'13' Blog 1: Reflecting '13'

‘13’

Monday 22nd, Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th September 2014

First Impression

     Continuing our weeks in the first term, of Level 3 Acting, we were introduced to our first play, for our first production assignment.  After waiting with much anticipation as to what play we would be performing and researching, our lecturer announced the title of our first play.  The play was called ‘13’.  My instant reactions had mixed thoughts and feelings, I personally had never heard of the play before, all I knew was it was modern play and recently written, within the past ten years.  I was interested, though, to read the play and get a decent understanding of the plot, before we began any work towards the official performance.  So firstly, in nut shell, our lecturer gave us a decent understanding of what the play is about and who the characters are.

     ‘13’ is a modern play written by ‘Mike Bartlett’, and tell a story of mystery, involving thirteen people, hence the title of the play, and it concerns their journey through haunting nightmares, protests against their government, as well as the return of a young man with a vision for the future.  With myself and the rest of the group knowing very little about the play to begin with, we were all eager began the read through.  This play consisted of five acts, and was predicted to have a full run time of two hours and thirty minutes.  My initial thoughts were positive, because I, personally, really like a story with a mystery, plus this play was set in the modern times/society, and it had a sense of paranormal activity involving the characters and their haunting nightmares.  So for this introductory session we began to read through the entirety of Act One.

     Now the first Act of ‘13’, I thought was pretty genius.  I really liked the written dialogue amongst the characters; I thought the stage directions were detailed in their description of characters movements and the settings.  But all in all I really admired the strong sense of mystery throughout this Act alone.  It established what types of characters were on stage, where they came from, what they do, and where the rest of the play could potentially go and take these characters.  I thought this was a great introduction to our first play, as we had little to no understanding of what the play was about, to begin with, yet we read through the first Act, giving us a rough understanding of what we were in for.  Then it was up to us to finish reading the play, in our own spare time, so then we all could share our thoughts and begin the audition and rehearsal process.

     As the read through came to an end we continued to learn more about this play, as our lecturer asked us a question: “does the storyline sound familiar?”  To this we all answered curiously, only wanting to know what the true meaning of the plot was and if it had any link to other famous stories.  To which our lecturer revealed that the inspiration behind ‘Mike Bartlett’s’ ‘13’ was the story of the ‘Bible’.  In particular, in answering the title of the play; ‘13’ was inspired by the story of ‘Jesus’ and his ‘twelve disciples’.  Not only did the inspired storyline have multiple references within this plays plot.  But the characters involved had a specific reflection of the ‘twelve disciples’.  This we would go on to explore in future sessions.

     But as this session drew to an end, we were asked several questions concerning what our thoughts were on the play and who are target audience should be?  We expanded on those questions later on, but it was now time to see if we could give a small performance, using scene extracts from ‘13’.  From this we were told to work in pairs or small groups, depending on how many actors/characters were needed for that particular scene.  But the scene extract I had, I got the chance to explore several interesting points about the characters ‘John’ and ‘Paul’.  I knew from the read through that there was a strong sense of mystery and plot details revolving around the character ‘John’, but what I admired particularly about the character was the mystery behind him.  Truthfully that what I really like about characters in plays, movies and novels, as it makes that particular character the most interesting, and makes us, as an audience member, curious about their personality and their character traits.  This is why I really liked the character of ‘John’.  However in the other scene extract, where I explored the character ‘Paul’, I discovered that this character wasn’t essential to the entirety of the plot of ‘13’.  But he was an entertaining side character that helped bring a sense of humour in that particular scene extract.

     So as we wrapped up our introductory session towards ‘13’, our lecturer concluded with a final question for all of us.  As for next session we were to begin the audition process, and our lecturer asked: “is there any character in particular that you wanted to reserve to audition specifically for?”  I desperately wanted to audition for the role of ‘John’.  As I mentioned earlier, the character really fascinated me, already knowing what the character is capable of from reading the first Act.  Therefore I wanted to cease this opportunity to portray the character, and get a better understanding of what his past was like, and unveil the mystery behind ‘John’ and this mysterious plot line within ‘13’.  So I put my name down to audition specifically for ‘John’, and I was eager to get going on this project.     

Audition Process

     As the next day began, so did our audition process for ‘13’.  As I mentioned previously, I was eager to audition for the role of ‘John’.  So as we began, all of us separated into small groups, where we all could audition for various roles from different scene extracts from ‘13’.  I however I was taken into the other room, with other students who wished to audition for the same role.  We were given one scene extract where involving ‘John’ and his delivering a speech to an audience about their fictional government and how they should stand up for what they think is right and true. 

     While reading through this speech, I took a real liking for it as the speech reminded me of a typical ‘William Wallace’ battle speech.  By this I mean, for example, in the motion picture ‘Braveheart’, directed by, and starring, screen actor ‘Mel Gibson’, there is a battle speech given before the epic climax of the movie.  ‘John’s’ speech in ‘13’ reminded me of it, because of his use of encouragement towards his followers to begin their revolution against their fictional government.  Similarly to ‘William Wallace’ in ‘Braveheart’ standing up against his enemies, and encouraging his followers to stand tall and be brave.  Therefore I wondered how I could deliver this speech.

     Firstly I figured one style, in which I could have gone over the top with it and involve the audience and do my best to make it seem memorable and inspirational for the fictional characters.  But on the other hand, I did think of why I wanted to do this role, and that was because I loved the mystery behind ‘John’.  Therefore I wanted to begin the speech in a silent tone, and bring my vocalisation louder as it came to an end.  That way, I felt, gave the increasing sense of the mystery behind ‘John’, like he didn’t want to reveal his true purpose for starting the uprising, but had to improvise a speech to bring his followers closer to him and pursue their goals.

     So I presented the speech in that manner, although one down side to my audition piece was the fact that I wasn’t capable of learning the entire speech in time.  Therefore I looked too closely towards the script for help.  But I still managed to keep my vocalisation alive, thus making the speech strong a deliver the message behind ‘John’s’ words. 

     When my audition piece for ‘John’ came to an end, we were all taken into new groups and continued audition pieces, except for different characters, different scenes, and with different people.  The purpose of this was for our lecturer to see how well we would all get on working together as a group, and if we were capable of bringing these particular characters to life, and if these were the characters we were meant to perform.  Once again I took part in working with a small group, where I did receive a smaller role, but I liked their part as they did enhance a slight comedic tone to the scene.  As the audition process came to an end we had time to rest and work together on team exercises, whilst our lecturer made the final decisions on the casting of ‘13’

     The final decisions were made, and I was extremely relieved that I received one half of a double casting for ‘John’.  Our lecturer revealed that there were two of us that did a good job in delivering ‘John’s’ speech.  Therefore the part was double cast.  It was my responsibility to take on the role of ‘John’ for the entirety of Act One and Two.  Then the second actor would take over in Acts Three and Four.  I personally was pleased with this casting role.  Because it was my job to present the real mystery of this character, and show the audience his first steps into his vast journey ahead in the play.  I was really pleased to receive this role, and I was now extremely eager to begin the rehearsal process into the play, and begin exploring the character and unveil the mystery behind ‘John’.

 

Beginning the Academicals Rehearsals

     Continuing for our ‘13’ workshops, for this session, we began to look at how we could present our version of the play in time for our practical rehearsals and the main performance.  The key area that we looked to particularly was the staging of ‘13’.  We began to look at different performing and staging strategies, for this we turned for inspiration to the original staging of the play, at the ‘National Theatre’. 

     It was in the year 2010, when ‘Mike Bartlett’ began to work on a script, titled ‘13’, whilst mid-way through his wildly successful production ‘Earthquakes in London’.   It was the current society and the impact of the political debates that inspired him to write a play telling the negative and positive outcomes of these political debates/decisions told through a vast amount of characters perspectives.  Then in 2011, the ‘National Theatre’ brought his new stage epic to life.  Receiving positive reviews and brought to life another unique form of storytelling.

     “Hip, incisive…13 demands to be seen.” - Time Out

     The ‘National Theatre’ brought this play to life, with a humungous stage structure with multiple meanings and attentions to detail.  All of this used to capture their audience’s attention, and bring the true meanings within the plotline to life.   

     This image in particular stood out to me the most because it showed the true scale of this play.  I really liked their use of raised levels and a circular structure.  Now the reason I liked the use of levels was because the story within the play, tells the story of political decisions and the impact it has on the people.  Therefore I liked the use of levels as it, from my point of view, showed the physical impact the decisions can have on the people, who represent the general public.  Expanding on this, it can physically show the audience the political characters on a higher level, and making an impact on the characters standing on the lower levels.  Thereby giving the audience the true perspective of how vast/large and devastating these characters lives are.  Also it backs up the many reviewers statements of the play being “Mike Bartlett’s New Epic” as it shows through the epically large stage structure.

     However one area, I found the most extraordinary, was the circular formation of the stage.  Now from someone else’s perspective, the usage of the stages circulation could be to simply so the actors can embrace the audience members deeper into the characters storylines.  But I personally think there is more depth to it than that.  I think the purpose of the circulation is to enhance the element of confrontation.  Because shortened, the story of ‘13’ depicts the general public standing up to their government.  This all the more backs up the idea that the play is a representation a huge confrontation.  As we see the story flow through every characters point of view, including characters representing the general public having to suffer the consequences and the politician’s making the dark, difficult and dangerous decisions.  This also links into the audience’s attention and interest with the play, as it shows both sides of the argument, and it makes them interested to see how they can bring the argument to a conclusion.  Intriguing the audience members to a new standard where they do not miss any details what so ever.

     These two techniques particularly, used in the main production, performed at the ‘National Theatre’, inspired us most of all.  This is because these techniques, in the stage structure, increased certain elements within the play.  All of which would enhance the storytelling and audience’s attention to detail, in both the plotline and the characters.  But in particularly, our target audience (Further Education Students), would be able to experience all these details and receive a decent understanding of the moral messages within the play.  As well as receive an entertaining experience.

     The final part of our early research into the plays background was our own performing strategies.  Now being at an early stage of the research and rehearsals, I felt I needed more time to understand the plot and the characters, particularly my character.  Although I did come up with some ideas as to how I could enhance the presentation of my character, by using the staging structures to an advantage.  By doing so it could make my performance seem more natural and realistic, through understanding how I could position myself on stage and manoeuvre to a position where it could keep the character and storylines on stage alive.  Plus it would keep the audience attention to every hidden detail. 

     I would like to set this a goal, where I can take this research to level where it’ll come in handy and make the main performance, and my own performance, to a new standard where I am truly pleased with the presentation of ‘13’.  As well as our audience (Further Education Students) having an entertaining experience and do not miss any details within the story and our own performing strategies.

 

     So in summary of this week, being introduced to our first production ‘13’ has been an interesting experience.  Beginning with our understanding of the plot within the play and then beginning to further expand on an academicals side to the rehearsals.  All of which shall be brought together various ideas and inspirations to how we could present the stage structure and our performances for our main production of ‘13’.   

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/13 - Here is a link showing our inspiration towards the staging of ‘13’, presented and performed professionally by the ‘National Theatre’ company.