Lesson 4

Today we began the set devising process. My main job today was to take the first extract of the library interview conducted between my grandmother and I, applying Brechtian techniques to create a short piece that can be used in the performance. Applying Brecht's exaggerated styling and linking to my work on extension of the character, I had to make the physical and vocal choices for my grandmother bold and amplified. I first identified the natural traits of my grandmother's physicality and vocals: she is well articulated, emphasises expressions by extending the word and looking up, she sits straight with her legs crossed and holds a cup of coffee. To magnify these qualities, I chose to employ a posh accent, overly extend my emphasis on words and sit up straight, completely rigid, and throughout the whole thing, I constantly sip from my coffee cup. I believe that their is a comedic element to it, identifying Brecht's Spass which creates an interesting character that will entice the audience to watch my piece and listen to what it is that I am saying. The over exaggerated emphasis will particularly help the audience identify the important elements of the piece- a natural quality that I believe makes my grandmother easy to listen to.

Something the whole class worked on this lesson is the 'We Don't Need No Education' song by Pink Floyd. As a ensemble, if we find the intent and aggression behind the lyrics, it could be a powerful Brechtian tool commenting on the education system and the utopia that a lot of students dream of. However we struggled, because the tune is an unusual key and the females especially struggled to find a happy medium between the normal depth of the notes and the natural tone of their voice. We also struggled with the beat, often speeding up too much. With all these factors, we lost the words and their meaning, causing the song to become a depressing sounding mess. The song is not an upbeat tone, so if we cannot bring energy to the song, it will sound dull. It took us longer than it should, but eventually we all worked as a group to give the song meaning and depth. I hope we can bring this in following rehearsals and in the performance without half an hour of bickering and slacking.

The last thing I worked on in the lesson was developing my ideas for my piece from 'The Book Thief.' I am not sure whether the piece can be interwoven within the whole performance, yet I am eager to work on something to put forward as it is something I have felt strongly about since the opportunity arose at the beginning of term. I have decided on doing a monologue from the perspective of death, the narrator of the actual book, talking about how Liesel's love of books made him feel alive- and as death, this is not an accomplishment many can boast.

I hope next weeks rehearsal sees us bringing all our ideas together making a strong piece with fluid transitions. I believe this piece has so much potential, but relies heavily on the participation of the whole cast meaning everyone must be on top form when we come to running it through.