"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (29) (Pictures)

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (28) (Evaluation)

What went well:

• The majority of lines were remembered and nothing was skipped
• The physical theatre sections looked really effective and conveyed the right feeling
• Our set was really effective - both aesthetically and practically for what we wanted it for (e.g. the stage bocks created levels: something interesting to look and for us to work with, as well as them being practical to move about)
• The lighting created the appropriate atmosphere and moods at the right times
• Our transitions were mainly smooth and lead to a seamless performance
• Our simplistic costumes fit with the abstract style of the piece, as they were not naturalistic for each character / character specific
• We all remained in character -we kept up our voices, stances and body language in general when performing as said character
• Our use of props worked nicely (e.g. the ribbons used in the Heavens section really added to the sense of movement that we tried to create)

What could have gone better:

• Some lines were forgotten at times, but this did not matter as the cast members managed to improvise and get back on track with the script without the audience noticing a problem
• Couldn't use the projection due to not having a cable long enough to reach, without someone being on stage to operate this. Therefore we decided to scrap our projection - which was a shame as Charlie had done a really good job on it, and it did help aid creating the desired atmosphere. However, I think our piece worked quite well without it though as I believe that having a projection as well might have distracted the audience away from the movement. Also, the movement was clear enough in portraying the narrative
• The sheet that Charlie and I used, for the physical theatre scene where Faustus practices necromancy, was rather large and therefore difficult to negotiate and manoeuvre. Also, due to a stage block positioned on the steel decking not being moved far enough forward and due to the lack of visibility, I hit my head on the corner of the stage block. Although this was rather painful to say the least, I still continued with the scene to the best of my ability, when I could then have a drink before I next needed to go on stage.

What we would do next time:

• To avoid any accidents, we could practice in the space with all props and the set sooner in to the rehearsal process. Thankfully there wasn't any serious accidents, but I think we all would have been a little bit more confident if we had rehearsed in the space a little bit sooner
• If we were to do this performance again, I would still set the piece in traverse, as I thought this type of staging actually worked really well. This is because the audience felt a bit uncomfortable as there was distance between them and the audience on the opposite side, making the audience feel more vulnerable. The fact that the audience could see each other was also symbolic of how Faustus was constantly being watched by the Lucifer's demons. 
• I would also keep the cast size the same as it worked really well for our space, and there wasn't too many people involved in our movement section. If we had more people then it would have become a little bit too chaotic and the attention to detail would have been lost (e.g. too many people in the Hospital physical theatre scene would have resulted in certain parts not being noticed).

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (27) (Final Rehearsals)

Periods 3 & 4:

• Put all of our set in place
• Drew the pentagrams on the flat
• Set up the lighting and went through our lighting plan with Dan
• Got the sound files together
• Ran Act One

Periods 5 & 6:

• Ran Act Two
• Blocked the final scene (Faustus ends centre stage, and there is a black out as he runs off screaming. I enter as Murdock looking for him, but ending up finding his pocket watch. I hold the pocket watch up)
• Ran Act One again as it didn't go to smoothly on the first run (a couple of scenes were skipped)
• We got into costume and took photos
• Went through the lighting for Act Two
• Made a decision - unfortunately we had to scrap all of the projections due to the cable not being long enough, which would result in someone having to be on stage, but no one could have done this and it wouldn't look right

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (26) (What's left?)

What we have left to do before the performance:

• Do a full run in costume with props
• Do a full run with lighting and sound
• Block the final scene
• Draw the pentagrams on the flats and cover them
• Set the space (e.g. props on Faustus' desk)
• Ensure the sound files are all complete and are in one playlist
• Ensure all lines are learned

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (25) (Act 2)

Stage Design:

We began this lesson by setting up the hall ready for our extra-long rehearsal. We decided to set the hall how it shall be when we perform so we get a feel of what it would be like, and also to see if we wanted to change anything. Originally, we were going to have Faustus' desk, chair and armchair all on the stage to give us more room in the traverse; however, the feel of intimacy was lost and Faustus' office felt very distant and disconnected. We then thought of putting Faustus' desk and chairs on the floor, but we thought that we needed restrict Faustus' room a little bit (so the audience could tell where his office ended). We also missed the levels that we had created by having Faustus' office up higher, so we decided that we would put Faustus' office on a small section of steel decking - by doing this we solved the issues of intimacy, levels and practicality. However, we kept the stairs to the actual stage as Charlie, Ollie and I use the curtains as entrances/exits at various points during the play.

Moreover, we have put flats on either side of the steel decking at the other end of the traverse. This is because we sometimes enter from the back of the flats (i.e. when I am Helen of Troy near the end of Act Two) and we wanted to make these entrances/exits tidier and more discreet. We can also do any costume changes behind these flats. When not on stage we will probably stand behind the flats as we are then not visible to the audience, but can still hear our cues. In addition, we are not using flats at the sides anymore as we do not have enough flats. Although, we did want the flats here, I think the play works better without them there, as it would have looked strange with us all walking between the flats at the back and the flats at the side to get to where we needed to be. As we don't have flats at the side, we will have to adapt the prologue where James and I go to draw a pentagram on the flats. However, I have just had a thought... I will suggest this to the class tomorrow... but I thought that instead of drawing the pentagrams, they could be pre-drawn and covered with two pieces of black paper - James and I would take one of the pieces off the board (to reveal half of the pentagram) instead of drawing half the pentagram, and then swap and do the other piece of paper on the other flat.


Blocking achieved this lesson & adaptions:

• 12 -- Originally Lewis was going to click his fingers to cue a chorus member to roll on with the scroll on his line "Here is the scroll on which thou pledged your soul to Lucifer". However, we decided that he shall have the scroll in his back pocket, as to not break the audiences' focus and to avoid the piece looking messy (as the chorus member would have to walk to the entrance and then roll in). 
• 13 -- Originally, I entered from the other end of the traverse and walked towards Faustus' office, but now I enter from behind the curtains and walk down the steps. This uses our levels more and makes me seem more mysterious and magical as I "appear" rather than enter. I shall enter through the curtains, walk down the stairs to Faustus, have the section in his office, and then walk back up the stairs and behind the curtains with him. He shall remain behind the curtains for a while, but will then reappear adjusting his clothing to imply what Faustus and his "wife" had just done. 
• 13 -- We are utilising our space by all entering from different places to begin our heaven section. I shall appear from behind the curtains as I had just ended there. 
• 16 -- Today was the first time we ran our sin section with the track that Lewis made. We loved what he had done to the track but thought that some of our voices lacked emotion and volume at times - therefore we shall re-record our narration tomorrow so Lewis can re-do the track for us. Our timing was also a little bit dodgy so we ran this section a couple of times to improve it. We had to slightly alter some of the movement to make it fit. There is a long pause with in my Lust section at the end, as the narration is longer than I thought. Therefore I shall add more to it tomorrow. 
• 17 -- We created another physical theatre section, but this one shows "Pontius Pilate, Hitler and Osama bin Ladan, all three figures changed the way the world viewed others". Our first section is our "Hitler" section. Faustus whispers in James' ear as he stand on the central block. Charlie, Rob and I entered from different directions, looking distraught, and ended on our knees around the front block. James mimes giving Hitler's speech - as he does this, we get off our knees and stand tall giving the Hitler salute. James sharply moves his arm across and we all fall to the floor. From these positions, we begin the bin Ladan sequence. Charlie is made to stand up by Ollie by him using puppetry mime. This is to portray Faustus' power and manipulation and lack of morals. Charlie then gets Rob and I to stand, hold guns, walk towards James, pick him up and drag him to his knees in front of Charlie. I then pull James' hair back and Rob mimes slitting his throat. This is to symbolise the beheadings. Charlie then walks off to the back and we begin our Pontius Pilate section. This section has Charlie representing Pontius Pilate and Rob representing Jesus. This section involves a lot of James and I reaching towards Rob as he stands on the central block, whilst Charlie paces up and down the steel decking on the further side of the traverse. We end this section by doing a lift with Rob (in the crucifix position) and carrying him off.
• 20 -- We worked out where we would enter for the "Hospital" physical theatre section. We went over this section a couple of times to make it more fluid and seamless. We decided that we needed a black out right after this section, to allow us to move the stage blocks ready for the next scene.
• 21 -- Originally James, Rob and Charlie sat down ready for when Scholar enters, but we decided this looked a little bit faux. To make it more natural, they all stood up and lingered in the middle for a little bit. Contrastingly, I enter, ask my question and sit down as I finish asking - this shows my character as being a little bit hostile and authoritative - my character is angered by Faustus and by the others attitudes. 
• 22 -- Instead of having a "dance of the devils with Faustus at the centre", we decided to have a black out, in which they would all change positions. This would suggest that time has passed.
• 23 -- Instead of being lifted by the "demons", I shall simply walk on to the steel decking, entering from the very back. The reason we are not doing the lift is because the rest of the cast is all on stage at this point and also we didn't want to over-complicate anything. I walk on, almost ghost-like, and stand still gazing out in front of me, into the distance. I look dazed as I then move my hand outwards as if greeting people. I stay on the steel decking until Scholar's line "but she fades, she leaves us Faustus". At this point, I walk backwards (to representing fading away) and then turn (to show how times have changed) to leave off the way I came on. 
• 25 -- I enter as I did before as Helen of Troy, but this time I walk off the steel decking and towards Faustus in the centre. I follow his lead as we have a romantic section in close proximity. We have not planned what we shall do in this section as the section is more raw and natural if we just go for it in the moment - as this is what Faustus would be doing at this point. To leave, I walk backwards and then turn and leave as before. 
• 26 -- We have decided to cut from "My offence is too great" up until "What did I gain?". The reason for this is that we do not see much need for this section. We didn't like how Ollie would have been using direct address to speak to the audience, as he hasn't done this in the play and so seemed a little bit strange. It also interrupted the flow of Faustus' feelings. 
• 27 -- We haven't physically blocked this yet, but we have worked out what it is we would like to do. We didn't like the stage direction of the chorus "violently tearing, as pieces of flesh and blood litter the stage" as it seems a bit too extreme and over the top. Therefore we thought that we could have a freeze frame of the chorus coming towards Faustus near the steps to the stage. We would then have a blackout, and then everyone would have left, and the stairs would have red paint dripped down them, to look like blood. I would then walk in as Murdock and look panicked. I would then call out Faustus' name repeatedly, calling and hoping for a response: "John? ... John?... JOHN?!........ John". I shall really use breath in this section to show my fear and my realisation of what had just happened.

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (24) (Sins // Hospital)

Sins:

Today we finally completed our sin section. We worked out where we ended for our lust section and took it from there. We didn't want to over-complicate the last two sins as we had complicated the Wrath and Lust sins. However, we did know that we wanted Greed to be fairly fast paced, as Lust was quite slow. We decided that we would use a lot of Frantic Assembly's "round-by-through" movements as these are ideal for travelling and duets, which is something we wanted a lot of in this piece. As Rob and I ended with each other for Lust, we do a duet section of these movements, whilst Charlie and James do a duet up the other end of the traverse. Mine and Rob's duet shows manipulation (as he pulls me up) and then disregard as he walks under my arm, to them walk towards James (to begin a duet section with him). I am them "pulled" towards Charlie by him miming pulling a rope. This also shows manipulation. He catches me as I fall towards him, then he spins round and I steal from him whilst his back is to me - this shows deceit. I then move on and do a duet with James that shows us fighting to gain authority over the other one. We end this scene by doing a lift with Charlie and putting him on the ground - this shows that Greed has been the death of Charlie.

We then go straight into our sin of Envy. For this scene, we really use the blocks to create levels. As the central block is higher than the other blocks, we decided that we could be symbolic by fighting each other (i.e. pushing each other off of the surrounding blocks to prevent each other from getting to the "top spot"). Whilst James, Rob and I are fighting, Charlie shall walk around us all. As the three of us are so focussed on preventing each other from reaching the top spot, we forget about Charlie, who walks over us all and stands on the top block. We then step down and bow down to him.

Hospital:

We have created a movement section on page 20. We begin this section fairly naturalistically. It begins with Faustus lying down on three stage blocks, positioned in one line to look like a hospital bed. We have a fourth stage block positioned next to the three to act as a chair. The music we have chosen begins with about 20 seconds of strange abnormal sounds and there shall be a complete black out - this will confuse the audience and a tense atmosphere will be created. Charlie shall walk in after a while and mime checking a clipboard at the end of Faustus' bed - as if he is checking charts as a doctor. However, he shall exit by spinning. The purpose of this is to lure the audience into a false sense of security - they will think that the following scene will be fairly normal, but Charlie's exit will suggest that it shall be abstract, confusing and shocking. We have picked a number of different things that happens in a hospital, but we shall perform them in an abstract style - e.g. I give Faustus an injection by holding a syringe in my teeth and doing a handstand right next to him. We all perform at least one of these unusual movements, and then we all join in for the last section. Charlie checks Faustus' heart with a stethoscope - on each heartbeat, we all make two sudden leans back and then come back in. We do this a few times but on the last one we all disperse. Faustus then has a naturalistic section where he looks around for a moment. This relieves the audience as well.

For the scene directly after, I thought that we could form a mini traverse within the actual traverse by using the stage blocks. I thought this would be a good idea as Valdes, Cornelius, Scholar and Murdock are awaiting Faustus' "floor show" - so they shall be Faustus' audience, forming a show within a show. However, I suggested that the sides of the mini traverse are not directly opposite each other, and are in fact diagonally opposite, to ensure that the characters can be seen by the other side of the traverse.

This is as far as we got this lesson, but next time we shall work out how we shall end our play and run scenes we haven't yet done.

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (23) (Page 11 - 17)

"A Devil woman": In this lesson, we ran from the beginning of Act Two (page 11). As Rhiannon is not in the piece anymore, I have to be the "devil woman, sexy and seductive". Therefore, on page 13, when Lewis clicks, I have to walk the whole traverse towards Ollie and the caress his upper body with my hands. We go to kiss but we freeze as Ollie answers Mephistopheles question. We then sit on the desk and I give him a massage. The massage shows that Faustus is not stressed and also shows that he gets everything that he wants - he has given in to the sins.

"The Heavens": We have now created a physical theatre section to show Mephistopheles and Faustus travelling through time and space, until they reach the Heavens. Our piece begins with Lewis standing on the central block and Ollie on the lower block in front of him. The rest of us kneel in the gap between the four outer boxes. This shows the level of status, with Mephistopheles on the highest level, then Faustus, and then the rest of us. We do a little trust fall with Ollie, where he stumbles back but the rest of us had gone round to stand behind him by this point, and we support his back and get him to stand up again. This is to represent that this journey is dangerous and foreshadows Faustus' gruesome end for having gotten involved with necromancy. We knew when we first decided we were going to have a movement section here, that we would need to include a lot of fast movement to show him travelling; however, we then discussed having different historical events as well to show him travelling through time as well. As soon as we separate after doing the trust fall, we move to the corners of the traverse (whilst Ollie and Lewis go to one end of the traverse to look at the projection of stars and space). Once at these corners, we mime a sword-fights down the traverse (to represent battles during the past). We decided to do this down the traverse to ensure that all audience members end up seeing a battle. Faustus them stands on the centre stage block, and we hand him our swords, to show Faustus gaining power and giving in to the sin of Wrath. We all have individual things to create the sense of movement (e.g. Charlie does turns) - I do stag leaps to represent the animals in Africa when poaching wasn't as much as an issue. Later I do a medieval courting dance with Faustus (to show time changing and to add another era to this piece). Whenever we are standing still, we use a ribbon to swirl around us to create a sense of movement. To end our physical theatre piece, Faustus and Mephistopheles stand up on the middle block, whilst the rest of us lay on the outer four blocks across each other, as if we are completely content and satisfied.

What we have left to do:

• record Lucifer's lines as voice overs - using choral speaking and editing it to sound distorted
• complete the sin section movement, and rehearse the sin section with the completed track
• sort the projections for the piece
• everyone learn their lines
• run the entire piece in costume and with sound and lighting
• rehearse with all props

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (22) (Act 1)

Today we ran Act One from the very beginning without using our scripts as much as we could manage without them. We made corrections as we went along and added parts we thought we needed too.

Good Angel: We have now worked out what is happening with the role of Good Angel. Charlie is now playing both Good Angel and Bad Angel. To show the difference between these two characters, Charlie alters his body language and his voice. When Charlie is the Good Angel he has a stronger posture with an erect carriage and an innocent voice, whilst as Bad Angel, Charlie moves on a lower level, hunched over and has a gravelly voice.

Page 4: On page four, Faustus practises necromancy with Valdes and Cornelius. During this section, I do a few movements under a sheet to show Faustus summoning the spirits. However, today we put Charlie into this section. We got a bigger piece of fabric, and now he does the section under the sheet with me. We ran this once and we decided that we needed to make it clearer when Faustus fails. To show this we needed to drop to the floor quicker. Although we dropped quicker, the fabric took longer to float down. Therefore, Charlie and I pinch the material slightly so we can pull it down with us when we drop to the floor. This was more effective at presenting Faustus failing as this happened at the same time and at the same speed.

Page 6: Charlie and I go under the sheet to do another movement under the sheet, but this time to show that Faustus has succeeded. Charlie and I shall end standing under the sheet forming a distorted and creepy outline. We shall use lighting to make our figures look even more creepy, thus prompting Faustus to say "No, no, not that, I fear that entity". When Lewis appears from behind us, Charlie and I roll out and sit by the stage blocks at one end of the traverse. Lewis will sit on top of the blocks, and the rest of the cast (excluding Faustus) shall sit around him, in crouched and creepy positions. When Lewis moves towards Ollie, we shall crawl/roll/move over towards them. When Ollie is pushed to the floor, we all move to surround him to emphasise the power Mephistopheles has.

Page 10: We haven't physically blocked this section yet, but when Mephistopheles states "here is a treat for your eyes", we shall perform a freeze frame from each sin section, but mould them together with seamless transitions. This will foreshadow the events to come and the sins Faustus will commit. Moreover, by having smooth transitions between each freeze frame, we are showing that Faustus was lured in by the attractive offer. Rather than walking to the other end of the traverse with everyone else, I walk towards Faustus and "provocatively" move around him. Before Faustus' letter, I sit on Faustus' desk leaning back slightly, with Faustus pressed up against me with his lips on my neck. We then have a blackout whilst a voice over of Faustus reading the letter plays (although he has not recorded this as of yet). The lights come back on, and my hair shall be a bit messy to imply that we just had sex, as Faustus has already given in to the sin of Lust. As Faustus says his last line, he leads me to his arm chair, where I sit on his lap and move in to him as we have another black out.

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (21) (Recording)

Today, Charlie, Ollie, Rhiannon, Robert, James and I met up to record the narration for the sin section. We recorded each sin section as different tracks to make the editing process easier. We decided that we would record the narration whilst Rhiannon was still here as it meant that we didn't need to spend time changing who says what line. We asked if Rhiannon would be okay for us to use her voice in the play and she agreed to it. This was really helpful as it saved us a lot of time.

Lewis has offered to take our recordings and mix each one with the music we were using for that scene. He will then edit the complete sin tracks together so the transitions between each will be smooth and seamless. He shall be using Audacity to do this. As soon as we have the one complete track we will be able to run the whole sin section smoothly (once we have completed the movement for the last two sins, which we will do when we meet up again outside of lesson time). Moreover, by having the one complete track for the sin section, we are less likely to have technical difficulties or the wrong track being played at the wrong time.

"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.

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (19) (Prologue // Characters)

Prologue: This lesson we completed our prologue. After being put down (having been lifted) and drawing on the flat nearest us, Rhiannon and I walk towards each other and walk a half circle around each other. This half circle represents the half circle we have just drawn on the flats. We then do our short hymn hand section and run to the other flat to complete the circle. We walk back in to the middle to walk another half circle round each other (to show completion and it is too late for Faustus to turn back), and then we join the rest of the group in a circle around Faustus (who is sitting down on his chair). We all move our hands in slow-motion towards him, as if we were going to stab or strangle him, whilst Lewis shows him a scroll. Once we are about to touch him in slow-motion, we instantly move outwards at a fast pace. We then went back to the beginning of the prologue when we all stand behind him. We had a rather heated discussion about whether we should have us all performing arm movements behind Faustus and Charlie the whole time, or only part way through. The argument for arms the whole time was that it looked strange having us all standing behind them and not doing anything. However, my argument against this was that us all doing arms from the start would distract the audience from the movement involving Faustus. Moreover, by adding arms in a bit later enables the tension to build a little bit. We decided on the latter of the two so added these arms in. We made sure that we all reached up to represent the desperation to get to Heaven. We also decided it would be nice to end our play with how we ended our prologue, apart from Faustus could look down as if he has been killed. However, we will sort this out when we get to the final scene.

Chorus introduction: At the beginning of our version of the play, there was some dialogue that the chorus say together. We came up with a few ideas of how we could present this section. One idea we had was speaking in blackout whilst wandering around the audience - we thought this was very Artaud as the audience is left feeling vulnerable and there is a high level of tension. We could split the lines up, but all say the final line of "Decided for yourselves you have the time..." together as it is a very significant line, as it mentions the theme of "time".  However, we thought that it could be nice to continue the idea of puppetry from the prologue whilst speaking these lines - also, this is quite a long time to have a black out and may look as if we couldn't think of what to do during this section. Another idea we had was speaking the lines with different intentions - Rhiannon and I could say the first line quite naturally, Lewis could say the line about being "dark and maybe a little scary" in a sadistic manner, the line about introducing the audience to Faustus could be very over-the-top as if at a circus (to suggest necromancy is entertaining), and "decided for yourself" could be very eerie and spoken in black out. In the end, we decided that we wouldn't actually include this chorus section at all as everything that it foreshadows and tells the audience we feel our prologue portrayed anyway. Therefore, we felt that there was no need to add this chorus section in. Moreover, Faustus is left in his chair on his own, at the end of the prologue, so this works nicely as he begins his monologue in the same position.

Characters: Below are the notes I made in the lesson about our thoughts on certain characters:

• Faustus:
  
  • OK - Mid 20s. Angry. Arrogant. Autistic.
  • RA - Old Man. "Wants to go out with a bang". Be remembered.
  • RD - Controlled. Condescending rather than angry. Angry when under-mined.
  • CS - Doesn't worry about appearance. Only cares for work.
  • COSTUME - initially thought very smart (waist coat, etc.) but now considering quite scruffy modern look for someone approximately 27?
•  Murdock:
  
  • LC - Childhood friend. Very trying. Cares for Faustus. Faustus helped him in the past so feels duty to tend to him.
  • JBC - Faustus was left a lot of money to buy a butler - Murdock.
  • RD - Still feels like he has to try to ensure they stay friends. Feels guilty that Faustus is so obsessed with his learning. 
  • COSTUME - Start casual (sloppy university student) then suit (to show he has graduated. become a business man).
•  Valdes & Cornelius:
  
  • OK - Internet friends. Met through forums. Online gamers.
  • CS - Older than Faustus. Online gaming friends.
  • LC - Gamers. Faustus gets a higher rank on the game. They find a cheat mode to cause him to lose. The whole play is a game. The play plays tricks on the audiences mind (as at the time the play was written people were extremely religious and would have strongly believed in the sins and that you should repent if you did sin - they would have felt more conscious watching the play and would have been quite frightened by it).
•  Mephistopheles:
  
  • RD - Very chill. Seen thousands like him.
  • LF - Everyone has their own Mephistopheles. Reflection of Faustus. Wear the same thing?

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (18) (Prologue)

To begin this lesson we did a quick warm up exercise. We began by lying down on the floor and then mimed our daily morning routine (we had to do this as naturally as possible so we couldn't perform this routine, and instead had to become immersed in our own little world). The purpose of this exercise was to make us focussed and to start a fresh, as it were - by going through our morning routine, we forgot everything that had happened during the day and so could begin the lesson with a clear state of mind. Also, we were going to be focussing on rituals. A ritual is "a series of actions or type of behaviour regularly and invariably followed by someone" (according to Google). We then made up a short morning routine, as a group, in an abstract style. We picked five movements and performed them in an abstract way (for example, instead of lying however we would normally sleep, we laid on our backs in a pencil position), and we performed them in cannon. We then added sound to our ritual.

After exploring personal morning rituals, we made two mind maps to explore how we could present rituals: one about movement and the other about sound. After making our mind maps, we split into two groups to make a mini prologue each. The reason we split into two groups was so we could explore more ideas and see what these ideas look like and then pick our favourite parts. My group (Rhiannon, Lewis, Oliver and I) decided to use cannon, unison, levels and contrasting dynamics. Rhiannon and I used the wall (as if it were a flat) to mime drawing the circle part of a pentagram on it (as symbolism is very important in "Dr Faustus"). Lewis and Ollie had a section where they did the movement from a scene in the play, to foreshadow what is to come. We decided to use lines from the play itself to foreshadow events (Lewis said "Cut deeper Faustus", Rhiannon said "But at what cost?", I kept listing the sins, and Ollie read his Latin part). If we had time to add to our piece we would have included chanting. After watching each other's performances, we decided we wanted to include the following: lifts, different directions/dimensions, unison and pace. We haven't decided what sound we shall include as of yet, but we decided what music we shall use - "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpCEfrOvYC0". We searched for demonic music and found this track. We liked this piece as we thought it wasn't too over-powering, but it still set the atmosphere that we wanted to create.

Our prologue so far is as follows:

• Faustus sits in his chair and everyone is in a straight line directly behind him - (we decided to have an aisle in both sides of the audience for the flats to go in. This was so all audience members would be able to see a flat and also see all of the action around the flats. Moreover, by having an aisle, we have created another set of entrances and exits that we can use in our piece)
• James (standing behind Faustus) shall have a short puppetry section with Faustus - to show manipulation and power
• Lewis and I step out to the right, whilst Rhiannon and Rob step out to the right - to suggest a confused state of mind and to build tension
• The two pairs do different lifts to take us girls to just in front of the flats
• (I'm not certain what they are doing at this point, but Charlie, James and Ollie have a section in the middle together). Rhiannon and I draw half a circle on the flat we are by
• We run past each other to the other flat to complete the circle - the fact that we have drawn in a clockwise direction represents the passing of time and suggests that this will be significant in the play itself. 

 This is as far as we got on our prologue today. However, Rhiannon and I did have an idea on what we could include. Originally, we thought of having a short hymn hand section together before we went to draw on the flats. We thought that we could include hand symbols used in necromancy. We then thought we could be dragged away and wave at each other to make the piece more sinister and creepy. We would then draw half a circle on the flat and run towards each other. We did think of singing a nursery rhyme whilst drawing the circle to make the piece more eerie and to fit the stereotypes of nursery rhymes being used for horrors. Initially we thought of "ring a ring of roses", but decided to see if there was any nursery rhymes that fit the theme of necromancy and Satan better. We quickly researched for nursery rhymes relating to Satan, and found "The Clip-Clop Man" (http://storywrite.com/story/7929629-The-Clip-Clop-Man-by-myriad-dark). We then thought that as soon as soon as we finish drawing the pentagrams, Rhiannon and I could scream. This would be very Artaud (as sounds are being used rather than words) and this idea of screaming was actually inspired by "People, Places & Things" (as when the main character had a relapse, the multiple versions of her would run across the stage and scream). Next lesson we shall hopefully complete our prologue and film it. 

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (17) (Scenes)

As there were only four of us in this lesson, we decided not to do any physical theatre sections and would instead work on our scripts. Lewis helped Rob go through some Valdes and Cornelius scenes, whilst Ollie and I worked on the sections between Faustus and Murdock. We were confident with how we used our voices, as we had both worked on this at home, however, we were not sure on what we were doing with our movement as we had only ran through these scenes together once (though the last Murdock scene we had not done together at all). Having done research on Laban to help with my movement, I already knew how I would move so only had to work out how Ollie and I would use the space together.

The first section between Murdock and Faustus is on the second page of the script. To make our movement as convincing as possible, we had to work out what our character motivations were at this point. As mentioned in my previous blog, my character is normally either concerned or angry - at this point my character is deeply concerned for Faustus as he has told Murdock that he wishes to gain a better understanding of the "dark arts". For this section, I shall walk closer to Faustus for when I speak to him, but shall face the audience (both sides by pacing between the two) when talking to myself and "aside". By constantly swapping between the two sides, I aim to portray my character's anxiety and deep concern for Faustus.

The next section is on the third page. In this section I don't talk to myself at all and instead speak directly to Faustus. In this section I am still concerned as I find him speaking to himself but I am very obedient by answering him. To show this, I do not look at the audience this time, and instead just face him.

My third section with Faustus is on page five; in this section I go from being concerned to angry. I show this contrast by altering my movements. When concerned, I move in a more fluid way, have my shoulders slumped forward and lead with my forehead (to give myself a lower status). When I become angry, I stand up taller and lead with my chest - I may also do quick sharp hand movements. I believe that the line that I change on is "Yes, you are right". I don't just think this because the voice direction is "angry", but because this is when Murdock completely opens up and says what he thinks. However, on my line before this ("you may be right"), I feel Murdock is being very sarcastic as he knows that Faustus is right in saying they are not similar, but is wrong by implying that Faustus is so much better than Murdock. Therefore, on this line, I roll my eyes and stand my ground with my back to him.

The final section that I am with Faustus for is on page 21. On this page, I have the higher status as Faustus asks if I would stay, but I turn him down by quoting him from earlier. To present myself as being more authoritative, I stand taller than before, with my shoulders back and chin raised slightly.

Once we all practiced our scenes that affected us the most and stood in for other characters, we began discussing the final scene. Ollie suggested having him being just well enough to go back to his office, but he collapses on his chair. Murdock, Valdes, Cornelius and Scholar would than all hear him collapse and would rush in. Faustus will be dragged out of his chair by "demons" (Rhiannon, and possibly me too depending on whether we think Murdock would be there or not) to "Hell" - or behind a curtain, or under the stage (as previously mentioned on one of my earlier blogs - http://lornaclarkra.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/dr-faustus-marlowe-11-act-1.html). In the meantime, Murdock (?), Valdes, Cornelius and Scholar would tend to the chair and attempt to resuscitate where Faustus was, as if they could still see his body, but his spirit has gone. We shall mention this idea to the rest of the class next lesson.

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (16) (Sins // Coma // Signs)

Planning: For the first section of this lesson, we tried to complete the sin section. The two sins we had left to complete were Greed and Envy. We began by writing down connotations of these two words - the point of doing this was to give us inspiration for what we can do, as well as keeping us focussed to the meaning of the sin. For greed we came up with the following: money, stealing from those less fortunate, desperation and willing to do what it takes. For envy we came up with the following: jealousy, relationships, wanting what you can't get and ugliness.

Greed: For Greed, we decided to keep the section that James and I had already made (this section involved reaching towards each other's pockets to show stealing and a round movement to create tension and to represent how being greedy can completely change you). James and I finish this section with him downstage and me upstage (having just ran forwards and backwards to represent desperation to improve and get what we want). James runs into Rob and they do a duet section and I run into Rhiannon and do a duet with her. We made sure we finished with one group downstage and another group upstage to ensure that this worked with our traverse staging - so all audience members would have something interesting to look at. The duet section I did with Rhiannon started off fairly naturalistic but then became very abstract. We began with me bragging to her about how much money I had. We then do a very short lead-and-follow section where she follows wherever I move my money to. I then drop money on the floor and she follows the trail on her knees as if she were a dog. This is to represent how greed can change who we are and even bring out a completely different side to us (animal instincts).

Envy: This Greed section will lead smoothly on to Envy as we shall begin our Envy section in the positions we ended our Greed section in. My character has been greedy by training my dog to do whatever I want it to do; for the envy section, I will look across and see what James and Rob have accomplished and then will compete with them by constantly trying to show-off and better the tricks my dog can perform. The two duets will keep trying to over-through the other and eventually just ruin each other, and Charlie comes in and betters the lot of us. This is what we are planning for the Envy section, but have not physically tried out this idea. As we have spent a lot of lessons on the sins, we shall work out this in our own time.

Recorded Narration: As we have recorded the narration for Lust, we then considered recording the other sections. By recording the other sections, we would be able to focus on the physical theatre itself and also, each time we then rehearsed, the timing would be consistent as we wouldn't be altering the pace in our lines.

Faustus wake up: We had to decide if we were going to end our play - would we have Faustus shutting his laptop and panting heavily as if he had frightened himself with what he had researched, or if we were going to have him waking up from a coma. We decided to go for the latter of the two ideas as we could involve everyone and make an interesting physical theatre section. We decided that in a blackout, Faustus would move to and lie down on a bed centre stage (three stage blocks). We then had to decide how we would show Faustus starting to recover. We discussed the National Theatre's production of "People, Places & Things" and how they showed the main characters road to recovery and also how they showed her break down. We all liked how they had seven actresses who all looked identical to the main character on stage at once (wearing the same costume and hair styled the same way) doing different movements to show time passing. We would have like to have done this, but we couldn't due to us all not looking the same! We then came up with the idea of us all playing a doctor doing different things (like taking his blood pressure, giving him an injection, plumping his pillows, etc.) to show time passing. We initially thought of Faustus' hospital bed being on wheels and we would keep turning him round and working on him individually. The circular movement would have shown the passing of time quite clearly. However, we then realised that this would take up a lot of space in our traverse staging. We then realised that we could all move around Faustus and do a similar thing but decided against it as we wanted to make this section more chaotic to fit Artaud's conventions. We wanted to make this very abstract, so we took realistic things a doctor would do, but performed them in an abstract style. For example, Rhiannon and I are both working on his arms (her giving him an injection, and me checking his blood pressure) so we lift the opposite arm up to the one we are working on, and swap places by cartwheeling over the bed or rolling on the floor around the top of the bed. Moreover, when I check his blood pressure, each time I pump the machine, he lifts his arm up higher - this is very abstract and portrays the idea that things aren't right and foreshadows that he shall not recover thoroughly.

Signs: At the very end of this lesson, we began to discuss signs to do with necromancy. Therefore I have looked up "necromancy signs" on Google images, and the most common image that came up was of a star in a circle. We will be using images to project in our piece so we will continue to discuss images next lesson to decide which ones we shall use.

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (15) (Murdock)

Although the majority of the play is very abstract, I believe that Murdock is quite a naturalistic character. I think he needs to be naturalistic as he attempts to ground Faustus and make him come back to reality. I know this because Murdock says to Faustus that he is losing his humanity, and so he needs to represent the whole of humanity and he pretty much says what the audience thinks. Below are my notes on voice and movement.

VOICE: To make my character naturalistic I will use what I have learned about the practitioner Stanislavski (http://lornaclarkra.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/stanislavski.html). He believed that actors should not only know their lines, but know the intention behind them. Therefore, I have gone through the script and really thought about Murdock's attitudes and intentions with each line. In my very first line - "Valdes and Cornelius? What do you want with them?" - I believe Murdock is anxious. He doesn't trust Valdes and Cornelius as they are "only interested in themselves" and are not a good influence on Faustus. Therefore, I will speak with concern when delivering this line. I shall continue this tone of concern when speaking of how "I do fear for him as he reads those books". On my final line on page two, I become increasingly more annoyed as I say how he has "forgotten" when I was part of his learning. However, my anger turns to panic as I say how Valdes and Cornelius have only one fellowship. On my line "I will contact them now Faustus", I show my loyalty through sounding sincere but I shall have an undertone of concern as I only contact them reluctantly, as I don't want to see Faustus in trouble. So far, I have hidden my anger from Faustus, however, this changes on page five on the line "Yes, you are right, we are not alike". Prior to this outburst, I only show my deepest concern for Faustus and this then causes my outburst as he ignores my warnings and denies our friendship. I try to make the audience sympathise with my character but trying to show genuine concern in my voice (by having an element of fear in my voice by having a fairly shaky quality of voice and by being quite breathless), this is so they still agree with my character and understand my character when he has his outburst at Faustus. During this outburst I raise my voice, speak slightly quicker and emphasise the consonant to sound my aggressive. This is exactly the same on my final appearance on page 21 when I leave Faustus for good. However, on the first line of this page, I try to keep my cool as to not make a scene and to see if things have changed. When I realise that things are still exactly the same as how they were before, I have another outburst. I think that by looking for deeper meanings in the text and studying my characters intentions has really helped as I understand my character better and can play my character more realistically - this is why I decided to use Stanislavski's methods.

MOVEMENT: I have decided to use the Laban Movement Analysis method (http://lornaclarkra.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/rudolf-von-laban.html) to create my body language and embodiment of my character of Murdock. The two emotions my character mainly feels are anger and concern. When angry I shall be quite heavy with my movements to emphasise power and aggression. I will be mainly direct as to get my point across but slightly indirect to show frustration and to make me unpredictable. This will show that my character tries to stay calm but will stand up for themselves when he needs to. I will also be mainly sudden to show that I am unpredictable and am at boiling point - I will use sharp and sudden arm movements. When angry, my movements will mainly lead from my chest to be more authoritative. Contrastingly, when I am concerned I will lead from my hands in front of me and by my forehead - this will be to show that I do not want to anger Faustus but am deeply serious about what I have to say. Also, I shall use less space when I am angry than when I am concerned, as when I am angry I shall stand my ground more (whilst when I am concerned, I may pace up and down a little bit - this will also ensure I use the traverse space and everyone can see). Moreover, I shall be very light with my movements when concerned, as to move faster and to appear like I am on-edge. I shall be slightly indirect to show that I am panicking and am anxious about what is about to happen. Finally, I shall be fairly sustained to show that I am constantly thinking, though will have moments of being sudden as to create a contrast and to be unpredictable to match my confused mind. I think that by answering these movement questions, I have understood my character better as I have created his body language.

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (14) (Lust)

In this lesson we completed our section of "Lust". What we have done in this section and why is as follows:

• Rhiannon and I begin in our final positions of wrath (on one knee), and do a body roll (leading with our bums) to stand up - this movement is provocative gives the audience an instant insight into what this sin is about and what is involves
• Rhiannon and I walk towards each other and circle each other, with the arm nearest the other person across their back - this creates tension and the sense of intimacy
• We split and bend over, as we stroke our hands down one of our legs, and then roll onto the floor - this is a way to get down to the floor seductively to allow us to do some floor work
• We end our rolls on our hands and knees, and do two head rolls - this shows desperation and longing, as well as being very provocative
• I do a stretch, pushing myself up on to one side and holding my hair, whilst Rhiannon crawls towards me - my movements are very suggestive and tempting, whilst Rhiannon has given in to the sin of Lust by coming towards me
• We do a bit of puppetry work, as I lie on my back and move my chest to follow where Rhiannon's hand moves - this shows that you can't help but give in as well as showing manipulation
• She pulls me up and we pose leaning on each other. Charlie stands behind us. He splits us up, and Rhiannon and I perform a "round" action (inspired by Frantic Assembly's "round-by-through") across his back to swap places with each other - Charlie has now given in to temptation. The "round" shows that trying to resist is futile, and by getting involved you become trapped in an endless circle.
• Charlie counts his money whilst Rhiannon and I swap places. We then take his money and suggestively put it in our clothing - to suggest that the sins link as Charlie is being greedy as well. This also portrays giving in to temptation.
• Rhiannon and I slide our hands down his legs as we crouch down - Charlie gets what he wants as he has paid the price (both literally and metaphorically) by giving in to this sin
• Rhiannon and I get up (in the same way we did at the beginning) as Robert and James perform a "round" action across our backs, to end with them standing right behind us with one of their hands on our necks and the other on our hips - The "round" action shows that both James and Rob have now been lured in. The hand on the hip shows romance, whilst the hand on the neck shows longing and desperation.
• Rhiannon is taken back by James (and they do a duet), whilst I am taken back by Rob (and we do a duet). All the while, Charlie has bent over and curled up into a ball - this signifies that now Rhiannon and I have left, Charlie is left empty and used: he has paid the price.
• Rob leads me backwards then I walk "round" him to stand behind him. I run my hand across his chest and then push him to his knees - this shows dominance and lust.
• I put my leg over his shoulder and he runs his hands up it, caressing it. I push him down and walk over and then around him. He grabs my arm, and I move "by" him. He pulls me back in and I drop down into our finishing position (him on one knee, with me leant over his other knee, whilst he nestling his face into my neck - this shows obsession, urge and love. 

 What we have left to do of this section is put the recorded narration and the instrumental "Express" track together. We also have to make the piece smooth by ensuring that the two duets (Rob and I, and Rhiannon and James) finish at the same time, and by practising the piece so it is seamless. We will also show Oliver and Lewis the piece, but will ask them to sit either side of the traverse. Then we shall ask them for feedback, not only to ensure that they like what we have created, but to ensure that the section looks interesting and effective for all audience members. 

"Dr Faustus" - Marlowe (13) (Sins)

Below are the pieces of music we have decided to use for each sin (we only use as much as these songs as the narration takes):

• SLOTH & GLUTTONY - "3:14 Every Night" from "The Social Network"
  • (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfpxuJbVaBA)
• PRIDE - "Fashion songs 4 London Fashion Week"
  
  • (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSWk-IIc9Yc)
• WRATH - "Emotion Series - Anger Vol 2"
  
  • (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHRqTSgKJGg)
• LUST - "Express" from "Burlesque"
  
  • (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3oz7ENqFz8)
• GREED - "Ode to Greed" from "Payday 2"               
  • (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc4DovMFabo)
• ENVY - "Message Man" by Twenty-One Pilots
  
  • (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5-f3DLoSyY)

We ran our first four sins focussing on our traverse staging as to make the piece look interesting for all audience members. We then discussed having the sin script section recorded rather than spoken live. This discussion started because Rhiannon and I wanted to record our narration for Lust. We wanted to do this as this is not only a long section to remember whilst doing the movement, but we want to perform this to the best of our ability vocally (and felt that doing a movement section might make us out of breathe and would alter how we spoke). Another benefit of using pre-recorded narration is that our timing for our movement sections would be constant each rehearsal and therefore should be very effective in the actual performance. Our narration would fit perfectly to the songs we are using for each section as we could edit the tracks and merge them. It also means that we can focus on our movement in order to perform this to the best of ability. Next lesson, we might record the other sections of the sin script.

On our first recording of lust, Rhiannon and I had divided the lines - some lines we said individually and some lines were said in unison. We thought this was an okay way of doing it, but we particularly liked the sections we said in unison as we felt they were more eerie, seductive and chilling. We decided that we would do a second take, this time saying all of the script in unison. We then listened back to the recording and decided that we needed to slow it down to make the piece sound more seductive and therefore more likely to tempt Faustus to give in to the sin of Lust. We slowed the whole thing down on our third take and also worked out where the most appropriate places to pauses were. For our final recording we worked out what words we should emphasise - these words were "touch", "take", "desire", "ohhh", "sex", "eroticism" and "flesh". We thought these words formed the semantic field of lust and were very provocative.

After doing our recording, we began coming up with ideas for our movement section of Lust. Rhiannon and I worked out how we would go from our final positions of Wrath (on one knee on the floor doubled over), to the beginning of Lust. We decided we would do a body ripple to stand up and then we would walk to each other and circle each other (to create tension and intimacy).We experimented with a short floor section consisting of mainly rolls, stretched and hair swishes to look as seductive as possible to lure Faustus in as to try and make him give in to the sin of Lust. We didn't create any more this lesson as we ran out of time, but shall continue with this next lesson.

"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.