The Most Horrific Rehearsals

3rd December 2014

From this rehearsal there were strong moments of gestus (a Brechtian technique which helps to show the relationship between characters). This was done as we portrayed the As & Bs looking down on those being Cs & Ds, which we showed by having them interrupting, talking over or turning away from the Cs & Ds. I think this clearly showed how As & Bs thought they were superior, not giving the others the common decency to listen to what they were saying and this emphasised, what I believe is, the plays point, suggesting that the media don't listen to news unless it is glamorised with dramatic climaxes, celebrities and/or sex.
I also thought it was good that the play's characters don't have any names because this means the audience doesn't connect with the characters, distancing them and making sure they focus more on the topics being addressed. With no names it can help to symbolise whole groups of people that share the opinions of the characters in real life, for example the group of As & Bs implying they're the media.
The divide between the two types of characters (those wanting to glamorise the news and those trying to tell it all) worked really well in my opinion because not only is there a physical split where the two types are on either side of the room, it is also portrayed through body language. The As & Bs all remain in a rather lazy position, slouched in chairs, backs facing away from whoever is talking, where as the Cs & Ds are more energetic and upright, with there attentions focused on the reaction of As & Bs. However we also show them as submissive which is, again, helped by moments of gestus as they scurry about fetching things for the others, as well as having to wait the others to be silent before resuming speaking.
We use a white board in the piece, to highlight key words and phrases from what's been said which I feel works similar to Brecht's idea of using placards.

I felt that As & Bs, however, needed to maintain more focus to appear disinterested because otherwise we might miss cues for group movements or the energy could lull, causing the audience to become bored. I felt that after a while we also ran out of things to do do appear uninterested which led to As & Bs becoming slightly bored with what we were doing, so I think in the next rehearsal I will (as well as others) come up with conversations to quietly have with each other and different actions that are possibly planned because this might maintain peoples focus better as we wait for it to happen. 
In the next rehearsal I think this improved focus will help to make group transitions slick, making it more aesthetically pleasing. It will aid peoples cues and give the piece a better sense of pace, keeping the audience more engaged and therefore more likely to listen/understand the point the play is trying to put across. 

I feel as though we could incorporate more placards into the short scenes at the beginning because I think it will help the audience to have a clearer understanding of the topics, allowing them to then form a more justified opinion. The placards will also help to distance the audience further because they are something that's used in naturalism and therefore the audience is less likely to relate or sympathise with the characters, allowing them to focus mainly on the issue at hand.