Drama Coursework: Response Phase :: Drama

Drama Coursework: Response Phase The play that we have been work-shopping is ‘Legal Weapon’ by Mark Wheeler. This play at first appears to be concerned with road safety but under further study we see that it deals with guilt and denial, family loss and retribution. We have several central roles, Andy is the speeding driver and Jazz is his girlfriend who’s seeing a footballer called Matt whose brother was killed by a drug addict driver. Kelly is the learner driver who is tragically killed by Andy, her father, Brian, who desperately wants retribution for the death of Kelly. There is a narrator character known only as â€Å"A† she is omnipotent and described all the characters feelings throughout the play and gives us a summary of what is about to happen. We have also studied a play called Too much Punch for Judy which deals with similar issues in a very much different way. From this play, my group and I saw the possibilities for lots of explorative strategies for example cross cutting and marking significant moments. We work shopped different sections of the play, the first section, Loves Young Dream was cross cut with section 2: Apart. We decided from the outset that we wouldn’t use much set or costume to keep the attention of the audience on the action and to emphasize the areas that need to be central. We also work-shopped the section with the actual accident in it, Section 3: Fatality was we cross cut with some of section 4: Outcast. We used a lot of still image in our workshop mostly to portray a sense of fear in the piece. In Section 4 + 5 we began with a still image of three separate stages of the drama piece as a way to mark the moment. CSL was Alex in the role of Andy driving his car, carefree and happy driving along the road, this is set seconds before he tops the ridge and hits Kelly, before the freeze, Alex for a few seconds made driving sounds and turned his imaginary steering wheel before freezing. Most of the stage was in darkness with a bright spot on Alex. The light went off on him and a spot then came up on Jenna as Kelly in the centre of the stage facing away from the audience Sally was a concerned bystander running towards her; this scene is just after the accident, Sally being a witness to the crime. As Sally reaches the stricken Jenna she freezes with a look of panic and a blackout ensues. The spot comes up on Aaron and I walking as a funeral procession with