Playhouse Creatures 6

We worked through our first scene bit by bit, perfecting and fine tuning it. We decided that when the actresses are teasing Otway in the tit-after-tit bit that we were too cramped. We decided to place Doll (Chloe) further away from Otway (Yunusa), facing the audience and laughing, sharing the joke with the audience. Mrs Marshal (Sophia) would be reciting from Otway's script, again facing away from Otway and sharing with the audience. Heta and I decided that we would have fun with the bit, we tried circling Otway thinking it would bring more tempo and movement to the joke, and avoid "clumping", however it felt a bit jarred and awkward. Instead we simply went full on with the joking, making it very sexual and embarrassing for Otway. Then, as we were running through it, I blew on the back of Yunusa's neck as part of the scene, sort of joking around and trying to distract him, then Yunusa looked round and Heta tapped him on the shoulder. This developed into a really funny bit between us, teasing and joking with Yunusa, it became incredibly funny.

Next, we worked on the abortion scene and made some big decisions. With Yunusa out of that part of the scene, he stood and observed and gave some input. He said that the pace of the scene just dropped and became slightly stagnant which meant that we lost half of the drama there, so we found the point where Mrs Marshall says "Sit down. Doll, get a cloth" and decided that that would be a good point to pick up the pace. So that's when the tension gets hiked up and it made the scene so much more interesting. Next, we focused on the actual abortion moment, which Sophia and I felt was too short. I wanted to lengthen it out a bit and really enjoy and make the most of the moment and the drama. We made it at least 15-20 seconds long and Yunusa mentioned that due to the positioning of it, the only faces you can see are Sophia, Greta and Chloe's. Their reaction is what you take from the moment, and Yunusa felt like he wasn't seeing that. So, we sat down and had a conversation about how our characters would feel, we felt that these actresses spent and had spent the almost all of their time with each other for the last few years. It would be like a sisterhood, they would feel the pain and fear that Mrs Farley would be feeling. They would also be knowing that if she kept the baby, their company would surely be shut down. If she kept it and left, they'd lose a sister and she would probably die. If she succeeded she may be able to get away with it, however she may die anyway. Whilst they would desperately want Mrs Marshal to stop the "procedure" she desperately would, however they would also be dreading what they may see if she continued. It's a horrible moment and once we'd properly worked it out, our scene completely transformed.

Notes

We performed our scene to Jerry Lee and she gave us some very helpful notes:

• Good emotional work, really got into it, good portrayal of the drama
• Heta's olive branch, buying the petticoat, is an act of kindness. Mrs Farley has had a very tragic life, no one has been that kind to her without expecting something back (men are nice to her when she gives them sex, as such this is the only way she knows)
• the live a lie/tell him moment made a brilliant connection, the scene needs more moments like this. Build up real lives and real people
• Try getting more into characters, realistic dynamics and connections will follow