Hot seating – In this technique three performers took on a role of one of Billy’s family members and were questioned by the other members in the group.
This strategy was used to better our understanding of the individual relationships Billy has with each family member. It provided different views of Billy from each family member who all seem to see him in a different light.
Examples of questions
- Why does Billy lie so much?
- What are your feelings towards him going to London?
- Do you think he needs stricter discipline?
Both Billy’s parents and his grandmother think that Billy is lazy and immature, Geoffrey is the most critical of Billy and thinks that he is a liar and always messes up. He thinks that he needs to grow up and get his act together.
Billy’s grandmother thinks that Billy is in need of stricter discipline as she reflects on her own upbringing. Alice is the softest on Billy and the least critical she thinks Billy is a good boy really and that he just needs to settle down a bit and act more responsibly.
Overall Billy seems to get little encouragement, praise or support from his family. This is what maybe drove Billy to start lying in the first place. The criticism, mainly coming from his Dad maybe has made him feel insecure and therefore feel the need to lie to try and impress them. If Geoffrey maybe showed a bit more understanding and support then Billy would maybe stop lying and would have more success in what he does.
2. Act Two. Marking the moment – For this explorative strategy we picked out certain points in act two that we thought showed the levels of closeness Geoffrey and Billy have.
Graph to show how Geoffrey becomes closer to Billy
Quote 1. “I mean at your age like. You’re only young yet. You’re not old enough to start thinking about getting married.” This quote was chosen because it shows them when they are just starting to get close. This line, said by Geoffrey, is quite fatherly, Geoffrey is actually advising him on what to do rather that telling or ordering him to and it is said in quite a pleasant manner.
Quote 2 “ Well that’s something, anyroad. I suppose she’s all right. Just with you not saying anything, that’s all.” We chose this quote from Geoffrey as he talks about Billy’s engagement to Barbara and the fact that he was not informed before because Geoff is beginning to show emotion here. He sounds almost hurt that he wasn’t told earlier about something so important in his son’s life.
Quote 3 “Only you’ll have to start thinking about getting married. Saving up and that.” This quote shows Geoffrey giving some more fatherly advice, something he hadn’t done throughout the play until this point. He is expressing his own views on the topic and actually trying to help him. He obviously feels Billy is now worthy of his advice whereas nearer the beginning of the play he thought he was a bit of a waste of space.
Quote 4 “Course I don’t believe in interfering. You’ve made your mind up. I don’t want you to come to me and say that I stopped you doing it.” This quote is very poignant in the closeness levels as Geoffrey for once isn’t forcing his views onto Billy he is giving Billy the choice to do what he wants. He has gained enough respect for Billy to allow and trust him to make his own decisions and respect and trust were both seriously lacking in their relationship in the opening scene.
Quote 5 “Well, Dad, it’s really not that simple. I’ve not really decided what we’ll be doing yet.” We chose this quote purely because Billy calls Geoffrey Dad for the first time in the play here and therefore this is the highest point of closeness. Geoffrey has obviously made Billy feel close enough to him and comfortable enough for him to actually call him that.
Quote 6 “Well you want to get your bloody mind made up, lad. Right sharp. Before she does it for you.” The closeness levels starts going down slightly here. Geoffrey seems to adopt his gruff manner again a bit here which brings the closeness down a bit. However it is still quite high as it is still a fatherly piece of advice with an element of humour in it meaning they were feeling comfortable enough to joke about with each other.
Quote 7 “Talk bloody properly when you talk to me! You were talking different a minute ago, weren’t you? What did you just say to your grandma? What did you just say?” Once we reach this point however, all closeness has been lost. Geoffrey has completely lost his temper with Billy here and all the bonding they had just done is unravelled and Geoffrey seems to loose all the respect for Billy he had just gained.
This exercise helped us gain perspective on Geoff and Billy’s relationship. By marking the moment we can accurately see how the relationship develops and changes at important points. You can conclude from this exercise that Billy and Geoff have a very complicated and difficult relationship.
Geoffrey has a very naturally gruff manner and clearly finds it very difficult to articulate his feelings as you can see from this scene. Looking at his speech, it is not smooth; he changes his wording a lot and uses many ‘wells’ and ‘I means’ in his struggle to express his thoughts and feelings.
I think Geoffrey does want a better relationship with Billy but just doesn’t know how to go about it and lets his temper get the better of him. He does seem to be pleased to have the opportunity to express his feelings and they shared some nice moments. I also think that when Billy called Geoffrey ‘dad’, although he would have felt awkward, he would have been touched.
Still Imaging - We created still images for our first, fifth and seventh quote to show the closeness.
In this still image Geoffrey is standing over Billy who is seated in order to portray him as young or childlike as Geoff is giving him some fatherly advice. They are looking at each other to show the connection and concentration but they are not too close as this is when they just start to get close Geoff is fiddling with his hands in order to convey his awkwardness.
As this is the height of their closeness they are sitting next to each other on the same level to show the equality and respect between them. Geoffrey’s hand is on Billy’s arm to convey that close connection however they are avoiding eye contact as it is already very close and they want to try and avoid embarrassment or awkwardness.
Here they are both standing, Billy kind of being held up by Geoffrey who is angrily and gruffly holding him by the arm as though shaking him Billy cowering away to show the anxiousness and sudden change in atmosphere.
By doing this exercise we gain understanding of how the relationship has developed in terms of physical closeness and how that reflects their emotional closeness. The first image shows them just starting to open up a bit but they are still wary so keep their distance. The second shows them at their closest emotionally and physically and at their most open and most daring. In the third, although they are close physically they are at their furthest emotionally.
Thought tracking – using the same still images, firstly both Billy and Geoffrey each spoke their feelings at that particular moment. Then we did the same for the two contrasting sides of Geoffrey.
In the first thought tracking, in the close still image, Billy talked about his surprise in his father actually showing some emotion and how this was the closest he’d ever felt to his father. Geoffrey talked about the possibility that Billy was actually turning over a new leaf and finally growing up and expressing a tiny bit of pride in him. In the last still image Billy talked about how he knew it wouldn’t last and how it was too good to be true while Geoffrey talked about how Billy hadn’t really grown up at all.
In the second thought tracking, the soft side of Geoffrey talked about how he does really care about Billy and how he liked being able to express his feelings to him whereas the angry side of Geoffrey talked about how Billy is a ‘lazy get’ and is ‘bloody idle’.
This explorative strategy gave further insight into the complicated relationship of Billy and Geoffrey and provided detailed thoughts from each character.
Hot Seating – For this strategy one performer took on the role of Geoffrey and was questioned by the other members of the group.
Examples of questions
- Why do you think you find it difficult to articulate your feelings?
- Do you find it hard to control your temper?
- Looking back would you change anything in Billy’s upbringing?
- Do you think Billy takes after you?
- What do you think of Billy’s aspirations to become a scriptwriter?
This technique allows you to really think about the character of Geoffrey and try to get into his mind. It helps you to understand what he is thinking and why he is the way he is. All of the strategies in this section really help to identify the problems within Geoffrey and Billy’s relationship.
Geoffrey obviously has very strong family values and cares about his family, proven by the fact that he became so angry when Billy snapped at his Grandma; he does care for Billy but his caring side just gets masked by his personality and very short temper.
The generation gap I also think plays a major part in their relationship problems. Geoffrey was brought up very differently to Billy, he was lower/middle class and has his own business that he worked hard for, he thinks Billy’s education is a waste of time and finds it hard to understand all this academic learning as he was brought up at a time when it was much more respected to go out and do ‘proper men’s work’, manual labour. However things were starting to change and it was starting to become more respectable to work in an office and do less hands on work, something Geoff couldn’t get to grips with as it is just not part of his culture so he doesn’t value it. This is why Billy and Geoffrey clash as they don’t really understand each other and one another’s ambitions. Also Geoffrey seems to kind of think Billy has had an easy ride in a way and could even be very slightly jealous of him.
Geoffrey’s upbringing and the difference in generation between them causes them rarely to see eye to eye as does Geoffrey’s strong family values. Geoffrey’s fiery personality and inability to express himself also plays a part in their relationship difficulties. I also think that they are very different people that have clashing personalities. All these things cause problems in their relationship.
3. Act Three: The end of the play
When Billy announces that he is leaving for London that night, Alice and Geoffrey react very differently. Alice doesn’t really want to believe it and reacts in a very motherly manner and worries about the practicalities for instance, the washing and cooking. She doesn’t think he will survive on his own. She thinks he needs her and she probably quite wants to feel needed; she has just lost her mother and now is going to loose her son as well and is probably feeling very vulnerable and upset.
Billy and Geoffrey’s relationship is considerably worse towards the end of the play and Geoffrey is back to his old self. Geoffrey acts like he doesn’t care but he does seem to want him to stay and uses the excuse that he has to pay back the money as a reason for him to stay as he doesn’t know how to tell him how he feels. Once again however, his temper gets the better of him and he ends up telling him to go as he has had enough of him. Billy doesn’t want to leave on bad terms and does try to rectify things with his father. There is a point near the end of the play where Billy has two fairly long speeches that really help you to understand both, Billy, Geoffrey and their relationship when Billy talks about his education and how he never received praise or support and just had to be grateful for everything. It is here that the generation gap is very apparent again and difference in upbringing. It is due to these things that they misunderstand each other and have very different values.
Internal monologue – for this explorative strategy we performed a short monologue for both Alice and Geoffrey summing up how they felt about Billy moving to London.
In Alice’s monologue she talked about how worried she was about Billy and how much she was going to miss him. Geoffrey is also sad that he went and regrets telling him to go but doesn’t know how to rectify the mistake. In a way though, Geoff feels a kind of respect for Billy as he actually followed something through and told the truth and thinks that the experience could make him more mature. Neither of them entirely believed that it was true until they read the letter and the reality sunk in.
This strategy helped to understand how Alice and Geoffrey truly felt about Billy at the end of the play when he has finally done something with himself.
From my study of the play I can say that the relationships within the play are complex, particularly Geoff and Billy’s however there is no doubt that there is love, respect and strong morals present in all relationships even if they are not always shown.
GCSE Drama Coursework – Billy Liar
Section 2: The Development Phase
In this section we were required to direct and rehearse a short section of the text in order to understand the process of staging a play. We focused on how the writers use the elements of drama to convey meaning and how actors use the medium of drama to interpret a text for performance.
Period and cultural background
Billy Liar is set in the 1950’s. A time when there were strict unwritten society rules, set family roles and a family orientated lifestyle. Although the time period is not directly mentioned throughout the play, we are provided with various clues of the period and culture conveyed through the dialogue, events and set. For example we are provided with great insight into the play purely from the set which is described in detail at the beginning of act one; ‘…furnished with an uncut moquette three piece suite and a dining room suite in dark oak’. This description is very typical of a 1950’s lower/middle class home, popular interior design of the time. A ‘cheap and flashy cocktail cabinet’ is also very 1950’s and also tells us a little about the family as a cocktail cabinet is something a family would have bought to show off and impress others; therefore the Fisher family clearly care what society things of them. ‘The usual collection of family photographs on the mantelpiece’ again is typical of a 1950’s family and shows the how the Fishers rate family as of high importance.
The fact that Alice’s mother, Florence lives with them , that they all eat breakfast together and the family roles (Alice being a stereotypical housewife and Geoffrey being the hard working money earner), all also indicate their 1950’s lifestyle.
They are a very traditional family and their lower/middle social status is reflected mainly in Geoffrey with his strong values and working class upbringing meaning he worked very hard to create his own business and he values an academic education like Billy’s very little.
Our Extract
The section of the play my group developed was from page five to page nine, during these pages it is late morning and the family are in the middle of breakfast; Billy has only just got out of bed (much to the disapproval and annoyance of his parents especially Alice who has just been struggling to get him up for some time before hand) and come downstairs to join the family; Geoffrey who is seated at the kitchen table doing paperwork, Florence who is slightly more away from things sitting on the couch and Alice who is busy doing chores and preparing breakfast.
Obviously this section of the text being the first scene in the play and so near to the beginning means that it was very important to perform it just right. The first scene in a play is all about introducing the characters and setting the scene so we had to think very carefully about how we wanted our characters to come across to the audience and exactly what we wanted to convey to them. It is the first impression for the audience and it will stick in their mind so it had to be put across with care. It had to have an impact on the audience, engage them and give them just enough information about the characters and their relationships to keep them interested but also not give away everything so that there is nothing to be conveyed throughout the rest of the play and no depth to the plot. Information has to be released steadily.
It was also important that we conveyed the right atmosphere to the audience. The mood in this particular scene is very familiar and it was important that this was conveyed through the performance. Although things are a bit chaotic there is also the impression that every morning the same thing happens and everyone does the same thing. They appear to know each other and their routines very well for instance they talk about Billy and his late nights and getting up late as though it is a regular occurrence and they all are so used to Florence’s mumblings that they generally just ignore her and she just becomes background noise. We get the feeling that Geoffrey always does his paperwork at breakfast, Alice is always busy trying to keep things in order and Billy always strolls into breakfast as if he has all the time in the world. They all have their own agenda but still kept up the conversation showing their familiarity with the situation. All in all we get a strong typical family feel from this scene and it was important that all this was conveyed to the audience.
As well as conveying the characters and the mood it was also important to give the audience some insight into relationships within the family. For example, Geoffrey and Alice would have been married for a long time and would be very familiar with each other, they would have quite a strong relationship and be quite united in their views, that had to come across to the audience by using eye contact between them and exchanges of looks conveying the fact that they knew what one another was thinking. Most of these looks were exchanged of course over Billy whose relationship with his parents to an extend seems to be fairly typical of a teenager and their mother and father in that you expect an amount of nagging but there is also an air of familiar disappointment and disapproval towards Billy. His parents give the feeling that Billy never does anything right and they expect the worst of him; they express little support or faith in Billy. We can tell all this from various things said about his actions for example, “And what time did you get in last night? If it was last night. This bloody morning more like” and “He knocks about with too many lasses. He out with a different one every night”, which shows their disapproval and lack of faith in him. All these things had to come across in the performance through body language, movement, facial expressions, gestures and tone and pattern of speech in order to introduce the characters in the right way.
My Character
The character I play in the extract is Alice Fisher, Billy’s mother, Geoffrey’s wife. Alice is a very typical mother and housewife; she is very motherly in her manner, a bit of a busy body. She is constantly on the move and busying herself with chores. She fusses over Billy and Geoffrey and worries about practicalities. Alice’s role in the family is that of most women of the time, a housewife; she stays at home while Geoffrey is out at work and she cleans the house and cooks the meals and makes sure everything is as it should be. She is very prim and proper. She is caring and clearly loves her family but also has very strong values and morals and has very specific ideas of how things should be for example is strict about manners and often reprimands Billy or Geoffrey about their language. Alice is quite strict and authoritative but also very fair and reasonable and likes to try and keep the peace. She often nags at Billy and is exasperated by him but would still be lost without him, she feels needed by having Billy around and in a way I think quite likes to fuss over him. She nags about things like doing the housework but she wouldn’t really want anyone else to do it because they wouldn’t do it right and to her standards. Alice still sees Billy as a child and treats him like one to an extent; for instance, on a few occasions she says things like “you’re not old enough for that”. This is very typical of a mother; unable to let go, doesn’t want to admit that her child is growing up and maybe no longer really needs them. Alice obviously cares for Billy but finds it hard to understand him sometimes and why he lies so much. Towards the end of the play Alice changes slightly and becomes a bit more vulnerable as she has lost her Mother and just as she is coming to terms with that her son announces he is moving away; for a woman whose life revolves around her family it would be quite a shock to the system to suddenly loose two members.
In the extract we studied, she is just being introduced and her role in the family and her relationships are just being established by the audience. She is at probably her most motherly and fusses a lot in this extract probably because it is important to give this first impression of her to the audience so that different sides to her character can be revealed later in the play and show she has some depth so the audience are forced to reassess their first impression of her. The important things to be conveyed in this extract are her strong morals and family values and how she is motherly and fusses over her family and nags. The amount of authority she has over Billy and the amount of respect she receives off her son and Geoffrey should also be established. Her stereotypical mother image should definitely be conveyed. These things were conveyed through her movement, expressions, body language and voice. When performing I made sure Alice was constantly busy, frequently getting up from the breakfast table to busy herself in the kitchen with cooking or tidying or bringing things for the family, however all the while she is totally involved in the conversation. This multi-tasking again shows her familiarity with the situation as well as reinforcing her motherly image. To show her disapproval in Billy there is lots of shaking her head, pursing her lips, sighing and catching Geoffrey’s eye. Also to show her strict morals and set ideas at one point she slaps Billy’s elbow off the table as an extra little character insight for the audience to pick up on.
Section three: Evaluation
For this section we performed our own extract and observed others in order for us to be able to evaluate them.
My group’s performance (Pages 5-9)
Characters:
Billy played by Joanna
Alice played by myself
Florence played by Eleni
Geoffrey played by Joe
For our performance we used an end stage and had the breakfast table as the main focal point positioned at an angle just off centre to the left. It was positioned this way as this is where the bulk of the action and dialogue happened in the piece and we wanted the audience’s attention to be on it. We had the kitchen area further left from the table and a sofa to the right of the table. This positioning added interest to the stage by using more space and levels as well as creating a more homely feel. Florence was seated at the sofa throughout the piece; this was to show her as separated from the rest of the family. By seating Florence away from the table it showed her as isolated and reflected her personality in that she is always in her own little world. We had an entrance at the central back which Billy uses to enter and an entrance in the left corner which Alice enters through. Geoffrey was seated at the head of the table on the right side throughout the performance, immersed in his paperwork; both this positioning and paperwork were done to help convey him as the head of the household and the money earner. Alice was positioned opposite Geoffrey at the other end of the table on and off throughout the piece. By being seated across from Geoffrey, it creates a feeling of their marriage and unity and allows for a lot of eye contact and exchange of looks between them easily. Billy was positioned, for the majority of the extract, in between Geoffrey and Alice, making him the most central character on stage, due to him being the main character we wanted the audience’s main focus to be on him. It also reflects Billy’s mildly ‘the world revolves around me’ attitude. The fact that Billy was seated in between Geoffrey and Alice helps convey the feeling of Billy being closed in on and nagged at from all areas and his feeling that everyone is against him and that no-one understands him.
In our performance I made sure I was continually busy; either carrying out chores in the kitchen or preparing breakfast at the table in order to convey my characters personality and role in the family to the audience. These actions showed her as caring but also fussy and as motherly and a typical housewife of the time. When speaking I spoke in a clear almost posh voice and conveyed an almost snobby air about her especially when nagging Billy and expressing her distaste in his lifestyle and choice of girlfriends conveying the fact that she doesn’t think they live up to her standards. In her movement and body language I made sure it was very prim and proper to convey her prim and proper character. When seated she had a very straight tense back with her feet and legs together and hands placed delicately in her lap. I also maintained a good posture and swift movement throughout to represent my character. I wore a fifties looking plain black skirt and blouse with a pinny over the top to convey the motherly/housewife feel.
In the performance Joe stayed seated at the breakfast table throughout and was immersed in his paperwork only participating in the conversation occasionally to convey Geoffrey’s personality and role to the audience, this shows him as the man of the house, the money earner and a typical husband of the time being waited on by his wife. Geoffrey sat leaning over the table examining his paperwork and with a pen in his hand. Joe spoke in quite a deep and rough voice to convey Geoffrey’s gruff manner and his voice varied quite greatly in volume and speed depending on Geoffrey’s ever changing and easily flared temper. Joe wore some plain black trousers, a white shirt, tie and braces to indicate he is a business man and is ready to go out for work.
During the performance Eleni sat facing the audience on the couch, she sat quite bent over in order to portray Florence as old and frail and moved very little. Eleni held quite a glazed over gaze into no particular direction during the performance in order to show Florence as being in her own world and quite disconnected from reality and her family. When speaking she spoke in quite an old and withered sounding voice but still very audible and added an element of humour to the piece. When speaking she was vague in who she was addressing and addressed all her remarks ‘to the sideboard’. Eleni wore classically ‘granny’ like clothes, a long patterned skirt of the time with a big cardigan which didn’t particularly match helping to convey the feeling that Florence is not quite with it.
In order to portray Billy as sort of thinking the world revolved around him and his laid back character, Joanna made sure all her movements were slow, lazy and casual, when seated she was sprawled over the chair and on and off throughout the play had a distinctly bored or exasperated look. She used lots of rolling of the eyes to convey his exasperation and the familiarity of being nagged at. Joanna wore a big green raincoat over some pyjamas when playing Billy, which conveys Billy’s original and off the wall character. It also kind of conveys him as creative and imaginative as many writers are. He has a wild imagination.
The performance went well; we used the space well and conveyed the stage as very homely through our familiarity with it. We used carefully timed pauses, expressions and movements in order to make everything seem realistic, interesting, help it flow properly and convey the correct atmosphere.
Another Groups Performance (Pages 39-42)
Characters:
Geoffrey played by Liz
Billy played by Jeremy
Liz and Jeremy also used an end stage for their performance. They had a seat where Florence sat throughout the performance to the front right of the stage. Behind Florence slightly to the left was the drinks cabinet and further along from that was the sofa next to the table. They used the whole stage well in their piece and created a realistic and homely living space. Florence again was seated away from the action as if in her own world.
At the beginning both Billy and Geoffrey were preoccupied, Billy reading the paper and Geoffrey doing his paperwork, again conveying him as the man off the house. This was good because it helped to build up the atmosphere and create the tension. There was silence for a while on stage but still plenty to be seen, while both characters effectively showed their familiarity with their surroundings through their body language and movement, a slight awkwardness was also created which was shown through quite a few furtive glances shot at Geoffrey from Billy conveying the fact that he was uncomfortable and was not quite sure what to do or how to act. He seemed to be using the paper in order to just look as if he was doing something, keeping his hands busy, to take the focus off the situation. He didn’t appear to be actually reading it. This gave the audience some insight into Billy and Geoffrey’s relationship. It was obvious that their relationship was not a close one, more distant, uncomfortable and strained. They didn’t appear to know each other very well. There was also a lot of physical distance between them on stage at the beginning to reflect their emotional distance. When they do start talking it is still very strained and awkward but it is Geoffrey who does seem to be making an effort, asking Billy questions. Billy is very short and blunt with his answers and they both avoid eye contact again conveying the awkwardness of the situation. Billy seems very wary of Geoffrey and doesn’t seem to be able to relax at first, shown through his body language and pretend concentration on reading the paper. There was also a fair bit of fidgeting and nervous movement from both characters again showing the unfamiliar and awkward situation. It is clear they never usually spent any time alone.
As the performance went on Geoffrey gradually moved closer to Billy and ended up sitting next Billy on the sofa. At this point they both seemed to relax and let their guards down a bit, the physical closeness here reflected the emotional closeness. At this point there was a lot of positive body language and less fidgeting. They were both facing towards each other and occasionally managing to meet eye contact. The closeness was conveyed well to the audience but it is made clear that this is a very rare occurrence meaning that they were both still wary and unsure of themselves therefore there was still some tension conveyed and there was still a barrier between them. Jeremy and Liz took their time in building up to this point, which was very effective; they did it slowly enough to convey the tension without being too slow and loosing the interest of the audience.
When Florence starts interrupting at the height of their closeness, Billy finds it hard to hide his annoyance and Jeremy showed this through his facial expressions.and rolling off the eyes. When she continued to interrupt his impatience and annoyance became less discreet and the tension was built up once again, very quickly through his expressions and movement. When Billy suddenly exploded at Florence, the pace quickened and the volume increased drastically. Both Billy and Geoffrey were standing at this point and after Billy’s initial explosive reaction to Florence he cowered and looked worried under Geoffrey’s reaction in which he came at Billy quickly and at full height and volume, showing power and conveying the fact that he was still the parent and was still in control, leaving no trace of the closeness. All this happened very quickly contrasting to the beginning, conveying the fact that it took them so long to work up to the point of closeness but it was all shattered in a matter of seconds.
The performance went well and they used space, levels and timing to great effects. They conveyed the awkwardness of the situation really well as well as giving us great insight into the relationship of Geoffrey and Billy and personal details about each character.