Collaboration Project

Love Is Complicated
Ideas based on stimulus

The inspiration for our devising group project titled, Love is Complicated is derived from the stimulus, the painting the hole on the wall.
    We gathered our information and ideas about the theme of the play by recalling what we see and what we think of the art work. The very first thing that we realized/noticed about the painting is the distinctive red balloon. Obviously the balloon used to belong to the human figure on the left side and now the balloon is gone, we can tell this by looking at how the hand of the “human” is trying to reach for the balloon. Also the balloon has a shape of a heart, which is possibly referring to love. Combining love and the sense of distance/abandon, we’ve decided our topic to be about the sad facts of love.
This piece has allowed the members of our group to explores themes of the following:
  • The longing for love
  • Heartbreak
  • Unfaithfulness
  • Betrayal
  • Love is complicated
  • Devotion
  • Etc.

The play's made up of 4 characters and their roles are described as follows:
  • Steve (Ray): Best friend of Marcus, Husband of Sara, very controlling of Sara which reflects negative attitude
  • Sara (Linda): Wife of Steve, past lover to Marcus during high school time.
  • Marcus (Willjam): Best friend of Steve, Husband of Natalie, past lover to Sara, set Steve up with Sara? Sara’s high school crush.
  • Natalie (Olivia): Wife of Marcus,

Audience: teenagers, adults, and old people.
Why is the story important?
This story is important to us because it is another way to perform our reality of relationships. Also, it is anyway to express our feelings about love, betrayal, sadness, and suspect. Telling the stories of relationships from the third person point of view is very interesting too. Feelings and thoughts that we would not be able to understand in reality could be expressed and found theater.

Scene Directions: created by Linda and Olivia
Scene 1:
Stage directions: two different settings but same scene, lighting will help reflect this idea. What’s happening with Steve and Sara is happening at the same as Marcus and Natalie, just in a different setting. Lines will overlap and intertwine with each other.  *Idea: “I have to go to work” - Natalie*
Sara is happily waiting for her husband to come home, only to be faced with her husband’s rage and accusations that Sara is cheating on him. Sara expresses shock, confusion, etc. due to the astonishment of her husband finding out the secret she’s been so devotedly trying to hide. After a desperate amount of attempts to change the subject and reassure her husband that there's no other lover in her life, she breaks and mutters the words, “He’s just a friend”. Disappointed and disgusted, Steve gives Sara the cold shoulder, turning his back and leaving.  [End of Scene 1]

Scene 2
Sara frantically calls Marcus, the man she is cheating on her husband with.
Stage Direction: lights go first on Sara on one side of the stage as she is calling Marcus. When Marcus answers, lighting appear on the other side of the stage indicating two different settings.  She is panicking and doesn’t know what to do. Marcus just reassures her that everything will be alright.


Scene 3
Steve goes to the bar to have a drink and reflect on what has just recently happened. He asks the bartender, Natalie, for a drink. Natalie notices that Steve is upset and asks him what's wrong. When Steve explains, Natalie says she understands and she’s going through the same type of thing with her husband. They continuing talking and find themselves becoming good friends, but maybe more than friends. Oh… yes, more than friends.

Scene 4
Sara is sitting home alone (Lights are dim to show it is night time and a lamp is more of the lighting in this scene) and is concerned as her husband has been arriving home really late, past midnight. Instead, he goes straight to the bar after work to see Natalie. Sara receives a call (Phone is on side table next to the chair she is sitting in). When Sara says she is upset about how things have played out recently, Marcus suggests they hang out at the bar tonight. Sara agrees. They’ll meet at the bar.


Scene 5
Sara and Marcus walk into the bar, only to see Steve and Natalie by the counter. Steve and natalie are being flirtatious and laughing, giggling, ect. This gets Marcus upset. Marcus shouts at Steve saying things like “Hey! What are you doing with my wife?! Are you crazy?!”. Steve counterattacks with similar phrases then chuckles and says, “Hey Sara, I thought he was just a friend?”. Marcus runs up to punch Steve. Marcus and Steve begin to brawl/ fight. Marcus throws Steve across the room. Sara reaches out (like the person in the picture) and screams “no!”. It is silent. Marcus says “Come on Natalie lets go” and the two of them leave.  It remains silent. Steve is lying on the floor breathing heavily and coughing. Sara, still in the pose from the picture, says “Love… is…. Complicated”. Steve responds in an exhaustive manner, “Let’s not love”.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Linda Li’s Director vision

Image
Linda Li Mrs. Guarino IB Theater HL 23 October 2018 Linda Li’s Director Vision of The Caucasian Chalk Circle     When we cheerfully completed the play The Caucasian Chalk Circle last year in the Black Box theater, the images and the script were stamped into my brain. The Caucasian Chalk Circle was about a peasant girl, Grusha who rescued a baby, Michael, and became a better mother than its wealthy natural parents, George Abashwilli and Natella Abashwilli. For the particular scene that I have chose from the play, which is the scene that Natella screaming and fighting the judge Azdak because he decided that Grusha would be Michael’s official guardian and her own property would be taken for public usage, I have decided to plot the scene again by in a independent and different way. Additionally, I was inspired by Mr. Aronson’s style of arranging the scenes of the play and the very aggressive and powerful image of Natella Abashwilli who is one of the most important i...
Read more

Notes on Theater class Plarwights Presentation on Sep 26

Peter Brook Education: Oxford University Born in London, Britain Worked at The Royal Shakespeare Company and directed some of Shakespeare’s plays. EX. Mid-summer night dreams - “Common Sense” -“ A really good actor is all that’s need for a Shakespeare’s play.” - Neither more poetic or more natural. Depends on Actor’s own  sensitive perception and thoughts. -Simplicity is desirable as long as the audience get what you could generally perceive. -wrote The Empty Space Four types of theaters 1. The Deadly: Constructivism and old practices of doing things will no longer do. 2. The Holy: expose reality by creating abstract scenes. 3. The Rough: dramatic scenes challenge simplified thoughts. 4. The immediate: Clean state made by audience. Creation if International Centre of Theatre Research (founded in 1974) King Lear, Lord of the Flies (films directed)
Read more