Laban Forces

The Laban Forces are different ways of altering our centre to find how your character moves. This allows you to experiment with how your chaacter moves and where they lead from.Characters can lead from anywhere but mainly:

• The forehead
• The nose
• The chest
• The hips/waist
• The feet

We walked around the space leading with these different body parts to see what we felt suited our characters. I felt that as an officer, I had a poise and standard to keep and that leading with my nose worked quite well. My head is tilted upwards and it's quite good for giving dirty looks.

The movements themselves were:

• Punch: Direct, strong and sudden
• Slash: Indirect, strong and sudden
• Push: Direct, strong and sustained
• Wring: Indirect, strong and sustained
• Dabby: Direct, light and sudden
• Flick: Indirect, light and sudden
• Glide: Direct, light and sustained
• Float: Indirect, light and sustained

From this part of the exercise, I have decided that George was direct and he walked with a purpose, he knew where he was going and what he was doing. He was strong and had assurance but he glided at the same time. Like a very slow race car. So that would make him a "Punch".

Footnote: I got the exact names and meanings of the Laban forces from this blog: http://actingwithoutthedrama.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/labans-eight-efforts.html

The Debate

To help understand the bigger picture of the world this play was set in, we had a debate on whether or not harsh punishments were necessary for convicts and whether or not they could be reformed. We were split into halves for this debate, one side for harsh punishments and one side against.

Those arguing for this treatment towards the convicts were trying to make the point that without serious punishment the convicts wouldn't take officers seriously and there may be an uproar from them if they begin to gain to much power. Once a convict has committed a crime, they will continue as it becomes a habitual thing for them and they know no better. It becomes somewhat an instinctual thing that they pass down through generations and all the rehabilitation in the world wouldn't change that. It's like taking a wolf from the world it knows and trying to tame it; it will take generations to happen at all.

Those arguing against (I was in this half) argued that convicts only committed crimes because they had no other choice. Back in Britain where they stole things or the women sold themselves it wasn't out of choice, they had to. If they didn't they'd have been homeless and probably have died of starvation or illness. They may have had families to provide for or just fir themselves but it's partially down to material deprivation. They didn't have what they needed to live - deprived of this -  and had no other choice but to steal.
When it comes to how you punish them and being able to rehabilitate them to become respectable members of society, you need to remember that you get what you put in and if all you do to them is give them harsh punishments and abuse them all the time then you can't expect much of them. Those who are aggressive are like that because they need to defend themselves, being kind to your gaolers doesn't get you far.
However, if you treat them with kindness and patience, they will slowly respond to your attitudes and become more cooperative. Despite their lack of education, they can still be educated and grow to be more than you expect because everyone is capable of the same thing.

This debate didn't get far because the fire alarm went off.

But I personally go against harsh punishment and believe that criminals can be reformed. I think we were all on this side but the society of the 17th century and today's society are very different. Back then you had the rich and the poor, it wasn't questioned and they were two different worlds. The upper class didn't make any attempts at trying to understand and help those living in poverty because they probably believed that this was where they belonged and it could not be changed. They believed that they were a lot less intelligent than they but the poor were never given any chances of going up the social ladder and becoming part of the upper class unlike today where we have many opportunities, government schemes, free education, ect. For those who are juveniles, in units or anything likewise they are given chances of reformation and becoming successful but whether they take these chances is down to their discretion.
If treatments of the convicts were brought back and those in such positions were punished that way the public would be shocked and there would be an inevitable uproar, but could it change the way people behave? If it did, it would be out of pure fear. The shock would change things but we in our modern society are a lot more free than the convicts of the 17th century and if people had their rights taken from them like that I suppose it would make us all rethink about what we have and what we take for granted.

Day in the Life of improv

We did another improvisation but as our characters and this was to discover what we would be doing in our day to day lives.

My character, George, wakes up bright and early at 06:00 and gets ready for breakfast. After that, he attends to his duties and as he is a lieutenant (not a high rank but high enough), he would oversee things such as making sure the convicts are doing their work, training officers, making sure they have enough food and drink, aiding in the decision of what happens to badly behaved convicts, etc.
When I was interacting with other people, it was clear to me who were officers and who were convicts; officers walked up straight with their hands behind their backs and gave a slight nod to greet whereas convicts glared at you from the sides and slunk around.
The difference between ranks in the officers because visible. When we sat down for "dinner and lunch", lower rank officers sat in one place and higher ranks sat in another. When I went to speak to two of the higher ranks (not knowing who they were), I was told that I should address them as their full titles and bow to them. So I learnt that I should learn who is who.
The aborigine was watching us all from a corner for almost the whole thing and he had collected pieces of cardboard and set up in the corner. I knew that George wouldn't have liked the aborigine, so I shooed him away. He went away but he walked on all fours or on his legs but very low down a bit like a gorilla, I applaud his characterisation.

Through this improve, I learnt a bit about what George would do, but I need to learn what his specific duties would have been and what his personality s like to further the development of my character.

The Box Improvisation

To understand more about what the officers and convicts (more so the convicts) went through on the boat journey to Australia, we did an improvisation. But first, I will bore you with some fun facts.
Australia had began to be used as a place of exile for convicts after the Americas didn't want anymore British convicts, they were trying to build a new nation and convicts were too troublesome. The boat journey to Australia took 8 months and convicts' conditions were extremely cramped (they were literally cages) and highly unhygienic. The men were made to stand, not up straight though because there wasn't enough headroom and the women were sat on the floor both in their own crap. Their living quarters were almost never cleaned so the build up of human waste and the amount of people in one enclosure made diseases frolic happily from one person to the next. Most diseases were spread through parasites, breathing and physical contact so illnesses were very common, the human waste would have contaminated their food too, so cholera and dysentery would have happened here and there.

For the improvisations, nine of us volunteered to be convicts on a boat on the way to Botany Bay and we all had to fit into a square outlined by tape on the floor measuring 1.5x2 metres. About four people volunteered to be officers. The parts were given to us regardless of our actual roles in the play, this was purely for the exercise. I was a convict and we all had to sit in this square.
At first, I sat in a position that was quite comfortable and occasionally shuffled a bit, but the guards told us to stop fidgeting and look down, we could tell that they were doing this because they were bored and there was nothing else they could do so we didn't take them that seriously at first. They started getting louder and talking about our mothers and throwing vulgar insults at us, they were actually starting to get scary. They were really getting into their characters, especially Tyler who would come down to your level and spit words at you like "did I just see you fidgeting?". They started taking out people who were disobedient to get flogged. Some of them went willingly whereas others made a scene about it screaming and fighting the officers and that was the one time we could look at what was happening, because we were ordered to watch.
It didn't take long before everything was against the rules and it was getting pretty intense. My bum had gone numb, my whole back was aching my arm was twitching and I had an itch on my nose but I was way too scared to move because I didn't want them to shout and flog me, I wanted to be left alone. I kept my head between my knees and closed my eyes when the officers got near me. There may have been some real convicts who would have behaved the way I did, but I don't think I would have lasted 8 months otherwise I would have exploded or gone mute.
James, who was next to me, had started to insult the officers and spat at them. I suppose because he had enough. He was taken away but he was shouting and fighting the officers as he went out, it was unsettling to say the least. Everyone in the box had formed some kind of silent bond and when one was taken away, the rest were sad but it mean more space so we weren't complaining.

The improvisation lasted about 45 minutes but it felt a lot shorter than that. I found it really helpful because I gained some understanding on what life was like on board. I know that other things would have happened too such as rape and being ill, but we couldn't explore those. I think that the results of the improvisation could be used in our final performance at the beginning when the audience come in so they gain some understanding, I think its something interesting too.

My Little Task

Sarah gave us all tasks to do to enrich our knowledge.

Mine was to study the phrase "off the cuff" and where it comes from.

When I googled this phrase, it means to do or say something with little or no preparation or thought. It is quite hard to get a definite origin of the phrase, but the ones that are most common are that this phrase is possibly related to last minute notes one may write on their cuff of their shirt sleeve when delivering a speech. It makes sense though because it's making a speech without giving it any thought, you're speaking OFF THE CUFF of your sleeve.

If I apply this to OCG, there aren't many characters that say things off the cuff apart from Wisehammer. He tends to express this fondness of words without even thinking about it. He just starts talking to anyone about the words he likes. He seems like a very spacey man who's in his own little word, he doesn't give much thought to things he just says them.

Lines

I got my own copy of the script today and highlighted all my lines and parts where I was mentioned or stage directions. Initially I didn't think there was much at all to be said about me because my character is in this scene and this scene only and doesn't say much, but now I've looked a little further into everything, I've found a few details on George. In the scene that he is in, the officers are discussing whether the play should be put on or not.

Through one of the comments made by Reverend Johnston, I figured that my character is for the female convicts being used as mistresses for officers and with that being morally wrong and exposing the women to rape and abuse, the Reverend isn't happy about it. I might even say that the Reverend doesn't really like George very much, I'm not sure about the other men though. 

However, his next like contrasts with what I was just saying, or with what the reverend is saying, because George talk about how Jesus said female convicts should be treated with compassion and that most of the crimes the women have committed were small and petty. Not that punishable. Whilst making a point, he is cut off by Collins who seems to have heard this point being made many times and Tench goes on to say that a crime is a crime end of. 

George's next line isn't anything particularly important, he is just suggesting a word. The line after is him saying that he is for the play being put on, believing that it will benefit the convicts and goes to prove his earlier point of treating convicts with compassion. His last line is him saying to Ralph that Major Ross is extremely angry with the whole idea of a play being put on and he may come to regret it later. Actions may be taken whether it's a backlash or the cold shoulder. 

From this, I've learnt that my character is somebody who isn't present much, but he is still significant in many ways because he is part of the decision that allowed the plans for the play to be carried forward. I also think that he's quite a kind-hearted guy, though I personally disagree with him making female convicts mistresses but at the same time, it's better than doing hard labour and during those times, it was kind of merciful that they be used for that instead of hard labour. It wasn't nice, but hey.