OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD
For this essay i will be talking about the themes e.g. language, characterisation etc. in the play our country's good by Timberlake Wertenbaker.
Language:
In one of our workshops we had to try and understand how the language is used within the scene and how we could use the language to interpreted the relationship between John Wisehammer and Mary.
The challenges of staging this scene in relation to language was trying to show how the relationship developed throughout the scene e.g. it starts with Wisehammer basically talking to him and in the Mary acknowledges him and they form a relationship.
Wisehammer is trying to signify to Mary that he likes her but Mary doesn't acknowledge this e.g "Wisehammer: Friend That's a good word. short, but full of promise." But Mary Just ignores this and carrys on reading her script. It also seems that Wisehammer is a bit desperate has he trying so many ways to get Mary's attention.
Wisehammer also seems to talk about words that relate to the convicts which is ironic has the play is about convicts e.g. guilty and innocent which signify's that Wisehammer and Mary believe that some of the convicts are wrongly accused or that some of them deserve to be their for the crimes they have committed. aslo Wisehammer could be using words such as injustice as a way to make Mary and the audience believe he is innocent but Mary is challenging this by saying such things as guilty.
With the language used throughout the play their is signs of Breacht and Stanislavski. For example in scene 11 Side way states that you shouldn't be natural on a stage "Natural! On stage! But Mr Clark!" this is Brecht.
Non Verbal Communication :
In Act 2 Scene 6 their is a strong part of the play where friendship, status and pride take part at once. These are the main themes of the play and they are shown with next to no verbal communication. I personally think this is the strongest part of the play because Liz has her reputation and pride to keep, Which she doesn't show with verbal communication but body language and facial expressions instead. Through out the play Liz looks down on Ketch and sees him has a bad person because of his job within the camp. But in this scene with a small gesture a bit of friendship i shown between her and Ketch. In our workshop we had to show how we interpreted Liz and how she would keep her pride. we thought that the most important bit which we showed was at the end of the scene when she was willing to give up her pride and status so she could be part of the play.
Vocal awareness :
when i performed this in one of my workshops i tried to use my tone and pace to show how lonely and sexually frustrated Ralph his. I also use a pause so it allowed the audience to soak in all the feelings Ralph is going through.
. Throughout the scene Ralph is going through lots of different emotions and he shows this by is pace ("Ralph's tent. candlelight. Ralph paces") also one thing i pick from this part of the play is that he only mentions is son in one line "I hope to god that their is nothing the matter with you my tender Alicia or that of our boy" this makes it look like he he doesn't care about his son.
Characterisation:
Their is a lot of mixed personality going on in the play 'Our Countrys Good' At the start of the play the officers argue about how the convicts should be punished/treated, but at the same time they are shooting birds which is very ironic because they are talking about being humane. E.g Captain Arthur Phillip believes the convicts should be educated by theatre. But the other officers disagree e.g. Collins believed that hanging was the best option. The characterisation on the convicts side is shown in a similar way they all disagree with each other and none of them like each other. This is in the beginning but throughout the play you see relationships form which you wouldn't expect. For example Ketch is disliked by all the convicts because of the job he has been given which he personally hates and all the convicts look down on him,But later on in the play you find out that the convicts start to like him.
In one of our workshops we worked on the opening scene and we showed by levels and movement who had the higher authority this changed throughout the scene and this helped us understand what these characters was.
Social,Historical,Cultural context
Crime and punishment has changed a lot since 1450. In the 15th and 17th century whipping was still used a lot to set a public example to warn of other people from committing crimes.Their was also punishments called public showing which got the public involved e.g. a criminal would be locked in a a wooden plank with legs and the public would throw things like rocks and fruit at them this is also known as a public humiliation. Members of the public would see this as a form of entertainment. Towards the beginning of the 1900s the shaming punishment was out of use so was whipping. Transportation to Australia was a lot more common than what it use to be.
This Historical background relates to the play because the convicts in the play are transported to Australia and also their are some stupid punishments given to people e.g. "Their is also Dorothy,82, who stole a biscuit" this woman was put up for hanging. their is also the sign of the public entertainment shown in the play "the sooner the better i believe their is much excitement in the colony"
In my workshop we did a group debate about how crimes and punishment have change through the years and if we agreed with the punishments that was given personally i had mixed opinions. than we formed a split stage of a modern day court and a 19th century court and we showed what we thought had changed. Doing this activity helped me understand how much crimes and punishment have changed.(1185)
The Visual,Aural and spatial elements:
My set is their to show how the living standards and the environment was. Also added features such as rope to show that they are basically castaways and theirs no way back. The bars are their to remind them and the audience they are convicts. its also their to make the officers they are basally convicts with power.
Interpretation:
we had to perform harry speech in the way that we interpreted it. I saw it as a desperate unstable man I tried to show this in my speech and my movements e.g. when he started hearing voices I would drop to the floor and curl into a ball and show that stereo typical crazy person. I also see that Duckling is his only comfort so when he speaks of her it is ant in a nasty way but a desperate way. also at times he would go on a aggressive rant.
The Response To A Practitioner:
Their is signs of both work of practitioners within the play of our country's good. the fact that its a play in a play makes it very Stanislavski as it is natural because you see a play forming. the staging is very Brecht as you can see them move the staging and that is unnatural. personally i believe Stanislavski
approach would be better for this play because it can relate to real life events and i personalty believe that a Brecht approach wouldn't work.
Word Count: 1361
Wisehammer also seems to talk about words that relate to the convicts which is ironic has the play is about convicts e.g. guilty and innocent which signify's that Wisehammer and Mary believe that some of the convicts are wrongly accused or that some of them deserve to be their for the crimes they have committed. aslo Wisehammer could be using words such as injustice as a way to make Mary and the audience believe he is innocent but Mary is challenging this by saying such things as guilty.
With the language used throughout the play their is signs of Breacht and Stanislavski. For example in scene 11 Side way states that you shouldn't be natural on a stage "Natural! On stage! But Mr Clark!" this is Brecht.
Non Verbal Communication :
In Act 2 Scene 6 their is a strong part of the play where friendship, status and pride take part at once. These are the main themes of the play and they are shown with next to no verbal communication. I personally think this is the strongest part of the play because Liz has her reputation and pride to keep, Which she doesn't show with verbal communication but body language and facial expressions instead. Through out the play Liz looks down on Ketch and sees him has a bad person because of his job within the camp. But in this scene with a small gesture a bit of friendship i shown between her and Ketch. In our workshop we had to show how we interpreted Liz and how she would keep her pride. we thought that the most important bit which we showed was at the end of the scene when she was willing to give up her pride and status so she could be part of the play.
Vocal awareness :
. Throughout the scene Ralph is going through lots of different emotions and he shows this by is pace ("Ralph's tent. candlelight. Ralph paces") also one thing i pick from this part of the play is that he only mentions is son in one line "I hope to god that their is nothing the matter with you my tender Alicia or that of our boy" this makes it look like he he doesn't care about his son.
Characterisation:
Their is a lot of mixed personality going on in the play 'Our Countrys Good' At the start of the play the officers argue about how the convicts should be punished/treated, but at the same time they are shooting birds which is very ironic because they are talking about being humane. E.g Captain Arthur Phillip believes the convicts should be educated by theatre. But the other officers disagree e.g. Collins believed that hanging was the best option. The characterisation on the convicts side is shown in a similar way they all disagree with each other and none of them like each other. This is in the beginning but throughout the play you see relationships form which you wouldn't expect. For example Ketch is disliked by all the convicts because of the job he has been given which he personally hates and all the convicts look down on him,But later on in the play you find out that the convicts start to like him.
In one of our workshops we worked on the opening scene and we showed by levels and movement who had the higher authority this changed throughout the scene and this helped us understand what these characters was.
Social,Historical,Cultural context
Crime and punishment has changed a lot since 1450. In the 15th and 17th century whipping was still used a lot to set a public example to warn of other people from committing crimes.Their was also punishments called public showing which got the public involved e.g. a criminal would be locked in a a wooden plank with legs and the public would throw things like rocks and fruit at them this is also known as a public humiliation. Members of the public would see this as a form of entertainment. Towards the beginning of the 1900s the shaming punishment was out of use so was whipping. Transportation to Australia was a lot more common than what it use to be.
This Historical background relates to the play because the convicts in the play are transported to Australia and also their are some stupid punishments given to people e.g. "Their is also Dorothy,82, who stole a biscuit" this woman was put up for hanging. their is also the sign of the public entertainment shown in the play "the sooner the better i believe their is much excitement in the colony"
In my workshop we did a group debate about how crimes and punishment have change through the years and if we agreed with the punishments that was given personally i had mixed opinions. than we formed a split stage of a modern day court and a 19th century court and we showed what we thought had changed. Doing this activity helped me understand how much crimes and punishment have changed.(1185)
The Visual,Aural and spatial elements:
My set is their to show how the living standards and the environment was. Also added features such as rope to show that they are basically castaways and theirs no way back. The bars are their to remind them and the audience they are convicts. its also their to make the officers they are basally convicts with power.
Interpretation:
we had to perform harry speech in the way that we interpreted it. I saw it as a desperate unstable man I tried to show this in my speech and my movements e.g. when he started hearing voices I would drop to the floor and curl into a ball and show that stereo typical crazy person. I also see that Duckling is his only comfort so when he speaks of her it is ant in a nasty way but a desperate way. also at times he would go on a aggressive rant.
The Response To A Practitioner:
Their is signs of both work of practitioners within the play of our country's good. the fact that its a play in a play makes it very Stanislavski as it is natural because you see a play forming. the staging is very Brecht as you can see them move the staging and that is unnatural. personally i believe Stanislavski
approach would be better for this play because it can relate to real life events and i personalty believe that a Brecht approach wouldn't work.
Word Count: 1361
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