Battle scene

The battle scene is physically and creatively engaging with its response to the reality of WW1. The use of levels incorporate the set, the tables and the placing of the props to create a slight abstract but also slightly realistic visual for the audience, painting this picture of men going off to war and fighting. The cast come up and over the table this is responding to the reality of the trenches, hills and various bits of land the men had to walk through and over. The approach to this sequence was a light one, The war would have been messy and violent and instead of taking the obvious and literal route, artistic images were choreographed enabling the audience to use their imagination and the aid of the visual of men passing each other with guns to picture the war. 

Physicality is an incredibly important role throughout this play, and comes into practice particularly in this scene. The physicality has to be brought back to the previous exercise on being a man and incorporating all the attributes and physical manurisms into the battle. In the physicality there needs to be a strength in the arms carrying the gun, tension in the body, slight space between the legs, broad shoulders, heavier footing and strong facial expressions. If this physicality drops the sequence becomes less strong in its effectiveness, so applying these attributes to this scene is fundamental. This is a challenge because you're thinking about many things such as the play itself, your role, your lines, the choreography in the scene and your physicality which is incredibly important but difficult as its so far from your normal physicality (completely different gender). Energy plays a big part in maintaining the effectiveness of the physicality and if we work in a team and keep the energy high we can bounce off each other and all in all create a visually effective scene. 

I really like the sequence and think it works really nicely in the play, offering a silent moment to just watch and interpret. There were parts of the sequence I found difficult as it came down to timing and teamwork which had to be built up with confidence over time, but when I got a hold of it and everyone was on the same page it really worked and became natural. The main factor in this piece is teamwork, in response to the literal these men had to work together and by showing that bond and ultimately trusting and uplifting each other we get the best out of this scene.