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Introduction

Drama Workshops I and my drama group have been studying Brechtian techniques through a number of workshops based on the play "Caucasian Chalk Circle" which allowed us to develop our drama knowledge. The main topic of one of our workshops was "verfremdungseffekt" which concentrates of distancing techniques which ensures to remind the audience and actors that they are watching a play. This was an effective technique because unlike other plays it would make the audience know that this was only a play and it also limited their involvement. This technique was used to pay focus attention to a meticulous moment in the play which would make the audience question what they are watching e.g. a moment of domination or abuse. In one workshop we used songs while voicing a prologue which helped to distance the audience from the acting. There are many examples of distancing which were created by Brecht. For instance actors playing a number of different roles and swapping them over , using their bodies as props in the scene and using music during a play. We also practised using our bodies as props which was effective and also added some comedy into the scene. ...read more.

Middle

If I were to play Grusha then I would probably lead with my knees slightly bent because this lowered my height and also made ma slouch which was what Grusha would have done since she is of lower class than the governor's wife. For the characters we are studying I would relate the governor's wife to an archetype of a queen or someone of importance. This means that if I were to act out as the queen I would have probably walked We explored the levels of tension from 1-7. 1 and 7 tended to be similar in the way that they both didn't require much movement because one was extremely relaxed and the other was extremely annoyed. The facial expressions dint change between the much between 1 and 4 and then people's movement began to get faster and they began to fidget to represent the level of tension. In relation to Caucasian Chalk Circle I think Grusha's tension level would have been a 5/6 because she is a servant which means she is doing another persons work which is in contrast to the governors wife whos level of tension would be about a 3 because she is the person who is being served and doesn't really have any jobs to attend to. ...read more.

Conclusion

In workshop six we compared the characters of Grusha and the governor's wife. I believe that it was fair that Grusha got the child in the end because it was quite obvious throughout the story that she had shown compassion for Michael. This was more than what his real mother had ever shown because we are shown that he only wants to return to him in order to benefit her with the estates whereas Grusha showed that she had nothing to loose throughout the case. I don't believe the queen wanted to leave her baby behind on purpose but I think she was too dependant on her servants with the job of caring for her child. She comes across as careless while packing for the leave as she tells a servant to put the baby down and get address of hers which clearly shows she is more concerned with her self image. I believe the queen is expected to cover up her true feelings because she is seen as a figure of importance and power and breaking down and showing her real feelings to the public would make her seem more vulnerable and may ruin her reputation as a figure of importance ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.

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