Month: June 2016

Introduction:

What is the social, historical and cultural background of the stimulus? Does it have a defined background?

The main reason for the chain of events leading up to the main event during the play would be Josephs decision to protect his family, by killing another man in self defence. If Joseph had not done this, he’s brother Billy would be dead, and he would not be in prison, but would have to live with regret and guilt of his brothers death. This came from the stimulus of a father and son thinking that they lost each other at war. This loss that they faced had to be forgotten but they lived with it for seven years before they found eachother again. This stimulus had historic relevance as many people lost family members during the war, and the father not only lost his son, but his wife as well. Showing the loss that the father faced and also the joy he found once he had met with his son for the first time since the war.

What is your central question and where has this come from?

My central question is ‘Where is the Love?’. This has come from Billy not knowing why his brother was in jail, and the reason why his family had kept this such a big secret throughout his life. This is the reason why Billy thinks that nobody loves him, and turns to drugs, alcohol, and crime. This idea was developed form the loss of the mans son, and wide. I thought that after loss like this, people may deal with it in different ways showing different emotions.

What possible drama scenarios, characters, potential dramatic tensions/conflicts might exist or be developed from the stimulus?

After making the stimulus more relevant to todays world the feeling of loss and being unloved can be developed through the use of a meeting between a man and his younger brother in prison. With the older brother explaining the reason why he had to leave his brother, the younger of the two can finally be at peace within himself. After finishing the rest of his sentence, the younger brother would leave prison and prove to his mum that he was the good guy that she always thought he was. He would go back to school to get his education, leave his old friends and old life behind him, and try to better himself altogether. The relationship between Billy and Joseph would become stronger, this is because they would write to each other, and Billy would go to visit Joseph more often to tell him about his family and what is happening in his new life.

What are your initial ideas?

One of my initial ideas is to develop a relationship between a dad and his lost son during the war. Seven years later, his son would find his father in the hospital that he worked in, his father was very ill and helpless and it was the down to the son to make up for lost time and care for him. Another is to use the idea about the loss and love of the father and son, and make it relevant to todays world. I feel that i could do this by showing where people feel loss and emptiness, in prison. I chose to show this through the use of a broken relationship between a younger brother and and older brother in prison.

What are the pros and cons of your initial idea?

One positive of my initial idea about the two brothers is that it links clearly to my central question of where is the love? The younger brother obviously feels unloved because his older brother, and role model had left him and was serving time in prison. Another positive is that it shows the emotions of the characters and how much the older brother meant to the younger brother in particular. A negative of the idea is that after only two characters during the play. This could mean that the play may be set in one place and conversations are kept between just the two characters.

A positive of my idea bout the father and son is that it shows that after years of suffering, happiness and love can be found again. Also it shows that their love can never be lost, and that although they have not been together for a long time, they do not hate each other and the love is still there. A negative is that it is not set in the present time, and is a time where i do not know much about.

Which ones could be developed further?

I feel that the idea about the two brothers in prison can be developed further because a background story into how each brother dealt with the situation can be shown. Also it can show the journey of how Billy bettered himself as a person in prison, and highlighted that sometimes it takes mistakes to make a person realize that they were doing wrong and that change is needed.

ITEM 2 Monologue, Duologue or Script.

The situation I decided to explore was about the lost family members where the younger brother got sent to jail for robbing a shop. He was using it as an excuse because he was the only one left to look after his mum and his older brother’s child. He spent six months in jail and on his last month he found out that his older brother was in the same jail as him. They set a meeting up between the brothers and the older brother asked him what he had learnt from being in jail and what can he change from that to help him improve. The younger brother told his older brother he was going to get his education, look after his mum and his older brother’s child. The older brother snapped and told him to stop making excuses and start looking after himself before others. The younger brother told his older brother that he felt alone he didn’t know where his brother was and what was happening. He told his brother that he was his role model and he looked up to him and when he left he had no one to look up to and that adds up to what is going on in his life at the moment. Tears came to the older brother’s eyes and he asked, with an emotional voice, “I was?” and he said, “sorry I didn’t know I was that important in your life. He also said, “you should look at the people you hang around with because not everyone is your friend and is not happy with the things you are doing in life. He told him to write a letter to their mum saying to accept him for who she thought he was and he is ready for a change and to start a new life.

What characters appeared? Joseph and Billy. Joseph went to jail for protecting his family. He stabbed someone in his neck in self defense and the person died on the spot and Joseph got life in jail. He is 20 years old and is the older brother of Billy who is 17. Billy was the younger brother that got left in the dark by not knowing why Joseph left his house.

How did you develop the characters in the play? I developed the characters from the research I did about a family that lives in South London, New Cross.

How did you play your character to communicate with the audience? I used my character to communicate with the audience with emotional voice and emotional music in the background which helped the audience to feel like they are apart of what is happening on stage or they can relate to it. The body language I used when the brothers first meet is angry and Joseph stood up from his chair and shouted at Billy.

How did you use improvisation to develop your piece? I developed my piece by carrying on even if my partner made a mistake I would stay in character and not look at the audience and continue with my role.

Item 3 Design Idea

What is your design idea? The characters are in Jail and are wearing different colour jumpsuits representing different ages. Orange represents over 18’s and the grey represents under 17’s.

Where would the design idea be used?

How does this idea communicate ideas about a character? This idea communicates about the character by telling the audience the different ages they are and why they are in jail.

How does this design idea communicate ideas about mood? Joseph was angry when he saw his younger brother in the grey jumpsuit as he didn’t want him to be in the jail. He wanted a better life for him outside.

Mrs. joe has been out a dozen times, looking for you, Pip. And she’s out now, making it bakers doze.

Is she?

Yes, Pip, said joe; and whats worse, she’s got Tickler with her.

At this dismal intelligence, i twisted the only button on my waited coat round and round, and looked in great depression at the fire. Tickler was wax-ended piece of cane, worn smooth by collision with my tickler frame