'Woman in Black'- drama coursework

Response phase The 'Woman in Black' was written by Susan Hill in 1983, but was first published by Hamish Hamilton in 1983 as a hardback book. Most of the ideas for the 'Woman in Black' came from M.R James. In 1989, The 'Woman in Black' went onto television as a film thanks to a television writer called Nigel Kneal. In 1987, it became a stage play, and was first performed in Scarborough at the Theatre-by-the-sea. Then in 1989, the stage play moved to the Fortune theatre in London's west end. A young solicitor goes to stay at a house on the Nine lives causeway, and experiences lots of strange and scary noises and haunting as he goes through some of Mrs Drablows papers. The main haunting noise he hears is of a horse and cart that crashed, followed on by the severe screaming of a young child and a woman. One day Mr Kipps goes to a funeral, and sees a woman dressed in black with a pale and wasted face, standing amongst a group of young children. Mr Kipps realises there is more to Alice Drablow then he thought. In Crythin Gifford, nobody is happy to talk about the history of Mrs Drablow or the woman in black, for when they tried to find out, it caused them great pain and fear. When the solicitor talks to Mr Kipps, he finds out that Jennet Humfrye, sister to Mrs Drablow had a child, but could not look after it. So the baby boy was adopted by Mrs Drablow and her husband, who both

  • Word count: 7304
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Discussing a play based on Mary Shelleys book Frankenstein.

Frankenstein Our drama group watched a play based on Mary Shelley's book "Frankenstein" on 29th November 2006, which took place in the Regent's School, Pattaya. It was directed by Paul Stebbings, an artist director of TNT theatre Britain and The American Drama Group Europe. The production "Frankenstein" was about a young and mad scientist who tries to create a life form from dead human body parts. He tries to do what no other human being has never achieved before. Once, he had completed his objective, Frankenstein was terrified by the resulting look of his creation. The innocent, child-like monster was abandoned by his master and subsequently misjudged by the community. This tragedy that the scientist's creation suffered under, turned him into a 'killer-monster'. In the end of the play, the scientist was punished: his beloved wife dies through a bullet that was meant for the monster. Frankenstein was devastated due to the loss of his partner, therefore he tried to bring her back to life as he did for the monster. He succeeded. However Elizabeth had the same features as the monster: she had no idea how the world is functioning - she was as a newborn. Elizabeth had a choice to make between Frankenstein and the monster. As the punishment for his actions, Elizabeth chooses the monster. The director makes the old-fashioned myth futuristic through using machinery as props. This

  • Word count: 3763
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Doctor Dolittle Theatre Review

Along with my year eleven drama group I attended the opening night of the Manchester Palace Theatre professional production "Dr Dolittle". The trip took place on Monday 5th November and featured Tommy Steele; a relatively famous actor. The production was based on the books written by Hugh Lofting rather than the Hollywood film featuring Eddie Murphy; yet the novel was adapted for the stage and re-written by Lesley Bricas. Through having only watched the Hollywood film and not experiencing the original version I had some preconceptions which were extremely incorrect. I had expected a more classic and sophisticated musical rather than a larger than life, pantomimesque melodrama! This brings me to a comparison with another production I previously saw at the venue; it was named "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" a more convincing and emotional piece, I shall use the production as a brief contrast to Dr Dolittle highlighting its strengths in order to emphasize the aspects in Dr Dolittle that could be improved. The onstage production of Doctor Dolittle is an amalgam of overacting berserk ideas it casts larger than life characters, extravagant costumes and a very clever use of the stage; this combined creates a fun; ridiculous, yet entertaining musical! Despite being written in the 1930's and 1940's Hugh Lofting set his novel in the Victorian era. Placed against the backdrop of the

  • Word count: 3413
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Criminal Law

CRIMINAL LAW Scene One (This scene takes place in court) 30th November 2006 Court Rep: The court shall rise to welcome the honorable judge miss Melody. Judge: You all may sit. (a moment of silence) Counsel you may state the case. Court Rep: A case of rape: under section 296 of the Cameroon penal code. Judge: What does the accused plead? Accused: Not guilty. Court Rep: The accused shall lay his pledge. Pastor: Are you a Christian, Muslim or pagan? Accused: Muslim. Pastor: Do swear before this Koran that whatsoever you say will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Accused: I, Mr. Amadou, do state before this Koran that whatsoever I will say will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Judge: Prosecution Counsel, you may raise your case. P.C.: Now Mr. Amadou, could you please tell this court where exactly you were on that fateful night of the 25th November 2006? Accused: With all due respect your honour, I am a Muslim. I believe in the doctrine of the Koran. So I don't see why you should intrude into my privacy by asking where I was. P.C.: Listen Mr. Amadou, you are in court remember? You've just said no-one should intrude into your privacy. I doubt if you have one. You also said you believe in the doctrine of the Koran. Does that doctrine state that rape is legal? Def. C.: Objection my Lady, counsel is making

  • Word count: 3400
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Drama Review: "Lenny - The boy who wanted to be a train"

Review: "Lenny - The boy who wanted to be a train." The idea of a story about a boy trying to become a train deterred me from wanting to see the play, however, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the performance and the engaging way in which the story was told. Originally written as a radio show, I saw Lenny - The boy who wanted to be a train. at Backwell School in March 2007, directed by freelance director, Sally Cookson, it was quite adventurous; with only one actor, Craig Edwards, using multi- role playing effectively to create each character in the story. It aimed to entertain and challenge its target audience of 13-14 year-olds, which it certainly did with the choreographed dance routines and although maybe too challenging for that age group to understand and appreciate the more stylised aspects of the performance. The play is based around Lenny, a young child of around 12 years old who believes he can become a train if he eats metal screws. His fascination with trains is clearly linked with the bullying he suffers; he admires the strength, speed and power of a train. The train station is where he can voice his stress and insecurities through energetic screams near passing trains, escaping the concerns of a typical young boy who can't live up to his idolised older brother Ethan, can't defend himself against the other boys at school and can't grow tall or strong

  • Word count: 2641
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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woman in black essay

Our GCSE Drama group went to see 'The Woman In Black' at the Fortune Theatre, London on the 24th March 2009. The play is written by Stephen Mallatratt and the performance was put on by PW Productions. It is set in the early 20th century, on the eerie marshes of the east coast. Basic Plot The main concept that the audience have to immediately realise, is that 'The Woman In Black' is a play within a play, so there are only two actors: Arthur Kipps, played by Andrew Jarvis and a young actor who is not given a name, played by Timothy Watson. As the play begins, the audience learn that Mr Kipps is a troubled, old man who has had to deal with a terrifying experience which he cannot forget. He believes that if he can tell his family the story, it will be laid to rest. Mr Kipps hires a small, forgotten theatre in which to tell his story, as well as a young actor to help him in how to tell it. However, it soon becomes clear that Mr Kipps has never acted before, so in order to tell the story, the young actor and Mr Kipps switch roles. Mr Kipps uses multirole to play all the different characters he has met. This is essential because he is the one that has actually met them, so can portray their behaviour accurately. Multirole is a method created by Bertolt Brecht which enables the actor to detach themselves from the play and the character. It is important in The Woman In Black,

  • Word count: 2543
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Medea review - Splendid Productions, January 9th 2012

Medea Splendid Productions, January 9th 2012 In Ancient Greece, the name of the monstrous murdering mother Medea was well- known. The story of Medea, the mysterious sorcerer-princess who helped Jason steal the famous Golden Fleece from her father, is a mythical romance with a terrible, terrible ending. Splendid's new creative adaptation puts the audience at the heart of the performance, as a twenty-first century chorus presents a timeless tale of passion, betrayal and revenge. The performance took the audience through all sorts of emotions, as the story of a mother and wife took revenge on her hero husband that betrayed her by cheating with a princess. Medea takes revenge so far and even though she is banished from her city, she takes the ultimate revenge on Jason - killing her own children. Although the play had many characters and a chorus, there was only 3 actors in whole performance. These 3 actors managed to multi-role play perfectly by using such simple ideas that made the audience recognise the characters they were playing easily. One of the most recognised and in my opinion, effective way they managed to change characters was by using scarves. It wasn't a complicated fiddling about changing clothing, it was a simple scarf and a belt. When the actors were being narrators or not performing, they wore these scarves in a different way each time to represent the

  • Word count: 2452
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Theatre Review of Blue Remembered Hills

Theatre Review of Blue Remembered Hills On the 6th of February 2008, Dennis Potters wartime play 'Blue Remembered Hills was performed to approximately 100 people at Birmingham's Crescent Theatre. As a well established theatre and production company I had very high hopes and expectations which were unexpectedly shattered by the amateur acting and ridiculous staging. Blue Remembered Hills is an intellectual play exploring a day in the life of seven young children during the war. As the performance is in 'real time' no non-naturalistic techniques are used to portray neither the children's actions nor emotions. The play follows their fights, squabbles and play, and climaxes when a victimized character by the name of Donald, creates his own game of pyromania in a barn. Potter once said "When we dream of childhood we take our present selves with us, it is not the adult world writ small; childhood is the adult world writ large" judging from this statement the main issue within the play is self explanatory... the relationship and similarities between adults and children are a lot more alike than people are led to believe. It is as if Potter is communicating the lack of understanding in our lives through his choice of adult actors. It is through these actors that the theme of childhood innocence is lost, then regained, then lost again. Blue Remembered Hills is nationally profound

  • Word count: 2174
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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GCSE Drama Course Work A03 Response to Live Performance

GCSE Drama Course Work A03 Response to Live Performance '1984' by George Orwell at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol Northern Broadsides Theatre Company 25 November 2010 Pre-Show On entering the Tobacco Factory, the atmosphere felt immediately related to 1984, the performance I was about to see. Through heavy wooden doors, the dim lights glinted off the golden 'HELLO' printed on the glass panels. Although the look about the place was quite modern, I couldn't help but feel like I'd been hurtled into the past. The floors were a hard, cold metal, the ceiling was framed with colored pipes, and inspiring posters of plays yet to come filled the walls. Walking into a short corridor, completely painted black, washed away any biased opinions from the outside world, and then passing through a doorway bought the audience straight onto the stage, the same level as the rows of pews and red plastic chairs to sit on. The whole experience was very austere, stepping right into a rural bombed war zone, everything dim and grey. It really set the mood for the performance. Set The set was a combination of the colors grey, green and brown, all of them dark shades, bleak and lifeless. Sue Condie, the set designer, says, 'using extracts from Winston's diary, I worked to create levels of memory with fixtures, layers and imprints of the people who had lived here before,' which explains the vintage

  • Word count: 2121
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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The Woman in Black Review. The props and the general atmosphere that was created gave the stage and set a character of its own

DRAMA Lydia George The Woman in Black Review On the 14th of September the Sexey’s School drama students went to The Fortune Theatre, London and saw the performance of ‘The Woman in Black’. The play was riveting to watch and made the audience scream on more than one occasion; it developed a great sense of tension and created a high level of anxiety in the audience. The plot of the play explored the horror of drama to its bitter ends and combined the power and intensity of live theatre with some of the best effects from cinematic horror shows. Although it was performed by the majority of only two men, Michael Mears and Orlando Wells, it was easy to follow character changes and the swapping between different roles. The props and the general atmosphere that was created gave the stage and set a character of its own as the story reached its climax. The colours of the stage were dismal and gloomy and really helped to ‘set the scene’ and added to the atmosphere. Although there were not many stage props and they were quite basic, they were extremely effective; such as the wicker basket which was used to store paper files and a blanket. Props and how the characters used space made it easy to recognise the character’s emotions and see which character had what status; such as the use of a hat

  • Word count: 2094
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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