The staging was very minimilistic, there isn't any use of vibrant colour, infact the colours used were extremely dreary and depressing (using the colours black and grey mostly). The staging was indicative of the families wealth, some features stood out to express this such as a rusty door and simple plastic chairs for outdoor furniture. This added to the atmosphere as it clearly explained the families wealth and area in which they live in. Setting had changed from the outside passage of 3 flats and to a bedroom, the changes were quick and simple. The use of lighting helped to indicate to the audience there was a set change.
The clothing used throughout was basic and quite shabby (again to show the lack of wealth). I had come to the conclusion that the performance was set in the 1980's by the dungarees that had been worn by a teenage girl. Some characters offered more masculinity than others by being topless and showing their bodies off confidently. Props such as food, largar and ciggarrettes were often used, this indicated the family of being quite 'common'. The costume didn't have any specific detail to depict wealth and some characters wore the same clothes regularly.
The lighting was dim and dark, it was also dimmed when there was a scene change which was accompanied by 1980's music. If the set had gone darker during scene changes it would have been more effective. Lighting could have been pitch black to highlight in the bedroom that somebody was asleep. There was a complete blackout on stage when it was the end of part 1 which was effective as we knew when something was finished. The lighting remained the same through out most of the performance, i found this quite boring as the lighting could of gone warmer at happier moments and colder at angrier moments. However the lighting made natural shadows to add to the grunge and dreary effect.
All characters had been assigned one role to perform throughout, so no double casting took place. Each gender had played their own gender.
Sound effects that stood out to me were: the girl singing, other characters acted mesmorised by her voice. Music to change scenes, specifically 80's music (fit in with the story line). Background noise coming from other rooms (great as no extra characters were actually needed), complete silence after fight to add to the anger and destraut effect. Shouting to show anger and stress along with the wivvering of voices to show clear emotion.
Music was played at the start which was accompanied by the girl singing, this added a twist to the play even though it wasn't a musical. The atmosphere was hightened as the other characters were shocked by her good voice. Music (from the 80's) was repeatedly used when the scene was changed and the lyrics had fit in with what had happened in the previous scene.
The use if typical East London language and slang where swearing was often used, this added to the reality of the play. Singing was used by only one character on numerous occasions. The effect of all characters speaking cockney common made the entire play seem like it was actually set in a specific place. A lot of shouting was used which showed that the family were not a very emotionally centred family and a lot of their speech was based around anger. If there wasn't as much shouting the performance would have been more interesting to watch at the times when the shouting was needed most. The acting was naturalistic and sustained.
Words used: (missing out letters, swearing, pronounciation and slang)
- cheers
- bird
- 'ere
- muva
- pucca
- init
- 'leave it out'
- geezer
The moments which were most menorable were the parts where there were emotional pauses/silences for example when the two boys kissed. The reason why these moments were most memorable was because of the reactions of other characters such as the mother finding out her son Jamie was gay and having to accept that. It was acted very realistically and confidently making each part more enduring to watch.
The majority of the play was slow paced to make key moments such as up beat arguments stand out. Parts of the play picked up pace, for example when people were arguing there were quick, loud responces to signify fast movement. I think the director had wanted the slow pace to highlight the key moments such as the boys kissing, arguing and the characters all coming together at the end dramatically.
Sound was often used to switch from scene to scene which was also accompanied by singing at times, i think this had worked as it was interesting to watch as it broke up the pace. The designers would of had to take into consideration what had happened in the previous scene to have matching lyric and pace. I think this worked however the snipits of music inbetween scenes could have been longer. When talking about vision i thought it was very minimilistic and basic however suited the atmosphere of run down East London.
At first i would have thought that the young girl was the main character as she was the most ellaborate, loud character however as the performance as the performance went on it was apparent that the young boy Jamie was the main character as the story was based around him falling for his neighbour and being accepted as gay by his family and friends. The main character was indicated by the amount he had to say and his strong, sustained use of body language. All characters remained a strong, cockney, East London accent to highlight where they lived, class, background and wealth. The characters were loud throughout which didn't introduce key moments as well as they could have. Body language was confidently used to highlight areas such as arguing, fighting and going in for a kiss. Gesture was used in some areas which stood out more for me such as the mother shoving her boyfriend off to show uninterest or at the end when the two women had hugged to signify coming together.
Overall the play was better than expected as it was modern day issues we can still relate to and how things were really different back in the 1980's. Some areas i felt could have been highlighted more effectively by the use of vocal change (tone, pitch and loudness), body language and gesture. Despite this it was a good performance to watch.
No comments:
Post a Comment