Playhouse Creatures - Act 1, Scene 9 -What do you want your audience to understand about Nell and Mrs Farley? How would you direct it to achieve your aims?

back” to Nell moving her left hand in her direction as if she is dismissing her and slightly moving away from the other girls. Mrs Farley delivers the second part of the line “if you don’t want to starve” she looks back at the others seeing if she has impressed them and moves back to them to feel that she is in the majority. Nell doesn’t see Mrs Farley’s jealously as she is in a daze with her experiences on stage. She is away from the crowd standing still and staring out. She delivers the line “I couldn’t so it” very static towards the audience but she snaps into reality when she says “You lot buggered off and left me” at this point Mrs Farley delivers the line “I told you didn’t I”, at this point she is trying to get the other girls attention and moves as if she were leaving but sees that no one else has and rejoins the rest of the group. Nell delivers her long speech at this point as if she was still on the stage; she suddenly comes alive when thinking about it and moves across the stage to all the girls walking around them. The rest of the girls especially Mrs Farley is looking down at Nell at this point because she is not behaving in the proper manner. When Nell delivers the line “and they all clapped” you should see Mrs Farley’s face drop as she looks around to see the other girls reactions to how well Nell did on stage. At this point all the girls walk over to Nell thus leaving Mrs Farley now on her own. Mrs Farley delivers the line “There’s no accounting for taste” very sarcastically but moves towards the group because she feel left out. Mrs Farley and Nell’s eyes should meet at this point and Nell can clearly see that Mrs Farley is not impressed so she goes to her with the intention of rubbing her glory in her face and making her even more jealous. She delivers her line to Mrs Farley “And in a special box, a man in glitter, cheering” she says this line as if she were innocent and does not really know who it was when in fact it is a strategy to rub her face in it. When Mrs Farley walks away Nell has a smirk on her face and then rejoins Mrs Betterton who is now praising Nell. Mrs Farley walks to Doll who has over heard the conversation and is paranoid and distressed at what she heard. Mrs Farley and Doll will be at the front of the stage looking back at Nell who is backstage left. Nell will keep on looking back at Mrs Farley just to taunt her. Mrs Farley looks at Nell and then to herself says “He couldn’t have been cheering” and then grabbing Doll says “How’s my face?”. Doll then delivers a sarcastic line “It’s the same one you went on with”. Mrs Farley is frustrated at this comment and using both hands shakes them vigorously in front of her very aggressively. Mrs Marshall breaks the tension however when Mrs Farley is about to leave she follows Doll but looks back and is weary that she is leaving Mrs Betterton and Nell on their own together leaving Nell room to take the lime light and become a favourite of Mrs Betterton who is the most respected in the theatre. Throughout this text we should see the tension and sparks between Nell and Mrs Farley who should constantly look at each other. Both characters are trying to be one of the favourites and always trying to impress whether it be copying a mood or helping someone out and showing interest it is all to become popular and a motive of both characters. This scene is set in the tiring room which I picture would be quite plain with tables and mirrors and costumes all around the place. If it was a big cast I would have many other people bustling about on stage, carrying costumes in and out and helping to undress each other. I would like to create an image of the slums. The theatres were not well off and everyone was crammed into one room. The theatres would be grand and big to fit as many people in as possible but I want to create an image that behind is cramped and bustling. This affects the relationship between Nell and Mrs Farley because it is not as easy for them to stay away from each other; this forces them to be civil and would increase the tension between them.