Directing Presentation (checklist)

Context: outline of the text/theme (include concrete details) The theme that has been chosen is the idea of ambiguity. This means that the audience would be left questioning what is happening in our performances, and taking their own opinions about what was really happening instead of it being spoon fed to them. We felt that this was a common feature in contemporary theatre, and a few famous examples would be Sarah Kanes 4.48 Psychosis and Martin Crimps Attempts on her life.

outline main influences and/or stimuli

The stimuli we decided on, as well as the theme of ambiguity is the idea of a carnival/circus atmosphere. We have used this because it allows us to have a very solid flow between the performances, and be able to create a whole show, instead of 5 performances which are just very loosely joined together. relevance for the context of contemporary directing & personal relevance

I feel that my own piece in inspired by Antonin Artauds idea of the Theatre of Cruelty. He did not believe this to be in terms of violence and pain, instead pain of the mind and often a violent, physical determination to shatter the false reality.

Aims & Objectives- Outline particular aims and objectives in relation to: personal interests and abilities

I am interested in looking at the mind, and seeing how it can be manipulated by something which somebody has said, or in more intrusive ways such as hypnosis. I have never worked on a project which has little or no language involved so I would like to pursue that idea with this piece as I feel the movements, body language and facial expressions can often express a

story more than language. Instead of having language and speech in my piece for the sake of it I would use to enhance the movements, body language, and facial expressions. I feel that as a director I will be able to create the tension and atmosphere well, by using long silences and pauses like Harold Pinter. The idea of lack of speech and more focus on movement also comes from Atraud. He believed that text tainted a performance, and therefore because I want to use less speech in my performance, I will be using his ideas of movement, and also lights and sound which can create a performance without relying on purely text.

context (general- above + particular- working within the group)

As a group we have decided to use the context of a carnival/circus atmosphere in which all our pieces would be set in. This way we can all share our ideas and thoughts, as well as creating our own individual performances which have their own identity and individual stamp on them. I will be using Mat as a clown in my performance, as he is already a clown in Michaels performance, although the images of the clowns are different, as this is more of a collective piece I felt a flow of the character throughout would bring them together, instead of having a bunch of performances which are just loosely linked.

Style

As mentioned before Im keen to use Atraud as inspiration for my piece. This means that it will have to have a certain style to it. I aim to emulate his idea of movement as an expression to show how my characters are feeling. He also believed in using disturbing lighting and sound to create he performances, so therefore I will be incorporating my own lighting ideas and sounds to create the disturbing atmosphere. The lighting and sound linked with the movement of my characters will embody Artauds style and therefore reflect my own idea of disturbances of the mind.

methodology & creative process In my rehearsal times I will focus mainly on the body langauge and how my characters move. After studying how traditional clowns move in the circus I have found they use very animated, over the top body movements and facial expressions, and I will be working with Mat to embody these movements in my piece. However because his mind is troubled, I will be working to break the movements down as the piece progesses and this mind deteriorates. I feel that because I am using the an Artaud inspired stlye, the way he moves

and how he expresses himself through those movements to the audience is the key to my performance, and therefore this is what will be worked on most. I will also be working with Zoe to create the robotic movements I would like for my fortune teller. When looking at fortune tellers I found that the majority were mechanic machines, and that is the look I would like my to have.

Directorial vision/overall concept: outline your particular vision (what is original, relevant, etc) discuss relationship between your directorial vision, context, and aims& objectives discuss how your vision relates to style and methodology Scenic environment: outline elements that you plan to use: scenic configuration-audience seating, set, costumes, make up, lights, AV, special effects, etc. Promenade, set will have a fortune teller box parallel to a clown. Clown will have the traditional clown makeup on but its all smudged and running down his face, bright clown wig, and bright top with baggy trousers. How someone would traditionally imagine a clown to be. One square spot light over the clown to symbolise a prision and set structure which he must stay in at all times. Light over the fortune teller which flickers on and off so the audience never really see it until the end.

discuss how these relate to your directorial vision World of the play and/or piece/Characters/Relationships:

outline and discuss the above elements in relation to your directorial vision (including style & methodology) Creative Process & Planning:

outline the stages of your creative process discuss your proposed methodology discuss planned rehearsals in relation to the above

Risk Factors: outline and discuss potential risk factors in relation to all the above.