In what ways were acting techniques or design techniques and drama forms used to achieve the intended effects?

On stage were 4 boxes, these were normally used as seats. To clear these when not wanted we decided that whoever was not on stage in the next scene would take them off. The seats were not used often as it made too much fuss and could distract the audience. Instead we used the steps and the higher level to sit on as seats in some scenes where it was too complicated to bring on the boxes.

Lighting

The start of the play and the entrance of the characters are very important as this is the part where we needed to capture the audiences’ attention. We decided to dim the lights, just so you could just about see figures. This gave an eerie feel and then this also gave us the opportunity to use our voices which is what we wanted the audience to engage with at this point as the opening was to try and get them thinking. When the action started we put the lights up a bit but still kept them quite low but enough so the audience could see our facial expressions. The purpose of the low light was to reflect the mood of the piece. We kept this light all the way through the piece. We did worry that it would be boring but it didn’t seem to have any impact on the audience as a lot of the scenes were exciting and performed in the audience area anyway. Also the play is only 30 minutes long and there is a lot of action within that 30 minute. Maybe a lot of light changing would be too much to take in here. We also did not want to worry about lighting cues.

 Amongst the audience were candles, which also reflected a low mood but maybe helped them to relax as the action on stage was intense at times.

At the end we used a blackout to signal the performance had finished. This makes the ending more dramatic.

Costume

We decided not to have any specific costumes. As we only had 30 minutes and we were running low on time due to problems in rehearsals, we did not want to make any extra fuss so all decided to wear simple plain clothes. This also made sense as we were playing so many different characters, we did not have time or space to change.

Monologue

We used monologue throughout the piece. We thought it was a good way to communicate the feelings and true thoughts of the actors on stage. We used monologues to introduce the new acts and characters too and to show the end of the old act.

“Maggie Flynn, died as a nurse aged 24” that is how we introduced the new characters, as if a news bulletin.

We also researched speeches of the Prime minister and how he introduced the war to the country. We split this between us. The speech was long; however by using our voices wisely we were able to capture the audiences’ attention.

Also, monologues were used in the form of letters sent to home, reading as if they were being read or written. This added to the emotional factors of the play and let the audience in to the love of families and what they were feeling towards each other. I felt this was a successful idea as it was different than just talking to the audience.

Narration

Everyone was a narrator at some point in some shape or form. At the beginning of the play, in the introduction, we all were narrators at the same time. We all took it in turn to ask the audience rhetorical questions to get them involved and stops their trail of thought and puts their focus into the performance. This was also done by walking amongst the audience to create full effect.