The Characters of Blood Wedding

The characters in Blood Wedding would not be considered conventional by most, firstly, all of the characters bar one do not have names, they are merely referred to by their job title or social position, such as the Girls or The Woodcutters, this could possibly be to dehumanise the characters, or perhaps (in typical Brechtian style) to make the audience see the characters as a representation of what they really are. Another part to consider is the role of women in the play, when Garcia Lorca was writing the play, women's rights were changing under the new government, they could now divorce, remarry and request an abortion,  however, in some rural parts of Spain, the rights of women had not changed much at all, some women, such as The Girls in the play felt that the only sensible life choice was to marry early and live out a fairly unexciting existence,  this could be considered one of the main themes of the play.

Gestus

Gestus is a dramatic technique developed by the German practitioner Bertolt Brecht, it is essentially the combination of movement and gesture with a certain attitude towards them, it tends to avoid delving into the realms of emotion, making every single gesture significant in some way, making the aim of this technique is to ensure that the audience can tell by the actor’s gestures alone what is happening in the scene. Brecht didn't want his actors being a specific character when on stage, only the type of person they were portraying, for example  the boss who is corrupt and smoking a fat cigar as his workers starve is representative of every boss who profits through the exploitation of others. because of Gestus, the exaggerated movements and vocals used by the actor lead the audience to believe he is "the boss" rather than "Mr Smith", ultimately making them use reason and rationale to determine who is who on stage, fitting in line with Brecht's other theories.   

Bertolt Brecht

A paragraph

Bertolt Brecht, born in Germany in 1896 was a unique practitioner who pioneered many non-naturalistic techniques. in direct opposition to Stanislavsky, his plays aimed to alienate the audience by distancing them from performers, he wanted them to be critical observers of his work. He used techniques such as montage, in which scenes were performed in a random order and actors often switched roles within the same performance, this was to break the illusion of the audience being immersed in the play, something that Brecht did not want. Brecht's plays often contained some kind of political message, he was a known supporter of Marxism, a radical theory in which wealth is shared and everyone is equal, this is reflected in plays such as "the Caucasian Chalk Circle" where a revolution leading to a change in government takes place.

Bertolt Brecht

Born in 1898
Opposite to Stanislavski
Non naturalistic
Minimal costumes, props and set design
Audience interaction
Plays often had a political message

Epic Theatre - took inspiration from minimalist elements of Elizabethan Theatre, wanted audience to be critical observers therefore different from dramatic theatre, seen as a means for social change

Spectator forced to face something and see man as a process

Techniques - Montage - kept audiences alert by putting scenes in random order, actors often switched roles

Verfremdungskeffekt - alienating the audience by distancing them from performers

Evaluation of Lesson 7/10/2015

In this double lesson, we focused on the development of a character in "A Dolls House" I chose to develop the character of Dr Rank, and did so through a variety of activities

Lesson 1. This activity focused on creating a backstory for the chosen character, enabling one to play them with a better understanding by creating a suitable series of events that may affect them during the play, I specifically chose events such as the death of Rank's father and Rank receiving his doctorate to highlight his progression as a character in a way I believe was effective

Lesson 2: This lesson was focused on voice and the character's use of language. We were tasked with devising a monologue in the style of the characters speech and lexis, using techniques we believed would be implemented often by the chosen character. I decided to devise a monologue set just after the play, in which Rank composes a note for someone to find after his death. I used complex vocabulary, as someone such as a medical professional would use, as well as a very analytical attitude I believe should be associated with Dr. Rank