Production Meeting 17.3.14

AGENDA

-Rehearsals
-Text
-Presentation
-Cast List/Characters

Rehearsals
Tuesday lesson - Work on Presentation
Wednesday lesson - Look at Text and decide which bit we could possibly use
Wednesday afternoon - Carry on working on Presentation
Thursday lesson - Carry on looking at text
Friday lesson - Explore Characters and Casting

Text
If not got, need to buy and then look at text, take something from it and create an exercise.

Presentation
Carry on with individual things and bring everything in on Wednesday.

Characters

Benedick - Franz
Beatrice - Helena
Claudio - Claudia
Hero - Sister
Don Pedro - Pedra
Don Jon - Sonderkommando
Margaret - Margo

Rehearsal 14.3.14

In this rehearsal we looked at the Augusto Boal book for exercises that we could use that might be relevant to our piece.

The first exercise that we found was a shoe game where we had to pass shoes round the circle, tapping them on the floor, to a rhythm or song. We choose to use a nursery rhyme and then used the Rose Red song. When reflecting on this exercise we thought that it could be good to include in the piece as it symbolizes the women's jobs in the camp to sort through clothes and shoes.

James then thought of another exercise that we could try which focused on control and teamwork. One of us had to hide a bottle top in our hands and not reveal who it is. James then had to control us and tell us what to do as a way to torture us into giving up who has the bottle top. We timed how long it took us to give up who had the bottle top and it took us roughly 7 minutes. I thought that this was a good exercise because we were able to have a little insight into how exhausted the camp mates would be and how strict everything is in a camp.

We then decided to play Honey, I love you - we did this as a test on concentration levels and having the ability to keep a straight face. These are two things that the camp-mates would have had to everyday.

We then sat as a group and with Rose's help wrote our mission statement:

Our Shakespeare re-imagination of Much Ado About Nothing is set in the historical context of Auschwitz Concentration Camp. This is an innovative new take on the plot-line of Beatrice and Benedick, entwined with a real life story from within the camp. A major aim of the production is to inform and explore the nature of humanity, with our audience in a participative role. The style of this piece is dark and naturalistic with undertones of tragedy; a dark adaptation of the original play.

Rehearsal 13.3.14

After accidentally and rather annoyingly deleting my notes from this lesson this is roughly what we did in this rehearsal....

To begin with we carried on with the 'line' work we were exploring and decided to add our Rose Red song into the marching. Talking as a group we felt that it worked really well together as it was emotion-provoking. We then discussed how we could maybe get in a line when James (as the Guard) instructs us to after we have hugged the audience. We thought that this could possibly be a good way to begin the piece as its unexpected and attention-grabbing. 

Here is a video of this exercise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yBb337Ek38
We then tried an exercise that Mandi had remembered doing at Sussex Actors Studio where someone drops to the floor and one of the 'saviours' has to lie next to them and roll them over them to get them back up. I think that this exercise was helpful because it showed the relationships between potential characters if we were doing the Auschwitz idea. 

Here is a video of this exercise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfDltEd8pWQ
We then sat down as a group and pretty much unanimously decided that we wanted to do the Auschwitz idea. We then started to talk about what sort of things could be included in it, some more context about James' true life story and mentions of scenes from the text that could be included. 

Rehearsal 12.3.14

In this rehearsal we started to look at workshopping our ideas for two of our ideas; these were the Witchcraft one and the Concentration Camp one.

We started off with an exercise that elsa came up for the witchcraft idea. inspired by an activity done at Sussex Actors Studio, we had to get into pairs and guide each other around the space, though one of us had our eyes shut. This was a trust exercise and we wanted to know how it felt to be controlled unable to do anything yourself. 

Here is a video of our first try at the exercise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpYOWf3FhWk

After doing this exercise a couple of times, we grouped back together to talk about how we felt during the exercise. This was:

• physically scared
• not in control
• oppressed
• felt physically small
• disorientated
• dizzy

Elle then suggested that we try the exercise molding the people before moving them. this made the activity more visually interesting as well as feeling more oppressed. 

Here is a video of the extended exercise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aaY6Sh7amY

After finishing this exercise we decided that if we were to somehow use this idea to create our final piece we can explore:

• speed
• intensity
• sounds
• german words
• music - possibly Rise of the Valkryies by Wagner

We then went on to try another control idea: We all had to get in a line and put our hands on each others shoulders and then follow the istructional movements of the one behind. We all had our eyes shut and had to walk and turn with each other. Furthermore, we used James to instruct us in German to march as we sung the Rose Red song from the beginnings of rehearsals. i thought this worked really well and it could be a good idea to put in the piece - whether we choose the Auschwitz or the Witchcraft idea. 

At the end of our rehearsal we spoke to Rose who recommended that we watch: 7734 by Jasmine Vardiman and that we use the book: Games for actors and non-actors by Augusto Boal.

Production Meeting 10.3.14

To start with Jonathon gave us an article on how to make an effective contribution when devising theatre. I think this is very helpful because I've never devised a piece of theatre at this level before. He also advised us that researching how to devise theatre would help - I shall do some of this tomorrow.

He also gave us a list of eResources that we have access to, to help us on our piece. These are:

• Music Week
• Bitannica Online
• UK Newsstand
• Digital Theatre Plus

We then spent some time with Jo getting our grades back for our work on Budgets and she also went over what has to be included in our pitch - which we will be doing in two weeks time.

In this Production Meeting with Rose, we had to decided when we were going to tech our show. We also had to decide which day/days we would like to rehearse in the Easter holidays - we have decided to rehearse one day in the first week and one day in the second week. This is because James and Becs can only do different weeks, therefore we are working two days and we will have to work around their absences. 

We also as a company had to decide which times we were going to rehearse outside of lessons.

The aim of this week of rehearsal is to workshop two ideas and decide on one of the other. Our two ideas we have chosen to carry forward are Idea 1 (Concentration Camp) and Idea 2 (Witch hunts). This is because we feel these ideas have more depth to them. Rose has suggested that we regroup on Friday to reflect on our aims of the week and think about how to move on before the next Production Meeting on the following Monday.

Before next rehearsal, I need to have come up with an activity/idea about the witch hunt idea ready for work-shopping. 

Ann Oakley - Feminist Sociologist

Ann Oakley (born 1944) is a distinguished British sociologist, feminist, and writer. She is Professor and Founder-Director of the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London and in 2005 partially retired from full-time academic work to concentrate on her writing and especially new novels. Oakley is the only daughter of Professor Richard Titmuss and wrote a biography of her parents as well as editing some of his works for recent re-publication. Her mother Kathleen, née Miller, was a social worker.

She was educated at Somerville College, Oxford University taking her BA in 1965, having married fellow future academic Robin Oakley the previous year. In the next few years Oakley wrote scripts for children's television and wrote numerous short stories and had two novels rejected by publishers. Returning to formal education at Bedford College, University of London, she gained a PhD in 1969; the qualification was a study of women's attitudes to housework, from which several of her early books were ultimately derived. Much of her sociological research focused on medical sociology and women's health. She has also made important contributions to debates about sociological research methods.

Ann Oakley has written numerous academic works, many focusing on the lives and roles of women in society as well as several best-selling novels, of which the best-known is probably The Men's Room, which was adapted by Laura Lamson for BBC television in 1991, and which starred Harriet Walter and Bill Nighy. She has also written an early partial autobiography. She divides her life between living in London and in a rural house where she does most of her fiction writing. She is a mother and grandmother.

The above is an extract from Ann Oakley's Wikipedia page - some background information on who she is and what she has studied.

I have had a look through my Sociology Notes and Booklets and have found some information on how women were viewed/treated in the past that might be helpful when exploring Idea 3. These are:

Ann Oakley argued that the housewife role was created by men, and is not women's natural role - it is socially constructed. Oakley said that in pre-industrial times, women worked in family businesses (cottage industries). During industrialization (from about 1750 onwards), factories were being set up, and women worked in factories, mills and even in mines. A lot of mine workers were women and children, as this suited them as they were small.

However, laws gradually came in that restricted the work of women and children. Various factory and mine acts limited women's and children's employment, and banned them from more dangerous jobs. Children gradually became seen as vulnerable rather than as little workers - the concept of childhood as a separate stage of life emerged. This meant that children were now dependent on their parents as they couldn't work. It became the accepted belief that children needed care and supervision which fell to women. Having to supervise and care for children meant that women's working opportunities became restricted. 

From 1841 up to the beginning of the First World War, a combination of pressure from male workers and from philanthropic reformers (people who wanted to change things for others own good) meant that government introduced many laws that restricted women's employment. Women were seen by many male factory workers as a threat to their employment - they were seen as rivals. By banning women's employment in certain jobs, men could keep the work for themselves and restrict their wives to the home (giving men the power as they earned the money). In 1841, committees of male factory workers called for the gradual withdrawal of all female labour from the factories. In 1842 the Mines Act banned the employment of women as miners. From the mid-1800s to the 1960s, marriage bars were in place in many jobs - these marriage bars meant that women had to leave their jobs when they got married.

The above is a few paragraphs from a booklet on feminism in sociology. I think this could help with my research because it talks about how women have been forced into the way they were, not just what they have been forced into.

Women's Right Video

This is a link to a Women's Right's Documentary i have found on YouTube: although this is mostly about Women in America, this has the views that i would like to explore in the piece (idea 3).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5k8I4u_jCI

Suffragette Research

Origins[edit]

The term "suffragette" was first used as a term of derision by the journalist Charles E. Hands in the London Daily Mail for activists in the movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU).^[2] But the objects of the intended ridicule gladly embraced the term saying "suffraGETtes" (hardening the g) implied not only that they wanted the vote, but that they intended to get it as well.^[3]

Suffragists marching in New York, 1915

British suffragettes were mostly women from upper and middle-class backgrounds, frustrated by their social and economic situation. Their struggles for change within society, along with the work of such advocates for women’s rights as John Stuart Mill, were enough to spearhead a movement that would encompass mass groups of women fighting for suffrage. Mill had first introduced the idea of women’s suffrage on the platform he presented to the British electorate in 1865.^[4] He would later be joined by numerous men and women fighting for the same cause.

New Zealand was the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote; in 1893 all women over the age of 21 were permitted to vote in parliamentary elections.^[5] Women in South Australia achieved the same right in 1894 but became the first to obtain the right to stand (run) for Parliament.^[6] The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which was founded in 1897, formed of a collection of local suffrage societies. This union was led by Millicent Fawcett, who believed in constitutional campaigning, like issuing leaflets, organising meetings and presenting petitions. However this campaigning did not have much effect. In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded a new organisation, the Women's Social and Political Union. Pankhurst thought that the movement would have to become radical and militant if it was going to be effective. The Daily Mail later gave them the name "Suffragettes".^[7]

A few historians feel that some of the suffragettes' actions actually damaged their cause. The argument was that women should not get the vote because they were too emotional and could not think as logically as men; their violent and aggressive actions were used as evidence in support of this argument.^[8][9]

Early 20th century in the UK[edit]

Memorial edition of The Suffragette newspaper dedicated to Emily Davison

1912 was a turning point for the British suffragettes as they turned to using more militant tactics such as chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to mailbox contents, smashing windows and occasionally detonating bombs.^[10] This was because the Prime Minister at the time, Asquith, nearly signed a document giving women (over 30 and either married to a property-owner or owning a property themselves) the right to vote. But he pulled out at the last minute, as he thought the women may vote against him in the next General Election, stopping his party (Liberals) from getting into Parliament/ruling the country.

One suffragette, Emily Davison, died under the King's horse, Anmer at the Epsom Derby of June 4, 1913 Emily Davidson Children were both part of the movement, Both took separate views on the situation. She was trying to pin a "vote for Women" banner on the King's horse.^[11] Many of her fellow suffragettes were imprisoned and went on a hunger strike as a scare tactic against the government. The Liberal government of the day led by H. H. Asquith responded with the Cat and Mouse Act.

Imprisonment[edit]

In the early twentieth century until the First World War, approximately one thousand suffragettes were imprisoned in Britain.^[12] Most early incarcerations were for public order offenses and failures to pay outstanding fines, with the first suffragettes - Christabel Pankhurst (daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst) and Annie Kenney - imprisoned in October 1905.^[13] While incarcerated, suffragettes lobbied to be considered political prisoners; with a designation as political prisoners, suffragettes would be placed in the First Division as opposed to the Second or Third Division of the prison system, and as a political prisoner would be granted certain freedoms and liberties not allotted to other prison divisions, such as being allowed frequent visits and writing books or articles.^[14] However, due to a lack of continuity between the different courts, suffragettes would not necessarily be placed in the First Division and could be placed in Second or Third Division, which enjoyed fewer liberties and were for non–political prisoners.^[15]

This cause was taken up by the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), a large organisation in Britain, that lobbied for women’s suffrage led by militant suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.^[16] The WSPU campaigned to get imprisoned suffragettes recognized as political prisoners. However, this campaign was largely unsuccessful. Citing a fear that the suffragettes becoming political prisoners would make for easy martyrdom,^[17] and with thoughts from the courts, and the Home Office that they were abusing the freedoms of First division to further the agenda of the WSPU,^[18] suffragettes were placed in Second Division, and in some cases the Third Division, in prisons with no special privileges granted to them as a result.^[19]

Hunger strikes[edit]

Following the refusal for suffragettes to be recognised as political prisoners, many suffragettes began to stage hunger strikes while they were imprisoned. The first woman to stage a hunger strike was Marion Wallace Dunlop, a militant suffragette who was sentenced to be imprisoned for a month in Holloway for vandalism in July 1909.^[20] Without the consultation of suffragette leaders such as Pankhurst,^[21] Dunlop refused food as a protest for being denied political prisoner status; following a 91-hour hunger strike, and for fear of her becoming a martyr for the suffragette cause,^[22] the Home Secretary Herbert Gladstone made the decision to release her early on medical grounds.^[23] Dunlop’s strategy was adopted by other suffragettes who were incarcerated.^[24] Soon, it became a common practice for suffragettes to refuse food in protest to not being designated as political prisoners, and as a result they would be released after a few days and return to the "fighting line.”^[25]

After a public backlash regarding the prison status of suffragettes, the rules of the divisions were amended. In March 1910, Rule 243A was introduced by the Home Secretary Winston Churchill, and this allowed for prisoners in Second and Third division to be allowed certain privileges of the First Division, provided they were not convicted of a serious offense, effectively ending hunger strikes for two years.^[26] Hunger strikes began again when Pankhurst was transferred from the Second Division to the First Division, inciting the other suffragettes to demonstrate regarding their prison status.^[27]

Militant suffragette demonstrations subsequently became more aggressive,^[25] and the British Government took action. Unwilling to release all the suffragettes staging hunger strikes in prison,^[24]in the autumn of 1909, the authorities began to adopt more drastic measures to manage the hunger-striking suffragettes.

Force feeding[edit]

In September 1909, the Home Office became unwilling to release the hunger-striking suffragettes before their sentence was served.^[25] Suffragettes became a liability because if they were to die in the prison’s custody the prison would be responsible for their death, and as a result, prisons began the practice of force feeding the suffragettes through a tube, most commonly a nostril or stomach tube or a stomach pump.^[24] The use of force feeding had previously been practised in Britain; however, its use had been exclusively for patients in hospitals who were too unwell to eat or swallow food properly, and despite the fact that this practice had been deemed safe by medical practitioners for sick patients, it posed issues for the healthy suffragettes.^[22]

The process of tube feeding was strenuous; without the consent of the hunger strikers, they were typically strapped down and forced to eat via stomach or nostril tube, often with a considerable amount of force.^[28] Many women found the process painful, and after the practice was observed and studied by several physicians, it was deemed to have both short-term damage to the circulatory system, digestive system and nervous system and long term damage to the physical and mental health of the suffragettes.^[29] Suffragettes who were force fed were also known to develop pleurisy or pneumonia as a result of a misplaced tube.^[30]

Legislation[edit]

In April 1913, Reginald McKenna of the Home Office passed the Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913, or the Cat and Mouse Act as it was commonly known. This act made the hunger strikes the suffragettes were staging legal, in that a suffragette would be temporarily released from prison when their health began to diminish, only to be readmitted to prison when she regained her health to finish her sentence.^[28] This enabled the British Government to be absolved of any blame resulting from death or harm due to the self-starvation of the striker, in addition to ensuring that the suffragettes would be too ill and too weak to participate in demonstrative activities while not in custody.^[24] However, most women continued with their hunger strikes when they were readmitted to the prison following their leave.^[31] After the Act was introduced, force feeding on a large scale was stopped and only women convicted of more serious crimes and considered likely to repeat these offenses if released were force fed.^[32]

The Bodyguard[edit]

In early 1913 and in direct response to the "Cat and Mouse Act" the WSPU instituted a society of women known as "The Bodyguard" whose role was to physically protect Emmeline Pankhurst and other prominent Suffragettes from arrest and assault. Known Bodyguard members included Katherine Willoughby Marshall and Gertrude Harding; Edith Margaret Garrud served as their jujutsutrainer. Members of the Bodyguard participated in several violent actions against the police in defence of their leaders.^[33]

World War[edit]

With the commencement of the First World War, the suffragette movement in Britain moved away from suffrage activities and focused the efforts of their organizations on the war effort, and as a result, hunger strikes largely stopped.^[34] In August 1914, the British Government released all prisoners who had been incarcerated for suffrage activities on an amnesty,^[35] with Pankhurst ending all militant suffrage activities soon after.^[36] The suffragettes' focus on war work turned public opinion in favour of their eventual partial enfranchisement in 1918.^[37]

Women eagerly volunteered take on many of the traditional male roles – this led to a new view of what a woman was capable of doing. The war also caused a split in the British suffragette movement, with the mainstream, represented by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst's WSPU calling a 'ceasefire' in their campaign for the duration of the war, while moreradical suffragettes, represented by Sylvia Pankhurst's Women's Suffrage Federation continued the struggle.

The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which had always employed "constitutional" methods, continued to lobby during the war years, and compromises were worked out between the NUWSS and the coalition government.^[38] On 6 February, the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, enfranchising women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications (as well as men over 21 - prior to this not all British men were enfranchised).^[39] About 8.4 million women gained the vote.^[39] In November 1918, the Eligibility of Women Act was passed, allowing women to be elected into Parliament.^[39] The Representation of the People Act 1928 extended the voting franchise to all women over the age of 21, granting women the vote on the same terms that men had gained ten years earlier.^[40]

Colours[edit]

Pendant presented to Louise Eates in 1909

From 1908 the WSPU adopted the colour scheme of purple, white and green: purple symbolised dignity, white purity, and green hope. These three colours were used for banners, flags, rosettes and badges, They also would carry heart shaped vesta cases, and appeared in newspaper cartoons and postcards.^[41]

Mappin & Webb, the London jewellers, issued a catalogue of suffragette jewellery for Christmas 1908.

In 1909 the WSPU presented specially commissioned pieces of jewellery to leading suffragettes Emmeline Pankhurst and Louise Eates. Some Arts and Crafts jewellery of the period incorporated the colours purple, white and green using enamel and semi-precious stones such as amethysts, pearls, and peridots. However jewellery that incorporated these stones was already quite common in women's jewellery during the late 19th century, before 1903 and could not be connected with the suffragettes, before the WSPU adopted the colours. Also, it is a popular myth that the colours were green, white, and violet, in order to spell GWV as an acronym for "Give Women Votes".^[42]

The colours of green and heliotrope (purple) were commissioned into a new coat of arms for Edge Hill University in 2006, symbolising the University's early commitment to the equality of women through its beginnings as a women-only college

I have found this extract from The Suffragettes Wikipedia page. I have highlighted everything that i think would be good to feed back to the group about on Monday.

Rehearsal 7.3.14

This rehearsal consisted of talking through with Jonathon as a group our three ideas. 

With our first idea - James' Concentration Camp idea - Jonathon thought it would be a hard hitting and intense piece. However, he has told us that for this idea to work we still need to have lovely moments and sometimes comedic to help get our message over to the audience. Our message for this piece is that "Love is a powerful thing". Jonathon also shared his experience of visiting Auschwitz and told us all about how there is a room full of thousands of suitcases - which all had names on and all belonged to people - people who were then later killed. He also told us that it was the sort of place where you leave a different person - he advised us to go if we were ever given the opportunity. 

PERSONAL NOTE: A good thing to research for this idea is the conditions in Auschwitz, personal accounts from people who experienced concentration camps and look at Anne Frank.

Other ideas that came out of our chat with Jonathon for this piece were:

• Naming the piece in German - we translated Much Ado About Nothing into German which was Vile larm um nichts.
• Go up to the audience and hug them - we could also incorporate the song from our last rehearsal (Rose Red) into this. 

Films that would be good to watch to influence and help with this idea are:

• Bent
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
• Schindler's List
• Freedom Writers

With our second idea - Elsa's Witchcraft and Mistrust in Women - Jonathon thought it was a good idea and that we could link it to political issues. 

Plays that would be good to look at for this idea are:

• Vinegar Tom

Here is the mind map of our Idea 2

With our third idea - My Adultery and Jealousy in Relationships - Jonathon suggested that as this idea was quite feminist it would be a good idea to look into the suffragettes and the post war time period. As a group we also agreed that it would be interesting to look at gender reversal. 

Films and Plays that would be good to watch for this idea are:

• Brief Encounter - There is a film version. However, Jonathon has also recommended watching KneeHigh's version of it too.
• Made in Dagenham

Here is the mind map of our Idea 3

At the end of this rehearsal we fed back to the other groups our ideas. Idea One got the best response as it is a very unexpected idea and would be a very powerful piece.

Before next lesson we need to do some more research for our ideas. We have split the group up equally so that each idea has a good amount of research on it:

Elle, James and Mandi - are looking more into The Concentration Camp Idea.

Elsa and Becs - are looking into The Witchcraft and Mistrust in Women Idea.

Me and Daisy - are looking into The Adultery and Jealousy in Relationships Idea. Daisy is going to focus on looking into gender reversal and I am going to focus on the way Women have been portrayed throughout time - especially looking at feminist viewpoints.

Rehearsal 6.3.14

In this rehearsal we started off exploring a song that Elsa had bought in called Rose Red. This is a two verse song:

Rose, rose, rose red

will I ever see thee wed?

I will marry at thy will, sire

at thy will

Ah, poor bird

take thy flight

high above the sorrows

of this dark night

We sang this through a couple of times with harmonies and collectively agreed that the second verse would actually work quite well in James idea of the concentration camp. We then sung and harmonized the second verse and recorded it in unison switching to canon. Listening back to it, we decided to try swelling the song. We then recorded it with Elsa going through the verse once, I joined in on the second verse, line one....then Becs and then Daisy. On the third verse Becs and Daisy did harmonies. As a group we are in agreement that this is a very strong starting point for Idea 1 (Concentration Camp). (Recording of this song can be found on James Blog)

Next in this rehearsal I pitched my idea about the theme of adultery and jealousy in relationship. I got a positive response from the group and collectively we decided that this can be one of our final three ideas. We also decided that our other final ideas would be the exploration into the mistrust of women and witchcraft and the Concentration Camp. To help us view our ideas we did a tablo for each:

Idea One - The Concentration Camp

Idea Two - The Mistrust and Witchcraft

Idea Three - Adultery and Jealous in relationships and the impact on Women

We then started to explore these ideas in more detail. We only managed to mind map idea three today though.

Next Lesson we will explore the other two ideas in more detail and finalize what our three ideas will be.