Louise Ansell

Supporting written evidence

Our stimulus was the play Not the end of the world written by Geraldine Mccaughrean and
adapted by Simon Reade. It was first performed at The Bristol Old Vic in 2006.

As a group we researched into the historical context of the play, and where the writer found
her inspiration. We looked through the Bible and found the original story of Noah and the Ark.
After this we read the foreword in the play, written by the playwright. We found this of great
interest as it begins to explain her thoughts and feelings towards the traditional Bible story
and how it is always shown as beautiful and happy time, where God helped to save the
people from a flood. By reading this foreword and the original story it helped us to confirm our
own opinions about the traditional story of Noah and the Ark. It made us question what it
would have really been like to have been aboard a wooden boat, filled with two animals from
every species, whilst there was a natural disaster. We wanted to communicate this message
to the audience.

After reading through the play and our initial research we decided to create a piece that would
help question the traditional Bible story and alter the view of the audience. The play itself
deals with the issues the people would have faced on board the ark, had the story been true.
It focuses on the character Shem, a hubristic religious fanatic, who interprets Gods word to
suit his needs. As a group we agreed that the scenes which contained humans would remain
naturalistic and the animal scenes would be kept highly symbolic and un-naturalistic, in order
to juxtapose the tragedy in a satirical way.

During the devising process I made the decision to do my own research, in an aim to find out
what other peoples view of the Ark was. This was of particular interest as it meant I was able
to find out more about some peoples fanatical views of the Bible. It also made me question
whether I thought the story was real or not. I found a particularly interesting website where it
claimed that the size of the average animal was about the size of a sheep. This research
proved to me that people will conjure up crazy and fanatical ideas in order to try and make
their religion make sense.

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In our piece we made the decision to eliminate four of the characters; Ham, Sarai, Japheth
and Zillah. We decided this would be best as we felt that the two strongest and most fanatical
male figures were Noah and Shem, and we wanted to highlight the inequality and sexism on
the ship. We chose to keep Bashemath, Timna and Ama as they seemed to be the weaker
women; Bashemath is controlled by her husband, Ama does as Noah says, and Timna is
alone in her thoughts.

Noah Ama
Bashemath Sarai Zillah
Shem Ham
Japheth
Timna
Louise Ansell

I played the character of Bashemath; a woman who is very anxious of her husband Shem as
he regularly beats her.
When characterising Bashemath, I considered proxemics in relationship to Shem. I ensured
that Bashemath kept her distance from Shem, to convey that their relationship was crumbling.
To show Bashemaths nervous disposition, I made sure that I was constantly moving, for
example shuffling on the spot, or wringing my hands. To convey this anxiety further,
whenever there was a loud noise, or someone shouted, I made sure that I jumped or looked
frightened. This helped to show the audience that Bashemath had been scarred and
traumatised by Shem, as any sudden movement or noise reminded her that Shem may be
near.
Whilst devising we decided to participate in a warm up that involved using the seven tension
levels as proposed by the Theatre de Complicite. By doing this warm up, we found we could
use the tension levels to characterise ourselves. By using a higher tension level it enabled me
to characterise Bashemath as insecure and anxious. I also used non-verbal communication
throughout the piece to create my character. I made sure that I kept eye contact with Shem to
prove that Bashemath was watching his every move, and was prepared for the next beating.
This eye contact also helps to communicate that Bashemath was waiting for Shems guidance
or orders.
I used facial expression throughout to communicate how Bashemath was feeling. When with
Shem, I made sure that I had a forced smile on my face, to show that Bashemath was
covering up her true feelings. However, when with Timna or Ama, I made sure that my smile,
or laugh was true, to portray that I felt safer around them. This is shown in the line Yes Im
sure the lions will love that which I said jokingly, to convey that Bashemath felt comfortable
and is friendly with Ama and Timna. I changed the tone of my voice when Shem entered and
Bashemath said the line Did you hear our pact Shem I delivered this line with a shaky voice
and stumbled over my words. This is juxtaposes the mood when Bashemath is around friends
and proves how frightened she really is.
When delivering lines such as God gave your father mastery over you, and so far hes
stopped short of killing you. I say this is in a sarcastic tone to communicate that I am mocking
what Shem has said. This shows how Bashemath doesnt share the same fanatical views as
Shem. However when she is around him, she agrees with him to avoid getting beaten.
When speaking to Shem I increased the pace at which I spoke to convey that Bashemath was
scared to talk in front of Shem and was worried about expressing her views or opinions. I
changed my vocals in order to characterise Bashemath as an anxious woman. I made sure
my voice was quiet when speaking round Shem and a normal volume when talking around
the women.
When performing Bashemaths monologue I wanted to release her emotions and generate a
catharsis of her inner feelings. At the end of the monologue Bashemath is cleaning the deck
of the Ark whilst Shem stands over her and watches. This use of levels helps to communicate
and reinforce Shems views that men are better than women. By looking at the ground and
obverting eye contact it showed that Bashemath was fed up of being treated this way, and
didnt wish to look at Shem.

I also play the Rabbit in the scene Day of the Rabbit.
I made the decision to characterise the Rabbit as an evil dictator in order to exaggerate and
mimic the fanatical and fundamentalist views of Shem.
I decided to use a German accent as I believed that using a stereotype would remind the
audience of familiar situations where fanatical beliefs have taken over. I also think that this
accent has a harsh tone, and sounds authoritarian, which is how I wanted the audience to
view the Rabbit.
By lowering the intonation and slowing the pace during most sentences it helped to
characterise the Rabbit as an evil and dark animal. However, on the line In the time it takes
a lion to litter once, thirty thousand rabbits will be watching like a sea over the pasture lands I
quickened my pace, and used a rising intonation to show that the rabbit was excited by this
prospect.
When characterising the rabbit I made sure that I was constantly on a higher level than the
other rabbits, this helped to prove that the rabbit was of a higher status, in control and older
than the other rabbits.
Louise Ansell
During this monologue the other members of the cast were chorus members, acting as my
Rabbit children or followers. They each had their own personality which was portrayed
through their use of voice; they also mimicked the accent that the leader had. Whilst I
performed they reacted to what was being said. The chorus looked at me whilst I spoke, and
agreed with what I said, and then turned to the audience to show a different response, usually
disagreement. We did this as we wanted to show how many people follow religions, when
they may not necessarily agree with them, or are forced to join.
I experimented with using pre-recorded music during the scene, by using the music O
fortuna it created a highly tense scene with the climax of the music matching the climax of the
monologue. However, after experimenting with it, we found that the music detracted too much
for the performance, and may have made it hard for the audience to focus on the action
unfolding.

In one lesson we used the technique of character modelling in order to create the role of
Wildebeest. We placed Izzie on the floor in the centre of the proxemics; we ensured that she
was curled tightly into a ball, clutching her stomach in order to convey that she was pregnant.
By putting her on the floor, the use of levels helped to communicate that the Wildebeest is of
less importance.
Include picture?


One of our main influences when devising was Kneehigh. Kneehigh are a Theatre Company
from Cornwall who formed in 1980 and tour internationally. They use fairytales and myths in
order to create their productions. They transform these tales into surreal, mythical and often
nightmare like productions that contrast the ideas of a traditional plays. Taking inspiration
from Kneehighs techniques, in our piece we wanted to alter the traditional perceptions of the
Bible in order to show the audience that the story may not be true.
We took inspiration from the way in which Kneehigh characterise their chorus, which helped
us to create the doves. We experimented with different accents as we wanted to show how
the doves were free to migrate.

We also used the element of music; again, taking inspiration from Kneehigh, we feet that the
music would remind the audience that this is a story and help to create a piece of meta-
theatre. As I was playing the piano, I chose to play Le Onde by Ludovico Einaudi, which
translates to the waves. I played this as I felt it helped to create a calming atmosphere that
juxtaposed the madness of the flood.

When directing the fire scene aboard the Ark, we used Stanislavskis technique of emotion
memory, whereby we had to use our own memories in order to express emotion. We found
that in some way or another, we had all had a fire experience, by remembering these
experiences it allowed us to create a highly tense and frantic scene. By having the doves sat
on the rostra they were able to create a critical overview of the action on board, and comment
and react to it, for example, screeching and squawking when the fire reached its climax.

We also employed some of the features of Brechts Epic Theatre. We chose to break the
fourth wall, as well as this we used the chorus- the doves, as narrators to create, help,
comment and explain the action on-stage. Throughout the performance, the doves who sat on
the rostra were eating popcorn, and slurping on fizzy drinks. We made the decision to include
this as we wanted to create a piece of meta-theatre. It would also help to remind the audience
that the doves were watching the action unfolding, and were treating it like a show. We
wanted the audience to know that our production was a story, a representation of reality and
not reality itself. Brecht believed that by breaking the fourth wall it put the audience in a
position of self-reflection and force them to provide a critical view of what is going on on-
stage. We did this in an aim to encourage the audience to critically reflect on the traditional
Bible story, and recognise that it may not be true.

When devising, we debated having a shower before our performance in order to physically
show the floods effects on the people. We felt that looking cold, dirty and bedraggled would
help us gain empathy from the audience and would put them in a critical position. Although
we felt this was good idea, we decided against it, as we thought that the cold and the wet may
Louise Ansell
detract from our performance, as well as this we may slip on stage due to the water dripping
from our costume.
When constructing our stage we took Edward Gordon Craigs vision of stage unity into
account. Craig believed in a single directors visions, believing that all elements should be
equal and actors and text were not the most vital or dominant thing. Our aim was to create a
simple set that helped to mimic the Ark and symbolise the simplicity of the traditional Bible
story.





We experimented with using gauze when Bashemath was performing her monologue. We
used our bodies to create shadows behind it, representing Bashemaths inner thoughts and
memories. Creating a shadowy representation of her husband beating her whilst she was
talking about being beaten, helped to create a surreal tone within the scene. The gauze
helped to create a blurry and vivid view of Bashemaths memory, helping to symbolise the
thoughts that lie deep in her mind. When using the gauze, we experimented with the pace at
which the action happened, for example speeding up the pace to convey how frenzied and
emotional Bashemaths memories were. However, we found that using gauze detracted the
viewers attention away from Bashemath, and that the words and emotions within the
monologue were powerful enough. By removing the gauze and the action behind it, it created
a scene where Bashemath was totally alone, and the audience were finally able to see what
her thoughts and feelings were.

By experimenting with lighting throughout the play it allowed us to see how the lighting would
affect the meaning in the scene. We tried using different coloured filters to symbolise different
times of the day during our piece. When doing a run through to an audience they suggested
that a general cover would be ample, and that our other lighting wasnt needed. We took this
into account; however we felt that a different kind of lighting was needed for the two scenes
that involved fire. We found it very difficult to show there was a fire, without using lighting. We
placed a light under the examiners table, and aimed it upwards, whilst using an orange/red
filter; this helped to create the sense of warmth during the fire scene, and made it more
realistic.




Evaluation




Wooden
rostra to
mimic the
material the
Ark was
made from
Multiple levels
used to show
the deck and
lower decks of
the Ark
Piano placed
for easy
access, and
wood blends
in with the
rest of the
Higher levels
so the doves
got good view
and therefore
allowed them
to comment
on the action
The black curtain at the back was used so symbolise the endless abyss
surrounding the Ark and the uncertainty that the characters felt