ROAD - This is your Road

For those that need to complete their coursework on Road.

Here are all the tasks we have done in class and that you were set for Homework.

Research Task
You should answer these questions in full sentences and as much detail as possible.

1. The play was written by Jim Cartwright. In which decade and area of Britain is the play set?

2. What Government was in power at this time?
(You should find out the Political Party name, the leader of the party, how long/short a time they had been in power for)

3. What was life like for the majority of people under this Government?
(Think about the sort of policies the Government implemented, how did this effect the lives of ordinary people)

4. Why were so many ordinary people opposed to the Government?
(Look at what major social issues came about as a result of the Governments views and policies)

5. Can you make any comparisons to our present Political and Financial situation?

Road Character Exercises

Introuduction to the Road
1. Using your research notes on the background of the play, make two lists. One side is positive words/images you associate with the world you live in today, on the other side negative comments/images that you associate with our present society.

e.g.
Positive
Access to education
Increase in technological advances

Negative
still high levels of unemployment
Recession

2. Imagine you are a tourist and have somehow ended up on the wrong side of town and find yourself in the Pub on the ROAD. You witness the scenes we created in our last lesson (both the boys and girls scenes). You should write about your feelings witnessing the shocking events and how you felt being lost on the ROAD. Write this as a diary entry.

Getting to know your Character - The Stanislavski Exercise

Using the first five lines your character has in the play, complete the following task to help get 'under the skin' of your character.

1. Write the 5  lines out a piece of paper, keeping about 6 lines space in-between each.

2. Now write who this line is said to in the margin.

3. Underneath the line – write how you could deliver this line with a reason for this. It may be a vocal tip – such as ‘says this angrily in a raised voice to show that he is in control’ or a stage direction such as ‘she looks down at her feet to show that she is feeling nervous’

4. Now say what you think the character could be thinking in their head as they say this line – is what they are thinking in their head completely different to what they are actually saying aloud.