FIRST DRAFT:

Idea for monologue:  

Originally, we were given act 3, so I have decided to keep to this. My monologue will be from the perspective of Mrs Alving. I intend to use some of the actual lines written for Mrs Alving and Oswald by Ibsen and throughout want to highlight several things, including: Light imagery as this features throughout the whole play, going beyond naturalism, ideas of recognition which will hopefully include ideas of hamartia as this is important as decisions effect different things and I want to highlight awareness of Mrs Alving’s decision to return which is the first point of everything going wrong. I also of course want to highlight ideas of Ghosts as this is present throughout.  

My idea is to present Mrs Alving having some kind of psychotic episode. She is remembering Oswald and the things he said. Oswald is now dead and she is struggling not only with this but everything surrounding this. I want to highlight expressionism where there was a change to people being spiritually led. I want to express this fear and anxiety throughout and highlight ideas of recognition and ideas of doing the right thing and not actually knowing what is right in situations which are not black and white. 

First Draft: 

Son of the Sun, Son of Joy, Son of Life 

I never asked for it  

I never asked for it  

I never asked  

Everything will burn 

Burn in the light  

Burn in recognition  

Soft  

Soft baby of mine  

Softening, everything will burn. Shouldn’t be out for long  

Take it back, I never asked for it.  

Cherry red velvet curtains, how I long for your touch, your comfort, your ability 

To restore  

Restore to me what the ghosts took  

I don’t need you anymore, I need you, I don’t need your helping hand  

Haven’t you got your mother to give you a helping hand  

Take a great burden off your poor poor poor poor tormented mind  

Tormented mind, help me see  

The joy of living, what blasphemy  

Dawn breaking over the mountains, I can see the sun. Nothing in this world that I would not do for you. Everything will burn.  

I can’t get him to come away from the fire. Help me please. My duty? My belonging? 

Mother, Mum, Mummy give me the sun please. Mother, please I beg you. You mustn’t scream  

I can see you and you think I cannot. I can see you; I always see you. I have no choice otherwise.  

You must’nt scream. Take it back. He didn’t take his hat. Into the fire. His hat. Where is it? He didn’t take it.  

Would have done no good. I have other things to think about. Can’t get him to come away from the fire. Shouldn’t have been out for so long. 

New light. Dawn breaking over the mountains. A deadly feeling of dread. I can’t take it back. 

I want it back. 

My duty. My ghosts. My Son 

Give him the sun.  

You mustn’t scream.  

PROCESS OF TRYING TO GET IT ON ITS FEET: 

When trying to get my monologue on its feet I first wanted to concentrate on creating the Pina Bausch movements. This was incredibly difficult as I wanted it to resonate with not only the character of Mrs Alving but the themes that are presented in Ghosts. I tried several different sequences and recorded myself doing them to try and discover which ones I thought would work best this was a much more lengthy process then what I originally thought it would be. It was very difficult to encapsulates both the emotion and themes which I wanted was to present such as regret, remorse and the theme of the past coming to haunt your present. After several different videos and several different mash ups of movements I finally came to a sequence which I was happy with this included Mrs Alving presenting her hands and bending down and being pulled up by her own arms this was to represent her trying to hide away from the past but always cruelly being faced with it.

As well as trying to find a right movement sequence for my piece it was also very difficult to not only learn my lines but to convey them with conviction and in a convincing manner -surrounding factors also made this more difficult, such as being in my own space and my children wanting to get involved.

The rehearsal process was not only difficult but time-consuming as it is was imperative for me that I put forward a piece of work which I was not only happy with but a piece which I thought encapsulated the emotions present within the play and within an accurate Pina Bausch whilst all the while staying true to my original intentions and writing of the piece.

The thing I found most difficult was joining of the Pina Bausch style and trying to keep the realism of my piece- as I wanted my piece to be convincing that within it Mrs Alving was actually having this psychotic episode. I didn’t want it to look amateur but I also wanted it to be equally balanced in terms of the representation of the themes. Pina Bausch’s pieces are very fluid and dance like and I found this difficult to not only emulate but to present while reciting the lines of my monologue.

To combat these issues I just continued to practice and try different things.

In week one we started with a discussion of what kind of theatre is preferred. Everyone had different ideas of what they preferred when it came to acting and viewing drama. After this discussion we looked at some material and discussed this. One thing which we looked at which I found really interesting was Pina Bausch – who is the creator of Tranztheatre. Bausch’s theatre incorporates dance and movement and includes quite a lot of risks to the actors involved. For example we watched a piece called “The fall dance” where a man and a woman walked around a concrete space and the woman would suddenly fall and then the man would catch her right before shes lands on the floor. I found her pieces really interesting as they were incredibly interpretative and many messages could be read from them. We also watched other Pina Bausch pieces such as Cafe Muller and The Rite of Spring. Many of Bausch’s pieces did not contain words however this did not impede the emotion conveyed within the different pieces. For myself the lack of words allowed further interpretation of the pieces and different ideas to be presented about the same one piece. This was an idea that I think would work well for our final piece as movement can be just as interpretative as spoken word.

We also had a discussion about the play in which we had been set. The play which we are using is Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. Having being the only one to read the play it was quite difficult to discuss initial ideas about what we would have wanted to do. However by watching the different pieces it made me really want to include certain movements within to portray different feelings and ideas.

In the rehearsal on Wednesday only eight of us turned up – so this was a great start. We sat as a group and looked at the different scenes which were given on Monday and looked at both the characters objectives within the scene and the relationships between the characters within the scenes. By doing this, it was clear that Ibsen perhaps believed the concept of Family was flawed as both the relationship between Engstrand and Regine and Mrs Alving and Oswald were incredibly strained and almost felt uncomfortable to even read. This was interesting as both parent and child relations were of different status but was still strained despite the class divide between the two.

After looking at each scene we broke off into groups and created a piece. We decided to not set any limitations within what this scene had to include so this was very interesting as there was no limits set to what we could do and could not do.  Marcel, Toby, Steven and I created a piece around the pipe scene and decided to start this piece with a sound montage of smoking. This was because this is a main symbol within the play. Within this scene we wanted to focus on demonstrating the strained relationship Between Oswald and Mrs. Alving and did this by having Mrs. Alving constantly trying to follow Oswald around and tend to him, whilst Oswald was always trying to move away from his mother. For a first piece of work I think this worked well.

READING: For preparation for this first lesson I made sure I had read Ghosts by Ibsen as I wanted to be prepared and somewhat know the plot and characters within the piece.

As we are now creating monologues, it was suggested that we watched I, Cinna. Watching this definitely gave me some inspiration. Jude Owusu’s portrayal of Cinna was not only captivating but so realistic. The piece did not feel forced at any point. It was such a strong piece which worked so well as it only required him on stage. As a viewer I felt as if I was in the room with him, Owusu’s eyes followed you, not in an eerie kind of way but more of an active conversation. This is what I hope for my piece also, for it to flow and not feel forced at any point.  

I also watched the 2014 Ghosts production with Leslie Manville portraying Mrs. Alving. This was really fun to watch and gave me a more realistic portrayal of Mrs. Alving as I had already read the review of this performance. This was really useful to watch and to get some ideas about characterisation.  

Originally, we were given act 3, so I have decided to keep to this. My monologue will be from the perspective of Mrs. Alving. I intend to use some of the actual lines written for Mrs. Alving and Oswald by Ibsen and throughout want to highlight several things, including: Light imagery as this features throughout the whole play, going beyond naturalism, ideas of recognition which will hopefully include ideas of hamartia as this is important as decisions effect different things and I want to highlight awareness of Mrs. Alving’s decision to return which is the first point of everything going wrong. I also of course want to highlight ideas of Ghosts as this is present throughout.  

My idea is to present Mrs. Alving having some kind of psychotic episode. She is remembering Oswald and the things he said. Oswald is now dead and she is struggling not only with this but everything surrounding this. I want to highlight expressionism where there was a change to people being spiritually led. I want to express this fear and anxiety throughout and highlight ideas of recognition and ideas of doing the right thing and not actually knowing what is right in situations which are not black and white. 

I have now written a draft which I am pretty confident on and has been looked over by Susan and reedited by myself. I am quite happy with the words and now have to work on adding physical movements to the whole piece using inspiration from Pina Bausch. My initial idea is to have some actions which I repeat on certain words. This will help in making the piece look quite fragmented and similar to a psychotic episode. 

Reading completed: This week I read the Guardian review of Ghosts performed in 2014 written by Lyn Gardner. I found it quite interesting but one thing I found very interesting was the reading of Leslie Manville’s character Mrs. Alving.  

“This Helene is both magnificent – you totally believe that she ran the estate and made it prosper – and pitiful; still hoping for miracles and yet tainted with disappointment. Manville plays her not as a victim but as an intelligent and passionate woman whose tragedy is that she is all too aware that by creating myths around her dissolute husband and living a lie she has fed the hungry ghosts that will destroy her.” (Gardner 2014) 

I could not help but compare this to the Beglau’s Mrs Alving in Nübling’s 2007 performance. 

“Mrs. Alving (Bibiana Beglau), in the grotesque angularity of her movements and her intensity, seems almost witch-like, and she seems to exercise a kind of demonic power over the entranced Manders (Robert Beyer).” 

Although it sounds obvious it was interesting to see the same character played in completely different ways. This confirmed for me that theatre is in fact interpretive and reassured me that whatever I create, would be ok as it is my reading and interpretation of the play. 

When creating pieces there is heavy weight to do justice of the original piece and by reading both reviews and comparing them showed to me that different does not mean wrong but instead highlights a different understanding/interpretation of character and drive.  

After reading the review I became aware that there was a version online of it, which I later watched and thoroughly enjoyed. This made me feel confident about the work which I was producing.  

Gardner, L (2014) Ghosts – review. The Guardian, 27 Jan.  Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/jan/27/ibsen-ghosts-review-trafalgar-studios-theatre (Accessed: 16 April 2020) 

Carlson, M (2007) Ghosts. The Schaubuhne, Berlin. Spring/Winter, 2007. Ibsen News & Comment 2007, Vol. 27, pg16-18 

Due to the corona virus we now cannot work in groups, instead we will be creating a monologue. There is a lot of freedom around this task which is good as it allows everyone to explore the text differently. At this moment in time I am certain that I am wanting to do a piece from the perspective of Mrs. Alving however I have not thought about anything really in depth. I am sure that I will still focus on Mrs. Alvings thoughts and feelings presented in Act Three as we focused on act three as a group and I feel I have a good understanding of it.  

READING COMPLETED: After reading Joan Templeton’s article I was interested further into Ibsen himself as within Templeton’s article its states that “Ibsen is too comprehensive to blame people. But he may somehow hold them responsible. Mrs. Alving was not strong enough to say “No.” And the consequences were terrible” (Templeton 1986) I wanted to find out some further information about him and I read parts of Michael Egans “Henrik Ibsen: the critical heritage” to do so. Although I did not find much on Ibsen himself but I read a Ghosts review titled “George Moor see Ghosts in Paris” (1891). One quote I found very interesting from this were:  

“Never in these mode my ears has such a scene been written as that one, nor have I ever felt so divine a horror as I did when the mother, declaring that she cannot do what is asked of her, breaks into the natural cry: ‘I, who gave you life!’ The son answers: ‘A nice kind of life it was that you gave me.’ Then the mother overcome, rushes from the room. She is followed tumultuously by the son, and the stage is left empty- empty and not empty- for its emptiness is the symbol of the horror that we feel, the blank stage becomes at once the symbol of the blank insolvable problem which is life.” (Moor 1891) 

This was interesting as I like the idea of emptiness symbolising the horror felt. This sparked an idea that at times we can have the stage empty and maybe show old images of Mr. and Mrs. Alving and other images of say Pastor Manders to highlight that before the current moments there were moments before which highlighted the emptiness of life and the not knowing that life would take then to where they are now – Mr. Alving being dead and Mrs. Alving dealing with the fact that her son is infected with a then deadly disease.  

Ghosts: George Moor sees Ghosts in Paris found in :  

Egan, M (1997) Henrik Ibsen. London: Taylor and Francis Group 

MONDAY: This was the first week in which we had our groups. We spent the majority of the time throwing around ideas and trying different things. We tried to create an idea which had all of us on the floor crawling towards a light – inspiration for this was taken from Oswalds line “Give me the sun”. We had a rope tied between us and as we crawled, we also pulled back others in the line so they didn’t get ahead. This idea was symbolic of many things and everyone had different ideas. The idea which I had was that this movement was symbolic of how Mrs. Alving sent Oswald away for his own safety but in return has a fragmented relationship with him and it is now strained when he returns. This pulling back showed that she was trying to protect Oswald (by pulling him away from the “light” and his father, but in fact only stopped the whole line from progressing and from a good relationship being built with her son.  I thought this was quite an interesting idea.  

WEDNESDAY: Today we had a breakthrough as a group and I had several ideas for our piece. We decided to start from the beginning of our Act (Act Three) and try to create a piece highlighting all the different points we thought were important within Act Three. When glancing through act themes I wanted to present were: manipulation, fire and blame. The piece starts with candles on the floor being placed down by Sam, Toby then lights them and brings them over to me. I then (playing Mrs. Alving) douse them in a bucket of water, this happens several times. Meanwhile Brianne is behind a sheet of plastic silently banging and screaming. This is symbolic of the Orphanage burning. After Toby and Sam violently throw down the sheet of plastic and Brianne walks forward on to it. The boys then stare at her and almost inspect her. After this they start to wash her in the water – symbolising the fresh start the Orphanage was supposed to be. They then start smearing mud all over the freshly cleaned Brianne, this is symbolic of the fact that Mrs. Alving cannot escape the dirty past of Mr. Alving’s ventures despite trying to. This is just a short section of what we were planning to do. We also incorporated different lines we thought were important and included the scene we created with us crawling. While the second half was being devised Sam and Brianne attended a lighting workshop so unfortunately there is not a video, I can upload to give an idea of the piece. However, this is unfortunate as this would be the last time we met and devised as a group. 

READING COMPLETED: For this week I read Joan Templeton’s essay “Of This Time, of This Place: Mrs. Alving’s Ghosts and the Shape of the Tragedy in PMLA”.  Although I was confused in parts I liked points she made throughout. The question I was most interested in was “why has Mrs. Alving been so singled out for blame?”  to which the answer was “Cherchez la femme” translation to “look for the woman”. Although I may not be exactly on the right lines, I found this interesting as it is true – in times of blame it is at most times placed on to the woman. Although I digress, I wanted to touch upon this further as even in today’s society women are always at blame.  

“Why did you get pregnant, you should have used birth control” 

“You shouldn’t of wore that, you were asking for it” 

Comments like this are always placed on the women and bever the man who is usually the one actually committing the act – blame is always put on the women and within Ghosts it is the same.  

Mrs. Alving blames herself for not bringing much “gaiety” into his home and throughout blames herself for not only Mr. Alvins actions but the reasons as to why he did them. When you think about it this is ridiculous and she is in no part to blame. The only blame she holds is returning to him; however, this was in part down to the duty she had towards her husband and other foolish things women are “given” such as virginity. I found this conclusion point in Templetons article so interesting and relatable. This made me think about the presentation of Mrs. Alving and taking inspriation from Nublings performance (where Regine has 5 younger siblings) we could do a piece where there are several versions of Mrs. Alving portraying all different versions of her e.g. a version which represents her duty, a version which represents her anger, a version which represents her regret etc. Other versions could include the person who she wants to be and the person she will become after the play.  

Templeton, J. (1986). Of This Time, of This Place: Mrs. Alving’s Ghosts and the Shape of the Tragedy. PMLA. Unknown: Modern Language Association 

MONDAY: This was reading week and we came in on Monday with Susan. Here we discussed a lot of ideas and thoughts. We also did an activity with words and actions, where we a line then attached a feeling to it and then attached a movement to it. We showed these to one another a feedback on them also. After two groups were asked to merge their movement sequences as two separate pieces but happening at the same time. They found this very difficult as it is hard to be aware of doing your piece whilst being aware of another group doing their piece whilst also being aware of the space around out and combining the space at the same time. It took many attempts to happen and, in the end, I think we all slightly gave up. We also used this time to show pieces to Susan for feedback on what we have done already. This was useful as we had not seen her in a while and she had not seen some of the pieces we had done.  

We also spent some time using rope and throwing some ideas around. One of these was to have Mrs. Alving and Pastor Manders skipping with the rope, however this did not get far as many of us could not skip.  

Groups going forward were decided and acts were assigned to each group this was due to commitment issues within the group so groups were assigned and sections so everyone held equal accountability and responsibility.  

WEDNESDAY: We did not meet today as this was originally reading week which we would usually have off. So, nothing was devised but a few comments and ideas were passed to one another via WhatsApp.  

READING COMPLETED: For this week I decided to research some on Sarah Kanes work. Many YouTube videos and a Drama online bibliography later I found her work quite interesting. She committed suicide at 28 and I assume used her mental health as a stimulus for many of her pieces. When reading this I cannot help but think that she wrote as a way to escape her head, to get it on paper and to perhaps and hopefully experience a cathartic experience through this. Reading about her is devastating as the talent she had for writing was not only thought provoking but saddening at the same time. When reading about her I couldn’t help but make the connotation to Mrs. Alving and how she has so many books which Pastor Manders disapproves of. I made the connotation that perhaps Ibsen wrote her as having these books to maybe experience also, a cathartic experience and to be able to harness her education for herself. Although it is never specified what these books are it is interesting to have that choice as a reader to decide what they are. From this is had an idea for a potential set. My idea was that we could perhaps have a wall of books as the background on stage. However, these books would be books which were considered outrageous for the time – for example Origin of species by Charles Darwin and 1984 by George Orwell. This could be interesting as it shows Mrs. Alving harnessing her own education and being a vivid reader of books that were considered inappropriate. This would also highlight the shift in her character – of now concentrating on her son as her husband is now dead. I think visually this would look quite powerful and visually stimulating.  

Sarah Kane bio found at: https://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/search?q=sarah+kane&s2_type=&dc_creator=&dc_subject_genre=&dc_subject_period=&dc_subject_themes=&dc_subject_place= 

MONDAY: I had the idea that we split into partners and created movement sequences. After creating them we showed each other and gave feedback. Everyone then decided to concentrate on one person’s movement sequence, this was Shannon’s. As a whole group we tried to devise a short piece using Shannon’s movement sequence. This was quite difficult as there were many people’s ideas going into one piece and it became difficult for everyone to be involved. Despite this we created a piece with Toby and Mimi on top of stage blocks with rope between them this was a really interesting piece and was interesting to work on and it looked visually appealing. We also discussed what lighting would perhaps work well for this. I think coloured lighting would have worked well for this piece as, perhaps in a blue as throughout Ghosts there is light imagery throughout which is portrayed as desired (especially Oswald in the end scene) and the cold blue light would highlight the “gloomy fjord landscape” Ibsen describes it as and the reality of the setting and situation.  

WEDNESDAY: Today we continued to devise. Nothing was still set in stone and everyone was happy to still explore and develop ideas. Many ideas were touched upon and left behind as is what happens when devising, however this process was still useful. I think this process has reinforced how important it is to just try everyone’s ideas when devising as this is the most important thing to do as it allows exploration of the text, expression of everyone’s ideas and time to work and create as a group. Although nothing which was created in this session stuck it was still interesting to have a bit of free time to explore.  

READING COMPLETED: For this week I decided to read a theatre review written by Marvin Carlson of Sebastian Nübling’s Ghosts at the Schabühne in Berlin 2007. What was first a shock was the discover that the set compromised of only a round table. This was interesting as it suggested no importance to a visual representation of realism. 

When I continued to read the review it stated the piece “often breaks into unexpected and extreme physical violence, even in so domestic an activity as the preparation of a salad” (Carlson 2007) at first I considered this funny but when I thought about it would this be extremely unsettling if you was to watch this piece as you would have no idea as to what was going to happen next – especially if them making a salad was extremely and physically violent it would make you wonder how they would present more pressing parts of the play – such as Manders referring to Regine as well developed and Engstrand’s brothel.  

I also read that “Nübling reflects instead the more abstract traditions of symbolism and expressionism, with few design elements, which are used in a highly non-realistic way” (Carlson 2007) I considered that as a group we could use this for inspiration as Bausch also has parts of extreme physical movement in both Café Muller and Rite of Spring. I think this could work well as there are moments of the play when perhaps repeated movement sequences of high aggression could work well – for example when Pastor Mander and Mrs. Alving talk about when she came to him and he returned her home.  

This article made me want to look into Sarah Kane as she was stated as an inspiration for direction Nübling. From seeing images of the Ghost production, I wanted to see the kind of theatre Kane created.  

Carlson, M (2007) Ghosts. The Schaubuhne, Berlin. Spring/Winter, 2007. Ibsen News & Comment 2007, Vol. 27, pg16-18 

MONDAY: Today it was a strike so Susan was not there. Everyone was still at a different level of understanding when it came it Pina Bausch, Ibsen and Ghosts. Luckily, I felt confident in my level of understanding. I suggested that for an activity that we split into pairs, picked a relation in the play and to simply create something. I thought we should keep this relatively open as everyone had read different things and understood different things. I worked with Pavun for this we decided to create a piece focusing on Mrs. Alving and Oswalds relationship. We wanted to show it was strained so started at opposite ends of the stage to physically show the distance we then picked some lines which we thought were important as repeated them, stepping forward each time after saying a line – gradually coming closer to one another. Although a simple idea I think it worked well as it showed what we wanted it to. The repetition also worked well and was inspired by Pina Bausch as she has some sequences which are quite repetitive within her work. Especially in Café Muller when the man and women repeat a sequence of him moving her and picking her up then dropping her and her jumping back up increasing in speed each time.  

WEDNESDAY: For Wednesday we decided to do the same thing, but to pick a different relationship this time. I think everyone enjoyed the freedom of being able to let loose and devise. I think this was helpful in exploring relationships and themes within the play. The group I worked in was with Marcel and Mimi. We created a piece focusing on the feme fatale idea. I got inspiration of this from one of the discussions we had previously had when Susan mentioned the idea that within the play that the women are represented as blame-worthy as they carry and pass on the virus as Mrs. Alving did to Oswald. This was an interesting idea and I decided to flip it on its head and present the Women within the play (Mrs. Alving and Regine) as harnessing the blame and utilising it to seduce and infect men. I thought this would be interesting as Women are frequently blamed within society – so I wanted to physically show the “blame” that these women held.  

Work created – this is the piece created with Mimi and Marcel.

READING COMPLETED: This week I decided to read more of Climenhaga’s Pina Bausch as I really enjoyed it last week. Something I found interesting was reading about the process of Pina Bausch’s work.  

“Bausch’s work in particular relies on drawing from the resources you have, and the primary resource is people… Bausch’s performance practice is built on a process of uncovering connections to fundamental ideas and feelings. She draws on the experience, both personal and professional, of her company in work- ing toward that essential base, and her creative genius lies in her ability to construct intricate and delicate webs of feeling from the connections she uncovers, utilizing the human resources of those around her” (Climenhaga 2008) 

I found this extract from page 96 very interesting as it sparked some ideas of potential warm up activities and some activities that we could perhaps do to “construct intricate and delicate webs of feeling” (Climenhaga 2008) 

One of the ideas I had was that we could all write an extremely personal memory, embarrassing moments etc (basically something you refrain from telling someone, and with these memories we would all put them into a hat, pick a different one and try to recreate this memory only with our bodies, movements and expression. Although this seems quite trivial I think this would be a good idea as sharing information (especially information that you refrain from telling people) is a deeply personal thing, and seeing someone recreate that memory (without the person who is recreating the memory knowing who’s it is and the audience not knowing who it is and the person who’s memory knowing its there’s but being aware that no one else knows who’s it is) would not only create a web of feeling but create a safe space where information is being given, interpreted and shown all at the same time. At the end of the activity the next step would be to put them all together to create this visual “web” of feeling. This would be interesting as from using the primary source – people, the audience would be making connections from completely different memories. This would also show how bodies on stage can represent several things put into one piece. 

Climenhaga, R. (2008) Pina Bausch. London: Routledge. 

MONDAY: Today we continued to discuss as a group thoughts and opinions about the play. We also watched more pieces which were completed by previous years. I believe one of the pieces we watched was inspired by Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. Having luckily read and studied this before last semester it was interesting to know the play and put parts of it to the piece in which your seeing. For example, this piece burned some paper within their piece symbolising when Hedda Gabler burns Lovborgs manuscript. Another interesting part was the birthing of a baby – which highlights the insinuated ideas that Hedda is pregnant. This piece was interesting and was useful to watch. Although the pieces didn’t replicate the ideas in which everyone was having for our piece on Ghosts.  

WEDNESDAY: Today we watched a movie on Pina Bausch which Sam rented for us. This was really interesting and involved dancers who were in her piece speaking and showed videos of pieces created by Pina Bausch. This was really interesting as I got some ideas which were inspired by Pina Bausch pieces that we watched.  

There was a piece where two people balanced sticks between them. A possible idea I thought of was to have Mrs. Alving and Manders balance something between them throughout the piece – showing how they need each other’s cooperation in keeping each other’s secrets. 

Another idea I had was about costume. Within Pina Bausch pieces they are in loose fitting clothes this is obviously as they are dancing and need to be able to move. However, I thought that we too could also were black loose-fitting clothes. A lot of previous years pieces also had clothes which were quite comfortable to move in and I think this would also be a good idea. Especially if the people portraying the women in the play wore long loose-fitting black gowns, I think this would work well for whatever we do and the fabric would move well on stage also.  

READING COMPLETED: When reading Pina Bausch by Royd Climenhaga page one starts with “Pina Bausch’s piece Kontakthof (1978) begins with the performers all simply walking downstage. They move in a group, walking in rhythm with a purposeful hip thrust and slouch, reach the edge of the stage and return upstage to move toward the audience again. Then the group gathers, glaring out at us, before they begin coming forward one at a time. Each performer looks out at the audience, then turns and shows us his or her profile, then turns again to show his or her back. They bare their teeth, or pull up a skirt or pant leg to reveal a well-toned leg. The effect is oddly unsettling, a presentation of self as if for sale, calling attention to the engagement of self in the mating ritual to come and of the ground of the theater itself. We have, after all, paid our money to look at these people, to watch them display their wares for the next three-plus hours, and their looks back at the audience make us deeply aware of our own implication in the process” (Climenhaga 2008). When first reading this, it sparked an idea in my head. This kind of piece would work well as a beginning scene of ghosts. I love the idea of the presenting yourself to the audience as although these may look strange when understanding the purpose of why it was done, I loved the idea of baring all for the audience as “We have, after all, paid our money to look at these people, to watch them display their wares for the next three-plus hours” (Climenhaga, 2008).  

I also think that the beginning of Kontakthof could work well for a piece like Ghosts as “They move in a group, walking in rhythm with a purposeful hip thrust and slouch, reach the edge of the stage and return upstage to move toward the audience again. Then the group gathers, glaring out at us, before they begin coming forward one at a time” I think this could work well as within Ghosts if we perhaps changed some of the movements as they are all carrying each others secrets (Mrs. Alving is keeping Mr. Alvings secrets from Oswald, Pastor Manders is keeping Mrs. Alvings secrets from Oswald, Mrs. Alving is keeping Regine’s mothers secrets from Regine and so on) So if as a group we all walking in rhythm and with purpose it could highlight that we are all relying on one another not only to keep the rhythm but to keep one another’s secrets and therefore hide one another’s Ghosts from each other.  

Climenhaga, R. (2008) Pina Bausch. London: Routledge. 

MONDAY: Today we attended a lighting workshop led by Johnathan. This was really fun and informative. We got to view and experiment with different types of lighting such as spotlights and fresnel. This was really useful as it gave everyone an idea of what different lighting options were available for the performance. It was also interesting to see the different ideas from everyone. After each performance feedback was given which is always useful and constructive. This took up the majority of the session but was incredibly useful, especially when you are devising a piece as lighting has a major effect to set both mood and pace.  

WEDNESDAY: Today everyone was feeling very inspired and after much discussion about the play and the characters we decided to attempt to create something. This first piece focused on the exchanged between Engstrand and Regine. It was a piece which involved everyone and focused on the different emotions which could be interpreted through some of the lines such as “What do you want”, “You’re dripping wet” and “It’s Gods own rain, my child”. These emotions involved confusion, anger and fear.  

Work made  – a video of the work we created – obviously in its beginning stages.