GCSE Drama Paper 1 Unit 2
Task 1- Response Phase
Our group started working on 'Table Manners', one of a trio of plays in 'The Norman Conquests', written by Alan Ayckbourn. We used the following explorative strategies; Role-Play, Hot-Seating, Thought-Tracking and Still Image, to further enhance our understanding and appreciation of the characters in the play.
Still Image:
For this explorative strategy, we were split into two groups, and we were to portray all six characters, as if they were in a waxwork museum. We exaggerated features of our character, to make it easier for the other group to identify our characters. As individuals, we focused on our body language, facial expression, but as a group we tried using our proximity to show the character's personality and attributes. We showed this, by depicting Norman as being the 'gigolo' he says he is in the play, and by having his arm around Annie, looking extremely confident, but still longing for Ruth, as he was still looking at her in admiration. Meanwhile Tom was expressed by him just looking at Annie from a distance, showing his inability to put his emotions to words or actions. I posed as Reg, while another member of my group was Sarah; she tried 'perfecting' my appearance, keeping in line with her character's opinionated views, by fiddling with my shirt. At first, I put up a facial impression to show how annoyed I was, but when I got feedback, I realised to better show Reg's humorous and jolly character I had to include an element of laughter or comedy. So I decided to show I was pleased with myself as Reg would know that this would clearly 'wind up' and annoy Sarah hugely. Yet I still tried looking a bit disgusted as he has had to put up with Sarah's controlling and opinionated character ever since their marriage. Ruth was portrayed as being distant to everyone else. The person in my group that portrayed her, was reading some type of an office report, to bring out her work-orientated character, and was also isolated from the rest of the group; it showed her dislike for the family, and her view of them being inferior to her. This exercise helped us to exaggerate our facial expressions and physical features to portray our characters effectively and also trained us to sustain a character for a long time.
Task 1- Response Phase
Our group started working on 'Table Manners', one of a trio of plays in 'The Norman Conquests', written by Alan Ayckbourn. We used the following explorative strategies; Role-Play, Hot-Seating, Thought-Tracking and Still Image, to further enhance our understanding and appreciation of the characters in the play.
Still Image:
For this explorative strategy, we were split into two groups, and we were to portray all six characters, as if they were in a waxwork museum. We exaggerated features of our character, to make it easier for the other group to identify our characters. As individuals, we focused on our body language, facial expression, but as a group we tried using our proximity to show the character's personality and attributes. We showed this, by depicting Norman as being the 'gigolo' he says he is in the play, and by having his arm around Annie, looking extremely confident, but still longing for Ruth, as he was still looking at her in admiration. Meanwhile Tom was expressed by him just looking at Annie from a distance, showing his inability to put his emotions to words or actions. I posed as Reg, while another member of my group was Sarah; she tried 'perfecting' my appearance, keeping in line with her character's opinionated views, by fiddling with my shirt. At first, I put up a facial impression to show how annoyed I was, but when I got feedback, I realised to better show Reg's humorous and jolly character I had to include an element of laughter or comedy. So I decided to show I was pleased with myself as Reg would know that this would clearly 'wind up' and annoy Sarah hugely. Yet I still tried looking a bit disgusted as he has had to put up with Sarah's controlling and opinionated character ever since their marriage. Ruth was portrayed as being distant to everyone else. The person in my group that portrayed her, was reading some type of an office report, to bring out her work-orientated character, and was also isolated from the rest of the group; it showed her dislike for the family, and her view of them being inferior to her. This exercise helped us to exaggerate our facial expressions and physical features to portray our characters effectively and also trained us to sustain a character for a long time.
