Greek week 6

On Monday we looked at the final chorus scene we had yet to complete, but this time we were asked to use microphones, cameras, and smart phones for the modern touch. We came up the idea to use the microphones, so we decided on looking like some sort of press group all trying to record everything that was happening and everything that everyone was saying. We also used the idea of looking as if we were asking Connor (Orestes) questions about what was going on and so we all raised our hands, and acted excited and anxious for the best footage of the speech. On the lines 'clawing the walls' I thought it would be a good idea if the chorus all crawled towards the walls as if they were using all their strength and showing high outbursts of energy, and Kirsty came up with the idea of having the people behind us standing up, to pull us back by our legs. We would keep repeating this and it gave the scene a really good effect.

An exercise we were introduced to this week, was to help us get in touch with our characters inner animal. This was focusing on the characteristics of the animal and then personifying and sculpting them back into say for example my character 'the slave'. We had to choose three animals that we thought represented our characters the most. I chose:

A dove: I thought a dove would be a good one for the slave, as it represents freedom and peace, and these are two things that the slave is desperate for, as well as the elegance and grace of the dove, Electra describes how 'gracious and elegant' the slave is during their scene together.

A bee: I thought the bee is a working animal that is harmless unless threatened, and I thought this could show the strength within the slave as the slave is a working character, her job is to obey her master/mistress and work. The bee works to provide honey, but if threatened will let off a nasty thing, although if they sting they also die. I thought this could represent the fact that although the slave believes in who she is, and is proud of who she is, if she did not do what she was told or said something to defend herself, she could have her life ended with a snap of her mistresses fingers.

 A horse (mare): I thought of the mare, to show the protective side of the slave towards the baby, and to bring out her nurturing mothering instincts. The mare will protect the foal just like the slave protects and feeds the baby. The horse can also be quite and aggressive creature when threatened. I thought this also reminded me of the lullaby I found (all the pretty little horses) which is one of the songs I could sing.

 

On wednesday  'Slavery in Poland existed on the territory of Kingdom of Poland during the times of the Piast dynasty in the Middle Ages. It continued in various forms until late in the 14th century and was supplanted by the institution of serfdom, which has often been considered a form of modified slavery.'

'Polish literature refers to this group of people as "unfree people" (Polish: ludzie niewolni, Latin: servi, ancillae, familia) rather than as slaves.'

I like the fact of using the idea of 'unfree' people in some of my characters thoughts because, I feel as if its something that making light of what was a very serious situation. In the scene with my character and Electra, it is as if the slave is being kind towards Electra, and the slave also sings a lot, which could refer to joy, and so I think the idea of the words 'unfree people' could relate to something my character would agree to. My character is obedient but she also is strong minded, she believes in who she is but wouldn't say anything she wasn't supposed to. I think this is because she knows that if she says anything wrong, it could be the end of her, and she longs to see her children again one day. I also think the child she looks after takes her mind away from the negative side of her life, and seeing any baby brings joy to her. 

I like the idea of adding a sense of a polish accent to show her difference in cultures and understanding. She is not from Greece and therefore may not understand some of the violent plans being made around her. I think this is connected to the lines 'Is this a good country they have brought me too?'. By trying to speak properly but adding a polish sense, could show her trying to speak her best to try and fit in. She doesn't want to risk anything.

'Freedom is a personal. You may be an person with minimal ego and might not feel the impulse to defend when attempts are made to snatch away your freedom, but like all precious things one would realise the value of freedom only when it leaves you for good. When individual freedom gets breached and starts influencing the society also it sows the seeds for pushing society into political slavery.'

Most people associate slavery with chains and handcuffs, but in the play my character is never seen chained or treated badly. I think the worse my character has to put up with is Orestes asking me to leave in a stubborn way. 

We managed to go over the blocking we started on my scene with Electra, two weeks ago and develop it even more. Karen liked the idea of me having an accent, and thought of looking at maybe Polish. I think this would be a great idea of having a slight accent as it would give the audience more of a clue that I was the slave, but also me more to go by. The more material I have on my character the more I can experiment with my character. 

My strengths this week: I was able to really get to grips with my character the slave more, as well as my journalist character. 

My weaknesses: I need to learn my lines as soon as I can so I can improve even more.

My aims for next week: To be off book and to have a greater understanding of my character.


This is the nearest thing I could find to a polish lullaby..
Polish lullaby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Hr7uUZeq8

On Thursday we focused on act 2, and ran the first few scene we looked at during the begging of this unit, with Bradley, Imogen, Zac and Dan. We developed this scene by adding drumming to the scene, which is my job and I experimented with different paces, and number of beats during the scene. This created tension between the discussion and suspense between pauses engaging the audience and bringing more emotion to the scene. I feel like i am still part of the chorus though as well because the chorus and the drumming work well, as it is there signal for specific movements, for example when I beat five they all lean in towards Electra. I also managed to see where I come in to sing, and I appear quite a lot in small sections throughout act one. We have made it so I wheel on the mirror, as the slave to make the transition of this more hidden and smooth.