Rehearsal and perfomance of contrasting family scenes

• We changed the original scenes from just role plays to using thought tracking and series of still images to add a further dynamic to the scenes
• For the 1960s family scene, as the children greeted the father instead of just saying 'Hello father, how are you/ how was work/ how was your day?' we stepped out of the scene after saying 'hello father' and said what we thought of our dad using guidance from the traditional characteristics of a father in those days. These included intellectual, brave, courageous, ambitious, trustworthy, athletic and the leader. We then followed that by saying 'and I'm his favourite' to show we all really respected our father so wanted to please him in every possible way.
• For the modern family scene we added in a series of still images that happened when we added in an argument between the mother and the father as the father has just got home and decides to go to the pub. This added a further dimension to the scene and I believe it worked well as it definitely made it more interesting and visually entertaining. This is because it added more levels on the stage however,as the children weren't arguing verbally, it didn't detract the audiences attention form the main argument that had a significant purpose behind it: to show a possible attitude of the father towards the family in present life.

Metamorphosis recap

Plot summary:

• Normal family (1)
• Gregor feels tired (2)
• Parents force him to work but Greta thinks he shouldn't (3)
• Gregor goes to bed
• Family gets panicky and call Gregor but he doesn't come down (4)
• Gregor wakes up to find he is a dung beetle
• Family can't open door and can't communicate with Gregor but just hear him make loud noises (5)
• Chief Clerk comes as he thinks this is unusual behaviour for Gregor as he is normally a good worker
• Family see Gregor and Chief Clerk leaves (6)
• They try to see what food Gregor likes (7)
• They move Gregor's furniture (8)
• Father reveals he had put Gregor's saved money into investments and that had lied about being ill to avoid going to work
• Greta thinks about getting a job
• Father doesn't think Gregor is his son any more and throws apple which lodges in Gregor's back as the father now has to get a job
• Gregor will no longer eat anything
• Father organises lodgers who have pig like faces to show their greed as are very demanding (9)
• Lodgers hear then see Gregor so decide to leave
• Greta plays violin which Gregor does not like
• Gregor dies as becomes too ill (10)
• Parents now focus on getting Greta a husband and barely grieve for their son

Tasks:

• Performed ten tableaux to show main stages of story (numbers by corresponding events above)
• Devised two contrasting scenes showing family life in 1960s and family life now. Scene 1 involved children playing quiet card game, mother getting them to look nice for when the father comes home, children greeting father in turn, children moving off sofa to allow room for father and then the father reading a paper and the scene ending by the father asking what's for dinner. Scene 2 involved children on phone, games console and lounging on sofa, children arguing over who should open the door when both parents come home, children barely bothering to say hello to parents as too interested in other things, father getting angry and telling them to do their homework however children carry on when he's gone and ends with all children asking what's for dinner and parents shouting takeaway.

Family Life in the 1960s

• Very traditional family lifestyle
• Fathers were normally the breadwinners, mothers looked after the children and house
• Despite this, the 1960's were a time of change with new legislation being passed and more and more women having jobs and wanting to have their own careers, despite earning considerably lower salaries than men
• Was a time when lots of work was available so unemployment gradually decreased
• Th average family lived a decent and healthy lifestyle as very good health was no longer only a thing for the rich and important
• Each family gradually had more space as more and more people developed the need for privacy within the home so each family member wanted their own bedroom
• It was no longer a tradition for Grandparents to live with their family
• The average family now had standard electrical facilities such as an oven, a kettle, a toaster, an iron and a refrigerator
• Around 87% of families also had a standard black and white television and an increasing number of families also had cars
• Most women had part-time jobs but still looked after the house, food, shopping and children
• More young people were also going to university however it will still mainly the boys
• Generally speaking, family life was very similar to today without very modern technology eg mobile phones and computers

First Duologue 'Mr and Mrs Iger'

• All lessons are assessed
• I found that even though I am quite petite you can use your arms and position of legs to show that you are more imposing so looks more dominant. For example, when playing Mrs Iger, I sat with my arms out across the other chair and legs out in front of me to give me a bigger presence so that I was not just dependent on my voice to make me seem a louder and more overpowering character.I felt by adopting this I was more in character as it contrasted the feebleness of Mr Iger as, although he was physically taller than me, his hand positions and hunched back showed that he was inferior and that the character of Mrs Iger 'wears the trousers' in the relationship.
• I also experimented with doing a northern accent and found that some sentences it was quite consistent and others it was hard to keep the accent flowing. This showed me I need to work on the pronunciation of certain letters and sounds when doing accents in order to make them more convincable. I also found it easier to do the accent when slowing down the speed of the lines.
• I also learnt how pauses can be very effective. I already knew that having slight pauses is a good way to grab the audience's attention however found that it can also add emphasis to what you are saying. For example, for Mrs Iger's monologue at the start of the piece, I used pauses to help dignify what I was saying and also felt that the slower speed helped emphasise the presence of the character I was trying to portray. This is because it shows that Mrs Iger does not need to include lots of information to get her point across but can just use short sentences in her loud voice to get her point across.
• We found it difficult to stage the part of the duologue where Mr Iger has to pretend to push through people. We experimented with levels and even going through the audience but in the end found it best to use levels and different lengths and speeds of strides.

Lessons this week

Tuesday:

• Finished reading Metamorphosis
• Discussed how the family react to Gregor's death
• Work on Metamorphosis and A View from the Bridge is 20% of AS mark including written notes, evaluation and practical

Wednesday:

• Discussed themes in Metamorphosis
• Thought about how they we can relate our own lives to them and the different ways they are shown throughout the play
• Some of the main themes my group thought of were dependency, betrayal, self-sacrifice, family relationships, guilt, conformism and oppression of emotions.
• Some main points about each of these themes are:
• dependency- Gregor depends on Greta, family depend on Gregor's money, links to us as shows how you shouldn't become too dependant on things eg it becomes too much responsibility for Greta
• betrayal- family betrays Gregor, father betrays Gregor through money, father fakes illness, links to family bonds as breaks relationship between father and Gregor so shows how can change relationships
• self-sacrifice- Greta sacrifices herself for Gregor and Gregor sacrifices his health for family, links to martyrs and shows how although you are doing good it may not necessarily be good for you so shows how balance is needed
• Family relationships- caring between Gregor and Greta, mother and father want Gregor to keep working, mother and Greta are united in hope for Gregor and how they want to help him
• Guilt- Greta feels guilty that Gregor has to work so much, father feels no guilt in having taken the money off Gregor, emphasises strength of emotion and how it can be shown
• Oppression of emotions- Greta doesn't show how she is tired of caring for Gregor, mother tries not to show anger for father, shows how bottling emotions allows them to 'brew' and get worse
• Conformism- Different from society and Gregor has to work, how Gregor is mistreated when transformed, links to mistreatment due to race, gender and image in society and how people conform to government, trend etc

Thursday:

• Continued reading 'A View from the Bridge'
• Read the part of Beatrice- found slightly deepening my voice and uses American accent makes my voice sound a little older as sounds top high pitched in normal tone when playing adult
• Discussed what you believe could happen after references to Rodolfo's dress making (and also cooking and singing): there saying he's gay and therefore is only going to marry Catherine for American passport so doesn't love her so they are caring for her as don't want to see her let down, subtle hint at subject at first
• Discussed what Eddie's kiss with Catherine and Rodolfo may have meant: either showing Catherine's kiss didn't mean anything, showing he actually loves Catherine and that is the cause of his over protectiveness, or that he himself may have homosexual feelings for Rodolfo
• Discussed the boxing lesson and raising of chair: Eddie telling Rodolfo telling him that he his stronger so telling him to 'watch out.'
• Alfieri- narrator
• Immigrants are illegal

Themes and issues explored in Metamorphosis

In my opinion, the main themes in metamorphosis are:

• Dependence- The whole of the Samsa family completely rely on Gregor to live their everyday lives and this is greatly emphasises when Gregor undergoes metamorphosis so is no longer able to work. It is also emphasised when Mr and Mrs Samsa shout 'no' when Greta suggests Gregor taking the day off after they have listed the things they need to buy with Gregor's money. All the things they need him for include 'beer,' 'food,' 'clothes,' 'cigars' and 'shoes.'
• Isolation- Gregor is completely isolated through his inability to speak to the rest of his family. Gregor becomes very sad about this which just shows how frustration can affect people, a clear underlying message displayed in the play. For instance, he says,'I can't stand just silence- I must speak- I must- I must gather all my strength,' which I believe shows just how much isolation hurts.
• Neglect- I believe Gregor is slightly neglected throughout the play, especially by his father, showing just how much his change in appearance has changed their feelings towards him. Towards the end of the play, I also think he becomes more neglected as the family are busy worrying about how to make money. Gregor says, 'Yes- any old scraps of food without considering what I like- just throw something in for me,' suggesting Gregor feels he needs more care and need to try and help him, despite not understanding him.
• Betrayal and deception- Mr Samsa puts Gregor's money into an investment without telling him or the family, as they think Gregor just didn't have enough money to send Great to the 'conservatorium.' The father emphasise this deception as he lies by saying, 'dreams- he never did send Greta to the conservatorium' and then when Gregor says 'you took for the money that was meant for Greta,' he reveals it was for 'investments,' showing he has lied to his family. This portrays that however close a family is, they may still have hidden secrets.
• Determination and unity- This is portrayed through the characters of Greta and Mrs Samsa as no matter how much the father says their son has 'left us,' they still are determined to help Gregor. I believe this also links into the theme of unity as together they find out what food Gregor like to eat and when he needs food.

Symbolism

The use of specific figures to represent messages and meanings in a metaphorical way.

Naturalism

A representation of natural patterns or natural appearances and show how human choices may have sufficient but natural causes.

Stanislavski

• Full name - Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski
• Russian actor and theatre director
• Born on 5th January 1863 in Moscow and died on 7th August 1938
• Famous for his uses of naturalism and symbolism in theatre
• Grew up as a part of one of the richest families in Russia
• Is also very famous for his developments of 'Stanislavski's System,' a way of approaching acting
• It is still an extremely common thing used today as objectives are always widely used when acting. This is what his system was based on: the idea that the script could be broken down into objectives for each of the characters in each scene and that in would work in a cyclical way. This meant one objective lead to another and each objective may not be achieved due to obstacles but is still shown through the dialogue.
• The system is similar but also different to method acting as you mainly concentrate on the character's wishes rather than their thoughts or feelings however these can overlap to a certain extent
• The system encouraged actors to 'live the part' of a character by forgetting about every part of themselves and only thinking and doing like that character
• The system therefore, was a highly significant point in the development of the approach to acting
• It is said that Stan Islavski went through plays on a different way as instead of looking for explanations through the language and important speeches, he focused on thoughts, feelings and the environment
• Stanislavski also had his own theatre called 'The Moscow Art Theatre'

Arthur Miller

• Arthur Asha Miller was born on 17th October 1915 and died on 10th February 2005
• His most famous works include 'A View From the Bridge,' 'The Crucible,' 'Death Of A Salesman' and 'All My Sons.'
• As well as writing plays, he wrote assorted fiction, screen plays, non-fiction and radio plays
• He was born in New York to Isadore and Augusta Miller and was the second of three children
• His parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants
• They were a very wealthy family due to the father's women's clothing store however lost almost everything due to the Wall Street Crash of 1929
• Miller went to the University of Michigan where he first studied journalism but after writing his first play, 'No Villain,' he changed to English which he won the Avery Hopwood Award for
• After university, he married Mary Slattery and had two children, Jane and Robert
• He left Mary in 1956 and married Marilyn Monroe shortly after
• He created the film 'The Misfits' which started his wife but shortly after the premiere they were divorced
• He then married Inge Morath and had two children, Rebecca and Daniel
• Awards for his many plays include the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, a tony Award for best author and the New York Drama Critics Circe Award for 'Death Of A Salesman'
• He was also arrested for being in the Communist Party s had to go before the House Un-American Activists Committee and also later when he applied for a routine renewal of his passport so they took the opportunity to subpoena (the presence of a witness to testify) him so he had appear before the committee and was fined and put in prison for a short period
• Miller died due to of heart failure due to a battle with cancer but had a career spanning over seven decades

Opening of film

• Use of stillness at the start adds emphasis and really makes you concentrate on what they are saying as you are not distracted
• They all sit quite close to each other, suggesting their relationship as a family
• As is a very old film, a very basic position is used to show Gregor in his bug state however this contrast modern productions of the play as more technology may often be used
• Play itself is based on naturalism

Opening Of Metamorphosis

• You can tell there is a close relationship between the family, especially between the daughter Greta and the son Gregor as she waits up to leave him a glass of milk
• You can tell the family relies on the money Gregor makes through being a travelling salesman as the father is ill so cannot work and when Gregor complains about back ache and great suggests him taking the day off, the parents are quick to jump in and say 'no' at the same time - this I believe emphasises how much they rely on him
• You can also tell they rely on him due to the long list of things, including food, cigars and beer, they need Gregor's money to buy
• I can senses Greta maybe relies on him the least, only for necessities, as she does not say something she needs to buy with the money when the parents give the long list and instead just says 'Gregor' which I believe shows how much she cares for him

Franz kaftka

• 3 July 1883-3 June 1924
• Live in Prague, Austria-Hungary
• Born into a Jewish family who were middle class and German speaking
• One of the major fiction writers of the 20th century
• Due to many unsucesses with writing, he also had jobs as an insurance clerk and factory manager
• Most of his works remain incomplete and The Metamorphosis is a short novel but is one of the most finished of his works
• He had a struggling relationship with his father who was described as a 'huge, selfish, overbearing businessman.'
• His father worked as a travelling sales representative and his mother was a prosperous brewer
• Franz was the eldest of six children
• Eventually he tried to repair his relationship with his father as shown in the copied letter below:

"Dearest Father,
You asked me recently why I maintain that I am afraid of you. As usual, I was unable to think of any answer to your question, partly for the very reason that I am afraid of you, and partly because an explanation of the grounds for this fear would mean going into far more details than I could even approximately keep in mind while talking. And if I now try to give you an answer in writing, it will still be very incomplete..."[

• Franz's sisters and their families died in concentration camps, also showing, like the letter to his father, he did not have a promising early life
• was fluent in german and czech
• He was twice engaged to felice Bauer but they never did get married
• He suffered with tuberculosis, which he died as a cause of, but also had many other problems to to the many stresses throughout his life including having boils, migraines and insomnia
• He was very close to his sister Ottla who helped him through his illnesses however she died through being gassed on arrival at a concentration camp
• Showed a great interest in jewish culture and spirituality
• He was very close friends with a man name Max Brod who was one of the only escapes form his troubled life besides writing
• Bord and kafka met at university and then remained friends for life and brod was always pushing Kafka to publish his work
• When kafka died, he left max a letter saying that all his works should be burned unread however max was not able to comply with this will so published his works and acclaimed him as 'The greatest poet of our time.'

Steven Berkoff

• English actor, writer and director
• Birth name was Leslie Steven berks
• Born on 3 august 1937 in Stepney, London
• Other plays apart from Metamorphosis include Barrow in Furness, In the Penal Colony and the Trial
• All plays are complex physocoligically and nightmarish
• Plays are often described as violent, show unpleasant emotions and are also quite filthy
• Was described as one of the major minory dramatists in Britain
• Was married to a woman named Shelley lee but got divorced and is now living with Clara Fisher in East London
• Wrote plays and then acted in them due to getting roles form auditions elsewhere
• Has made more than 80 films and television roles
• Has jewish Russian ancestry and his Grandparents from Russia to Britain in the 1890s
• His father was Abraham, a tailor, his mother was Pauline and he has a siter, Beryl
• He was evacuated during world war two to Luton
• At the Edinbrigh Fringe festival, he is the most peformed playwright after Shakespeare
• Berkoff has a daughter with whom he is not in contact with
• He desribes his personality as a child as 'a shy, withdrawn daydreamer who took pleasure in my isolation.'
• Produced metaphorphosis in London in 1968