Blog Review

Melissa your blog has been well maintained. Well done for the work you have achieved so far. 

To gain the higher grades you will need to expand on the reasons for undertaking the class based exercises/techniques, ensuring that all responses include...

Why the task is useful to an actor/director? 

How you could develop the work further? 
(if you were to act/direct the full play) 

How the task helped you to develop understanding of the characters/narrative in Gotcha?

Interpretation

I would keep the play as it is as I don't think it needs modernising because the ideas and themes, such as relationships and education, can still be applied today. 

I would make Lynne the victim and have Ton as the one who started the affair. I would have Ton as the main antagonist and portray him as a stereotypical 'bloke' so he would be quite aggressive and tough. I would have the Kid as quite sarcastic and appear strong and devious but later on in the play it would be revealed that he is also a victim and very vulnerable. 

I want my staging to reflect a claustrophobic atmosphere. I would have everything reflect the dark, dingy side of the play, which I think is like a metaphor for a dark society. I would represent this by having dull colours in my backdrop and set design, for example greys and browns and creams. I would like the cupboard to appear dusty and unused.  

Directing Peers

First we had to choose a monologue from Gotcha and decide how we wanted it to be said. We had to decide on where to speed up or slow down, where to add emotion and which words to emphasise. 

We then had to direct one of our peers to do the monologue exactly how we wanted it. 

I feel the actor responded well to my direction as they sped up and slowed down appropriately and were much more aggressive and menacing on the last line as instructed. 

I think my last line worked well as it was an important line and we made it stand ut from the rest of the monologue. 

However I put too much emphasis on the repetition of the word 'great' and when it was actually acted it didn't sound very good so I had to change this.  

I found responding to direction from one of my peers difficult in a way, as we had both picked the same scene so I had to ignore all my ideas on how the scene should be said and just focus on what my partner wanted. However overall I found following direction easy. 

We then worked in groups of four and had two directors. This time we could only say the lines we weren't allowed to use facial expressions, movement or body language.

I found this challenging because you have to rely on only your voice because there is no other way to communicate. I also think it is difficult because movement is natural so when you cant move or use expression you feel awkward and unnatural. 

I found being a director the most challenging because you have to tell the person exactly what to do in a lot of detail so they know what you want. I preferred being told what to do because I found it much easier. 

Vocal Awareness

First we did an audit of our own voices.

 Pitch- Fairly high, influenced by emotion or content, for example lower when angry and higher when asking questions. 

Accent- Quite posh when speaking to certain adults, less so when around friends, influenced by area, Bognor, family, Northern/Posh and friends who speak similarly.

Slang- Changes depending on fashion. Depends on area, different slang is used in London compared to on the South Coast. 

Volume- Louder with friends, dependent on accent, culture and emotion. 

Timbre- Emotional

I think this has helped me because it means I can focus on how my own voice is and therefore work on changing it to portray characters which may speak differently.

Mask/Status/Mime

We first had to select a mask which we thought was interesting and that we thought we could find a character easily to go with. The mask I chose had quite an innocent expression which also looked surprised. We then had to develop a walk based on our mask, this helped us to determine status and characterisation. As my character appeared to have a low status i decided to use a slow walk with my head down. 

As a whole class we then made a stage picture entirely based on status and expression. those with a higher status were higher up, those with lower status were lower down. this helped us interact with each other as a whole class and analyse how characters with a different status may react to each other. 

We then moved into groups of five and devised a mimed scene in a public location about or characters which were inspired by masks. Our scene was in a cinema. I think this helped us to see how important movement and body language are, as we had to convey a scene and emotion without using vocals or facial expressions. 

After this we selected a scene from Gotcha and cast the characters based on masks. For example my mask looked innocent so I was cast as Lynne, one mask looked devious so was cast as the Kid the other mask looked angry so they became Ton. The scene we selected was the one where the Kid catches Lynne and Ton. One of the key movements used was the Kid locking the door as he looked at the audience as he did it, making it seem planned. 

We then had to add slow motion, speed/repetition and make sure we always had the mask facing the audience. This made the scene more complicated and once again highlighted how important body language and movement is. We then had to select  piece of music that would suit our piece. This basically took over the role of vocals. 

More Non Verbal

Complicites 7 states of tension 

Level 1- Barely moving 

Level 2- Not doing much just slowly walking

Level 3- Wandering along not going anywhere in particular

Level 4- Normal Pace

Level 5-  Walking with purpose, know where you're going

Level 6- Slightly rushed, left too late, could be late if you don't hurry

Level 7-  Very rushed, definitely late, almost running

The purpose of this is to get us to analyse the way we move and associate it to a certain situation or emotion so we can replicate this when we are performing. 

As an actor I found this useful as a warm up because as you go up the levels you build up energy so you're ready to start acting because if you have high energy levels it makes your piece more interesting. As a director I would use this to get the actors to focus on their own movements and how these change when you pick up speed as I think this would help when using any kind of speed change during a performance.  

Quotes and Context

'America should invade China...' this was a major news topic of the 1970's.

' I'm nay much of a talker' working class language or Northern accent

'lad' working class/Northern

'me... bike' Working class language

'nar' working class language

' in't ' working class language

'slapping heads in the corridor' teachers could hit pupils in the 70's

'Second- class second rate' indicates background 

Mary Whitehouse

Mary Whitehouse believed in Christian family values. Her principles were 'dedicated school teacher and committed Christian'. 
She made a 'Clean Up TV Campaign' in 1964. This campaign had 400 000 supporters. The  aim was to get rid of blasphemy, bad language, violence and indecency on TV. To do this she became the first General Secretary of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association in 1965. Her main target was the BBC.

Mary Whitehouse cancelled a repeat of Gotcha because of the Kid's 'imitable acts' calling the play one long, obscene gesture. 

Blog Check

Topic Area	What should be included in your blog? - Describe the exercise and the challenges/benefits of the activity?	Purpose -Describe the ways the activity helped you to understand/explore the play?
Induction, Playwright & Context	•    Lesson - Description of the 70’s context in which the play was written. •    Research into Mary Whitehouse •    LZP - Quotes with links to the context. •    LZP - An explanation of how the context in Gotcha is different to your own context?
Characterisation	•    Lesson - Round the circle – ideas about the characters backstories after reading the opening of the play.
Visual, Aural, Spatial	•    Lesson - Set Design •    LZP - Props ideas •    LZP - Sound ideas •    LZP - Lighting ideas
Practitioner	Details of the …. •    Lesson - Emotion Memory Exercise •    Lesson - Relaxation Exercise •    Lesson - Given Circumstances Exercise •    Lesson - Circles of Attention Exercise •    Lesson - Units/Objectives •    LZP – Stanislavski mind map
Non Verbal Communication	•    Lesson - Laban Efforts •    Lesson - Complicites 7 States of Tension •    Lesson - Mask/Status work •    Lesson - Mimed exercises
Vocal Awareness/Interpretation	•    Lesson - Audit of your own vocal influences, habits etc •    Lesson - Directing your peers exercises. •    LZP – How would you direct the play? What is it important to understand?
Gotcha Reviews	•    LZP - 3 reviews of the play Gotcha with the analysis/opinion highlighted and a summary of your findings.

Non Verbal Communication

Circles of Attention- For this we had to imagine that the only thing around us was the floor we were lying on, then that there was only the stage and the other people in the room with us, then that it was only the theatre, this carried on until there was the entire world, however this exercise never mentions the audience. I think this is helpful because if you are in the right mindset it can help the actor learn to completely ignore the audience as they are never mentioned in the exercise. 

Given Circumstances- For this we had to imagine the setting, for example decide how cupboard looked, exactly where everything was such as shelving, boxes and the actual motorbike. This helped us determine boundaries, so we weren't waking all round the stage because you wouldn't be able to. We then had to imagine and describe the smell and atmosphere, for example if it was dusty and unused, which ours was. 
We also did an improvised scene of the characters morning, this helped us to get into character better as it was like we had a back story. 

Units and Objectives- For this we had to analyse one scene and determine when the mood changed, we then had to say what each character wanted in that scene, for example Ton and Lynne, wanted to be free. 

Laban System of Efforts- My Time was Sustained, my Weight was Heavy, my Space was Indirect and my Flow was Bound, this made me a Wring. We then had to choose a character from Gotcha and decide which Effort Qualities suited them. I chose Lynne and said a Float would suit her as I think she's quite shy and doesn't know what she's doing. We then had to do a short scene and play the characters with this Effort Quality. I found this quite difficult as I chose qualities very different to my own and it was hard to change. 

I used these techniques to develop Lynne as a character by using Units and Objectives to decide what she wanted in each scene I found this helped as it gave me a kind of purpose. I also found the Given Circumstances helpful as it helped me to think about what Lynne was like outside of the scene not just in the scene and made her seem like a real person and not just fictional. 

Riverside Theatre Reviews

I found that most of what was written in the reviews is opinion. Aside from the basic summary of the play and who was in it, everything else was opinion. I noticed there were some differing opinions as well. 

A powerful showdown between school pupil and three teachers. Rating: Gotcha: * * * *

 

Like the best comedy, intense, tightly focused plays thrive in intense, tightly focused rooms. Take, for starters, Poppy Burton-Morgan’s superb revival of Gotcha by Barrie Keeffe, which seems almost to have found its natural home at Riverside Studio 3.

This powerful showdown involving an alienated comprehensive school pupil and three of the teaching staff looks, sadly, as relevant today as it must have done when it premiered in 1976.

One of the chief gripes of the unnamed “Kid” is that the damning school-leaver reports that will likely consign him to joblessness are based on the most cursory knowledge of who is he. Now at last, thanks to a hostage situation engineered by means of chain-smoked cigarettes held above a motorbike petrol tank, he can force his elders to face him – and face up to their failings.

Keeffe may rely on soap-ish ingredients to bring matters to a head, but the all-or-nothing recklessness of the boy’s actions underline how, for him, the stakes are incredibly high.

With the audience as good as locked in too, you feel his predicament and miss none of the subtle, tense detail in newcomer Jake Roche’s performance. Eyes narrowing with contempt, sly smiles twitching on his face, as he tilts between assumed arrogance and ill-disguised vulnerability, your sympathies shift, minutely, too.

The Telegraph

Usually hostage situations involve helicopters flying overhead, a barely controlled and heavily armed maniac and something ticking, possibly linked to some C4 or at least a nuclear warhead. Here we have a scared school kid holding a couple of threadbare comprehensive teachers hostage by threatening to drop a cigarette into a motorbike's tiny petrol tank. Oh Hollywood, how far you've come!

To an extent, it's unfair to take Gotcha to task because the hostage situation is implausible. The practicalities of the situation (it's actually quite difficult to set gasoline on fire with a lit cigarette and even if does burn, it's only a surface fire) are distracting but should be put to one side.

It's fine that this is not an attempt at realism, more about making a more symbolic point and allowing for a situation within which certain tensions can develop.

Nor is it too much of an issue that the somewhat ridiculous hostage situation is played straight. This is not a humourless play but one that is not self-aware enough to see the overarching humour in the situation. A missed opportunity, but not grounds for failure.

What is problematic is that Gotcha is deeply indecisive, veering between shallow character study and underexploited socio-political theatre.

The core drama is around the 16 year-old turned criminal but there is never enough detail or engagement - the character is continually anonymous - for this to be successfully character driven.

The other side is the compelling issue that a 16 year-old can feel that he has no future and might be right. Yet this is skirted around throughout the performance, with some mercilessly padded scenes. It only really comes to a head at the end in a brilliant moment that comes too late, where the headmaster promises the kid that he can be both a brain surgeon and a striker if he just sets his mind to it.

Partly because of this hesitance, there is very little real tension. The hostage situation is not only tired but, despite some textbook attempts to force tension, a bit dull. At several points the hostages' only input is to bleat "why are you doing this?" and there is barely any sense of actual danger.

That the characters are not fully fleshed out does not help. One small point shows this well: in the opening scene two teachers are breaking up and the younger woman, distraught, asks if he knows what it's like "when you love so one so badly you could tear out your innards for them." Then towards the end of the play the schoolboy asks why she went out with the other male teacher, since shown to be an immature bully. She replies that it gets lonely sometimes, directly contradicting her previous emotional outburst.

It's a small slip up, irrelevant to the central action, but it's also sloppy and shows that the relationship dynamics have not been properly thought out.

Despite all this there is a rugged charm through the seams. The boyish atmosphere of a typical comprehensive is well captured, nicknames, bullying and all, giving a certain authenticity to the night. The main character and force of the play, Jake Roche, is particularly good, humane and warm while clearly vulnerable. There are also some good lines and jokes, nothing too stunning, but enough to keep the ball rolling.

There's a wasted opportunity here for looking at the contradictions underlining meritocracy. It's not just that none of the characters are compelling, or that the performance could easily be cut by a third, it's that Gotcha is ultimately vague while trying to be sharp

British Theatre Guide 

WOS Rating- ****

As London has recently experienced its most vociferous teenage riots in living memory, with students from all backgrounds occupying banks, offices and educational establishments, it is thrilling to watch Barrie Keeffe’s fierce drama of an earlier occupation.

Gotcha depicts a protest movement of one, of a solitary figure exhausted by his own anonymity within a system which denies him the opportunity of advancement or development. Though the specifics of the anonymous protagonist’s plight may have changed, the impotent rage which Keeffe's protagonist transforms into violent rebellion continues to smoulder.

When Jake Roche’s disenfranchised Kid catches two of his teachers in a compromising position, he uses a combination of cunning and cruel violence to force them into an understanding of his plight. Poppy Burton-Morgan directs a taut production, which refuses to shirk from the multiple moral dilemmas raised by the Kid’s actions. Already holding an established reputation for excellent work on more impressionistic productions of Lorca, Pirandello and earlier European drama, it is exciting to see Burton-Morgan tackle a modern naturalistic play with such detail and skill.

Similar acclaim goes to Olivia Altaras for her effective set design, appropriately claustrophobic and impressively redolent of sickly school stockrooms. Finally, and most significantly, Roche’s stage debut reveals him as a considerable talent. Enthralling, occasionally hilarious and always moving: his performance alone would be reason to book enough to book a ticket.

- Stewart Pringle

Whatsontage.com Review

Set Design

I think that a set design using words is very effective for this sort of play.I like that the words are all muddled together because this creates a kind of chaos which reflects the Kid's confusion about what he is doing. However I would use different words, ones that sounded more violent and angry as I think this could represent the Kids feelings. I would also use words such as 'terrified' to emphasise Ton's, Lynne's and the Heads feelings too. I would use more aggressive colours such as red and black to make the set design really bold and interesting to look at. 

I think this type of non-naturalistic set design would work well when combined with some of the more hard hitting scenes as well as the emotional ones. I would want my set design to evoke emotion in the audience for this play as it can be quite hard hitting and I

think the set should reflect this. 

Practitioner

Visual, Aural, Spatial

Sound- music in between scenes, or to emphasise mood changes.

Lighting- one light in the centre to make the corners of the stage seem darker and make the set seem smaller. So the atmosphere is more cramped to make the audience feel like they are in a cupboard.

Props- in the centre I want the motorbike as this is the main prop used. I also want boxes to be used as seats so the actors don't have to stand for the entire play but boxes still fit in with the set being a cupboard whereas a chair wouldn't.

Costume- Ton- football shorts, trainers, polo shirt. Lynne- skirt and blouse or dress. Kid-school uniform, shirt, tie, trousers.

Set Design- boxes and shelving on the walls, cramped and dusty atmosphere to show the cupboard is rarely used. I want the boxes to be different heights to add levels and make my set more interesting.I want my set to be a traditional end on because it means I can use the walls as part of my set. For the colours I want mostly greys and browns to make the cupboard seem full and unused. I want my proxemics to make my set apart claustrophobic. 
I want the overall effect to show a cramped, cluttered and neglected cupboard.