The two characters of the play are complete contrasts. A good example of this can be seen after the still image, when Catherine and Kevin sit down in their distinctive styles. Catherine crashes down on her seat, showing total disregard and no care for what other people think. This contrasts Kevin because he carefully wipes his clothing and the seat of any dust and then sits down quietly. Another example of how the 2 characters oppose each other is when they order the food. Kevin says, “ Please may I order a chicken Caesar salad and a water please”. However, Catherine says “ Get me a bacon sarni with extra chips now!” It is also interesting to note that the food, which both characters order, contrasts each other. A salad is completely contradictory to a greasy bacon sandwich. The food supports the fact that the characters are opposite in many ways: the way they present themselves, the way they stand and the respect they have for other people.
The most effective scene was when Catherine was the low status character at school. A cross cut from the café into a scene of a school playground was used. To make the audience aware it is a different scene and that the characters have changed, the voices were altered to a more high pitch, child like tone. The cross cut moves into another still image. Catherine, still played by Bronwyn, is positioned down stage left while three children, Sean, Joelle and Oliver, are positioned down stage right. The reason that Catherine is standing in a different area from the 3 school children is to show that she is not friends with them. It also emphasises the fact that she is isolated and does not have any friends. These are all character traits of a low status person.
The still image was held for three seconds and then more acting followed. The children decide to sing the children’s rhyme “I’m The King of The Castle”. They join hands and merrily dance in a circle singing. Catherine can be seen looking lonely and wanting to be part of the fun. She finally plucks up the courage to go and ask the children if they will let her play. After a short debate the children allow her to join in on one condition, that she is the “Dirty Rascal”. Catherine enters the middle of the circle and sits high on her knees. At first the three children sing just as before, happily and skipping to the rhythm but look down at Catherine. However, after one verse song takes a more sinister turn. This can be seen and heard when the songs rhythm becomes slower and the tone used to sing it becomes lower. The skipping now turns into a paced walk and Catherine’s head turns to the ground and she kneels closer to the floor. The children are now staring at Catherine with evil in their eyes. Another verse ends. The song becomes eerily slow and the walk becomes a stomp. The three children are shouting and pointing down at Catherine, who is now lying on the floor, when singing the lyrics “You’re the dirty rascal”. The craze ends dramatically with silence. The two boys, Oliver and Shaun, turn their backs to the audience. Joelle is left standing behind Catherine. Joelle then thought tracks what Catherine is thinking by asking the question: “Why am I always bullied? Why am I so isolated?” It is at this point that the audience realise that Catherine is the victim of violence.
This scene was especially effective because it used many dramatic techniques that we had been taught, but also because it has various meanings. For example when the children were singing and dancing, the words that were sung were not only negative but represented the way that people can be a victim of mental abuse. The words that were sung in the play were very authoritive and were aimed to make the person feel like dirt. It shows that Catherine is being verbally/mentally abused and that she is the victim. It also shows that the people who were singing the song are the people who are making violence occur.
Another good example of how something has several meanings is when the children are dancing in the circle. The dancing and singing occurred for three verses only on purpose. It was used to represent the three phases from the cycle of abuse. The first phase is where everything is ok but tension is mounting. This could be seen when the children were skipping happily round Catherine but were looking down at her. This represented that tension was mounting. Phase two of the cycle of abuse is where things get more violent and nastier. This could be seen when the skipping turned into a walk and the children were staring at Catherine. The final third phase is where actual hands on abuse occurs. This could be seen when the children were pointing down at a lying down Catherine. The reason she was lying down was to mimic a dead body. The reason that Catherine says “ why am I so isolated’’ is because that is the feeling that if felt by many victims of violence. When the group of children stop being violent it represents the honeymoon phase, where the violator stops being violence and asks for mercy.
The story then moves back into the café with another cross cut. All the actors go back to their original characters. Shaun – Kevin, Bronwyn – Catherine, Oliver and Joelle – Waiter and Waitress. It is at this point that the audience realises that Kevin used to be the high status person but now is the low status person and that Catherine used to be the low status person and that now she is the high status person. Kevin then looks up from his dinner to see his the girl he tortured through school. Knowing that she has seen him he asks her if she wants to sit with him. Catherine coolly walks over to his table and looks down at him. She then says, “ You were the boy who always bullied me! Look who is the lonely isolated one now! Looks like I’m the king of the castle and you’re the dirty rascal”. Now the audience are fully aware that the tables have turned.
