“Stubbs: you’ll have to get someone to fetch it down for you, then.”
“ That’s right. Who, though?” “Stubs: him! (Stubs points at Terry) So Terry was purposely tested to climb the pylon, which cost him his life.
Another problem is the pylon in which Terry climbs, a pylon cannot possibly be fitted into a theatre or school, and so a replacement must be used. There are several alternatives such as cardboard cut outs, scaffoldinding poles or even just a ladder hid behind the curtains so the audience can see Terry climbing up something but not the ladder because it will be hid behind the curtains so they can only Terry’s back. Another problem is the Frisbee being thrown into the pylon, to solve this problem an actor can throw the Frisbee behind the curtains and act as if it has become stuck in the pylon, but a good set of experienced and skilful actors could be useful to act it all out without much props.
There is a lot of peer pressure used in the play to make sure that Terry does retrieve the Frisbee. “( Terry starts to climb the pylon. )Egged on by PETE,THE MEMBERS OF THE GANG start to chant ‘Humpty Dumpty!’ over and over, and then shout comments up at Terry.)”. However the play is made more dramatic by different characters. “Sammy: It’s dangerous” “Stubbs: Surrup, Sammy, unless you wanna go up after him.” The language used by some of the characters is slang to actually show that it is a gang of children. However the language used is quite simple and easy to understand.
The actual setting is based in a wasteland, which is perfect for this type of event because there is nobody about, no parents or police. Completely out the way of anywhere. This setting probably gives a clue away to the audience that something dramatic is going to occur. One problem is how to show that the setting is a wasteland, you could place some rocks o n the stage or possibly sand which may cause a few problems. You could even use painted pictures of a wasteland to create a good atmosphere.
The way in which the atmosphere suddenly changes when Terry dies is good and will keep the audiences attention intact. There is tiny problem during this change in atmosphere and that is the flash of Terry getting killed and sound effects. Very easy to overcome, you could use a blue light to flash and even use sound effects of electricity if possible. The quiet mood after Terry dies is excellent; it will keep you puzzled into wandering what is going to happen next. The reaction to Terry’s death comes in scene two when ideas begin to grow between the characters.
Stubbs is the leader of the gang, thought to intelligent but he comes up with the ideas and the other members of the gang ask for his ideas “what we gonna do stubbs? Tell us. What we gonna do?” This suggests that he is the head person of the gang. Although different characters have different reactions and thoughts towards Stubbs final decision “it was an accident. It wasn’t anything to do with us. We wasn’t here”. This shows that the gang have unleashed a plan to cover up the whole story and some oppose “what do you mean, Stubbs? We was here”. This type of conclusion to a murder type story is good and exciting for the audience to watch because they would want to know what is going to happen, will anybody find out these are the types of questions keeping you watching.
This is a perfect opening two scenes, gets across to everyone the main storyline of what the play is about. David Calcutt has created a very dramatic opening two scenes, which also involves use of the nursery rime humpty Dumpty, and the gang make use of this nickname because Terry’s last name is Dumpton “he was hanging there. Just hanging there. Like a fried egg! A fried egg! Get it?” A good script and good use of characters and language and dramatic. A classic play, which is surely worth watching
