Seeing the Flats

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Paige Moran

The first time we were allowed into the performance space to set up the flats that we would be using as to create a fully realistic experience for the audience as we were doing a farce, “it wasn’t a comedy set” (16). Originally I only wanted two entrances and exits, one being the auditorium door, the other being a door frame behind the counter which would lead up to the apartment. Upon setting up the flats it was discovered that there were two flats with door frames and one member of the tech team suggested creating a store-room which could be used as another entrance and exit. We developed this into the story to be used for comedic effect throughout the piece. By creating the stock room it gave the set further depth and interesting structure for the character interactions.

We decided not to use doors within the frames, removing boundaries between each theoretical location and producing a decrepit feeling within the store. To create a soft boundary between the theoretical flat and the record store I decided upon door beads which further hinted at the 80’s culture still existing within the store.

First look at the flats used within the show – before repaint (Kick a Pigeon Theatre, 2017)

When we originally saw the flats in the setup to be the record store, I realized the original color was lackluster and did not suit the feel which we wanted for the record store. My first thought was to paint the flats black, but it was realized that this would enclose the space and the decorations for the flats would not stand out. The tech team suggested using red as this would match the 80’s/90’s theme and allow the decorations to stand out. We decided to utilize the notice board on one of the flats as a visual gag for the audience throughout the performance but also as a prop within the story-line. For example, Alex using it to place her band posters on and a place for Daisy to put a reminisce of her dead boyfriend which was referred too towards the end of the piece.

Through looking at record stores that still exist today, I decided to have two of the flats decorated with vinyls and another flat decorated with the sleeves of the vinyls. From the very beginning I knew I wanted a ‘poster wall’ which would be made up of rave, music and film posters from the time, that pre-dated 1997. As the basis of the set was done, I started adding more personal touches to it so to add to the ‘homely’ aesthetic. I carried on researching popular items in the 90’s to add more references to the time around the set, this included ordering trolls which were placed around and glow-in the dark stars to make it appear as if Daisy, the owner of the record store, tried to ‘brighten’ the store up and make it more up to date.

Look of the completed set, with the flats painted red. (Kick a Pigeon Theatre, 2017)

Works Cited

Kick a Pigeon Theatre (2017) Record ’97. [image] Lincoln Performing Arts Centre: Kick a Pigeon Theatre.

Creating Our Style

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Emily Wood

With the creation of our piece, I have decided to have a look at different farces as well as the different conventions that are commonly used within a farcical piece. When researching I found that farce’s, whilst being comedic in nature, actually have tragedy at the core of the piece as Ray Cooney explains “I’m searching for something potentially tragic. Farce is more akin to tragedy than it is to comedy” (Cooney, 2014), with this knowledge in mind, it can definitely be applied to the situation at the core of our piece as the characters have just received news that their property is going to be demolished, and so need to sort out what is occurring within their own lives. However, what makes a farce a farce is the fact that it’s pure aim is to make the audience laugh, and we intend to do this through the use of physical comedy and deliberately absurd scenarios that are both conventions of a farcical comedy. The characters themselves also create comedy through the way in which they interact as we have very large and at times, unbelievable characters, such as the character of Alex, who is a struggling musician who frequents the record store and inflicts her songs upon the employees and those who live above the store in the flat. In addition to this, we also had the character of Daisy, who was the straight man character of the play who will create comedy due to the fact that she can realise and comment on the absurd scenarios that occur within the piece.

In addition to the use of farce, we also had elements relating to the theatre of the absurd within our work. The theatre of the absurd, however, also displays elements of a farcical nature as Waiting for Godot is one of the most well known plays to include farcical elements. Including elements of the Theatre of the Absurd, I feel, adds depth to our work, and helps us to structure the piece better as one of the main elements used within our piece that relates to the Theatre of Absurd was the use of the transitions to make the piece disjointed. During the transitions, the lights will change to a red wash from the natural wash, and news broadcasts describing the major events from the year of 1997 will play. During these transitions, the characters will change their costumes, and set up the space ready for the next scene whilst the audience are still able to see and observe them.

Cooney, R. (2014) Ray Cooney’s Six Rules of Farce. London: Telegraph. Avaliable from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/10688416/Ray-Cooneys-six-rules-of-farce.html [Accessed 22nd April 2017]

The Early Stages of the Script

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Jack Briggs

Right now the script is in a rough draft form with quite a bit of work left to go into it. It is still very much a testing ground for what material works and what doesn’t, and there’s still plenty of work left to go into refining the dialogue and making both the humour and the drama better. During our last rehearsal/workshop our dramaturge Elif led us in the development of one of our characters actions and lines within scenes to expand on their arc and characterisation, which was very successful and a good example of the progress being made towards the next draft.

One of the benefits of the cast designing their own characters is that they each have an approach to their character’s speech patterns and dialogue that is easy to integrate into the script and create distinctions between each, as noted by Rib Davis: “Some characteristics of speech are specific to the individual, but others are the result of their place of origin, class, educations, and occupation” (2016, 12). Because our characters are so individualised there are plenty of opportunities for comedy to come from their language and identity, and during readings the actors will often alter a line to best fit their character, such as changing the wording of a joke, or even inserting comedy into a line that was previously not intended to be funny. There’s also a lot of improvisation going on which is immediately added if successful, and in some cases if an actor is unavailable for a rehearsal another will take their place and inject something new to the character that we then practice with the actual actor.

One of the biggest challenges at the moment is ensuring that the dialogue reflects the period. A particular example would be the use of slang terms, because each require research into their first usage and where. As we have both a chav character and an Australian character, I have had to research any particular term to find its origin, which is made harder by the era in which our piece is set. It’s also much harder researching terms used in the 90’s that are no longer in use and quite possibly will be meaningless to our audience. There have been instances where I have found terms and phrases that have separate meanings to what the audience would expect, and I have had to avoid them because they won’t be understood without unnecessary explanation. Likewise, some modern terminology that I didn’t think of was not present in the year of the play, and therefore also has to be removed. This is a problem with tackling the era in which we have set the play in general, as we have had to be mindful of what they had, what was going on, and what their lives would be like, whilst also being mindful of our audience and their own understanding.

Another prominent challenge has been how much exposition into the characters’ lives can be given. Because each character has a rich backstory thanks to the early writing sessions, it can be hard to judge how much we can give and when given the limitations in time we must operate under. Rib Davis states; “Some of the information could be omitted altogether, while other pieces might remain, but only because the characters are given credible motivation for mentioning them” (2016, 66). For one or two characters the backstory is a necessary part of expanding on their motivations and a tool for adding dramatic weight. In others their backstory could become another joke. An example of this would be Violet’s backstory, which is revealed through her outlook on life that is presented to the audience as a series of jokes.

“Good dialogue conveys conflict, attitudes, and intentions. Rather than telling about the character, it reveals character” (Linda Seger, 1990, 147)

Works Cited:

Davis, R. (2016) Writing Dialogue for Scripts. 4^th Edition. London: Bloomsbury.

Seger, L. (1990) Creating Unforgettable Characters. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.