context. The time constraints of this assessment are evident through our interpretation of this play as we found it difficult to find a time we could all film and to find costumes and make a set.
Began rehearsal process for The Caucasian Chalk Circle. The acting style is difficult as we have to over dramatise the characters to make them dislikable and grotesque to further alienate the audience. We managed to block the whole section, now we need to individually learn our lines and figure out how we would portray each character in time for filming on Thursday lunch. We have also decided to have an image or video projected onto the screen behind us, as I read somewhere that in Epic plays they sometimes have a projected video background, to remind the audience that they are watching a play.
Today was spent blocking the group performance of The Caucasian Chalk Circle, where we decided that the servants would be planted down the front of the stage, the Governor's wife will be mainly situated in the centre of the stage, and also where all the other characters would be. We also figured out who would play which characters as there would have to be quick costume changes and characters overlapped.
Character list:
We also went into the costume room to look for possible costumes for the performance which we are going to film on Thursday lunch. We found some grotesque clothing for the Governor's Wife, and lots of peasant clothing for the servants to show the class difference between the characters. We are yet to find a mask for Paul to further alienate the Governor's Wife character. The video below gave us the idea to have the Governor's Wife wear a mask as well as providing costuming and set ideas for The Caucasian Chalk Circle. We are brainstorming directorial notes for the Epic Theatre play example. Images from the Royal Lyceum Theatre's production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle is also assisting us with costume and set design. Today we individually worked on our sections of research for the website. My focus is on how Epic Theatre has influenced contemporary theatre. I found it difficult to find specific examples, so I decided to focus on Bertolt Brecht's theories which have been adopted by many modern playwrights. I found nine key theories on acting styles, plot structure and audience interaction. These included:
By undertaking this research, it has furthered my knowledge of both Epic Theatre and Bertolt Brecht and was really interesting to learn about. Began reading Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle as a group and with Ms Carolan assisting us in deconstructing the text into epic theatre conventions, which are all centred around making the audience feel uncomfortable and aware that they are watching a play. There is a narrator (The Singer) which instructs the audience about what is occurring in a scene so to avoid an emotional connection. Furthermore, the majority of the characters do not have specific names (e.g. The Fat Prince) which dehumanises the characters further alienating the audience.
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