Supporting Notes Unit 2

The examiner reads your supporting notes before seeing your practical work so your notes are an excellent way of guiding him/her to look for the production aspects you want to emphasise. The supporting notes MUST be divided into three separate sections. Each section should be between 500 and 700 words in length, so that the document, in total, should be approximately 1500-2000 words. The descriptions below tell you exactly what you MUST include in each section. Missing anything out will result in you losing marks. SECTION 1 Evidence of exploration of the work of the chosen practitioner; identifying the key features of that work and justication of the choice of extract in the light of that exploration. To be supported by a bibliography/webliography/performance history/list of sources and resources (as appropriate). SECTION 2 Outline of dramatic intentions for the audience, in relation to the groups interpretation of the chosen extract and the inuence of the chosen practitioner. SECTION 3 Assessment of the rehearsal process and of the potential effectiveness of the piece for an audience. Evaluation of the development of the nominated skill in relation both to the chosen text and to the inuential practitioners ideas; awareness of health and safety factors.

Keeping a journal throughout the rehearsal process is the best way of ensuring you have all the information you need for your supporting notes. The journal is the way you practise explaining your ideas so that you can express them as clearly and as concisely as possible in the final version. On the next two pages youll find the mark scheme, first for the overall preparation (page 2) and then for the supporting notes (page 3). On pages 4-7 youll see an example of Supporting Notes this earned top band marks.

3.6 Assessment Criteria for Unit 2

Part (a) Preparation and development Unit 2
A mark out of ve is to be awarded for each of the following three sections: Section 1 45 marks Candidates will demonstrate secure understanding of the work of the chosen practitioner and purposeful application of key features of his/her/ their ideas to a suitable text to realise very clear dramatic intentions for the audience. 23 marks Candidates will demonstrate some understanding of the work of the chosen practitioner and an attempt to apply a number of features of his/her/ their ideas to a suitable text to realise generalised dramatic intentions for the audience. 1 mark Candidates will demonstrate partial understanding of the work of the chosen practitioner and occasional application of a restricted range of features of his/her/their ideas to the selected text. Dramatic intentions for the audience may be underdeveloped. Section 2 45 marks Candidates will demonstrate a high degree of creative co-operation and a commitment to experiment with the chosen play throughout the rehearsal process. They will maintain a high level of self-discipline and exhibit careful attention to detail in preparing the extract for performance, promising a successful outcome. 23 marks Candidates will demonstrate some attempt at creative co-operation and a willingness to experiment with the chosen play throughout the rehearsal process. A reasonable level of selfdiscipline, and some attention to detail in preparing the extract for performance, promises an acceptable outcome. 1 mark Candidates creative co-operation and willingness to experiment with the chosen play in rehearsal may be sporadic. The self-discipline and attention to detail applied in preparing the extract for performance may not be sufficient to ensure a positive outcome. Section 3 45 marks Candidates will demonstrate signicant development of their nominated skill in relation to the production/performance requirements of the play/extract. These will be precisely attuned to the needs of the play and reect the inuence of the chosen practitioner. 23 marks Candidates will demonstrate some development of their nominated skill in relation to the production/performance requirements of the play/extract. These will be generally appropriate to the needs of the play and suggest some inuence of the chosen practitioner. 1 mark Candidates will demonstrate basic development of their nominated skill in relation to the production/performance requirements of the play/extract. These may not be appropriate to the needs of the play but will suggest a slight inuence of the chosen practitioner.

Part (b) Supporting notes Unit 2

Section 1

A mark out of ve is to be awarded for each of the following three sections: 45 marks Candidates will provide clear and concise evidence of detailed exploration of the work of their chosen practitioner and a good level of understanding of his/her/their theatrical purpose. They will justify their selection of a suitable play/extract in relation to the key features of the practitioners work that they have decided to apply. 23 marks Candidates will provide some evidence of their exploration of the work of their chosen practitioner and an acceptable level of understanding of his/her/their theatrical purpose. They will offer some justication for their selection of play/ extract in relation to the key features of the practitioners work that they have decided to apply. 1 mark Candidates will provide a little evidence of their exploration of the work of their chosen practitioner although their understanding of his/her/their theatrical purpose may appear insecure. They will make some attempt to justify their selection of play/extract in relation to the chosen practitioner and may identify a few of the key features of the practitioners work.

Section 2

45 marks The dramatic intentions of the group will be clearly stated. The notes will offer a detailed interpretation of the chosen play/extract and will explain precisely how the inuence of the chosen practitioner has helped the candidates to interpret the extract for an audience in practical terms. 23 marks The dramatic intentions of the group

will be stated in general terms. The notes will offer some attempt at an interpretation of the chosen play/extract and will make some links between the inuence of the chosen practitioner and the practical interpretation of the extract for an audience. 1 mark The dramatic intentions of the group will be noted, albeit not expressed entirely coherently. The notes will attempt an interpretation of the chosen play/ extract but may not establish entirely convincing links between the inuence of the chosen practitioner and the practical interpretation of the extract for an audience. Section 3 45 marks There will be detailed and purposeful assessment of the interpretative/ rehearsal process and of the potential effectiveness of the play/extract, including clear evaluation of the development of the nominated skill. Health and safety factors will receive careful attention. Specialist terminology will be used condently. 23 marks There is some meaningful assessment of the interpretative/rehearsal process and of the potential effectiveness of the play/extract, including an attempt at evaluation of the development of the nominated skill. Health and safety factors will receive fairly perfunctory attention. Specialist terminology may be used occasionally. 1 mark There is an attempt at an assessment of the interpretative/rehearsal process and of the potential effectiveness of the play/extract. Candidates offer a little evaluation of the development of the nominated skill. Health and safety factors will receive insufficient attention. Specialist terminology may not be used accurately.

EXAMPLE OF UNIT 2 (DRAM2) SUPPORTING NOTES (Top Band) Play selected: Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht Practitioner selected: Bertolt Brecht Candidate: Emily Skill: Acting a petitioner; Grusha SECTION 1 Evidence of exploration of the work of the chosen practitioner; identifying the key features of that work and justication of the choice of extract in the light of that exploration. To be supported by a bibliography/webliography/performance history/list of sources and resources (as appropriate). Choice of play and extracts We have chosen to apply the ideas of practitioner, Bertolt Brecht to our presentation of extracts from his own play, Caucasian Chalk Circle. We feel this practitioner will be most helpful to us in interpreting the play. Brecht developed an Epic Theatre style and, although his theatrical ideas were never static we have identified several key areas of his theory to guide us during our preparation.1 Brechts aims/our aims Like all Brechts plays, Chalk Circle is political in intention. It aims to convey the message that what there is shall go to those who are good for it. This socialist principle is reflected in the play by presenting the wealthy aristocrats as morally corrupt while celebrating the innate goodness of the peasant, Grusha and the soldier, Simon and those, like them, with simple hearts and generous natures. We have selected scenes that emphasise the contrast between the rich and the poor to reflect Brechts intentions.2 Brecht was adamant that his audience should not hang up their brains with their hats in the cloakroom but retain a critical detachment from events and characters on the stage; to think about and judge the unfolding action. Brecht formulated the verfremdungseffekt a theory about the use of both performance and production elements - which aimed at distancing the audience from the characters. Acting Brecht wanted his actors to demonstrate, not embody, characters. To: ! Act in quotation marks
See Bibliography for full list of what I read We have chosen continuous extracts from The Noble Child, The Flight into the Mountains, a brief section from In the Northern Mountains and the section from the nal scene with the chalk circle.
1 2

! Show not be ! Act in a spirit of criticism. Brecht advocated gestic acting a form of acting that placed emphasis on the revelation of a characters social attitudes, through gesture, stance and demeanour. We use gestic acting when Natella - the Governors wife - is preparing to flee. She is standing tall, looking down her nose and moving only to point at dresses, shoes and coats that she wants packed. Her dismissive attitude to her servants is emphasised by the fur-trimmed sleeve on

her gorgeous gown which swishes as she moves her arm to gesticulate what she wants and where it should go. In contrast, her servants - shabbily dressed and hunched over - frantically rush across the stage carrying out her wishes and piling heaps of gorgeous clothes into various trunks. Natellas contempt for her servants and their fear of their mistress is clearly demonstrated. Brecht also used narrator figures and multi-roling in his plays to emphasise the fact that actors are merely demonstrating their roles and conveying a message. We are a group of eight actors but between us we play twenty different characters as well as peasants, servants and soldiers. The part of the Singer, played by Tom, is crucial in interacting with the audience, guiding them through the story and nudging them to reach appropriate conclusions. I play the part of Grusha, the moral centre of the play. It is quite difficult to distance the audience from Grusha as she is a good character who makes personal sacrifices to protect the child abandoned by Natella in her flight. I am using Brechtian techniques to retain a distance between myself and the role.3 Production elements Other elements in Brechts Epic Theatre that we are adopting:! A set that looked as if it were built to last two hours ! Authentic props within a representational setting ! A setting built to accommodate the actors in their action/movement ! Bright light to keep the audience alert ! On-stage musicians Our design comprises four adaptable ramps standing 4 metres high. Initially two of these, stood vertically, form the palace gates but when placed flat, become, amongst other settings, the mountain pass. This simple yet functional arrangement is backed by a white screen on which we project a palace, a fire, a countryside setting and a mountain range, as well as various legends that punctuate the action (Brechtian montage) and prompt the audience to think; e.g. ! Money does not make you kind ! Poverty does not make you bad. Bibliography/Webliography Brecht: A Choice of Evils by M. Esslin (1959) Brecht: The Man and His Work by M. Esslin (1959) Bertold Brecht by R. Gray (1961) The Art of Bertold Brecht by W. Weideli (1963) Bertold Brecht by F. Ewen (1967) Understanding Brecht by W. Benjamin (1973) Brecht by R. Hayman (1983) Bertold Brecht by J.Speirs (1987) Brecht & Co. by John Fuegi (1997) http://www.freetheatre.org.nz/history/ccc.shtml http://www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/bertolt_brecht_001.html http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ger341/brechtet.htm http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/chalkcircle/links.html SECTION 2 Outline of dramatic intentions for the audience, in relation to the groups interpretation of the chosen extract and the inuence of the chosen practitioner. Chalk Circle is a parable play and our intentions are to teach the audience about the society that Brecht depicts and to reflect upon our own.

Brechts ideas have influenced our set and use of projections but also our rehearsal methods. Like Brecht, we wish to make the audience think about a rulers duties as well as his privileges, the underlying reasons for war, and the hypocrisy of the pious (Lavrentis wife and the drunken Monk). We have experimented with methods to distance us from our roles and hopefully distance our audience. In rehearsal we adopted some of Brechts ideas, e.g. speaking in the third person and we have created gestic actions for each of our characters. The scene with the miserable petitioners was a useful starting point and we all had an opportunity to play both aristocratic roles - the Governor, his wife, the Fat Prince or the rich Ladies - as well as peasant roles. This helped us to differentiate between the easy movements of the rich: ! Expansive gestures ! Broad shoulders ! High heads ! Direct eye contact And the more restricted movements of the poor: ! Bowed heads ! Hunched backs ! Lowered eyes ! Small steps Vocally, too, we have worked to create a contrast between rich and poor with the aristocrats adopting an exaggerated form of R.P. while Simon, Grusha, the various peasants speak in a variety of provincial accents. Lavrentis wife, Aniko attempts posh but keeps slipping into a Yorkshire accent. Our interpretation of Grusha is central to our intentions. Brecht did not intend Grusha to be a rounded role, or a heroine, even though she is the most likeable character in the play. Like many of Brechts characters, Grusha reacts to changing circumstances and her nature is not fixed. Brecht believed that character is alterable and in the course of the play I show how events shape Grusha as she develops from simplicity to resourcefulness. Like Brecht, we wanted the play to look authentic and the costumes that we have chosen clearly distinguish between the rich in colourful, rich materials and the peasants in a more neutral palette of earthy colours in cream, ochre and browns, comprising rough materials that we have distressed. SECTION 3 Assessment of the rehearsal process and of the potential effectiveness of the piece for an audience. Evaluation of the development of the nominated skill in relation both to the chosen text and to the inuential practitioners ideas; awareness of health and safety factors. Rehearsals At first we struggled with gestic actions but we had a break-through when we ran all our scenes in front of an audience of Yr 13 using no words but only gesture, props and movement. They understood almost all we were trying to do! Much heartened we continued to refine our actions. A significant early rehearsal involved identifying the political impulse of each section within our chosen scenes and then looking for ways to present them. In our first

scene we went through the individual speeches and wrote down ! Singer ironically portrays the Governors possession of many beggars as a positive asset ! Raggedy Petitioners and Beggars visually contrast with the opulent aristocrats ! Soldiers lash the peasants (although they are part of the same class) ! The doctors live in fear of their patients Understanding Brechts message helped enormously in dictating the performance style here. The development of my skill - acting. Brechts inuence Character Despite her romance with Simon we decided that Grusha should not be portrayed as romantic in any way; I play the role as one of Brechts potato-faced women in rough clothes and a none too clean face and I have tried to demonstrate Grushas story from moment to moment. The Ironshirts crude attempt to grope Grusha comes as a total surprise to her, which I express with open mouthed horror. My character also reacts in disbelief when the old peasant wont give her milk for a hungry baby. In each case my face and physical reactions reveal my social attitude - fear of the soldier who has power over me; a sense of betrayal that a fellow-peasant should try to exploit me. Like most poor people Grusha initially reacts to events rather than initiating them. For example she takes the abandoned baby almost by accident and she accepts her brothers suggestion that she should marry the dreadful Yussup to give her baby a name. In each of these cases I have used Brechts technique of fixing the not but. While the Singer narrates Grushas temptation to do good I act out the precise actions that he describes. Grushas success at the end of the play in winning Michael and in being reunited with Simon comes as a complete shock to her and I try to capture this surprise at having beaten one of the ruling class by adopting an almost trance-like reaction to Azdaks ruling. Multi-roling I get an opportunity to play an aristocratic character only in the scene with the fine ladies, where I am pretending to be like them. I ape their gestures and shrill voices and swish my clothes as Natella had done in the opening scene - until I am finally found out by my ability to make a bed! Potential effectiveness The audiences who have seen our latest rehearsals of the play seem to feel that they must sympathise with Grusha, since, at the bottom of everything she does, is her love for a child that is not her own. Perhaps I have failed in my interpretation but I actually believe that the fault is the playwrights and that the application of Brechts theories cannot always succeed in alienating an audience which is always moved by acts of selflessness. Our audience did not always feel with the character however. They laughed at Grushas terrible encounter with the Ironshirts (while Grusha was tearful) and they wept when Azdak divorced the wrong couple when Grusha was glad. This then was something that Brecht did intend and we seemed to have achieved it. Health and Safety Our greatest challenge was in manipulating the heavy gates when they were transformed into ramps for the mountain scene and the Peasants house. We made sure that each one was moved by four actors. Yussups bath water also posed a hazard as it splashed onto the floor so we solved this by placing the tub on a large towel which was rolled up and removed when we changed this scene leaving the floor dry.

Word Count: 1,700 words