An Inspector calls - A letter to Mr.smith from Mr J B Priestly.

English Coursework: An Inspector Calls Dear Mr Smith, I was very pleased to hear that you wish to produce a version of An Inspector Calls in Dover. Below is some advice to help to accurately represent my ideas. As you know from the stage directions in my play, I have a very strong vision of how my play should be set. At the beginning I'm very adamant that the scene must look cosy so as to make the audience more involved and understanding of the time setting of the play. The entrance of the parlour maid is very important also and this key part should not be forgotten about. This is so the audience can understand that this is obviously a wealthy family if they have a parlour maid. Also, the lack of interaction between the family and the maid reflects the fact that people did not think much of their domestic servants at this time in life. The opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the play and I hope you can recreate the atmosphere of the opening. You could make the atmosphere tenser by advising the characters to use very overwrought facial expressions and movements. You could also use atmospheric music as the audience are waiting for the play to start. This will make them suspicious of the things to come and they will start to prefigure that something bad or mysterious is going to happen. As well as the music, the lighting should be quite dull and focus in on specific

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  • Word count: 989
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Comparing and contrasting Blue Remembered Hills with The Flint Street Nativity

Coursework for Acting (TIE) Project. In this essay I will discuss 'Theatre in Education', defining what it is, companies that perform to children in the UK and also the themes and content of my own theatre in education performance. I will explain the reasons why I used certain dramatic styles and form in order to better put my point across to my audience. 'Theatre in Education' is a form of drama usually performed to school aged children, where the purpose is to appeal to its audience and to teach them about important life lessons or moral issues such as bullying or drugs etc. The performance is then followed by a 'workshop' which the audience get involved in and show what they have learnt. Other dramatic forms and techniques often used in theatre in education are techniques such as multi rolling, monologue, and the use of coral voice and movement as well as many more. CragRats are a theatre in education company based the UK with a team of over 300 professional actors that perform in schools around the country educating children of different ages and academic abilities on several different subjects. For example, promoting career options, enterprise and financial literacy, aimhigher, waste management, road safety, science and technology, health issues, communication skills and PSHE and citizenship. In order for actors to be employed by CragRats they have to attend a casting

  • Word count: 1680
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Two. When I first read Two by Jim Cartwright, I didnt understand it, but as weve been looking deeper in to it, I now understand his style, and I think its very clever.

Review- 'Two' by Jim Cartwright. When I first read 'Two' by Jim Cartwright, I didn't understand it, but as we've been looking deeper in to it, I now understand his style, and I think it's very clever. He writes in such a way that it makes you think deeper, in ways the relationship's between the couples is quite authentic. I really liked it because I found the script very amusing and interesting, and it kept my attention. I found it highly amusing when Mr Fred & Alice started talking about what happened to be on TV. Fred: "Let's remember him, let's give him a name" Alice: "Fat Fat Palomino!" It made me think deeper when they carried on there conversation, I think it made the audiences heart melt when they started picking out each others negatives, as it made us realise they love each other for who they are, and there comfortable with each others appearance. Alice: "Were close in our own way" Fred: "As Close as we can get with our fat!" My favourite characters had to be Roy and Lesley, because there relationship was the most interesting, and as a reader I feel I could really get into it. It kept me gripped, and wanting to read on. They were definitely a rare combination, as the personalities did not match at all. Furthermore, If I was to play a character, I would chose Roy, because although he comes across as really aggressive, I like how he is outgoing, and not

  • Word count: 518
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Prison Scene (Blood Brothers)

PRACTICAL WORK DRAMA LESSON EDWARD VISITS MICKEY IN PRISON Our task today was to create a scene showing Edward visiting Mickey in prison. Before the short scene commenced both characters were instructed to improvise a monologue at the beginning to show the contrasting situations of life between the twin brothers and also the contrast in their spirit. The whole scenario clearly communicated this; Mickey being in prison and depressed, Edward's enthusiasm and excitement to tell Mickey the news about his new social life at university. PLOT and TECHNIQUES used The genre of our piece was "serious drama" because it featured realistic elements. The main effect we used was the silence. This provided a tense atmosphere and hooked the audiences attention. Before Edward enters the prison, a split scene is used as the monologues are individually acted out. Edward jumps out of his seat in the waiting room with enthusiasm as visitors are escorted to the visiting room. Mickey appears with a black eye and eye contact with the floor. His character maintains a motionless facial expression as if he is completely numb. Edward greets him with open arms and a warm smile and Mickey remains numb, not even acknowledging Edwards's presence. Edward begins to spark up a conversation and tells him about university, his new group of friends, his love life and studies as Mickey still remains mute.

  • Word count: 964
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Drama Development coursework

Drama Coursework- Development In the 1980's there was a great recession in which thousands and thousands lost there jobs, in the 1980's the interest rate peeked at nearly 20%, causing Unemployment and everyone struggling for money. Liverpool, the setting of Blood Brothers was hit very badly with more than half the population unemployed, with masses moving out everyday to find jobs elsewhere. It is relevant for audiences watching Blood Brothers today because Britain may again be slipping into an economic rut, thought it will not nearly be as bad as the 1980's. In class we have one lots of practical work about the play and worked a lot on characterisation, and thought through how we would play particular characters to make them as effective as possible, for example, in our class one group did a very good interpretation of the narrator, they showed him as a very shadowy character that controlled most of what happened in the play, like, he gave the gun to Mickey, when he was going to go kill Eddie, which gave of the impression that the narrator was bending the characters to do what he said, I liked this and found it very effective because I found the narrator a scary and sinister character and I thought the way that he controlled the play was almost like a creepy puppet show. My group showed the narrator as quite a sad character, as if she was looking down on the play with a

  • Word count: 1502
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Comparing "Blue Rembered Hills" and "Friends"

Comparison between 'Blue Remembered Hills' and 'Friends' Recently we performed a scripted assessment of Blue Remembered Hills, this was based on research that we did about life in the Second World War and the writer Dennis Potter. In this essay I will compare Blue Remembered Hills to the popular TV series Friends, created by David Crane. I will be looking at the similarities and differences between the two pieces of performance. Blue Remembered Hills is very different from Friends as it is much more naturalistic and the simplest in form and content. However this simplicity and naturalism in the writing is in contrast to the performance. This is because Potter has chosen to have his seven-year-old characters played by adult actors; this is not in keeping with the naturalistic themes of the play. By doing this Potter has managed to highlight the children's emotions and actions by having them all most magnified. Whereas Friends is more down to earth and modern, with actors playing the right aged characters. Blue Remembered Hills is the story of a group of seven, seven year olds on a summer holiday afternoon. They are Angela, Audrey, Peter, Donald (Duck), Willie, Raymond and John. It is set in the west of England in 1943 and at this time Dennis Potter would have been around the same age as his characters, this means the facts, language and storylines in the play could have been

  • Word count: 960
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Macbeth Act 3, Scene 4.

Macbeth Act 3, Scene 4 Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most dramatic plays as it is filled with emotion. Some of the themes in Macbeth include love, lust, deceit, betrayal, anxiety and murder. I will study two productions of Macbeth. One is by Roman Polanski which was made in 1971 and the other is a BBC version made by Shaun Sutton which was made in 1981. I will be analysing act 3, scene 4. It is also known as the banqueting scene. I will consider how Roman Polanski and Shaun Sutton present the play. I will analyse the two plays under a number of different headings. These headings include set, costume, actions, lighting, sound, camera angles, extra scene which is only in Polanski's version and other actors. Polanski's version opens with the bear-baiting scene. This then sets the tone of the scene as the lords cheer on. The blood of the bear is symbolic of Macbeth's murder of Duncan. In Polanski's version the set is sparsely decorated and the table is the main piece of furniture on screen. The table is in a central spot; it therefore plays a central role with regard to the scene. I think the director has chosen to set the play in medieval times, as the costumes would suggest. Macbeth wears similar clothes to the actors but has a lighter tunic. Lady Macbeth wears a cream/white robe that enhances her character. All the other costumes are dull black/grey/brown colours.

  • Word count: 709
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Evaluation of Live Theatre: Nation

Drama GCSE Evaluation of Live Theatre Nation, at Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre, National Theatre Company, 19.11.09 Nation is a play of two teenagers, Mau and Daphne (nee Miss Ermintrude Fanshaw), thrown together when Daphne's boat travelling from England is shipwrecked on Mau's island. Mau is the last remaining member of his tribe, and Nation is the story of Mau and Daphne's struggle to build a new nation of their own, overcoming language barriers, vast differences in belief and culture, the struggle to keep their new Nation safe, and a battle to defeat Locaha, and evil spirit trying to kill Mau, with a candid parrot, Milton, alongside. There are many prominent themes throughout the play, such as the constantly debated relationship between religion and science, the contrast between facts that are rarely doubted and strong belief in something there is little proof of. The play has a strong sense of faith, in the 'grandfathers', 'imo' and the 'god anchors', and also of love, uniting the nation, and found in unexpected places, between Daphne and Mau for example. Nation also illustrates an alterantive view on the cycle of life and death. The play defines simultaneously the obvious differences between the Nation, and the Western world, and also the subtle underlying similarities linking the two. After certain revelations discovered by Daphne and then Mau in the

  • Word count: 534
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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Blood Brothers Evaluation. After we watched Blood Brothers, we acted out certain scenes from the script and attempted to use various techniques to portray the story in many different ways.

GCSE Drama - 5DRO2 Unit 2 Documentary Response By Luke Warner Over the past term, me and my fellow classmates have studied the play 'Blood Brothers' by Willy Russell. The hit West-End show follows the story of two twins, separated at birth and brought up in two very different social backgrounds; one growing up in a rich family, while the other remains with his real mother in a poor family, living in the slums of Liverpool. The play explores many themes, ranging from the problems of society, to the possibility of superstition playing a massive part on life. After we watched 'Blood Brothers', we acted out certain scenes from the script and attempted to use various techniques to portray the story in many different ways. 'Blood Brothers' tells the tale of Mickey and Eddie, two twins separated at birth due to a number of reasons. The first act introduces the story, and examines the events leading up to the birth. It also witnesses their first meetings as children. This part of the play is very comedic, however the frequent use of the narrator (who plays a paramount role throughout the play) quickly shifts what appears to be a funny scene into a dark and eerie one. The second act sees the reunion of the brothers, now hit with puberty, and an increasing sense of competition. Although initially positive, the story takes a turn for the worse when Mickey is badly affected by the

  • Word count: 1107
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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How has your reading of J.B Priestley’s “ An Inspector Calls” been enhanced by Stephen Daldry’s production at the Garrick Theatre?

How has your reading of J.B Priestley's " An Inspector Calls" been enhanced by Stephen Daldry's production at the Garrick Theatre? Written by Sarah Keeling 10p Year 10 has been to see " An Inspector Calls" at the Garrick Theatre in London on the 28th September. In year 9, the year all read the play script at school and now we have been asked to compare the production and play script. John Boynton Priestley wrote the play script in 1945 but set the script in 1912, the pre World War 1 period. Daldry's production although very different still produced the same message that Priestley wrote about; in society, everyone should be treated as one another. Daldry also thought that Priestley's message was still relevant, for today, because the play is being seen still, and for the past 9 years. Margaret Thatcher spoke on 31st October 1987 "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families." This is the reason why Daldry thought it would be relevant to today as she talks of no society. In the script the only visual guide to the set is at the beginning of Act 1, where the play script describes the Birling family and the house. The house and dining room are realistic Edwardian. The play script only describes the inside of the house and not the outside or what surrounds it, because in the play script they never go outside so there is no need for

  • Word count: 3637
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Drama
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