Today we ran through from the beginning of Act One up to the Oathtaker scene, making sure we were tight on our lines and cues, and the smooth running pace of the scene.
Things we needed to improve and focus on was shifting our positions further forwards, and also thinking of the awareness of our characters in their certain situations e.g the Passengers in the Elevator scene. Facial expressions are also vital in this production, especially Act One to show each character is really distinct in terms of mood/personality. I also made notes for any last minute sounds needed such as the elevator music which needs to have a basic moderate tempo, so the passengers can jilt their head in time with it.
Although realism is fully and clearly portrayed in the script of Act Two, in which the audience is brought out of the 'world of Dissocia' into the world of reality, where Lisa lays in a hospital bed undergoing treatment, there are also naturalistic features of Act One.
In a naturalistic play, there are essential elements that are necessary to support this style. Many of these ideas came from Russian practitioner, Konstanin Stanislavski;
The idea of a 'fourth wall' is imagining there is a front wall creating a three dimensional effect, and that it is just the actors and the set. This is where the actors do not engage/direct the audience, unlike plays such as musicals where the opposite would happen with the audience are more or less encouraged to react to the performance. In Act Two, there is no interaction or addressing of the audience which highlights the naturalism of the play as in reality there wouldn't be a group of onlookers. However in the first act, some aspects oppose the 'fourth wall' effect such as in the Guards scene. The two 'insecurity guards' respond to the sight of the audience by becoming immediately anxious (gripping and pulling down on their clothes). In the Jane scene, the character's personality and way of speaking seems that she automatically presents herself to the whole room, with consistent smiles to both Lisa and the front of the stage. However there are still segments supporting the fourth wall such as when Lisa is simply looking off into the distance, rather than the audience, as she gets even more bewildered in her own mind of what is happening. I feel Lisa is never really introduced to the audience unlike the other characters in the Act One, maybe because she is more in relation to the viewers, as both sense the oddity of the events that happen and Lisa never fully understands what's going on. The contrast between both acts is interesting as it takes you on a journey inside the mind of Lisa where there is more involvement (Act One), to outside of the mind, back to reality (Act Two)
Realistic setting also reinforces a naturalistic play, which is again easily conveyed in Act Two with the use of a hospital-style bed, a chair and a table topped with flowers and magazines. The simplicity of the set is effective because it is within the context of the section, and minimalistic as it is stripped down to the essentials; nothing overpowering or unnecessary. Act One, however uses variety of bright colourful lighting, set design etc. Our production's choice to include only bright colours (no black/white/grey) in our costumes for Act One gives the fantasy/unrealistic approach.
The realistic acting style is important, where it is non-exaggerated and can relate to an ordinary person's behaviour to such things. This is shown through Lisa's character, as she remains fascinated yet confused throughout Act One, which is understandable. In Act Two, all actors are realistic as the play shifts from the random fantasy style to a more serious approach. This helps to understand plays and relate it to a real life situation. The style of everyday conversations is often used as well, which Lisa and most of the characters use. This is known as 'prose' where actors use ordinary language which has no rhythmic structure unlike poetry, which is unrealistic.
In act two, the effect of having a natural time flow makes it realistic, as the pace is slow and drags out to show the long term treatment Lisa has in the hospital, which is over a few days/weeks. Also, the use of switching the main lights on and off when people enter and exit the room is a form of naturalism as theatre lighting wouldn't be there in real life to light up someone as you walk around, whereas manually turning on/off a light switch is authentic.
References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zxn4mp3/revision/3
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