OCG Week 2

The status card game helps us to see how people react to others of different status. When someone has a high status they accept the person and treat them with respect by looking into there eyes and giving them space. With cards of lower status they tend to be ignored and pushed around. This body language immediatly triggers ones status.

We used the status card game to explore the middle of Act 1 Scene 11. This part includes Ralph, Liz, and Wisehammer. In doing this we found that in this scene Liz is a low status but playing high, Ralph is a high status playing medium, and Wisehammer is a low status playing high.
Through this game we can see how onboard the convict fleet the officers relationship with the convicts vary depending on the situation. With this scene Ralph Clark is treating the convicts with less of a high status because he needs to get them to connect and understand him. However normally the officers would treat the convicts the opposite. With convicts and convicts it is obvious that they try to stand up for each other but at the same time the female convicts are considered much lower status.

During the First Fleet I can see how the convicts and officers treated one another and that status was a very important thing onboard the fleet.
I think the opening scene of the play is very important because it introduces the play well but at the same time we can see the different status levels of the four characters which gives us an idea of whats to come in the play.

Research of Timberlake Wertenbakker and OCG

Timberlake Wertenbaker grew up in the Basque country of France and attended schools in Europe and the US before settling permanently in London. Her breakthrough play, Our Country's Good was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1988, directed by Max Stafford-Clark. The success of Our Country's Good can be attributed in large part to the claims it makes for the redemptive power of theatre. Putting on a play, it suggests, alleviates the worst aspects of colonial life and gives the convicts a sense of collective identity.

Task 2: Development - Mediums and Elements: The Exploration of Act 1, scene 1

In Act 1, Scene 1 the elements that make up this scene are:

• Form
• Rhythm/Pace/Tempo
• Characterisation
• Action/Plot/Content
• Contrasts

For the 'form' of the first scene, Wertenbakker chose 3 short monologues at this point. I feel this works well as it doesn't give away too many answers to what is about to come but it sets the scene well and starts to introduce the story. It also raises questions about who the three people are, what are their stories, and how they are connected. It is also very dynamic for example in John Wisehammer's monologue there are a lot of long sentences with lots of comers which show changing thoughts and even a daydreaming feel to it. Also lots of different ideas and thoughts are shown through the monologues.

Another element in this scene is the 'rhythm/pace/tempo' . For Ralph Clark, I think Wertenbakker wanted his counting to be quite and slow to show the tediousness of flogging criminals and the fact that this is one of there everyday actions. This helps to show the harshness of the actions on the convict ship. For John Wisehammers monologue I think the pace was meant to be quite fast to give the audience the idea of Wisehammers thoughts continuously spilling out and a day dreamy feel to his monologue. For John Arscotts monologue he talks about food and hunger so for his I think Wertenbakker wanted a slow pace and a quiet tempo so that we can see how his hunger seems to overtake his mind.

To explore 'characterisation' in the first scene we used raised platforms for the two men, John Wisehammer and John Arscott, and a lower platform for Mary, to make them stand out as the main characters but also to show how men in the society back then were viewed as more important and a higher ranking than women. For John Arscotts monologue we had him start off in a sitting position and gradually raise as if to reach for food. This went well with his monologue because it made it seem like he was so hungry that he was beginning to imagine things. For Mary we had her looking away during her monologue but on the work 'love' faced the audience. This exaggerated the word to give a fuller meaning to it. For Ralph Clark we had him seperate to the main characters to show his actions as one of the main focuses.

To explore the 'form' of the scene for Ralph Clarks counting it started as a black out but a red light began to fade on. This was good becuase it communicated the blood and horror of the flogging. To show three seperate monologues as they began to talk a white light shone on them. This helped to seperate their monologues and showed that they werent connected in this part of the scene. There was also a blue light in the background and the sound of waves to communicate the fact that they were onboard a convict ship which worked well.

Task 1: Response - Explorative strategies: Still Image with questioning in role or hot seating

For Ketch's Monologue the group had a Ketch who was commenting on the story and what had happened while the rest of the group did still images. This was useful as it helped you to understand the still images to gain a clearer understanding of Ketchs' life before he was sent on the convict fleet. The Ketch who commented on the story and who was in the still images wore a hoody covering their eyes only to show their mouth. This helped to connect between the two Ketch's but also raised ideas of whether covering the eyes symbolised the fact that Ketch felt guilty and sorry for turning in his friends for the crime and that he was trying to cover his emotions.

The still image where Ketch is watching his friends being taken away was powerful. His friends were frowning and looking back at Ketch. I felt this showed a hatred and anger at Ketch for betraying them and was powerful because we could see there emotions but not Ketchs'. They were also a far away distance from him which I feel could symbolise the broken connection between him and his friends and also the growing space and loss of friendship.

From this work I understand the character of Ketch on the surface may seem to be an untrust worthy charcater but on the inside we can see how he regrets what he did. I also realise how during those times people would have tried anything to stop themeselves from being sent onto a convict fleet because of the horrible living conditions etc onboard.

2 OMG moments in Waiting for Godot

One OMG moment in Waiting for Godot was probably the part where Lucky and Potso enter. In this scene Gogo and Didi meet Potso and Potso's slave Lucky. Gogo and Didi are fascinated with Lucky and witness Potso treating Lucky badly. When ordering Lucky to do something, after he has completed his task, Potso makes him go back to his place (far behind him). This carries on repeating but with different tasks (eg. Giving Potso his food, a chair etc). This made an impact to me because I felt sorry for Lucky but at the same time I wanted to laugh and felt guilty for laughing. I think the repetition of Potso ordering Lucky around even for the smallest things was quite absurd which brought in the laughter. However the way the actor of Lucky showed how much pain and suffering he was going through really got to me and I began to feel his pain. The actor of Potso brought in the steriotype of a typical, olden day, English gentlemen which also contributed to the laughter.

Another OMG moment was when Gogo and Didi wanted to hang themselves on the tree. In this scene they are discusing by the tree how they can hang themselves. They talk about needing a rope but in the end give up. This moment made an impact on me because of the fact that it made me think about how they are "waiting for Godot" and how this could relate to waiting for God. It made me realise how this 'thing' they are waiting for could be God and that there trust in him has faded as they are willing to hang themselves. I think that using the tree which was shaped as a cross was very significant in this scene as to me it symbolised the crucifix.

Catriona