The characters in my play will look different to as they would have in the original production as it is set in the modern day. Mr. Birling looks as if he is in his sixties. He has grey hair which he combs over to the right if his face, and pale green eyes. The paleness shows his lack of empathy with others, and the colour green implies his thirst for money. Birling is a rather large man, and speaks in a low pitched, hoarse voice. This is to suggest his status of power.
His wife, Mrs. Birling looks to be in her late thirties, this is show that perhaps she has only married Birling for his money, emphasising her cold nature. We know she is a heartless woman because as a member of the Brumley Women’s charity Organization, Eva came to her for help. She had no money, was pregnant and would be a single mother. Knowing all of this Mrs. Birling refused to help her as she used her own name as an alias when she first came to her. Mrs. Birling thought it was ‘a piece of gross impertinence” and admitted it “prejudiced me against her case”. Her voice has no warmth, assuming and pompous.
Sheila looks to be in her late teens, this is so that the younger audience can identify with her more easily. She is pretty and seems very innocent and loving. This comes across as she says, “I still cannot forget” and “You’re pretending everything’s just as it was before”. This shows she knows she’s learnt that she must care for other people. Her voice is soft but she speaks with energy and passion.
Eric looks older than Sheila but seems a little withdrawn, but at the same time firm in his convictions. He is not as dominant as Sheila. For example Eric says, “And I agree with Sheila. It frightens me too”. Throughout the end part I’m staging Sheila does all the arguing with Mr. Birling, Eric supports her and is not the front figure. His voice is confident and assertive.
Gerald is an attractive man who is in his thirties, he is tall and arrogant. His voice is cocky and self-assured. A good example of this is where he says to Sheila, “Everything’s all right now, Sheila. What about this ring?” This illustrates that he is overly-confident because despite his affair and everything that has happened he assumes Sheila will still want to marry him.
All the men are dressed suits, and the women in dresses. They look sophisticated and modern. All the characters except for Sheila and Eric, speak in a posh accent. Contrastingly Eric and Sheila speak in strong Brumley accents; this is to underline how they become different from the others in learning their lesson, and also for the audience to identify with them as being characters that are normal.
At the start of the section I’m staging, the lighting will be a soft blue colour. I feel that the colour blue connotes calm and tranquillity, and here the family and Gerald believe Eva not to be dead and that the inspector was playing a hoax. The family feels as if they have done nothing wrong, suiting the colour of the light. It changes to a harder blue when Gerald decisively says, “We can settle this at once”, reason being this is a moment of tension and suspense as they will discover if Eva really committed suicide. The harder blue suggests that something significant is about to happen. Next the lighting changes to a hard and harsh red whilst Gerald is on the telephone and says “Yes I’ll wait”. Here the tension has built up to a climax. The lighting has turned to red to enhance this tension, and also because red suggests that Eva is dead. Leading the audience to believe she is dead is good because it sets up the audience for the big shock at the end of the play. Now after Gerald learns that has been no suicide and says, “Yes? ... You’re certain of that… I see”, the lighting changes back to a soft blue colour. This is justified by how Mr. Birling, Mrs. Birling and Gerald hastily return to their isolated worlds. Receiving the information that Eva did not die has quickly made them forget their lesson of the importance of community and that their actions, as wealthy factory owners, influence the lives of those who are less fortunate.
However Sheila and Eric do realise their mistakes and therefore to show the separation between them and the rest of the characters, I have decided to put a spotlight on both Sheila and Eric. The spotlight will be a light shade of pink, symbolising their connection to Eva Smith.
The music at the beginning of my scene will be slow, evenly paced and quiet. The instruments playing will be a piano, accompanied by several string instruments. The music should give the effect of slowly building tension. As Gerald is ringing begins to ring the Infirmary the music will steadily get louder, until the tension is at its climax. Here Gerald confirms that nobody ahs committed suicide, and then the music fades until it is only in the background again.
The tones of voice employed by the actors when delivering their lines, their body movements and facial expressions are vital in keeping the audience involved in the play. When Gerald says “We can settle this at once” the actor should say this decisively and with positively. This is because they are all unsure whether the inspector was a hoax and Gerald would like to know once and for all. This is why he suggests phoning and does so definitively. Birling says his next line, “It will look a bit queer...” uneasily. This because he is perceived to be an important figure in the hierarchy of the town, and cares very much about what other people think of him. When the pause comes where Gerald waits for an answer from the Infirmary, each character shows their nervous tension. Birling should wipe his forehead from sweat with a cloth, and Eric should loosen his tie. Mrs. Birling should look as if she doesn’t care but be listening intently, and Sheila should fidget with her hair.
When the news comes that there has been no suicide reported then Birling, Mrs. Birling and Gerald should all look pleased and deliver their next lines laughingly. Birling pours them all drink and raises his glass. However Sheila and Eric look distressed and infuriated.
When the telephone rings again suddenly everybody goes completely silent, and Sheila jumps slightly. Birling grumbles slightly and unhurriedly picks up the phone. The music preceding this had builds up louder and louder in the same style as when Gerald phoned the Infirmary, at this point when Birling picks up the phone the music abruptly stops. A spotlight focuses on Birling and suddenly his smug facial expression transforms to being empty and pale. He drops the phone and slowly manages to tell the others that a girl was found dead, and an inspector was coming to question them.
In the original text this is where the play ends and the curtains fall as they stare at each other guiltily. However I thought that this ending, although leaving the audience wondering who the inspector was lacked something. I decided that when Birling tells the rest of them the news, Sheila bursts in tears, and Eric goes into an uncontrollable rage. This when he pulls out a gun from inside his jacket, he is crying and points the gun at Mrs. Birling saying, “You didn’t care what would happen to my child”. He shoots Mrs. Birling and then realising what he has done points the gun at himself and pulls the trigger. Justification for him doing this is in the original text where he is nearly at breaking point when he says to his mother, “You killed her… your own grandchild- you killed them both- damn you...” Also the text says that he almost threateningly says to his mother, “you don’t understand anything’. Therefore I don’t think it is inconceivable that Eric would do this. Eric shoots himself because he realises what an awful thing he has done and knows he could not live on having done such a thing. The music Love theme from Romeo and Juliet (kissing you) by Des’ree is playing and the lighting is dark. This is to create a truly moving atmosphere, and it should be incredibly sad. Then the curtain drops as you hear Sheila and Mr. Birling scream.
I don’t think this version would lose the meaning of the play. It would still show all the key themes, as well dramatizing the play for a modern audience.