In groups of three we were given the task to take three different forms of text and use one sentence from each to build a short piece of script. These were:
1. An adventure novel – “They have treated me shamefully – shamefully.” (Doyle, 1994, 170).
2. A classic novel – “For some minutes no one spoke” (Brontë, 1992, 252)
3. A journal article – “She discusses the angle at which one reads versus the angle of vision assumed in theatre” (Taubin, 1979, 5).
We began by scripting – script – click on to retrieve script.
This exercise taught me about shaping a narrative around existing materials. We were asked to think about tones of voice, pauses, repetition, lighting and sounds. We chose to give our piece a theme of frustration. Only one person was seen, by a spotlight in the centre, while the other two voices were in the darkness. This aimed to portray the idea that possibly not everyone had the right to be seen. The ripping of paper symbolised the theme of reading, but also conveyed that emotion of frustration as there was a continual ripping throughout. Finally, the slamming of the book was like a realisation and that was where the tone of voice rose. These ideas reflected the words taken from three short sentences and showed that bringing them together gave us a chance to create a piece of theatre.
Again, this helps me think about how I am going to shape my own solo performance. The content is not the only important part, how it is conveyed to the audience is just as important. This gave me the idea to create a performance space which has four sections and the audience can only be in one of these four sections at one given time. In Amy Taubin’s piece Double Occupancy (1976) she made the audience choose only to hear or see the performance. How I am thinking of structuring my performance is that the audience are given the option to walk around four sections at their own leisure. The four sections will hold the same performance through four different mediums with the audience being asked to choose which they prefer. Now I have started to develop ideas about restricting and including audience view, I am going to start to creating an initial script for my solo performance.
Works Cited
Brontë, C. (1992) Jane Eyre. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited.
Carrol, N. (1979) Amy Taubin: The Solo Self. The Drama Review: TDR, 23 (1) 51-58.
Doyle, A. C. (1994) The Hound of the Baskervilles. 4th edition. London: Penguin Group.