Project Proposal

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui – Project Proposal

A review of your progress and achievement to date.

Since the beginning of the course I feel I have learnt so many acting techniques, from Stanislavsky, Epic theatre, Theatre of Cruelty and Chekhov, and I feel these practitioners have all helped me to become a more rounded actor, and I feel confident with my abilities. An example is from our last play, Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, I played a woman pretending to be a man, and this was the first time I had played a male part in a long time, ever since I began at College I always played female parts so being cast as Viola in Shakespeare, made me much more confident with my abilities as I feel I succeeded in my role as Viola and I learnt much more about how to change my physicality, so knowing that in Arturo Ui, most of the characters are male, I feel like I can succeed playing a male role, whereas before, I would of been very sceptical of this idea. Brecht plays are very physical and contain a lot of movement, and I feel my movement skills have become much stronger, ever since we did Dracula I feel my physical skills as an actor have improved, as I found a natural strength in Naturalism, which is not a very physical style of acting, so I feel Dracula, which was inspired by Theatre of Cruelty, bought me out of my comfort zone and helped me break through my body and become more physical. So I feel much more prepared for this play as I feel I have developed as a physical actor, and have become more confident than I was last year.

A proposal for your production and performance roles within the play.

PERFORMANCE ROLES (I have updated this as my characters changed) Who have you been cast as? I have been cast as Betty Dullfeet, Dockdaisy and Sheet. What happens to this character? Betty Dullfeet: Betty is Ignatius Dullfeet's wife, who is a news reporter, and writes stories about Ui and his men. Ui does not like Dullfeet, and he is very cautious of the couple. Betty is a strong woman, but she loses her husband in scene 13, and her character changes dramatically, she becomes weaker and very distressed, whereas in scene 10 and 12 she is very upbeat and positive, she supports her husband, as he is a very nervous and timid character, she is definitely the strength in their relationship. She eventually at the end of the play succumbs to Ui's plan, and ends up supporting him, even though he murdered her husband. So Betty goes through a lot of emotions and change in the play. Dockdaisy: This character is very funny, and I really enjoy playing her. I was an understudy for this character, but when Jade left, I took over her role. Dockdaisy is a young drunk woman who is very light hearted and flirtatious, she is having an affair with Givola and lies for Ui and his men on two occasions and does not seem to have a care in the world. She is the opposite of Betty, which is fun for me as I can play around with both characters. Nothing drastic happens to Dockdaisy in the play, she is seen in scene 3, 7 and 8, drunk and behaving inappropriately, she does not suffer upset or loss like Betty, she is just like a puppet for Ui and Givola, and they use her to make themselves look better in public. Sheet: Sheet is a male part, and he is an accountant type character for the Cauliflower trust, he is an "honest" business man, I think most of the characters are quite dodgy, but Sheet is not a gangster and does not have anything to do with Ui. Sheet is only seen in scene 1B, and his character is quite serious, yet sarcastic. In this scene, he is with Flake, and there is tension between the two men, as they are worried about the Trust and what Ui will do. Sheet is only seen briefly at the beginning, and then in scene 5 it is announced that Sheet has been found dead in his hotel room. So Sheet has clearly been murdered by Ui and his men because they did not like him, and in scene 1b, Sheet says to Flake, Ui needs to be stopped and fast. Sheet is branded a "gangster" by Ui, which is a clear lie. but Ui never admits to killing him, even though everyone knows he did. Sheet is a good man, but is killed for his opinion about Ui and his men. Sheet also owns dockyards, which again, attracted Ui to him. What acting skills do you need to play them? As the play is Brechtian I will need to apply the Brecht epic theatre skills to both my characters . I need to make sure to not use naturalism as I find naturalistic acting enjoyable and quite easy, I will have to work hard to not apply this skill to my characters. Epic theatre skills enable the actor to portray the idea that the character is NOT real to the audience. I need to have versatility skills as I am playing more than one character, which is new for me as in all the other shows we have performed I have Always played the same character throughout. Another skill I will have to use is physical theatre skills. For example, I am playing a woman and a man, so I will have to work on my physicality as I will have to have a physical difference for all my characters, I cannot keep the same pace and body language for all my characters. "The quotable gest" is another Brecht acting technique I have been using for my characters. It helps the audience distinguish my different characters, and also makes my performance stronger, as I will have completely different gests and physicality's for all my characters. For example, for Betty, I feel she is very grounded and strong, so her gests are sharp and sustained, whereas Dockdaisy is very ditzy and seems younger than Betty, so her gests are more light and free, she breezes around  the stage and always seems drunk, so her movements are very airy and she sways quite a lot when she walks. Sheet is a man, so my physicality of him is completely different, he walks with a jump in his step, and I have been working hard on my entrance for this scene, as I want the audience to see me entering as a man and not as a woman playing a man. Sheet is serious, but  sarcastic but he is also stressed in this scene, so my gests for him are quite stylised and sharp, he is holding a brief case in this scene and his free arm is quite sustained, sometimes in his pocket, scratching his chin, adjusting his tie, I want his movements to be choreographed in this scene, and I can repeat these three gests throughout the scene. What about the role interests you? Betty Dullfeet interests me because she is one of the only female "main" characters. There are only two female roles in the play and I have been cast as both of them, which I am really happy about! Betty is a strong character as she is involved with the gangster crime world and is not kept in the dark from her husband who is a reporter but he is somewhat involved in the gangster world and is disliked by ui , which proves to me that she is a clever woman and is not just a house wife, which back in those days, most women probably were. Betty is opinionated and gutsy, and stands up to Ui in scene 13, which is the funeral of Dullfeet. All of the characters I am playing interest me, as they are all very different from each other and come from different backgrounds and situations. Betty interests me the most out of Sheet and Dockdaisy as she is the most complex and her characters goes through a timeline of emotions in this play, whereas the other two characters do not show much emotion, as Dockdaisy is acting throughout, as she is lying for Ui so we never see HER real emotions or character, and Sheet is killed off very quickly, so we never get to explore his character or background. Why will you be good at the role? I think I will be good at playing Betty Dullfeet as I have played strong female characters in the past and I do tend to be cast as these types of characters very much, which is a good thing as I am good at playing them and I enjoy playing these types of women. Betty Dullfeet definitely has a dark side which interests me even more about her character, as plain female characters with no edges do not interest me and I would be bored playing these types, but characters like Betty, who are definitely very strong, edgy and brave. Which is everything I like in a character so I will be good at playing her role as I can portray this very well. And will have fun playing her. I feel playing Dockdaisy is refreshing for me, as she is not serious at all, and is the opposite to Betty, so the audience will see me playing two completely different women, and I have really pushed myself hard to make sure the two characters are not similar at all, or that I do not slip into the same physicality when playing both characters, which I feel I have achieved. Playing Sheet, is really fun and I enjoy playing a man, I am happy that I get the opportunity to play both females and a male in the play, as it is widening my acting abilities and it portrays to the audience and my teachers that I am a versatile actor, and particularly in this play, I use three different physicality's.  - What is the job you would like to propose yourself for? Set design - What are the main responsibilities for this role? Making sure the theme for the audience area is effective and relevant, the staging design and layout fits the theme. Researching the 1930's and applying this to the theme of the hall. Being in charge of how the hall will look on the show night and the layout of seating. - What do you think are the main personal attributes needed to be successful in this role? To be creative and artistic, which I feel I am, and I am interested in interior design which makes me feel more interested in this role, as I love to make any space look good by using whatever I can. I feel I will need to be thorough in order to succeed and make sure there is continuity, so the staging matches the audience. I will also need to be patient and make sure that everyone likes the ideas I have. - What about the role interests you? It interests me because I have a strong interest in art and interior design and I feel this role interests me the most out of all of them as I already have an interest in this area, and I already have idea's for the show. I want to create a speakeasy cabaret theme for the audience, and have VIP seating on the floor as well as  the usual roster audience set out. I also want to have jazz music playing in the background, and to have a bar at the back selling wine, which we normally have anyway. It interests me as well as I love to create an atmosphere in spaces and I feel we will all be able to create the speakeasy theme in the hall, it is quite bland and wooden, so we will need to use coloured materials, table cloths, candles, music, empty wine bottles, dimmed lighting, lampshades and possibly rugs on the floor. These are some ideas I have had already. - Why would you be good at the role? I feel I would be good at the role as I mentioned before I have an interest in interior design and I am creative and come from an artistic family background. I am also realistic, and I know that the hall will not be able to look like a perfect speakeasy, but I know that we can all work together and make the hall look different and effective. I have quite a quirky style when it comes to interior and art, so I will have to make sure that my ideas suit everybody and will make everyone happy. I feel interior design comes naturally for me, so I will be good at this role as I already feel confident about it and have had some ideas.

A rationale that explains why these roles are the most appropriate for you and support the production as a whole.

Production roles: The role of set design is the most appropriate for me because I am very creative, and I come from an artistic family background and have a strong interest in Interior design, I have thought a lot about a career in interior design/property development so I feel this role is the most beneficial for me, as it will give me a chance to prove that I have good ideas, and I know how to make the most of the space. I also feel it will support the whole performance as I have knowledge of set/interior design, I am genuinely interested in the role, so I won't just be doing it because I have to, its because I want to. I feel I have a lot of creative idea's to give to the performance, as I have already been thinking of ways to create the 1930's feel for the audience and for staging. I think I will be focusing more on the design for the hall and the audience area's, as the stage is mainly for props, montage and visual arts, which are all roles that have already been assigned.  I am able to give creative and artistic ideas, and will use whatever I can to create the speakeasy theme I am very strong with researching and then applying my research to my work and ideas, so this will benefit the production as a whole as my ideas for the speakeasy theem will be realistic and very precise, my class will trust my research techniques and will know that I have not just made the idea's up, I have documented my research of speakeasy's, fashion and the 1930's in my blogs Performance roles: My characters are a good choice for me because, it gives me the opportunity to develop my skills on playing a male character even further, and to continue becoming more confident and strong in my physicalities. I have a lot of experience with playing strong women, so Betty Dullfeet is a great character for me, as she is strong, grounded, witty and brave. Me playing Betty definitely supports the whole production as I am experienced with playing these types of characters, I am confident with my abilities to pull off this role, which will make the performance stronger I feel I am stronger at playing women rather than men, so having been cast as the two female parts in the whole play is appropriate for me, and I am able to play both these characters to the best of my abilty and I can make distinct character choices for both of the women, so they are not similar in anyway.

Your brief interpretation of the play and a proposed staging.

I have been watching the play on youtube, it is in 4 parts. I have ordered my copy of the play but as I wait for it to be delivered I have been watching the full play. I like that the play has comical elements to it and is not all SO serious, as the plays themes and objectives are quite dark and dangerous. The play explores gangsters and the rise of Arturo, who is shown as a visually comical character, as he is not scary to look at, but he has the dark traits of Hitler and becomes obsessed with power and controlling others. I feel Brecht has used this characterisation on purpose, as it adds humour and unpredictability from Arturo, but also I feel Brecht is being honest, as Arturo was not always a gangster, he is expressed as quite nerdy and not intimidating at the beginning, similar to Hitler, as he lived a bohemian lifestyle as a water colour painter, and then become involved with politics and formed the Nazi party. I am looking forward to reading the play so I can form my own interpretations of the play, the political meanings and the characters. I can tell already that I would like to perform this play in a more dark and disturbing way, and not make it too comical, as the historical events that are portrayed through this play were very serious and Hitler killed thousands of people, and this needs to be emphasised through the play. To me it has a deeper meaning if it is performed in a serious dramatic way, rather than a comical way. Comedy kind of takes the power away from performances like this in my opinion. The play is very politial, and contains deep meanings about society, and Brecht clearly felt very strongly about comunnity and politics. The play is a dark satire of Hitler's rise, and mainly focuses on Hitler's "rise" and not his reign in power. Brecht is showing how Hitler came from nothing, and used the public in order to gain more power, he manipulated the public eye and made them believe he was trying to help them, but all he wanted was to become more and more powerful and to enforce corrupt laws and use harsh methods of punishment on people who did not follow him. The play is highlighting how Hitler influenced many people, and was quite mentally unstable, especially towards the end. The play is quite comical in parts, but it is mainly very dark and serious. Most of the characters in the play are real life people, I have gone into more detail about these characters in my blog, but a few examples of public figures that are portrayed in the play are, Paul Von Hinderburg(Dogsborough) Joseph Goebells(Givola) Betty Dullfeet(Alwine Dullfuss) and Ignatius Dullfeet(Engelbert Dollfuss) My first thoughts of the staging would be to use the main stage AND the rosterer, to mix it up and keep it versatile for the audience and actors. I would shy away from using the main stage too much, as the sound is not very good on the main stage and this play highlights important topics, so every word needs to be heard. I would also like to use the audience space as a stage as well, I think it would be interesting to use the floor, like we did in Dracula and Playhouse creatures, and also to act quite close to the audience, like have scenes with character entering and exiting through the audience.

How you will evaluate and review your progress in the project.

I will evaluate my progress by constantly self relfecting after every lesson/rehearsal, and then documenting my self reflection in my blogs. I will also use videos, to evaluate my progress in my characters after rehearsals, so I can SEE what I need to change and what I am doing well. I will evaluate my production roles in my blogs, by sharing the ideas I am having for the set design in my blogs, and then checking back on my blogs and seeing if I achieved this or not. I want to set myself and the group targets in my blogs, so I have an aim to work towards everyday for my roles. I feel this helped me a lot when rehearsing for Dracula last year, so I feel it will definitely help with this play as well, because Dracula was very physical and epic, similar to Arturo Ui. I feel another good way for me to evaluate myself is to hear other peoples opinions on my progress, so I will ask my class mates how the feel my characterisation is coming along, or how they feel I am doing in my production roles.