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.
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