Working Record Friday 16th March

Intentions of your piece/What do you want the audience to think?

• What is your play trying to tell your audience about or make them think? Are you wanting them to learn something or be entertained?
• Who is your target audience?
• How will you ensure that your intentions will be met? (what techniques will you be using)
• What is the overall mood or atmosphere of your piece - how will this be conveyed to the audience (perhaps with lighting, sound etc)

Genre: Greek Theatre

GREEK THEATRE

Aristotle’s Model of Tragedy (335 BCE)

The Greek Philosopher recorded his ideas on the model of a tragic story in his text ‘Poetics’ which looked at how Dramas were put together


The story should centre around the rise and fall of the tragic hero:


Exposition – establishes the premise of the plot or the problem of story, Marlowe uses the Greek Tragedy method of a Chorus to give necessary plot details and introduction of the story to the audience. The tragic hero is a character of noble stature and has greatness. This should be clear in the play. The character must occupy a "high" status position but must ALSO embody nobility and virtue as part of his/her innate character.


Rising action - the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's (main character) attempt to reach his goal. Though the tragic hero is pre-eminently great, he/she is not perfect. Otherwise, the rest of us--mere mortals--would be unable to identify with the tragic hero. We should see in him or her someone who is essentially like us, although perhaps elevated to a higher position in society.


Climax - turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s affairs, this is to be the most dramatic part of the story. The hero's downfall, therefore, is partially her/his own fault, the result of free choice, not of accident or fate. In fact, the tragedy is usually triggered by some error of judgment or some character flaw that contributes to the hero's lack of perfection noted above. This error of judgment or character flaw is known as a "tragic flaw"


Falling Action – the conflict of the story unravels and we see the demise (destruction) of the tragic hero. The hero's misfortunate is not fully deserved. The punishment exceeds the crime. The fall is not pure loss. There is some increase in awareness, some gain in self-knowledge, some discovery on the part of the tragic hero.


Denouement – Conclusion of the story follows the falling action, conflicts are unravelled and the story comes to an end, seeing the Protagonist much worse off than he or she started.

THE GREEK CHORUS

The Greek chorus usually communicated in song form, but sometimes spoke their lines in unison. The chorus had to work in unison to help explain the play as there were only one to three actors on stage who were already playing several parts each. As the Greek Theatres were so large, the chorus' actions had to be exaggerated and their voices clear so that everyone could see and hear them. To do this, they used techniques such as synchronization, echo, ripple, physical theatre and the use of masks to aid them. A Greek chorus was often led by a coryphaeus. They also served as the ancient equivalent for a curtain, as their parodos (entering procession) signified the beginnings of a play and their exodos (exit procession) served as the curtains closing.

KEY PRACTITONER 2 - Stanislavski

CONSTANTIN STANISLAVSKI (1863-1938)


Acting naturally and realistically, 'there are no small parts only small actors' were Stanislavski's primary beliefs.


Key Stanislavski system features:

• Feeling of Truth and Belief, a natural and realistic quality. Life re-created on stage. Truthful creation.

• Emotional memory

• Magic If – personalizing drama and finding personal truth

• Concentration and imagination

• Natural

• Realistic

• Personal

KEY PRACTITONER 1 - Brecht

BERTOLT BRECHT (1898-1956)


Brecht, a German theatre practitioner created the VERFRUMDUNG SEFFECT (Alienation Effect).

He believed that the following was true theatre:

 Plays had a political message and taught the audience a lesson (Didactic Theatre).

 The audience were asked to criticise the action and think analytically rather than empathising with the characters.

 The plot of the play was told to the audience in advance of the actual action, to take away any suspense or tension and to avoid the audience from becoming too involved with the action or characters.

 The scenes of the play were Episodic (stand alone)

 Brecht used the following methods to alienate his audience:

a) Use of Placards to describe the plot

b) Stage directions and actions were told to the audience in advance, narrated in the 3rd person.

c) Lighting was bright white to create no atmosphere.

d) Music/Song are used to make comment on the action.

e) Actors step outside of the role and act as demonstrators; representing the thoughts and actions of the characters, not being them.

Boost your Grade further - use more key words!!!

Drop some of these words into your written work to boost your Grades - it shows the examiner that you know what you are talking about if you can use the words properly and they are spelt properly.

Freeze frame

Narration
Cross cutting
Flashback
Gesture
Proxemics
Tension
Proscenium Arch/End on Staging
Traverse staging
Semiotics
Soliloquy
Performance Space
Genre
Performance Style
Character Exploration
Character Depth
Audience
Key Protagonist
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Denouement
Intentions
Historical context
Social context – status, class
Practitioners – Brecht/Growtowski/Stanislavski

Unit 3 - From Concept to Creation

You are well under way devising and rehearsing your exam pieces. These 3 pieces of work are highly important to your working record and we will be adding to this during class-time.

1. Your 3 original ideas after reading the Exam paper - what do you want the audience to feel/think? How do they link to the exam paper?

2. Your chosen idea - plot outline/story breakdown, possible characters, costumes/technical aspects, what you want your audience to think/feel, performance style - naturalistic/abstract (Stanislavski/Brecht/Growtowski) and genre (style of theatre/drama).

3. Character Notes - these may be really basic at the moment but you can keep adding to it as we carry on through the devising process. Possibly include some research you have undertaken into finding out about the type of person your character might be.