Bird song

Question 1

Where did we see birdsong

Answer 1

The everyman theatre, cheltenham on 19th february 2018

Question 2

Brief over view of act 1 scene `1

Answer 2

Opens with rumblings of thunder, the sound of heavy rain music.
Shaw, Evans and Turner appear, laughing, smoking, chatting, Jack emerges from tunnel- exhausted.
One of the sappers begins to play a jig

Question 3

In act 1 scene 1 what song does jack sing

Answer 3

Joins his friends and sings a traditional song; folk tunes and instruments (violin) are used throughout play to create atmosphere and communicate that soliders were missing home. Scene 1 ends with shell landing nearby sound effect- communicates to audience how close to death and danger the characters are.

Question 4

Overview of act 1 scene 2 - jack sat down- paper

Answer 4

Jack- exhausted, sits and takes out paper and pencil- speaks aloud, the letter that he is writing to his wife at home =audience brought into a personal experience.

Question 5

When are we first introduced to character of Stephen

Answer 5

Act 1 scene 2 as he comes across jack who has fallen asleep whilst on watch

Question 6

What type of set is used in act 1 scene 2

Answer 6

Composite set- there are no major set changes. The main set remains exactly the same, with only the use of clever lighting and small pieces of set/props to change location. Lighting is also used to guide audience focus to particular areas of stage.

Question 7

Giver overview of act 1 scene 3- tunnel first introduced

Answer 7

Tunnel created through lighting and use of actors movement. Jack, tipper, turner, shaw, stephen and evans crawl along holding lanterns to indicate tunnel as rest of stage is plunged into darkness. The stage directions then indicate ‘they come to the listening post where there is more room. stand and brush themselves down’

Question 8

In act 1 scene 3 how is the tunnel indicated

Answer 8

a wooden frame
use of lighting and positioning of actors one behind other in a line which gives impression of characters making their way through narrow dark tunnel. A ‘special’ lantern in the wings is used to indicate light from german tunnel

Question 9

How else is lighting used in act 1 scene 3

Answer 9

the cyclorama forms the back of the set and is lit with strong colours throughout production, to communicate time of day mood and atmosphere.

Question 10

How does the character of Tipper act in act 1 scene 3

Answer 10

Afraid and claustrophobic in the tunnel, knowing that the germans are near by. In act 1 scene 3 his fears come true, just as the character of stephen is holding a gun to tippers head to try and stop him form crying. The stage directions state ‘an explosion. the men are thrown to the ground’

Question 11

How does act 1 scene 3 end dramatically

Answer 11

Tipper takes out grenade. Germans appear. A german fires his fun, evans is hit. Stephan takes out one german and as he fire is hit. Tipper fumbles with grenade. Throws the grenade and germans fall to ground. Jack crawls in quickly Jack- ‘are there any more?’, Tipper- ‘I dont know. I dont know! I killed them. I killed them! Jack- “All right. calm down son. ere take this” Jack gives tipper a german pistol.
At the end of scene 3, stephen is unconscious and is taken to a ‘clearing station’ where the dead and wounded are dealt with.

Question 12

Overview of act 1 scene 4 and 5 - starts with Clearing station

Answer 12

Set- clearing station ( thought to be dead after explosion, he moves and jack gets help)
W move from present to Stephen remembering back when he was with Isabelle.
Silence, sound of nightingale singing. Stephen allows himself to remember. Scene 5, begins immediately with a lighting change and is set in the past when stephen first meets Isabelle.

Question 13

How are scene changes done throughout play

Answer 13

Only done through the change of lighting and minor props on and off, such as boxes, tables and chairs

Question 14

give brief overview of set in act 1 scene 5

Answer 14

A warm summer’s evening, Amiens, 1910. The azaires garden. Wicker chairs, roses

Question 15

Why in act 1 scene 5 does the time and location change multiple times

Answer 15

Stephen drifts between past and present. Jack enters to ask about leave so he can see sick son and captain grey enters to try and persuade stephen to return to england to recover…. Stephen wants to return to amiens to find Isabelle. Throughout act 1 scene 5 we go from present to past and sound is used to communicate Stephen and Isabelle falling in love.

Question 16

Give a quotation example of Stephen falling back into past with thoughts of Isabelle

Answer 16

‘And stephen slips towards another memory. The sound of shelling turns into the sound of the factory. The lights grown warmer and sounds even louder until stephen can bear it no longer”
“Stephen breaks away from the memory of the factory, puts his notebook away. The sound of birdsong, the river flowing by

Question 17

What happens just before act 1 scene 5 finishes

Answer 17

There is one more flashback to Stephens time at isabelles home, before the scene ends with a conversation in the present between stephen and gray

Question 18

What song plays during flashback of Isabelle walking by with her basket, wearing a headscarf in ACT 1 SCENE 5

Answer 18

Mendelssohn ‘Lied ohne worte opus 19, no.6’

Question 19

Overview of act 1 scene 6

Answer 19

Stephen still floats between past and present- he and Isabelle have fallen in love and we see the affair begin in the ‘red room’. The lighting of the cyclorama is a warm orange and violin playing to set mood and atmosphere

Question 20

what is act 1 scene 7

Answer 20

extremely long, which changes time and place seamlessly throughout, from trenches to Azaires house and back again

Question 21

List key aspects to act 1 scene 7

Answer 21

Includes scene with ‘the prostitute’ multi-rolled by Lisette Isabelles step daughter, in this scene was very weak! Not a believable role switch.
Lisette confesses to Stephen in this scene that she has a crush on him but also later finds out the affair between stephen and isabelle
Moving between azaires house and trenches, the scene ends with soliders going ‘over the top’

Question 22

In act 1 scene 7 just before battle give some quotation and stage direction examples

Answer 22

Stephen- ‘One more minute’, silence, ‘wait for the whistle’ the sound of mines exploding. Smoke and dust fly up. silence. Looks at his watch ‘not yet… twenty seconds’.

Question 23

What quotation shows the sense of team work and friendship in battle act 1 scene 7

Answer 23

Gray; ‘Goodluck, boys. I’ll see you on the other side’.

Question 24

Quote stage directions for tippers suicide

Answer 24

Tipper takes out his german pistol. He raises it to his temple. He shoots himself. No one dares react.
Stephen- (Voice cracking) ‘Ten seconds’

Question 25

Explain sound effects and actions right at the end of act 1 scene 7
STAGE DIRECTIONS

Answer 25

The sound of skylarks. Then Stephen blows his whistle. The men climb the ladders. Deafening machine gunfire, louder and louder.

Question 26

describe lighting and action in act 1 scene 7 battle

Answer 26

Strong lighting on cyclorama, creating strong silhouettes of the characters as they go ‘over the top’
Slow-motion was used in a very controlled way by the actors, to create tension and a sense of a dis-jointed reality.

Question 27

Describe what happens in act 2 scene 1 - overview

Answer 27

Nearing end of 1917. Amiens. A smokey bar, full of British soliders. Jack sings still trying. Just.
Time has moved on again at the beginning of act 2 and stephen has come looking for the Azaire family. Stephen runs into Isabelle’s sister, Jeanne

Question 28

describe what happens in act 2 scene 2- overview- Jack and Shaw

Answer 28

Jack and Shaw are curled up together.
This is the scene in which Shaw has some kind of premonition- he begs jack to draw him, shortly before he goes into the tunnel and is killed afterwards by an explosion

Question 29

Explain what happens in act 2 scene 3- Stephen and Isabelle reunite

Answer 29

Stephen meets up once again with isabelle. Stephen finds out that isabelle has become involved with a german officer called max who helped the family.
As common to the structure and form of the play, this scene changes seamlessly to another of Jack, Evans and the chaplain and arthurs body.

Question 30

Describe the lighting in act 2 scene 3

Answer 30

Cyclorama is lit with a sunset purple and pink, it helps communicate atmosphere and create silhouettes of the barbed-wire and wood from the trenches

Question 31

What happens in act 2 scene 5 - ending

Answer 31

In this scene, ghosts from stephens past appear and sing together.
stage directions- lights change. ghosts disappear. the sound of a river;birdsong the laughter of children

Question 32

Give lines from act 2 scene 5

Answer 32

Jeanne- Can you hear the birds?

Stephen- My men talk about skylarks. How even when we blow eachother to pieces, the birds keep on singing.

Question 33

Describe the very simple set pieces and give examples - whole play

Answer 33

Very simple set pieces such as Stephens bed, which change location easily, relying on the audience to ‘suspend their disbelief’.
Old battered wood is used to give the whole set a feeling of the decay of war and life in the trenches