Well i’m feelign under the weather today which means im going to be missing my ACP lecture on Dada but it gives me the chance to write about what we covered in the second part of last weeks class.

So in the second half of the class we got into groups of three and began looking at the first scene in a play called Shopping and Fucking written by Les Gutman.  So we got together in these groups read over the scene then started talking about design, blocking, the characters, what was beign said and all that jazz; really just pulling it right apart.  After maybe 20mins we were asked to go and write down everything we as a group had spoken about, then one group was asked to run throught the scene while we all watched.

I’m thinkign i probally should give a rundown of the scene very quickly. Three characters Lulu, Robbie and Mark are sitting in a once stylish flat now almost stripped bare (the play is set in England).  The scene begins with Lulu and Robbie trying to get Mark to eat something but he cant because he is detoxing off herion, after promptly vomiting a discussion begins about Mark’s welfare.  Mark is persuaded to tell the story of how they all met ,  Lulu and Robbie pay out Mark for his love for H, mark tells the other two he is leaving to goto a clinic but Lulu becomes angry and tells him to get out while Robbie becomes upset detailing his love for Mark.  Now my comments from class:

  • The three characters are in a love triangle together (2 boys and 1 girl) and i am guessing from the story of how they met that Robbie and Lulu are submissives because they were purchased from a fat man by Mark for 20quid.
  • Mark is addicted to H and says he is going to a clinic to get help but wont tell eithier Robbie or Lulu where it is.  I thought initially that this could have been because he was just planning to leave them but after discustions in class i now feel that his problem with not telling Robbie and Lulu has something to do with his current and previous status in the relationship.  Initially when the three would have meet Mark would have had all the power over the two but because of his addiction he has possibly fallen to the bottom of the pecking order or at least below Lulu.
  • I see Robbie as quite submissive because of the way which he seemingly takes orders from Lulu without question and does whatever she bids him to do and then later conveys his love for Mark which reveals not just a want for Mark but a need for him.
  • Visualising the flat they are in, I see a mouldy couch, broken lamp sitting on a small table, the place is filthy, used needles litter the floor as do ashtrays filled to the brim with ciggie butts; its real tip. 

Anyway after viewing the scene we convenyed as a group in an attempt to break the scene down into units of action and map out the scene pyshically, emotionally and somatically; this is a method developed by a guy whose name i can’t remember but eh used to teach at VCA.  We managed to get through abotu a third of the scene breaking into these units of action  and i think discussioning it in the way we did helped me to get a better understanding of what was happening and why; the second step was labbeling thee units of action with appropriate titles so to as at a glance show in detail what was happenign in that part.

Anyways i’ll leave it at that because i’m pretty sure this post is already confusing enough. :)