AQA GCSE Drama Student Book: Revised Edition

Style: realism versus stylisation The play combines mostly realistic dialogue with opportunities for stylised movement. Scott Graham, one of the co-directors, is one of the founding members of Frantic Assembly, a theatre company known for its adventurous and innovative use of movement and music. Examples from the original productions can be found online, but are not described in the script. You might choose to create a stylised production, or it could be more rooted in naturalism. The movement choices you make should be there to help create the mood of the scene, tell the story and engage the audience. One technique used by the directors was using photographs as inspiration, such as Mohammed Ali knocking out Sonny Liston to inspire the scene between Bob and Ben. After studying the image, the actors explored how Bob and Ben could move so that Bob would be similarly ‘dominant of a prone Ben’ ( Things I Know to be True Comprehensive Guide ). TASK 12 Choose a photograph or painting you have found, or use an image from these two pages, to inspire movement improvisations in one key scene of the play. TASK 13 a Choose either an extract from a scene or a transition from one scene to the next. Experiment with the movement. Decide what you want the mood of this section to be, such as mysterious, frantic, dangerous, touching or funny. Then try the following: Move in slow motion. Move in double-time. Pick up a prop and pass it from character to character. Experiment with levels, with one person on the ground, one sat and one standing at all times. Find a moment when there is some contact between characters, such as touching hands, leaning on each other or pushing another character. b Discuss what worked well and what could be developed further. Characterisation and conflict Each member of the Price family has a distinct perspective and there is frequent con ict between the characters. One of the challenges for performers is to create a believable family and show why and how they disagree. COMPONENT 1 UNDERSTANDING DRAMA 82