“A cream cracker under the settee” - Production Analysis

Authors Avatar
The production is introduced to us at the start with a slow, lonely atmosphere. This is portrayed through the soft music, and the actual layout of the scene. My aim of this coursework is to analyse the production "A cream cracker under the settee" and show how it actions help support the character's words and situation.

The production is based on an old woman named Doris, on the verge of being moved to a nursing home against her own will. She is portrayed to us as a bitter, stubborn old woman who feels her space is being invaded by her carer Zulema. The true context of who she really is, is shown later on in the production, and it is very different from the original view that we are given. The way she truly is, is shown through her past.

The first scene is a shot of a room full of old-fashioned furniture and an old fashioned layout. The camera is in a diagonal shot of the room showing two arm chairs with the crochet rugs draped over the back of them. Behind the far armchair in the background there is a large window with net curtains, this is the only source of light in the room at the beginning of the scene. On the right hand side there is a small fireplace, with ornaments on the mantelpiece. You can also see a small sideboard with objects placed on it and a fallen buffet on the floor, with a smashed photo by the side. There are also other objects in the surroundings. The buffet and smashed photo puts forward to the audience that there has been some sort of accident, this grabs the audiences attention and generally makes them want to continue to watch more.

The scene is opened with a soft gentle piece of music played by a single French horn; this suggests the monologue has a calm atmosphere. Doris is sitting in the far armchair rubbing her leg and looking at the floor. The music fades as the camera cuts to a close up of Doris's face and shoulders as she begins to speak, this is so we are focussing on Doris. Doris is looking directly at the camera as if she is actually talking to us. This maybe trying to show that she is a lonely person, and perhaps has no one else to talk to. Her speech is slow.

The opening of her speech is based on Doris introducing a second character to the monologue, trying to set the scene and produce a background for the production to be based on. She talks of how she shouldn't of tried to dust, if she hadn't to try to dust the buffet would never have fallen and she wouldn't have hurt her leg. The character she introduces is Zulema. When she talks of Zulema, she tends to mimic her and talks in a patronising, sarcastic voice, as if Doris was trying to tell us that she feels Zulema treats in a patronising way. As Doris continues to talk about Zulema her tone of voice changes to somewhat more of an angry manner. This creates tension in the scene and the tension is then increased even more by the camera slowly zooming into a close up of Doris's face, as she gets more and more frustrated. She feels frustrated and angry towards Zulema, as she doesn't like to be told what to do and she feels Zulema is invading her space. Doris is being portrayed in this scene as a stubborn and ungrateful old woman because she is talking in this manner about her home help. This part of the monologue makes you feel very sympathetic towards Doris.

As she talks about the Ewbank, she is once again mimicking Zulema, but as she gets more into this dialogue her speech begins to get strained and she begins to stutter. Her voice tone shows us that she is easily upset and gets tired out very quickly.

She then goes on to introduce a third character. This character is very important as it shows her past and eventually portrays what Doris is really like. At this point the camera changes to a more open diagonal shot of the room, which includes the fallen buffet and a smashed photo frame containing a wedding picture of Doris and her deceased husband, Wilfred (the third character). The fallen buffet and smashed photo frame is in the exact position they were when Doris fell. I think this is trying to show, the audience that Doris was incapable of cleaning up the mess and putting the objects back into their original positions. This dialogue is once again trying to set a scene, it is telling us how Doris ended up hurting her leg and she feels she will be in trouble for it.

The camera then goes back onto a close up shot of Doris; she says, "You fell such a fool" at this point she is rubbing her head in what looks like embarrassment. She begins to tell us how she knows what Zulema will say. "Well, Doris, I did tell you" She is talking in a patronising mimicking way again and she also has a slight smirk on her face. Her facial expression then changes quickly as she touches her leg and says it's a bit numb. She talks of how the fall has shaken her up and she needs to come around, "Shakes you up, a fall" at this point Doris closes her eyes and takes a deep breath and pauses as if she was shaken up and needed to come around.

As she comes round she acts as though she has to do to something important. At this point she says, "Shan't let on I was dusting" the camera changes to a diagonal shot of the room showing Doris shoving the duster down the side of the chair this is a real effort for Doris. This reveals a childish side to Doris, trying to conceal something that she shouldn't have done.

She looks down at the picture of Wilfred on the floor the Camera zooms out to a diagonal shot of just the photo frame. This where Doris's past begins to demonstrate itself. The affect of seeing the smashed photo on the floor is that it makes the viewer realise that the photo still being in the same position as it was after she fell, means that she obviously isn't capable of picking it up and putting it back, so she obviously isn't capable of looking after herself.
Join now!


The camera goes back to a close up of Doris's face, She says, "Cracked the photo" in a soft upset way, then goes on to say in a stronger more louder tone "We're cracked, Wilfred" as if she was trying to be funny. This illustrates to the audience that Doris isn't always grumpy and stubborn, and that she likes to have a joke and a laugh like everyone else. The way she laughs makes the viewer wonder if she is just trying to make herself laugh even though she doesn't actually feel like it. The camera then goes ...

This is a preview of the whole essay