Dramatists,
I have written a protest play for gay rights. The play tells the story of three aliens who land in brother and sister Jojo and Lisbeth's bedroom. Jojo and Spek, an eccentric alien fall in love. The play revolves around the complications of a gay relationship on earth and ways in which we can solve these complications.
I have enjoyed directing this play and I am happy with the progress I have made. I enjoy working with my actors and directing them.
A Extract
"Lisbeth: Wait, are you telling me that on your planet Pinkie, there is no such thing as... The ‘P’ word...
Boo: (Very confused now) The ‘P’ word? Now my dear, have you gone quite cuckoo, I’ve never heard of the... (Stops suddenly, thinks) The ‘P’ word you say... Yes it is all coming back to me. Oh Spiff what is the class we used to take you know the one with all that old stuff...
Spiff: Ah, that would be Ancient History dear Boo.
Boo: Yes that’s the one! Ancient History, that’s when we learnt about the ‘P’ word it stands for... Oh what is it now, P...P...
Spiff: Pre-historic?
Boo: No, no its...P...Pre...Pred.... Prejudice! But, how can that word even still exist? Its so last millennium. It’s not even in our vocabulary, It’s simply barbaric that it still exists here!
Lisbeth: Yeah well, F.Y.I. here on Earth people are happier seeing two men holding guns then two men holding hands."
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Romanticism
To fellow Dramatists
Romanticism is the artistic expression of Liberalism, which originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength through the Industrial Revolution. Romanticism was a revolt against the social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment. The romantics did not believe in the scientific rationalization of nature.
Romantic Poets
Some of the Romantic poets included William Wordsworth, John Keats, Byron and William blake. The Romantic poets worshipped nature, and believed in emotion, passion and irrationality. They housed a growing distrust of reason and believed that you could not suppress nature. The Romanticists also believed that if you had to suppress all your passions, that you would go mad. They argued that the essence of human experience is subjective and emotional and that there is no such thing as objectivity.
The Romantic Movement
Romanticism is the artistic expression of Liberalism, which originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength through the Industrial Revolution. Romanticism was a revolt against the social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment. The romantics did not believe in the scientific rationalization of nature.
Romantic Poets
Some of the Romantic poets included William Wordsworth, John Keats, Byron and William blake. The Romantic poets worshipped nature, and believed in emotion, passion and irrationality. They housed a growing distrust of reason and believed that you could not suppress nature. The Romanticists also believed that if you had to suppress all your passions, that you would go mad. They argued that the essence of human experience is subjective and emotional and that there is no such thing as objectivity.
The Romantic Movement
- The Romantic Hero - The Romantics were very fascinated with medieval times and there characteristics. The one characteristic was the Romantic hero and an example of a Romantic hero would be Lord Byron, who was handsome, popular, haughty and rebellious. The idea of the struggling poor artist was also very popular among the Romantics.
- The Engaged and Enraged Artist - The Romantics had the idea that the artist was apart from society. They also portrayed the human in relation to nature where nature was always shown to be more powerful.
- The Rugged Individual - The Romantics claimed that everyone is an individual and a dreamer and that they have unique and endless potential. The Romantics also believed that self-realization came through art.
- The Power and Fury of Nature - The Romantic age was all about the glorification of nature and that nature was an escape from industrialization and dehumanization. The Romantics believed that nature could heal you but it could also be horrifying and awesome.
- Romanticized Country Life - The Romantics idealized the picture of country life and painted many pictures of green pastures and corn fields. They also painted pictures of horrifying weather and nature, which showed that nature was both terrible and beautiful.
- The Occult and The Macabre - The Romantics were interested and fascinated by foreign lands, as well as the ideas of fairies, ghosts, witches and demons. The Romantics yearned for the unknown and the unknowable, which was in contrast to the rationalists who were all about knowing.
Tshepang
Dear fellow Dramatists
Tshepang was written by Lara Foot Newton and was first performed in South Africa in 2003. Tshepang is based on the true story of a nine month baby that is brutally raped in Louisvaleweg, which is a small town in the Northern Cape.
I enjoyed this play and was fascinated by the how the director used symbolism to portray many aspects of the play. The play consists of two actors. The female actor, Ruth, who we later learn is the mother of baby Tshepang, has only one line in the play, which is spoken at the very end of the play, her line is, 'Tshepang.' The silence of the mother throughout the play is eerie and is heightened by the contrast of the man, Simon, always speaking while the mother only uses occasional actions to show her feelings.
The set design of the play was very clever, and had lots of interesting things to capture the audiences attention. Another aspect that I found interesting is that every part of the set symbolizes something and every set piece is used. The set consisted of a salt heap which became Ruth's psychological area as she always returned to this spot when she felt threatened or wanted to feel safe. The symbolism of the salt could be that salt cleanses you and cleans you and that Ruth wants to be cleaned of the horrible deed that happened to her daughter. The constant rubbing of the salt is in a way, Ruth's way of talking. The set also has a bed, a seat where Simon makes his models and a group of small houses.
Throughout Tshepang, a recurring line is always, 'Nothing much happens here.' This is ironic as the play shows that no matter in how much of an isolated place you are in, something horrible can always happen. This play also brings to light that horrible things can happen anywhere and that we need to be aware of them so that we can try to prevent these horrible things from happening.
In the play baby Tshepang is first thought to have been raped by six men, but later in the play we learn that it was Ruth's boyfriend. It is shocking that a mother would pay such little attention to her baby that it is able to get raped. As a sacrifice to her daughter and as a sign that Ruth has found herself unworthy to be a mother she brutally cuts her own breast off. The cutting off of a breast is symbolic, as a woman's breast is what enables her to be able to feed her child, and without a breast you will not be able to feed your child and therefore be unable to look after your baby. It is Simon who finds Ruth in her house passed out from the cutting off of her breast, and it is him who takes Ruth to hospital.
Once Ruth is out of the hospital, Simon takes it upon himself to look after Ruth, and a co-dependant relationship forms between the two, where Simon needs Ruth as he loves her, and Ruth needs Simon as she needs someone to look after her. The relationship that forms between them is such that one can not survive without the other.
The costume in this play is very simple and plain, all except for one item which is a bed that Ruth carries on her back. The bed represents that Ruth carries a burden physically. The bed also represents the place where she had sex, the beginning of her troubles.
The raping of baby Tshepang is symbolized by simon thrusting a broken broom handle into a loaf of bread which symbolizes the baby. I found this very effective and it left me shocked at how brutal rape can be.
This play is a protest play, which is protesting for people to prevent the rape of children and adults alike. It brings to light a very serious issue and opens the audiences eyes to what happens in the world. It is designed so as to give the audience something to think about.
Tshepang was written by Lara Foot Newton and was first performed in South Africa in 2003. Tshepang is based on the true story of a nine month baby that is brutally raped in Louisvaleweg, which is a small town in the Northern Cape.
I enjoyed this play and was fascinated by the how the director used symbolism to portray many aspects of the play. The play consists of two actors. The female actor, Ruth, who we later learn is the mother of baby Tshepang, has only one line in the play, which is spoken at the very end of the play, her line is, 'Tshepang.' The silence of the mother throughout the play is eerie and is heightened by the contrast of the man, Simon, always speaking while the mother only uses occasional actions to show her feelings.
The set design of the play was very clever, and had lots of interesting things to capture the audiences attention. Another aspect that I found interesting is that every part of the set symbolizes something and every set piece is used. The set consisted of a salt heap which became Ruth's psychological area as she always returned to this spot when she felt threatened or wanted to feel safe. The symbolism of the salt could be that salt cleanses you and cleans you and that Ruth wants to be cleaned of the horrible deed that happened to her daughter. The constant rubbing of the salt is in a way, Ruth's way of talking. The set also has a bed, a seat where Simon makes his models and a group of small houses.
Throughout Tshepang, a recurring line is always, 'Nothing much happens here.' This is ironic as the play shows that no matter in how much of an isolated place you are in, something horrible can always happen. This play also brings to light that horrible things can happen anywhere and that we need to be aware of them so that we can try to prevent these horrible things from happening.
In the play baby Tshepang is first thought to have been raped by six men, but later in the play we learn that it was Ruth's boyfriend. It is shocking that a mother would pay such little attention to her baby that it is able to get raped. As a sacrifice to her daughter and as a sign that Ruth has found herself unworthy to be a mother she brutally cuts her own breast off. The cutting off of a breast is symbolic, as a woman's breast is what enables her to be able to feed her child, and without a breast you will not be able to feed your child and therefore be unable to look after your baby. It is Simon who finds Ruth in her house passed out from the cutting off of her breast, and it is him who takes Ruth to hospital.
Once Ruth is out of the hospital, Simon takes it upon himself to look after Ruth, and a co-dependant relationship forms between the two, where Simon needs Ruth as he loves her, and Ruth needs Simon as she needs someone to look after her. The relationship that forms between them is such that one can not survive without the other.
The costume in this play is very simple and plain, all except for one item which is a bed that Ruth carries on her back. The bed represents that Ruth carries a burden physically. The bed also represents the place where she had sex, the beginning of her troubles.
The raping of baby Tshepang is symbolized by simon thrusting a broken broom handle into a loaf of bread which symbolizes the baby. I found this very effective and it left me shocked at how brutal rape can be.
This play is a protest play, which is protesting for people to prevent the rape of children and adults alike. It brings to light a very serious issue and opens the audiences eyes to what happens in the world. It is designed so as to give the audience something to think about.
Monologue Workshop
Fellow Dramatists,
I took place in a Monologue Workshop, which opened my eyes to the real dirty stuff behind Drama.
I never thought that somebody could teach you how to act. Boy was I wrong. The man who took us for the workshop started off by teaching us the Essentials of Acting which are:
When it comes to preparing your scene or monologue, the preparation period must be a journey, as the journey is the work. You need to forget about punctuation, as by going according to the punctuation you begin to sound like a public speaker. It is also important to not copy actors. When it comes to starting a scene or a monologue you need to make sure you have learnt your lines, only once you've learnt the lines can you begin the real work. It is also important to get your monologue early.
You need to work on how you approach the monologue or scene. You need to find the humanity of the character. Identify the characters needs, for example to be loved, a sense of belonging, security, survival, to be heard. Through your acting you want to be able to get an emotional response from your audience, once you find the emotions inside you the audience will also feel them. When it comes to your character you need to be able to go on and on about them, you must treat them as if they are another human life force, identify the facts about the character, which can be found in the monologue, and then it is up to you to then identify the imagination behind the facts.
When identifying the facts behind a character you need to look at the style of the monologue, is it realism or absurdism? This can be identified by the writer of the monologue. You need to remember that it is through you that the character is brought to life and that eventually you are merely a life force hosting your character. You need to be able to make what you are doing look easy. You must learn to hear yourself so that you can pick up on the things that you are not doing right and the things that do not sound right.
Once the facts have been established you need to identify the personality behind the actions. You need to do this by asking yourself why do people do what they do? You need to understand that like you, your character is motivated by needs, and that somewhere in our world your character actually exists.
An important thing to remember is to avoid Trixy acting as it holds no believability. When portraying emotions you need to think about what comes before the emotion. For example people do not just suddenly feel sad, they can go from being angry and that anger can become a great sadness. One needs to give themselves permission to open up their emotions to the audience. You are your own emotional truth, use this to your advantage.
In order to to find our emotional truths in the workshop, we each had to find a place in the class where we could either sit or stand, whatever made you feel comfortable. We were told to close our eyes and think about one thing that had made us really sad or angry. Then we had to associate one line with the incident that had made us upset or angry, and repeat the line over and over again in our heads. We had to imagine that we were saying this one line to the person who had upset us. We were told to say the line softly out loud in our own time. We were told to dig deep and allow the emotion that we were feeling to wash over us, feel it grow from the pit of our stomach to the rest of our body. We had to hold on to the feeling and shout the line in our head over and over again, loud and then soft. Loud music was put on and we had to shout own line over the music. Tears streamed down my cheeks, I have never been more moved by any other experience in my whole life. I wish i could find the appropriate words to explain to you the feelings I will keep with me from that exercise. It allowed me to see and feel what should go into becoming a character, what it really means to let go and explore your own feelings. After the exercise I felt extremely calm and rested. It was an amazing feeling.
Lastly we were taught about thought structures. We were told to identify the beats in the monologue. We were told that a character is at it's most interesting when the actor makes it personal and that eye contact is essential.
I took place in a Monologue Workshop, which opened my eyes to the real dirty stuff behind Drama.
I never thought that somebody could teach you how to act. Boy was I wrong. The man who took us for the workshop started off by teaching us the Essentials of Acting which are:
- Energy
- Focus
- Intention/ Motivation
- Listening
- Giving
- Receiving
- Light and shade
- Believability
- Personal
When it comes to preparing your scene or monologue, the preparation period must be a journey, as the journey is the work. You need to forget about punctuation, as by going according to the punctuation you begin to sound like a public speaker. It is also important to not copy actors. When it comes to starting a scene or a monologue you need to make sure you have learnt your lines, only once you've learnt the lines can you begin the real work. It is also important to get your monologue early.
You need to work on how you approach the monologue or scene. You need to find the humanity of the character. Identify the characters needs, for example to be loved, a sense of belonging, security, survival, to be heard. Through your acting you want to be able to get an emotional response from your audience, once you find the emotions inside you the audience will also feel them. When it comes to your character you need to be able to go on and on about them, you must treat them as if they are another human life force, identify the facts about the character, which can be found in the monologue, and then it is up to you to then identify the imagination behind the facts.
When identifying the facts behind a character you need to look at the style of the monologue, is it realism or absurdism? This can be identified by the writer of the monologue. You need to remember that it is through you that the character is brought to life and that eventually you are merely a life force hosting your character. You need to be able to make what you are doing look easy. You must learn to hear yourself so that you can pick up on the things that you are not doing right and the things that do not sound right.
Once the facts have been established you need to identify the personality behind the actions. You need to do this by asking yourself why do people do what they do? You need to understand that like you, your character is motivated by needs, and that somewhere in our world your character actually exists.
An important thing to remember is to avoid Trixy acting as it holds no believability. When portraying emotions you need to think about what comes before the emotion. For example people do not just suddenly feel sad, they can go from being angry and that anger can become a great sadness. One needs to give themselves permission to open up their emotions to the audience. You are your own emotional truth, use this to your advantage.
In order to to find our emotional truths in the workshop, we each had to find a place in the class where we could either sit or stand, whatever made you feel comfortable. We were told to close our eyes and think about one thing that had made us really sad or angry. Then we had to associate one line with the incident that had made us upset or angry, and repeat the line over and over again in our heads. We had to imagine that we were saying this one line to the person who had upset us. We were told to say the line softly out loud in our own time. We were told to dig deep and allow the emotion that we were feeling to wash over us, feel it grow from the pit of our stomach to the rest of our body. We had to hold on to the feeling and shout the line in our head over and over again, loud and then soft. Loud music was put on and we had to shout own line over the music. Tears streamed down my cheeks, I have never been more moved by any other experience in my whole life. I wish i could find the appropriate words to explain to you the feelings I will keep with me from that exercise. It allowed me to see and feel what should go into becoming a character, what it really means to let go and explore your own feelings. After the exercise I felt extremely calm and rested. It was an amazing feeling.
Lastly we were taught about thought structures. We were told to identify the beats in the monologue. We were told that a character is at it's most interesting when the actor makes it personal and that eye contact is essential.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Art of Melodrama
Dear fellow dramatists.
The art of Melodrama. Melodrama is a dramatic work which exaggerates the plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions of the audience. Asides are used to create an air of secrecy, as well as dramatic tension. Melodrama began in the 18th century combining spoken recitation with short pieces of accompanying music.
Melodramatic characters are known as stock characters and include the heroine, the hero, the villain, a faithful man servant, a faithful maid and the villain's accomplice. The plot revolves around the hero who is the symbol of good who is tricked by the villain who is the symbol of evil. The play makes use of extreme opposites to capture the audiences attention for example justice vs. revenge. The hero saves the heroine and ultimately, good overcomes evil.
Melodramatic theatre sets are elaborate and stage effects are used. Spectacular costumes, as well as music are used to increase the impact and appeal of the play. Music is used to heighten the emotions of the audience or to signal when something good or bad is going to happen.
For our lesson we were split into groups of four. Each group was given two cards, each containing a thought starter indicating an event that we were to act out using melodramatic aspects. These included exaggerated gestures and facial expressions, as well as acting out the characteristics of the stereotypes of the events.
My group's thought starters were 'Soccer supporters' and 'Models'. For soccer supporters we acted out a crowd anticipating a goal, and then the victory after the goal has been scored. For models we acted walking down a runway, using stereotypical gestures and facial expressions of models for example sulky expressions and fake smiles, as well as jealousy of the other models.
I enjoyed this lesson immensely as the other groups skits were very entertaining, and it was enjoyable watching the different interpretations of the stereotypes.
The art of Melodrama. Melodrama is a dramatic work which exaggerates the plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions of the audience. Asides are used to create an air of secrecy, as well as dramatic tension. Melodrama began in the 18th century combining spoken recitation with short pieces of accompanying music.
Melodramatic characters are known as stock characters and include the heroine, the hero, the villain, a faithful man servant, a faithful maid and the villain's accomplice. The plot revolves around the hero who is the symbol of good who is tricked by the villain who is the symbol of evil. The play makes use of extreme opposites to capture the audiences attention for example justice vs. revenge. The hero saves the heroine and ultimately, good overcomes evil.
Melodramatic theatre sets are elaborate and stage effects are used. Spectacular costumes, as well as music are used to increase the impact and appeal of the play. Music is used to heighten the emotions of the audience or to signal when something good or bad is going to happen.
For our lesson we were split into groups of four. Each group was given two cards, each containing a thought starter indicating an event that we were to act out using melodramatic aspects. These included exaggerated gestures and facial expressions, as well as acting out the characteristics of the stereotypes of the events.
My group's thought starters were 'Soccer supporters' and 'Models'. For soccer supporters we acted out a crowd anticipating a goal, and then the victory after the goal has been scored. For models we acted walking down a runway, using stereotypical gestures and facial expressions of models for example sulky expressions and fake smiles, as well as jealousy of the other models.
I enjoyed this lesson immensely as the other groups skits were very entertaining, and it was enjoyable watching the different interpretations of the stereotypes.
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