Friday, 13 December 2013
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was one of the most influential playwrights and theatre practitioner of his time and possible of all time. he re-defined and re-shaped theatre entirely. He was born on 10th February 1898 and died at the age of 58 on 14th August 1956, yet even in that short amount of time, he created some of the most inspiring and influential acting techniques within this centenary. He redefined theatre and it's use, creating a style of theatre that was designed to shock and test the audience so they would see the piece for its political values and not for its entertainment morals.
He is most famous for his thoughts on theatre and how acting should be. Brecht got tired of the audience feeling empathy for the characters, so created a brand new type of theatre known as Epic Theatre. He is also known for his two most famous and practiced techniques, The Verfremdungseffekt (also known as the Alienation effect or strange making) and Gestures. The V effect is Brecht's most notable techniques that defined his career and the entire style of theatre. Brecht was a very political man and always wanted to create a type of theatre that could be seen and used as a political devise so the audience would start to question their society. The V effect is the method Brecht created in order to achieve this type of new theatre he had created. Fundamentally, the Alienation effect is anything within the piece which either shows or reminds the audience that they are watching a constructed piece of theatre and that the characters and plot lines are symbolic and aren't real life. The actors do this by constantly breaking the fourth wall so they will talk and engage with the audience. On some occasions, the actors will come out of their characters and explain the construction of the piece to the audience. This done by directly talking to the audience, changing costume on stage and even removing or adding set midway through a scene. These are all done in order to show the audience that what they are watching as been constructed and made for a specific political purpose.
Brecht's idea of Gestures are slightly more complex. On the surface it is simply an English translation to: a gesture. This could be anything from moving a foot of an impatient by-stander, to the shiver of shoulders of the lost and cold young boy. Basically it is simply the physicality of the character. However, if you look deeper, its real use if to show the physical attitudes of members in society, almost like a parody or a microcosm. These are used to highlight the attitudes of society as a whole, so the audience can understand its meaning. Brecht often made his pieces of theatre accessible to the working class, so often the themes would be relatable to them.
Brecht's idea of Epic Theatre was something that became more prominent within his early and later works. He wanted his theatre to be non-linear and episodic to make the Alienation effect more of a feature. His work became Shakespearean in essence; switching from one characters perspective to the next, often with no clear linear narrative or links between the scenes. he also gave music its own voice, often giving a scene nothing except music, which again is applying the v effect. Brecht liked to use music as an effect for some scenes. He would often play a piece of music against the content of the scene which again amplifies the Alienation Effect.
http://www.slideshare.net/SalvatoreGiovanniSorce/bertolt-brecht-epic-theatre-14203501
Here is a link to a website which posts slide shows on Brecht's work and compares it to other practitioners.
Bertolt Brecht was one of the most influential playwrights and theatre practitioner of his time and possible of all time. he re-defined and re-shaped theatre entirely. He was born on 10th February 1898 and died at the age of 58 on 14th August 1956, yet even in that short amount of time, he created some of the most inspiring and influential acting techniques within this centenary. He redefined theatre and it's use, creating a style of theatre that was designed to shock and test the audience so they would see the piece for its political values and not for its entertainment morals.
He is most famous for his thoughts on theatre and how acting should be. Brecht got tired of the audience feeling empathy for the characters, so created a brand new type of theatre known as Epic Theatre. He is also known for his two most famous and practiced techniques, The Verfremdungseffekt (also known as the Alienation effect or strange making) and Gestures. The V effect is Brecht's most notable techniques that defined his career and the entire style of theatre. Brecht was a very political man and always wanted to create a type of theatre that could be seen and used as a political devise so the audience would start to question their society. The V effect is the method Brecht created in order to achieve this type of new theatre he had created. Fundamentally, the Alienation effect is anything within the piece which either shows or reminds the audience that they are watching a constructed piece of theatre and that the characters and plot lines are symbolic and aren't real life. The actors do this by constantly breaking the fourth wall so they will talk and engage with the audience. On some occasions, the actors will come out of their characters and explain the construction of the piece to the audience. This done by directly talking to the audience, changing costume on stage and even removing or adding set midway through a scene. These are all done in order to show the audience that what they are watching as been constructed and made for a specific political purpose.
Brecht's idea of Gestures are slightly more complex. On the surface it is simply an English translation to: a gesture. This could be anything from moving a foot of an impatient by-stander, to the shiver of shoulders of the lost and cold young boy. Basically it is simply the physicality of the character. However, if you look deeper, its real use if to show the physical attitudes of members in society, almost like a parody or a microcosm. These are used to highlight the attitudes of society as a whole, so the audience can understand its meaning. Brecht often made his pieces of theatre accessible to the working class, so often the themes would be relatable to them.
Brecht's idea of Epic Theatre was something that became more prominent within his early and later works. He wanted his theatre to be non-linear and episodic to make the Alienation effect more of a feature. His work became Shakespearean in essence; switching from one characters perspective to the next, often with no clear linear narrative or links between the scenes. he also gave music its own voice, often giving a scene nothing except music, which again is applying the v effect. Brecht liked to use music as an effect for some scenes. He would often play a piece of music against the content of the scene which again amplifies the Alienation Effect.
http://www.slideshare.net/SalvatoreGiovanniSorce/bertolt-brecht-epic-theatre-14203501
Here is a link to a website which posts slide shows on Brecht's work and compares it to other practitioners.
Week One
Today was our first day of our political theatre term. Jack told us that the term would centre around the title Do we get more Right Wing in hard times? and we would be focusing on the Brechtian style of acting (named after the theatre practitioner and playwright, Bertolt Brecht). He believed that theatre should be used as a means to express political ideologies and not for immediate entertainment. He wanted the audience to be pushed out of their comfort zones and to avoid them getting 'sore bottoms'. Brecht teaches his actors to forget given circumstances and objectives and to instead use the basic foundations of a character as their purpose for the play. He tells his actors to only demonstrate the character and to not bother about becoming the character. His most famous teaching, and the technique we will be including in our performance, was the verfrendungseffekt effect or the 'v' effect. This loosely translates to the estranged effect. Some people may also call it distancing or strange making, as the actors will often break character and talk to the audience, reminding them that they are watching a play, not real life. Brecht also believed that the actor should always 'act as if there is no fourth wall. She/he expresses his awareness of being watched. the audience can no longer have the illusion of being the unseen spectator at an event that is really taking place.'
The Verfrendungseffekt Effect:
Arguably, this is the most famous technique Brecht enforced. Loosely translated from German, the verfrendungseffekt effect means the estranged effect. There are many other names for this techniques, the most common being; strange making, the v effect or alienation which connects to Communism (Bertolt was a Communist). This technique is used to remind the audience and the actors that they are watching/performing a play, and therefore shouldn't have an emotional connection to the piece. The performance can inspire them to change their lives and it can make them angry, but there should be no emotive response to the characters. This technique helps break the fourth wall, so there is no illusion, the audience except they are seeing a performance. The v effect is used to highlight a particular moment in a play when you want the audience to be aware of something. For example, if you wanted the audience to be shocked or to question something, you would apply the alienation effect and remind the audience they are watching a performance and that this isn't real life. An example of strange making is when the actors 'break' character to talk to the audience. This theatrical event again reminds the audience that the actors are playing a character, they are only demonstrating.
To start the term of with this very new style of acting, we first had to get used to the way Brechtian styled acting worked. To do this, we started todays lesson with a political story we had either heard on the news or researched. We would then combine the political story with the v effect t help us understand what it was and its use. In my group, with Lucy and Hana, we discussed a story that Hana had found in the Daily Mail. It was about an Islamic wedding being bombed and thirty innocent people being killed. After this short discussion, we then did our first exercise which helped us explore the v effect; the moody body exercise. Here we would walk around the space as Jack called out a number of body parts and an emotion. We would have to quickly move into a group of that number and apply the emotion Jack had said, using the body part. For example, if Jack had called '3 happy elbows!' we would have to get into groups of three and express to the audience that the elbows were happy. This exercise is designed to help the actor demonstrate to the audience the fact that they are not real people, only actors acting. I think this exercise was effective in it's aim, as it was simple to understand but yet humorous enough for the actors to not take it seriously and try to make it look realistic. It helped me understand the mind-frame of a Brechtian play, and what is included in one. If the actors are too focused on making the play look realistic and trying to convince the audience with their acting, then the play becomes too saturated and the audience will become too involved with the character s and plot lines, therefore not paying attention to the political message of the play. After this exercise, we then added another layer on top. We got into pairs, I was with Lizzie, and started to combine our chosen political story with the moody body exercise to create a short improvisation about the feelings evoked by the article. Lizzie and I focused on our feet, and as the emotions had to be opposing, she was calm and I was angry. We moved around the space arguing with our feet while applying the set emotions. I noticed that it became almost dance-like. I enjoyed this exercise because, to me, it was more effective in helping me understand the Brechtian style of performing. By making us apply a political story to the basis of our improvisation, it helped me to understand the political undertones of most of Brecht's pieces. It also helped us see how to convey them in our own pieces. It also helped us to understand our role as an actor in a Brechtian styled piece; to make the audience aware that the characters we are demonstrating aren't real. We do this by using exaggerated and occasionally, ridiculous actions.
Our next exercise was more a political discussion, verging on a debate, than an exercise. We talked about the left and right wings and what their policies were. The Left Wingers are scholiasts, or communists. They believe in general equality and that we should all pay to the state, protecting the weaker in our society. The Right Wingers are more traditional, commonly called capitalists. They believe you should keep the money you earn and not to share it. The far-right wingers have been called fascist. We talked about how both far left and far right somehow end up meeting in a circle. For example, Hitler was an extreme right-winger and Stalin was an extreme left-winger. In the end they both killed a lot of people and ruined people's lives, so both wings have seemed to have merged together over the years. We then symbolised our opinions on a line in the room. By the window was extreme right and by the radiators was extreme left and in the middle was in between left and right. We then had to justify our opinions. This soon turned into a lively debate. I found this very interesting to hear other people's political views. I wasn't very sure where I stood, so I stayed in the middle, but closer to the left wing side. I have a basic knowledge of politics so I felt like I couldn't really justify my opinion as people wanted facts that I couldn't really provide. I'm not a very argumentative or bold person, so I found this debate hard in that sense but very interesting and enjoyable to listen to. We then applied the v effect to our debate. Brecht taught gestures which are exaggerated movements. We started of doing some basic gestures, that gradually got bigger. We the added a word on top of them. For example, we had three gestures; hands thrown out to the side, hands and arms stretched up to the sky and hands on hips. The first gesture we added the word 'DUNNO' , the second 'YES' and the last 'NO'. We then applied these physicality's to political statements and we had to answer then with the gestures and the word. I found this very useful in deciding what my political views were, as you had to make a fast decision therefore it was your immediate impulse. Here, we were directly applying the v effect.
We then looked at character creation, Brecht style. Brecht's idea of character creation is very basic. He believed that acting is 'acting' in quotation marks. The actor should impersonate the character, but should always narrate the actions, movements and gestures of that character. All you need to do is effect the audience, find the characters movements and don't connect with their reality, only look at their existence. To understand this more, we did an exercise based on Brecht's idea of character creation. We took a physical stance and then found the character, from the outside in. Some of the characters we created were the following:
- Nose outwards and bum out= an old man
- Legs out and chin up= an old women
- Hands on our back and stomach forward= a pregnant women
- Hands on stomach = rich capitalist
- 'Special Brew' in hand= drunk working class
- Champagne in hand= drunk posh person
We discovered that these characters were block characters and almost linked in with the Melodramatic stock characters we studied last term. They serve a purpose and the audience is to question their words and lines. This makes them wake up and discuss what is going on, so they become an alert audience.
After this exercise, we were told the theme of our performance would be Race and Immigration. This isn't an easy topic and it's something that politically isn't talked about much. Because of this it is perfect for theatre, as through theatre we can talk about touching topics. The theatre is a safe environment. To start of with we used a play form Theatre Uncut 2013, a collection of plays performed at the Young Vic every year, showcasing the newest and greatest plays of the year. The play is called 'Pick One' and is written by Neil Labute. The play centres around three middle-aged white men who want to get rid of every black person in America as they believe it would solve all their problems. It is written in a very comical and breezy manner which makes the controversial subject matter almost forgettable. Although there are some points where the audience see the serious side of this matter. It is a very Brechtian play as it makes the audience think and question why they react the way they do. The characters are very Brechtian, having no personal names, just being Fat guy, Thin guy and Medium guy. This makes the audience focus on the subject matter rather than the characters. We also had the idea to have Michael, Khai and Ben as the three main characters, as it would add a layer of humour much more prominent then if we'd had three white guys playing the leads. It is also a Brechtian technique, as again we are reminding the audience this is a performance and these are actors acting.
Jack also asked us to find one song and one news article to bring to next weeks lesson. Here is what I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax9SOup0054
I thought this song could be played over the 'Pick One' scene. This is 'Ode to Joy' by Beethoven and I thought it offer a nice contrast to the brutal scene. The idea of having contrasting music and content is very Brechtian, so I typed in classical music on youtube and this came up. I started to listen to the song and I really liked how, near the end, the tempo picked up. If you listen to the whole song, you can see the foreshadowing of the dramatic ending, and I thought this would reflect the piece well, as near the end of the play the characters decide to go eat Caribbean food. I also thought the music could be played subtly in the background and not disrupt the performance as there are no lyrics to clash with the lines of the actors, so hopefully the audience won't get confused in a bad way.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/14/david-cameron-blunkett-immigration-riots
I found this article online about immigration from Roma and how some politicians think they will cause riots. I think this is an interesting article because it shows how even politicians get fired up over immigration and the vast differing opinions on the matter.
Week Two
We started to work on our individual pieces today. But firstly, we discussed our previous research topics and our song choices which led into a discussion about Brecht's idea of Epic Theatre and its use. The idea of using music throughout a piece is very Brechtian as it is used to create a conflict between the music chose and the content of the scene.
I am in a
group with Danny, Ellesse, Eleanor and Maya. Each group had to take a story
from the news and use that to inspire our piece. We choice the article about
the EDL leader, Tommy Robinson, spending a year with a Muslim called Mo Ansar http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01kgnrs andhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24729175This stimulated
our piece.
http://www.englishdefenceleague.org/ --- this is a direct link to the EDL's website.
 |
| This is an image of Tommy and Mo during the filming of the documentary. |
We decided to base it on Hitler and all the different groups he discriminated against. We chose Hitler because the topic for this term is Do we get more Right Wing in hard times? And we felt this historical figure fitted that topic perfectly. Brecht also was not a supporter of right winged extremists and not a supporter of Hitler. In 1945 his series of short plays and poems (Fear and Loathing under the Third Reich, 1945) showed his hatred of Nazi Germany. We started brain storming and thought that it would be
really impactful if we had Hitler going on blind dates with a gay person, a
black person, a disabled person and Anne Frank as these represent the groups he
discriminated against. In the spirit of our inspiration, we thought at the end Hitler would chose to go on a date with Anne Frank, or go to her house. As Brecht believed the actor should demonstrate the character
and to not become it, we didn’t give the minor characters names. To apply the alienation effect, I will play the black person, Ellesse will play Anne Frank, Eleanor will play the disabled person and Maya will represent the homosexual character.
Our initial idea was to have Hitler in a coffee shop, going on blind dates with the people listed above. To apply more Brechtian techniques to our piece, we thought we'd have one person in our group sit in the audience and a=start shouting racial and offensive abuse throughout our scene, but then they would get up, put on their costume and become one of the characters. Brecht used interruptions and awkward silences to alienate his audience and make them feel unsettled, again reminding them they are seeing a play and the stage is just a stage.
This short video shows, through film, what the alienation effect looks like. After last week I still wasn't too sure what this technique would look like when being performed, so this video really helped me. The prolonged opening title combined with the music made me feel un-comfortable and nervous, without realising I started looking down the page in hope of an explanation. The rest of the video is this man walking down the corridor and that made me feel slightly awkward because I was watching him but didn't know anything about him and I didn't have an emotional connection with this displayed character. I think this is how our audience will feel when we apply some of our strange making effects to our piece.
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Week Three
Jack also asked us to write down, roughly, ten things that might happen in our scene. We came up with these points:
We don't have many objects, but the ones we do have we are going to try and make them a key feature. One object we have is the sign I will hold up saying 'Clap Now' and 'Boo Now'. We're thinking of having a microphone for Maya, but instead of using a real one, we were thinking of using a banana, as Brecht believed that the objects should be weird because you are then using the alienation effect, which is very Brechtian. Costume wise, we're keeping it very obvious. Maya will be in all black, Danny will be in a Hitler costume, Ellesse in a period dress and Eleanor and I in normal clothes. I need to bring in a hat of some sort to put on when I become the stage manager holding the sign up. I will be outing this hat on onstage and therefore changing character onstage, thus including the strange making effect and reminding the audience we are actors. Once Eleanor has turned off her light, I then break character and hand the hat and sign over to her, again reminding the audience this is a performance.
We're addressing the audience directly by telling them when to clap and when to boo. To make our piece impactful, we will have them clapping at the shocking parts, for example when Danny says he killed six million Jews, and having them boo and the parts they agree with, such as when Ellesse says Danny should shut down the 'industrial ovens'. We're hoping this will unsettle the audience and therefore make our piece effective and memorable. I think we have broken the fourth wall in our performance as there are no boundaries between us and the audience due to the fact that they almost become part of our piece as they are the 'take me out' audience.
For next week I need to have an established and bold character because at the moment I'm only standing and putting on a hat occasionally. Brecht believed in strong and defined characters, so I will work on creating a typical single, if slightly desperate, female to fit in with the stereotypical perception of women on dating shows.
This is our third week of rehearsals so we started to look at what costumes, objects and music we could use and how we could make them abide by the strange making rules. We also talked about montages and how they can be used as an effective strange making device. A montage is a way of showing progress of a certain character and the passing of time. The most famous montage is in the film 'Rocky' when he is training to become a boxer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACJ_yn6zXLs. The music provides the montage with the pace and also helps disconnect the audience with their emotions.
Jack gave us all some rules to stick to when devising our piece:
- Have to include music in our piece (singing or audio)
- Must have objects
- Must all have a costume
- We have to find new ways of directly addressing the audience
- Must show the audience that we are actors who are acting
- Must break the fourth wall
- Must include some strange making effects (for example speaking in the third person, voicing stage directions and changing costume on stage)
Jack also asked us to write down, roughly, ten things that might happen in our scene. We came up with these points:
- Entre the space singing the theme tune to Take Me Out
- Maya introducing the show
- I hold up the clap sign
- Maya introduces Danny (Hitler) and we play a song
- Getting to know Hitler and all girls except us three turning off their lights
- Hitler showing off his talent
- Eleanor (girl number one) turning off her light and explaining why
- Hitler questions girls
- Hitler turns off my 'light' and keeps Ellesse's (Anne) on
- Hitler finds out that he chose Anne Frank
We don't have many objects, but the ones we do have we are going to try and make them a key feature. One object we have is the sign I will hold up saying 'Clap Now' and 'Boo Now'. We're thinking of having a microphone for Maya, but instead of using a real one, we were thinking of using a banana, as Brecht believed that the objects should be weird because you are then using the alienation effect, which is very Brechtian. Costume wise, we're keeping it very obvious. Maya will be in all black, Danny will be in a Hitler costume, Ellesse in a period dress and Eleanor and I in normal clothes. I need to bring in a hat of some sort to put on when I become the stage manager holding the sign up. I will be outing this hat on onstage and therefore changing character onstage, thus including the strange making effect and reminding the audience we are actors. Once Eleanor has turned off her light, I then break character and hand the hat and sign over to her, again reminding the audience this is a performance.
We're addressing the audience directly by telling them when to clap and when to boo. To make our piece impactful, we will have them clapping at the shocking parts, for example when Danny says he killed six million Jews, and having them boo and the parts they agree with, such as when Ellesse says Danny should shut down the 'industrial ovens'. We're hoping this will unsettle the audience and therefore make our piece effective and memorable. I think we have broken the fourth wall in our performance as there are no boundaries between us and the audience due to the fact that they almost become part of our piece as they are the 'take me out' audience.
For next week I need to have an established and bold character because at the moment I'm only standing and putting on a hat occasionally. Brecht believed in strong and defined characters, so I will work on creating a typical single, if slightly desperate, female to fit in with the stereotypical perception of women on dating shows.
BNP Political Protest Research and Idea's
The British National Party (or most commonly known as the BNP) are a far-right political group in the UK that focuses their political policies on anti-immigration and anti-integration of the EU. The party also advocates the reintroduction of capital punishment and opposes same-sex marriage. They believe that the UK should move to become a fully self-sufficient country, which should encourage British teachings and values only. This therefore means that they will not allow any other culture to be taught or embraced, thus creating an all British UK. The BNP also believe that welfare should only be provided to full British people but only after thy have completed a certain number of hours in some form of beneficial work which the government will provide them with. Nick Griffin has been the Head and Chairman of the BNP since 1999 and harbours strong views against the immigrants of Britain, stating that they are all 'creatures and animals'. Here is a link to a speech he gave at the Trafalgar Club on November 9th this year. Although Griffin is talking about creating a better economy for this country, I feel like he is doing it in a way that will isolate and estrange anyone who is not British from being allowed to experience this new Britain, which I feel is unfair and cruel.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUEd2qfZyGc#t=1483 this is also another link to a short clip from Question Time which shows views from members of the public, other Politicians and Nick Griffin himself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIHNJP9e9EQ
The reason we have decided to use the BNP policies as the subject for our protest is because collectively, we all had similar strong views against them and what they stood for. Our group has a mixture of different ethnicities and backgrounds, meaning that the anti-immigration policies the BNP want to introduce would directly affect our families and our audience's families too. We felt strongly opposed to these policies, we felt the passion we all shared would help us create a strong and hard-hitting protest which everyone can relate too. WE also felt that the anti-immigration policies fit in well with the theme of our Brechtian piece and that we could use a lot of the ideas and techniques in our protest to make it powerful and effective. I also feel that it will offer a nice contrast to our performance, as Brecht was left wing and obviously the BNP are far-right, so to perform this piece which is against far-right wing policies using a left wing theory would create a diverse protest.
We began to brainstorm some idea's of how we could create this protest and make it memorable. We looked over the Brechtian techniques again and decided that using songs and chants would be a great way to involve the audience and also captivate them. 'We shall, We shall Not move! Not move!' was a chant we came up with and it's said with the same rhythm that the famous song 'We Will Rock You' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4MJqLmKfHois set with. I think it will be catchy as it's a well known rhythm and I think it will show our passion that we have for our protest topic. Our group also liked how we could use this chant as a double meaning as we're talking about how we will not leave the UK because of our ethnicities, but also how we will not leave our chosen site until our protest is done and we have got our message across. We came up with the idea of getting pictures of Nick Griffin and ripping them in front of the audience while saying 'Down with the Bloody BNP' we also thought we could burn pictures of him too and sing 'we're letting Griffy burn, brun, burn.' in the style of the Elle Goulding song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyEd0aKWZE. We feel that these will catch on and hopefully the audience will join in. We also liked the idea of a rap as this is a prominent in urban culture and is again very catchy. Khai started to improvise with some lyrics and we came up with a hook line 'fuck the bnp'. Having decided that we would station our protest on the stairs just outside the foyer, we were thinking that it would be an interesting visual if we tied ourselves to the railings as we chanted and sang as we felt this would have an effective impact on the audience.
We also think that at some point we should tell the viewers some facts about the BNP so they can create their own judgement. We are hoping that these facts will shock them and make them oppose the BNP like we do. We like the facts:
- Reach an accord with the Muslim world whereby they will agree to take back their excess population which is currently colonising this country, in exchange for an ironclad guarantee that Britain will never again interfere in the political affairs of the Middle East or try to dictate to any Arab or Muslim country as to what their internal government form should be- Deport all the two million plus who are here illegally;
- Deport all those who commit crimes and whose original nationality was not British;
- Review all recent grants of residence or citizenship to ensure they are still appropriate;
- Offer generous grants to those of foreign descent resident here who wish to leave permanently;
- Stop all new immigration except for exceptional cases;
- Reject all asylum seekers who passed safe countries on their way to Britain.- Abolish “anti-discrimination” laws which prevent people from making a free choice;
- Abolish the “Human Rights Act” which has been imposed on this country through the European Union, and which is nothing but an excuse to prevent British laws stopping the scroungers of the world parasiting off this nation;
- Deport all those who commit crimes and whose original nationality was not British;
- Review all recent grants of residence or citizenship to ensure they are still appropriate;
- Offer generous grants to those of foreign descent resident here who wish to leave permanently;
- Stop all new immigration except for exceptional cases;
- Reject all asylum seekers who passed safe countries on their way to Britain.- Abolish “anti-discrimination” laws which prevent people from making a free choice;
- Abolish the “Human Rights Act” which has been imposed on this country through the European Union, and which is nothing but an excuse to prevent British laws stopping the scroungers of the world parasiting off this nation;
We all agreed that these facts were the most shocking and the most removed form people's minds. Our school is quite liberal minded as a whole, so this makes us feel that we will be able to show them that these views are wrong and cruel far easier than if they were more right-wing minded. We also thought we could include some words form the youtube video named 'My Tram Experience' in our protest some way, as this was a viral video and really highlights what they BNP want to say.
http://www.bnp.org.uk/ -----This is a direct link to the BNPs website.
Week Four
As our protests are tomorrow, this week we quickly went over some Brechtian techniques which reminded me of what I need to apply in our performance tomorrow. Here is some of the information:
-Brecht was a Marxist/ Communist, he believed in a left wing ideology and challenged Aristotle's ideas about theatre
-He "believed good theatre should have a unity of time and place and have a liner drive. It should be well made (well structured) with a resolution or catharsis at the end. It should be naturalistic so the audience should suspend their disbelief and therefore by into the story or the drama in order to engage fully."
-Brecht challenged these idea's on theatre. He said he "believed theatre should be epic" meaning that the performance should be episodic; each scene should be separate from one and other and have their own story lines (therefore be non-linier). Each scene should be judged on their own efforts and there should be no cause on effect
-He believed in breaking the Fourth Wall and making the audience sustain their disbelief by becoming an engaged audience and not a passive one
-He did this by being harsh. The lighting was hard (naturalistic) and the actor's wore little make-up. He didn't want anything to look pretty/perfect, he liked the piece to look bare boned and realistic. He believed the actors should do the music themselves and demonstrate their characters instead of becoming them.
-The action is without climax and catharsis so that the audience would be distanced from their emotions, thereby having an honest reaction to the piece
-His pieces were over the top and very theatrical, often having the actors in bright, bold colours and changing on stage into their different characters. This was to break the illusion and to remind the audience they are watching actors act out a performance (the v effect)
-Brecht used signs and projections to inform the audience what was happening on stage so that nothing was left to the imagination
-He used songs to divide the action up and to distance the audience from their emotions. he allowed the viewers to see the actors warming up on stage and let them see what the actors do to prepare for a show
-The themes in his plays were often very relatable to the working class
-Brecht believed that the distinction between theatre and real life was blurred and he felt that the audience should be enthused with energy that makes them want to change things in their lives after leaving the theatre
-The ideologies of Communism are ever present in Brecht's theories of acting. The philosophical side "suggests the characteristics of human nature is creativity" which relates back to Brecht's work
-Brecht's way of rehearsing is very much structured around the idea of Communism. When rehearsing a Brechtian piece, everyone is equal and everyone chips in to create the performance. The actors often do their own music and the lighting is basic and even. This way of rehearsals in very different to say Stanislavsky, who was a Right Winger which also reflects in his rehearsal methods; There is one director who directs everybody, much like a Capitalist state
-"The world created by the worker does not belong to them, it belongs to the owner of the production. The rich." Communists describe this as alienation, meaning that you don't own your own creation. This idea is present in Brecht's theories as the actor is separate from their character, much like the worker is separate from what they have created. This obviously links in with Brecht's idea of Strange Making/the V effect/ alienation. Firstly, it shares the same name and secondly, the audience are distant form their emotions and don't share their emotions with the actors; nor should the actors be sharing their emotions with the audience
-Brecht's use of The V effect is political because it links to the Marxist theorem of alienation as people go to the theatre to distant themselves from their lives, so they might leave the theatre and change their lives outside the theatre.
-Brecht wanted there to be no fourth wall so his audience could be allowed to get angry and if they wanted, leave the theatre and go and change something in their lives.
Brecht was against:
- the fourth wall
- anything that re-enforces Capitalist thoughts/theorems
- theatre just being there for entertainment/ bourgeois theatre
- plots, he didn't want a realistic life
- the actors sharing their emotions with the audience and vice versa. He didn't want their to be any emotional communication
Protest Rehearsals
As our choreographed protest is tomorrow, we spent todays one hour lesson working out the structure of the piece. We're going to open with Hana re-enacting the 'My Tram Experience' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRnP1GakX3Q. We're then going to tape her mouth and go into the chant, 'let us in, let us stay' where we shall be reaching out to the audience. Once we're said that a few times, we go into another chant (WE SHALL, WE SHALL NOT MOVE! NOT MOVE!) we think these chants will captivate the audience and make them listen to our protest. We are also taping ourselves to the stairs in hope of standing out from the crowd.
Once we're chanted a few times, we are each going to shout out facts about the BNP immigration policies, then rip up a poster of Nick Griffin. We are also going to hand out these posters and say 'Fuck the BNP' and tell the audience to rip up the posters. That's when we go into the BNP rap which Khai is going to rap and Ben will provide the beats. We're all going to say the chorus which is 'if y'all love niggers and Asians then follow me, fuck the BNP'. We're hoping this will captivate our audience and hopefully they will join in. We are going to keep this on a loop which will hopefully create an atmosphere of focus and the protest will be alive and vibrant as well as relatable.
This is the fact I will read out:
-Reject all asylum seekers who passed safe countries on their way to Britain.
Once we're chanted a few times, we are each going to shout out facts about the BNP immigration policies, then rip up a poster of Nick Griffin. We are also going to hand out these posters and say 'Fuck the BNP' and tell the audience to rip up the posters. That's when we go into the BNP rap which Khai is going to rap and Ben will provide the beats. We're all going to say the chorus which is 'if y'all love niggers and Asians then follow me, fuck the BNP'. We're hoping this will captivate our audience and hopefully they will join in. We are going to keep this on a loop which will hopefully create an atmosphere of focus and the protest will be alive and vibrant as well as relatable.
This is the fact I will read out:
-Reject all asylum seekers who passed safe countries on their way to Britain.
 |
| This is one image we shall use for the posters we are going to rip up. |
Protest Performance Evaluation
I think the techniques and devices we used throughout our protest or performance worked well as they caught the audience's attention, allowing them to learn more about our subject and form their own judgement on what was being displayed before them. I think we got people fired up which was our aim; we wanted the audience to get into the protest and almost become part of the performance. Our overall aim was to challenge people's thoughts of the BNP and help them see that their political ideologies are racist and immoral.
I feel that through our use of chants and song (WE SHALL, WE SHALL, NOT MOVE! NOT MOVE!) we created a bold and intriguing atmosphere which captivated people to come over and watch us. I personally feel that this very Brechtian technique worked the best as it included the audience and therefore they felt connected to our piece. The BNP rap worked particularly well, as our target audience found it relatable and they could easily join in. A group of year 10's joined in with Khai and Ben while they were rapping, either beat boxing or creating beats with their hands or feet. I noticed that most of them chanted the hook like 'fuck the BNP' as this was very accessible and as the whole group was saying it, the line was the loudest and therefore drew in most of the attention. This created a buzz around our group which therefore invited more people to come and have a look at our protest. As this rap happened about every five minutes, we always had a fresh new audience joining in or listening to the lyrics. The rap helped our viewers understand the very complex political ideologies we were voicing and I felt like it helped them realise what we were protesting about was shocking. I think a rap is an excellent way of getting a political point across as they are very catchy and everyone can join in with the beats or some of the lyrics. Because of this rap, I noticed that a lot more people were joining in, either ripping up posters of Nick Griffin or tapping either Shyanne's or Hana's mouths. I think these techniques were extremely successful as they got everyone involved and effectively put our point across.
The use of 'My Tram Experience' dialogue was very effective and it worked because it was something that the audience had seen and disliked, so therefore they were drawn into our piece to see what it was about. Whilst we booed the words of the tram lady which were being voiced by Hana or Shyanne, the audience seemed to be forming around us, as the sound of the booing and the recognisable words from 'My Tram Experience' captivated them and they were drawn to these negative sounds. I think this made the protest more relatable and therefore even more engaging to watch. This coupled with the fact that they could help us tape the lady's mouth shut, made them feel like they were part of the protest and that they were helping, therefore it made them feel as if they were fighting against something they disagreed with. Due to this I think our protest became more effective, as it helped the audience to realise they were opposed to the same issues we were and thus made our message more relatable and alive.
Fluidity, focus and vocals were defiantly our challenges and something we could've improved on. As we were situated outside with other groups, it was hard to be heard vocally and visually as we were continuously competing with four other protest groups. This, therefore, made it hard to know when we should change our words and move on. This then disrupted the fluidity of our piece, so often it would be staggered and not all of us would be on the same chant or lyrics. This combined with the fact that we were back to back meant our piece was slightly disjointed as we couldn't always hear each other so we didn't know when to move on. Because of this our focus wasn't fantastic, but we soon honed down and listened carefully to each other. Trying to keep the audience's attention was hard to maintain. as often they were on their way to a lesson, so they didn't have time to stop and listen to our protest. I found trying to make my voice heard hard, as often I'd say something and someone would walk by or snigger at me. This made me feel quite defeated at some points. I think this was because I was being too aggressive with my words, and they misunderstood passion or anger, so I started to talk to them and I found that this technique worked more effectively then using the aggressive approach.
I think we adapted to each audience member well. I found that most people knew who the BNP were and who Nick Griffin was, but some didn't so I explained to them what the Parties ideologies were, which I think helped them understand out protest as we told them about it, so they could see why we were protesting. I noticed that most people who understood didn't really want to talk to us, they just ripped up a poster or said 'yeah, Fuck the BNP', and the people who didn't understand wanted to find out more. I think this was a good sign that our protest was accessible to everyone. I think we chose a good topic as a lot of people agreed with us, either nodding their heads or joining in with the chants/rap. I think the reason for this was it is such a blood boiling topic and it relates to everyone and their families. I genially felt that we were very noticeable. I think our protest worked because it wasn't illusive, they didn't have to read into anything after if they didn't want to.
I think the site we chose to hold our protest on was a success because there was a lot of foot fall and therefore more people who wanted to join in. I think our decision to tape ourselves to the stairs was a daring but noticeable as it stood out and helped us focus on the task and our energy which contributed to the ethos of our protest. Being taped restricted our spacing, so therefore made us focus our energy on the people leaving or entering the foyer which contributed to making the atmosphere bigger and more energetic. Like I said, the taping and the site made us unavoidable to the people who were within that area, as they couldn't leave or enter the foyer without going through us first. This then made it easier for them to hear our questions about the BNP and they were able to answer them. The 'let me stay' chant was made more effective by this small space as we could reach out and grab the audience members, creating an effective plea. This made them stop and listen as they were forced to hear our pleas and then our main points. As we were doing this, I encountered a few people laughing or taking the mick, so I stopped doing this and started asking question like 'what do you think of an all white British UK?' and that soon made them stop laughing and realise the seriousness of our protest. I think the paper ripping was another fantastic feature of our protest, as it worked well after we had explained who the BNP were and what they stood for. Their need to vent their frustration and anger was met with being able to tear up a picture of Nick Griffin and simultaneously aid our protest and captivate more people to come and watch. This became very popular with our audience as it linked with the catchy hook line 'fuck the BNP' and gave them something to channel their anger with. I think this gave our performance the fluidity we wanted and the connection with the audience we aimed ot have.
I think it is important to include the audience while doing a protest, because otherwise their is a fourth wall and you can't reach out to them. Music worked best for our group as the chants and rap drew in most of the crowds. When there were less people, I couldn't help but feel slightly awkward, but I pushed through and made my performance bigger so we would draw in more viewers and participators. Overall I feel our protest was incredibly vibrant and visually and vocally interesting, which resulted in us being able to put our point across efficiently.
I feel that through our use of chants and song (WE SHALL, WE SHALL, NOT MOVE! NOT MOVE!) we created a bold and intriguing atmosphere which captivated people to come over and watch us. I personally feel that this very Brechtian technique worked the best as it included the audience and therefore they felt connected to our piece. The BNP rap worked particularly well, as our target audience found it relatable and they could easily join in. A group of year 10's joined in with Khai and Ben while they were rapping, either beat boxing or creating beats with their hands or feet. I noticed that most of them chanted the hook like 'fuck the BNP' as this was very accessible and as the whole group was saying it, the line was the loudest and therefore drew in most of the attention. This created a buzz around our group which therefore invited more people to come and have a look at our protest. As this rap happened about every five minutes, we always had a fresh new audience joining in or listening to the lyrics. The rap helped our viewers understand the very complex political ideologies we were voicing and I felt like it helped them realise what we were protesting about was shocking. I think a rap is an excellent way of getting a political point across as they are very catchy and everyone can join in with the beats or some of the lyrics. Because of this rap, I noticed that a lot more people were joining in, either ripping up posters of Nick Griffin or tapping either Shyanne's or Hana's mouths. I think these techniques were extremely successful as they got everyone involved and effectively put our point across.
The use of 'My Tram Experience' dialogue was very effective and it worked because it was something that the audience had seen and disliked, so therefore they were drawn into our piece to see what it was about. Whilst we booed the words of the tram lady which were being voiced by Hana or Shyanne, the audience seemed to be forming around us, as the sound of the booing and the recognisable words from 'My Tram Experience' captivated them and they were drawn to these negative sounds. I think this made the protest more relatable and therefore even more engaging to watch. This coupled with the fact that they could help us tape the lady's mouth shut, made them feel like they were part of the protest and that they were helping, therefore it made them feel as if they were fighting against something they disagreed with. Due to this I think our protest became more effective, as it helped the audience to realise they were opposed to the same issues we were and thus made our message more relatable and alive.
Fluidity, focus and vocals were defiantly our challenges and something we could've improved on. As we were situated outside with other groups, it was hard to be heard vocally and visually as we were continuously competing with four other protest groups. This, therefore, made it hard to know when we should change our words and move on. This then disrupted the fluidity of our piece, so often it would be staggered and not all of us would be on the same chant or lyrics. This combined with the fact that we were back to back meant our piece was slightly disjointed as we couldn't always hear each other so we didn't know when to move on. Because of this our focus wasn't fantastic, but we soon honed down and listened carefully to each other. Trying to keep the audience's attention was hard to maintain. as often they were on their way to a lesson, so they didn't have time to stop and listen to our protest. I found trying to make my voice heard hard, as often I'd say something and someone would walk by or snigger at me. This made me feel quite defeated at some points. I think this was because I was being too aggressive with my words, and they misunderstood passion or anger, so I started to talk to them and I found that this technique worked more effectively then using the aggressive approach.
I think we adapted to each audience member well. I found that most people knew who the BNP were and who Nick Griffin was, but some didn't so I explained to them what the Parties ideologies were, which I think helped them understand out protest as we told them about it, so they could see why we were protesting. I noticed that most people who understood didn't really want to talk to us, they just ripped up a poster or said 'yeah, Fuck the BNP', and the people who didn't understand wanted to find out more. I think this was a good sign that our protest was accessible to everyone. I think we chose a good topic as a lot of people agreed with us, either nodding their heads or joining in with the chants/rap. I think the reason for this was it is such a blood boiling topic and it relates to everyone and their families. I genially felt that we were very noticeable. I think our protest worked because it wasn't illusive, they didn't have to read into anything after if they didn't want to.
I think the site we chose to hold our protest on was a success because there was a lot of foot fall and therefore more people who wanted to join in. I think our decision to tape ourselves to the stairs was a daring but noticeable as it stood out and helped us focus on the task and our energy which contributed to the ethos of our protest. Being taped restricted our spacing, so therefore made us focus our energy on the people leaving or entering the foyer which contributed to making the atmosphere bigger and more energetic. Like I said, the taping and the site made us unavoidable to the people who were within that area, as they couldn't leave or enter the foyer without going through us first. This then made it easier for them to hear our questions about the BNP and they were able to answer them. The 'let me stay' chant was made more effective by this small space as we could reach out and grab the audience members, creating an effective plea. This made them stop and listen as they were forced to hear our pleas and then our main points. As we were doing this, I encountered a few people laughing or taking the mick, so I stopped doing this and started asking question like 'what do you think of an all white British UK?' and that soon made them stop laughing and realise the seriousness of our protest. I think the paper ripping was another fantastic feature of our protest, as it worked well after we had explained who the BNP were and what they stood for. Their need to vent their frustration and anger was met with being able to tear up a picture of Nick Griffin and simultaneously aid our protest and captivate more people to come and watch. This became very popular with our audience as it linked with the catchy hook line 'fuck the BNP' and gave them something to channel their anger with. I think this gave our performance the fluidity we wanted and the connection with the audience we aimed ot have.
I think it is important to include the audience while doing a protest, because otherwise their is a fourth wall and you can't reach out to them. Music worked best for our group as the chants and rap drew in most of the crowds. When there were less people, I couldn't help but feel slightly awkward, but I pushed through and made my performance bigger so we would draw in more viewers and participators. Overall I feel our protest was incredibly vibrant and visually and vocally interesting, which resulted in us being able to put our point across efficiently.
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