~ Wednesday 11th January ~

I think in all honesty we managed to get a lot more done today, like we did a small
script read through, and we managed to get one of the sections completed and kind of
develop it a bit further which was the Death of the Governor. Through the script read
through, it was helpful for us to understand the story itself, and what would initially
happen to all the characters within the end. We as a group decided exactly what wed
work on today and reluctantly, we actually got a lot done.

- A Journey Into Brecht

Today with Alex, we were able to read through the whole of Act 5 as a
company. From doing this we are able to see what exactly would happen to
all of these different characters and see how the story progresses. As
actors, we need to know the outcome of each character and the story so
we can play with the audience more. Its treated almost like a secret
that we get to play with the audience as we can convince them of
different possibilities of the end instead of giving the ending away. In
terms of Act 5, Alex suggested that what he wishes to convey is that the
judge, Azdak, who is the character who puts forward the test of the
Chalk Circle, should be able to trick the audience into believing he is
going to give the child, Michael, back to his biological mother Natella,
instead of the rightful mother who brought him up, Grusha.
After going through the script read through, Alex wanted us to continue
working on the two physical theatre sequences. We discussed some ideas
we had, mainly for the Death of the Governor scene where we taught those
who were absent previously what we had come up with.
As we worked we developed a simple structure which almost turned into a
dance. We would have the Ironshirts take the Governor to the back of the
stage where his head would be placed on blocks, ready for his beheading.
The rest of the company were split into 2 groups, one group acted as
dancers which were choreographed to symbolise the end of life but also
the potential happiness that could fall upon the city once there leader
has been executed. The other group had to help raise Aaron, as the
Governor, up into the air using a crucifixion lift so that he would be
the central focus of the whole scene. Somebody also had the idea of
having Vicki, as the Fat Prince, almost conduct the whole piece so it
was like an orchestra. This worked well along with the music and general
idea that we wanted to portray.
When showing Alex, he liked the use of physical theatre within but
wanted to make a lot of changes. This was fair as, being the director,
you typically have a strong vision of what you want, so, keeping in some
of the ideas we had come up with, he wanted to change parts within the
future.