Q1) What social, cultural and political themes are contained in the plays? Are they meaningful to both current and original audiences?
A1) The social themes in Electra are family issues and mental illness. In Electra, we watch a family which is broken, due to their father's death. Instead of acting rationally and resolving the problems, the play exploits extreme brutality - a brother and sister murdering their own mother and stepfather. The social theme of mental illness is treated both sensitively and harshly in the play. The sensitivity is shown by Electra's supporters: Orestes, Chorus, Old Man. The harshness is shown by Electra's rejecters: Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Chrysothemis (occasionally).
In a contemporary mindset, family issues are still very much existent, like how a mother and daughter would bicker, however it is rare for an argument to end in either person inflicting physical pain on the other. This means a current audience would most likely find this shocking, whilst an original audience would find it fairly normal. The original audience of Electra would have witnessed many other tragedy plays, like Medea - another play which involves family murder. Furthermore, myths were also popular in Ancient Greece, which are often of a dark context. Mental illness is something which is becoming increasingly aware to the public in modern times, meaning a current audience would find it hard watching the harsh characters lash at Electra. On the other hand, for an original audience, they would have had no knowledge of the illness and therefore almost accepts Clytemnestra's attitude and behaviour towards her daughter.
The main social theme in Dr. Faustus is that the protagonist goes against the 'norm' (society) in his belief that religion is essentially a myth. Another social idea within the play is the superiority of figures, this being the voice of God through characters like the Old Man and the voice of a devil in Mephastophilis. For a modern audience, Dr. Faustus' daring ways would be supported by some; atheism has become a more popular belief, meaning people no longer fear not having a faith. In contrast to this is the original audience. In a time where religion rules society, the people watching would have lent to disliking Faustus purely because his belief would not have matched theirs.
The cultural theme in Electra is mainly Orestes following tradition. In Ancient Greece, it was the son's responsibility to avenge for their father, hence Orestes' actions in the play. A modern audience could understand this by relating it to the mafia. Similarly, the original audience would have understood Orestes' actions. The cultural theme in Faustus is his astonishing intelligence and supposed 'magical powers'. For both audiences, his magic would have been enticing.
The political themes in Electra is the way genders are presented. Sexism is tackled in the play as Electra cannot carry out her mother's murder, due to her gender - women weren't allowed to avenge in Greek times. From a modern audience member perspective, I personally think if Electra wants to commit murder she shouldn't have to rely on her brother to do her dirty work. A political theme in Faustus is his and the overall conflict between good and evil. In 21st century terms, it is a play which shows the battle between head and heart.
Q2) How did you tackle the play's language practically?
A2) I tackled the language practically by working close with my chorus cast members, figuring out as much as we could alone. Otherwise, we asked Rachel or used the internet. To break down the language, we attempted to translate it to modern day language, in hope of getting a better understanding and therefore produce a more confident delivery of dialogue. I found doing Faustus beforehand helpful because I had gained some familiarity with the classical language. Also, my studies in English Literature have assisted me in tackling the dialogue as I have analysed it and gained a depth understanding.
Q3) What did you do to ensure you were fully appreciating the context of the plays?
A3) To show my appreciation for the context of the plays I paid close attention to the performance of Electra at The Old Vic, by making notes. By paying close attention, I was able to find traits in the actors which I would want to include in my own interpretation. As well as this, I thoroughly researched both plays and their time periods.
Q4) What vocal and movement skills did you use to create your performance?
Firstly, the vocal and movement skills we applied were very current.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-GvT8Clnk&list=PLbNPljg6lLxl88Xof1YlOWCgev0gvVsi- - Opening Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Z_YXajCgY
Moon Asked The Crow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqKcW8t0lLM - Closing Song
Above are the links to the songs which were performed by the chorus in Electra. Due to the weird genre of music, the songs were hard to grasp initially. Singing through 'Glory Box', we found that the key was challenging for us all, which led to us singing it through acapella. This proved a lot better for us all as we were able to rearrange the key and also add harmonies. This song opened the show and I think the song being acapella made it an effective opening to a play. The chorus members sat with the audience and walked out of this position as the song progressed. This was good because I think it made the audience feel more involved, which in consequence made them more interested in the piece. The second song - 'Moon Asked The Crow' - was when the play took a dark/creepy turn. Like 'Glory Box', the original recording of the track was difficult to adapt. In this case, we whispered and sang. The whispery tone of our voices added to the discomfort we were trying to get the audience to feel. This song also contained the most movement, which mainly consisted of crawling and swaying - acting slow and controlled. The last song closed the show. I came up with a harmony on the chorus, which was higher than the tune, which gave it a kick, hence a gloomier atmosphere.
The main key for our movement was to keep it slow. Holding tension was a challenge because it felt like it may have bored the audience or appeared overly exaggerated. A lot of the time, the chorus improvised, following Electra and interacting with the audience (me and Sax at the start of Act 2.) Nevertheless, we still gave ourselves set sections onstage - a corner each. This was good for when we weren't the sole dialogue. From the chorus workshop, we incorporated the shoal of fish technique, which proved effective when gossiping or panicking as a whole group.
Q5) What were the intentions for your character?
What I had to keep in mind was that I was the stubborn and openly honest friend of Electra's. This was difficult because Electra endures so much despair, making you want to comfort her. There were obviously moments of comfort I participated in but I sometimes found myself confused of whether I should be supportive and friendly or cold and brutal. A main intention for all chorus members was to creep the audience out. This evolved as the play went on and Electra got madder.
Q6) Did you tackle your role with confidence?
I believe that I did tackle my role with confidence, despite the amount of obstacles. The main obstacle was how choppy my lines were. This was challenging because I had to learn a lot of cues from all the different characters. To make sure the lines were nailed, the Chorus rehearsed with Electra alone and also the Sisters. Furthermore, I found it difficult to understand what my dialogue meant; it felt like some of my lines were plucked out of nowhere, in the middle of scenes. On the other hand, I was confident in my ability to balance my individual moments of madness and numbness. An example of a numb moment is the aftermath of the news of Orestes' death, my line came after Magic's long speech, which I delivered softly yet in a stutter type fashion. This shows my vocal skills because in later on Act 3, I quickly shouted at Electra 'Haste with what speed ye may, stand on the doorway' and acted instructive.
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