HIGHER DRAMA SECTION 1: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS ‘THE STRANGE UNDOING OF PRUDENCIA HART’

‘EXAMPLE QUESTION’ As an actor, describe five strengths and/or weaknesses of a character in your selected text. (You must use textual references from the play to help you justify your answer.) Explain, in detail, five acting concepts you would use to show these strengths or weaknesses in performance. (These need to be related to the first part of this question.) THE QUESTION WILL ALWAYS ASK FOR ‘FIVE’ EXAMPLES WITHIN THE TEXT

INTRODUCTION (Identify character) A character in ‘The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart’ who shows strength and/or weakness is Prudencia, the title character. (Definition of question – the marker will use this to mark your paper accordingly) A strength is... A weakness is... (Identifying the FIVE ‘things’) We see strength in Pru’s character as she is... (insert traits here) But she also shows weakness in... (insert traits here) (Sum up) Such character traits would make Prudencia an interesting character to explore as an actor.

Paragraph one Firstly, Pru shows strength in (insert one of your selected traits here…) Where Quote/detailed moment Explain how One mark Opening sentence explains the paragraph topic. BONUS POINT EXTRA DETAILED DEVELOPMENT OR ANOTHER DETAILED EXAMPLE

HERE ARE SOME NOTES ON CHARACTER TRAITS THAT WE RECOGNISE IN PRUDENCIA HART THAT YOU COULD MAKE REFERENCE TO…

INTELLIGENT ‘Pru and her dads idea of a fun day, was to browse away an endless Sunday in second hand bookshops.’ – well read from childhood, early passion ‘Her PhD was on the topography of Hell‘ - a high accolade which we know takes years of study and dedication. ‘to contribute a paper, and join the plenary’ - she is a guest speaker at the conference, she is respected in her field so must be impressive in her work, equal to other scholars ‘You have an original Whitelaw and a first edition of the Minstrelsy signed!’ – suggests she is well read in classics ‘Just heaven’ - captivity would be torture for most – but not for Pru, not here. 'Instinct took over and she just – just – fucking ran‘ – empowered by reading, able to stand up to the devil and make her escape

MANIPULATIVE ‘the chance to network and perhaps to see if a publisher might take her work on the border ballads’ – attending and taking advantage of a social situation for her own gain? Prudencia shows cunning when she begins to manipulate a relationship with the devil; ‘What would happen if we talked in rhyme?’ Prudencia is suggesting that they adopt the language of love to prove to the Devil that he can feel. Once she has forged a relationship with him she will be able to make her escape. ‘I’m getting a lot of knots in your back’ – willing to overcome her normally prudish nature to work the situation for her own gain ‘don’t you ever sleep?’ – as she tries to plan her escape.

PRUDISH (Having or revealing a tendency to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity; excessively concerned with sexual propriety) Prudencia meets the Corbies - a scandalous group of women who are out partying and engaging in all sorts of debauchery. They try to coax her into joining their party. The very thought of revealing herself is torture; ‘I’ll just keep my coat on if that’s ok’; shows Prudencia literally has a ‘buttoned up’ personality and demeanour. When Prudencia meets the Corbies – she is forced to ‘hide in the toilet like a school girl’ to avoid the lude behaviour she finds so uncomfortable. Sleeping in a bed with Colin is a no no, even in the same room She asks the devil to knock before entering the room in case she is undressed.

ANTI SOCIAL We know she was close to her father; ‘she became the pet of a father’; but we also know her father was ‘autistic spectrum’ and the personality traits associated with this could easily have been picked up by a young Prudencia also contributing to her anti social tendencies. ‘She was above the common herd’ – sees herself as better than others so will avoid talking to those beneath her At the academic conference, Prudencia sits ‘at the extreme edge of the group’ which highlights her isolation - even those she is academically equal to and would share her interests. Public speaking is also traumatic for Pru; ‘She blushed and finished her presentation’/‘Prudencia stood, vulnerable and raw’ When Prudencia meets the Corbies – a scandalous group of women who are out partying and engaging in all sorts of debauchery – she is extremely intimidating for Pru which leads her to ‘hide in the toilet like a school girl’ (BUT MAYBE THIS IS MORE PRUDISH?) Her ‘self disgust at her own inability to participate’ shows it is a weakness she is all to familiar with and one that has ‘had her always stood outside observing...always feeling herself alone.’

STUBBORN ‘You’ll have to help me dig it out’; she is so determined not to stay the night with Colin, she would rather try and dig her car out of several feet of snow, despite the fact that this will never be successful. ‘…throws herself at the window’ – desperate to escape Hell, even though it is near impossible, she tries several strategies. Throwing herself at the window, and physically hurting herself, shows she will never give up. ‘This is not hell, you are not the devil’; Denial of being in Hell – she knows what hell is like because she has studied it, so she refuses to accept that this is where she has been lured to without realising. ‘I love the way you cling to old forms…’ – spoken by Colin, about Pru’s stubbornness at refusing to accept and use modern forms and technology Dialogue with Colin – says ‘No’ a lot. ‘I don’t have a bloody song’ – refusal to participate is anti social but it is her assertiveness in not giving in that makes her stubborn.

REMEMBER: ANY TRAIT YOU DISCUSS MUST BE LINKED TO THE QUESTION IN THIS CASE, TO STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS

NOW DISCUSS HOW – AS AN ACTOR - YOU WILL PERFORM THIS TRAIT (WITH REFERENCE TO A SPECIFIC MOMENT)

Paragraph one – now with part two added How you would act (using the magic formula to describe) Firstly, Pru shows strength in (choose one from opening paragraph) …… where quote Explain how As an actor I would use ….. To show that…. One mark Opening sentence explains the paragraph topic. IF SUPER AWESOME (WITH SNAZZY VOCAB, CLEAR DESCRIPTION AND VALID JUSTIFICATION, WITH QUOTES) THIS ONE PARAGRAPH CAN POTENTIALLY EARN YOU 4 MARKS. PART ONE: ANALYSE TEXT PART TWO: AS AN ACTOR

SQA MARKING GUIDELINES SAY YOU MAY COMMENT ON ANY OF THE FOLLOWING; Character motivation What do they want/strive for? How does this show strength/weakness?) Character development How does the character progress throughout the play? When do we see strength/weakness? Character relationships How do their relationships with other characters demonstrate strength/weakness? Character interaction How does the way in which they behave with other characters demonstrate strength/weakness? Plot Plot twists, foreshadowing, structure, focus, etc. Themes and issues Are they connected to any vital themes? How does this represent strength/weakness? Any other relevant features

Characterisation Acting techniques Acting style Stage proxemics Interaction between characters Use of voice and movement The relationship between the spoken text and physical movement or gesture Actor/audience relationship Use of costume/make- up/set/props AS AN ACTOR…. WHAT CAN I TALK ABOUT?

CHARACTERISATION the concept of creating characters There are two ways of conveying information about a character: Direct or explicit; The writer literally tells the audience/actor what a character is like. This may be done via the narrator, another character or by the character him or herself. You may therefore, as an actor, make use of textual references. Indirect or implicit; The actor must infer for themselves what the character is like through the character’s thoughts, actions, speech (choice of words, way of talking), looks and interaction with other characters, including other characters’ reactions to that particular person. This is the process of character development.

ACTOR/AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP Presentational acting: Refers to a relationship that acknowledges the audience. Can be direct such as addressing them in a monologue or aside. Can also be indirect such as general attitude or use of language/looks/gestures. Either way, it indicates that the character or actor is aware of the audience's presence. Representational acting: Refers to a relationship in which the audience is studiously ignored. Actors remain in-character and absorbed in the dramatic action whilst the audience simply look on and ‘spy’. The actor behaves as if a fourth wall was present, which maintains a divide of dramatic fiction from reality.

ACTING STYLE NATURALISTIC Or realistic; drama which replicates real life. See Stanislavski System – a system for encouraging actors to become emotionally and psychologically involved with their roles, in order to create a convincing, realistic performance. Some characteristics are; characters who act and talk like real people, settings that are real and from modern times like homes, workplaces, bars and restaurants, and the subject matter deals with real events and social/political issues. NON - NATURALISTIC Or stylised; distinctly removed from truth, describing and portraying something that isn't necessarily there. Some characteristics could be playing with space, time or object. Non-realistic acting means that the actor in no way acts as he would do in real life. See Antonin Artaud for inspiration.

ACTING TECHNIQUES STANISLAVSKI SYSTEM; Aims to replicate real life, encouraging you to be ‘in the moment’ but always staying one step away from complete belief. Draws on personal emotion to portray character realistically. Here’s a reminder of what we did in class; We used ‘Belief’ to care for the ‘bird’ We used ‘The Magic If’ to put ourselves in Pru’s shoes with the Corbies We practiced ‘cooking’ with or without ‘The Given Circumstances’ MEYERHOLD; mixing psychological response with gestures and movement to express emotion. Physical movements should elicit emotion in you rather than the other way round. Here’s a reminder of what we did in class; We choreographed a fight scene and evaluated the ‘action’. We then improvised a fight scene on the spot and evaluated the natural ‘reactions’ Consider a moment where you might be spontaneous in your character and describe how you might do this.

Different endings: Actors retell the story of the play with several different endings. If the audience is shown a tragic ending, a happy ending and maybe even an absurd ending then the point that different outcomes are possible is made. The ending does not have to be inevitable and there is a possibility for social change. The Actor: Brecht required his actors to demonstrate what happened, what words were said, and demonstrate the actions of the character. They must not try and become any of the characters they portray. The actor or the audience should not identify with the character. BRECHTIAN TECHNIQUES Use of Song: Characters frequently and suddenly burst into song or formal commentary. They sing a song that is nothing to do with the emotion of action and everything to do with the intellectual message. Characters often become grotesque and unreal, performing in a dehumanised robotic manner. The songs broke the mood of the scene to remind the audience that they were watching a play that had a message. Sometimes the actors actually stepped out of character and sang songs directly to the audience. Gesture: Brecht was influenced by Japanese and Chinese Theatre. He admired the way they used movement to tell a story in a stylised unemotional way. He encouraged his actors to learn the formal gestures of Chinese Theatre where a gesture that shows the character is crying is moving the finger up and down in front of the eyes. Brecht did not want his actors to actually weep tears. Voice: Brecht made enormous vocal demands on his actors: they were required to sing, chant, use mechanical and strange sounding voices, produce disconnected and non-human sounds and speak in a range of dialects and class accents. These techniques are used to produce alienation. Narration: Parts of the play are narrated rather than acting them. Most of Brecht's plays made use of a screen or large notices which gave the audience information about the play, introduced scenes or commented on the action, hammering home the message of the play. Where video projection is not available placards are used. Actors come on to stage carrying placards that announce the time and place of the action or any other information. These signs keep the audience removed from the action.

BRECHTIAN TECHNIQUES The Actor: -PRUDENCIA’S INABILITY TO BE HERSELF -SWAPPING IN AND OUT OF ROLES AS ENSEMBLE (CORBIES) Voice: LINKS TO PRU - ALIENATION!!! Gesture: LINKS TO -ENSEMBLE -CORBIES, LACK OF EMPATHY TOWARDS PRUDENCIA? Narration: LINKS TO THE WHOLE PLAY! Use of Song: LINKS TO; -COLIN FORCING MODERN MUSIC ON PRU, WHO PREFERS TRADITION. -BREAKING TENSE MOMENTS – FOR EXAMPLE… -HIGHLIGHTING THEME (TRADITION VS MODERN) Different endings: LINKS TO FINAL SCENE; - WHAT DOES IT MEAN? - STYLISED AND OPEN TO INTERPRETATION - EXPERIMENT WITH A VARIETY OF ENDINGS TO FIND THE TRUE MEANING – FOR YOU

ACTING TECHNIQUES Try doing some research on these styles and see if you can apply them to your own work as an actor STRASBERG; Researching every aspect of your character, especially your backstory and personal life before the narrative of the show begins. You should become so familiar with your characters' lives, the characters would be just as constant as your own life. BRECHT; the theory that plays should not cause the audience to react emotionally with characters but to provoke self-reflection and critical views in the audience member themselves. MEISNER; To react truthfully rather than by manipulation. METHOD ACTING; Living day to day as your character. Complete belief in who you are and what you are doing. SYMBOLISM; implies a greater meaning than the literal suggestion and is usually used to represent something other than what it is at face value. Completely stylised.

SPOKEN WORD VS PHYSICAL MOVEMENT Spoken word is the language used, or the performance of the words themselves. Consider dynamics, rhythm, repetition, pause, emphasis, slang or rhyme. Physical movement is non-verbal communication - use of the body to communicate particular messages. Consider facial expression, gesture, posture, body language and eye contact. In class we; Improvised a scene where Colin and Pru fell out We exaggerated dialogue first then removed the words to focus only on the physical movement and emotions conveyed

SUBTEXT Subtext is content underneath the dialogue; it is what happens when spoken text and physical movement contrast, where other emotions are implied. Subtext is the unspoken thoughts and motives of characters - what they really think and believe. In class we; Acted as Pru and Colin within a variety of different contexts using only the phrase ‘Hello, how are you’ – ‘I’m fine thank you very much’ to experiment with the underlying subtext by considering use of voice and movement to imply something deeper

NOW YOU MUST CONCLUDE YOUR ESSAY BY SUMMING UP YOUR FINDINGS

CONCLUDE WITH CLOSING PARAGRAPH STEP ONE: RELIST YOUR DEFINITION A strength is …. A weakness is…. STEP TWO: RELIST YOUR PARAGRAPH TOPICS Pru shows strength in…. And weakness in…. STEP THREE: RELIST YOUR FIRST STATEMENT (THE QUESTION) Therefore, as I have shown through the text and my choices for my portrayal of this character, Prudencia is a character who shows strength/weakness.

A strength is a …. A weakness is a … Through out the play we see Prudencia demonstrate strengths through … and weakness through... Therefore, as I have shown through the text and my choices for my portrayal of this character, Prudencia is a character of both strength and weakness.

HERE IS SOME SNAZZY VOCAB USE IT!

CHARACTERISATION MANNERISMS BEHAVIOUR HABITS GESTURES STAGE PROXEMICS Use of space to create distance that can represent a relationship ACTING TECHNIQUES (MORE SPECIFIC THAN JUST VOICE AND MOVEMENT) PRACTITIONERS (IE. STANISLAVSKI SYSTEM, MEYERHOLD, BRECHT, GROTOWSKI…) METHOD ACTING SYMBOLISM ACTING STYLE THERE ARE ONLY TWO TO CHOOSE FROM… NATURALISTIC OR STYLISED VOICE & MOVEMENT Articulation Fluency Intonation Register Clarity Pause Pitch Accent Pace Timing Tone Volume Emphasis Stance Balance Body Language Gesture Facial Expression Mime Posture Pace Timing Slow Motion Blocking Masking Use of levels Use of space Rhythm SPOKEN TEXT VS PHYSICAL MOVEMENT Consider subtext and how to convey this physically INTERACTION BETWEEN CHARACTERS EYE CONTACT DIALOGUE SUBTEXT MIRRORING SUGGESTION ACTOR/AUDIENCE RELATIONSHIP Aware of audience or not. Impact – emotion – dramatic effect – thought provoking

A Acting Style Actor/Audience Relationship B BLOCKING C Central Character Complex Character Important Character Minor Character Main Character Pivotal Character Characterisation Character Behaviour Character Motivation Character Development Character Interaction Relationships between Character D Design Concepts Dialogue Drama Media (aka projections, video, sound scapes) Drama Process Dramatic Feature Dramatic Tension Points of Tension Moments of Tension Dramatic Irony Duologue E Episodic Structure F Focus G Given Circumstances Ground Plans K Key Scene Key Moment HIGHER WORDS TO USE TO SOUND COOLER THAN YOU REALLY ARE

S Set Setting Site Specific Theatre Special Effects Textual Evidence Traditional Theatre Special Effects Stage Imagery Status Stimulus Subtext Symbols and Imagery T Textual Evidence Traditional Theatre Target Audience Tension Textual Analysis Theatrical Background Themes and Issues Time period Passage of Time Shifts in Time U Use of levels V Venue P Performance Analysis Performance Concepts Pre-Show Plot Plot Twists Protagonist/Antagonist Purpose Stage Proxemics Positioning M Message Mood