CG14 – Introduction to the
texts
The Frontline by Che Walker
Task 1 (10 mins)
Ask
students to sit in small groups.
Each
group to be given some big paper and pens.
Ask
students to thought-shower what being on the ‘Frontline’ means to them, what
does it make them think of? What towns live on the ‘Frontline’. What people
might live on the ‘Frontline’?
Share
ideas from the group.
Read
them the synopsis:
Task 2 (10 mins)
Whole group still image (Play some contemporary music
in the background)
Ask students to sit in a large circle.
Explain that the inside is the street outside the
tube.
Without discussion, ask them to build the image
inspired by their conversations and the synopsis. (Maybe do this a couple of
times)
Thought-track the image – noises first, then
sentences.
Bring the image to life.
Task 3 (10 mins)
Read
through the opening section. (I will
photocopy for you)
Ask students to stand in a circle. Tell them that they
are going to participate in some vocal improvisation. Each person as you go
around the circle adds in a new sound to create a whole group song. Do this a
couple of times, play about with volume, pace, tone etc. Get them to think
about using sounds that create their idea of living on the frontline.
The next time you repeat this, ask for a volunteer(s)
to read the text above over the top. Get them to play about with how they
speak/rap.
Task 4 (10
mins)
Ask students to break into groups and create their own
version of what they have done as a group.
Share with the group.
13 By Mike Bartlett
“13″ by Mike Bartlett
Exercise 1 (10 mins)
I believe in….
1.
3 mins. Continuous writing exercise. Everyone needs a pen and paper and
they must not stop writing when they stop their ideas dry up they must keep
repeating the word ‘in’ on their paper.
E.g. I
believe in the right to choose who you marry, in, in, in the looking after your
family and protecting them, in, in, in, in, not eating poor quality meat….etc.
2.
3 mins. Use the material to concoct a cacophony of voices stating what
they believe in and living through, not merely repeating what they have
written.
3.
2 mins. Ask them to speak quietly while you read the following loudly
from the centre and share it with them like a call to arms…
“In an increasingly divided world, which sees
everything as black or white, the grey area in between is the most interesting
and the most fulfilling. We must argue this case whilst at the same time
rallying behind the idea of belief, imploring us to fight for a cause and
resist the forces of blandness society struggles so hard to impose upon us.
We are in central London, among many intertwining
storylines and characters.
Mini-internet revolution to become the voice of the
people, fighting for freedom of speech and idealism. Your voices are important,
your stories of love, loss, friendship and faith all share the theme of belief
and ignorance.
Revelling in a confusion of voices.
To achieve a better future, we must make the
impossible possible. X 3”
4.
2 mins. Reflect on what they think they heard/what happened.
Exercise 2 (5 mins)
Speakers Corner
If possible show some of the photos here.
1.
Split the group into A’s and B’s. Ask the B’s to stand still spread
around the room while the A’s walk around whispering in their ears telling the
B’s what they believe in.
2.
When you tap a B on their shoulder they must burst into life with
passion repeat some of what they have just heard but give reasons why thy
believe it too. Here the others are allowed to argue and cajole the speaker.
· Make sure you tap
another speaker before the energy is lost.
Exercise 3 (13 mins)
Bad Dreams
1.
Ask the students to think about the worst dream that they have had. Try
and remember its detail and be prepared to share it with a few people.
2.
Once this has happened stand in a circle with a group of 4-5 people and
tell them your dream in 30 secs, asking them to try and remember the detail of
each other’s dreams.
3.
Then choose one, this will be your shared dream, you will spread
yourselves around the room and tell the story of the dream to the rest of the
group as they stand with their eyes closed or the room blacked out and try
allow themselves to re-live the dream, while your group embellishes it, adding
supporting sounds and deepening the story to make the group invest in it.
· Do this for 2/3 good
groups, asking for deepened participation from everyone each time.
· This will only work
if the dream-telling group really invest and embellish, support and create
atmosphere.
Final Thought (2
Mins)
As our world becomes ever more confusing and the number of heard voices
increases, this style of multi-layered, collaborative and confused play is the
only type to mirror our difficult and postmodern world, and as we have to deal
with excess in everyday life, theatre must respond to it. 13 is
ingenious in its variety, tackling huge, almost incomprehensible questions, but
in doing so it asks each and every one of us to interrogate our own beliefs and
values and opens up a discourse which must and will take place.
Our Country’s Good by
Timberlake Wertenbaker
Ex
1 (4 mins )
Continuous
writing exercise
One
of the key themes of Our Country’s Good is
theatre’s function and it’s potential to ‘change lives’.
What
difference does theatre make to your life? Where would you be without it? (Try and write straight from
the heart using language and expression that means something to you)
Ex
2 (6 mins )
Share some of the pieces of writing –firstly
by asking all of the students to stand in a place in the room where they feel
powerful. Ask them to all speak at once as if performing their speech like it
is a manifesto for their lives
Ask individuals to share what they have written.
Ex
3 Engaging with the physicality and language (10 mins)
OCG is set in 1787. Many lower class
people in those days would have been pick pockets/thieves or prostitutes. Many
of the convicts that we meet in the play are from London and have been sent to
Australia in order to work.
The convicts use lots of there own
dialect when expressing themselves much like the slang/street language of
today.
Take students into character by asking
them to create a very quick lower class character that could be on the streets
of London, choosing from the following;
·
Pick pocket
·
Thief
·
Prostitute
Ask them to think about working with a
cockney accent
They must come up with short phrases in
response to what they might say if they had just been caught
E.g. It aint my fault guv, that there
nibbler buzzed my wiper!
They can choose from the following
phrases;
Nibbler – petty thief
Prigged- stole
Buzzed my wiper-stole my handkerchief
Whirligigs- testicles
Mossie face-cunt
Stir my stumps-run away
(I will print these out and you can give
two each to each student)
Watch
short performances
Ex
4 Engaging with the characters (10 mins)
During the play we meet two characters;
·
Liz Morden- a young woman who
is a prostitute and had been found guilty of pick pocketing. She is hard and
usually un –emotional.
·
Ketch Freeman –the designated
hangman in the colony –he hates his job and feels awful about having to do this
to Liz
·
After rehearsing the play
together for many weeks, the authorities decide that Liz Morden should be
hanged and it is Ketches job to measure her to make sure the hanging is
effective.
In
pairs improvise this awkward moment and try and get into the mindset of the
characters. What would they say/not say to each other?
Ketch
you need to imagine you have a tape measure and you have to get these
measurements as there is an officer watching you.
Ex
5 Engaging with the comedy in the play (10 mins)
Although the play discusses important
and serious issues, the rehearsals are very funny and offer some great comedic
moments for the actors. The following scene is set in the first rehearsal in
the play and is between Liz Morden (hard, bossy, leader of the women’s camp)
and Ralph Clark (the lieutenant who’s idea the play has been-softly spoken and
inexperienced with women)
Explore this moment between them and how
you would bring the comedy out
(I will photocopy these extracts for
you)
Share.
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