Progression of Ideas

As you look back on what you did to get to your final version of your piece, you realize how many ideas you and your group have actually went trough together to create the outcome you came up with. In this post I will be going into more details on the different ideas we had and how they finally evolved into the piece that was seen on stage.

Of course, since the whole project was called Lamer, we had an idea that the scene would have to do something with the sea, and probably be set around it. Especially after our whole course groups discussion with Andy, where we talked about the different possibilities for us to set our scene in, it was quite clear that we were going to be set on the sea. For a while we had an idea with my group to have to be on a cruise of some kind, meeting for the first time, but quite quickly we got inspired by our stimulus and came up with the idea to actually have the characters be friends and have them to be on a holiday sailing trip together. With this we also came up with the boat being becalmed, since this way there could be more room to focus on the characters and their emotions, rather what is happening around them, a storm or too much of the sailing. This really stick all the way trough our devising, since we wanted to show our characters, their personalities and the dynamics between each other.
    To set the feeling of boredom on the boat, we started our scene with the different characters just minding their own business, sitting and laying around, only Craig fiddling with the boat. Yunusa also felt that his character, Rick, wouldn't just be sitting around, since he would be more concerned to get out of the whole situation and back to dry land. This lead to the idea of Craig and Rick having a bit of a fight, quite in the beginning of the scene. It was interesting way to progress from the silence and boredom, starting the drama on the boat with a bang, rather than slowly building up to it. Yet, we didn't want to keep the fight going on too long, since in some of the improvs it started to drag a bit, and so we added that Xanthe should go and break the fight off. After this the all of the characters would gather around to sit together and have a play of poker, leading to a deeper conversation about the lives of the different characters. We had this in our scene for a while, but after showing our progress and getting some feedback on our scene so far, it was aid that, if all the characters sit down right at the beginning, it takes out all of the energy from the scene, making it harder to pick it up later on scene again. At first, we just dropped the poker game, since it wasn't exactly adding anything crucial to the piece and changed it to the girls discussing how the group isn't as close as it used to be, resulting in apologies over a group cuddle. This was good, but it also solved all the possible future drama the characters might develop later on the scene about their friendship, something that could be used much more efficiently, or even as the main focus of some of the characters. Rather than having the people solve the friendship issue right away, I came up with the idea, that perhaps Vera could have some doubts about the group, resulting her finally blowing up at the end and revealing her most inner thoughts and doubts. We settled on this idea a bit later, after figuring out the outline for the end of the scene. Like this, we could end scene with the same kind of rise in action as we started with the physical contact between Craig and Rick. Now, since we weren't going to have a deep conversation nor a poker game, we turned the discussion about the different peoples lives, into Vera starting to hint at about her doubts towards the group. She still apologizes in the end, but the whole thing is not resolved, but rather just pushed back for a while. We also wanted to use the poker game somehow, since it is usually the thing go and do when extremely bored. A little part of the characters searching for the cards was added then, bringing some more of that feeling of being becalmed and dullness to the scene.
   Now all we had to do was to figure out how we would like to end the scene. We really wanted to end the scene with a bang, and so we were lead to the idea of having someone die in the end. We considered having Xanthe die of the boom hitting head, but then leaned more towards Rick dying. For Xanthe, death would be more of a release, ease from all the pain she is going through, where as for Rick, the one person who really has a life outside of that boat and wants to get out, it would be more dramatic. Yunusa also came up with the idea to not use a 'bang'-noise to imply the boom hitting him, but rather have the chance to use physical theatre in the performance to bring across the hit. This amazing, since it ended up being more believable, than with the noise, and this way we were also given the chance to use different kind of techniques in our performance.
    After the boom has hit Rick, we initially had all the characters just stand there in shock, but it wasn't very believable and so it was changed into the characters actually gathering around Rick's dead body, not maybe knowing what to do to help, but still trying. Xanthe would be the only one who doesn't do anything because of the amount shock and panic she is in, giving the opening for Vera to let out her mind about Xanthe and this boat trip. We also had a call from Ricks girlfriend to interrupt Vera, ending the piece with the group in shock of this revelation, but we then felt that it was taking too much attention of Rick's death and the emotions Vera was going trough, changing it into the characters just getting the grasp of the dark reality of Rick being dead.
    Realizing, that we pretty much had the piece all together now, we still felt that there was something missing. Paige wasn't getting enough time to really show her personality in the scene. We really wanted to show everyone's characters, so we definitely needed to add something for her to really bring out her evil ways. This was done by adding too the search of the poker cards. Paige would actually find some of the cards, but toss even the rest of them to the sea, then blaming Vera for leaving the cards on the deck. This way we were able to show how much Paige as a character just loves to stir up trouble, and also get some rise to the action right before the final showdown.

Using the Stimuli in Devising

Before I go into more detail about how we used the stimuli, here you can find my initial response to it. 


La Mer - Charles Trenet

   Originally, we were thinking about having our scene so, that this would be the first time the characters would all meet together, just having Xanthe as the link between two different groups of people. After thinking it trough, Lucy suggested that perhaps our characters should already be friends and the boat trip they were on would actually have some meaning to it.  This song right away had more of an happy and festive feeling to it than the other two, which really inspired me to the idea, that perhaps our characters could be on a some kind of a holiday-trip or something that they have done before and created a tradition within their friend group. This song really helped to get the sense, that these people should actually be friends
    There is also a part at the end of the song that somewhat gave me more inside into Vera character and her feelings towards Rick. The song is in French, but if you translate the last three lines you can see how they relate to Vera's love and how the sea has affected her:
"And with a love song
The seaHas rocked my heart for life"
    The song probably meant these lines to be interpreted, as the sea helping you fall in love, but for me it sounded a bit different. Sure, probably this tradition of getting together to go sailing on the sea has had an affect on Vera's love towards Rick, deepening it and maybe even helping her realize her feelings, but the sea has also ripped away the change of her ever getting to be with Rick. 



Benjamin Britten - Four Sea Interludes
   This piece really has a certain calm but at the same time uncertain and ominous feeling to it. In my original response, I talked about how sea is somehow unpredictable, at first calm and safe, but then can quickly turn into something dangerous. Especially with this symphony, the serenity has a dire inkling to it. Anything could happen. This really lead our group to the idea of being becalmed in the middle of the sea. Four Sea Interludes really has the feeling of slow drifting, like when you are becalmed with no wind, only the currents of the ocean pulling you forward, perhaps into something unknown. Our characters are feeble in the hands of the sea. This symphony also inspired the storm at the end of the scene, since it has an 'emerging danger' feeling to it. Claude Debussy - La Mer also helped us shape this part on our devising, but in a lesser extent, since it has more of an unstable sensation, especially as the song progresses it gives out an image of a storm, rather than a calm sea. 

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield
   In one of my earlier blog posts, I mention a part of this poem having a strong influence in developing Vera's feelings towards this boat trip:
""I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,"
- a segment from John Masefield's 'Sea Fever'    This first line of the poem really felt close to what is going on in Vera's head, when she decided to participate on the boat trip. On the other hand, she sees the closest friends might have ever had in this group of people, which is why she has hope to their future together, but at the same time Vera realizes the fact, that she hasn't felt like a part of group in a long time any longer. But rather than like the poem, which seems to admire the sea and the journey it will take the person, Vera dreads the outcome of this trip, because she knows deep down that what ever happens, the result won't be pretty. "
  To add to this, the poem also talks about" gypsy life", travellers heart, wanderlust, which I feel Vera very much is. when improvising this character there was a lot about Vera travelling her whole life, living in two different countries when growing up, and the year before our devised scene happens, she has been travelling and trying to find herself. But rather than finding herself during this trip, she has realized some things about her friends, or rather, how they might not be her friends at all. This uncertainty is very visible in the final piece, since Vera's main focus is to explore the possibility of having any future with these people.  


"The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Katsushika Hokusai


   In my initial response to the stimulus, I thought that this painting had a sense of loss and defeat to it, but after researching the painting a bit more, I have to say that I am taking my words back. When before I only saw the powerful waves taking away the lives of these poor fishermen, now I am not so sure if the fishermen are even completely bothered by the waves. They are experienced and most likely know what they are doing, and so are confident that they will get home by the end of the day. This contrast between the terror of the waves and the empty placid sky over the mountain create a balance of confidence to reflect out of the fishermen in the picture. All of the characters in our piece have this kind of trust and confidence towards Craig, the person sailing the boat, as they ask for his help in getting the boat back to moving. Some of the characters also have this trust towards Xanthe, the one who arranged the whole trip, and so is in a way responsible for everyone. Unfortunately, this trust is broken in the end when they fail to secure the boom and Rick gets killed. 


"Vera" Person from your own life
   When I originally started thinking about the four possible people I would like to create my character for the finished scene, 'Vera' was the one I knew least about compared to the other three people. She was always a mystery to me, and so when she was picked for me to start working from, she was initially given the name "Deep and Mysterious". I kept this in mind when I started doing the improvisations, but as I started to work with different character dynamics, Vera's character really shaped into something a bit different. She wasn't any more that mysterious, but rather closed. I wanted her to be more than just the 'Deep and Mysterious'-girl, so I started to think of, what if she used the mystery as a front and is actually starting to want to get out of it? I felt that this was a more interesting way to portray someone, someone who is in crossroads in their life, and it is very visible in the final piece, with Vera's uncertainty with her friends and some lack of confidence in defending herself. Still, at the end of the scene, she is able to let it all out and take a step forwards, closer to knowing herself.

Research - Mike Leigh & Naturalism

MIKE LEIGH

• One of the most important contemporary directors in the UK
• First realized wanted to make films while analysing  the cinematic potential of his grandfather's funeral at the age of 12
• In his teens devised comic sketches
• Studied at the Camberwell School of Art then enrolled to London film School
• has since returned to be the Chairman of the Governors since 2000
• As a student started to write plays which were largely  improvised
• Became recognized for writing powerful TV films like Nuts in May(1976)
• Directing methods involve intense improvisation, research and close collaboration with his actors
• Starts projects without a script, begins with a basic premise which is developed through the improvisation 
• established clear codes of practise such as never letting actors discuss their characters anything but in third person
• players getting too close to their parts in firmly discounted
  "... people becoming the characters doesn't happen..."
  - Mike Leigh
• Actors only know what their characters do

NATURALISM

• Movement in European drama & theatre
• developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries
• Refers to theatre that attempts to create a perfect illusion of reality
• Dramatic & Theatrical strategies used(e.g.):
• three-dimensional settings
• everyday speech forms
• a secular world-view
• acting that attempts to recreate the impression of reality
• Naturalistic writers influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution
• believe one's heredity &social development determined one's character

How did we use this in our devising?

    Unlike Mike Leigh does, we didn't use his method for a long period of time before actually starting to create our scene, because of obvious time constrains, but we did begin the progress of our scene with improvisation and character development trough it. Talking about our characters, playing games like The Hot Seat and thinking about how our characters move and hold themselves to start the progress of our characters and to give us actors the knowledge to use to react to things just like our characters would when improvising. So, in a way we used Mike Leigh directing method, but in a shortened amount on time. It was a lot about exploring the character that was chosen for you on your own time, and finding out new things about them especially after we were divided into pairs. Once in pairs, the mane focus was creating memories for our characters, improvising when the two would first meet and some of the most important moments in their relationship. This all connects to Mike Leigh's way of directing and creating his characters and stories, we first create these memories and happenings that have moulded our characters. The final result of the character will be seen the finished piece, but there is so much character development that the audience might not be able to see or know about, because the importance of this development is to enable the actor to truly know their character and their life inside and out. For me, I felt that starting right away improvising the first time my character Vera and Yunuse's character Rick, met was difficult at first, but trough that improvisation we were able have in depth conversation about our characters, how they would act in certain situations and how they would react to each other. When we were then put into our final groups of four, or in our case five, we continued to improvise the first time all of our characters would meet. This really helped me with character development and further understanding Mike Leigh's method and why he uses it.  Because when we finally started to plan and improvise the scene that would become our final piece, it so much easier for me to act as Vera and think on my feet about what she would do and what she would think about this situation they are in. 

    Naturalism was the style we were all going towards with our pieces, trying to be as realistic as possible throughout the scene. We did this by keeping our characters in kind of boredom, since in real life, everyone isn't talking all the time, but there are moments of silence and uncertainty. 

 We needed to think about being realistic especially with our end, where Rick dies. The shock and the actions of the different characters needed to be done so, that it could actually happen in real life. Originally we had everyone just stay silent because of shock, but then after some consideration, we realized that this wasn't actually how most would act. There is always someone who go and try help, and so changed so, that we would actually have Craig be one of the first ones to run out and help Rick. After that Vera, probably still in denial about Rick dying, trying to go and wake him up. The only one not to actually do anything would be Xanthe, which seemed the most natural reaction to her character, a deeply unsure and depressed person who just cannot deal with this kind of shock. Still, in the end, when all of them realize there isn't anything they can do to save Rick, all of the characters sort of move into this helpless silence, where their youth and inexperience with these sort of situations come alive. All of characters are either in their late teens or early twenties. Naturally they haven't seen that much of life and so are feeling afraid and useless in this situation.