We actually worked on scene 15 in the duration of multiple days, but since it is a such a big and important scene, I wanted to dedicate a blog for it entirely.
I really wish we would have realised to film our discussion about this scene, but it sort of came about out of nowhere, without planning. We all just had ideas and the discussion came about naturally, but I will try my best to recreated it in text. The discussion surrounded a lot about what we want the audience to leave show thinking? What kind of mood and state of mind do we want them to be when watching this scene? What do we want to tell them? These are questions that we have had to think about each scene, but especially with this one, since it is the final blow before they leave the theatre to continue their journey where ever they are heading to. And that is exactly we wanted it to, a blow, a powerful end to our work. We talked a lot about how Hitler was corrupt, but more importantly how the whole world around him was corrupt and broken, and this is still a reality to some countries today. Leaders such as Putin, Kim Jong Un, Mugabe and Qaddafi are the Hitler's of today, whether or not their intentions are the same, but their reign and power has showed the similarities to Hitler.
A lot of the conversation was also not only about Hitler, but also the role of the Chicagoan's and Ciceronians and how we wanted to represent them. In the scene, they talk about how they have had to accommodate into Ui's demands, even though they did not necessarily want to. They are desperate for someone to stand up against Ui, but none of them want to do it, simply because it would endanger them. We discussed how, if all of them in the first place wouldn't have accommodated and risen against Ui, none of this would have happened, as it did with Hitler, who used the depression as a rising ground for him. We want people to leave the theatre, wanting to make change, but to do this we have to portray the citizens of Chicago and Cicero in a right way. So question was, do we want them to seem like the victims, with no choice but to bow down to Ui, or as ignorant and gullible people who are too lazy to do anything themselves and are waiting for that 'someone else' to save the day? Since this is a Brechtian play, we cannot really go with something that is in between these two views, as it wouldn't show a clear statement to the audience, and I wanted to go with the second option. This could have been even insulting to some, to say that it is ignorant for us people not do anything to make this better, but it would also provoke people to think and discuss between each other. This could also highlight the message that it wasn't only 'the evil in Hitler' that killed million, but also the society, culture and people of Germany that supported the Nazi party, but also the governments and leaders before that, giving Hitler and the Nazi the chance to grow. For me, it was hard to think otherwise than 'How is there NOT something wrong with the current human race when we need blame one ethnic group of people for our own misfortune?'. I wanted to show that to the audience that is a change is US that needs to be done, not just the governments and big political moguls. But there was also a discussion about how fear changes people and our priorities change when we fear for our lives. Greta pointed out, that even thought these people wanted change, they were more worried about the people close to them and what would happen to them. In the scene, a lot of the citizens are vegetable dealers, and so probably the providers for their family. If they would stand up to Ui and die because of it, it wouldn't only mean their life has ended, but possibly change the lives of their spouses, children and other relatives and friends. We want to show this fear in the citizens when Ui comes in, as they barely have the courage to even look at him. We can show this very well with Lecoq's different states of tension. In this discussion I was very adamant with my idea and my view of the scene, which made me feel very negatively about how others saw the scene, I feel that in the future I need to remind myself, that my view isn't always the best one and that I need to leave space for others to express themselves and their ideas as well. This way it will also ease my mind, since I do not always have to feel like I am in control and taking care of things, but rather encourage others to take on some responsibilities.
Our POLITICAL OPINION of this scene is to show Ui's way of manipulating people with not only fear, but also corrupt charm. We want to show the audience that the vegetable dealers could have made a difference in the beginning, but didn't because of the fear. We want the audience to know our point and the fact that we are still very much complacent!
The epilogue is a small section that follows the last scene, and we didn't want this section to be too over powering over the last scene, but rather reinforce the message we want to give. Pretty much immediately we knew we wanted Sophie to say the last lines, since she delivers the first ones as the MP. This is a great way to bring the beginning and the end together. There is going to be a difference in the way she will be presenting the lines, in the prologue she has a very MP style, over the top and cheerful inspired by show girls from cabarets, but the epilogue should be a lot more turned down, so that the words themselves get their impact across.
THUS LEARN YOU HOW TO SEE, AND NOT JUST LOOK,
AND ACT INSTEAD OF TALKING ALL DAY LONG;
THE WORLD WAS ALMOST RULED BY SUCH A CROOK!
THOUGH PEOPLE OVERCAME HIM, YOU'D BE WRONG
TO PAT YOUR BACKS AND THINK YOURSELVES SO CLEVER-
THE OOZE THAT SPAWNED HIM IS AS RICH AS EVER!
This short poem is very much about people going out and making an active change, rather than just sitting in front of their televisions and watching what is happening in the world. When talking about Hitler and WWII, history books often emphasize how there has been a change and things a re better now, but is it really? There are still nations and people suffering, there are still corrupt politicians and leaders that put glory before their people. It is not time for us to tell what good job we have done yet, since there is so much more we can still do to make this world better. I feel that this poem is also saying that the solution isn't simply erasing the problem, but also fixing the source of the problem.
We talked about where Sophie should be when presenting the epilogue there were idea about having her either on the stage or perhaps in the audience. We have one of the VIP tables reserved for us and lit, which I thought could be a nice and interesting ending for the show, with having a spot light on the table and her talking in a calm, all knowing way. The problem with this is, that all of the audience might not see her well, which would make being on the stage a better idea. But since we will be having the montage right after this epilogue, it could be a smoother ending if Sophie would in the table, point to the screen after her speech, light go down and the montage starts. This way, Sophie wouldn't have to move off the stage, away from the screen. We will definitely have to try this out more at Pelham and see which one makes the biggest impact.
A obstacle for us was our small numbers of people. The scene begins with the vegetable dealers rallying and talking about how things have changed for worse since Ui got the power over Chicago. Then, as the Ciceronians enter the stage we wanted to show the split between these two groups of people, but also towns. This showed to be difficult, since there isn't really that many of us on the stage. So, we came up with an idea to use the audience to support us, especially the Ciceronians, by having the actors talk to the audience before entering, telling them to agree with them. Sophie also came up with that we could have signs projected, telling the audience what to say. Not only would this create an illusion of an bigger group of people, but also show how big groups of people will follow instructions like sheep. Also, right at the beginning when the Chicagoans are rallying, we thought to play a game of socking, where the person who is saying their line will go in front of the group, whilst the other will be trying to be seen and heard behind them. This will create the image that there isn't a lot of space between a big crowd of people. I will also be making a cardboard cut out of a crowd of people to show as shadows for a part of the scene, before the Ciceronians enter, since we talked this could help us as well. The only problem is that we will also be having the projection of instructions for the audience, so having two different things happening on the screen during the scene might seem overpowering or messy.
The Chicagoans and Ciceronian will be arguing with each other, first from each side of the stage, but them coming in together, almost fighting physically, until Givola, Giri and Ui come in. At this point, we want the group pf people to separate on each side of the floor/islands, to make way for Ui. We wanted to make this scene quite stylized, so we will be having Giri and Givola slide away from Ui's way, in a showgirl style, tying us back to the beginning and prologues showgirls.
We have known from the beginning, that for the last scene we wanted all of the Ui's to come together and make up something very stylized with all of the Ui's. I will start as Ui, since I have been him in the last two scenes and start his big chunk of text as well. But then as I take my place at the end of the thrust, Max will take over, then Yunusa and then Liam, us creating a diamond shape on the stage. After this we will all walk into the centre to create a bigger Ui, 'the monster'. I came up with us creating this being by keeping the diamond shape, but being very close together and be being on my knees to create levels. This is a part we will really need to rehearse well, since we planned out that all of our movements will be in unison. In our speech the lines will be split again, but we will also have lines and words said in unison to create a contrast to words like "peace" to make it seem more demonic and showing his true colours. The line "Today, we are one" will be said by everyone and the chorus will go down on their knees, representing all the dictators that are still existing today, but also when having the people of Chicago and Cicero go down really show the oppression they facing because of Ui. As the speech comes into talking about the different cities, each people will say one or two cities while coming up as showgirls and Ui thriving in his power. At this part, Siou pointed out to us that we need to say each city in their own way, to show their individual sparks, but also make the section a bit more interesting and not so predictable. At the end everyone will rise their hands up in a smooth manner to the Heil, and lights will go down.
I think this ending leaves a lot of room for acting and the emotions the different people are going through, but also to the message we are trying to say. A large and elaborate choreography might have distracted the audience, but with this kind of end we were still able to bring on elements from the prologue and our inspiration of showgirls into it, but in a more throughout and simple manner. It'll be a lot of work for me and the other Ui's to get our speech just right and we need to run trough the different gests over and over again, so that we are doing it all at the same time. To improve my own performance I want to work on Chekov's idea of rediating to pulse this evil energy to the audience, even if I am only on my knees at the end.
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