Interviewer:
3/ You decided to use adult actors playing the children, why was that?
Mr Potter:
Well for me to use real children in the play would be a very difficult task as it would be a hassle to keep them under control and it would take far longer to get the scenes done with children rather than with adults. Also if I was to use children I think that they would be very shy when it comes to acting on the camera and would act differently then they would behave in real life, So its a lot easier. Finally It would keep the viewer more fascinated in watching adults play the role of children and to see adults playing the part of bullying and fighting so it keeps the viewer in there seats because they aren’t used to seeing adults behave in such a childish manner and bully as a child would do.
Interviewer:
4/ The girls and boys like to play different games, why is that and what does this tell us about the children?
Mr Potter:
As you saw in the play when the girls played on there own they liked to play games such as “house” where they would act as grown up mothers etc. when the girls play on their own there behaviour seems different as they would act in a sort of feminine way which they wouldn’t act in front of the boys. The boys however like to play rough and adventurous games like chasing squirrels, having fights or pretending to be the Itie, which they wouldn’t do in front of the girls. Where as when the girls are together with the boys they do not act or play in the same way, as they would do when they are alone instead they play games, which are far more different. This is because girls aren’t comfortable with the boys watching them and playing the games that they played and in the same way the boys aren’t comfortable or used to the girls playing the same games they would like to play. I would like to conclude that the games the boys and girls play are in effect with what is going on around them which then was World War II which explains why the boys are influenced to play
Such games as pretending to be the Itie and girls playing house.
Interviewer:
5/ The children used a lot of swear words, why was that?
Mr Potter:
When the girls were playing together with Donald and they pretended to be adults they used a lot of swear words “I should bloody damn and bloody blast and bugger flaming bloody think so and all.” They did this because they thought that was how
Adults spoke to each other for example their parents, and especially during then it was World War II so their parents would be angry with the Germans and using bad language a lot so the children would pick up from them.
Interviewer:
6/ A lot happens in a short space of time, why did you decide to have all the events happen in one afternoon?
Mr Potter:
As you saw from the beginning of the play there is already some dramatic things happening when Angela and Audrey were playing with Donald they start to bully him by calling him names etc. “Donald Duck! Donald Duck! Quack! Quack! Quack! Donald Duck! Quack! Quack!” and Audrey also says something very important which adds tension to the play when she says, “ You’ll die in a minute though. Really die, I mean.” Since then there has been dramatic highs and lows such as killing the innocent squirrel “’course him is. Deader than dead.” As we go on through the play more drastic things happen which all finally leads up to the killing of Donald that ends the play. Through the whole play this would have added tension
And kept the viewers in there seats. I did this because I think it makes the play very exciting. During this play I think as you saw the children’s attitude has changed dramatically because at the beginning they were all bullies and didn’t like Donald
But in the end they became shocked and regretted everything they did. I did this to try and show people that not to do something they would regret e.g. bullying.
Interviewer:
7/ Donald dying at the end was a shock, why did Donald have to die at the end?
Mr Potter:
I decided to have Donald dying at the end as I thought it would make the play more exciting because the audience would be expecting the play to finish with a happy ending but by making Donald die at the end it would shock and excite the viewers and it would finish of with a dramatic end. I also decided to make the play even more exciting by constructing it so that when the barn that Donald was inside was burning to change the scenes from the barn to the children and so on for six scenes. I did this because it would add tension to the play and also make the viewers even
More tensed and excited.
Interviewer:
8/ The ending was very sad, but I thought the children acted strangely, can you explain what happened?
Mr Potter:
As you saw in the end of the play after the children killed Donald they were all shocked and stunned because they did not expect to kill him. They were all thinking that they would lock him in the barn as a joke then let him out but they did not realise the severe consequences of there actions. After however they found out that they had actually killed him they were all shocked and didn’t know what to do and sat apart because they were all in there own world thinking about what they had done to Donald and what would happen to them and what there parents will say or do which they couldn’t talk about together. But when they spoke to each other they were all trying to deny the fact that they did it or any of the others did it and all of the children tried to prove there innocence “ I byunt going to get the blame for it. I never did anything. I wasn’t even holding the door.” this shows that they were in a state of shock about what happened and felt emotional and regret full.
Interviewer:
9/ That poem at the end is moving, how does it link in with the rest of the play?
Mr Potter:
The poem is to show that in our childhood we are always happy and enjoying ourselves but there comes a time when all the fun we have comes to an end and our childhood will never come back to us again and all our happy days are over. “The happy highways where I went and cannot come again.” So it’s to say that our childhood only comes once and never comes again.
Interviewer:
10/ Thank you Mr Potter, is there anything else you would like to add?
Mr Potter:
Well I would just like to say that although this is a short play I think it certainly summarises a lot of important issues such as bullying and that people should not do anything they would regret such as bullying and it just shows how all children’s childhood begins and how it ends and I think that this play has a certain theme don’t do anything in your childhood that you will later come to regret and you should certainly live it to the end with happy memories.
