B.O.B Work In Progress 21/03/2010

The cast have practiced in the UT theatre for two full days before giving a 'work-in-progress' showing on Sunday. This showing is for only a handful of audience members that are selected to give constructive criticism.

The cast present their work with some costume, little tech support and some of their musicians due to time limits. This leaves good focus on the plot and the script before the finishing touches are done to the sets/costumes etc. The production as a whole will be perfected before the company go on tour.

The performance runs smoothly. The costumes add to the feel of the play and at the end, positive feed back is given by the audience. Sam notes these down in order to touch up the script. Some members wanted to see Beast angrier, some wanted Belle to ask her father why he sacrificed her etc. All of this was taken on board and will help build the play.

All meet for social drinks after and look forward to picking the play up again nearer the tour dates.

B.O.B Rehearsal 18/03/2010

Aim:
To run through songs, practicing vocals with Joseph. The rest of Joseph's band are unable to make it due to sickness but will be having regular rehearsals until the touring begins. Sam Grogan, Belle and Beast not present.

*warm up*

The cast practice through the beginning scene in Unit One with Joseph on Keyboard. Next the cast practice the song 'coatless hooks' and the office dance. Despite Joseph not having his full band to accompany him, he plays beats and chords on the keyboard to let the cast practice their dance moves with his scored timings. Joseph runs over his cues with the cast to double check both the music and the scene marry up.

Practice the end of 'my new best friend' and the scene where father wakes up in Beast’s house. Joseph practices chords until the cast reform as the house. He scores the time.

Cast practice Father's turmoil dance with Joseph on keyboard chords. This helps the cast get used to the basic music Joseph has scored and it also helps Joseph map out the timing with each scene. Next Beast and Belle run through their relationship scenes and Joseph again notes the times with his chords.

Joseph explains the build ups in music for Belle escaping the room and that he has written the music for the still images of Belle and Beast for the 9 still images. He states that he has added plucking for strings with haunting viola solos to add to scenes.

Joseph moves briefly through the end scenes. He explains how that strings will keep the classic chords used through out the whole play.

Joseph adapts his score for the last scene. It has been noted that the music is a little long than expected so Joseph is to work on this again with the full cast and the full cast of musicians at the next rehearsal.

Cast end early as due to low on numbers but all leave with a better understanding of the basic music.

B.O.B Rehearsal 10/03/2010

Aim: To run through with full production team and Joseph the composer. Joseph has scored all of the music so far but is yet to work on harmonies and the finer details of the songs with the cast.

*warm up with vocals*

Practice starts from the opening of Unit One. Progress has been made; the cast begin in a line, whispering their fearful experiences with Beast before moving into the whispering wall of Beast's home. The cast run through each unit for the production team and composer. The run through is timed so cues can be worked out.

Belle and Father has shown they have built up on their own monologues, revising their lines by heart. In Unit 5 father shows he is acutely aware of the bodies that make up the walls and furniture of Beast's house. Beast lets Father know he knows more about him by talking about a photo of his wife. Beast now demands Father's Daughter rather than setting the previously scripted ' you will give me the first person you see' which is a bit more fairy tale like.

The cast run through the dances without and music. 52 minutes was recorded. Sam Grogan talks the production team through lighting cues and the cast take a short break before developing notes for improvement.

Next the cast practice their vocals and the songs for their performances with Joseph. He works with the cast to improve the songs and tailor their singing in with what he has already scored. Joseph constructively works with the cast to erase any out of pitch notes or errors. Sam asks the cast to run over all they have practiced with Joseph. He listens acutely with his eyes closed. Sam is very pleased with the vocal growth and improvement of the company.

**Sam has set a 'work in progress' performance to an invited audience. This will give the production constructive criticism from fresh perspectives; leading the final piece to be perfected prior to the tour**

Cast go and visit the Costume Team at the end to begin their fitting

B.O.B Rehearsals 04/03/2010 UNIT RUN THROUGH

Aim: To run through everything with Theatre Production member Luke. To give him an idea of what is going on with the new version of the production; he worked on the previous production.

News: Joseph is scoring the music and running through practices with the string quartet in the new two weeks. The production has managed to land a new tour date in Bristol.

*warm up*

Working on the Units:

The cast shoot through several scenes briefly. Sam wants to brush up and touch up newly developed scenes.

The cast shoot through several scenes briefly. Sam wants to brush up and touch up newly developed scenes.

The cast have built up on the back ground of the house being alive. It whispers Beast's thoughts and enhances the sinister surroundings e.g. when Beast puts Belle into her room in unit 7. The rest of the cast huddle and crowd Beast as he walks with Belle's sleeping body, acting as an extension of his conscience and his dark history. The corridor of whispering dead becomes animated with each scene. It has been incorporated into the first scenes when Belle is being visited by Beast. As the cast runs through each scene, Sam states lighting cues and tells Luke of any props required for the scene.

The whispering wall practices acting as a corridor that shows Belle the way to the red ribbon. The movements are laid down quickly and the wall continues to act as a dark backdrop to Belle and Beast's relationship.

**

The cast skip onto scene 10 when Belle and Beast share a slow and intimate dance. The background cast in the scene practice breaking from the whispering wall and dancing with the shadow of a loved one.

Development has been made on unit 11 when Belle makes her way to Father. The rest of the cast whisper around Belle as she makes her journey back to her Father. The group begin to brainstorm ideas of what they would say to Belle as she crawls home. Belle runs through the manic group as they cry out to her to with each of their own pleas e.g ' tell my mum I love her', 'run'..etc. The scene has developed more with the background cast.

*five minute break*

Super fast movements through all units so cast revise their individual journey in each unit. Here are a few photos from a few of the scenes practiced:

Unit 5- Father wakes in Beast's house. The furniture is made from previous victims.

Unit 7- Father returns home hoping Belle not to be in but weeps as she runs into his arms and greets him.

(sorry the video has no sound)

B.O.B Video Practice of Dance

B.O.B Rehearsals 24/02/2010 UNIT RUN THROUGH

Wednesday 24th February 2010 7-9.30 pm, UT

(ASM/ DSM prop production team of three (one missing due to illness), Sam Grogan, Kelcie (in-house writer) and full cast.

* warm up*

Aim; To run through the play to illustrate the plot to the visiting production team. The cast, over the course of the past two weeks, have completed the tail end units. They aim today to iron out pieces. Kelcie is to tailor the script from watching the run through today.

*Cast warm up and Sam Grogan discusses the backdrop of the play's stage to the production students; ideas of London, large paper piles, very Tim Burton style, 'urban tramp' are outlined for the general style of the play * (Click here to see Sam's reference for costumes and sets)
The cast practice the office dance to warm up.

The run through is cut down to save time and so the cast can practice particular scenes. Each cast member has the first draft of the script that Kelcie has sent round, referencing this in scenes.

Each cast member maps out his/ her's path through each scene. Adaptations are made to song patterns, harmonies and the office dance is mutually agreed as too long, so plans are set to shorten it. The cast skim over the long unit that shows the development of Beast and Belle's relationship. The cast move on to the recently mapped out units, beginning with the end of unit 9.

Unit 9.

Belle has asks to leave. Beast pleads, yet Belle leaves. Beast cries after Belle that she'll see him as he really is. Beast then starts throwing the surrounding cast which mimic stiff dead bodies of his last victims. Bodies lie awkwardly on the floor, out sprung.

Unit 10/11

As Belle makes her journey home; the cast create a storm of twirl of sinister laughter surrounding her. Belle runs through and cries out for her father in the storm before being sucked back into the emotional whirlpool. Pulling through, Belle runs back into her father's arms, sharing a hug before an argument begins with her father. Belle realised that her farther sacrificed her giving her to Beast. Belle returns to beast and, for the first time, sees the bodies. Beast states it was a bad idea for her returning but she is the cure, the cure for him.

Round up at the end of the session:

* Beast's monologue in unit one has to fit with the music by being a little shorter and Bijan has to speak to the corpse prior to putting her in the wall.

* Unit two's first section of the text is too aloof requiring more of convocation with the self, directs Sam.

* Street scene needs a little tidy, more thoughts of random walking and all cast must please note Bijan's (beasts') monologue to know their cue's perfectly

*After reminiscing (father) of I loved her so much and now she has gone, father’s text must fit the music better * Kelcie to work on*

*Suggestion of chair of bodies to be formed around real chairs to minimalise the shaking and increase stability for the scene. 3 chairs to be used and large butchers table (if possible)



NEXT SESSION:

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday

** There now needs to be separate rehearsals for scenes, songs and choreography so that parts are perfected. Monday, the groups will be split into separate rooms, (Belle, Father and Beast in room one due to little participation in dancing/ singing), room two will have the rest of the cast.

** Tuesday will bring the two groups together

** Thursday will have Joseph watch all together and have him work on the music for the play.

** I have adjusted the setting on the Beast of burden youtube account. You should be able to all view them. If not, just drop me an email!

Posting

Dear All,

Unfortunately I've been posted out in the sticks, so posting blogs has proven impossible, indeed, getting internet has been the stuff of dreams.


I hope I can post soon when I move locations back daaan saaaaff to Essex the 2nd (Hertforshire)


Speak soon,

Keep well,


Yours in Theatre


Sam

UNIT 8!

Dear All,

These are some images from Unit 8.


These take place in Cycle 4, just before the dance and kiss. Photo 10 (in portrait) is the moment before Beast & Belle begin to dance.


The total running time for the entirety of unit 8 is about 30 minutes! Very exciting.






I hope that the coming weeks treat you with equal amounts of creativity!

I'll continue to post on here, but that's all from me until March, when we have our big day in the Theatre!


See you then,

Sam

B.O.B Rehearsals 11/02/2010 UNIT 8

Thursday 11th February 2010 7-9.30 pm, UT

UNIT 8

Aim: To run over the unit eight, build on the scene by pulling the Iumentum apart and adding ideas.


*warm up*

Mapping out unit 8: Just to recap the unit, here is what the Iumentum has set so far:


Unit 8- Trapped

Belle wakes up in Beast’s house. She begins to panic. Realistic panicking, thinking hard, looking around the room, not much movement at first, slowly realizing the fact that she is not safe. Beast watches her from a distance- looking at her through the keyhole. She hears him at the keyhole, (maybe some vocal stuff here building up to this point) then she screams & he turns away. He begins to feed her- Leaving food in her room as she sleeps. Eventually he writes her short notes, she begins to respond. Eventually they meet. Beast, ecstatic, asks her to fix him, shape him. Days, weeks, months pass. This relationship is different. Belle hates him, but a softness develops, a twisted tenderness. He finds her different too. A relationship develops through the routine of eating. Beast admires and copies something as simple as the way Belle eats her food…(reverting back to the Disney beauty and beast maybe? Maybe not?) Beast and Belle develop a fragile truce. Stockholm syndrome. She realizes that she may love him. At first she tries to ignore herself but feelings override her want to do the right thing. She can give him the companionship he wants. They then spend more time together, in which the food becomes more extravagant. (Thus more time is spent eating together). Beast then trusts her to be in his presence, and she is free to roam- with some restrictions.

She then stumbles across the room where Beast keeps the letters from Belle’s Father. Beast finds her and stops her from entering- He becomes a beast. He looses control. (We see the true Beast?)

Belle is desperate to see her father again.


Development of unit 8/9 in session:

Belle (Helen) and Beast (Bijan) are the only cast members present other than Sam Grogan (Director), Kelcie (In-house script writer), Myself (blogger) and Samuel Tebbatt(Assistant Director) for this Week's session.

Thursday's session focuses on Belle and Beast mapping out the cycle of their relationship. It has been decided that the scene will have Belle in a pool of light at the side of the stage. The scene will show a series of days going by, each one showing Belle waking, being scared and Beast tending to the room in her sleep. Eventually Belle will pretend to be asleep when Beast enters the room and she will confront him.
Bijan has developed the character Beast over the past week with twitches and revealing the internal Jekyll and Hyde battle he suffers with. He battles with himself as he listens in to Belle's room and snoops around, checking she is well cared for. His character shows a little element of Gollum (Lord of the Rings) as he talks to himself 'I should kill her before she hurts me...no, she is our guest'.

(scene is divided with lights up and lights down; showing the passing of days)

(lights down, lights up)

Next Belle awakes again and has an outcry for her father and questions her keeper alone in her room. She cries herself to sleep, alone as Beast waits in the wings.

(lights down, lights up)

Belle pretends to be asleep. On the moment of confrontation, Beast is shocked as Belle pushes, shoves and screams to be let go. Beast places Belle back into bed and tells her its time for sleep. A peace offering of food is made. The cycle continues as Belle and Best go through the same routine; she wakes, her tends to her (replacing flowers, giving her food) and then she sleeps.

Next, parts of the scene will have 20 seconds of music separating them.

*20 sec music*

Beast enters the room with a food offering. There is an awkward silence as Belle slowly eats. She asks when she can go home. He dismisses the hurtful question and pushes her to bed telling her its bed time.

*20 sec music*

Scene repeats but Belle is more submissive this time.

*20 sec music*

Next Beast gives food again. Belle eats and compliments the food. Beast is overjoyed and insists to getting her more. He bounds out of the room in such a rush of excitement that he foolishly leaves Belle's door open..Intregued, Belle leaves the room...

Next scene ideas

The cast maps out the idea for the walls to be constructed out of dead bodies. Belle moves through the corridor, not seeing the dead bodies. She finds a red ribbon (used to belong to a special previous victim). She picks it up and runs back to her room.

Beast rushes back in, explaining before even entering the room about his journey to retrieve his guest's wonderful dish. He is like an excited child, eager to give every last detail of his trip. He unwraps the delicacy, offering it to Belle. She begins to enjoy the food and Beast switches quickly from happy to outrage when he spots the red ribbon Belle is holding. He outbursts hysterically over Belle breaking his trust by leaving the room. He buckles to the floor to illustrate the pain Belle has caused him, after all that he has done for her, he if left weeping in a heap. Belle melts her usual guard and tends to him, apologising for the incident. Both agree to sort the situation out 'tomorrow'. This key conclusion shows that the couple have begun their future.

The end of the scene will show Belle climbing into bed and handing the symbolic red ribbon back to Beast. He quickly snatches back but, after a thought, he decides to rebuild the friendship by handing the ribbon back to Belle. The couple have reached a new level in their relationship.

The final part of unit 8 is to show flashes of 5 second pictures, posed by Belle and Beast on stage. There are 10 poses which show an almost montage build of their relationship. There is toying with the idea of gifts building up in the room with each scene; the whole room glowing warmer and more homely as the two grow closer together. Sam G pulls focus onto the two characters mapping out the ten scenes and leaves the building of props as a question for the production team.

Belle and Beast practice the 10 images and the final part moves into an intimately slow dance. The couple kiss and as Belle pulls out she states 'I want to go home'..

(full scene takes approx 30 mins)

**Please see the pictures Sam T has kindly posted on the blog which show the ten shots of Belle and Beast's relationship development!***

Overview of session

The cast run through the whole scene from start to finish. The progress has been good and every member in the room has put their ideas and opinions in to shape the scene. All leave on a high note and look forward to tailoring in the rest of the cast.

Next session's aim: To map out the rest of the cast into unit 8 and move onto the next unit. Sam Grogan hopes to do a full rehearsal two weeks today and from then on perfect the play.

B.O.B Rehearsal 04/02/2010 UNIT 8

Thursday 4th February 2010 7-10 pm, Room UTGO6

UNIT 8

Aim: To run over the unit eight, build on the scene by pulling the Iumentum apart and adding ideas.

*warm up*

Recap: Wednesday session was a vocal build up of lyrics and development of unit 7.

Mapping out unit 8 : Just to recap the unit, here is what the Iumentum has set so far:

Unit 8- Trapped

Belle wakes up in Beast’s house. She begins to panic. Realistic panicking, thinking hard, looking around the room, not much movement at first, slowly realizing the fact that she is not safe. Beast watches her from a distance- looking at her through the keyhole. She hears him at the keyhole, (maybe some vocal stuff here building up to this point) then she screams & he turns away. He begins to feed her- Leaving food in her room as she sleeps. Eventually he writes her short notes, she begins to respond. Eventually they meet. Beast, ecstatic, asks her to fix him, shape him. Days, weeks, months pass. This relationship is different. Belle hates him, but a softness develops, a twisted tenderness. He finds her different too. A relationship develops through the routine of eating. Beast admires and copies something as simple as the way Belle eats her food…(reverting back to the Disney beauty and beast maybe? Maybe not?) Beast and Belle develop a fragile truce. Stockholm syndrome. She realizes that she may love him. At first she tries to ignore herself but feelings override her want to do the right thing. She can give him the companionship he wants. They then spend more time together, in which the food becomes more extravagant. (Thus more time is spent eating together). Beast then trusts her to be in his presence, and she is free to roam- with some restrictions.

She then stumbles across the room where Beast keeps the letters from Belle’s Father. Beast finds her and stops her from entering- He becomes a beast. He looses control. (We see the true Beast?)

Belle is desperate to see her father again.

Development of unit 8 in session:

The cast sit round a table and discuss unit 8. To feel the reality of the scene, they pull apart the realistic reaction of someone (Belle) waking up in a strangers home. The cast toy with light rising and dropping to illustrate days passing as Belle lies in her knew home. Mini-scenes are thought best to show Belle's first few days and her relationship with beast. A 'ground hog day' theme is discussed, Belle is to have a bunch of flowers left in her room each day, she will tear them up in despair yet each day the room and the flowers are re-set, the same music plays and the emotional cycle of Belle is shown; anger, despair and then finally drained acceptance.

Joesph (in house composer) discusses how he is able to use the same strand of music but use it in different ways. He considers starting with a few key notes in the first scene to set the music, then gradually building it up and then warping the end scene's music with echos and the tune slightly out of sync.

The scene will show Belle pretending to be asleep, Beast enters to place a fresh bunch of flowers, she wakes asking him who he is. Beast is shocked and as Belle confronts him. He is not used to human contact. Beast is to show he is scared, more scared than Belle and very humble when he next enters Belle space, knocking on the door first. There will be a cycle for Belle and Beast's relationship, they will meet and it will be awkward. Belle will ask questions that will anger Beast. She will eventuallyknow not to ask questions again.

The cast discuss stocholm syndrome and that Beast needs to share a part of him with Belle; like a real friend. The whole scene is mapped out but still yet to be set in stone, the directions are to be put up onto the blog.

Overview of session

Possitive development has come from tonight's session. The cast had alot to get in unit 8 but have managed to map it out. The final agreed unit 8 scene will be released on the blog soon.

wednesday’s Aim: To run exercise unit 8 and the scene discussed.

B.O.B Rehearsal 02/02/2010 Lyrics Unit 2 and 3; Belle's songs

'Broken, broken, empty, empty, plagued,
This is not enough, I can't change,
Let me out, let me breathe, let me feel, happiness,
Rivers of time, wasted in longing,
I can't change,
Let me out, let me breath, I am numb, numb, numb, numb *build up and repeat numb*'

(street scene with beast's monologue)

Part 1:

'I see you in the street as you pass me by and in those five seconds you wasted on a mundane thought, in my thoughts I have shared drink with you, I have shared a meal with you, I have shared a lifetime with you. You all move around like pawns on a chessboard. Your eyes are gifts from God that you fail to use. Instead you choose to stare at the floor. You need a friend. You need me.'

'Every door in my house, slams on me,
slams on me,
slams on me..'

(street scene with beast's monologue)

Part 2:

'Digest me completely. Take every part of me. Regurgitate me, but don’t let me go ‘til I am satisfied. ‘Til you have used me and I have used you. Completely spit me out so I leave my mark on everything and I take away all that is good of you.'

'Golden days turned grey, (I have no-one..)'

(street scene with beast's monologue)

Part 3:

'Look at me, look at the sun; look at the universe that summands you. This is what mankind has degraded to, dead stares, animated movements, living in the recyclable, self-absorbed lives; passing the same faces and street everyday.'

'Clinginging to Ghosts, haunted, haunted'

(street scene with beast's monologue)

Part 4:

'Eyes front, strong jaw and canines, before incisors; I was built for the hunt- but I don’t want the kill- I want the cure. I want a friend.'

'Coatless hooks, unread books, cigarette ends, aching chairs..*repeated untill office scene starts, approx 8 times*..'

Beastly?

Stuff I found..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPpDyIJdasg to view video please copy from title and paste in a new tab as I couldnt post video

...right then, please ignore most of the dorky video, the first few opening scenes paint an image of what Beasts flat/house/castle could look like as a visual stimulus, but after that vid not relevent...but I decided to post the song more for the associations that the lyrics gave me and the feel of the accompanying meloncholic dispair and tormented sound.


sum more stuff i found...

Down in his basement, black as night The tools to perform his heinous rite The walls are lined to block the sounds Of frightened pleas of the tightly bound Little bodies, and innocent minds The unresisting he hopes to find His thoughts are filled with unspeakable acts With those defenseless against his attack (by dadapriest,

(http://www.gspoetry.com/pedophile-warning-adult-theme-hate-poems-373788.html)

The one time the red leafmakes sense is mid April, when it is held not completely unfolded yet to the naked green bones of a four-foot sapling crossed arms on the chest of cold skin

(Tom Riordan, http://www.poetrycircle.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=12499.0)

No one knows who I am,
know one cares who I become,
my life is a dark empty room yet to be filled with memories, with friends
I always wanted to be known, to be loved, so when he entered my life the darkest night temperarily turned into the brightest morning. He told me he cared, he said he would be my friend, he filled my empty room. So when he left, all that I had, all that I am went with him.

(Parts from katherine parent, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-darkest-night.html)


---
Beast and Bells relationship not looking to hopeful...

long lost words whisper slowly to me, still can't find what keeps me here, when all this time i've been so hollow inside. I know you're still there, watching me wanting me i can feel you pull me down, fearing you loving you, i won't let you pull me down. Hunting you, i can smell you - alive, your heart pounding in my head. Watching me wanting me, i can feel you pull me down, saving me raping me, watching me. I tried to kill the pain, but only brought more. I lay dying and i'm pouring crimson regret and betrayal, i'm dying praying bleeding and screaming, am i too lost to be saved, am i too lost?

My wounds cry for the grave, my soul cries for deliverance, will i be denied?
(again, evanescence lyrics...)

another side of Beast

The fear in their eyes,
I want to see their pain,
The sight of torture motivates me,
The quiver in their voices,
I want to hear their terror,
The sound of bones splintering moves me,
The shame in their hearts,
I want to humiliate them further,
The smell of blood excites me,
The panic in their minds,
I want to imagine their dismay,
The thought of flesh ripping fascinates me,
I sharpen my knives,
Then go seek my next victims,
Am I taking lives? No, I am giving them away.
What’s one more life?
There are plenty of others.
I feel no shame.
There is no time to feel it.
Life is short.

By Kymberly Roger, http://www.buzzle.com/articles/intoxicated-by-death.html


Perfect by nature, icons of self indulgence, just what we all need more lies about a world that never was and never will be. Have you no shame don't you see me, you know you've got everybody fooled, look here she comes now, bow down and stare in wonder. Oh how we love you, no flaws when you're pretending, but now i know she never was and never will be. You don't know how you've betrayed me and somehow you've got everybody fooled, without the mask where will you hide, can't find yourself lost in your lie i know the truth now. I know who you are and i don't love you anymore it never was and never will be, you're not real and you can't save me, somehow now you're everybody's fool....

Beast's oppinion on the people he saves, then kills, among the rest of them that were supposed to be his new friends?

...those people who wont be his friend, do they they think they are all to good for him? They are all so perfect, they dont care, they dont want to be his friend, they just want to get out of there...now he just doesnt care, move on to the next one

B.O.B.Videos, UNIT 3 (dance) and UNIT 5 (father and beast)

If any of you guys have any more videos or recorded material of rehearsals/ singing/dancing etc, please feel free to upload them too, it all adds to the blog and helps reflection!

Film Noir Images

Dear all,

This is the kind of image I've had in mind for the units surrounding Unit 5.

Sam T

B.O.B Rehearsal 28/01/2010 UNIT 7

Thursday 28th January 2010, 7-10pm, Room UT


Aim:
To run through units one to the end of unit five to refresh over scenes crafted so far without cast members Belle and Father (cast members absent but filled by other members for tonight). To move onto unit 7 as unit 6 as almost been outlined and blended into unit 5 already.

Recap:
Firstly, unit one is recapped with the cast running over the first song with building vocals and 'numb' song. The cast move onto unit two, mapping out each cast member's movements and recapping important details such as the pained stances and bridging of scenes. The key focus for unit three is the office dance routine which is revisted briefly. Unit four is added on. The whole running time for the first four units is approx 17.5 minutes long.

Joseph (Our in house music composer) has watched the sketched out scenes; he has been noting the vocals and routines to grasp scope of the play so far. Sam Grogan asks the cast to keep running through the first three units to touch up and get an aspect of running time. Joseph films the final run over to take away and work on supporting music. He has a string quartet, drummer, macs etc (resources from our music department) to work with in order to build the sound track. Joseph explains that he would like to have motif sounds for certain scenes and characters. These will stick with the key characters in different scenes; they may just be a matter of two notes but they will be signatures of the key cast, subliminally letting the audience know of their presence. Joseph and Sam have discussed ideas such as widening out songs with the rest of the musicians to hand; filling out the sound and also positioning the musicians as though they are watching the play with the audience.

Mapping out of Unit Seven; Just to recap the unit, here is what the Iumentum has set so far:

Unit 7- Father’s reluctant betrayal

Father enters his apartment. Belle is in her room, and does not hear him.

Father silently prepares Belle’s food. He slices, stirs and chops, (repeats this over and over) mixing food with sleeping powder. His pain is evident. (cuts finger maybe?) He leaves the food on the table. He fetches Belle, sits her down and leaves her. He drinks whisky shakily in his study while Belle eats the food. Puts down his drink and carries on with some paper work, hands shaking. She passes out, slumped across the table. Beast enters quietly. This is arranged. This is business. Father cries silent screams in the darkness as Beast collects the limp body. The door closes and footsteps disappear. The apartment is dark and empty. The apartment echoes with Belle’s absence The television quietly buzzes with white noise.

Development of Unit 7:

Sam Grogan decides to split the group into two and each are to work on the first 2/3rds of Unit seven. The initial part of unit seven is split into three key moments; firstly when father is walking up to the door of his house; the second part is when he is putting the key in the lock, walking in and calling Belle's name and the last part is when he hears Belle cry out his name. Each moment needs to portray the tension, the worrying and fear that father feels walking up the stairs, then the relief when he hears no reply from Belle on his first call, then finally the crippling upset when Belle bounces into his arms.
The group toy with vocal humming and murmuring to capture the moods of the scene. Group one whispers words, hum and play with oral sounds ('tsst', 'psst', 'huuhhh' etc) to illustrate Father walking up to his front door. The group as a whole exercise this, crescendo-ing and adding a sharp breath in to show the moment when Father doesn't know if Belle is at home or not, just before her delayed response.

Sam T's stimulus suggestion- To find film parts that consist of street lights, people walking, spot lights, film noir moments in order to understand and capture the vibe of unit seven.

Final discussion:

** please note the final date for the last showing in the Uni Theatre is the 21st of March. Please book the Saturday 20th off to prep**


Tuesday's aim:

To build up on unit seven and move onto unit eight.

For Belle and Beast

This video is relevant to Units 10 or 12, either one. Just something inspiring for the bond between Beast and Belle under difficult circumstances. Possible inspiration for a chorus piece aswell.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c

Lauren xx

Somthing else for Unit 8

Hey guys, I really liked the use we made of the dead bodies in rehearsal tonight so I thought it might be interesting to extend on that further we Belle wakes up after being brought to Beast's home. This is a scene from the film 'Legend', it's called Waltz with Darkness. I imagine something like this between Belle and the bodies only with less waltzing and a bit more contact movement. Hope you enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feqE4t0wmEI&feature=related

From Lauren xx

Something for Beast/Belle in Unit 8

A Poem by Sylvia Plath - I think that this poem (especially the second half) is relevant to Beast's determination to show Belle that the world outside is ugly and full of hate and he can offer her truth and his friendship to almost shield her from that. See you next rehearsal. Lauren xxxx

'Mirror'

I am silver an exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful -
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

B.O.B Rehearsal 26/01/2010 UNIT 5

Tuesday 26th January 2010, 7-10pm, Room UT

*warm up with the Sam*

Aim:
To recap the previous scene in unit four. To map out unit 5 and develop the true depth of the scene.

Recap:
Unit four recapped by the group.


Mapping out of Unit 5; Just to recap the unit, here is what the Iumentum has set so far:

5. a) Beast feeds father for friendship
Father wakes up in Beast’s house. Father’s first concern is his business – Belle is not mentioned. Beast feeds Father and then asks for companionship. A new best friend. A wiliness to be taught, shown the way to live.

b) Father rejects Beast
Father rejects this. This is nonsense in Father’s eyes, he works, he eats and he sleeps. This is not in his life plan. Father is physically, mentally and emotionally uncomfortable. This is not planned. Beast has not found an answer here. He must go out again, search again. First though, he must tie up ends here.

c) Beast demands payment
Father discovers evidence of Beasts previous victims. Father is shocked that Beast exists in his city. Beast looks through Father’s wallet. He sees riches here. He must receive payment for his troubles, then kill.

Development of Unit Four:
Group move out into the room, listening to Farewell by Dario Marianelli (Atonement Soundtrack). Cast are asked to move their minds through the end of unit 4 and the first parts of unit 5. Sam Grogan narrates the first time through with the group. Sam T recaps over the same scene. Both Directing members highlight the key moments when the father receives a home made meal and comfort. The group begin to really exercise the scene, beginning with muscle tension and then moving into relaxation when receiving warmth and hospitality from Beast. The group are even asked to imagen the particular soup that the Father is given.

While the rest of the group toy with the overall scene, Father and Beast move away from the group to focus on the dialog of unit 5a. The scene is played with several times, developed and characters are built on. The scene then moves onto parts b and c. Kelcie-Gene sits (B.O.B's writer in residence) works with Father and Beast, running over recordings of their scene. Kelcie highlights the scene's dialog with constructive criticism and ideas for clarity and direction e.g Father is reminded that he is highly work orientated, he will give anything materialistic to get out of the Beast's grip. This influences Farther to offer his credit cards, his house, car etc. Kelcie-Gene tailors the script as the cast discuss moving through the scene. The script builds and then the two parties (father/beast and the rest of the cast) rejoin.

The rest of the group have been working on the backdrop of the scene. The theme is the bodies of the victims left behind from Beast's past. These cast members switch from a haunting backdrop to a set for 5a; two chairs and a table. The whole theme is bodies and the past of the Beast still tainting his future intentions to find friendship. The cycle is on its course again. The scene captures the fairtytale feel with the body part scene. Kelcie-Gene adds that a butchers table/ old fashioned table would suit the scene best. The rest of the cast agree this would suit the scene well.


Thursday's aim:

To walk through all of unit 5 and begin working on unit 6.

Something for Father?

This is a short non-fiction story. It's about a serial killer and a victim that escaped. It is quite graphic- please do read, but be prepared!

"Denny Johnson

The One That Got Away

Jeffrey Dahmer certainly went down in history.
As usual, for a few short days, the Tabloid newspapers had the edge. The regular news media filed stories daily - the Tabs' worked on a weekly deadline. With a story moving this fast there was no time to look back. The body count was growing each day as police pieced together Dahmer's ten-year rampage - with the bones and flesh that remained.
Terrified Traci Edwards was nearly the twelfth victim. Only he escaped a hideous death at the hands of the cannibal killer Dahmer, who confessed to the mutilation-murders of at least eleven men and boys. Traci was held prisoner in Dahmer's apartment of horrors - an apartment littered with human skulls and body parts. Finally after hours at the knife-edge of death, he fled half-stripped, bleeding and handcuffed into the street, where he flagged down a passing police car.
When freelance reporter Denny Johnson was assigned to the Dahmer story the tabloid M.O. ran true to its peculiar form. Johnson was thinking front page, not tomorrow and local, but next week and national. To perform this magic Denny would prospect for any small nugget the gold-rush-media-frenzy had overlooked the first day. That nugget which would still be news seven days later. News even to the media that covered the story from the start.
The first day after the story rocked the world, the Journal ran a small page one article on Traci Edwards and his escape - here was Johnson's nugget. The account of Traci's getaway was short and shallow. It was dwarfed by the huge headlines and photos of Dahmer's arrest and victims' IDs. Other reporters pursued grim body counts, grieving relatives and daily news conferences. There was no information about Traci's experience inside the apartment with the murderer - no inside story. Denny's assignment was to find the one that got away.
It would be a week before the media would turn back its collective attention to Edwards. By then Traci was on a plane home to Texas and, ultimately, jail. Johnson had them scooped.
The Journal article mentioned that Traci Edwards lived in the same neighborhood that the bodies were discovered. Denny headed to a saloon in the vicinity. He ordered a bottle of beer and lit a Marlboro. He made small talk about the murders with the bartender and a few of the lunchtime customers from the block. He didn't learn too much new until a man in uniform at the end of the bar, piped in his two cents worth - the needed information. "I know where the guy lives," said the postman on a break. And, after a few well-placed beers, the mailman agreed to deliver Denny to Edwards's apartment.

< 2 >

The neighborhood was declining ethnic. Bungalows mixed with apartment buildings and the occasional two-flat wood frame house. Traci lived in one of these, a brown two-story in need of repair. Paint was chipped, wood was peeling, and a few broken windows were visible from the street. Paint flaked from the railing as they climbed the deteriorated front stairs of the house and the postman pointed out Edwards's name on the rusty mailbox. He said with a slight slur, "Edwards lives upstairs. Good luck. I deliver your magazines each week to every old lady on my route. We'll be looking forward to your story." He winked. "I usually read them before I deliver them."
Edwards didn't answer when Denny rang his door bell. A quick search up the back stairs of the house and a peek through the rear windows indicated that no one was home in his apartment. The downstairs' neighbor confirmed he hadn't seen Traci in awhile.
Denny parked his rental car out in front of the house, switched the ignition to accessories, tuned the radio to the local news channel - and waited. Sitting the stakeout isn't romantic, it's cruddy. Every time a metro cop passed him by, they eyed him suspiciously. They knew who lived there and they knew Johnson was a reporter. He just looked like one. Denny was hot and hungry. There was no bathroom available, and he was running out of cigarettes. The bad characters in the neighborhood knew he was there in ten minutes. They figured he was a cop. Hours later, Traci still wasn't home. He was obviously lying low somewhere else. But by that time, Denny was familiar with everybody in the neighborhood, hooking, selling drugs, or beating their wives. He noticed over time a middle-aged fellow carrying a bucket who seemed to be the janitor at the building across the street. Denny approached him with a $50 bill outstretched.
The man was standing in the courtyard of one of the larger red brick buildings on the block. He wore blue jeans and a dago-t that displayed an ample beer belly. He was nearly bald, what hair he did have was matted and dirty. He was sweating profusely. The janitor eyed the $50 closely and told Denny that he knew Traci from around the neighborhood. "Yeah," said the man. "And I seen you sitting over there. I figured you was something like a reporter, or a FED maybe. I know most the local cops. Didn't think you were a new guy - your hair's too gray."

< 3 >

Denny wondered aloud if many reporters had been in the neighborhood. He himself had seen very little action that day around Edwards's apartment. "Not hardly any reporters today," the janitor said, "but you know that yesterday they was all over the place like maggots for dinner at Jeffrey Dahmer's." He laughed; it was a nasty sound.
Johnson grinned. The black humor mill was already to work. "Do you know if any of the reporters talked to Traci," asked Denny.
"No. The little creep was doing his best Houdini," said the janitor. "What about that fifty?"
"Do you know Traci well?" asked Denny.
"What about that fifty?" said the janitor again, wiping the sweat from his face with his arm. Denny handed the $50 over and the man snatched it away and stuck it in his Levis. He wet his lips - the pump had been primed. "I'm the maintenance engineer for this here building," the man said using his thumb to point out the fact. "I been working here a long time. I got plenty of stories. Seen some crazy shit around here."
"I'm sure you'd make a good book," said Denny, "but right now I need to know where I can find Traci Edwards."
"Yeah, yeah, slow down, I'm getting to that. We all know him around here, he's lived here a couple of years already. That's a long time in this neighborhood. We seen his picture in the paper yesterday, and on T.V. Before he was just a punk, now he's a big squeaking deal. Everybody's looking for him, because he almost gets himself killed and eaten by some freak. All I can say is, Duh."
Denny promised to quote him. And another $50 bill to match if he could get to Edwards - and let him know that he would pay $1,000 for his exclusive story. He gave the janitor his phone number and went back to his hotel. Three hours later his phone rang. Cash money gets everybody talking.

***

Traci agreed to meet the next morning at Denny's hotel; he wanted all the money up front. Denny told him it would be $500 when he showed up, the remainder when the interview was over. Traci reluctantly agreed. He was anxious to tell his story, as long as he was well-paid.

< 4 >

Denny contacted his office and by dawn the next day a photographer from Chicago was on the scene. He and Denny made their plan in the early morning light over room service coffee. The story would be a first-person account of Traci's experience. The photog would shoot candid photos of Edwards. At 10:15 a.m. everything was ready.
Traci was about 5'5" but sturdily built - a real fireplug. Denny guessed he might tip the scales at 160 pounds. When he showed up that morning at the hotel he was wearing a white t-shirt, pants, Nikes, and a blue "Georgetown" sweatshirt with matching baseball cap. He told Denny that he was 22, and an army brat. He arrived with another young man whom he introduced as his friend Jeremy. Breakfast, packs of Kool cigarettes and pots of coffee were perks Traci demanded for his story. On the other side of the room, the photographer discretely snapped images of the scene with a telephoto lens.
Edwards was well-mannered and surprisingly articulate. They sat around the coffee table in the living room of the spacious suite the paper had provided for the interview. The table was littered with coffee cups, half-full ashtrays, the daily papers and a tape recorder. Another table nearby held the spent, spotless breakfast plates that Traci and Jeremy had cleaned with their fingers and the last bit of toast. In one corner of the room a large color TV, muted, was tuned to CNN.
Denny's tape recorder was running. He handed Traci five crisp $100 bills. "Just start from the beginning," said Denny. "Tell us all you can remember, and then we'll ask a few questions to clear anything up later."

***

Traci rolled the bills, stuffed them in his pants pocket and sat back nervously in his chair. With a cigarette shaking in his hand, he closed his eyes and concentrated. The vivid memories flooded into words. "I haven't slept in two days," he began. I can't believe that this happened to me. There was no clue. I looked into the eyes of the devil and saw death.
"Believe me, God delivered me from Satan. I'm still in shock. I can't trust people. And when I do try to sleep, I wake up in a bolt, sitting straight up in bed - wet with sweat. I'm still scared to death. I'm constantly looking over my shoulder." Traci paused, taking a few rapid puffs off his cigarette.

< 5 >

"I was in the mall when Jeffrey Dahmer showed up and asked if I wanted to have a party," Traci said, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "We all knew him from around the neighborhood. There was no way to guess he was a maniac. He was just an ordinary guy. I didn't think too much about him either way.
"We never thought he was gay or anything out of the ordinary, because the people on the block where he lived just never would have tolerated him. They don't like gays in that part of town. If they had thought that he was gay the guys in his neighborhood would have messed him up. They jump guys like that over on his block. It's just not accepted.
"The whole area is loaded with gangs and stuff so I guess nobody really knew that he was gay, or into that kind of lifestyle. He just couldn't have survived if anybody knew about him," Traci emphasized that last sentence with another nervous glance at the camera. Denny wondered if he spoke from experience.
"'Let's get some girls and all go down to the lake and have a party,' Dahmer said, 'I got a hundred bucks, I'll buy the beer.'
"I was broke," said Traci, shrugging. "It sounded like a fine idea to me. It was hot and sticky and a party at the lake would be good. We walked to the liquor store and he got the beer. Dahmer said he had to stop by his apartment to change clothes. He was still in his blue work suit with his name 'Jeffrey' embroidered over his pocket."
The interview was interrupted momentarily when a loud knock on the door announced room service - more pots of coffee, and another pack of Kool's.
Denny now believed Edwards was lying about his motives. He guessed as he walked around the hotel room stretching his legs that Traci knew what was happening when he accepted Dahmer's invitation to the apartment. At least Traci thought he knew what was happening. He didn't know about the eleven that had proceeded him to Dahmer's for a visit. As it turned out, Denny's instincts rang true.
At the time he met Dahmer in the mall, Traci was a street-wise punk fleeing a Texas arrest warrant on charges of raping a teenage girl. Traci had been around, he was aware. But that day in the mall neither of the two men knew what they were up against. It was Cannibal Killer versus A Clockwork Orange. But at the moment Denny's suspicion was that Traci was of the bi-sexual persuasion and that he knew full well that Dahmer's offer of free beer and a party didn't include the company of women.

< 6 >

Settling back into his chair, Denny eyed Traci and Jeremy as they poured themselves fresh cups of coffee, adding lots of sugar and cream, and clinking their mugs with their spoons as they stirred. Denny suspected that Edwards probably went to the apartment to earn or steal money - by whatever means necessary. Knowing, or at least thinking he knew what Dahmer was up to. After all Traci was broke and he knew Dahmer wasn't. Dahmer's M.O. was to offer his victims money so he could take sexy photos of them. Most agreed to the bargain. And money was the major motivator with Traci. He lived pretty much from day-to-day. Denny believed Traci went to that apartment to play Dahmer for a sucker and, boy, was he surprised.
"It was really hot," Traci said lighting a cigarette from the recently-delivered pack, which now nestled in the neck of his t-shirt. "Everything seemed pretty normal, I had never seen where he lived and when we first got there it looked like a pretty nice place. We went in the back exit of the two-story apartment building and the stench hit me right away," said Traci.
"Damn, what's that STINK? I asked.
"Dahmer just brushed it off. He said there was a problem with the sewer in the building. As we walked down the hall, the stench made me want to gag." Traci wrinkled up his face. "I said let's just grab a beer and get out of there, and he said: 'That sounds good. I can barely stand the smell myself.' He said it was the sewer, and I've smelled some pretty raunchy sewers before, so I just assumed he was telling the truth."
Traci leaned forward in his chair, his voice lowered dramatically. The droning monologue was hypnotic. Denny concentrated, realized that they were on the portal, the point of no return. The photographer had stopped taking pictures and listened quietly from the edge of the bed. "His living room was tiny, but air conditioned. A small unit buzzed in the window. The dark colored drapes were drawn and the intense sun outside locked out. We sat down on his couch and popped open the beers. He had a beautiful fish aquarium and the colors of the fish were stunning in the darkened room." Traci let out a sigh.

< 7 >

"As I looked around and my eyes began to adjust I could see the living room walls were covered with photos and drawings of guys working out." Traci's demeanor suddenly changed. He became impatient, almost brisk. "I hoped Dahmer would hurry and change his clothes and we would get out of there. It really stunk, and it was creepy somehow. I didn't feel right.
"Dahmer told me he had all the drawings because he was a member of a health club. He was in pretty good shape, his arms were muscular and toned; he was wiry. We were sitting on opposite sides of the couch, but it was a fairly small couch and there really wasn't much space between us. He said some of the fish were piranha, and he told me how they like to eat each other. We sat there for awhile, making small talk about when he was in the Army and stuff," Traci said, his voice falling again into that hypnotic drone and, again, abruptly breaking off, as if he were trying to shake off a fatal sleepiness.
"He was pretty boring and if it wasn't for that beer, I would have beat it. In fact that's what I was thinking," Traci said, his voice angry and hard. "But this guy was such a professional. He was way ahead of me. Before I knew what hit me, he had a handcuff on my wrist and a big-ass machete sticking me up in my armpit. Right up under my heart!" Traci clasped his hands over his heart and twisted his body wildly in the chair.
"He said, 'If you don't do what I say, I'm going to kill you.' He said, 'I've done this before. Don't make a move because I can kill you,' he snapped his fingers, 'just like that!'
Denny was concerned for Traci's well-being. The boys breathing was labored, his eyes watered. He noticed Traci's fingertips were stained yellow from the tobacco, and he also noticed how his hands shook. He suggested they take a break, but Traci waved him off with a better-to-get-this-over-with look.
"The machete was army issue - heavy and effective. Black handled with a long silver, double-edged blade." Denny was amazed at Traci's recall and his descriptive powers; it would make his job all the easier. "It felt as if it had been sharpened to a point that would split hairs. I'll never forget what that blade looked or felt like." Denny guessed he would remember, too.

< 8 >

"It was all so quick, he was experienced, and he had practice. It was all in one motion. I had the beer in my hand, and I'm talking about fish, and in an eyelash - boom! - the handcuff was on my wrist. And the tip of the blade was stuck in me. I looked down and I could see through my shirt. I was bleeding." Traci caressed the bandage under his t-shirt.
"Then his eyes changed," Traci said. "Maybe the sight of red blood did it."
The room came to attention. Denny glanced quickly at the tape recorder; he didn't want to miss a word of this. The photographer rose from the bed, thinking of picture possibilities. Even Jeremy held still, looking interested.
"At first I couldn't face him," Traci said, fervently, "but God made me look right into his eyes. It was like confronting the devil. Pure and simple. Dahmer looked nothing like when we first met in the mall. He had changed completely. He had transformed somehow into evil. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he had killed.
"Damn! I knew I was in trouble. A chill ran down my spine when I realized that the rankness in that apartment wasn't coming from any sewer - it was the smell of death!" Traci's eyes were wide and Denny looked over his shoulder just to make sure Dahmer wasn't standing behind him.
"He kept telling me that he was going to kill me. For an instant I felt incredibly stupid," Traci said, spitting out the last word. "Then I realized I had no time to retrace my steps. I knew I'd been smelling death all along. And it was sitting right next to me.
"I've had martial arts training, and I know how to take care of myself. I'm a strong man, but he was just as strong. It was so surreal. He couldn't quite force me to get my other arm around so that he could handcuff me. He didn't hit me. He kept telling me, 'C'mon, c'mon, let me get your other arm.' But I kept resisting, wrestling it away." Traci mimicked his panicked movements, twisting and pulling his arm close to his body. He stopped as a new, more macabre thought dawned on him. "Dahmer was trying to sweet talk me into my own murder."

< 9 >

Two short rings on the hotel telephone shook everyone back to the present in the hotel suite. Denny reached the phone just as it rang a second time. It was his editor checking on the progress of the story. In a few moments Denny briefed him on the situation, and told him that he would be filing his story later that day. Traci and the others politely ignored the conversation.
Turning back to the group, Denny interrupted their small talk with a question to Traci. "Through all this time, you never once yelled for help? It was a pretty well-populated building," Denny went on, "didn't you ever consider screaming for your life?"
Traci turned sullen. "I was already bleeding from the cuts in my underarm," he said. "That knife seemed as sharp as a razor. They put eighteen stitches where he cut me. There was no doubt in my mind that if I had raised my voice he would have stuck me dead right then.
"Dahmer told me to stand up and he led me across the room by the handcuff. The knife was firmly stuck in my armpit. I told him, 'you don't have to try and hurt me, I'm not going to fight with you.' I tried to reason with him as he pulled me through the door into a scary scene." Give me details, Denny prayed silently. Traci didn't disappoint him. "The bedroom, just off the living room, was gloomy and foreboding. The dingy gray walls were plastered with nude pictures of men in all types of disgusting sexual poses. I'd never seen anything like it before.
"But I didn't look for very long," Traci said. "I couldn't take my mind off of the knife. The blade felt hot as fire. Every time I'd catch a glance of it, it was looking bigger and meaner. Meanwhile, Dahmer was going through these wide mood swings. He'd whine a low moan over and over. One minute he'd be as cool as a cucumber and the next minute his face was screwed into the devil's mask telling me how he would kill me and eat me. He kept telling me that you just can't trust anybody anymore, you can't believe people. I told him, man you can trust me. If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have come here with you. 'You'll never leave here,' Dahmer said. 'It won't be long, I'll show you. I'll show you things you won't believe. You'll stay here with me.'"

< 10 >

Traci's monologue broke off with a cough. He sipped his coffee, grimacing at its lukewarm sweetness. Traci looked up and Denny noticed his eyes seemed out of focus. But as long as the story is clear, he thought.
"The bedroom was dark except for a lone light in the corner and a television set on the other end of his small single bed," Traci recited the details. "A video tape of The Exorcist was playing on the TV. Dahmer pointed at the television and told me, 'This was the best movie ever made.'
"I almost laughed. This guy thinks he's a movie critic," Traci said.
"The windows of the bedroom were blocked and I could see that he had security alarms hooked to the window sills. Nobody could get in or out of the place without an alarm going off. I was trapped. There was no escape from this room. I looked at the bed. There was a huge stain on the bed sheet. I guessed it was a bloodstain, but it had turned to a tarnished brown color," Traci said, his face pale at the memory. "I was beginning to lose it. The smell. The sounds of the T.V., and Dahmer. It was all getting to me. I felt dizzy and disoriented.
"Then I saw it - a hand was sticking out from under the bed." Traci's eyes were clenched shut so he didn't see the excited grin Denny aimed at the photographer. "I could see the end of it. It was just a hand on the end of a small piece of arm. At first I couldn't convince myself that it was real. It looked like something you might buy in a trick shop. But it was real.
"I wanted to throw up, but I couldn't. Just a dry retch was all I could manage. 'Don't be sick," Dahmer whispered wetly in my ear, 'I'll take care of you.' He pushed the knife harder and cut me with the blade a little deeper. He forced me to sit down on the dingy bed - and he sat down next to me."
All eyes were riveted on Traci. "Next to the bed Dahmer had a small file cabinet. He reached over and pulled open one of the drawers. Inside the drawer was a human skull."

< 11 >

"Jesus," Jeremy said. It was the first time he'd spoken. He stubbed out his cigarette and walked across the room to the bathroom. "I don't want to hear anymore of this."
Denny ignored him. "Go on," he urged Traci.
Traci blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Dahmer rubbed the top of the skull while he stared into my eyes. He said that I looked a lot like the men on the wall, but that I had a better body." This was said almost proudly. "He kept telling me I was very beautiful, it was as if he were talking to a woman. I was freaked out, but I kept focused on his eyes, looking for a chance to bolt out of the hellhole. I knew the man was possessed.
"'I'll let you go if you just let me put your other hand in the handcuff so that I can take some nude pictures of you,' Dahmer told me. 'Let me be more in control. Let me take some nude pictures of you, then I'll let you go.' I guess I was in shock by this time. All the while he was stroking me slowly. My legs, my back, my head. I just kept talking - talking about anything to keep his mind off what he might have planned. He was holding on tight to the handcuff and once in a while he'd shove that huge knife further up into my armpit." Traci winced in memory of the blade.
"I said you've got to trust me, I'm not going to leave you, I'm going to stay with you. I tried to reason with him, but I could see that he was going to do what he had to do. He wasn't buying it. He said, 'you're persistent aren't you? You're real good - but you're going to stay with me forever.'
"I knew right then this guy's going to kill me. He put the knife right in my groin, and pushed steadily on it."
In the hotel suite, Traci started to cry. He was phony all right, but the tears and shaking were real. He had experienced genuine terror. Even more horrifying was the realization of what he had escaped from - how close he had come to his own end.
"Every so often, Dahmer would open the file drawer and rub the skull, then he'd look back into my eyes," said Traci, his voice breaking again. "He was going through some type of ritual. He had done this before. Then he pulled some Polaroid pictures of dead men out of the file cabinet.. The bodies in the photos were decomposed, and Dahmer told me, 'You'll look real good this way. You'll look better than they did.'

< 12 >

"Then he put the knife deeply back into my armpit and ordered me to lay down on the bed. The pain was searing," Traci said. "I laid down on my back and he lowered himself slowly down on top of me with his ear to my chest. He said he wanted to hear my heart beat. He told me he wanted to see how my heart looked. Then he said that he wanted to eat it."
Denny let out a little yip which startled everyone. He could see the headline: "Killer Wanted To Eat My Heart!"
Denny apologized and made a pretense of checking the tape. Traci resumed. "I told Dahmer that I had to go to the bathroom. And, if he let me, I'd come back and take off all my clothes so he could take photos. I was trying to buy time, but I was already beginning to feel like a dead man.
"While I was going to the bathroom he stood right there with me watching and keeping that knife in my armpit. When I finished, I unbuttoned my shirt all the way down, you know, to make him think I was going along with him. I said, let's have another beer. He went to the refrigerator and got two, dragging me with him by the end of the handcuff. The kitchen was filthy. There were pots and pans with disgusting gunk in them everywhere. He wanted to go back in the bedroom. But I said, it's cooler in the living room, let's have the beer in there. I noticed that he wasn't sticking the knife so close to me and I thought he might be getting drunk," Traci sounded hopeful for the first time in his narrative. "He just kept telling me how pretty I was and how I had such a nice body. But he never tried anything sexual with me. I guess that came later. He told me he liked to keep bodies around. He said he liked it when they didn't move or struggle.
"We went back to the couch and I sat down real comfortable-like. I made him think I was right at home, but I was watching his eyes every second," Traci said. He sat forward in the chair, his hands resting on his knees, and talked into the tape recorder. "Dahmer said he'd soon show me things I'd never believe. He asked me if I was drunk, and then told me he'd been drinking all day. I told him I was woozy. Then he started weaving back and forth, not saying anything, just humming in a low tone. It was like he was in a trance.

< 13 >

"I finally decided that this guy was going to have to kill me. I wasn't going to give in to him. I thought to myself, he's going to have to stab me or whatever, but I'm going to try to get out of here. I figure I'm going to die either way.
"The fish tank was blocking the front window, and there was no window in the bathroom. I wasn't going back in that bedroom. I couldn't see how I could get out. I told him that I had to go to the bathroom again and this time he let me get up from the couch by myself. I thought to myself, now's your chance. In an instant I grabbed my bag and shot for the door. He reacted like in slow motion. I got to the door and turned the dead bolt. It clicked open.
"Just then, Dahmer grabbed hold of my arm. I turned and hit him flush in the face with my fist and kicked him backward. He reeled and I never looked back. He underestimated me, and it was his undoing." Traci grinned.
"I bounded at top speed down the hallway, whizzing past a few folks who were walking the other way. 'What's wrong?' they asked, but I never even slowed down. I flew through the front door of that building in a flash and at last took a deep breath of sweet, fresh air. I ran into the street with the handcuff still dangling from my wrist and immediately spotted a police cruiser.
"There's a guy in there trying to kill me! I gasped at the officers inside." Denny thought that was probably the first time Traci had actually sought out the police. "They led me back in the building and we went up to Dahmer's door. And he opened it like nothing had ever happened. Of course, after the cops took a quick look around, well, Dahmer was history."
Anything else was anticlimactic and Denny and the photographer fiddled impatiently with notes and film as Traci came to his conclusion.
"Later as I sat in the squad car, shaking with fear and thanking God that he had delivered me from a human devil, the whole impact of what had happened took me over. I started to cry and babble like a baby."

< 14 >

Traci attempted a pious mien as he moralized. "I thank God I'm alive, and I pray for all the poor souls that visited that apartment before me - and never left. I know that God sent me to get this guy. It was my destiny to put him away."
Denny didn't ask many questions during or after Traci's narrative. Sometimes you just need to let a story tell itself. Traci's retelling of the story had immersed the hotel suite for more than two hours. For a few minutes it was quiet in the room as each man digested what he had just heard.
Denny jotted down a few more notes and handed Traci the remaining five one-hundred dollar bills. He was officially paid-in-full for his contribution to journalism. Traci pocketed the money as he got up from his chair, and he and Jeremy gathered their things to leave.
"If I were you," Denny told Traci at the door of the suite "I would use that $1,000 and get yourself a good therapist - you're going to need it." Denny knew he'd have trouble sleeping.
The following week, when Denny's front-page story broke, Traci's photo was plastered over the cover of the paper. In every supermarket and drug store across America the colorful headlines shouted for attention. And an off-duty cop in a Texas Wall-Mart spotted Traci's face in the paper instantly. The policeman had filed rape charges against Traci two years earlier, and had been looking for him since. (He'd found his man in the check-out line.)"

Johnson, D. (Undated) The One That Got Away [available online]: http://www.short-stories.co.uk/
[accessed 20.1.10]

Sam T