In this section of the play status is very important. We looked at the status between Eddie and Beatrice. In this particular extract Eddie begins with the higher status this meant he knew he was superior to Beatrice. Beatrice has always stuck by Eddie whether she agrees with what he is doing or not. At this point she stands up for herself. This surprises Eddie. Beatrice gains status; she ends up with more status that Eddie, and tells him what to do. Eddie being Eddie still thought he was right.
Flash backs and freeze frames were also used in this section, Flash backs helped me understand the scene because they helped me focus on the relationship between the characters (Eddie, Catherine and Beatrice), when they were younger and the position that they are in now when Catherine has matured.
Freeze frames helped me understand the scene and its position in the development if the play because you can visualise what is happening. It also creates awareness of movement and space.
In the second extract we discussed why Eddie punches Rodolfo and what effect this has on his character. Eddie thinks that Rodolfo is gay. Eddie being the stronger man “thinks” that he can box with Rodolfo. Eddie intimidates Rodolfo. He punches Rodolfo when he is “teaching” him how to box. Eddie wants to prove to Rodolfo that he is more superior and more of a man than Rodolfo. Eddie wants to see if Rodolfo would hit him back. If Rodolfo does hit Eddie back, Eddie would use this as an opportunity to have a fight, this will make Rodolfo look weak and prove to Catherine that Rodolfo is in fact gay. This shows that Eddie is a very evil, egoistic, and selfish man who doesn’t car about anyone except for himself .We added a soliloquy. In this Eddie faces up to Rodolfo and says punch me come on, if you punch me I can punch you and get my revenge.” This helped us to understand what he is thinking and gives us a clearer view of his character. When Rodolfo hits Eddie at the end we marked the moment of the punching by using slow motion. This helped us emphasise the point. In this section we learn more about Marco’s character and how he is prepared and will stick up for his brother Rodolfo. Marco makes his point to Eddie at the end of act one by picking up a chair over his head to prove he is stronger than Eddie. Marco proves to Eddie that he is better than him. He picks up the chair with one hand. At the end of this scene Marco smiles to show that he has won. Eddies grin on his face vanishes and this shows and satisfies Marcos that his point has gotten across to Eddie. Marco is also implying that this is a warning and if Eddie hurts Rodolfo he will have Marco to answer to.
We acted the end of act one using dialogue instead of the stage directions. This made me think more as it is quite difficult to imagine what the characters would be saying. After completing this exercise I understood what the characters would be saying and feeling much more.
In the third section we discussed gestures, facial expression and tones of voice, and how they were used to express comparisons between Eddie and Beatrice. Eddie constantly has a very strong forceful and angry facial expression whereas Beatrice has a calmer expression. Beatrice’s tone of voice is much smoother and quieter than eddies as his is much more loud and aggressive. At the end this changes as Beatrice learns how to stand up for her self.
Whilst acting in this scence despite improvisation we also added angels and devils into the scene. The angels and devils try to guide the characters. In this case they are guiding Catherine, Eddie and Beatrice. The angel tells Beatrice to support and be there for everyone. Beatrice takes eddies side towards the end and decides not to go to Catherine’s wedding. Using angels and devils helped us recognise the development of the relationship between Eddie and Beatrice. Eddie is constantly trying to ask Beatrice to be by his side and make sure she doesn’t go off on the wrong path. Whereas Beatrice thinks about everyone as a whole trying and she is trying to support everyone. I think Beatrice is like the skeleton and she is holding the relationships together. In the majority of the play tension lies between Eddie and Beatrice, this helped the play develop and made it more interesting. They were constantly arguing and there relationship was never stable.
Combining and using all the techniques that I have learnt has helped me a lot in understanding the play and characters, I think these three exam sessions have helped me a lot. I now know how to analyse scripts and how to think like the characters in the play.
