Rationale for Choosing This Play:
After studying the text, “Yerma” by Lorca at AS level and “Hedda Gabbler” by Ibsen at A2, I have decided that I want to study a play which also incorporates similar themes and issues. Although “Yerma” and “Hedda Gabbler” are not strictly ‘Feminist’ plays, I feel that there is definitely a hint of feminism within both of them. Both protagonists, Yerma and Hedda are arguably strong women trapped by the social expectations of the society around them. The themes of women’s issues and right’s are something that has fascinated me and I wish to explore them further. After discussing the idea of looking at a play of a feminist genre, I have established a group of people who are all equally as interested as I am. We discovered the text, “My Mother Said I Never Should” after researching feminist plays. We then did some background research on the playwright, Charlotte Keatley. We discovered that as an actress, she often found herself playing typical female roles; “a waitress, a waifish, daughters or disturbed children.” She wrote this play because she would enjoy performing in it or watching it. Primarily, the style of the play is naturalistic, similarly to “Yerma” and “Hedda Gabbler”. However, there are undertones of surrealism within “My Mother Said I Never Should” and what Keatley describes as ‘expressionism’ seeping through. This is apparent through the way in which women play the role of children as well as our minimalistic set. Keatley has stated that the stage should be, “a magic place where things can happen.” We have decided that in order to follow her original aims and intentions, our set must be minimalistic with realistic props and costume. Our acting style is also going to be naturalistic, as we want our audience to be able to relate and empathise with our characters. We have decided to use Stanislavski’s methods of acting to help us with this. By practising techniques such as ‘emotional recall’ we hope to make our performance as realistic as possible. An example of this will be in the final scene, when Lorna and I lend ourselves to the roles of Rosie and Jackie. This incredibly emotional scene reveals the truth behind why a mother gave up her child. In order to create a piece of Drama that is emotionally moving, I have found that by practising Stanislavski’s ‘emotional recall’ I have been able to successfully create this effect.
Selection of the Extract:
We have chosen to perform Act One, Scene One/Act One, Scene Six/Act Three, Scene One/Act Three, Scene Five. We feel that these particular extracts portray the key moments within the plot. In addition to this, these scenes will enable us to use a variety of different props and elements of set, as well as two contrasting styles of acting from surreal to naturalistic.
We definitely wanted to incorporate a ‘Waste Ground’ scene as it will create an effective juxtaposition between the other scenes. We also feel that it will challenge our acting skills as we will have to play much younger parts. This scene, without a doubt, has sinister over tones as the subject matter appears to be “killing our mummys”. Although performed as if we are small children having fun in a playground, the sadistic subject matter turns this scene into something else. We appear to still be playing our initial characters. However, we feel that we are unrecognisable to ourselves as well as to the audience. Not only because we are much younger, but because we see a side to our characters that we do not see anywhere else in the play. I believe Keatly has created these scenes to represent our characters subconsciouses. It allows us as actors, as well as the audience to understand our resentment for our ‘mummy[s]’. This scene shows how our characters really feel and what we really want to say. I believe that Keatly deliberately cast these characters as children in the ‘Waste Ground’ scenes, because of the idea that children are not afraid to say what they really think. Here, our characters appear stripped of all the restrictions from adulthood. Our characters appear primal, as we speak what cannot be said in the ‘real’ world. Ironically, the idea of childhood innocence is tainted by the subject matter of murder and resentment.
We have chosen Act One, Scene Six, as I feel that it is an important moment within the script for Gillian’s character (Margaret) and my own (Jackie). My character is faced with the difficult decision of choosing motherhood over her career. Margaret - Jackie’s mother -persuades her into giving up her child in order to make something of her career: “You’ve got to go further than me”. This scene is a key part within the plot and carries a lot of emotion within it. I feel that this scene defines my character, as it is a pivotal moment within the plot which changes the lives of these four women forever. By exploring it in depth, I will be able to understand the reasons behind my characters decision to disown her child.
In addition to this, we have chosen Act Three, Scene One. We feel that this scene is vital for Amelia’s character, Doris. Here, the audience will recognise and understand what life for a woman of her generation was like as she begins to talk about her past. This touching scene also has an undertone of the social expectations of herself and of her mother. The scene ends with a sad revelation that she considers herself to be ‘lucky’ because her husband, unlike her mother’s, didn’t beat her.
Another scene that I feel is important to the growth of my character is Act Three, Scene Five. Originally in this scene, Jackie did not have her long monolog. Keatley added it in after feeling that the character was ‘incomplete’ without telling her part of the story. Again this is a vital moment in the plot, as Rosie finds out that Jackie is her real mother. This scene also represents one of the playwright’s main intentions: To highlight the social taboo of a mother disowning her child. This scene carries a lot of emotion, and is incredibly fierce. Although understandably Rosie is angry and attacking Jackie, it is Jackie’s chance to let Rosie, as well as the audience, understand her past and the reasons behind the decision she made.
Dramatic Aims and Intentions:
We are performing the feminist play, “My Mother Said I Never Should” in a naturalistic style, to allow our audience to genuinely relate to our characters. By using Stanislavski’s methods of acting, we aim to create a believable and realistic performance. I shall recall on my own personal experience to help me understand and empathise with my own character. By literally sharing the emotion between myself and my character, I feel more connected to her. For the time in which I am performing I become Jackie and everything I think and do is as Jackie, rather than myself. Despite playing children in the ‘Waste Ground’ scenes, we will lend ourselves to the roles of children as young as 4 years old. As this kind of behaviour is something we have all grown out, I have found that I have to concentrate on my movement much more, and think about what the mindset of a 9 year old girl would be like. Although, physically appearing as an 18 year old, I hope to use gestures, tone, and elements of physicality to create a believable performance as a child. Similarly, in another scene I have to play an older role. Rather than over exaggerating my movements to make me appear older, I hope to achieve this in a more subtle way, thus creating a naturalistic performance. We have chosen this style in order to follow Keatly’s intentions. She wanted her audience to be able to recognise parts of themselves within each woman in this play. By making a naturalistic performance with believable characters, our audience will be able to relate to our characters on a deeper level. After researching Keatly’s original aims and intentions for the play, we have discovered that she wanted to highlight the importance of family and the connections between mothers and daughters. In addition to this, she wanted to highlight what happens when these bonds are broken, and how it takes a severely drastic event to destroy the bond between a mother and daughter. This play also has undertones of the social expectations of each woman’s generation. Keatly has stated that she wrote this play to represent all women in the 20th century. She made reference to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and how the protagonist is meant to represent everyone. However, she noticed how the protagonist is a male character, and rather like Shakespeare, she has also created characters which represent everyone, rather this time they are women. Our set will be strictly minimalistic. Keatly has stated that “there must be no sofas” in this play. She does not want our characters to feel comfortable. Likewise, she has set most of the scenes outside, as we are at our most vulnerable when we are outside. She wants to strip away the restrictions of these characters, and expose them for who they really are. Each character has a moment within the play when they have a monolog. Keatly did this deliberately so each character can share their part of the story.
Research:
In order to understand Keatly’s aims and intentions I read The Forward, Commentary and Genesis of, “My Mother Said I Never Should”. Whilst doing so I made notes of all the key quotes that would be useful for us to reflect on in our performance. Some of the quotes that we have found particularly useful are:
“Once a play is published it is in the public domain. Anybody can stage it with whatever interpretation they choose. Ultimately, it is the audience who decide what the play means... The best way to understand the play is by putting it on its feet.” - The Forward.
We feel that this quote has enabled us some flexibility within our performance. Although we are specifically following Keatly’s intentions, here she has stated that it is the audience who determine the meaning of the play. This quote has inspired us to use symbolism as a technique to allow the audience to see the messages we want them to understand but in a more subtle way. An example of this is Rosie’s red sock in Act One, Scene Six: “She has to have a red sock to go to sleep at night.” As I hand the sock over to my mother, it is symbolic of me handing Rosie over to her too. As Margaret says, “you keep one”, this represents the bond that is still present between Rosie and Jackie. However, in Act Three, Scene Five when Rosie confronts Jackie, the red sock appears again. This serves as a motif and a reminder of the difficulty my character had to go through that day when she gave up her daughter. The way in which I will clutch the red sock will be the same as in Act One, Scene Six, thus serving as a visual reminder for the audience. Through our use of props and set, the audience will naturally make their own interpretations of what things mean, even if we hadn’t intended it.
Whilst studying as an actress, Keatly often found herself playing, “waitresses, waifish, daughters and disturbed children.” She wrote this play because she would, “enjoy performing in it or watching it.” – Genesis.
This quote helped us understand her reasons behind writing the play. She wanted to eliminate the two dimensional, stereotypical female roles. Rather, she wanted to create some characters with substance and depth that everyone can relate to. This quote gave me a sense of respect for my character as a strong and dependant woman.
“Hamlet is a male character, meant to represent everyone. This play has four women meant to represent everyone and the changes of the 20th Century”. – Genesis.
Similarly, this quote shows Keatly’s intentions that she wants everyone to be able to relate to these characters in some way. Also, this quote highlights the feminist genre of the play, as it is four women representing everyone rather than a male figure. As Keatly said, this reflects the changes of the 20th Century and how woman are finally beginning to be seen as equal.
“I have made this play as accurate and detailed as possible so that anyone can take it anywhere and find its territory.” – Genesis.
Again, this quote inspired us with some flexibility. This allows us to how our own and the audiences own interpretations. With this knowledge we were able to make this performance our own. However, with Keatly’s choice of dialogue and stage directions we had the foundation of the performance she wanted. Therefore we are able to make the performance unique with our own ideas, but also do it justice by following her intentions. To add to this, she also said,
“The female unconscious and magic of this play will appear in performance because it is in the play, whether or not it is in the director.” – Genesis.
Thus, the power that Keatly wanted this play to have will always be possible to achieve, no matter what the interpretation.
“Images need to be choreographed as carefully as words are rehearsed” – Genesis.
This quote reminded us to always focus on how our performance visually appears. The proxemics of each scene are vital. The distance between two characters on stage adds to the tension of a scene. An example of this is in Act One, Scene Six when my character gives up her child. In this scene, we have symbolically placed Rosie’s crib centre stage. Gillian, who’s playing Margaret, will be stage right whilst I will be stage left. When we argue, we shall stay on opposite sides of the room, showing our distance. However, this will also highlight the awkwardness in the atmosphere, as Rosie will be physically stopping us from getting closer to each other. Again, this is symbolic of the awkwardness of the situation, and how Rosie’s life has caused a rift and tension in Jackie and Margaret’s relationship. As we argue, we will be arguing over the crib, as if fighting for Rosie. This power struggle is emphasised by our distance and the growing tension in the atmosphere.
“I didn’t think about styles at the time, but I suppose the play is expressionistic in its selective and heightened use of reality.” – Genesis.
This is a key quote as it helped us understand the style of the play. What Keatly describes as ‘expressionism’ is displayed through the way we play sinister children in one scene. However, this is then contrasted by the way we then play much older women in another. Despite acting in a naturalistic style, there are moments like in the ‘Waste Ground’ scene for example, when the subject matter becomes twisted and dark. This is reflected through the way we perform and the dialogue we speak.
“Naturalistic lighting will be used so that the audience can and actors will identify with the experience of being in a real place.” – Lighting.
We want there to be a special relationship between the audience and ourselves. Through a naturalistic setting the audience will be able to empathise with our acting rather than our environment. The lighting changes will represent a change of atmosphere or setting. A naturalistic light will reflect the outdoor scenes, whilst a darker lighting will reflect the scene where we are in a dingy flat. Through lighting, the atmosphere will change from scene to scene. However, if the lighting is simple and naturalistic it will expose our characters. We will not be able to hide behind any fancy changes or settings. Similarly Keatly has said,
“Most scenes take place in gardens because people are more exposed physically and emotionally outdoors.”
This quote is at the heart of our performance. Our characters become exposed and vulnerable as our secrets are revealed. We took this quote into consideration when picking our scenes, as we wanted the majority of our scenes to be outdoors in order to reflect Keatly’s aims.
“There are no sofas in this play. The set should be a magic place where things can happen... I want there to be as little as possible distracting us from the actors.”
Again, this quote has also been central to our performance. We have often been tempted to bring in props that are not 100% necessary. However, as Keatly did not want a cluttered stage, we are only using certain props and set that we feel are completely vital to our performance. We recognise that it is our acting ability which will allow the audience to be able to relate to our characters, not the amount of furniture onstage.
In addition to these quotes, I researched the playwright on the internet and some reviews of, “My Mother Said...” Having read through the articles about Kealty, I found that there was not any new information which would help us with our performance. However, the research I did on productions of, “My Mother Said...” was much more helpful as it inspired and gave us some ideas of how it has successfully been performed before. **** READ THESE ARTICALS, QUOTES AND IDEAS ****
I also conducted some research on Feminism as a genre. As “Hedda Gabbler” and “Yerma” are not feminist plays, I felt it was important to fully understand what this genre means. I brought this research to rehearsals which then allowed us to concentrate on our performance in order to justify the genre.
**** WOMAN IN THEIR ERA. JACKIE BORN IN 1952. HOW OLD SHE IS IN EACH SCENE, WHAT ERA AND SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS = KEY KEY KEY ****
Knowledge and Understanding of Nominated Skill: Acting.
We would all bring our own research to each rehearsal. Before performing, we would share any key facts or thoughts that we have found and then use them within our practice. An example of this is the research we found on Stanislavski. Often, we would remind ourselves of his techniques which would allow us to concentrate on our own personal performances. We regularly found ourselves struggling when trying to become our characters. By practicing Stanislavski’s ‘emotional recall’ technique, we would take a step back and reflect on a personal experience which would help us to relate to what our character should be feeling. This allowed us to concentrate and focus on becoming the character, thus making our performance believable as well as emotional. We all researched what we felt was necessary to our performance. Our group research consisted of us all finding reviews, quotes and facts about Keatly and “My Mother Said...” We also did our own research on our characters, how to portray them and costume.
Our piece has definitely developed over time. At first we read from our scripts and the performance was static. Now, we have been able to elevate our performance into something much more powerful. This has been achievable by helping one another. We directed the scenes that we were not in ourselves. This has allowed us to correct flaws and improve areas that were originally lacking energy. The more that we have rehearsed, the more we have begun to understand our characters. When we first started rehearsing, I felt as though Jackie was a fairly 2-dimensional character. However, after several weeks of intense rehearsals, I now feel as though I know her. As my passion for the play has developed, so has the performance. A key example of this is Act One, Scene One. At first we performed this scene slowly whilst whispering our lines in order to create an eerie atmosphere. However, we felt that this was too slow and static. Therefore we decided to change it by completely contrasting the style of performance. Now we are much louder, aggressive and the pace of the scene is faster. This is much more effective as it has more energy and is almost intimidating for the audience.
**** EXAMPLES OF HOW IT HAS DEVELOPED – CHANGING SCENES – WASTEGROUND STARTED SLOW AND WHISPERED, NOW HIGH ENERGY. MOVING AROUND IN ACT ONE SCENE SIX, CHANGING LEVELS DYNAMIX AND SYMBOLISM. ACTING OLD IN ACT THREE SCENE FIVE, CONVINCING I AM ROSIES MOTHER. ****
Throughout this experience my ideas have also been challenged and developed. As well as getting advice from each other, we also performed in front of a small audience to get a new perspective. One piece of critical advice that I received was to make Jackie appear older in Act Three, Scene Five. I was playing the part too young and therefore it was not convincing that I am really Rosie’s mother. I have corrected this by slowing my movements down and acting more mature rather than desperate when Rosie gets upset.
In Act Three, Scene Five, Lorna and I have found it difficult to really carry the emotion that should be in this scene. In order to maintain this, before we perform this scene we often do a vocal and physical warm up. I encourage Lorna to become angry, so enraged that she becomes close to tears. This again is Stanislavski’s method. Lorna thinks of something that has really aggravated her in the past and relives the memory as well as the emotions with it. Similarly, I recall on my own sad experiences as I try to maintain a devastated and worried persona, which is then twisted and becomes more enraged as Lorna starts to attack me. When directing the other scenes, such as Act Three, Scene One with Gillian and Amelia, I also encouraged them to take a moment before they performed to get into character through this method. I also find it useful to perform in front of mirrors. Often, I insisted we should rehearse in the changing rooms where there is a wall of mirrors we can face. By watching ourselves, we become much more conscious of how we want to look. This then becomes visually more effective, as we remember the facial expressions and gestures that we practiced in front of the mirror when we are performing on stage instead.
These techniques have helped us to achieve our initial dramatic aims and objectives. By concentrating on our characters and putting our own genuine emotion into our scenes we have been able to create naturalistic drama.
My Development as an Actor:
It has taken me quite a long time to feel as though I can really lend myself to the role of Jackie. In order to do this, I have had to think seriously and analytically about my characters motivation. Naturally, this motivation varies between each scene. In Act One, Scene One I suggest we, “kill our mummy’s”. However, I believe that there is more to this scene than this childish banter. I think that my character’s motivation comes from the resentment for her mother, Margaret. This is evident as Margaret takes Rosie away from Jackie in Act One, Scene Six. Thus in Jackie’s subconscious – which is represented by the Waste Ground scene - she is bitter towards her mother. During this scene, I make my voice sound babyish. To do this, I make it more high pitched and speak at an irregular pace, ranging from a fast to slow tempo. For example when I say, “Besides, they’re babies”, I put stress on and extend the word ‘babies’ as if it’s an insult. Also, when I say, “Lucy parker cut her finger at school” I say it almost like the words rhyme. I sound out every syllable as I speak slowly, putting stress on the end of each word. This is a childish approach as I try to scare Gillian. We open this scene by boisterously shouting the song, “My Mother Said I Never should...” There is a natural rhythm within the words which gives this song a tune. However, we have not established a beat or pace for this as we feel it works better if we all do it out of sync with one another. Instead we speak in a rhythm that feels natural to our characters. As I am the dominant, angry figure in this scene, I shout it and put attitude in my voice by putting stress on the last word of each sentence. Therefore this sounds more childish and almost intimidating as we shout it at the top of our lungs. This also adds to the sinister tones of this scene.
In Act One, Scene Three, my motivation is a mixture of doing what is best for Rosie as well as myself. Giving Rosie away to Margaret is the best thing for the both of us. However, this heartbreaking decision is made worse by how patronising and awkward Margaret is towards me. The tension in this scene is almost unbearable which makes my character want to escape. However, when Margaret says, “You were doing so well” and makes reference to art school, I become enraged. I verbally attack my mother in a state of anger. However, I don’t believe that I am really angry at her, but angry because I know she’s right. In this scene I also feel like I am fighting for my independence, which has been taken away from me as I can’t look after my own daughter.
Similarly, Act Three, Scene Five, is also a difficult scene for my character. As in Act One, Scene Six, I want what is best for Rosie. I feel my motivation changes as the situation changes. At first, I want to support Rosie and make sure she is alright, but also take responsibility in sorting out the paperwork and documents for the hospital. However, as Rosie shows me her birth certificate, everything comes crashing down around me. My motivation immediately changes to trying to justify why I gave her away. As I say my monologue, it almost feels like I am trying to justify it to myself more than I am to her.
