Theatre Royal in Winchester production of '1984'
04 May 2007 984 Evaluation On the 19th November 2002 myself, and a group of year eleven students went to the Theatre Royal in Winchester to watch a play named '1984'. The plays main theme was about a society being treated unfairly and not being able to have rights or individuality. It showed people being extremely restricted on what they could do both physically and mentally. Watching it, it made me feel fortunate to have the rights I have and that I am not constrained on what I can do. The director wanted you when watching, to feel uncomfortable and distressed as you were watching one individual being tortured. The more torture shown, the more privileged I felt to possess the rights I do have. A variety of techniques were used to enforce the powerful message this play presented. At the beginning, a group of soldiers pointed at the audience and shouted 'Die Die' continuously, which made you feel threatened and also at the same time involved within the play. The set was quite basic yet effective. All the scenes featured two large wooden walls, which were moved for different scenes. These walls were used as a technique to change scene. When a new scene was started the walls would be spun round to illustrate a new scene, which was very effective. Throughout the play short videos were shown for a variety of reasons. These included: emphasizing a point within the play, to
Review of Live Theatre
Review of live theatre Cambridge students' 'The wonderful world of Dissocia' written by A Neilson January 2008, Anglia Ruskin University Theatre What impressed me most about this performance of Neilson's Dissocia was its ability to present the key theme of mental illness in such a way that it gave me a greater understanding of how sufferers themselves must feel. The actors and actresses did succeed in bringing out the comic elements of the text, so the evening was highly entertaining. Although I felt the theme of mental illness was for the most part handled well, at times, the lack of thorough production values hindered Neilson's intention of creating clear contrast between reality and unreality. Overall the first half was more effective than the second. 'The wonderful world of Dissocia' centres on the main character Lisa, a girl with a mental illness of some sort. I felt this actress's performance was very strong and how she was portrayed as an 'Alice in Wonderland' type character, with long blonde hair and a blue tea dress, was very visually effective and immediately after she entered the stage I as an audience member was aware the production was not of a naturalistic genre. Neilson wants us to find answers for questions we may not have thought about before, such as why do patients with mental illness often refuse to take their medication? This would increase our
How does the opening sequence of Moulin Rouge inform the audiences understanding of the film using the cinematic codes?
How does the opening sequence of Moulin Rouge inform the audiences understanding of the film using the cinematic codes? Moulin Rouge - Lhurman, 2001, US The opening sequence of Moulin Rouge is both informative and dramatic. It tells the story of Christian as he tells the story of the Moulin Rouge. The bright colours and music give the impression of joy throughout the film; this is enhanced through the use of erratic camera movements within the Moulin Rouge. In contrast the woeful voice of Toulouse can be heard singing the story over the top, informing the audience that the film will also include great tragedy and sorrow. It's lavish use of colour and mise-en-scéne work well with the intricate use of cinematography. Every shot is carefully planned to give the audience a preferred reading. The high angle shots of Christian make him seem weak and vulnerable. The slow paced editing also allows the audience to take in the surroundings, to gather thoughts and ask questions such as; why is he crying? From the camera angles used we feel sympathy for Christian when we learn of Satine's death. Consider the 'stage-setting' techniques used: the curtains of the stage are deep red suggesting to the audience themes of love, passion, desire and danger, stage setting for the story that is about to unfold. The curtains are gold trimmed creating a sense of grandeur and decadence.
My Extended Essay discusses if the themes of violence, treachery and greed are effectively portrayed in " Chicago, the musical"; an American Broadway based in the twenties.
ABSTRACT: My Extended Essay discusses if the themes of violence, treachery and greed are effectively portrayed in " Chicago, the musical"; an American Broadway based in the twenties. The essay has come about as a result of my personal interest in theatre. Having read and seen the musical "Chicago", I have become a fanatic of it and simply the context unto itself has amazed me. I am drawn to how the themes are depicted to the audience and have chosen to explore specifically how the themes of violence, treachery and greed are represented throughout this musical. The reason behind me specifying these three particular themes is to narrow the latitude of the essay allowing more focus. I'm intrigued by these three themes more greatly than the rest because I believe they are three of the main themes that motivate the entire performance. Having obtained a narrower scope for my essay, I allowed increased focus towards my research. I studied the entire musical extensively. I noticed the many themes of it and analysed them all so that I could acquire the three most important themes to the musical. I also contemplated all the different theatrical techniques that are available to illustrating such themes of violence and treachery. My research material needed for analysis is derived from the Internet, books, and television documentaries. My research concludes that there are definite
How did rehearsals and the production process contribute to the final performance
How did rehearsals and the production process contribute to the final performance? Planning rehearsals:- After would had received the stimulus the first thing we set about doing was discussing how to use our time efficiently and effectively. Obviously we needed to do research first on the stimulus however we felt that this should be a ongoing process rather then do it all at the beginning an then rehearse and practicing scenes which was mainly done through improvisation. We decided this because every week we had 2 hours in a classroom, were practical work couldn't realty be done as the class room was do small and their were tables and chairs, so this was ideal for research and doing small practical things such as finding out our characters background by hot seating. while the other 3 hours we didn't want to waste the opportunity of being able to use the space, as we were in the studio, so this time was going to be used for creating and rehearsing scenes etc. Rehearsal process:- In the classrooms sessions we would often research the mental illness that we were thinking about using. This helped us because after looking at the symptoms of some of the illness we felt that they be extremely hard to use, as their symptoms were often difficult to interpret. This contributed to the final performance as our play was more authentic as we had researched the symptoms well and had
Equus Exploration Notes
Exploration notes on Equus Language At the end of scene 1, Alan has dived deeper into his self-conscience by the help of Dysart with the use of the metallic sound created by the banging pen. He uses capital letters to show that Alan has raised his voice. Such as "WONDERFUL" (PAGE 58), he also uses ellipses, which we analysed as his way of showing the tension increase by the fact that he seems confused but we also discussed that it may mean that it could show his mind is racing around as he is on the horse in the flashback. The "cruelty of theatre" is a sense of discomfort for the audience and Peter Shaffer has created this by the crude language such as "raw, stiff, trample" and this creates the needed tension which makes this scene so effective. Characterisation In a small activity we explored the way Dysart would walk. We discussed whether he would walk with the head leading? I believed that he would walk with his head, oppose to his chest or arms because he uses his head first in all situations and so why would that change in his walk. However, I did discuss you use of arms because they were his tools and so I thought his arms might guide him through his life. Vocal Awareness As Dysart is educated and well spoken I think that his accent should be quite posh and sophisticated whereas Alan's would be a mixture of Irish and northern because of the parents accents however
Macbeth: Act 1 Scene 1, Film Version.
Macbeth: Act 1 Scene 1, Film Version In Elizabethan England, witches and the supernatural were a very genuine threat to everyday life. They were recognised as an antithesis to the divinely ordained order of the universe, often attributed with unexplained disease to neighbours and to livestock, as quoted in Act 1, Scene 3 when the second witch notifies the others that she has been 'killing swine'. The Elizabethan population did not commonly believe that witches were born supernatural beings, rather that they gained their powers by selling their souls to Satan. Indeed, this play was extremely relevant to modern life around the time of its first production. James I was personally terrified yet fascinated by witches after an attempt on his life by Agnes Sampson, a convicted witch. This led to the practice of witchcraft becoming punishable by death. A theme of such forbidden ideas, shrouded in the mystery of the supernatural would surely have horrified those watching the play yet left them intrigued. The witches embody a malign and demonic intelligence. They utilise this to guide the main themes and characters within the play, notably by their reversal of nature when chanting 'Fair is foul and foul is fair'. These unnatural deeds are reflected in Shakespeare's depiction of the witches as 'women with beards'. They are 'withered' in appearance and symbolise sterility and
GCSE Performing Arts Dance: Extended Programme Notes - Title of Dance: Extremes of Wealth
GCSE Performing Arts Dance: Extended Programme Notes Title of Dance: Extremes of Wealth Solo Choreography The first 8 counts of the choreography will be purely for dance purposes and will be performed on the floor. I decided to do this so that I could present the upper class person could dance to the correct part of the music and when the upper class person starts to dance this will flow easily from the floor dance all the way through to the lower class persons part of the dance and through to the ending. Example of floor movement: My choreography represents extremes of wealth from upper class wealth to lower class wealth. The part of the dance where I shall be dancing as an upper class person has a lot of simple movements e.g. a simple motif of walking four walks in a circle. Most of the movements in this part of the dance also uses a lot of the legs and arms as I wanted to show the effect of the upper class person wearing a corset style dress in which a rich, wealthy upper class person would have worn. The second part of the dance has a lot more movements involving the whole body which shows that the lower class person has no restrictions as to what they have to wear and who they have to impress, whereas the upper class person has to show wealth, decency and is there to impress more superior people other than themselves. In the first section Of my dance I wanted to
How does Hitchcock thrill his audience?
How does Hitchcock thrill his audience? To me 'thrill' means when a director uses lots of suspense to build up tension to make you have a feeling of excitement and nervousness because you know that you are going to be jolted from a dream to a nightmare. Hitchcock uses camera views and shadows to build tension and suspense in all of his films like `psycho` and `the birds`. In psycho the apartment scene after the panoramic shot of the city Hitchcock shows that it is just a normal Friday afternoon in December and life is going on as usual. He pans in on one specific window the audience think that they are going to see blood and guts (there are red stains on the concrete around the window) but instead we see a couple having a secret affair in a dark and dingy room. Hitchcock makes this affair seem inappropriate and something people would not approve of. He then makes the audience feel that there really isn't any blood and guts. The start of the suspense is when Marion thinks she is being followed in her car after she stole money from the apartment the audience can hear creepy music and she can see flashbacks in her mind which makes the audience tense. The real threat starts to come in when Marion arrives at Bates motel and has tea with Norman. Hitchcock uses birds and shadows to show a feeling of violence and threat, Norman talk's about his past life (fears) about an institute
The Greek Theatre
The amphitheatres of Ancient Greece were located on hillsides. A bowl shape was dug into a north facing slope for maximum sunlight. The amphitheatre complex contained the koilon, orchestra, proscenium, skene and parados. The koilon was the semi-circular, stacked seating area for the audience and was split into two sections; upper and lower diazoma. The area closest to the stage of the lower diazoma was reserved for priests, members of the council and officials. The upper diazoma operated under a free seating scheme. This communicated to the audience that official people should be respected and have certain perks. This might have made ordinary people work harder and aspire to hold a position of power. In front of the koilon was the orchestra: a circular piece of land approximately 60m in diameter. The orchestra was used by the chorus for their choral odes and stasimons. The chorus were a group of fifteen amateur performers who acted as a united group. The chorus entered at the beginning of a play chanting a song and marching at a slow pace. The acting then commenced from professional actors. After a section of acting had taken place the chorus performed a stasimon; commenting on what has just been seen. Stasimons included singing and dancing which added movement and spectacle to the play. For example in the first stasimon "ode to man" the language is mostly in the verb form