"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (12) (Beginning Act Two)

In this lesson, we began our first run stagger-run of Act Two. Below are the more significant blocking/staging decisions we made and why:

• (13) Wife: Rhiannon is playing the role of the Wife. Lewis will summon her and she will walk the whole length of the traverse towards Faustus. This will create a dangerous atmosphere as this will foreshadow what is to come. The audience is aware that by allowing Mephistopheles to bring Faustus a wife, he has given in to the sins of greed and lust. The walk that Rhiannon takes creates suspense as the audience hopes that Faustus will send her back and repent, but he does not. She walks towards him, touched his face and they turn to face each other. They go to kiss but don't as Faustus then replies to Mephistopheles' question. Faustus sits down on the edge of his desk, whilst his wife sits on the desk behind him and gives him a massage. 
• (13) Passing of time: We discussed having a projection of different events that have happened in the past to show the passing of time (e.g. 9/11, discovery of water on Mars, etc.). Whilst this projection was taking place, we also would like to include a physical movement section here using the chorus. We haven't staged this yet but discussed what we would like to include. We would like to use a windmill lift, as this is in a circular motion and is similar in appearance to the hands moving on a clock, so it could easily represent the passing of time. 
• (13) Heavens: We discussed having Faustus and Mephistopheles on a stage block in the centre, with the chorus around them moving in a slow smooth movements. We didn't stage this but we considered doing this to prompt Faustus' question - "Is this heaven?"
• (14) Good and Evil Angel: Initially, the good and evil angel entered from the audience and stood either side of Faustus, who faced away from Mephistopheles. As they exit, Faustus turned back around to deliver his question to Mephistopheles. Although this did look effective, we have changed the staging so Good Angel enters from the further end of the traverse (to show that Faustus has drifted away from God's teachings), Evil Angel enters from the other end of the traverse (by Faustus' desk to show that Faustus has been influenced more by evil than good) and Faustus is standing in the middle between the two angels. Faustus faces the Good Angel first (as the Good Angel speaks first) and then turns 180 degrees to face the Evil Angel (when he speaks). Faustus then turns back to face Good Angel, but Mephistopheles is now standing there (as he has moved whilst Faustus was facing the Evil Angel). This implies that Faustus has no choice now and has gone too far to repent, so goes on with his allegiance. 
• (16) Sins: We ran the sin section so far and then completed "wrath". We had completed our pure movement section: finishing with Rhiannon and I at the back (far end of the traverse), Charlie and Rob in front of us, and James in the middle of the traverse lying down. At this point we then begin delivering our lines for this sin. We discussed using the Frantic Assembly technique of round-by-through, but decided to try something different as Oliver and Lewis already used this technique earlier in the play. We decided we wanted this section more in the style of Artaud. We therefore decided that we would use aggressive looking movements in close proximity to the audience. We came up with five movements that we would repeat whenever we weren't speaking. These movements consisted of punches and a knee kick. When Robert delivered his line, he put Charlie in a head-lock and then they performed the five moves movement sequence. When I delivered my line, I kicked James back down, sat on him and twisted his head to the side (to make it look like I was trying to break his neck). We then carried on with our five moves movement sequence. Rhiannon then performs a short duet section with James to present her dominance and power over him. Charlie and James just deliver their lines to the audience while in a powerful and dominant stance (head slightly raised, and leading with their chests). We finish in a straight line (facing alternate sides as to involve all audience members) and Rob walks down pushing us to the ground one by one to portray his power. 

This is as far as we got to in this lesson. Next lesson, we shall hopefully complete the sin section. Before the end of this lesson, we paired up and picked a sin we hadn't staged yet. For our chosen sin, we shall pick a piece of music and tell the class what we chose next lesson. Rhiannon and I formed a pair and picked the sin of lust. The class were suggesting pieces of music for this sin like Joe Cocker's "You Can Leave Your Hat on"... Although this would portray the sin of lust it would be a bit comical - Rhiannon and I thought we should have something a little darker and more serious. We thought of Beyoncé’s "Crazy in Love" - the "50 Shades of Grey" version, but agreed we wanted something a little less well-known and iconic, so opted for Beyoncé’s "Haunted" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0k_i8PPM40). We felt that this song presented the same idea of lust and was serious, but it also creates more of an atmosphere due to the title "haunted" having connotations of horror stories and danger. It also could foreshadow the events to come as well as fitting with the supernatural genre.