Friday 24th October 2014

Today was our final rehearsal and performance and we are reminded that just because we are playing the character doesn't mean that our energy levels and commitment to the character should not be low.  As we are just playing the characters, we are allowed to be over the top.  The characters are to be character coutured. 
I had actually forgotten and hadn't taken into account in playing the character.  As I am an old woman, in rehearsals I should give 100% regardless and I wasn't playing an old woman, I just remained as myself on stage.  To bring an element of truth to my character, I personified an old woman by being hunched over, talking slow and frail, and having a stick I use for reliance.  Feedback on my character was that it was better and believable than before. 
Despite there being no emotional attachment between character and actor this does not entail that we shouldn't play in the moment.  As actors we are to bring everything alive, so it is essential that we understand what's going on.  Although this might seem contradictory in understanding the role and what's going on, what Brecht wanted was for the audience to have their eyes opened and to be able to express his views through his style of theatre.  As actors we have to do our research on not the character, but Brecht himself, what caused him to write the play, what was going on at the time, what point is he trying to get across?  So we are to understand what is going on and bring alive Brecht's voice against fascism and cause the audience to be engaged and think.

At the end of the play Rob told Sharney to say:
If we want to live and therefore thrive, we must seek to smash the fascist hive. 
To make it more Brechtian, it would've been better as a placard which she could've read out aloud but show to the audience. 

Friday 3rd October 2014

From the suggestion of Sharney formerly remaining on stage throughout the play since she is the narrator, Sharney was to sit in the audience seats.  When it was her turn to speak, she would stand up.  As she is saying her lines, this gives the actors the chance to change scene and set up while on stage.  This strongly puts an emphasis on breaking the fourth wall literally as she engages the audience as part of the production by being seated with the audience and the audience can see the actors changing scene and putting props away to further remind them they are still watching theatre.  Sharney is to not just say it but understand what she is saying by emphasising with an attitude.  Brechts obvious intentions was to make the audience react; cognitively engaged.  It is on Sharney's shoulders to create that for the audience before the scene started.

During 'Charity begins at home' (Scene 16), I was advised to directly address/play to the audience by making them 'Erna' (the young woman, daughter of the old woman), 'Young Man'.  To do this while saying, 'you must take an apple, young man...' and 'Go on, Erna, you take one too...' I am to give the apple as if I am giving it to the audience then the actors who I am addressing take it.  This breaks the fourth wall and destroys any illusion of reality.

Evidence to promote epic theatre is within the script, the use of representation of characters and the linguistic use of third person.  There are no names at all assigned to the characters the actors play, the only suggestive idea of who they are to play is if they are male/female, young/old, husband/wife ect.  This resonates Brechts style of epic theatre of the actors not becoming one with their character; they are to just play it.  With the use of third person, reference can be imposed upon the audience as the actor is addressing anyone or anything other than the ones being addressed.  This breaks the fourth wall reminding the audience this isn't a sociable event but a political chance to cause a reaction in the audience to reflect and hopefully change society.

Friday 26th September 2014

Today was the first rehearsal in the Theatre for our Brecht play, "Fear and Misery of the Third Reich".  Rob wanted us to think about is how to make the play as Brechtian as possible.
To begin with the Brechtian theme, all the actors were placed on stage close to the wings but still evident to the audience that they were on stage. 

Rob set up the stage, placing three chairs equidistant, facing opposite the audience, helping to create further effectiveness to the awareness of the audiences perception that they are watching a play.  The set on stage is to present a suggestive idea rather than realistic although authentic props are used, on a naturalistic set props would be backstage as would the actors be. This is one of Brecht's Epic Theatre's techniques called the alienation effect to create detachment for the audience.

We suggested placards so each scene is introduced and that Sharney would read it or the actors from the previous scene hold it up for the next scene which I felt could be confusing for the audience because the audience might think the placard is for that scene instead of the scene afterwards.
Instead Sharney was made to stand on the side of the stage and read out the prologue but was suggested to stand in the middle of the stage with a spotlight on them which I feel is very Brecht because it engages the audience on a personal level, eliminating the fourth wall as if she is talking to the audience and has stepped out the play to narrate the background of what is going on at the time.
This is evident after the playlet: 'Judicial Process' (Scene 6), just before 'The Jewish Wife' (Scene 9), Sharney is to Break The Fourth Wall, by engaging with the audience by telling them 'Now we see how families are affected'.  Sharney is playing the part of a presenter, presenting what went on behind closed doors of the life of normal people during the rise of Hitler.  The use of narration is to remind the audience they are watching a presentation of a story which eliminates the audience becoming emotionally involved because they are forewarned of the outcome already.

To maintain the theory of Epic theatre so the audience know exactly what's going on, Rob suggested that to link the playlets together we could hang the placards up behind the props, and that Wendy and Parys (the SS men), could be involved in setting up the scenes.
In the playlet 'Charity begins at home' (scene 16), Sharney steps out of the character of being a narrator and becomes the young woman.  Unlike ordinary theatre where there is a character for every actor, Brecht had actors play different characters in Epic Theatre and making the play more Brechtian.
You can cleary see the contrast between the theories of Brecht and Stanislavsky as Brecht plays against the naturalistic style of Stanislavsky.  Stanislavsky wanted the actors assigned to their character to become one with that character thus absorbing the audience into the play while also allowing the audience to relate.  While Brecht wanted the actors to just play the character and not become the character thus the actor has the ability to easily play multiple characters because the actor has no connection to the previous character he played because he has easily disposed of that character to play another one.  Although Brecht and Stanislavsky had different approaches towards the style of theatre, they agreed on the embodiment of truth of that character; despite there being no connection with the character, Brecht wanted the actor to play the character with truth.