Unit 9 - Our Day Out

Unit 9

What is a Radio Play

A radio play is dramitised performance on acoustic that can not be visualised. This means excluding stage directions and facial expressions, the play relies on your voice change of vocal range. Music is also used to enhance the atmosphere for the radio, and can be played with sound effects enlightening the listener’s experience with the story and actor’s.

The radio play “I am Kanye West” sees a man named Toby who is from Newport believing he is Kanye West. The audio drama uses D.J remixes of songs and dialogue throughout the track. In the beginning of the play we hear a woman giving birth to a boy which the listener assumes it’s the Kanye West. Next we see Toby with the psychiatrist and he is shocked to know why he’s there. To the listener this would be amusing to hear he believes he lives the life of Kanye. The psychiatrist asks him some personal questions and he answers them as if he was the person. There are many sound effects that enhance the room in the audio: the office - where we can hear typing and the elevator which is being fixed. What I liked about the editing is they use the elevator noises to bleep out the swear words Toby would say.

Next they also do transitions with audio clips of dialogue in a high pitch tone or an instrumental to cut to the next scene. The life lessons this audio drama teaches you is about accepting your identity and also letting things/people go. I really liked how comedic the beginning when the doctor wasn’t accepting that Toby isn’t Kanye West to him letting his mother go. What I really liked about this scene was that Dr.Newman knew that Toby was hallucinating and pretended to be the mother to help him have reconciliation by telling him to “push me away". 
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0009kyq

Plot

The playwright for “Our Day Out” is named Willy Russell. This play takes place in the 1970’s and is about a school trip to Conwy Castle in North Wales. The students on the trip are a mixture of teens from 12 - 15 of Mrs.Kay’s Progress class and a select few of Mr.Briggs' class. The older kids are Reilly, Digga, Linda and Karen. The coach takes a few stops along the way first to the shop where the children are taking sweets. Next they stop at the zoo where the children are spread out looking at different animals, and Mr. Briggs and Mrs. Kay are drinking in the cafe. After the visit to the zoo, the zoo keeper yells at the teachers for not keeping a good eye on them, because half the kids stole most of the animals. He immediately stops the coach before they leave and makes them return the animals. The driver of the coach takes them to their original destination to Conwy Castle where each group of kids explore unsupervised. Later they head to the beach, and we see one of the students, Reily, making fun of a young teacher named Colin saying he can get with Susan, another young teacher. Unfortunately his teasing comes back to bite him in the back when Susan teases Reily with the words “I’m here big boy” making him uncomfortable. Susan shows him that he’s all talk and to stay in his league. Soon after one of the students Carol goes missing, and all the teachers spread out searching for her leaving Susan to look after the others. Mr. Briggs finds Carol on top of a cliff. She doesn’t want to leave, because she is depressed to go back to her home where she has an uneasy lifestyle and threatens to jump if Mr.Briggs gets closer to her. Carol wants to stay in Conwy where it’s nice and peaceful. Mr. Briggs promises to change his ways and be less serious if she gets down from the cliff. They both return side by side and with Mrs.Kay changing expressions from worried to relieved decides to end the trip. The kids are upset and unhappy (just like Carol was before she vanished) wishing they had more time. Unlike Mr.Briggs, he decides for all of them to go to the fair which makes the kids very pleased. In the final scene in the play Reilly is with Linda and Digga is with Karen. Mrs.Kay comments on how easy-going Mr.Briggs was with the kids and with evidence to prove it. He asks Mrs.Kay to give him the roll of film so he can develop it in a lab and slowly waits for her, Colin and Susan to leave as he destroys the undeveloped film never to be seen by anyone again.        

Themes

• Lack of Education
• High unemployment
• Drug use
• Poverty
• Humour
• Hierarchy between the teachers

The theme of this play is about lack of education as it tells us about the hard life that the kids have. The progress class is implied to be a separate class that is miles behind normal classes, because it is mixed between ages 12 - 15 as seen in the play. Within the Progress class, kids have trouble reading and writing, and it’s only when you achieve these targets you can ascend to regular classes and learn the subjects being taught. Unfortunately, these kids are seen in society as rejects, and not given the opportunity as normal kids are in society today, as a result affecting what they will become in the future. Moreover, casted out, never given the time to shine or role models to acknowledge them. As this takes place in the 1970s, the government places these kids in state schools and not caring what grades they will get. In addition, leading them to work in factories.The lack of education affecting young children like Liverpool in inner cities disrupts them ever having a suitable education.

Many children get exposed to addictive substances such as drugs. Andrews is a character who is addicted to smoking and is seen asking the older kids for a cigarette. As an audience we would know that one of his parents or both smoke cigarettes, and they don’t care that it is affecting their child. As an audience we are shocked to find a student could be addicted to smoking so much and is confronted by Mr.Briggs that lectures him on why smoking is bad for you. Although These scenes are played comedically to downplay the sensitivity of the topic, Russell also portrays a scenario of how drugs can impact a child at a young age.

 

When Carol is on the cliff and decides that she doesn’t want to leave home she thinks about having a peaceful life in Conwy makes the viewer feel bad that she doesn’t want to return to her old lifestyle where she is socially deprived and doesn’t have everyday appliances that a stable home has.This is seen in stage directions of the script where her school uniform is addressed as her “street outfit” and “Sunday best” meaning her family can’t afford to buy her proper clothes. This is establishing that her planning on living here was a cry for attention as this is telling the audience that she doesn’t receive any at home, because they are busy working and providing for the family. This can also be perceived as trying to start fresh with a welcome environment compared to her neighbourhood. The conversation would’ve played more smoother if Mrs.Kay was the one that found her, and it wouldn’t lead Carol to threaten to jump. Willy Russell purposely had the character of Briggs tend to Carol so that he could have a change of heart, learn to smile and have fun in the end.

Character

My character is Mr. Briggs and he is a strict teacher that accompanies Mrs.Kay, Colin and Susan for the trip. He believes the trip is a waste and it wouldn’t do the students any good. On the other hand, he didn’t go because the other teachers wanted him to, the real reason is the headmaster instructed that they need an assertive member of staff to keep a close eye out. Mr. Briggs is a traditional teacher who wouldn’t be carefree with the students, unlike Mars Kay. He has a short temper and believes his trust and respect should be earned. This puts him at a disadvantage, because he doesn’t want let loose showing his emotions. Furthermore, this would lead to him stressed out by the kids and not learning to take it easy. A drastic change goes to Mr.Briggs when he decides to take them to the fairground. This is all thanks to the conversation he has with Carol on the cliff which sparks a sign of character development for him. After the trip when everyone is parting ways its soon revealed that he goes back to his old ways when he destroys the piece of film that is evident of him being happy. 

Within the play there seems to be a hierarchy between the teachers, because Mr. Briggs appears he is above Mrs.Kay when he questions her way of teaching. Mrs Kay is laid back with the kids. As a result, they both always argue over their points and beliefs to handle the kids. Mrs Kay in the play is much older than Briggs, in her forties, but still takes it easy on them. Personally, I believe that Mrs. Kay has already been in the same shoes as Briggs and noticed that shouting at the kids won’t do them any justice so she decides to take a different approach. This is the reason why she acts so calmly.

Costume

• Grey blazer
• Grey/Navy Blue waistcoat
• Grey Trousers
• Pointed Black shoes
• White Shirt
• Blue Plaid Tie

The costume I would've had for Mr. Briggs would be old-fashioned. I see him wear a plain grey blazer and a waistcoat that matches his gloomy personality. I believe this look would suit his character better as he portrays a responsible role model to the kids. Moreover, wearing basic colours as his work clothes indicates his role for him to not stand out. Throughout the play it is shown that he would rarely volunteer for school activities or get involved with the other kids in the progress class, so it comes as a surprise when he joins the trip. As a result this contrasts his behaviour towards the teachers not respecting their values. On stage I would use this outfit as a way to not draw attention to myself, therefore this will give the impression to the audience that he just wants the day to be over and done with. 

Evaluation/Rehearsal

We have been assigned to read a play of “Our Day Out” by Willy Russel. My first initial thought about the play was that of a group of kids going on a school trip, but there was a bigger picture to it as these were unfortunate kids that didn’t have a better education. I was pleased to get Mr.Briggs, because I loved his character development throughout the play. The pandemic allowed us to work from home instead of in a close space towards each other, and we had to take some alternatives to bring the play to justice - by turning it into a Radio Play. During Lockdown we performed the play on a video conference on the app Zoom It was very hard performing the play, because there would be a lag sometimes in our meetings, and sometimes people didn’t know they’re cues which bugged me, because I knew when I came on. We changed the dialogue to fit our accents better so we wouldn’t speak in a Liverpool accent to London (Home).

 A few words we decided to change was:

Conwy - Hasting

Wales - Sussex

Birkenhead - Hackney  

We cut out some scenes in the play as we knew we couldn’t cover all of them and edited the ending scene to make it more shorter.

Normally I would perform next to a white wall, on the other hand the day we decided to record I had to go to my Auntie’s memorial service, who I was close to. In the beginning of the conference I should’ve informed my tutors prior, but thinking that the conference would end sooner was my mistake. As this would be the first time someone close to me passed away I thought I could multitask. Luckily the memorial service didn’t start and I managed to be there on time. It was also the reason for me wearing black. In the video meeting I was outside, trying not to pay attention to the background noise listening and saying all my lines articulately with a lot of energy and enthusiasm I had. Overall I thought the video call went excellent given the location and timing I placed myself in. What I will do next time is try to advise them beforehand on how long I would be able to do the conference. Maybe all the scenes I was in could've been done earlier ? 

The message the play conveys is to appreciate what you have, because others would be happy to experience all these materialistic items people take for granted. For example clothing, food, video games, roof over your head, packed lunch, Bag to place all your books in etc.

What you have learnt in terms of acting skills this year and how they have helped during this process. Maybe you have brought these to this project?

From the beginning of this year my acting has improved by allowing me to be more confident around others, and by participating in more activities that will help me with nerves when performing in front of an audience. For example “hot seating”, “This is not a spoon” and improv games to help with imagination. During the year I felt more able to give off ideas to people and contribute more in lessons. I have made a large group of friends since the start of the year and we always help each other out when we’re stuck on something we don’t know or to encourage one another before a performance. I used subtext for my final performance as my character comes off as sarcastic towards Mrs.Kay and thought it would be an exception to use it. Subtext is a very important skill and has helped me throughout the year. Tongue Twisters  has also helped me improve my articulation, and I now find it much easier to say longer sentences without mumbling. As well as breathing techniques which has helped me also to speak louder to a wider audience.    

Unit 8 - Monologue

 Unit 7

The Flick

Monologue

Context

The play my monologue is from is called “The Flick” by Annie baker and is set in a cinema. The genre is a comedy delivered in small pieces of dialogue that may be considered insignificant. This is a contemporary play about three underpaid movie ushers, Avery, Sam and Rose. A theatre director named Sam Gold said the comedic writing was carefully thought out, and planned out beforehand. “Surprisingly understated”. He also added that “rhythm, meter, and pace of the dialogue was cardinal to the comedy”. People have complained about the show's length being too long as the run time is three hours long. The director Tim Sanford has received numerous emails and letters regarding this, therefore thought it would be best to cut some scenes. Although people let out their frustration, many critics, reviewers and countless other fans have praised the pacing of the play that Sanford concluded that there was no need to summarise conversations or edit it down.

Critics rated “The Flick” of B+ based on 22 reviews thanks to the unique personalities of the characters described as “Rich” and dialogue “nuanced and entertaining”. Moreover, there is a lack of traditional theatricality and is seen as more of a disadvantage, however for others it helps the popularity of it. As a result, it attracts younger audiences.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flick

Annie Baker

Annie Baker is an American playwright and teacher. In 2014 she won the Pulitzer Prize for her play “The Flick”. She has also written other plays such as The Shirley, Vermont plays. Baker was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her family, but shortly after moved to Amherst. Her father administered for the five colleges consortium, and Linda Baker,  Annie’s mother, studied in psychology. Baker graduated at New York University’s Tisch School of the arts where she studied Dramatic Writing, and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting from Brooklyn College in 2009. Annie Baker teaches playwriting at Barnard College in New York, and in the MFA in Playwriting Programme of Hunter College. The Flick premiered in March 2013 and received the obie award for playwriting.    

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Baker

Themes  

Comedy

 Comedy plays a big role in The Flick as its genre plays a massive part with the audience. Furthermore, this is best played to lighten the mood of a complex scenario as the context of it is humorous.

 Comedy is used in T.V, Film, Stand up as a medium to entertain ourselves. The method of delivery is crucial in jokes as they set the atmosphere around the room, and the execution of these jokes can have people laugh and remember them that holds an impact on the scene.

       

Depression

Depression is when you think low about yourself. Low self esteem happens when you believe you can’t accomplish anything. Consequently, this would require demonstrating lack of self confidence. People with depression lose interest being around the people they love or doing the things they enjoy, for example going out with friends, playing sport or playing instruments. Depression is an illness caused by changes in our brain chemistry. This affects our behaviour and leaves us emotionally depressed to do the most simplest things.People with this disorder will feel really down and will not feel motivated to do anything. Furthermore this would make it hard to concentrate and have a desire for food, Sometimes no appetite at all. They will feel hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. The symptoms often trigger a certain topic or an event in someone’s life: Loss of a loved one and physical diseases are an example that somebody may be coming to terms with leaving emotional scarring. 

• Feeling Empty inside
• Feeling useless or unable to cope with life
• Feeling bored all the time
• Poor memory
• Increased feelings of anxiety
• Low mood in the morning
• Impacting an estimated 300 million people
• Most common mental disorder
• Generally affecting women more than me
• Loss of interest/Pleasure
• General sadness
• Feelings of guilt or low self esteem
• Difficulty falling asleep
• Eating pattern changes
• Arises in life events, medical problems, and medications
• Long lasting/Recurring

Suicide

 

One of the main characters Avery goes through a difficult time in his life where he attempts suicide.
As a result he seeks help from his therapist. 

Suicide is a way for people to escape pain, and not return to their daily life style.
Furthermore people that attempt suicide have had these thoughts in their mind.
Mental illness plays a massive role for people to come to these conclusions.

For example:

• Inability to see a future for yourself
• Thinking life is not worth living
• Thoughts of death
• Wanting to go to sleep and never waking up again
• Talking about being a burden to others
• Feeling hopeless or having no purpose
• Talking about being trapped
• Withdrawing or feeling isolated 

https://save.org/about-suicide/warning-signs-risk-factors-protective-factors/

Character

Avery

My character Avery is an 19 year old African American dropout from college who is working  at a cinema until he returns to his studies. Avery loves movies and in the play he is considered as a movie snob. A year ago he tried to commit suicide, because his parents got a divorce and now lives with his father who is a lecturer. Avery's advantages are his honesty, being organised, and having great time management. He is coping with depression who is seeking therapy from his psychiatrist. Avery's disadvantages are him being highly sensitive, shy and sexually awkward.

Costume

Cinema Uniform

• Waistcoat
• Black Trousers
• Dark Polo shirt
• Black cap

This costume is Avery’s work clothes and I wanted to portray a scenario where he finished work and went straight to the therapist’s office. This can indicate his bad scheduling or his lack of rest from his job. Moreover can also represent not having free time for himself, and this would also be a great way to show Avery’s commitment.

  

 

• Grey Trousers
• Grey Shirt
• Black trainers
• (Tucked in shirt inside trousers)

Here I wanted to show Avery in a different light where he is organised and looking neat, and I wanted to show his casual attire in grey clothing. The reason for the colour direction was to symbolise his emotions as they represent how he feels on the inside with his shyness and depression. Moreover can also be another sign of his character feeling drained out as he reflects to himself that this person is who he is now.

• Movie T-shirt
• Regular trousers

This costume idea was to depict his laid back side and portray his love for movies. Avery wearing a shirt of a movie franchise intrigued me, because he always loved talking about them which can also portray his comfortable side. I also wanted to indicate a much more lazier side to Avery as someone who would come in for an appointment with anything he pleases. 

 

Planning

On the 20th March was our first day of Lockdown. The outbreak of Covid-19 allowed everyone to quarantine at home, and this made us work from home. The week after we had a meeting with our teacher on google meet, and she gave us a task to break down our monologue and memorise it. I broke down my scene into paragraphs. In the start of the play I decide to wave my hands energetically visualising the dream with my eyes wide open. For this reason I am excited to share my dream to the therapist. In the dream Avery talks about how there is a purgatory where people scan their books or movies. When he notices his dad and his bookshelves there I'll sound confused yet intrigued to find out what the ISBN scanner does. Next It’s Avery’s turn to scan, but I’ll portray a hesitant expression. Moreover, While he looks around different movies he’s familiar with, I'll have him stare at what’s around him indicating that he is lost in his own world. During the moment when he speaks about the scanner not beeping I’ll put an anxious expression on my face depicting that he is scared that he may not go to Heaven. Until the scanner scans the last shelf of movies I’ll have him feel disgusted putting his hand over his mouth looking like he is about to throw up when he says “Honeymoon in Vegas” implying his hatred for the movie. Avery tells the therapist why this movie is the worst movie he’s ever seen. I’ll have him sound sarcastic. At the end of the play Avery talks about how he’ll accept his life and be the depressed guy. I’ll give a pessimistic look to the ground lowering down my shoulders to suggest that he feels bitter. I also thought about doing a monologue for my accent as my character was American, but thought it would be easier to go with my own accent. One thing I found that Avery says the word “like” too much and “year” a lot, so I decided to cut some of those words out. As a result this would help me to say his lines articulately.  

Rehearsal

 While practising my lines I found it challenging trying to remember them, because I chose a monologue that was 4 and a half minutes. I was scared that I was going to forget my lines during the online class or on the video meeting call. On the 30th March I received feedback from my teacher Shenagh, and she instructed me on the deliveries I gave my character as I spoke in the same pace throughout the performance. I believed it was because I planned out all the actions I was going to do, therefore unknowingly didn’t think about how my tone of voice would come across. Shenagh also said to use all the dialogue that was in the script as this is how Avery would talk. In addition we went over the first two paragraphs of the play, and she told that as Avery was excited he should speak at a faster rate to demonstrate how fascinated he is in the location of the dream. In the next paragraph she advised me to speak as if I was telling someone an important fact or tutoring somebody in a normal tone but to speed lines where he explains the real reason about scanning the books and movies. Shortly after, our online meeting had to cut short as she needed to see other students, but I took the feedback she gave and decided to write them down on my monologue. Subsequently, this led me to do the same thing for the other paragraphs of my monologue. Within The third paragraph I used the same tone like the second, however I slowly have an anxious and worried tone when the scanner isn’t beeping. In the fourth paragraph I demonstrate a fed up and irritated tone speeding the pace a bit to convey that he’s tired of waiting. Towards the final paragraph I’ll gasp to find that the movie was Honeymoon in Vegas that beeped, and use a few pauses to show that he’s astonished. When Avery talks about things getting better I lower my tone and slow down my words to depict that his words have weight in them as he says it aloud.

Evaluation 

 On the 2nd April was the day of the performance, and I was unsure how it would turn out, because I didn’t know how my acting would look over the phone. I initially thought we had to record ourselves doing the monologue with our phones, whereas our teacher Rob was going to record us on google meet. Before the performance Thoughts rushed through my head as I was hoping I wouldn’t forget my lines, meanwhile I was getting my costume ready and decided to go with Costume 2 - all grey. When The meeting was about to start I had a camera stand beforehand, and was going to use it for my scene. Unfortunately it broke and I ended up improvising by using a book and laying it on a table. I felt the monologue was paced very nicely as I remembered all of my lines. I took all the feedback given to me and portrayed it in my scene using more emotion and enthusiasm expressing Avery’s love for movies. Overall, I was pleased with what I accomplished and surprised myself as I thought this scene would have been too long to do or to be cut short.