Questions - Research performing scripted plays

1. After looking at the first two to three sites on Google, how helpful do you think the information is?
Google was more useful and helpful because they came up with reliable sites which are also usually the top things people look for. However, looking at the other sites they are still as quick but dont come up with as relevant information.

2.How is the information in Yahoo! different from the information you found in Google?
Yahoo tend to find results which include adverts and less relative information for what im specifically looking for.
 

3. How might a metasearch engine like Dogpile be more helpful than a regular search engine?
It is quicker however the top sites that it comes up with are less relevant to what im looking for. It searches other search engines that may still be relevant however not necessarily what we look for first.
 

4. How does the information you get from Brainboost differ from the information you got on other search engines? What else do you notice on the left hand side?
Answers.com was "The most trusted place for peoples questions". It answers questions people usually ask and on the left hand side there are advertisements. Most questions asked are usually answered.
 

5. How might KartOO be more helpful than other sites? What makes it unique?
The majority of the results are adverts and uneccesary information. They show maps and routes on ways to get to places relating to your search/subject. It helps people who are visual learners (maps, routes)

6. How would you explain the benefits of using an Advanced Search to someone who had never tried it before?
It depends on what they want to look for. For example, looking for maps etc. Google is the most used site as it is popular and people think it's reliable however with alot of the other websites they think more outside the box and use less thought of websites so people can use better information which makes their knowledge more original.

Shapes in The Devil in Drag

Each Commedia character has a specific physical shape and way of moving. In our play particularly leading from the bum, nose, chest, belly and knees is vital as it shows what character plays a specific role and how maybe they may change throughout the play. For example the Judge is a very chesty person and he acts as if he is charge of everything so he would have to act like a 'know it all'. Also the devils would walk with their nose and toes as they are quite mischievious. We are going to take elements from these different characters to produce semi-realistic characters in our play. Dario Fo was very inspired by the characters from Commedia dell'arte.

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/video/shape

Dario Fo - Writer of The Devil in Drag

Dario Fo was born on 24th March 1926 (he is currently 87 years old). He is an Italian actor-playwright, comedian, singer, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter and political campaigner. He wrote The Devil in Drag which we are currently studying.

He also won a Nobel prize in 1997 in Literature.

He wrote the following plays (however he has written many more):

• Una donna tutta sola (A Woman Alone, title changed to Adult Orgasm Escapes from the Zoo for a 1983 performance)
• La mamma fricchettona (Freak Mother)
• 1977 – l’Uomo incinto (The pregnant man)
• 1978 – La storia della tigre (The Tale of a Tiger)
• 1981 – Clacson, trombette e pernacchi (Trumpets and Raspberries)
• 1983 – Coppia aperta, quasi spalancata (The Open Couple)
• 1995 – Leonardo: The Flight, the Count and the Amours
• 1997 – Il diavolo con le zinne (The Devil with Boobs)
• 2003 – The Two-Headed Anomaly
• 2009 – Francis The Holy Jester

His plays have been translated into 30 languages and have been performed across the world, including in places such as: Argentina, Chile, England, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka.

 

His work covers the subjects such as: Abortion, war, sexism, Roman Catholic Theology, power, organised crime, racism, drug addiction, European history, corruption, mechanisation, assassinations and conspicuous consumption.

 

 

Allegory of The Devil in Drag - The Lion and the Ass

An Allegory means: a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

The Lion and the Ass - The Devil in Drag
The Judge says:
Well anyway, one year, as every year, all the beasts of the valley were invited up to the sanctuary on the top of the mountain for the blessing of the animals. The lion chose the donkey as his travelling companion, because he thought: "This journey is going to be long and wearisome, and when the going starts to get steep I can get up on the donkey's back. He can carry me. And then, if I happen to get hungry, I can eat him too!" So he suggests to the donkey that they travel together, and the donkey agrees. But the donkey proposes a deal: "We'll take turns in carrying each other. Alright? Two miles each." So off they go. When the road starts to get steeper, up speaks the lion: "Time for me to get up on your back!" "Alright, up you go...?" And with a leap the lion is up there on the donkey's back. "Hey, go easy with those claws sticking into my ribs," says the donkey. "You scratch me like that and I bleed to death!" "I can't help it. I have to hold on as best I can! Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Away you go!" So the donkey reaches the top of the mountain, and by this time he's got blood pouring down from his scratches. "Well," he says, "now at least for the journey down it's my turn to ride on your back!" "True enough, fair's fair," says the lion. "You did the work on the way up, I do it on the way down. Away you go!" And the donkey jumps up onto the lion's back... But he has a terrible time keeping his balance. He slithers here and there, because he's got hooves, you see, and he can't get a proper grip. Then all of a sudden our donkey jockey has an idea – a thrust of his loins, stiff as a ramrod, and straight up the lion’s backside. Held in place. Good and solid. "Hey, ho, ouch!" shouts the lion. "What is that blooming great truncheon that you've stuck up my rear?" Forgive me, your majesty...” says the donkey. “I can’t help it – each of us has to hold on as best he can! Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Away you go!"

 

I believe the moral of this story is never to under estimate the underdog. I think this relates to the story of the play because the judge always thinks he is more privileged than anybody else, therefore making people feel threatened by him. Instead, somebody in the play decides to get there own back on the judge and teach him a lesson. The moral also explains that the underdog is actually capable of a lot more than the judge thought he would be.

Finding Character through Physicality

Our task was to find character through physicality. We were asked to find physicality in the following characters:
- Devil
- Old lady walks like dry old stick
- Drunken Judge
- Beautiful woman with big boobs

To do the devil I kept my head quite low however looked up as if I was really evil and wished death upon someone. My body was quite stern and tense with my fists clenched together as if I was about to hurt somebody. My lips were screwed up like raisins to show that there was anger in my face.

We practised the old lady walking like a dry old stick in lesson. To do this our partners moulded us how they interpret an old lady. In my case my shoulders were hunched over and my pelvis was sticking out. For my facial expressions my eyes were small and I was squinting as if I needed to put on glasses. My character owned a trolly which she had her shopping in as that is stereotypically an old ladies characteristic. We were then asked to pretend that there was money between our bum cheeks so this would help us walk around looking more realistic.


To do the drunken judge we were told to pretend we were asked to walk over an invisible line and try and do it properly however being drunk. This made people walk from left to right and make noises our phrases that proved our characters were actually drunk. Some people were hunched over and others were trying to walk as straight as possible however this ended up in our drunken characters actually walking with our backs too far over the wrong way. We were told to be drunken judges so our character had to be quite posh and classy, so getting onto the other side of the line couldn't result in anybody falling over.

To do the beautiful woman with large boobs I decided to walk with my chest and nose. I decided to walk with my nose so that she would look quite stuck up as if she was saying "I know I'm beautiful." She walked with her entire body straight however having an extremely curved back to enlarge her chest. Her head was tilted up and her eyes were slightly squinted whilst having a smirk/pout on her face to add to the thought of her being more stuck up.



In yesterdays lesson we foccussed on one of these characters (in my case i was the beautiful woman with big boobs) we did different ways they would act when: Leaning against a wall, sitting down, smoking a ciggarette and stomping it out. We then went on to seeing how our characters would react with one another. My character worked with the evil devils and they didnt really get on. My character was then put with the judge where my character loved the judge and the judge loved the attention he was getting however he would get overwhelmed with the attention and need to go to the toilet.

Researching the world of the play (Ways of research)

Going to places including:
- Churches/ cathedrals/ courthouse (to see the views of a priest on the era or the themes of the play)
- Soho (to visit vintage and transvestite shops)
- Italy (to gather visuals from the actual place and perhaps live in the life of your character in their setting)

Looking at the art of the time including:
- Music
- Art
- Fashion
- Books
- Literature
- Theatres/Film
- Media produced in that time (news)
(To do the above we are able to see the pop culture of the Renaissance period by going to museums and galleries in and around London and Italy)

The history of the Renaissance period:
- Factual Books
- Documentaries
- People with stories from that time
- Newspapers from that time
- Historical Landmarks

Researching the writer Dario Fo:
- Other work he has produced
- Documentaries made about him
- His background life (to see if it links in with what he has written for the play)
- People who have translated to play
- People he would prefer to have to perform what he's written

News within that era:
- Problems faced
- Controversial

Not all of the above is always accessible efficiently and instead we result in the internet. However by reading books and going to theatres and places including Italy, it isn't always efficient to be done within a short amount of time. Also, some of the above can be quite costly. On the other hand, all of the above are extremely good ways in which we can organise our minds into finding out the world of the play including its history, the writer, news, art and places. Some of the above may be practical however not always.

Rehearsal - Reacting to stimuli

This term we are doing a physical theatre play. This play is called The Devil in Drag. We have been told to use our bodies more than we use our minds/speech. My initial thought about what we have been told we would be doing seemed to me like it would be a challenge because we would have to show our story/plot through more body actions than speech.

We started with a physical warm up, this included stretching and warming up our bodies so that we are ready for the tasks throughout the day. We also did a voice warm up where we controlled our breathing and used voice effectively whilst doing the task.

We then went onto playing body tennis, this consisted of a circle of people who passed and repeated gestures from one another. We then added sound to the gestures. This warmed up our reaction skills and focus. We were also able to make our actions big and over the top which lead us on to our next task.

We next played the Fisherman game this made us think about leading with different parts of body which included: Pelvis, Bum, Lip, Head. We had to take into consideration making our actions big and enthusiastic whilst also making it realistic. The task was to be in a pair on opposite sides of the room and pull in the 'fish' by a different part of their body.

In the session after break, we started off by practising/creating different simple characters walking from their knees (being quite a slouched person), chest (strong character), nose (know it all), chin (analysing everything) and bum (love myself/slouchy person). This helped us interpret what kind of character we think these people would be. We included a phrase that would go along side this character and if we were chosen we would say our line in the role of our character. We gave our characters name and purposes which made our characters seem more realistic.

We were given some text from a part in 'The Devil in Drag' as stimulus. We were asked to create a scene which was comedic and used the same themes as what the text involved. In my text we focussed on racism. We were leading with body in different ways to also make it comedic however showing the form of racism. Our scene was set in a class room with three chav girls who disobeyed the teacher. Another boy in the detention decides to stand up for the teacher where we realise our mistakes and apologise for them. It was a simple plan however really came across comedic by the actions we focussed on.