Brechtian Staging

Techniques: road
 "road" was written by Jim Cartwright in 1987,
"road" by Jim

during the time of Margaret Thatcher's
Conservative Government.
Cartwright  The play focused on North of England's place
in a society run by "Thatcherism".
 It is set a working class, deprived area of
Lancashire.
 It focuses on the theme of unemployment in
the Northern Society.
 Historical events of the 1980s

1975: Margaret Thatcher given

the name, The Iron Lady 1981: The 1981 Riots take place 1982: The Falkland War begins

1979: Margaret Thatcher 1981: The AIDS Epidemic begins 1983: Campaign for Nuclear
become Prime Minister Disarmament March occurs

1986: Unemployment 1989: The Cold War finally

1984: The Miner's Strike begins reaches 14.4% comes to an end after 40 years

1984: Brighton Hotel Bombing 1988: Section 28 is implemented 1990: Margaret Thatcher resigns
"road": characters

• Scullery • Molly • Joey's Mother

• Louise • Professor • Joey's Father
• Louise's Brother • Chantal • Bisto
• Brenda • Mr Bald • Manfred
• Carol • Mrs Bald • Scotch Girl
• Brink • Jerry • Soldier
• Eddie • Blowpipe • Valerie
• Lane • Claire • Marion
• Dor • Joey • Linda
 Brechtian Staging Techniques

 Brechtian Techniques are theatre techniques created by

practitioner Bertolt Brecht
 Many of his techniques focused on educating the audience
 Some of his techniques include:
 Breaking the fourth wall
 Narration
 Use of song and music
 Use of props
 Placards and signs
 Breaking The Fourth Wall:

•Scullery breaks the fourth wall to address the audience

•Various characters such as Louise's brother "It's a hard
life..."
How can •Monologues are typically addressed out to the audience.

Brecht's Narration:

techniques be •Scullery stands as the "narrator", he leads the audience

through the story.
used in Props
"road"? •Brecht typically makes his props symbolic and are shown
to have an underlying meaning
•Flyers of Thatcher's Government could be flying around
•The furniture can be very worn down to reflect the
situation the characters are in
 Costume for Scullery

I imagined Scullery to have been in the army in the past. As a result, I wanted him to
keep his army uniform to symbolise the unemployed in Thatcher's society. Soldiers were
at huge risk unemployment after wars such as WWII, Falkland Wars etc.
 Costume for Eddie

In my mind, Eddie symbolises the people in society who are in a better position than others. He
is described as stylish and appears to be a smooth talker. I thought of going with smart clothing
but, because I felt he symbolised the rich in society, I've gone with a blue blazer because blue
was a very Thatcher colour.
 Costume for Molly

Molly is shown to be rather dreamy and in her own little world. This is where the symbolisim of
positivety and moral comes in. She is the one who builds up people's moral through dark times.
With her costume, I wanted to go with something that flows gracefully to symbolise that dreamy-
ness. When she is in her bedroom, I've gone with a silk robe, silk nightdress and 1930s slippers, all of
which are probably discoloured because she would've bought them a long time ago when she
could afford them. She is also described as having culers in her hair.
 Use of Song and Music:
•Some of the songs mentioned are used to make a point, such as
"Somewhere ov er the Rainbow", Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow etc
•They tend to be used to reflect how the character's feel or think.
How can •Some of the characters could potentially sing some of those songs in
Brechtian style, making the lyrics not really fit with the song.

Brecht's •Molly, specifically, sings in the bar and it can be made v ery Brechtian.

Lighting:
techniques be •Lighting that fills the stage can be used to illuminate the reality of the
community's liv es.
used in •Solitary spotlights can be used during monologues to make the
audience focus on the character speaking.
"road"? Montage:
•Montages can be used to show the ev ents of the 1980s
•This helps to prov ide Historical Context for the audience
•It could also be used at the end potentially to remind the audience of
the character's liv es and make it cyclical.
 Musical Devices from the year
2000 - 2010

 2000: Thumb drives = Used to store songs on

them and were listened through a computer.

 2001: iPods = It was the first device where you

could upload songs digitally.

 2007: iPod Touch = The first music device to have

Wi-Fi so users could download songs and listen to
them straight away.

 2007: iPhone = Used the functionalities of an

iPod, while including internet as well.
 Multi-rolling:
• Multiple characters can be given to a single
actor
How can • Potentially, the characters being portrayed by
the one actor can have a very similar
Brecht's personality to each other
techniques Placards and Signs:
be used in • The "road" sign is a clear use of a sign
"road"? • The bar scenes are described as having posters
for performances
• The road itself might have posters with events
that happened in the 1980s such as the Miner's
Strike, Thatcher's Government
Newspaper Headlines from the
1980s