Devised piece evaluation

For our devised piece, me Bryleah and Emily used the song 'Circle Of Life' from 'Lion King'. In our piece, our choreographic intent was to portray 3 different animals that lived in East Africa, which is where Lion King is set. I chose an Antelope, Bryleah chose a Monkey and Emily chose a Leopard. We each created separate solos that we incorporated our chosen animal in, influencing the dynamics and specific actions we performed.

For the antelope, I performed various movements such as a flexed hitch kick in my solo. This represented the animal's long legs that kick up when they are running as they are very springy. I also began the whole piece in a fixed raise leg position to further communicate the elegance of the antelope in it's posture and motion. In motifs where we performed the same movement in unison/cannon, we each took ideas from our own animals to insert into these sections so that we all ended up sharing each style. For example, we perform a high jump with both our legs bent to reinforce the antelope's legs as it bounces around, and also flick our leg around. For Bryleah's monkey, we repeated the action of pounding on the ground in a squat position. For Emily's Leopard, we used a lunge position low to the ground, and rolled on our front to show the creeping movement of the wild cat, as if it was preying on an animal.

For our costume, we stuck with plain black top and leggings and I tied my hair half up half down to reference antlers.

In evaluation, we performed it well and could keep up with each other in terms of timing. To improve, I would of worked more on my solo to add more referencing movements to the antelope. We could have also made it a bit longer and added more contact work such as lifts and interaction in our animal characters. This would have given more of a relationship and shown how the animals would interact in real life e.g The leopard would be chasing the antelope around, the monkey would be taunting the other animals etc.

Unit 4 - Historical Context in Performance questions

·Provide an introduction to the era/s in which your performances were written?

Antigone was written around 441 BC, and was produced in Athens in Greece. It is a tragedy by Sophocles (who was a Greek Tragedian). This play was set in the mythical past of Ancient Greece. 

Which playwright wrote the script? (Famous? Lifestyle? Respected? Style?)

Sophocles was one of the only three Ancient Greek tragedians to still have surviving plays, in which he had 7 out of 120+ (one of which was Antigone). He was to become one of the great playwrights of the golden age.

Sophocles was born into wealth and studied all the arts including music and theatre. At the age of 28, he competed in the city of Dionysia (a festival held every year at the theatre of Dionysus, where new plays were presented - Greek comedies and Tragedies). Competing with more than 120 plays, he went on to win 18 1st place prizes, and always took at least 2nd place. He was also an actor performing in many of his own places, however his voice was no strong enough so he gave up this career and looked into others.

Sophocles became one of the great modernisers of the theatre, as he was the 1st to add a third actor (originally, only 2 actors were allowed on stage at a time). This made the plot and characters more interesting and complex. He also removed the trilogic form, for example Aeschylus used three tragedies forming a single story. Sophocles decided to create separate tragedies in themselves e.g the Theban plays, which although all link, have their own tragedy in each play.

He also invented scene-painting and periaktoi (a device used for displaying and rapidly changing theatre scenes). Example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvKPolqM004

According to Plutarch (a greek historian, essayist etc.), Sophocles' writing style was originally harsh, artificial and high-flown. His final style which was seen in the seven surviving plays, is dignified and more natural, depicting people as they should be. It is not idealized (representing something as perfect or better than reality), but very humanised. The 'tragedy' in his plays would grow out of the innate character of these characters in the plays, incliuding Antigone, and the end cannot be otherwise (e.g with Antigone, her ending is tragic as she kills herself). By handling universal themes (which are ideas that can apply to everyone regardless of cultural differences or geographical location, connecting ideas across all discipline), Sophocles' plays have been imitated largely in paintings, poetry and films. 

Antigone was the first of the three Theban plays Sophocles wrote (Oedipus the king, Oedipus at Colonus). The Theban plays tell the story of the mythical king Oedipus of Thebes and his children/descedants. The plays evolve around the destiny of Thebes throughout and after the reign of King Oedipus:

·         Oedipus The King: In brief, this explains how Thebes is plagued because of injustice (the murderer of the previous king Laius has not been found), and an oracle states how they must find and punish them. Through Tiresias, Oedipus finds out he is the murderer of his own father and has married his own mother Jocasta and had children through incestry. Jocasta in result kills herself, and Oedipus blinds himself as he is exiled from the land

·         Oedipus at Colonus: The blind former King enters Colonus, with the guidance of his daughter Antigone and lives out the last of his life there, refusing to return to Thebes and die there so they receive his blessing and protection. Even when his son 'Polyneices' begs him to support him in his war to regain the throme from his brother 'Eteocles' and 'Creon', Because his resting place was the Athens, they receive Oedipus' blessing andprotection and the Thebes earn their curse (the murderer of Laius has died). The story ends with Antigone and Ismene returning to Thebes, 

·         In Antigone, it tells the story of Antigone who defies the law against Creon (brother in law of Oedipus), now ruler of Thebes as both Eteocles and Polyneices were killed in the war. Polyneices was ordered to be left unburied, so Antigone took matters into her own hands. She was captured, and accepted her fate by hanging herself. This caused her loved one Haemonn, Creon's son to kill himself, and Eurydice, his wife to kill herself in sadness of her son, leaving Creon alone.

    Is your play a translation? Discuss the translator and the purpose of the translation?   (Antigone by David Feldshuh)

One of Antigone's many adaptations was by playwright David Feldshuh. In his notes in the script, he explains how his main objective in this edition was to "tell the story with clarity, immediacy and theatricality". He wanted to evade "stilted literalism", which was avoiding the lack of imagination.

He started off analysing multiple translations/adaptations of the play, only to find they were really all just adaptations. There are doubts in the original text in terms of whose lines were whose, the true meaning behind certain words etc.

Feldshuh was planning for the production to use masks and music, and so was looking for a script which had "the discipline of poetry" and the inner pace and rise of song, while simultaneously sounding impulsive and personal. Shakespeare's 'iambic pentameter' rhythm was used (which was 5 sets of unstressed syllables followed by stressed syllables). This would give the dialogue a dynamic tempo.

In the 6 choruses of Antigone, Feldshuh's adaptation attempted to show a distinctive tone and make each chorus have a specific dramatic function, in exampe Chorus 6 (Bacchus) is a frantic begging call for the God Dionysus. Parts that are chanted/sung were also bolded in the script.

Another adaptation he made to Antigone was the structure of the text in the final messenger scene, in which the messenger becomes the narrator for the audience, and in turn, each character in 3rd person narrates their parts of the story. For example Creon says "Creon moved quickly to escape". This let the characters be present on stage for the action before the ending

   What were the staging conventions of the time in which your play was written?  How was your production different?  (design of set, costume, props, etc.)

Original

Acting style - The original Acting style in greek theatre was a largely projected performance style, and melo-dramatic.

·        The original venues for greek theatre would take place in open air theatres, that were usually a bowl-shaped arena on the side of hill. Some of the theatres could hold over 15,000 people. When being set outdoors, there would be no use of curtains, lights or intermissions. In the theatre, the ‘theatron’ is where the audience sit. The ‘parados’ is the entrance giving access to either the stage for the actors, or the ‘orchestra’ for the chorus. The ‘orchestra’ was a circular dancing area where the actors and chorus would perform. The ‘thymele’ was an altar to Dionysus which was set in the centre of the ‘orchestra’. This originally was where a goat was sacrificed, in honor to the god.

·        Actors – The chorus always remained on stage with the actors. Originally, there were 50 members in the chorus, but Antigone play reduced theirs to 15. They would represent the audience, and make democratic decisions in the platy. There was only 2 actors on stage at a time (however we know that later changed with certain playwrights like Sophocles). All the roles were played by men, and the playwright of the play would be one of the actors. The rule of three was that the play was limited to 3 actors, so each would play multiple roles. No women were allowed to take part in the performances, so any female character roles were played by men.

·        Costumes – The actors would wear long, flowing robes, high boots with raised soles, and masks that were made of linen, wood or cork. The masks identified age, gender and emotion, and had exaggerated features so the audience were able to see more easily. This is due to the distance the audience were from the stage. Some experts claim that the masks actually helped amplify the voice so it could be head at the back of large open-air theatres.

·        The plays would be set in a 24 hour timeframe, so previous events or background info would be recounted on stage. No action or scene in the play was to be a deviation; all were to contribute some way to the plot. The events of the play are also set in one unchanging scene (but this also later developed with the invention of periaktos by Sophocles).

·        Lighting – Plays were only performed during the daytime as there was no artificial lighting. They would often be designed to take advantage of the position of the sun, and theatre sites would be well-placed to achieve the best effects of the natural light.

Difference

·        Acting style – Following the adaptation of ‘Antigone’, our acting style was more naturalistic and not over exaggerated. This type of tragedy we found was effective using some subtlety and it didn’t need to be too extravagant.

·        Venue – We also performed in an open air theatre. We included the area between the theatron and orchestra for the chorus’ ‘trenches’ where we would wait there, still never leaving the stage and going backstage.

·        Actors – For the chorus, we begin with a choral harmonic sound. We also had both female and male actors and broke the rule of three, and also had more than 2 actors on stage at a time.

·        Costumes – For the chorus, we wore boiler suits instead of cloak-style clothing, however we still kept similar as we all wore the same suits with slightly different dye stains. In general our character’s costumes were more contemporary, for example the guards wore camouflage jackets relating to modern age warfare. The chorus also used masks in specific scenes, but was not used among any other characters. 

S/H/C/P context of Greek theatre

Greek drama originates from the Greek God Dionysus (the god of vine, wine theatre and dance) “God of the dance” – Antigone chorus. A festival honouring Dionysus would be held annually in Athens, Greece. The festival would hold competitions were playwrights would compete with new plays (greek comedies and tragedies). This was the most famous and popular public festival of that era. Prisoners were even let out of jail on bail just for this event. What started as simply choral songs on the death and rise of Dionysus, became the theatrical contest. You didn’t have to pay either, as it was more a part of the cuture rather than a money-making business. 

Comparing to our performance, we performed as part of our course, and did charge for it in order to afford the venue we used. 

·         What were the themes in your script and how did you practically explore them?

·        One of the themes in Antigone is ‘the power of unwritten law’. This is represented through Creon’s unwritten law of ordering one of the brothers ‘Polyneices’ to be left unburied, and punishing anyone goes against it. Everyone in Thebes but one is submissive to the ruler, even when it is not a true law.

·        Another is ‘fate vs. free will’. Antigone’s own choice to go ahead and bury her brother, even though she is aware of the consequences shows she accepts her fate through her use of free will. She would rather follow her fate set by the gods than a law set by the king. Throughout the play Antigone follows her fate and shows acceptance, by allowing the guards to take her to Creon, admit her crime and kill herself before they have a chance to.

·        Another theme is Mortality. Self-injury and suicide is very dominant in the Theban plays, particularly Antigone. Antigone, Haemon and Eurydice each commit suicide, and Polyneices and Eteocles take actions that result in their deaths. This suggests that in the context life is weak, and taking one’s own life is an acceptable way of dying.

·        ‘Power and pride’, is shown through Creon’s arrogance and how he takes his advantage of being the ruler to oppress the city of thebes, and eventually become the cause of his own destruction and downfall by the end of the play.

·        ‘Determination’ is portrayed through Antigone, as she fights injustice and manages to give her brother a proper burial

·        ‘Consequences of choice’ is shown through both Creon and Antigone. Creon’s decision to order the non-burial of Polyneices caused him to make another decision of punishing Antigone, resulting in devastating consequences as his son and wife both die. Antigone’s own consequences are that she must die, however her acceptance of fate 

       Describe the importance of a few characters in the piece and how your production interpreted them for a contemporary audience?

We interpreted the chorus in linking them to refugees, in terms of their situation, their ‘importance’ from certain perspectives, appearance and behaviour in performance.

The chorus wear dirty stained boiler suits which could reflect how they are displaced and have nothing. They are on the bottom of the hierarchy and obey the royal family (who can be seen as the government) are at the top. They have little importance and say in their life in Thebes, which is similar to refugees as they are moved to unknown locations and have no voice. The chorus’ behaviour is originally submissive and afraid, echoing the fearful state of the refugees as they have lost their homes and possibly families. 

     What were the most popular styles of performance when your play was originally performed?  (acting or dance styles)

The term 'tragedy' mean 'goat-song', in which performers would do goat-like dancing around the stage of sacrificial goats for prizes. The chorus would sing and dance as they chant their lines.

         What was the style of the piece? How did this compare with the original?

 The best things about working with the particular classical script I performed:

I came to further understand the language and writing style of this type of play, as well as researching into the history of Antigone to produce elements of the original performance back in 441BC, to our performance. It was also interesting to find Antigone actually can apply to our modern world politically and socially. For example, the theme 'power of unwritten law' can link to today's society, and how deviation from the social norms can make you an outcast. 

Presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZcGWStydEc&feature=youtu.be

Unit 12 questions

Antigone's first performance was in Athens around 440 BC. The original play written by Sophocles, was around 4/5 hours long. As they were performed outside in amphitheatres, there were no intermissions either. These events which were held in honour of Dionysus, always had a large audience because it was really the only source of entertainment in that time. Originally in the tragic plays of Ancient Greece, the chorus consisted of 12 singers and dancers. They would all stay on the same rhythm to represent one entity. Later on, the numbers increased and a 3rd actor was added (Sophocles). The leader of the chorus began to interact with the actors, and this brought ancient Greek tragedy nearer to the modern understanding of 'dramatic plot'. The acting was very full out as they had to be seen and heard throughout the whole audience. This made their gesturing very grand.
For my Shakespeare Monologue, 'Much Ado About Nothing' was first performed in the late 1590s. It is a comedic play, and the first production was by the Lord Chamberlain's men, a company of actors that Shakespeare wrote for most of his career.

 In the Elizabethan Era, Shakespeare's plays were often performed in the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres. Before these venues, the plays would be performed in the courtyards and back rooms of pubs. Actors then had the reputation of hard drinkers, and the plays supposedly promoted ungodly ideas. This contrasts with the Greek era of theatre as their performances were in honour of the Gods. There was a lack of set and lighting, and would be performed in the afternoon for the best natural light. As most leading roles would have been played by men, Beatrice in 'Much Ado' would have been played by a very skilled male actor. After every performance, they would finish with a 'jig', so the actors had to be able to dance well too. In these times, people would refer to attending the performances as 'hearing' the play rather than 'watching' it. This is because the minimal use of set design and gender switched roles, so Shakespeare would use imagination to evoke the desired image (particular locations and environments). When performing my monologue, I simply just stood on a podium with plain clothing. It showed that it was more about hearing the performance rather than observing my appearance, the setting etc.  



In the Greek era, plays competed in the Festival of Dionysus, which was very culturally important back then compared to now. The event was held annually in Athens, where all the citizens would come together for this time. The 'Thyleme' was an altar in the middle of the theatre stages, where a goat would usually be sacrificed to thank the God. As it was the only source of entertainment, there would be thousands upon thousands of people that would attend. There was no fee either, as the reasons were for the religious aspect. Greece was made up of small independent city-states. Athens grew in power and took over many of the states. Only native-born males were granted citizenship. By the 5th century, Athens has become a democracy, but only citizens could be a part of the political life, meaning women, slaves and foreigners were not a part of this. Women were excluded from the festivals, meaning they would not act and couldn't even be in the audience.
 Nowadays, the religious aspect has diminished as people purely come in the joyment of plays and theatre arts. Audience today also have to pay to go and are available throughout the year, rather than only a few set days per year. Women are also allowed to be involved in the performances and be in the audience etc.

In the Elizabethan era, the theatres would be filled with all different social classes, but would be in their sections of the audience seating. The commoners were known as the 'groundlings', who would pay a penny to watch from the pits of the globe theatre. The gentry (people of a high social class) would pay to sit in the galleries along with cushions for comfort. The rich nobles could afford to pay to sit on a set of chairs on the side of the stage itself. The theatres were known for quick spreading plagues, with the bubonic plague closing the theatres in 1593, 1603 and 1608. Between 1660 and 1700, plays were extremely popular and people would flock to the theatres when a new play was being performed. This showed the country's stability which was firstly doubtful when Queen Elizabeth took the throne. However when the needs were being met in the country, they could focus on increasing the importance in the arts, music and theatre. Nowadays, the behaviour of the audiences in the theatre are significantly different compared to back then. The audience would behave very boisterously, particularly the 'groundlings'. Cabbage and other vegetables would often be thrown at the performers in criticism, sometimes even furniture which would cause damage. Audiences today are much more respectable and for obvious and legal reasons, would not be allowed to disturb to performances.


In Shakespeare's plays, he uses prose and verse which differentiate between the character's social classes. In the higher characters, which were normally the protagonist and people from higher social classes would talk in verse, using rhyme schemes and a rhythmic pattern that displays their education and their royal status (being a queen/king). The sub-plot was for lower social class characters who would talk in prose. Showing the opposite of the verse, prose lack rhythmic pattern which shows their lack of education and debased position.


We made a number of creative choices for our performance of 'Antigone' when interpreting the text. Some of which were:

• Boiler suits for chorus: This choice of costume for the chorus members came from the idea of them representing 'refugees'. The dark dye stained suits showed the lack of importance of the chorus characters, and separates them massively from the royal characters of the play
• Guard role split into 2: Me and Emily both had the guard role, so we became a pair of guards who each showed a different set of morals. One, who partly lied to save their backs, and another who admitted the truth out of fear of punishment.
• Use of masks: We used masks of different emotions that were largely exaggerated. The varied emotions reflect the ones expressed through the play
• Use of trench: We used trenches for the chorus members to wait in as they watch on at the other characters
• Music: Our chorus started above the audience in a long line around the edge of the seating, where we produced a harmonious tune with our voices. We also used a harpist for certain scenes in the background which linked to the Greek music that would have been played in that era,

In developing my vocal and movement skills to create characterisation, I have interacted more with the other characters. Particularly with the chorus, it starts off with them siply interacting with each other, isolated socially from the other characters. However, as time progresses the chorus connect more with the royals such as Creon, when they are taking over his sanity and getting into his mind as he self-destructs. 

describe the contrast between your roles when performing to an audience?
There was a strong contrast between the roles in Antigone when performing to an audience, in terms of the mood and atmosphere. Creon's presence was often uncomfortable to the audience as his power and pride was very distinct, as well as having an aggressive nature. Whereas Antigone was the heroine of the story, fighting for justice and having a strong will power. The chorus were the commentators of the narrative, the voice of the audience and although on the inside of the play have little significance, through another perspective on the outside actually are important as they guide the onlookers through the plot.

Evaluation of Antigone

Before show

We did speedruns of the play and went over some of the choruses. We changed some areas and adapted some to the layout of the theatre. For example, we decided to walk up the seats for the lines "endure endure...." instead of standing in the trenches. We also began the choral beginning at the tops of the seating around the edges, to create a harmonious, surround sound effect which creates a better atmosphere.

We only had time to go over the scenes vaguely and more on the blocking, so I felt a bit concerned as we didn't have any run throughs of my scene. The run through went okay, but we need to ensure we have good consistent energy throughout the play to keep the interest of the audience.


Post show

My guard monologue went really well. I had no hesitations and my lines were fluid. I made sure to perform out towards the audience over facing back, and chose good moments on directions and where to be stationary. I'm happy that the atmosphere and tension switched between high and low (turning cold when explaining the vortex in the sky, and the desperation near the end when pleading to Creon). My interaction was also good with Antigone and Creon (Despising Antigone but fearing Creon). I am glad I remembered all my lines and I maintained my character, which I think was due to the adrenaline I had and also feeling relaxed, meaning I didn't need line prompting like my past rehearsals. I didn't really need to exaggerate my scene as it was more naturalistic. Greek tragedies are more 'real', as opposed to Greek comedies where things can be overemphasised for comedic effect.

The choruses could have been better in some of the scenes. We did start strong in our choral beginning, although it slightly withered near the end it kept the right pattern. Our body percussion section was very strong and made a good impact. Our cave scene could have flown smoother if we remembered to return to the trenches, but I was happy with my decisions in the choreography. The ending was stronger but overall the lines could have been better learn. However, our emotion in our voices and actions were very bold, for example in 'Bacchus' with our cries and wails.

In terms of the main character monologues, the pacing was good and stayed moving. It was one of our best performances as a whole, as previously we all needed some prompts here and there especially in for cues.

My biggest challenge was fully understanding the entire context and language of the play, so I could fit my character well into the storyline. It also made it hard to memorise the lines as I was not completely sure until later into the rehearsal process. I feel that on the actual performance in front of a full audience, I embodied the character to it's fullest than when in the rehearsals. This links back to my audition, as I usually forget my words in smaller crowds than in a bigger audience which I find interesting, and something I need to work on.

Antigone part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zvujRh3UCM


Antigone part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EzhdYdlVxc

Rent Audition

Production role - Costume

Autumn colour dyes (browns oranges) - this is what we used to dye the boiler suits for the choruses
Peacock colours for royals - blue purple green


Chorus: We are going to be wearing disposable boiler suits which me and Livvie have dyed browns and oranges. This shows how they are the lowest in the hierarchy, with no power or say in decisions. They will also have dark material as a headscarf to hide all hair The fact they are all matching takes away any sort of identity in the individuals.

Royals: Peacock colours (blues/greens/purples). These are seen as royal colours, particularly purple. The colour green symbolises 'Victory' which would fit the context also.

We bought some blue curtain material to use for making sashes for some of the royal family including Creon and Haemon.

Antigone is wearing a white dress, which could symbolise the foreshadowing of her death as angels are usually depicted in white. This also distances herself from her royal family.

Me and Emily as the guards will wear army jackets with black leggings and shoes.