This exercise allowed us to achieve an emotional insight into how we can create a personality for a simple object. This was a good Brechtian technique because it would have made the audience question what they are watching.
In the second part of the lesson we took various texts from “Caucasian Chalk Circle” and replaced the props and scenic background with actors. This is especially effective when there is a long monologue because it breaks up the length and gives the audience something else to focus on. I had to pose as a tree by spreading my arms and standing with a fixed stance.
In workshop two we studied “Archetypes”. This means an establishment on a simple clear character. This technique played a big role in Brecht’s plays and performances because it made the audience aware of who was who incase a role change was to occur. Actors were to do this by showing their social status and relationships with other people. We practised doing this in order to help us understand what was required of this technique.
We explored an archetype of an old man by letting an imaginary piece of string pull our nose and bottom in opposite directions. When I was using my nose my posture automatically changed. I found that my back was slouched slightly and my head was much forward than usual. When using my bottom my body stayed the same pose but the slouch in my back was slightly more stressed.
We also explored an archetype of an old woman. This made a completely different posture and stance to the previous character. I found that I was walking more as if I were of a higher status because my body was held up higher.
We carried out another activity where we were asked to lead with our noses, chins, knees and buttocks. If I were playing Natasha Abashvilli I would have probably lead with my nose because I noticed that this automatically altered my stance and posture to be much higher and much straighter. My head also tended to be much higher up to show that I am of higher status. 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.
The difference between the social status of Grusha and the governor’s wife was tremendous. Grusha’s stance automatically took a more slouched stance and looking down to the floor with a low tone of voice which is in contrast to the governors wife who would stand as though she were a queen with her back straight and keep a high pitch of tone and order others. This demonstrated the social classes to the class. Although playing the character of Azdak and the governors’ wife they behaved as though they were of the same status although Azdak was of higher status but we have already stigmatised the governors’ wife from previous story lines.
In workshop three and four we studied gestic setting. Through gestus the focal point is on characters merely within their social status. The audience won’t be drawn into this because they would have been alienated from this gesture due to it being unusual from what is expected. This is an element of verfremdungseffekt which alienates the attitude. The class was divided into two halves and were expected to behave in two contrasting social backgrounds. The person with the lower status had to be the chair of the person with the high status. I played a person with higher status which meant I had a higher power over the person. I changed my posture automatically of that to resemble someone of importance. I felt quite bad for the person of lower status because I am not used to this sort of treatment and I also felt as though they were being exploited for feeling of higher power although it would have been more comfortable sitting on a normal chair. In relation to Caucasian Chalk Circle it is quite obvious that Grusha would have been of lower class and would have had to be at the beckoned call of the governors’ wife. This is quite apparent from the text as we are told she is a servant whereas the governor’s wife is clearly upper class from the background she is part of. In this case Grusha would have been the chair for the governor’s wife.
In workshop five we focused on montage which is a self contained non chronological scene which is juxtaposed against the other so it creates two sides of the argument.
We were asked to create images in groups of four.
When my group carried out the image of the queen ordering people to organise her clothes and telling someone to put the baby down I noticed that the queen wasn’t bothered about her child and was more focused on getting her clothes. This automatically showed that there was no mother and child bond. In the second image Grusha sees the baby being left behind by the governor’s wife. She picks up the baby and looks at it which shows she is a sensitive person because she stopped for a child which isn’t hers and we later find out she takes on the role of being mother to Michael.
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