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| Gala enters from upstage door. Pygmal gets from chair and goes center stage to join Gala |
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Preliminary Blocking Notes
Very little movement should take place:
Apart from this movement at the beginning of the scene, the actors should stay put throughout the play. This represents the rigidity of my metaphor. Even at the end of the scene, the lights will fade out, but the actors will stay put.
Rehearsal Plan
Rehearsals will be 2 hours long everyday. Rehearsals will always take 15 minutes at the beginning for the warm up (each day an actor gets to chose the warm. anything from yoga to Boalian exercises).
1 month will be dedicated to play with full cast:
1 month will be dedicated to play with full cast:
Ideas for Others
Scenic design:
everything in white, quadrilateral shapes, sharp edges, cloth, wood, simple
Casting:
everything in white, quadrilateral shapes, sharp edges, cloth, wood, simple
Casting:
- Gala:
- tall, robust (not skinny)
- Loud voice
- very driven
- Pygmal:
- tall, skinny
- very sincere, but also dreamy
- Gala:
- long red dress, bold, shows less cleavage than in image, black shoes (no heels)
- a paper letter with handwritten text
- hair loose
- Pygmal:
- red woolen pants, white shirt, red vest, formal black shoes
- small 'Lysistrata wooden penis' under pants
- not an object of comedy. discreet
Lighting Plot and Sound cues:
- very sharp bright lighting. No blackouts
- Intro music when audience is being seated; same song played after play is finished (Baroquian music)
Space and Ground Plan
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| A small theatre (fitting max 150 people), would perfect. The Thrust Stage and the small venue will bring the audience very close to the actor, both physically and emotionally. Also the square shape of the stage ties into my metaphor well. |
Ground Plan:
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| Simple, so focus stays on actors |
Predominant Element
Character:
Vows is a a character driven play with a secondary importance on theme. Although it would be very fitting to make the the predominant element theme; the theme being opposite gender relations. However I chose to make the predominant element character so that the audience can really visualize the roles of the male and female characters in the play. Only after the play is finish will the audience start to thinking intellectually about the meaning of the play.
Vows is a a character driven play with a secondary importance on theme. Although it would be very fitting to make the the predominant element theme; the theme being opposite gender relations. However I chose to make the predominant element character so that the audience can really visualize the roles of the male and female characters in the play. Only after the play is finish will the audience start to thinking intellectually about the meaning of the play.
Script Analysis
Where?:
In Pygmal's house, which lies in a fictional town in southern France, near Cap Ferrat. In the living room of the house.
When?:
In mid-1930s. The world just starting to recover from the Great Depression.
What?:
The play focuses on Gala (the independent mother) and Pygmal's (father) discussion of their children's marriage. In the play, Gala pays Pygmal a visit in his home and confronts him about the marriage. Only with both the parents' consent will the marriage occur. However as the scene progresses the focus strays solely to the relationship between Gala and Pygmal.
Who?:
Gala Van Der Merwe (46yrs): Mother of Vickus her son. She is a widow having lost her husband in WWI. She is very independent, strong willed, sometimes stubborn. She worries that her identity has been lost, having to focus all her time and eneryg on Vickus. She is very wealthy, her husband was a Dutch Duke and she gained all his wealth after his death. She is Basque.
Vickus Van Der Merwe (21yrs): Son of Gala. Never makes an appearance on stage. Is very handsome, but also extremely shy. Does not know how to flirt with women. His mother sometimes wonders whether he's homosexual.
Pygmal Aitor (39 yrs): Father of Adonie. Comes from a family of Basque aristocrats. Had a affair with a kitchen servant when he was younger. Left the servant, but took Adonie with him to Cap Ferrat. A romantic, but very unsociable. Shy.
Adonie Aitor (19yrs): Daughter of Pygmal. Never makes an appearance on stage. Determined, yet at the same time the 'perfect' example of a young marriageable girl. Comes of as very innocent.
Why?:
The point of Vows is to examine the relationship between males and females through stereotypical gender roles. Of course each character isn't a stereotype, but simply has characteristics of a stereotype of its sex. During the 1930s, especially among the upper classes, the role of women in society were changing drastically. Some of these issues are still relevant today as well.
In Pygmal's house, which lies in a fictional town in southern France, near Cap Ferrat. In the living room of the house.
When?:
In mid-1930s. The world just starting to recover from the Great Depression.
What?:
The play focuses on Gala (the independent mother) and Pygmal's (father) discussion of their children's marriage. In the play, Gala pays Pygmal a visit in his home and confronts him about the marriage. Only with both the parents' consent will the marriage occur. However as the scene progresses the focus strays solely to the relationship between Gala and Pygmal.
Who?:
Gala Van Der Merwe (46yrs): Mother of Vickus her son. She is a widow having lost her husband in WWI. She is very independent, strong willed, sometimes stubborn. She worries that her identity has been lost, having to focus all her time and eneryg on Vickus. She is very wealthy, her husband was a Dutch Duke and she gained all his wealth after his death. She is Basque.
Vickus Van Der Merwe (21yrs): Son of Gala. Never makes an appearance on stage. Is very handsome, but also extremely shy. Does not know how to flirt with women. His mother sometimes wonders whether he's homosexual.
Pygmal Aitor (39 yrs): Father of Adonie. Comes from a family of Basque aristocrats. Had a affair with a kitchen servant when he was younger. Left the servant, but took Adonie with him to Cap Ferrat. A romantic, but very unsociable. Shy.
Adonie Aitor (19yrs): Daughter of Pygmal. Never makes an appearance on stage. Determined, yet at the same time the 'perfect' example of a young marriageable girl. Comes of as very innocent.
Why?:
The point of Vows is to examine the relationship between males and females through stereotypical gender roles. Of course each character isn't a stereotype, but simply has characteristics of a stereotype of its sex. During the 1930s, especially among the upper classes, the role of women in society were changing drastically. Some of these issues are still relevant today as well.
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