I looked at the work of Robert Lepage, and ‘Footsbarn Theatre Company’. The most useful text I looked at was ‘the Trial’ by Stephen Berkoff, as it also related to doors. It helped me think metaphorically about the way in which I interpreted doors, and how I could use this for my sound design.
Our doors piece was set in universal times, mostly contemporary, with medieval aspects. ‘The Trial’ is also not set in a certain time, although some modern technology in the script such as telephones, offices and banks restricts it to the twentieth centaury.
‘The Trial’ was similar to our work, in the way that it incorporated the same themes. It uses endless corridors and doors, questioning, and entrapment, as in our piece. However, Berkoff expands his ideas to a greater storyline of claustrophobia and enclosure. The story is of a man trapped continually in a remote nightmarish world, looking for answers to help him escape his insanity.
The people who appear in our piece, are those without a defined character. They play, in most scenes, a chorus of doors, an ensemble of questions and tableau’s to the audience. Contrasting, with ‘The Trial’, the personalities of the characters and the way in which they relate to Joseph K and his quest (the trapped man). Our actors mainly used chorus work, with all actors present onstage at one time, where as in ‘The Trail’ certain main characters have very important roles on their own, when they are main focus on stage.
The culture of both pieces was about questioning of reality and what lies behind it. Our piece presented medieval factors such as the beliefs in passing into heaven and hell and the questioning of what lies behind doors, and what happens after death. However, in ‘The Trial’ the culture and style in mostly grotesque images, representing the nightmare K is trapped in. The questioning in ‘The Trial’ comes purely from K himself, and the confusion is that he is lost, but the people around him are perfectly aware of what is happening. In our piece, the answers are neither known nor found.
My group chose to perform in a non-naturalistic style, very similar to ‘The Trial’. Much of what was happening in our piece was deeper meaning to an everyday object, such as a door and the curiosity about what lay beyond them. Although our piece was very mysterious, cold and obscure in places, there was also an element of simplicity too.
The theme was easy to comprehend and the focus was always on the characters and the physical movement. This differs to ‘The Trial’ as the level on which the themes can be identified in this play depends on how the audience chooses to interpret much of the action on stage. Both of these ways of portraying the themes of the pieces were very affectively represented, although created very differently.
In conclusion, I would like to say that from researching watching, and generally being involved in our piece, I was able to explore another side to the word ‘door’. My views on this subject changed a lot throughout the making of the piece, which helped me come up with a suitable and original sound design. I was pleased with our piece and felt my design greatly enforces the themes and atmosphere on stage.
