"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (20) (Act 1 // Changes)

In today's lesson we found out that Rhiannon is leaving The Howard School, so will not be performing in our version of "Dr Faustus". Therefore we knew that we would have to alter all of our movement sections, and cast someone else as the role of Good Angel.

Adapting Movement:

• The first thing we thought we needed to do was adapt the movement sections we already have - as we completed our prologue last lesson it was fresh in our minds so would be easier to change now, rather than later when everything is in our muscle memory. James now doesn't perform in the middle with Ollie so Charlie does this section more central - instead James now does all the movement that Rhiannon used to do.
• After completing our prologue, we moved on to our sin section. We haven't worked out who will say her lines yet, but we shall allocate them when it comes to recording the narration. We didn't need to change Sloth or Gluttony as the positions are random (as for Sloth we all lie in a head across each other, and for Gluttony we move freely throughout the stage space). We kept Pride exactly the same, apart from Rob now lifts James with me. We chose Rob to do the lift with me as we are similar heights and so James would be kept level, making the lift safer.
• For our sin of Wrath, I perform the section that was originally a duet with Rhiannon as a solo. James and I have adapted our trio section (of James, Rhiannon and I) into a duet. As we still haven't recorded our narration as of yet, Ollie read our lines for us. He started reading at an earlier time to which we originally used to. However, we much preferred this - this version meant that we could finish our Wrath section when Rob and Charlie finish their duet, as opposed to doing the whole section. This worked well as we didn't think the section we had before looked brilliant compared to how we began our Wrath section. Moreover, as we had not done this scene very often, we had forgotten what we had done. Also, by cutting this section, we saved a lot of time as we didn't have to adapt it at all. 
• For Lust, I have made our duet into a solo section again. I worked out that I will have to walk slightly towards the right side of the performance space, so when I roll, I end up central. This also means that I can involve both sides of the audience (as I shall look at the right side when I walk, and the left side during the roll and stretch). We also realised that James will not being doing his original duet whilst I am doing a duet with Rob, so he can create a little section with Charlie. They haven't worked this out yet but shall do this very soon. 
• As of yet, we still have not completed Greed and Envy. The little duet section that James and I made up shall remain. I thought that James and I could do this section facing the left side, and teach Rob and Charlie it, so they can perform this to the other side of the audience. We could then do a very similar section (maybe repeat some movements) but involving all four of us together, rather than two pairs.

 Running Act 1:
     After sorting all of the physical theatre sections we had so far, we began running the play, and managed to complete Act One. When doing this run through, we were focusing on characterisation, working in our chosen stage type (traverse) and sound cues. Characterisation is obviously essential as so the audience understands what is going on and to understand the character relationships. Constantly considering both sides of our audience is very important, as we want everyone to have a clear view of the action as to avoid disappointment in choice of seat and so everyone understands the play. From previous performances, we have learned that we should sort our sound and lighting out well in advance to our performance date. The lighting design shall be sorted by Lewis and Rob at a later date, but we began writing down our sound cues.
     On page four, we have created a movement section to "show the passing of time". At this point, Faustus, Valdes and Cornelius are researching and trying out necromancy. To show Valdes and Cornelius arriving and beginning work with Faustus, they perform short naturalistic movement sections split up by blackouts. Each movement section shows a different time (the first one shows them arriving, the second is them at the desk, the third is them in different positions at the desk, etc.). Meanwhile, Lewis and I are under a black sheet at the other end of the traverse. Whenever, Faustus is reading from the book, Lewis and I begin to move beneath the sheet, to represent the spirits beginning to arise. However, we fall back to the floor and lie still every time Faustus fails in trying to conjure the demonic spirits. When Faustus succeeds in his attempt, Lewis stand up tall beneath the sheet and I stand with him in an isolated position, to make the overall shape of the sheet distorted. We then fall to the floor, mainly so I can be ready for my next scene, but also because Faustus then summons Mephistopheles later on. Lewis will appear in the same way, under the sheet at first, until he is then told to go and then come back in "some other form".
      Moreover, whilst trying to find some music that would work well for this section, Lewis came across a piece of music that would be perfect for when Mephistopheles shows Faustus the Heavens. We will be using the first section of this track that Lewis found ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shKgUFifa_w"). We thought this track was ideal for this scene as it starts off a little unsettling but becomes more calming and impressive later on. This would represent them taking off and their journey to the Heavens, and the music becomes more joyous when they reach the Heavens.