Chorus - 12/10/12

Exploring the Chorus:

The purpose of today's rehearsal was to explore the Chorus. The Chorus was not present in the original production but it was something that I felt (as the director) needed to be explored within ours.

Questions which needed to be explored and answered were as follows:

• Identity. Who are the chorus? In Greek theatre, the chorus take on the identity of the "people". We needed to decide who these people were.
•  Movement. How did they move? Traditionally, Chorus are very much "other-worldly" in their mannerisms and movement - there is an almost animalistic quality. We needed to explore this so to have some consistency throughout the performance.
• Text. As there is not a Chorus written into the text, I would need to decide where their language would come from. Would they echo certain characters? Would they become the voice of some characters? 
• Voice. We would need to explore how the chorus spoke. Would they have a collective voice? What would be the dynamics of their voice - tempo; quality; volume...etc. 

The communities mentioned in "Welcome to Thebes" are:

• The Thebans.
• The Athenians.
• The Spartans.
• The Dead.

This suggested that the Chorus would need to find multiple identities. Reuben (assistant Director) and I agreed that "The Dead" would be a good place to start:

Death seems very present throughout Welcome to Thebes:

"The ghosts

Their parched tongues are flickering

Like unseen negatives upon the day.

They form another city all round us" Tiresias (Page 63)

"My Dead husband lies unburied" Pargeia (Page 67)

"The ghosts are grey" Scud (Page 7)

"By insulting Polynices

I've insulted all the dead." Eurydice (Page 89)

Company explored how the Chorus related/ interacted with:

1. Haemon. "I think that I see people creep away." Haemon is tormented by his loss/ deterioration of sight. He denies being blind but struggles to see. Just as Harmonia is Tiresias' guide, the Chorus explored how they might be Haemon's guide. 
2. Eurydice. 
3. Tiresias. Ellie looked at how Harmonia can incorporate aspects of the Chorus when exploring her relationship with Tiresias: Sharing some of his lines; how they move together; how she guides him and communicates with him.

Visual Reference for the Chorus' mask:

Exploring Character and the World of the Play 19/10/12

Exploring Character and the World of the Play.

• Given Circumstances
• Themes Discussion
• White Space.

Given Circumstances.

The company explored the given circumstances of the play. Focusing on Syria, they considered and responded to:

• the climate of the country. How that made them move and feel.
• the social differences. How they responded to each other with regards to power/ social standing. 
• the different perceptions of gender. How men perceive women and vice versa.
• the presence of war. How they felt when a) they saw flecks of blood; b) a helicopter flew overhead; c) they saw a war-torn wasteland. 

Themes/ The Big Idea/s.

As a company we discussed what might be the 'big idea' of the play. Some of the ideas that came out of this discussion were:

• Politics. Government versus people. Dictatorship versus Democracy. Misuse of power. 
• Women. Feminism. Women in power. The female influence - Eurydice's choices and Antigone's decisions.
• Sight/ Blindness. Blindness in the literal sense within Haemon and Tiresias. Blindness metaphorically within the politics of the play - unable to see clearly in decision making. Tiresias being blind, but at the same time being able to 'see' into the future: the blind prophet. Theseus blinded by what is going on at home between Hypolitus and Phaedra. 
• Fate. The idea that life is already mapped out and that the outcome is already written. Moira Buffini swapping Creon for Eurydice in what is already a pre-written Greek story - will Eurydice make different decisions. 

"Welcome to the country of the blind." Tiresias (Page 69).

Following on from the idea of Sight/ Blindness, the company took it in terms to lead the blind/ to be led as the blind person around the room. We considered what it was like to experience this. Trust (and the fear of the abuse of trust) became a key aspect of this exercise. 

White Space.

The actors were asked to consider the "white space" of the play - and in particular of their first scene. The "White Space" being the blank canvas - the scene that is not written for the actor. For example:

• What conversations has Theseus been involved in concerning Thebes - how does he feel about the visit?
• What happens between Tydeus and Pargeia before they enter the space for the first time?
• What conversations have already happened when we join Eurydice and Ismene?

This was posed as something to consider and reflect on as part of the company's 'Character exploration' over the half term. 

Pronunciation of Greek Names

• Megaera - (Muh - ji - ruh)
• Miletus - (Mil - uh - tuss)
• Scud - (Sc-uh-d)
• Eurydice - (yuh-rid-issee)
• Prince Tydeus - (Tuh - day - uss)
• Pargeia - (Pah - jay - uh)
• Haemon - (Hay - mun)
• Antigone - (An - tig - uh - nee)
• Ismene - (Is - muh - nay)
• Tiresias - (Tie - ree - zee - uss)
• Harmonia - (Hah - moh - near)
• Polykleitos - (Pol - i - kleye - tuss)
• Aglaea - (Ag - lay - uh)
• Thalia - (Tha - lee - uh) (Th as in Think)
• Euphrosyne - (You - froh - zin)
• Eunomia - (You - know - mee - uh)
• Bia - (By - uh)
• Helia - (Hell - ee - uh)
• Eris - (E - riss)
• Xenophanes - (Zen - oh - fayns)
• Theseus - (Th - ee - see - uss) (Th - as in Think)
• Phaeax - (Fay - axe)
• Talthybia - (Tal - thib - ee - uh)
• Enyalius - (E - neye - uh - lee - uss)
• Plautus - (Plough - tuss)
• Ichnaea - (Ik - nay - uh)

Names mentioned in the script:

• Oedipus - (Ee - di - puss)
• Creon - (Kray - on)
• Phaedra - (Fay - druh)
• Pirithous - (Pi - ri - thuss) (th as in think)
• Polynices - (Pol - i - neye - suss)

Read Through/ Rough Blocking

Read through/ rough blocking.

• Initial read-through and discussion of response to text.
• Marking out of stage and labelling of entrances.
• Began rough blocking

Following the initial read-through and discussion, the company were introduced to the layout of the stage. Taking into account the New Theatre, we established the entrances/ exits and labeled them A-D - at the same time as marking out the audience. 

Once the entrances/ exits had been established, the company was briefed on the basis of the staging. The set would consist of 3 piles of rubble representing the "post-war" feel of Syria/ Thebes. Two of the  piles (DSR & DSL) would consist of rubble, tools, discarded guns and bodies - the presence of the tools and guns particularly relevant to Polykleitos' scene with Thalia. The third pile (USC) would also include a podium from which Eurydice and Theseus address the congregation. 

For the company to embark on the 'rough blocking' it was crucial for them to appreciate the layout of the set. So to be able to physically take into account the presence of these piles, the company used clusters of chairs to act on and around:

Notes given to the company before starting:

• Distance - exploring distance/ space between actors within a scene. Sharing a dialogue across the space as opposed to being in close proximity to each other. 
• Shared Scenes - exploring how two scenes can be happening simultaneous within the space - thus providing the audience with two stories/ sets of information. These are written into the script:

"ELSEWHERE: Eurydice is staring at Polynices' corpse.  Euphrosyne and the soldiers accompany. she cannot tear her eyes away."

• Diagonals
• Giving/ Receiving of the line. 
• Language - 

Contextual Research - 16/10/12

Background Research
Prompted by Katie Mitchell's Directing approach to text.

The cast was split into four groups - they would research the following:

• Moira Buffini.
• Liberia - the context of the original production at the National Theatre.
• Thebes and Greek Mythology.
• Syria - the context of our production.

Explore Moira Buffini's background, so to understand the "big idea" of the play. What was her inspiration? What was she looking to achieve through the writing - what messages were intended?

Even though the production is focusing on Syria, it is important to accept and explore why Liberia was used as the original setting when first performed at the National Theatre. By doing so, we would gain a greater understanding of Moira Buffini's intentions through the writing of the play.

Another important focus was Greek Mythology. We needed to appreciate the relevance of "Thebes" and the Greek mythological names - what did the names mean and did this meaning give us more to go on when exploring the characters.

Research Syria as the chosen setting of our production. Only by doing so would we be able to form links between Syria and Liberia, and Syria and Thebes. We needed to know more about the climate of Syria so there is a clear understanding of the "given circumstances". Climate in a political; religious; geographical and social sense.

The research on Greek Mythology and Syria is on-going and these displays created in 905 will continue to grow.

Cast List

Welcome to Thebes

Director: Tim Crowther

Cast List:

THEBANS
Megaera (a soldier)	Kitty Mannell
Sergeant Miletus	James Somogyi
Junior Lieutenant Scud	Ella McGowan
Eurydice (President of Thebes)	Jimena Meza Mitcher
Prince Tydeus (Leader of the Opposition)	Omar Austin
Pargeia (a senator)	Kadeena Davies-Gibbons
Haemon (Eurydice's son)	Michael Colvill
Antigone (her niece)	Sarah Carter
Ismene (her niece)	Olivia Spencer
Tiresias (a seer)	Jamahyl Chan-Ellis
Harmonia (his guide)	Ellie Barwick
Polykleitos (a mechanic)	Yaw Assante
Aglaea (Foreign Secretary)	Celiya Koster-Brown
Thalia (Minister of Justice)	Bella Culver
Euphrosyne (Minister of Finance)	Dominic Chrobot
Eris (Chief of Police)	Lauren Hennessey
Eunomia/ Bia/ Helia/ Xenophanes	Played by Chorus
CHORUS (THEBANS & ATHENIANS)
Chorus 1	Lois Pethick
Chorus 2	Joe Keeley
Chorus 3	Matilda McNair
Chorus 4	Alice Clingan
ATHENIANS
Theseus (First Citizen of Athens)	Paul Brown
Phaeax (his aide)	Harry Green
Talthybia (a diplomat)	Ellysse Rawlinson-Barnett
Enyalius/ Plautus/ Ichnaea (Athenian Security)	Reuben Bastienne-Lewis