GCSE Drama, Paper 1, Unit 2, Task 2,.
For this part of the Development Phase, we have chosen to focus the workshop in which we were devising a particular play. This play is mentioned in the Response phase. It is a piece where the idea was taken from Chinese Cinderella. We used the mediums and elements of Drama to explore and develop the play. This devised piece is an explorative strategy to understand the differences between men and women. We chose this play to be narrative because it helps the audience understand the plot of the play. It also gives the play more impact if a dark, mysterious character comes on stage. He acts as a symbol for sadness and despair. .
We had a warm up where we learned the effectiveness towards the audience. Because of this, we decided to use singing in the first scene. We had the girl sing with some music. The music was very soft in order to suggest the feel of the play. This creates a very big impact as the audience is engaged and drawn forth by curiosity. This starts to make them understand on how the play is to be. It creates an even bigger impact if the use of space is applied correctly. We had the girl that was singing walk on slowly from the back to the front of the stage. This creates a sense of despair for the audience. We tried to make her sing over a track of a CD but it did not work very well. We found that it sounded much more effective if the girls had sang alone or with a live instrument playing. This would have created a bigger impact. .
For the second warm up', we practised the ways in which we could make our exits and entries effective. This is crucial for a good piece of work. For example, if a good piece is performed but the audience has to wait 5 minutes in between each scene, then the impact that you had the audience is lost. Effective exits, entries and transitions must be used at the beginning and end of the play as well as in between each scene.
