Week 28: Improving Our Country's Good

https://youtu.be/EipA7-L9MIU

We used the whole of this weeks lesson to focus on the scene from Our Country's Good that we would be performing next week. Due to us only performing a snippet of the play and not having a full range of props and costume that we could use, we had to discuss what the set was actually going to be like and the costume that we would wear if we doing a full scale production of the play.

• Flags- Flags were used to show that Great Britain was deeply involved in the transportation of these convicts and that needs to be made aware to the audience that the society and rule that we live under, did play a part in the cruel handling of these people.
• Center Table - Currently we are using two risers to replicate the idea of a banquet table that would have stretched down the centre of the stage and would be filled with an excessive amount of food and alcohol. This is to highlight the idea that these men, who have caused so much pain in terms of their actions towards the convicts, are now gorging themselves on food that could be given to the convicts who are starving due to the lack of food they were given on the ship/
• Uniforms - All officers would be dressed in full military uniform with badges of the British flag on the sleeves and all their medals on show. We would have chains and keys hanging from their belts to highlight the control and power that they hold over the convicts.
• Set - We would be under a canopy outside a big mansion or meeting house because one of the characters makes a comment about the stars and so we would be eating the banquet in a public place almost as a declaration of the power that they hold.
• References to convicts - There are particular lines that indicate towards the convicts and we wanted there to be a physical representation of the convicts onstage and so we thought that we could gesture to an outline of what could look like convicts working off to one side. This is emphasizing the idea that the convicts are being worked and treated so cruelly whilst the officers who have authorized that are eating and wasting food.
• Placard - We would have a placard at the front of the stage with "Authorities Discuss the Merits of the Theatre" on as it was another element to Brecht's theatre to help accentuate the "V effect" or the distancing method that allows the audience to focus on the political message at hand more than making emotional connections to the characters.
• Last line - The last line of the play is "The last word will be the play, gentlemen" and wanted to respond to that line in a bigger way as at that time, making grand statements that were slightly philosophical made you look more intelligent and intellectual. So we thought that the rest of the officers could see that and appreciate that in different ways, some by raising their glass as though in a toast and others with verbal agreement.
• Marriage - During the scene there is a comment about why two characters in "The Recruiting Officer" get married and Ralph comments that they got married for love and then to confirm wealth. We wanted to make this a point about the societal expectations for marriage in the time that the play was set and so we all reacted to "love" in a kinda of disgust and then when Ralph confirms that they did it "to secure wealth" then we responded in a more positive manner.
• Lighting - Due to use being outside and because there are reference to the stars, we thought that it must be late at night and so the lighting needed to resemble that and we thought that we could have lamps both around and on the table to show that it was later in the evening.