How acting techniques or design elements and the use of dramatic form were consciously employed to achieve the intended effect.
How acting techniques or design elements and the use of dramatic form were consciously employed to achieve the intended effect.
The first obvious acting technique in our production is the use of mime, as opposed to using props. This is a simple way of overcoming the problem of the constant and often quick scene changes. If we were to use props then there would likely be too many props – things may be lost or may be put in the wrong place on stage. Also, as we had decided to stay onstage throughout the production that any unused props would simply clutter the side of the stage. Similar to this is the set design. We decided on using only five stools, one for each of the drug addicts, and nothing else. These stools were used throughout the production, in different ways to show different settings. This was for the same reason that props were not used. It also allows us as actors to focus on the acting to convey who we were and where the scene was set.
The play opens with all, except for myself, sat in a line facing the audience doing a ‘rowing’ motion. They then begin to ‘sing’ “Row Your Boat” all speak together until “merrily” when each person says one word. The song ends on dream, which is repeated by everyone as they ‘fold’ down to the floor. On the last ‘dream’ then all begin to repeat the word as the ‘boat’ falls apart, leaving the character Ellie in the middle and several bodies around her. These bodies then began a soundscape. Each person had a short phrase that they repeated over and over, getting louder. For example “Ellie, are you alright?” or a hissing sound. This created a sinister, scary and ‘warped’ atmosphere - perfect for an LSD ‘trip’ that warps from good to bad. A similar ‘soundscape’ idea was employed in a later scene. In which we established a “Saturday Night” scene. Each of us had one line that we repeated. For example, one of the weed smokers said “Bong”, one of the drunken ‘men’ said “Down a bottle of Carling” and I, as the bouncer said, “You got any I.D?” We said these until we were in position for the scene and Katie said her first line.