Oh! What a Lovely War

WW1 was a war which many know it as where “Lions were led by Donkeys”. Propaganda was an essential way the government got men to enlist, propaganda was just full of lies and ways of deceiving people out of there money and telling them to donate their savings to supposedly give the soldiers better living conditions when in reality the were just buying more weapons and paying for more propaganda. Most of the time men went in blindly with just little information given by the government which comes back to the point “Lions led by Donkeys”.

The image above shows a letter written by a soldier to a loved one, this could represent possibly the last time said loved one could have received a letter from the soldier. this letter could be used as a stimuli to represent how propaganda about WW1 was all fake and how life in the army was not the ideal life.

MAIN IDEA: The main idea of our final performed piece is to get the message across that the propaganda and the generals depicted war as a privilege and said that you were likely not to die and would come home safe when in the reality of things being part of the army was the worst thing due to the conditions. For example the trenches were of poor conditions, they stank of dead bodies, they were muddy and infested with rats as well as causing trench foot which made matters worse when it came to fighting. Being a part of the army also came with the terrible treatment the soldiers got from the generals and/or commanders. To present these facts we are using the protagonist to write a letter to a family member describing all the negatives of war and how propaganda was all a lie.

CHARACTERS:

Present: Jose (narrator & present protagonist) – my job is to act as if I was just told to go over the top (leave the trench and enter no mans land) and to start writing a letter to my mother describing how I feel and start talking about my past (acted out by Karver followed by a soliloquy/ spoken thought) i then resume talking about how I miss my past and how I miss wanting to be a hero, I then changed drastically to talking about where I am going to end up once I go over the top and start about being dead and talking about seeing my mother at a funeral (acted out by Karver followed by a soliloquy/ spoken thought)

Past and Future: Karver (child protagonist & dead protagonist)

DRAMATIC TECHNIQUES: We will create dramatic techniques by using Past, Present and Future scenes to create the sense of a flashback as well as being able to present the audience with a visual representation of what the main protagonist feels, we will also be using light and audio to create a more effective visual effect to create the effect of pathetic fallacy.

REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES:

• getting into character (few minutes eyes closed and put yourself in that situation)
• both people saying the same line with the same emotion and physicality get into the same character

STORY BOARD:

• Soldier is told that he will be going over the top
• Has moments of panics
• Grabs his booklet and starts writing a letter to his mother
• He then mentions his past which moves on to a different person playing a younger version of him
• The person playing the past is playing with army figures and leads on to give a soliloquy
• Then the main soldier starts talking again finishing of talking about his past
• He then moves on to his future
• The same person that played his past is now playing his future which is him dead at his funeral
• He then gets up and gives a soliloquy and lays back down
• The main soldier starts speaking again and mentions its his time to go and leaves the book behind on the empty stage… Showing its significance.

Significance of ‘A Christmas Carol’ book: The use of this book is to portray a protagonist living in the present and looking back at his past and looking into his future.

CUE LIST
AUDIO & LIGHTS
Wait to hear line, “YES SIR!” (jose):
Fade into red light
(MAINTAIN RED LIGHT)
Wait to hear line, “I can just remember when I was a kid” (jose):
Fade into complete darkness
When heart beat noises begin during the darkness:
Flash red light correspondingly to the heartbeats (8 beats)
Wait to hear heavy breathing:
Fade into white fully & partially blue
Once Karver has completed his soliloquy and sits:
Play propaganda radio wav.
Once the audio stops :
Fade down white and fade up red
(MAINTAIN RED)
Wait to hear line, “I dont want see myself after this…”:
Fade from red into fully white & blue
Once karver has sat down after soliloquy:
Play lost post wav.
Once audio finishes:
Fade all lights into red
Once jose has finishes his soliloquy and rips letter out and puts book down:
Fade the lights completely black
Play gun shot sounds (flash white lights to re-crete gun flashes)
Wait 10secs after audio stops:
Fade white light on
(MAINTAIN FOR 10 SECONDS)
Fade into complete darkness

After having done dressed rehearsals I have learnt that I must develop how I present my emotions through actions, I have also learnt that I must have what I am going to talk about memorised. After doing dressed rehearsals I have learnt that communication is key and must have good communication with my partner.