Site Specific update

We are now devising scenes for each of the patients. This is sometimes hard for the group as I will be devising another scene whilst they're doing another scene which I am in. I think the group are now working really well together and being really productive to create scenes. I think we now just need to make sure that we learn lines in order to keep the scenes running smoothly rather than keep stopping to check lines. This is the order of our show:

1. Opening-Entrance of Fort Amherst
2. PTSD-First tunnel near well
3. Jesus scene-Church
4. Edward and Henry scene-Tunnel between church and gate
5. Clyde's movement-Tunnel between church and gate
6. Stage combat-Tunnel
7. Gate scene-Gate area
8. Helen's scene-Cannon area
9. Toby and Meg "movealog"-Tunnel
10. 7 devils-Upstairs room
11. End-Entrance of Fort Amherst

I think this works really well and I do think that some of the scenes need a bit of re-writing, I think this is going to be a good performance. I think the script is the strongest that we have ever written and the characters are challenging yet enjoyable for everyone to play.

Site Specific 7-Update

We have now decided to change our idea into a mental health idea where people in the asuylum. We decided that there would be psychiatrist (which would be me) to visit the tunnels.

We also went and looked at Fort Amherst and it helped to trigger a lot of ideas for everyone. We also discovered some smaller rooms couldn't be used due to the limited space in  them for the cast and the audience. We also found out that we can link the history to our piece due to the fact that the fort was used as an asylum up until 1963. There was also power points meaning laptops and sound systems could definitely be used. I think it also suits the eerynesthat we are going for aswell.

We then split into groups to and devised scenes. My group had the scene with a gate which was shut behind us causing the psychiatrist to panic. I think this scene workes well but it still needs some development in order to be completed well

Site Specific: Day 6

Today the group had a lot of arguments as people wanted to find an idea in their own way and people ended up not being productive due to these arguments. We came up with a no power idea but I feel like people may be getting ahead of themselves as I think that it definitely needs to be further developed before we can actually choose this for an idea as we still only have a base idea rather than what we actually want for the whole piece. I feel like people just need to now just need to accept everyone's ideas and not overprotect our own to actually be able to develop this idea.

Style

The style of 39 steps is very slapstick which means it's very high energy and high paced. It also breaks the fourth wall meaning that we can address the audience if something does go wrong and make a joke about it as it isn't a play that takes itself seriously too much which i what I think our class would be good at. I think the fact that we can make jokes throughout the play if it goes wrong helps the performance. Also the fact that we get to be over the top makes it a challenge yet an enjoyable project to work on. Slapstick make the whole play funny and the fact we have to be energetic throughout will be a challenge but I feel like that our class as a whole will be very good at this as energy is one of our strong points, we will just have to make sure that we are confident enough to try various new things to make sure that we keep the performance fresh and funny throughout without people getting bored.

Transitions

Transitions in the 39 steps have to be fast and smooth in order to keep the high energy of the performance up and that so the pace stays fast. This will be difficult but achievable with us due to us not really having a stage crew and we do all of the transitions ourselves. I think that we will have to almost plan out all of our transitions before hand to make sure that they are quick and smooth. Although due to the nature of the play, if something gets left on, we can always just play it off as a joke and take it off during the scene, I think the fact that for most of our performance we are only using the apron of the stage, it will make transferring set around much easier although our wing space will be very limited especially as the actors will need room to get on and off and we will also have to make everything easily accessible.

Voice

Voice is very important with 39 steps because due to the fact that everybody is multi-rolling. Voice will be one of the main things that will differentiate between the characters. The fact that the two clowns (or three in our act) play so many different roles makes it difficult to the audience to see who they are playing so they will have to have a complete different voice for each character especially during the train scene where they change within seconds and they are only changing the hat that they are wearing. Voice also comes into characterisation to make sure that it is over the top and funny, voice extremities have to be used to see a clear contrast and to make each character funny and memorable to the audience especially as some then come back in later in the play.

Pace

The pace of the performance for 39 steps is very quick and has to be very high energy throughout which is what makes it so entertaining to watch. All the lines have to be said very quickly in order to keep this up and it means that everyone has to know all their lines or the pace will slow down and could then ruin that part of the scene. We also have to make sure though that the audience can still understand the story and what we are saying.We can't make it too quick so they don't understand what's going on or that our words merge together. We will have to make sure that pace wise, we always find the the perfect balance so we are fast, but not too fast. Our energy will always have to be high and over the top as that is the whole gimmick of 39 steps. I feel like this will be something our group will not struggle with once we've learnt our lines.

Vaudeville

Origin
Vaudeville is a type of theatrical genre. It was a popular genre that was popular during the 1880s until 1930s in America and Canada. A vaudeville performance would normally consist of a series of separate acts which are normally unrelated. There were a lot of different acts:

• Classical musicians
• Singers
• Dancers
• Comedians
• Trained animals
• Magicians
• Female and male impersonators
• Acrobats
• Illustrated songs
• Jugglers
• One act/scene from plays
• Athletes
• Lecturing celebrities
• Minstrels
• Movies

The birth of vaudeville was on 24th October 1981 at New York's Fourteenth Street Theatre. Tony Pastor aimed to draw a potential audience from women and families. Vaudeville also banned the sale of liquor in his theatres, eliminated bawdy material from shows and offered gifts of coal and hams to attendees. After Pastor's first show (which was an experiment), it was a success and other theatre managers soon followed this set-up.

B.F Keith started in Boston where he built an empire of theatres and bought Vaudeville to other parts of the US and Canada.

A performance of bill for Temple Theatre, Detroit, 1st December 1902:
1) Burt Jordan and Rosa Crouch. "Sensational, grotesque and 'buck' dancers. A good act..."
2) The White Tscherkess Trio. "A man and two women who do a singing turn of the operatic order. They carry special scenery which is very artistic and their costumes are original and neat. Their voices are good and blend exceedingly well. The act goes big with the audience."
3) Sarah Midgely and Gertie Carlisle. "Presenting the sketch 'After School.' ... they are a 'knockout.'"
4) Theodor F. Smith and Jenny St. George-Fuller. "Refined instrumentalists."
5) Milly Capell. "European equestrienne. This is her second week. On account of the very pretty picture that she makes she goes as strong as she did last week."
6) R. J. Jose. "Tenor singer. The very best of them all."
7) The Nelson Family of Acrobats. "This act is composed of three men, two young women, three boys and two small girls. The greatest acrobatic act extant."
8) James Thornton. "Monologist and vocalist. He goes like a cyclone. It is a case of continuous laughter from his entrance to his exit."
9) Burk and Andrus and Their Trained Mule. "This act, if it can be so classed, was closed after the evening performance."


Decline
With the continued growth of lower-priced cinema in the early 1910's, Vaudeville took a heavy blow. Theatres started to show the cinema films in theatres. Vaudeville started to only be used as a launch pad to later careers for stars like Judy Garland. They found fame quicker than earlier vaudeville stars for leaving live performances earlier.