live theatre structured writing Flashcards
what will you say in your introduction for ‘girls like that’?
- Girls Like That is written by Evan Placey, and I watched it in the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.
- explores gender equality, and the pressures on today’s digital generation - highlights the teenage struggles of love, peer pressure and insecurities for both males and females.
what is the message of ‘girls like that’?
- the empowerment of women through some of the stories from Scarlett’s past.
- awareness of your actions on other people’s lives, and the importance of sticking together and not turning your back.
emphasised from the beginning that the girls have known each other since they were young children, have an incredibly close relationship with one another. know each other’s secrets. exclusion and bullying of Scarlett seems even more contrasting.
describe the social media scene at the beginning of ‘girls like that’:
SET
- stage blacks out for the social media messages to start scrolling down the stage. very effective. people are in the dark, creating a feeling of anonymity, like they’re blending into the crowd. supports the idea of ‘someone else will do it’ - when people receive the picture but decide not to delete it.
- when they first receive the photo, the stage goes dark again, and the messages are once again displayed, this time roaming over the actors, as they’re on stage. shows the inescapable, suffocating nature of social media, and how quickly teenagers can be drawn into it.
describe the transition between being 5 years old and being in secondary school in ‘girls like that’:
SET
- lighting switches from warm, soft to harsh and white.
- girls go from simple, sitting on the floor in a circle, holding hands, to sitting at separate tables. division represents divide driven between girls as social media and other factors (such as boys) are presented as children grow older.
CHAIROGRAPHY
describe the unity and bond between the st helen’s girls in ‘girls like that’, and how sometimes that can be negative:
PERFORMANCE
- at the beginning, they’re hardly together, showing there wasn’t really a sense of unity, therefore their mothers saying they’re ‘best friends for life’ is ironic. they then come together to sit in a circle, showing the strong bond of the St Helen’s girls, and making the sudden exclusion of Scarlett all the more impactful. could show that girls and boys develop their opinion on what a person should be like from a young age (tight, exclusive friendship) - it’s inbuilt in them to exclude and bully those who they think is ‘weird’. also maybe dangerous, as having such a tight friendship group creates a toxic, inescapable environment.
- they were actually not so close, and quite aggressive with each other, due to the hierarchy - tension.
describe how the girls in ‘girls like that’ stand as a united front:
PERFORMANCE
all cast members shout obscenities at audience and at each other, at high volume and low pitch. strong eye-contact with audience, assertive, aggressive body language.
- stood with feet planted firmly to the ground, fists scrunched. solid, secure relationship, united front, completely understand each other.
- bullies constantly unite to exclude, torment, and intimidate their victim.
- on-edge, tensee atmosphere created for rest of play. audience feel targeted and attacked by actors, can empathise with scarlett.
- when ‘prank-calling’ scarlett, they are huddled together, showing their strong bond that has lasted until secondary school. however, now it’s toxic, and it’s due to bullying someone else. because of something in society that has altered their sense of right and wrong? maybe it’s not inbuilt?
describe the social media scene in ‘girls like that’:
- echo of ‘forward, tweet, post, send’ - simple yet effective way of imitating social media and how quickly the picture spread.
- the girls also call Scarlett’s name, gradually getting louder and louder - it got to a point where they were screaming, and the audience empathises with Scarlett, as they can imagine how she must be feeling. emphasises the importance of sticking with your friends through thick and thin, especially in this patriarchal society.
describe April Hughes as one of the St Helen’s Girls in ‘girls like that’:
- one of her characters is ringleader of the group. (also scarlett’s ancestors, and scarlett herself). strong, confident posture, constantly looking up and dominating the space. almost looks down on other characters. power imbalance.
- walks slowly and confidently around the stage, not afraid to confront other characters.
describe April Hughes as one of Scarlett’s ancestors in ‘girls like that’:
- in one of the flashbacks, she plays a giddy, excited young girl who’s been invited to a pool party for the first time. constantly looking around, wide, child-like eyes - shows inexperience and excitement. perhaps shows that the pressure to conform, to fit in with peers has been around for a long time. inbuilt in us.
- contrasts massively to her modern-day character, who is cool, calm and collected. perhaps shows the pressure from society on modern day teenagers to grow up faster than they’re supposed to, to mature faster, and act more nonchalant.
describe April Hughes as Scarlett’s female pilot ancestor in ‘girls like that’:
- confident, assertive posture. swaggers around stage, knows her worth, doesn’t allow herself to be put off by her male counterpart. chin up, makes direct eye contact with the audience, they feel immersed in her anecdote.
- projection, high volume. self-assured. more male than female characteristics, unusual for the time (1945). sitting with one leg slung over the other, very masculine pose - contrasts to giddy, excited school girls at St Helen’s.
- shows women’s power, how they can be independent and intelligent without the validation of males (because we all know that is the reason why Scarlett sent the pic).
describe April Hughes when playing Scarlett in ‘girls like that’:
- performs monologue as her. throughout, hasn’t had a face put to her name, only portrayed as empty space/chair, odd, as the entire play revolves around her.
- raise awareness of victims of online abuse, as most of the time, they don’t get the opportunity to make their side of the story heard, and often go faceless and nameless.
- sorrowful and hurt tone. relationship between her and St Helen’s girls is deteriorating. audience empathises.
- assertive, confident posture, wants her story to be heard. audience is intrigued and compelled to listen to what she has to say, because of her sudden visualisation. if we give these people a voice to share their stories, tackle and understand the root of the problem, they can become more visible, be uncovered.
describe the ensemble in ‘girls like that’:
- interruption of each other represents hierarchy - ingrained in them from a young age. suggests that these strong friendship groups can have a negative effect on the people, causes jealousy.
- speak one after the other in quick succession, almost finishing each other’s sentences. emphasises their close bond. almost inescapable - despite them being 5, emphasises suffocating nature of societal pressures.
describe the quote that mentions the hierarchy in ‘girls like that’:
- ‘or else they’ll peck each other to death…vulnerable chicken putting the whole flock at risk.’
- character seems to be innocent and child-like, to hear violent things coming from her puts us on edge. says it innocently, too.
what will you say in your introduction for ‘the cat and the canary’?
I watched ‘The Cat and the Canary’ written by John Willard. I watched it at the Chichester Minerva Theatre on the 9th October 2024. The play is a horror/comedy, and recounts 6 long lost relatives, gathered for ‘Cyrus Norman’s’ will reading - the play explores themes of fear, madness, and childhood trauma, as the characters are ‘scared to death’ by the fact an escaped maniac is on the loose. I will be analysing the character ‘Annabel’s’ costumes in this play, designed by Angela Davies.
how is Annabel at the start of the play, and how do her costumes reflect that?
1
- played by Lucy Mccormick. becomes more and more paranoid of the eerie mansion she’d just inherited as the play goes on, and of the maniac on the loose.
- arrives fashionably late to the congregation - appears put-together and classy.
- short leopard print dress, extravagant, flowy coat and stilettos - confidence, arrogance, flamboyance - overall generic upper class woman for the time (dated costumes and set).
