For my scripted performance I chose to do half of scene nine and all of scene ten from the play 'Be My Baby'.The play is set in 1964 in the attic of a mother and

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Scripted Performance Piece: Be My Baby

For my scripted performance I chose to do half of scene nine and all of scene ten from the play ‘Be My Baby’.

The play is set in 1964 in the attic of a mother and baby home, where young, pregnant, unmarried girls were sent to have their babies and put them up for adoption.

There are three characters in the part of scene nine and scene ten, which we performed which was also the number of people in our group and each part tested our own ability.

During the scenes we see the development of two of the main characters, Mary and Queenie. Mary is from a family who are financially comfortable, she works in a bank and she seems fairly intelligent. I played Queenie, who is from a working class background, seems common compared to Mary and has her heart set on a singing career. In scene ten especially we see Queenie’s character develop when we discover some of her ‘darker’ past as she reveals that she has already had given birth to a baby boy before. The other character in our scene is Matron, who doesn’t really say much, is very strict and seems cold, but at the end of scene ten we see her in a different light and she seems a little less frosty towards the girls, Queenie in particular.

Queenie is loud, vivacious and more glamorous than the other characters. She is from Nottingham and with her background she would most likely have an accent, even if it were just a slight one.

I imagined Queenie to be very down to earth and calm, examples of this are when Mary is trying to run away and think of ways to get out of the home and she suggests:

“We’re in the attic!!!” (Page 47, Scene 9)

and

“In your condition? “ (Page 47, Scene 9)

 

I also imagined Queenie to be very supportive, concerned, kind and caring, but somewhat secretive.

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I say and think this because she tries to help Mary when she needs it, tries to talk her out of running away, and looks after her when she goes into labour.

Yet she keeps the fact that she has already had a baby a secret and it seems she hasn’t told anyone about her past.

Examples of this are:

“Has it gone?” (Page 48, Scene 9)

and

“I’ll run a bath.” (Page 52, Scene 10

and,

“’Cos I’ve had one alright, I’ve had one!!!” (Page 49, Scene 9)

 

I also imagine Queenie to be very opinionated ...

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