AQA GCSE Drama Student Book: Revised Edition

Many Australians enjoy spending time outside. As Pip says, ‘This garden is the world’ and it has been the site of many key events in the Prices’ lives. Mark recalls climbing up the gum tree to hide, while Pip remembers her mother bashing her head against it. Bob also plants roses and spends time clearing away garden debris, such as leaves. Fran would like instead a garden ‘full of chaos and mess’ with ‘vines and creepers, and herbs’. Geoff Cobham, the designer of the rst production, was in uenced by Stop Making Sense , a 1984 lm of a Talking Heads concert, which starts with an almost bare stage, with musicians and design elements added throughout the concert. Another in uence were the photographs of Gregory Crewdson, whose intricately staged images of American suburbs turn ordinary places into locations that are eerie and unsettling. Question 1 in the exam will ask you to describe how a speci c design skill could re ect the context of Things I Know to be True set in a contemporary working-class suburb of Australia. The following pages explore various design areas and how they could re ect the context of the play. TASK 2 Study the images on these pages of contemporary Australia. Make notes on how they could in uence a design for the play. Consider: costumes props setting and set dressings. CHALLENGE The popular television soap operas Neighbours and Home and Away are both set in ctional Australian suburbs. Study an episode or stills from one. Note any inspirations for your design or performance. Gregory Crewdson with a photograph from his series Beneath the Roses 76 COMPONENT 1 UNDERSTANDING DRAMA