Directing (4) - Scene Four & Five

As Ollie missed a couple of lessons, due to his auditions, we decided we would do scenes that had him in the most.

SCENE FIVE:   We decided to do Scene Five as it is extremely significant in the play - as this is the scene where Robert suspects that his wife is having an affair and Emma admits it. Lewis set the scene so I sat on the bed reading, whilst Ollie sat on a chair with a coffee table next to it. We tried the scene out in a couple of ways. Below is how we approached our two different versions.

First attempt:

•  Tense and angry...
• We made the first section of the script, up until the silence before "By the way, I went into American Express..." really relaxed and chilled to create a large contrast to when the affair is revealed and spoken about.
• During the silence mentioned in the part above, we got Robert to debate how he was going to begin his story to Emma. He says it in such a way that Emma isn't suspicious (and is quite happily reading whilst listening to him), but the audience suspects that he knows something.
• Emma would get noticeably tense at the first mention of the letter. 
• Breaks the silence after Emma saying there wasn't any news by asking is she was looking forward to Torcello. Ollie did this in quite a bitter way - as if Robert was reminding her of how perfect her life was with him, so why would she want to swap it and get with Jerry.
• Ollie played him as quite sarcastic on the line "You're trembling. Are you cold?" as if he knows that she is panicking.
• Ollie would get progressively louder and slightly angrier throughout. However, he would be almost proud of himself and smiling on the line "Ah yes. I thought it might be something like that..." - as if he was proud he had got it right, but also trying to make Emma feel more uncomfortable.
• He would get really angry towards the end of the scene, and then be very bitter on the final line of the scene to make Emma feel terrible.

Second attempt: 

• Robert eerily calm...
• Robert very nonchalant with the line "By the way, I went into American Express". Similar to the first attempt, but in a way that Emma doesn't suspect anything from it. Very nonchalant throughout the scene really.
• Robert almost quite caring on the line "You're trembling. Are you cold?" as if to say that he has noticed she is uneasy and is questioning why - although her physical movement has practically confirmed his suspicions. 
• When Robert repeats "five years", he whispered it as if he couldn't quite believe it was this long so had to repeat it. The fact that Robert had been speaking at a fairly normal volume throughout, but then whispered this line, makes the audience feel a bit sorry for Robert, but simultaneously quite frightened for Emma (has Robert had been so calm, so this sudden change comes as a bit of a shock).
• He got slightly angry (though with an element of panic) on the lines "Ned is one year old. Did you hear what I said?". However, after being told that Ned is his child, he becomes more nonchalant again. This unsettles Emma and the audience slightly at how he is being so calm again.
• On the final line he is extremely calm and speaks as if nothing has happened, whilst Emma is almost in tears and very on-edge. This juxtaposition creates a high degree of tension.

We decided that we preferred the second way we did this scene, with Robert being eerily calm, as it shows that he is in control of the situation and makes the scene quite tense.

SCENE FOUR:   We decided to do Scene Four straight after doing Scene Five, as this is the next scene in date order that the three characters are together. Although there are two scenes between these two events, we decided to skip them for today as Robert and Emma aren't in them together - also lies are told in both scenes to Jerry (Emma says she didn't go to Torcello as the speedboats weren't working, whilst Robert tells Jerry that he went by speedboat but he didn't mention the argument). Below is how we went about this scene:

• Basic set for now (might change but this is what we did today): two chairs to form a sofa, one slightly away as a separate chair. Jerry on chair, Robert further end of the sofa. As I enter, Robert moves to the other end of the sofa so he is closer to Jerry, forcing me to sit on the further end of the sofa. This shows Robert as putting Emma in her place.
• Play on the constant use of adjacency pairs. Jerry starts the adjacency pairs, but then Robert takes over and it switches. There is a constant shift, kind of like them fighting for dominance - they both want to be in control. However, Robert breaks the adjacency pairs the most and uses face threatening acts, such as "I am prepared to do so" and "I was asking you a question", showing him as the more assertive and authoritative out of the pair. 
• Emma anxious as Robert is watching her every move and everything she says. She repeats "I've told you actually". She uses this face threatening act twice, making things awkward and distance between her and Jerry - although she does this reluctantly. The scene prior to this shows Jerry and Emma a year later in the flat, where they have agreed that they will sell the flat and call off the affair. I believe Emma doesn't really want to do this but sees she has no choice - I also think that she regrets this, so goes with Casey on the rebound and meets up with Jerry two years later. 
• When Emma innocently asks if she can watch them play squash, there is an awkward silence, then Robert questions "what?". After her then rephrasing her question, Robert has a large section of dialogue, making up excuses why they wouldn't want her there - really its because he doesn't trust her and doesn't want her anywhere near Jerry. When questioned, Jerry doesn't really want to get involved so states "I haven't played squash for years". Lewis experimented a little bit with how he would say this line, but decided we all decided he should say it as if he really doesn't know what to say. If we applied what we learned from our elements lesson (http://lornaclarkra.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/auditions-25-elements-look-back-in-anger.html), I would say that Robert is fire / earth, Emma is water and Jerry is water.
• When Emma shows interest in Jerry's trip to New York by asking questions, she then asks if he deserves the trip, as she can sense that Robert is getting annoyed at her for taking so much of an interest. This meant that Ollie could break in with "Judith going?" a bit more aggressively. We agreed that he should really articulate the "th" of Judith, as if he is almost speaking through his teeth. 
• We decided not to go with what the stage direction said at the end of this scene. The stage direction says the following: "Robert and Jerry leave. She remains still. Robert returns. He kisses her. She responds. She breaks away, puts her head on his shoulder, cried quietly. He holds her." As Pinter doesn't use stage directions often, we were apprehensive about going against this, as it must be significant. We like it in the fact that it shows Robert's complete control and power over her, but we thought that it was a bit too romantic and sweet. Instead Robert shall return, look at her in silence, shake his head as if he is disappointed at her and leave. I shall remain looking after him, nod my head as if I understand his disappointment, then walk off crying.