Context of Gotcha
The play Gotcha by Barrie Keeffe was written in 1977 and set in a secondary school in 1976. Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne and James Callaghan was in charge of the labour government.
In 1972 the school leaving age was raised from 15 to 16. In 1965 Anthony Crosland, the education minister for the labour party, introduced the comprehensive school system which would have been fully in place by 1976. Comprehensive schools meant that students do not have to pass any entrance exams, which meant that the schools were more likely to have lower ability students in.
The play is seen as the theatre equivalent of a punk record where it is short but there is lots going on in that time. One of the most famous punk bands of that time was the Sex Pistols. Lots of people listened to punk because it was rebellious and the character of the kid is portrayed as being a bit of a rebel, by threatening to blow up the cupboard they are all in.
Other famous playwrights at the time of Gotcha were people such as David Mamet, who in 1976 wrote, The Duck Variations, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and American Buffalo.
Set design, Lighting and Sound
The play is set in a small stockroom in a school and so the thrust setting makes the set quite enclosed and gives the impression of it being small. You would only have one real wall and the three where the audience are seated would be imaginary. The props in front of the audience would have to be at a height that they don’t get in the way. The taller props such as shelves would go at the end where there is no audience, so it is not in the way. The bike dominates the room by being in the centre. It is facing away from the back so that most of the audience can see.
Because the play is set in a small stockroom, I don’t think there would be much light apart from that coming through the window. To make the light coming through the window to look natural you could use a diffuser which would make the light softer around the edges. Because the play is set over most of the day, the light coming through the window would have to get darker as the play went on.
The music that Barry Keefe used would not have been what kids were listening to in 1976. The Rolling Stones would have been classed as ‘old man music’ so would not have been listened to by 16 year olds. Punk was only just starting to become popular but not enough for many people to listen to it.
Stanislavski’s techniques
The use of given circumstances for an actor give them extra conditions in which the actor can use to become more familiar with their environment. An example used in the lesson was that Ton had a headache ad so would have been holding his head as if he were in pain, the audience may not know that this is intentionally there to help the actor and may make the performance more naturalistic.
A circle of attention is the area around an character that they are focusing on, for example when Ton is talking to the Kid about his lack of achievements then Ton’s circle of attention would most likely be on himself and the kid, whereas when the Kid pushes Lynne’s head towards the bike then his circle of attention would be on everybody because he is doing it to show a point to all the characters.
Emotional memory is when the actor draws on an event from the past and uses the ‘feelings’ they felt at the time. The feelings are then regenerated and used when filling out the role with ‘human depth and personal involvement’ When acting the scene where the Kid feels frustrated we used emotional memory although I did not feel as if it worked that well as I didn’t feel I had the right memories to fit the scene.
Non-Verbal Communication
The Laban system of efforts highlights the 4 different categories of movement being Time (Quick/Sustained), Weight (Heavy/Light), Space (Direct/Indirect), Flow (Bound/Free).
Throughout the play characters change how they use effort. In the opening of the play Ton Seems to be more free as the Kid has not entered yet and he would not want to seem to tense around Lynne. But as the play continues he becomes more and more frustrated and I think this would mean his movements would change from being more of a Wring (Sustained, Heavy, Indirect and Bound) to being more of a Punch (Quick, Heavy, Direct and Bound). This would portray more anger and frustration in Ton whereas I think with certain exceptions, Lynne is lighter throughout the play and at the end when she comforts the Kid, and she would be very much a Float with Sustained, light, indirect and free movements.
Vocal Awareness
There are different types of things you can do to change the way you use the voice they are Volume, Pitch, Timbre, Pace, Accent, Emphasis and Pause can be seen as a combination of Pace and Emphasis.
The use of Volume can show the emotion of a character for example in the monologue when the kid is talking about his future if the volume is loud then it can show anger and frustration but at the end of the speech when he talks about the pigeons, because this is where he calms down this is likely to be a lower volume to show he is not as upset.
If something is calmer it may be said in a lower pitch and softer whereas when somebody is shouting the pitch of their voice may rise.
The timbre can be affected by where the air is pushed from. If the air is being pushed from higher up the body the timbre will be harsher and more nasally, whereas from the diaphragm the voice is more mellow.
I have interpreted this as a director. The play is naturalistic so I feel that the set.
The interpretation begins with the plot and thinking about what happens in the play, ad how the conflict i dramatised in the play.
How the character is interpreted is arguably one of the most important parts of interpreting a play and it is good to have a firm idea of how you want a specific character to be played, for example I would want my Ton to be angry and uptight with old school morals, on the other hand because Lynne is younger and also a woman I feel she should be more calm and trying to be get along with the students rather than be the opposite of them.
The dialogue is important because it is what tells the story and gives you a portait of the characters. It is also important to notice any words that may help set the scene, for example in Gotcha when the Kid talks about his nan's 'Joanna' shows that it may well be set in a London school.
The interpretation of the stage directions is crucial as a director as it helps the play be more naturalistic for the audience as well as for the actors.
Page to Stage
Playwright (Ideas) > Director (Script) > Actor (Script, characters, director) > Audience (Performance)
Development Conflict
Intro Resolution
My interpretation of Ton
INTERPRETAION
Interpretation is how something is viewed and how they can change it.I have interpreted this as a director. The play is naturalistic so I feel that the set.
The interpretation begins with the plot and thinking about what happens in the play, ad how the conflict i dramatised in the play.
How the character is interpreted is arguably one of the most important parts of interpreting a play and it is good to have a firm idea of how you want a specific character to be played, for example I would want my Ton to be angry and uptight with old school morals, on the other hand because Lynne is younger and also a woman I feel she should be more calm and trying to be get along with the students rather than be the opposite of them.
The dialogue is important because it is what tells the story and gives you a portait of the characters. It is also important to notice any words that may help set the scene, for example in Gotcha when the Kid talks about his nan's 'Joanna' shows that it may well be set in a London school.
The interpretation of the stage directions is crucial as a director as it helps the play be more naturalistic for the audience as well as for the actors.
Page to Stage
Playwright (Ideas) > Director (Script) > Actor (Script, characters, director) > Audience (Performance)
Development Conflict
Intro Resolution
My interpretation of Ton
- Angry
- Old school morals
- Uptight/easily frustrated
- Loud and forceful
- Dominant and in charge/in control
