Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter

Unit 2: Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter

Task 1: Response

2) After reading the introduction to the play I realized that it was not going to be a ‘friendly’ play about a group of seven year olds. There was going to be something to give it a malicious twist. The play begins with one of the small boys playing happily by themselves. My first reaction was seeing as the children are being played by adults this will look quite ‘odd’. What I was having to understand was that it was being played by adults to emphasise that children don’t always play in a ‘friendly’ matter. When the boy starts pretending he is an aeroplane he quotes: ‘Then be all dead. Dead. Dead. Burnt to nothing’. He has said that all the people he has imagined will die and be burnt. This is a very disturbing thing for such a young child to be thinking, instead we would expect him to say: ‘and they will all land softly’ or a similar gentle mannered idea. As two friends, Peter and Willie are united and their behaviour seems quite normal and playful. However, what shocked me was when Peter started beating Willie physically over an apple. His behaviour is very spiteful and threatens to ‘spit right in the middle’ of Willie’s face. This is a side of a seven year old that I have never seen or imagined before. All children have people that they look up to and compare themselves with. In this case it is a boy called Wallace Wilson. Peter doesn’t seem to like his name being mentioned which I think is a result of his jealousy. Overall in the opening scene I found out that Peter is a lot more threatening and domineering than Willie, and this gives him a sense of leadership.

Potter wrote the play because he wants us to judge and criticise the children in new eyes. It was his ‘prior decision to insist that the children be played by adults’. The reasoning behind this is that he wants us to see them in a new light – that they are not always innocent and sweet, and by having adults play them this would take away the ‘Ahh’ factor. He wants the audience to realise that children can be ‘nasty’ and ‘malicious’ like adults, and he felt that the use of adult actors would help him achieve this more effectively. To Potter it seemed necessary to use adults as ‘children at play subtly alter what it is they do when under the gaze of adults’. Therefore, using adults would mean that the truth would be acted out.

3) I have never come across the accent before so on first hearing I found it quite hard to fully understand. It sounded very soft and appealing, so for adults playing children I thought that it would be particularly effective. My first attempt in speaking with the accent would most likely have sounded like gibberish. However, I interpreted it as a good attempt. I found that the easiest way to get into the accent was to keep repeating the vowel sounds: ‘ooo’ and ‘arr’. When reading the text I replaced all of the vowels with these sounds and lowered my tone. When you finally grasp it then you want to speak in it all the time as it is quite ‘catchy’. Another good way to get the hang of it was to speak to a friend in normal conversation using the accent. For the audience I think that it is pleasant, but there are also times when you can put emphasis on certain parts to make it sound nasty. Therefore, in the context of this play it is very useful.

4) For the warm up games we playing things like ‘stuck in the mud’ and ‘the first one to get a lolly’. To me this felt really weird as it is acting in a totally opposite way to how I normally would. But also by playing these games it made me realize that once you really get into them you take them seriously and want to win. The question is Are you physically fit enough to win though? From my experience I belive that I would probably collapse if I was to do what a 7 year old does, ...

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When I had to act and fight as a boy I had to completely change my ways. Firstly I had to broadenm my shoulders, chest and hold my head high to make me look taller and stronger. Then I had to move in a more ‘boyish’ matter. For instance, make out that throwing myself straight at someone didn’t hurt and was a natural thing to do. I found it easier to actually hit the other person with full energy as there was no restriction and it made me feel more in role.

Task 2: Development

Our stage is very simple and effective so that the audience will fully grasp and be able to follow the play. The loft of the stage is an empty area. This is used to represent the field but also any acting that doesn’t take place inside the barn. The stairs next to where the audience is sitting are used for the first squirrel so that a lot of emphasis is put on power levels. It represents woods although there are no props to indicate this. Four blocks of wood on the right of the stage make up the barn. Inside this area the ‘babby’ scene and ‘death scene’ take place. There are also some solo scenes of Donald which are acted here.

2) The character called Angela has a doll because it is the theme of the ‘babby’ scene. Raymond uses cap pistols for his own simple amusement as he doesn’t like real fighting. Willie has an apple business because u a trigger for the first fight scene. Donald Duck has matches as these are what sets the barn on fire.

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3) First Squirrel Scene

The power levels used in this scene are very obvious as it is acted out on the stairs. They show power levels because the higher up you are the more power it means you have. For the audience this is very useful as it is the shifts of power between the characters are obvious. As power changes they either move up the stairs, which represents an increase or get pushed down to show a power decrease.

Anne-Marie plays the character of Peter. During this scene she has to show that Peter firstly has a very high energy level. She does this by constantly moving about and responding quickly. Also, the gestures that she makes are very big and are often repeated. Another trait of Peter’s character that she has to adopt is his aggression. In this scene she shows this by pushing John down the stairs and issuing the challenge: ‘Who’s going to climb up there?’ It also shows John’s loss of power. She has to play a very intimidating character, and to further this effect she speaks loudly and positively.

Jamie plays the role of John. He has to show that he is a threat to Peter and he does this by overtaking Peter in the power levels. His attitude is not as forceful as Peter’s and as a result he gets respect. The fact that the other characters are not scared to argue back highlights this: Willie says, ‘Don’t keep on’. Although this is not an aggressive retort it shows a lack of fear that would not be the case with Peter.

I have to play the role of Willie. To show that Willie isn’t a very aggressive person I try to act scared of Peter. I do have quite a high energy level but I am not as powerful as Peter or John. I create this impression by hugging my arms as I run around giving a sense that I am quite soft. During this scene I keep low on the power levels and point at things enthusiastically. Camilla plays Raymond – a placid, sweet little boy with a stutter. In this scene she shows his lack of confidence and self-esteem by speaking in a very soft tone. The fact that she has so little to say also gives the audience further insight into Raymond’s personality. He is an easily lead boy and she portrays this by copying and agreeing with all the others.

The pace of this scene starts off quite quickly as they begin to chase the squirrel: the cry of ‘A squirrel, a squirrel’ goes up. Then John and Raymond run in and as a result the pace slows down because they have to be greeted. It is important that this happens because it is their first entrance and they have to be introduced to the audience. As the characters start to get excited about the squirrel on ‘Have ya? Honest?’ the pace picks up again. As they progress through the scene it gradually gets higher and at the end – ‘I got’, ‘See’ – they all are run off at full speed. This is a dramatic climax to this scene because the whole scene has been building up to chasing squirrel, and this is released when they are run off laughing.

This scene takes place on the stairs next to the audience, so that the different power levels can be used. This area is representing a wood even though there is no scenery or props to show this. The actors have to imagine it and also produce a realistic performance so that the audience also believes in it.

Babby Scene

In this scene the power levels are less obvious to the audience. This is because it is difficult to decide who has the more power out of Audrey and Angela. However, what is clear is that both have more power than Donald Duck. This is shown by one of the girls or sometimes both of them being on the higher blocks and he is either on the lowest block or the floor. This aspect is also demonstrated by the repetition of ‘Donald Duck, Donald Duck, quack, quack, quack’. The girls are taunting him from the higher platforms, while he is curled up on the floor saying ‘please don’t’. The difference in voice tone highlights the difference in power: Donald’s is a soft, almost desperate plea, whereas the girls have a harsher, harder tone.

In our group Laura plays the character Audrey. She has to make her character seem nasty and aggressive. She shows this by the she says, ‘Why should you be mummy all the time’. It is spoken in a very spiteful tone and she crosses her arms and stamps her feet to give the impression that she is very angry. Lucy plays the role of Angela, a friendly and popular girl. She shows this by talking an interest in Donald and playing nicely. For example when she says ‘Poor, poor Donald’ her tone is soft and her arm is around him. However, at the end she becomes loud and harsh when she is mocking Donald. This demonstrates that her character is very fickle and will simply follow the others.

Donald Duck is a very shy character and doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest. The tone of his voice is soft and his gestures are small – he is almost the complete opposite of Peter in this respect. He is portrayed in this matter so the audience see him as sweet and innocent – Potter is setting him up to be the classic innocent victim. For example when he says ‘I cut me thumb off’, his action is small and his tone is soft and excited.

The pace of the whole scene builds up to a crescendo. It starts to speed up when Audrey gets in a strop and says ‘Why should you be mummy all the time?’ This is her being aggressive and almost picking a fight. It builds up to the climax right at the end when the taunting begins in the repeated rhythm of when the two girls on the higher level say ‘Donald Duck, Quack, Quack, Quack’. The repetition is similar to a drum roll building up to an important event. This climax ends when Donald can’t take any more and they chase him off the stage still taunting.

The blocks in this scene are used as power levels and are in a shoe shape. The front is cut off to give the audience the impression that they are looking in and eavesdropping. The only prop is the doll and it is not at all symbolic. It is used because it fits in with their game. Straw-coloured lighting is used in this scene to give the effect of it being a real barn and also showing the audience that it is daytime,

Donald’s Death

In the final scene the blocks are again used to show different power levels. The characters Peter and John are on the highest showing that they have the most power. Willie and Raymond are on one of the lowest blocks and Angela and Audrey are on the other lower block opposite them. This shows that they all have power but not as much as John and Peter. Donald is on the floor, which indicates that he has no power. All the characters with power deliver their lines loud and clearly in this scene further emphasizing the difference in power. The way that the scene is set prepares the audience for the evil twist that Potter wishes to create.

The rhythm of this scene starts off at a normal pace but speeds up as they are joking about. When Willie says ‘I gotta da knife’ they are all laughing and this makes the pace move quickly. The tension starts to build up when Donald is trapped inside and is screaming ‘Open the door’. At the peak of the climax the audience will be on the edge of their seats wanting to help him. The tension and climax is over when the characters realise that they have killed their friend and are sobbing ‘Donald, Donald’ all together.

The props that are going to be used for this scene are a black sheet and orange, red and yellow ribbon. The ribbon will be tied to the wrists of Donald Duck and when the fire starts he will begin to loosely shake his wrists. This creates a ripple effect as though the ribbons are the start of the fire. Also, the ribbons may also serve a double purpose to remind the audience that they are children even though adults are playing them. As the fire builds up Donald moves his arms vigorously so that the ribbon is moving all around him creating the effect of an uncontrollable fire. The black sheet is held by the corners by Raymond and Willie on one side and Audrey and Angela on the other. At the climax, when the fire comes to its peak, they drop the sheet so it floats down and lands on Donald, This represents his death and it is significant that the colour black is used as it is closely associated with death. When fire is getting vigorous the orange and red lights flash on Donald to give the effect that he is in the middle of an uncontrollable disaster. When the black sheet lands on him there is a blackout to end the climax and to symbolize the end of Donald’s life. The audience will be able to relate to what has happened and they will be left feeling upset and disappointed as they have seen children behave ‘in new eyes’.