The explorative strategies we used was physical theatre when Stephanie was being the door. Physical theatre is when you tell the story through physical terms. This explorative strategy helped us to understand how to make our performance better, and how it limited the amount the amount of props you need to use if you use yourself. It also helped me to understand the play, because I saw how using yourself can really make it seem effective. For example, in the play when Arthur was calling for spider, the dog. There was not actually anything there, but he made it really realistic and everyone in the audience looked around because they thought a dog was there.
We also used narrating and role play. The narration helped us to understand how Kipps must have felt when he was telling the story of the woman in black, and how uncomfortable and upset he would have been. It also helped us to understand it is very important for the narrator to project their voice well, or the audience would not hear them, and this could stop them from understanding the story properly.
One more explorative strategy we used was role play. When I took on the role of the woman in black, it helped me to see why children died when their parents saw her twice. Jennet had to watch her child die, and she never got the chance to be a mother or even have a small connection. There was nobody there to help her child. The woman in black is basically saying if she never got the chance to be a proper mother to her child, the why should anybody else? She also had to watch her own child die, so other people should have to watch their children die. My part in my performance also helped me understand that Jennet Humphry did not have a very fair life, and had to pretend to be someone else. I understood the heartbreak she went through.
Another activity we did was the urban legend. We did not actually perform this to everyone, because we did not really sort different roles properly. Me, Sophie and Mica were doing the narrating, Kay Leigh was the woman who stopped people and Stephanie Orford and Stephanie Charles drove the car. Because there were three narrators, we took turns and split what we were saying equally. We mainly used chairs for the car and the motorbike, and everybody else made the noises of the motorbike and the screaming.
Explorative strategies we used were physical theatre, narrating, thought tracking and role play. The screaming noises we made built up lots of suspension, and the narrating made us realise if we want to make it scary, it depends on the way we tell it. It also helped us to understand the tension of telling it. We also had to make sure what we were saying made sense, and fit in well to what was happening, otherwise the performance would all go wrong if we did it.
The physical theatre helped us understand the pain and terror the two motorbike riders would have felt and how severe the accident was. Thought tracking also helped us to understand feelings and emotions of the people in the car when they got stopped by the hitchhiker, and how extremely petrified the driver would have felt when they followed the woman into the mist, and heard a motorbike coming towards them that was not really there. This helped me to understand the play and Arthur, and how frustrated, worried and scared he felt when he kept on hearing the pony and trap followed by the screaming of a child and a woman.
Role play helped us all to understand the desperation the woman would have felt waiting for someone to drive along so they could help her boyfriend. Nobody would come along for ages in the middle of nowhere, and her boyfriend would be getting worse every minute. This relates to the play, and helps me to understand how desperate Arthur would have been for help when Stella was dying of her terrible injuries. His son had already died, and I understood how he really did not want her to die, for he would be alone.
Development phase
In my group, there was me, Sophie Moore, Stephanie Orphord and Stephanie Charles. We split our performance into five different scenes. We made our performance length between long and short length, because we wanted to make it just the right length so we kept the audience watching.
Our introduction was very short, and only needed two people. These were Stephanie Orford who was playing the actor, and Stephanie Charles who was playing Mr Kipps. We did this at the beginning to show the connection between them from the woman in black, and to show the tension between them and the audience. It also showed that Mr Kipps was the most important character, and that he had an important story to tell. This would keep the audience watching for they would wonder how the nightmare would be displayed. The lighting we used was a bright, white spot light so the audience could see their connection properly. It represents nothing, and completely calms the audience down, for they think nothing will happen, and will make their tension go higher when something happens in the next scene which they won’t be expecting. We did not use any explorative strategies in this scene, for it was too short.
In scene one, I am a door, and I hold up my fist to represent the door handle. Stephanie Orford is representing Mr Kipps who hears the banging, and tries to open the door. Sophie Moore hides behinds the curtains and does the banging. Stephanie Charles was not in this scene.
In this scene, we thought that Sophie should do the banging behind the curtain for me, because it would create tension in the audience, for they would not know where it was coming from, and it would of looked better than me standing there doing it with my foot, for the tension and suspense would be ruined in the audience. Stephanie Orford at this point was walking slowing, carefully and cautiously with a curious and shocked look on her face, and she did this to create a suspense in the audience and to keep them watching, for they would wonder what was there too. When Stephanie Orford went to grab for the door handle, she did it very slowly and anxiously, which would keep on building up the suspension in the audience, for they would be waiting for something to happen.
The explorative strategies we used were physical theatre when I was being the door, and role play when Stephanie Orford took on the role of Mr Kipps. Physical theatre is when you tell the story through physical terms, and role play is when you take on somebody else’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. Physical theatre helped me to understand my role and the play, for I saw how being things like a door could create tension by showing something is behind it. It also helped me understand how emotionally and physically scared Mr Kipps would have felt when he kept on hearing the banging. For the banging on the door, we decided to use a Red spot light, which started to flash on and off, to the rhythm of the banging on the door. We did this to represent Mr Kipps heartbeat, and to represent something evil and dangerous behind the door. The spotlight then went a dim white, to represent nothing, and to show the banging had stopped. This would calm the audience down, and make their tension go even higher when we started the banging again, for the white spot light would make them think there was nothing there. This scene was meant to represent the bedroom in Eel Marsh house, and how terrified Mr Kipps would have felt to be there on his own.
In the next scene, we did exactly the same, and used the same explorative strategies, and everybody was in the same place, apart from this time it was Stephanie Charles who tried to open the door, and this time I did actually open, but slammed shut again. Once again we used the flashing , Red lighting to create tension and suspense in the audience. Sophie Moore still did the banging, and Stephanie Orford was not in this scene. We swapped the roles around, so everybody would have something to do, for we had too much people for that scene in the play. I do not think we should have done this though, because it would have made the audience confused.
In this scene, we still thought it would be best that Sophie did the banging for me, so again we did not spoil the tension, for they would not know where it was coming from. At this point, Stephanie Charles, was walking along like Stephanie Orford very slowly and cautiously again, but this time she looked a lot more frightened than Stephanie Orford, for the banging had started again. This would have made the tension in the audience rise up even higher at a quicker pace, for they would not be expecting it, from the white spot light in the last scene that represented nothing. As she got closer to the door handle, we decided to make the banging louder and louder, to make the audience want to keep watching for they would wonder what was there, and at the same time to make them feel really frightened and shocked. This time we also decided to make Stephanie Charles reach for the door handle in an even more slower pace than Stephanie Orford did, for this would keep the audience watching and would make the tension build up higher for every second she reached for the door handle. Then to build the tension even higher, she turned the door handle even more slower, which would really keep them watching, and would make them emotionally scared and worried for Stephanie Charles. When Stephanie Charles actually did open the door, we decided to have nothing in there, to make the audience want to keep watching to see where this mysterious banging was coming from, and who was doing it. If we did have the woman in black in there, it would spoil the tension for the audience would know what to expect. By having nothing in there makes it a mystery.
The explorative strategies we used was physical theatre and role play again. The role play helped me to understand how terrified Mr Kipps must of felt when he was inside the nursery room, and how it felt to have a presence with you. Physical theatre helped me to understand the fact that I was the one creating most of the tension in our performance, for in the play the banging was the rocking chair coming from behind the nursery door, and I was being the nursery room door. Once again we used a Red flashing light to represent Mr Kipps heartbeat and to go with the rythym of the banging. We thought it was important for the lighting to go with the rhythm of the banging, otherwise it would look a bit muddled up and confusing. When the door opened, I think we should have had a long, loud scream to represent the haunting of the woman in black and the death of Stella and her child on the pony and trap, for this would make the audience really scared and shocked. We could have also made the lighting a still orange, to show the creepiness and horror Mr Kipps would have felt. Red would have also been good to show these emotions, but the performance would have been more interesting with a range of colours. We decided to have the door slam shut to really make the audience startle, but would have been better if Sophie bung a bit louder, and I if emphasised it a lot better. For this, we decided to have all the lighting go completely out, to make the audience really scared, startled and worried, for they would not know what sort of presence was there with them.
On the next scene, we had me as the woman in black wearing a beige, brown coloured mask, because my group and everybody else in the class thought it looked a lot more effective than the white mask. I think a white mask would have been more effective though, for it would of made my face stand out a lot more, making my presence there a lot more creepy for the audience. Once again Sophie was doing the banging, but now I think it was unfair on her, for she did not get to do much, and we had a bit too much people for this scene. I used a chair as the rocking chair, and because it could not rock, I gently went backwards and forwards on the edge to try and show it was a rocking chair. Stephanie Orford represented Mr Kipps and Stephanie Charles was not in this scene, for we did not know what part to give her because we had too many people in the scene. We set the scene up so we were in the nursery room. The nursery room was one of the places in the play that gave most tension in the audience, for the audience knew the woman in black used to be a nursery maid there. So we thought this was an important scene to perform. We could have improved this scene by organising the group a lot better and by picking scenes where everybody had something to do. When Stephanie Orford saw me rocking on the chair, she completely stopped and had a really scared and shocked look on her face, to represent Mr Kipps fears and emotions when he saw the woman in black, and how she was haunting him. It would also create tension in the audience, for they would wonder how Mr Kipps in our performance would be affected emotionally by her next.
The explorative strategies we used in this scene was still image and role play. Still image is when all the characters stop still, and can create tension in the audience. We used still image when I stopped rocking on the chair, and Stephanie Orford completely froze too, so the audience could figure out how Stephanie Orford was feeling about seeing the woman in black, and in what sort of ways the woman in black is intimidating him. But I think we should of held the freeze frame for longer, for our still image was not really clear to the audience. The role play was used mainly for Mr Kipps in every scene, for we wanted to display his nightmares mostly through the woman in black to show how she was haunting him emotionally and physically, and how his feelings were causing him to protect himself. Role play and still image helped me to understand my role and the play, for I understood how a still image can really hold tension in the audience, and how it shows different thoughts and emotions. We used a still orange light when Stephanie Orford saw me on the rocking chair, to create a creepy and eerie atmosphere in the audience and to create tension. It also represented the eerie atmosphere in Eel marsh house. An orange light is a lot more creepier than a Red light, for it is better for showing emotions, whereas a Red light would of shown danger.
In the last scene, we had Stephanie Orford laying down to show she was actually having the nightmare, and we decided to have the rest of us being three separate women in black. We did this to make the atmosphere even more eerier and to create a lot more tension in the audience. It also displayed how bad the nightmare was and how much of an effect the woman in black had on Mr Kipps. Me, Sophie Moore and Stephanie Charles got into a line, and slowly walked forward, to make tension in the audience, and to show the fact that the woman in black was coming to haunt Mr Kipps. We then all stood in a line in front of Stephanie Orford and all bent down closer towards him. We did this to create tension again in the audience and to display how the woman in black effects him in his nightmares.
The explorative strategies we used in this scene was still image and role play. We used still image when we were all bent over Stephanie Orphord, because we wanted to show the most important emotions of the woman in black and Mr Kipps, so the audience could understand the story and emotions of Mr Kipps. It also creates tension. The role play helped Stephanie Orford to understand emotions of Mr Kipps, and it helped us to understand why the woman in black was haunting him. It helped us to understand the woman in blacks life story and why it was so bad for her. We decided to use Orange lighting again for when we stood over Mr Kipps, for once again it created an eerie atmosphere and was good at displaying emotions. It was also good for making our white masks stand out and good for showing the kind of tension between the woman in black and Mr Kipps.
Evaluation
In the actual performance of the 'Woman in Black, I could see lots of different drama elemants being used.
Explorative strategies used in the 'woman in Black' stage play.
- I noticed thought tracking for when Mr Kipps was reading out the letters at Eel Marsh house which he got out of a large basket. As he read the letters in his head, a recorded voice played out loud to represent the person who wrote them, who was Jennet Humfrye. The effect this element had on the audience was that it revealed Jennet Humfryes inner thoughts to them, and makes the audience feel more involved by the drama being deepened. The audience also understood the character of the woman in black, and what her past life was like, and why she ended up becoming mad. It also marked Eel Marsh house as a really important place to the woman in black, and why she returns to this place so often.
The lighting for this scene was very dim, but not completely dark. Because the light was not completely dark, it was really good for showing Mr Kipps thoughts and emotions as he read the letters, and finally found out the background to the woman in black. The dim light also makes the audience feel relaxed and calm, but at the same time a little unsafe, because it makes the scene look creepy. This also relates to the creepiness of Eel Marsh House, and the amount of hauntings it recieves from the woman in black. It also relates to the fact that the nursery is one of the most important rooms in the play, and how it would have been in real life when the woman in black actually did die. The nursery room would have brought back alot of memories to the woman in black about her child, and how her son grew up there.
The recorded voice also had a slight echoe to it, which marks this voice as an important voice which has a lost connection with the child, Nathaniel. It also gives the voice a spooky quality which creates an eery atmosphere in the audience. The tone of this voice sounded quite sharp, angry and lonely at the same time. These emotions are really suitable for Jennet Humfrye, for not being able to have a proper connection with her son would of made her feel isolated from the people she really cared about, but knows her son will never know that she is really his mother. The anger and sharpness of her voice would represent how angry she is at Mrs Drablow for taking her place as a mother, and for Mrs Drablow trying to bring Nathaniel up as her own.
In my performance with Sarah Butters, Adelade Jones and Emily Broad, we used thought tracking at the end, when me and Adelade were pretending to be Mr Kipps and the actor. Sarah used thought tracking to represent the tension between me and Adelade, and the anxiety and terror I felt when we spoke of the woman in black. We used thought tracking, because we thought it was effective in relating to the connection between Mr Kipps and the woman in black, and how the woman in black effected Mr Kipps sons life. This scene also shows how Arthur Kipps cannot bear to bring up his child, for his death reminds him of who caused it. We also used physical theatre in this scene, for Emily and Sarah were pretending to be coat rails. We made this obvious by hanging scarves on their arms. This looked effective for it made interesting use of a normal household object. It also helped Emily to switch to the role of the woman in black really quickly again. Mr Kipps looks quite nervous talking about the woman in black, and walks away quickly, which relates to how the woman in black affected his family and left him alone.
- Another explorative strategy I saw being used was physical theatre, for when Mr Kipps was going to sleep at Eel Marsh house, and used a huge basket as a bed. The actor (Mr Kipps) also made it obvious it was meant to be a bed by throwing a blanket over himself. Physical theatre is when the story is told through physical terms. The effect it had on the performance, was that it focused the actors energy which would of helped him to respond to ideas, and would have made the play look more effective, for normal objects are being put to use in an effective way. This would have made the audience more interested, for they would not be able to look at a normal object in the same way.
When Mr Kipps went to sleep at Eel Marsh house, the lighting had a black out, to represent that it was night. The black out of the lighting would of made the audience feel frightened, for most scary situations and monsters come out in the dark, and the audience would not be able to see what was going on. They would also feel frightened, because Fortune theatre is said to be haunted with sightings of the woman in black. The woman in black in the play wears a dark, black cape, so the audience would not be able to tell if she was there or not. The blackout of the lighting also gives the play a really scary, spooky feel which makes the audience easily frightened. It also gives the sense of how Mr Kipps felt when he knew he had an unknown presence with him.
In my performance, a scene that relates to this is at the beginning, when Sarah is lying down on the stageblock, which we used as a bed. Sarah took on the role of Mr Kipps nightmares about the woman in black, and how Stella and his son would be the next victims. Me, Adelade and Emily circled round her, speaking in creepy voices to create tension in the audience. We also used physical theatre to be a wall, to represent Mr Kipps being trapped in a small room, with his emotions trapped inside him forever. As Sarah sat up, we all ducked down, and turned slowly forward, and then back again. This was meant to create tension in the audience, for it was meant to give a connection with the audience and show that we could show his families fait.
- The next explorative strategy I saw being used was narration. Narration was used throught out the whole play, and the story was narrated by another actor who also played Keckwick too. This technique deepened the audiences and narrators understanding of a certain characters role, and helps them to understand the play as a whole. I also noticed the narrator informing us on what was happening between each scene, speaking over the action happening and about certain situations that were happening. Narration also helped the audience understand why the woman in black and Mrs Drablow were closely linked to each other, and why Mrs Drablow is one of the reasons that the woman in black never got a proper connection with her son. This relates to later on in the play when Mr Kipps wife and son are killed on the pony and trap, and how Mr Kipps has lost the connection with his child. Mr Kipps finally understands how the woman in black would have felt when her son died.
A scene that relates to the connection between Mr Kipps and the woman in Black is the grave yard scene. There is light Blue lighting which represents the fog to show Mr Kipps is in the marshes. The Blue light makes the scene look eery and represents the presence of the woman of black, for the marshes is where her son died. This would make the audience nervous about him entering the marshes, for they would be expecting the woman in black to be around there somewhere. When Mr Kipps enters the graveyard, there are lots of tall objects covered in white blankets to represent the gravestones. This would create tension in the audience, for they would expect some sort of a spiritual presence to appear. When the woman in black appears in the graveyard, she has a pale and wasted face, wearing a long, black cape. This represents the spiritual world and the graveyard. When Mr Kipps runs after her, she walks away with a quick pace. This shows that the woman in black feels isolated, and feels like she was isolated from her family just so she could not see her son. It also shows that the graveyard is the only place she feels she can have a connection with her son properly without being pulled away.
In my performance, Sarah narrated quite alot. An important she narrated was when I took on the role of Stella. I used a black scarf, and rolled it up to the shape of a baby. I stepped up on the stageblock, and sat on one of the chairs which represented the pony and trap. I rocked myself from side to side to represent moving. This would create alot of suspense in the audience, for they would relate me and the baby on the pony and trap to Nathaniel who died on the pony and trap. They would know that I was going to die, and were waiting for it to happen. Emily stood up behind me, representing the woman in black, grabbed my shoulders and started shaking me about, and when she screamed, I dropped the scarf to show the death. The scream could of also represented Stellas screams when her baby died, and how terrified she was. The thought tracking here was effective, because it marked the moment of when the woman in black appeared, and why she causes a childs death. It also shows that Mr Kipps son died, for he saw the woman in black a number of times.
- Marking the moment was also used in the play. This was shown mostly when Mr Kipps (the actor) was pretending to be at Eel Marsh house, and the door to the nursery room was locked. The audience could hear the woman in black on the rocking chair coming from the other side of the door, which made a knocking noise on the floor. This happens in the night and wakes Mr Kipps up, who goes looking round the house for this strange noise. This kept the audience on the edge of their seats, for they wanted to know what the noise was aswell. It also would of created suspense.
- But when Mr Kipps got downstairs, a dark, Red light marked the door, which immediately represented the door as something important. The Red light represented a sense of evil, and that something dangerous was behind the door. It also sent a message to the audience, which was a warning to the actor for him not to go through that door. The first word that sprung to the audience was stop, relating to the colour Red. This also gave the play an eery and spooky effect. Mr Kipps then reached towards the door handle slowly, and as he kept trying to open the door, this made the audience not want to look, for they were expecting some sort of a monster or ghost to appear. After a few seconds of him trying to open the door, a recording of a young woman and a young boys screams were played when they died on the pony and trap. This recording made the audience scream with terror, and filled the play with anxiety and shock. The recording also represents what will happen to Mr Kipps wife and child when they go on a pony and trap, for later on in the play we are informed that seeing the woman in black twice is followed by the death of a child.
We used marking the moment at the end of our performance. Sarah narrated on the stage block, and me and Adelade sat on two chairs behind the block with our backs to the audience. We did this, so when we bung our feet on the edge of the block, the audience would not know where it was coming from, for they could not see our feet. This would create tension in the audience, for it would relate to the woman in blacks presence. Emily slowly walked towards the audience with a serious look on her face, which would make the audience scared, for it was like she was coming for them. It would also remind them that children were always the ones to die when their parents saw the woman in black. Emilys costume also got her more involved in the role, for she wore a black bonnet and dress. The colour black represents doom and emptiness, which relates to how the woman in blacks life was a tradejy, and how her sons life was doomed.
- Role play was also used, because the narrator kept on switching to the role of Keckwick. Role play is basically when a certain character takes on the role of another character by taking their thoughts, feelings and emotions. This would also make the audience feel more personally involved, and will help them understand about different characters. This was effective in the play, because it helped the audience understand how alone Mr Kipps felt at Eel Marsh house, and how much of a comfort Keckwick was to him. This relates to the death on the pony and trap, for Mr Kipps experiences the haunting of the young womans and youngs boys death on the pony and trap. Everytime Keckwick arrives at Eel Marsh house on his pony and trap, Mr Kipps is terrified for he thinks it is the haunted noise he keeps on hearing. This conveys to the audience how Mr Kipps does not realise that his child will be next to die on a pony and trap.
A scene that relates to this is at the end when Mr Kipps wife and son get killed on the pony and trap. At first, Mr Kipps narrates about how it was a lovely, sunny day, and how there were children rolling about on the grass with stalls selling ices and fruits. This completely calms the audience down, and makes them think that Mr Kipps troubles with the woman in black are all over. The lighting was a flood of bright, white light, which would also relax the audience, for they would expect nothing scary to happen. There is a recorded noise of the pony and trap going away, then all of a sudden the lighting turns to a really dim grey, and the woman in black steps out from behind the curtain. Then the audience hears the recording of the screaming again, but this time, it represents Stella and her child. This happened really quick, and would of completely shocked the audience, for no suspense was built up towards this event. The dim, grey light would of created a really ghostly, nightmarish sort of scene, and would show how dispaired and upset Mr Kipps felt when he realised he had lost the ones he loved.
In my performance, I used role play when I switched from the act of Stella to the role of Mr Kipps. This helped me to understand how Stella and her son were completely innocent victims, and how petrifyed they felt when they were dying and had nobody around to help them. It also helped me to understand that it must have been a really horrible experience for the woman in black when she was isolated from her one and only child, and how she felt like nobody else should have the chance to settle down with a happy family, because she never got the chance to. It also helped me understand that you do not know what it feels like to lose a child until you have been through it yourself, and that you should never take anyone elses child as your own, for revenge will happen later on. When me and Adelade were having a conversation towards the end about the woman in black, we had a white spot light on us. This emphasized the woman in black, and how she affected Mr Kipps life emotionally. It also helped me understand that if Mr Kipps did not stay at Eel Marsh house, he would not have looked further into Jennet Humfryes life history, and got involved with the woman in Black.