The explorative strategies we used were physical theatre when I was being the door, and role play when Stephanie Orford took on the role of Mr Kipps. Physical theatre is when you tell the story through physical terms, and role play is when you take on somebody else’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. Physical theatre helped me to understand my role and the play, for I saw how being things like a door could create tension by showing something is behind it. It also helped me understand how emotionally and physically scared Mr Kipps would have felt when he kept on hearing the banging.
For the banging on the door, we decided to use a Red spot light, which started to flash on and off, to the rhythm of the banging on the door. We did this to represent Mr Kipps heartbeat, and to represent something evil and dangerous behind the door. The spotlight then went a dim white, to represent nothing, and to show the banging had stopped. This would calm the audience down, and make their tension go even higher when we started the banging again, for the white spot light would make them think there was nothing there. This scene was meant to represent the bedroom in Eel Marsh house, and how terrified Mr Kipps would have felt to be there on his own.
In the next scene, we did exactly the same, and used the same explorative strategies, and everybody was in the same place, apart from this time it was Stephanie Charles who tried to open the door, and this time I did actually open, but slammed shut again. Once again we used the flashing , Red lighting to create tension and suspense in the audience. Sophie Moore still did the banging, and Stephanie Orford was not in this scene. We swapped the roles around, so everybody would have something to do, for we had too much people for that scene in the play. I do not think we should have done this though, because it would have made the audience confused.
In this scene, we still thought it would be best that Sophie did the banging for me, so again we did not spoil the tension, for they would not know where it was coming from. At this point, Stephanie Charles, was walking along like Stephanie Orford very slowly and cautiously again, but this time she looked a lot more frightened than Stephanie Orford, for the banging had started again. This would have made the tension in the audience rise up even higher at a quicker pace, for they would not be expecting it, from the white spot light in the last scene that represented nothing. As she got closer to the door handle, we decided to make the banging louder and louder, to make the audience want to keep watching for they would wonder what was there, and at the same time to make them feel really frightened and shocked.
This time we also decided to make Stephanie Charles reach for the door handle in an even more slower pace than Stephanie Orford did, for this would keep the audience watching and would make the tension build up higher for every second she reached for the door handle. Then to build the tension even higher, she turned the door handle even more slower, which would really keep them watching, and would make them emotionally scared and worried for Stephanie Charles. When Stephanie Charles actually did open the door, we decided to have nothing in there, to make the audience want to keep watching to see where this mysterious banging was coming from, and who was doing it. If we did have the woman in black in there, it would spoil the tension for the audience would know what to expect. By having nothing in there makes it a mystery.
The explorative strategies we used was physical theatre and role play again. The role play helped me to understand how terrified Mr Kipps must of felt when he was inside the nursery room, and how it felt to have a presence with you. Physical theatre helped me to understand the fact that I was the one creating most of the tension in our performance, for in the play the banging was the rocking chair coming from behind the nursery door, and I was being the nursery room door. Once again we used a Red flashing light to represent Mr Kipps heartbeat and to go with the rythym of the banging. We thought it was important for the lighting to go with the rhythm of the banging, otherwise it would look a bit muddled up and confusing.
When the door opened, I think we should have had a long, loud scream to represent the haunting of the woman in black and the death of Stella and her child on the pony and trap, for this would make the audience really scared and shocked. We could have also made the lighting a still orange, to show the creepiness and horror Mr Kipps would have felt. Red would have also been good to show these emotions, but the performance would have been more interesting with a range of colours. We decided to have the door slam shut to really make the audience startle, but would have been better if Sophie bung a bit louder, and I if emphasised it a lot better. For this, we decided to have all the lighting go completely out, to make the audience really scared, startled and worried, for they would not know what sort of presence was there with them.
On the next scene, we had me as the woman in black wearing a beige, brown coloured mask, because my group and everybody else in the class thought it looked a lot more effective than the white mask. I think a white mask would have been more effective though, for it would of made my face stand out a lot more, making my presence there a lot more creepy for the audience. Once again Sophie was doing the banging, but now I think it was unfair on her, for she did not get to do much, and we had a bit too much people for this scene. I used a chair as the rocking chair, and because it could not rock, I gently went backwards and forwards on the edge to try and show it was a rocking chair.
Stephanie Orford represented Mr Kipps and Stephanie Charles was not in this scene, for we did not know what part to give her because we had too many people in the scene. We set the scene up so we were in the nursery room. The nursery room was one of the places in the play that gave most tension in the audience, for the audience knew the woman in black used to be a nursery maid there. So we thought this was an important scene to perform.
We could have improved this scene by organising the group a lot better and by picking scenes where everybody had something to do. When Stephanie Orford saw me rocking on the chair, she completely stopped and had a really scared and shocked look on her face, to represent Mr Kipps fears and emotions when he saw the woman in black, and how she was haunting him. It would also create tension in the audience, for they would wonder how Mr Kipps in our performance would be affected emotionally by her next.
The explorative strategies we used in this scene was still image and role play. Still image is when all the characters stop still, and can create tension in the audience. We used still image when I stopped rocking on the chair, and Stephanie Orford completely froze too, so the audience could figure out how Stephanie Orford was feeling about seeing the woman in black, and in what sort of ways the woman in black is intimidating him. But I think we should of held the freeze frame for longer, for our still image was not really clear to the audience. The role play was used mainly for Mr Kipps in every scene, for we wanted to display his nightmares mostly through the woman in black to show how she was haunting him emotionally and physically, and how his feelings were causing him to protect himself.
Role play and still image helped me to understand my role and the play, for I understood how a still image can really hold tension in the audience, and how it shows different thoughts and emotions. We used a still orange light when Stephanie Orford saw me on the rocking chair, to create a creepy and eerie atmosphere in the audience and to create tension. It also represented the eerie atmosphere in Eel marsh house. An orange light is a lot more creepier than a Red light, for it is better for showing emotions, whereas a Red light would of shown danger.
In the last scene, we had Stephanie Orford laying down to show she was actually having the nightmare, and we decided to have the rest of us being three separate women in black. We did this to make the atmosphere even more eerier and to create a lot more tension in the audience. It also displayed how bad the nightmare was and how much of an effect the woman in black had on Mr Kipps. Me, Sophie Moore and Stephanie Charles got into a line, and slowly walked forward, to make tension in the audience, and to show the fact that the woman in black was coming to haunt Mr Kipps. We then all stood in a line in front of Stephanie Orford and all bent down closer towards him. We did this to create tension again in the audience and to display how the woman in black effects him in his nightmares.
The explorative strategies we used in this scene was still image and role play. We used still image when we were all bent over Stephanie Orphord, because we wanted to show the most important emotions of the woman in black and Mr Kipps, so the audience could understand the story and emotions of Mr Kipps. It also creates tension. The role play helped Stephanie Orford to understand emotions of Mr Kipps, and it helped us to understand why the woman in black was haunting him. It helped us to understand the woman in blacks life story and why it was so bad for her. We decided to use Orange lighting again for when we stood over Mr Kipps, for once again it created an eerie atmosphere and was good at displaying emotions. It was also good for making our white masks stand out and good for showing the kind of tension between the woman in black and Mr Kipps.
Evaluation In the actual performance of the ‘Woman in Black, I could see lots of different drama elemants being used. Explorative strategies used in the ‘woman in Black’ stage play. I noticed thought tracking for when Mr Kipps was reading out the letters at Eel Marsh house which he got out of a large basket. As he read the letters in his head, a recorded voice played out loud to represent the person who wrote them, who was Jennet Humfrye.
The effect this element had on the audience was that it revealed Jennet Humfryes inner thoughts to them, and makes the audience feel more involved by the drama being deepened. The audience also understood the character of the woman in black, and what her past life was like, and why she ended up becoming mad. It also marked Eel Marsh house as a really important place to the woman in black, and why she returns to this place so often.
The lighting for this scene was very dim, but not completely dark. Because the light was not completely dark, it was really good for showing Mr Kipps thoughts and emotions as he read the letters, and finally found out the background to the woman in black. The dim light also makes the audience feel relaxed and calm, but at the same time a little unsafe, because it makes the scene look creepy. This also relates to the creepiness of Eel Marsh House, and the amount of hauntings it recieves from the woman in black. It also relates to the fact that the nursery is one of the most important rooms in the play, and how it would have been in real life when the woman in black actually did die. The nursery room would have brought back alot of memories to the woman in black about her child, and how her son grew up there.
The recorded voice also had a slight echoe to it, which marks this voice as an important voice which has a lost connection with the child, Nathaniel. It also gives the voice a spooky quality which creates an eery atmosphere in the audience. The tone of this voice sounded quite sharp, angry and lonely at the same time. These emotions are really suitable for Jennet Humfrye, for not being able to have a proper connection with her son would of made her feel isolated from the people she really cared about, but knows her son will never know that she is really his mother. The anger and sharpness of her voice would represent how angry she is at Mrs Drablow for taking her place as a mother, and for Mrs Drablow trying to bring Nathaniel up as her own.
In my performance with Sarah Butters, Adelade Jones and Emily Broad, we used thought tracking at the end, when me and Adelade were pretending to be Mr Kipps and the actor. Sarah used thought tracking to represent the tension between me and Adelade, and the anxiety and terror I felt when we spoke of the woman in black. We used thought tracking, because we thought it was effective in relating to the connection between Mr Kipps and the woman in black, and how the woman in black effected Mr Kipps sons life. This scene also shows how Arthur Kipps cannot bear to bring up his child, for his death reminds him of who caused it.
We also used physical theatre in this scene, for Emily and Sarah were pretending to be coat rails. We made this obvious by hanging scarves on their arms. This looked effective for it made interesting use of a normal household object. It also helped Emily to switch to the role of the woman in black really quickly again. Mr Kipps looks quite nervous talking about the woman in black, and walks away quickly, which relates to how the woman in black affected his family and left him alone.
