Exploration Notes- as Level Drama and Theatre Studies- Metamorphosis and a Doll's House
Exploration Notes
1) Discuss and compare the exploration of characterisation in Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff and (A Doll’s House).
Draw your own practical understanding of the skills used including use of language and voice to portray character.
In our practical sessions of Modelling Gregor in “Metamorphosis”, we thought about how we would physically see Gregor. To do this, we had to individually create the shape of Gregor with our bodies. We all started off thinking about it really literally- “How would a beetle look?” rather than thinking about how our body represented Gregor and his feelings towards society. We then expanded on our thoughts about Gregor and then tried to empathise with him and think about how we would look if we were in his situation. My finished individual beetle was crouched/curled up on the floor on my side with my head down, hidden away- this represented Gregor’s vulnerability (a beetle on his back is helpless and cannot move, but a beetle has a hard shell which protects him; I was half and half because with my head down, I didn’t want to be seen by society and I was ashamed of what I had become however with my front/underside slightly showing, I was exposed to society and helpless but because you could see my back/shell, I was half protected by family- I think that throughout the show this would change and I would end up completely on my back because the family does end up abandoning/killing Gregor) , one of my arms was in a jerky/awkward position and the other was outstretched away from my body- the jerky arm represented Gregor changing and being abnormal and different, the outstretched arm however showed that I was reaching for someone to help and save me from what I was turning into; my legs were limp, lifeless and in an awkward shape to show that I was, again, turning into something new and weird but could not move and physically get away from it.
After we made our individual beetle, we then worked in partners and modelled
1) Discuss and compare the exploration of characterisation in Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff and (A Doll’s House).
Draw your own practical understanding of the skills used including use of language and voice to portray character.
In our practical sessions of Modelling Gregor in “Metamorphosis”, we thought about how we would physically see Gregor. To do this, we had to individually create the shape of Gregor with our bodies. We all started off thinking about it really literally- “How would a beetle look?” rather than thinking about how our body represented Gregor and his feelings towards society. We then expanded on our thoughts about Gregor and then tried to empathise with him and think about how we would look if we were in his situation. My finished individual beetle was crouched/curled up on the floor on my side with my head down, hidden away- this represented Gregor’s vulnerability (a beetle on his back is helpless and cannot move, but a beetle has a hard shell which protects him; I was half and half because with my head down, I didn’t want to be seen by society and I was ashamed of what I had become however with my front/underside slightly showing, I was exposed to society and helpless but because you could see my back/shell, I was half protected by family- I think that throughout the show this would change and I would end up completely on my back because the family does end up abandoning/killing Gregor) , one of my arms was in a jerky/awkward position and the other was outstretched away from my body- the jerky arm represented Gregor changing and being abnormal and different, the outstretched arm however showed that I was reaching for someone to help and save me from what I was turning into; my legs were limp, lifeless and in an awkward shape to show that I was, again, turning into something new and weird but could not move and physically get away from it.
After we made our individual beetle, we then worked in partners and modelled