AAS (20) - "People, Places & Things"

In this lesson we were told that we were going to be split in to smaller groups to work on our chosen acting styles on more detail. Although we will have our main chosen acting styles, we may be involved in other people's pieces as well. Ollie Kelly, Lewis, Hope and I have been grouped together and will be working on a section from the play "People, Places and Things". We saw this play earlier this year in the West End. It is performed in an Artaud style, due to techniques such as disorientating the audience, the unusual actor-audience relationships, physical theatre, loud sound effects, and the use of the contrast between blinding lights and blackouts. However, the scenes (that weren't physical theatre) were performed in a naturalistic way. Therefore, we will be doing a lot of research and work on our characters. Hope will be playing the role of the Doctor, Ollie is Foster (a receptionist and assistant at the institution), Lewis is Paul (a patient at the institute) and I am Emma (a drug dependent actress who is checking in to the institution).

Play synopsis:
The play follows the story of Nina... or Emma... or Sarah ... or whatever she is choosing to call herself at the time (actually Lucy). She used to be an actress but is heavily dependent on drugs so is going into rehab. As an audience member we feel for her as we watch her struggle through this journey - from going cold turkey, having relapses and multiple black outs to her graduation day from the institution. We watch her meet various people such as Foster, the "group", a Doctor and the group leader. Both the Doctor and the group leader remind Emma of her mum (both roles are played by the same actress who plays the mother in the final scene).

Scene synopsis:
The scene we have been given is very near the beginning of the play. Prior to this scene, Emma has had a conversation on the phone, full of expletives, to who turns out to be her mother. In this scene, Emma gets checked in to the institution by Foster, whilst Paul Waverly is high, shouting what he is experiencing and what he believes - very little, if any, of his shouting makes sense. Emma is consulted by the Doctor whilst the nurses do tests on her. She black outs a couple of times during this scene. She is high and drunk and has taken many many drugs in the past 24 hours. She is confused and difficult. The Doctor and Foster are very calm, despite her shocking responses, and deal with her in a calm and efficient manner. The dialogue in this scene is funny for the audience - due to Emma's unpredictable responses - but not for Emma, Foster or the Doctor. Emma is being very open about what she has taken, and the Doctor and Foster are very calm as (we presume) have seen everything before so aren't shocked by anything anyone could say or do.

In the lesson:

• Unfortunately, Hope was absent this lesson, so Miss Cordel stood in for her. We began by reading through the scene to get a strong understanding on what is going on before attempting to stage it. We realised that there are a couple of nurses in this scene, so Ollie M and Katya shall play these roles. We first looked at the dialogue and realised that it is comical in a dark way - but it should only be comical to the audience and not the characters involved. To achieve this, we have to be very serious with our lines - we don't have to bring the comedy out in how we deliver them, but by simply saying them in a truthful way. 
• In terms of blocking, we wanted to change our set every time that I blacked out. We begin with a comfy chair down stage right, which I sit on, and a table centre stage, which we use as the reception. The action with Lewis and the nurses happens on and around the table, and Lewis leaves in a wheelchair, unconscious, having been knocked out by an injection given to him by the nurses. To show my character has blacked out, we will have a literal blackout. In this, the nurses will take my phone, coat and shoes and change me into a "pale blue medical gown"; meanwhile the table will move to stage right and be positioned on an angle, and another table is brought on to stage left to become the Doctor's table. On my final blackout in this scene, all set is cleared, and the action takes place centre stage on the floor. 
• We also went through where we wanted characters positioned in relation to each other - for example, when Emma is about to leave, Foster needs to walk back a little bit as not to pressure her, but carry on with what he is saying.

Next lesson:
Next lesson we shall let Hope know what she missed and begin working on our characters and making decisions on each of them.