During our lesson, we were given the script of the play Antigone, originally written by Sophocles but we read the adaptation by the French dramatist, Jean Anouilh.
We were given the script and separated into groups to read through the first page of the script and talk to each other about our opinions of the opening page and how the characters are introduced.
The characters that are highlighted are the ones that we wanted to focus on and tried to make the actors look like they were preparing to become these characters by doing actions like adjusting their body language to show where their character was on the social hierarchy. For example, Creon who was being played by Alexis at the back corner was adjusting to where she needed to stand and also when Creon was mentioned she immediately snapped into her character and changed her facial expression so that the audience clearly saw that she had changed into Creon.
My group discussed the fact that it was like a group of actors were on stage and one person was introducing them all and explaining which character/s that they would play. We initially thought that this would confuse the audience as they would already expect the actors to have a character before they even entered the stage but having the narrator telling them who each actor is going to play sends their minds into a questioning state.
My group discussed the fact that it was like a group of actors were on stage and one person was introducing them all and explaining which character/s that they would play. We initially thought that this would confuse the audience as they would already expect the actors to have a character before they even entered the stage but having the narrator telling them who each actor is going to play sends their minds into a questioning state.
The narrator also foreshadowing that Antigone is going to die creates an intriguing and mysterious atmosphere that the audience is drawn to, so they can find out how this innocent girl is killed and why. The narrator introduces Antigone and Creon in the section that we selected, we chose to introduce two characters to the audience so that they could see the difference between the actor and when that actor got into character.
We were then asked to create a piece of movement showing a group of actor getting ready for this play and the introduction of Antigone and Creon.
Before we started creating the sequence, we decided to read a little further on, to see when the other characters were introduced and to also find out a little bit more about the other characters so that the actors that were preparing to be them could stand or sit in a particular way that looked as though they were getting prepared.
We were then asked to add a extra part to the movement; a sort of ritual movement that would make the audience feel more uncomfortable and intrigue them into the play.
As you can see, in our movement we decided that the actors who are playing characters such as Creon and Haemon, who are father and son, should walk in together and foreshadow that they have a connection and also Haemon and Antigone, who are fiances, should also show their connection through the preparation of the actors.
We wanted to use the proxemics to our advantage so that the audience would have lots of different places to look and wouldn't have to focus on one actor until they were introduced. We positioned Shanice, who was playing Antigone, towards the front and center of the stage so that people would get the impression that she was the main character but then as other actors started entering the audience's attention would be diverted elsewhere.
In our ritual sequence at the end, we want the narrator to look like she was in charge of the whole situation, with her deciding who's character should be introduced first and commanding how the characters would act. We thought that if the narrator clicked it would show that she has control over the situation and hopefully it would look mysterious to the audience and look as though all of the actors were under a spell.
If I were to suggest an improvement for our sequence, I would make sure that the breathing was all at the same time and also we could have used the breathing a lot more and accentuated it so that it gave a more creepy atmosphere which would add to the confusion of the audience. Also we could have used a lot more levels, for example in the ritual sequence when me and Shanice turned we could have gone onto our knees so that the audience could have seen Alexis and Charlotte at the back.
If I were to suggest an improvement for our sequence, I would make sure that the breathing was all at the same time and also we could have used the breathing a lot more and accentuated it so that it gave a more creepy atmosphere which would add to the confusion of the audience. Also we could have used a lot more levels, for example in the ritual sequence when me and Shanice turned we could have gone onto our knees so that the audience could have seen Alexis and Charlotte at the back.
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