The York Realist Peter Gill

The York Realist

Week 1

When we were introduced to this play we were also introduced to the quote 'I live here. I live here. You can't see that though. You can't see it. This is where i live. Here.'

As a class we all tried to decipher what this quote meant, and we all had different interpretations of it, however some people also had similar thoughts on it . A few people suggested that it could possibly be an immigrant in a different country trying to get through to a person that they now belong in this country, hence the phrase, 'you can't see that'. Me and a few others noticed that the repetition of, 'I live here, I live here' reminded us of a childlike way of speaking. The repetition of 'you can't see, you can't see' also sounds desperate and a cry for attention, like a child throwing a tantrum. We were also discussing the context of which this quote was said and we all decided that it would be said in some sort of conflict and the sense of enragement from the quote seems like it would fit somewhere near the end of an argument.

We read through the first scene as class and our teacher made lines in the script every few pages to allow us to pause and discuss what we have just read to make sure we are all on the same page and understand what is going on.

 
Above shows image of where some units of action were marked.

Week 2

We continued to read through the rest of the play still stopping to discuss all the different events of the play and as went read along, we got introduced to different characters and learnt more about them gradually as we went along; then at the end when we discussed the play as a whole we also compared how the characters were at the beginning of the play to at the end how much they've now changed.

We got put into small groups of either 4 or 5 and asked to form a scene inspired by the first scene, to see everybody's understanding of the play as a whole. My group, and i think a few other groups found this slightly challenging only because to us the same characters and plot without being able to quote the script at all can create major barriers. We managed to form quick scene, however not long enough for a full piece as we felt we needed more time to devise this scene as it required very creative thinking and planning.

We had to go into pairs and were assigned different sections from a couple of pages each from the first scene. We then noted down units of actions into our scripts and wrote down the reasons for it. We noticed the unit of action changes when the location changes, there is a change of time,change of topic in conversation and when a character leaves and exits the scene.

Context

For context, we were assigned our own research tasks connected to our practical work on The York realist. Everyone was put into groups of two or three and had to do a five minute presentation on either Peter Gill, York Mystery Plays, Royal Court Theatre or DH Lawrence. Me and my partner were assigned to do research on the Royal Court Theatre, however she was not in that today. My PowerPoint presentation included history/context about the Royal Court Theatre, it's connections with Peter Gill, a video clip of Peter Gill discussing the Royal Court theatre including talks about The York Realist etc. At the end I also included 5 questions about information to ask my class members. Here is a link for the video of my presentation and power point i presented to the class

First Workshop

The first workshop we did was at the Donmar Warehouse. There were also three other schools in the warehouse who were also taking place for the workshop. We were first in a big hall that fit all for of our schools and we all participated in a warm up together. This warm up included as all walking around the space and hearing a number being called out, we then had to speedily get into a group with that number if possible. Then with that group they would tell us to create a still image/freeze frame of something with our bodies. For example, they called out anything like a horse a bike etc. This required us to be extremely creative in a short amount of time.

When that exercise we all had split up separately into our own schools and put into different rooms to work with different directors. Our director was called Toby. The first exercise that we did with him is when he called out a number of statements and whether we agreed with the statements or not, we had to stand in one line going from left to right across to room which deciphered whether you agreed with the statement or not. For example, right is for agree, left is for disagree etc. The next exercise that we did with him is when we had to picture there was a world map on the floor and to position yourself on the map where you grew up, where your parents grew up, where your grandparents grew up and where you would like to stay when you grow older.

After those exercises with Toby, we then went into another room for a script writing workshop. In this room we had to get into groups of 3-4, which we were given an image and two post it notes. One of the posted notes stated an event and the other a location. With the small information we had we used this to write a scene. The image my group had was with a mother and a daughter, the location was in a funeral and the event was B telling A they were a former prostitute (B meaning the daughter and A meaning the mother). The scenario we thought of was that the B and A was at the grave visiting B's dad at the grave after they had not seen each other for years they was then catching up about the past and B eventually told A about her experience as a prostitute. B became so furious and killed A. We rehearsed this a few times and then performed to the rest of the class.

Second Workshop

This workshop followed by the next day was held out our own college this time. Our first warm up that we did was walking around the room, making sure that we are using the space effectively, (not too many people crammed in one space, no large gaps) so everyone is easily spaced throughout the room. Whilst still walking, Toby introduced to the exercise where if he says clap then we clap and he says jump, we jump etc. He also told us if he said sides then we run to the different sides sides of the room and if he called center we all ran into the the middle forming a big huddle of one another getting as close as we can to each other. This really helped us to get energetic and get our bodies if were feeling tiresome or sluggish. He then told us to to separate individually and think about a place and time where we most feel ourselves and get write a 30 second piece on it. Mine was entering my home, being greeted by my mum and the sitting down in my living room relaxing with my mum and my sister. 

We then went back to walking around in a space, but this time we did it differently, we practiced walking around in different and how if an individually looks different to everybody else around them, the effect it has on the audience. For example, if someone is moving in a slow manner and everyone else is walking speedily it, it will cause the audience to focus on just them. 

We then focused on stage presence. We were split into two groups. The first group had to walk on stage and stand facing the audience (group 2) before walking. We took turns saying the phrase 'I live here' , to see who seemed authentic saying this and who wasn't. The feedback that i got was that i sounded convincing and confident, that i was seemed sure of what I was saying.

Workshops

We spent the day at the Donmar doing a number of workshops that lasted through the morning to the afternoon. The first worskhop was music based where we listened to different types of music that provoked different types of emotion. We had a move in a way the music made us feel. We then had to write down on paper how each different piece of music made us feel, then we got into groups of 3-4 and created a dance/movement for every emotion. We put these movements into a sequence and performed them to everyone in the room. This was to demonstrate the different ways of devising, we were able to showcase this through music. 

We then joined back with Toby and did another workshop. The first warm up we did was play Grandma's Footsteps into two groups, one grouped played first whilst the others watched, observed and said what they noticed/found interesting to watch and vice versa. Some of the things i found interesting and entertaining to watch was people sabotaging each other to get to grandma and what i found dull was when people over did it and it got played out. We then put a twist on things and played Grandma's footsteps without grandma, so as a group we had to decide when to start and stop. The challenges that we faced in this was that we could not see everyone that was around us so choosing when when to start and stop was tricky. However, this was a major help for us when forming an ensemble and to perform/work together effectively. 

The final workshop was us discovering the language of Polari which was a popular language spoken by gay men during the 1930's through to the 1960's in London. The language had a combination of English, Italian, a mixture of cockney slang, saying words backwards and a mixture of other languages. This language was spoken by gay men to disguise themselves from people knowing that they are gay, especially police seeing as it were a crime. The language of Polari was not actually used in the play but is knowledgeable to know as John in the play who is from London would most likely have used this language when he stayed in London, George on the other hand is from Yorkshire so he would have most likely have no experience with this language. 

York Realist Play and the performance

The York Realist a play written be peter Gill in 2001 but set in the 1960's. The main protagonist of the play  rented by the protagonist of the play George and his widowed mother in rural York The play is about gay and familial relationships. The play challenges the aspects personal and professional views and how it can cause conflict. The major themes in the play are love, sense of self, family and roots of where people feel most at home. 

The main character George is a farmhand in York, who in his spare time dabbles in some acting at his local Theatre. This same theatre is where he meets his love interest in the play, an assistant theatre director from London, John. George and John manage to juggle a secret relationship in between their lives, until John suddenly has to return to his life in London, leaving George in an odd dilemma on whether he should stick with his family in Yorkshire or pursue his love for John by moving to London. The choice also wasn't so easy as homosexuality was still not legalized till 1967 so relationship will still not be completely free as they will still live in fear of being discovered. 

During the play, George is going through a constant battle within himself, he struggles to decide on whether he should stay with the love of his life, or to marry a woman and keep his life a secret. This is evident to us as an audience as whenever George and John have an exchange George's body langue often seems unease and discomforted, however he tries to mask this with his 'strong' persona. This 'strong' persona of John tends to work in his benefit in a negative and positive way as it helps to dismantle the typical stereotype of a gay man being completely feminine and opens up others perspective to homosexuality as they may have been closed minded before. However, it is an disadvantage to him a character as it is always forcing him him to mask his emotions as he aims to appear 'tough' not allowing him to get in touch with his feelings. Others may argue that John meets the gay stereotype perfectly as John works in the theatre, which is a massive stereotype and also John's personality seems to appear more soft and on the timid side. 

I think production played a very big part with making the show a great performance. The whole set had a very realistic feel, not over the top which made it feel more genuine. The costumes were also in tune with the timing that the play was set; the women all wore modest skirts above their knees, which also represents how religious they are in the play. George's costume also represented his character well as his clothes looked quite ragged and rough illustrating he's a poor farmhand and also possibly a reflection of his personality. John was also represented well as he wore a clean cut suit; fresh, shiny shoes - this showed an amazing contrast between George and John lifestyle as he john is used to more of a life of luxury whereas George is the opposite. The lighting was very effective as well when displaying how time has passed and creating moments on of tension causing the play to feel very realistic.

As a whole I think the production was great and the actors had an excellent sense of dynamics between each other, the relationships between different characters made it feel very real, it was extremely well put together.

At college

At college the next day we all discussed our thoughts on the show and shared our opinions with one another. We went into small groups of 3-4, each group given different area of the play to look at.

This group analysed characters and how they were interpreted.

This group made an analysis on how the technical aspects on the show made it very effective.

My group thought about what we might include in our review's when re capping on the play.

Overall everyone deciphered what they thought was amazing about the play and area's that still required room for improvement.

Directing the York realist

If i was to direct a production of 'The York Realist '. I would mg the roles for John and George i would take time with making sure i get the perfect duo as the chemistry between both of them is so vital as makes the play way more effective.

I would set the play in London in the 1960's as although the homosexuality was still frowned upon and illegal there, they were much more open about it there than in Yorkshire. I would still have George had grown up in Yorkshire but moved to London from a young age where he would have time to learn the language of Polari; this would give the audience an insight of different type of gay life. The fact that George was still born and raised in Yorkshire for part of his life will show he still has a sense of where he's from and his roots etc. But he is now in a different environment where he is being shown a different side of life and he is no longer in charge, it is John taking the lead in contrast to the original play where George is th more domineering character. I would have their relationship work more smoothly as they are in a space where being homosexual is more popular, however the downfall of their relationship would be that George finds it challenging adjusting to new things and being a different enviroment and struggles to taking the lead like he used to, all whilst being homesick.

The lighting i would use would be similar to the one they used on the production of the play, however mine would be slightly more exaggerated as London is more extravagant. I would still use lighting to create tension. I will also use bright lights in scenes where George is back home with his family to highlight haw at home and happy he feels when he's surrounded by them and i would also in contrast use quick, flashy lights when he's in London to demonstrate how new he is to this lifestyle and how he is not used to it. When George and John are alone in a scene i will use on single light to demonstrate how that it's just them in a scene and to to give a sense of intimacy.

For costume i would dress George in no longer farmer wear, but he carry on wearing dull colored clothing, very plain and boring, which helps to represent his inexpressive personality. I would dress John the same in a suit and formal shoes, very modern. I would dress the women the same, quite moderately as they are still religious women.

Week 7

This week spent time organizing and rehearsing our performance, making sure everyone's cues were on time and our performance looked up to scratch so our performance looked up to scratch for the following week.

Week 8

In our final week of rehearsing. We did a warm up before we did a run through and doing our tech rehearsal. After that, we did another run through on stage including tech and then we performed later on in front of the other schools.

Evaluation of our performance

I felt our performance went very and smooth. Our performance was special to me because it had our own unique touch to it as it was created with the help of everyone own creativity and individuality. It was staged very too so it would look neat for the audience watching. The only challenges we faced is that our group was used to performing in an end on staging , while we performed on a stage in thrust it was a struggle getting used to. Each scene was about the different speakers safe place and where they felt at home, although it was a reflection of an individual person each scene we were all apart of this in some way and helped everyone to tell their story. I really enjoyed doing this ensemble work because i have never done something like this before.

''The York Realist' helped us inspire themes of home and sense of self to incorporate into our ensemble. Our piece was unique in comparison to everyone else as they had direct characters and quotes from their play ours seemed extremly creative and very well though out.