Part 1
*no notes on casting, just find
people that can fit the parts, would need to meet people directly
Play deals with heavy material,
so make sure that cast understands that- possibly do some research with them[1]
Setting/Staging
·
Present time, all characters have smartphones
·
Stage split into two to allow for facilitation
between scene changes
·
Black curtains as background, but no wall
between the two separations
·
Three homes, Tim’s(T), Edward/Kitty’s(E/K),
Jake/Rachel’s(J/R)
o
Left side of stage is Edward/Kitty’s house,
change between kitchen and sitting room (might change depending on the ease at
which the sets can be changed)
o
Right side is everything else, but most
importantly, right side is court scenes
o
E/K has a bit of an unlived in look
§
Sitting Room
·
At beginning: used sofa, with boxes on and
around it
·
Middle: boxes are gone, sofa still looks used,
and the room is very sparse
·
End: same as the beginning with a dust sheet
over the couch
§
Kitchen
·
A table in the middle with a checkered
tablecloth, four chairs around it
o
No food on the table, everything is a bit dusty
o
Little dresser in the back, vase with dead
flowers on it
o
Wine rack on the dresser, a few bottles missing
o
Door into the house is clearly in the kitchen
o
T looks old
§
Dust sheets cover everything
·
Rearrangement of the furniture from the first
scene
o
J/K
§
Again, rearrangement of furniture from the first
two house
§
More lived in than both T and E/K
·
Court/Café
o
Court very minimalistic
§
Single chair for witness and a podium for the prosecutor/defense
§
In background, table with the three magistrates
§
Defendant is unseen and audience is in position
of the audience of the trial.
§
Stark and shown as uncaring or in some context
terrifying, especially for Gayle
o
Café has three tables with some chairs
§
Only one table is occupied,
§
Drinks are set in front of the characters on the
table, just see the edge of the door in the background
§
Characters can take sips while talking
Emphasis
·
Build the play around scene nine in act 1
o
Big tipping point, both sides of the stage, as court
and home mix
o
Gayle is in front, but not center, approaches
Edward and Tim, but not too close
§
Has a space around her, like a bubble to make
sure she is not touching anyone
§
She looks a bit dirty, as though she has not
showered in the last three days
·
Also draw comparison between scene 2, act 1 and
scene 2, act 2
o
Different/similarities between Tim and Laura?
·
Gayle’s plotline is secondary, but almost echoes
in the true plotline of the play
o
Make it clear how her panic and discomfort
affect the couples
o
Evidence needs to be provided in the party scene
particularly of her impending death
o
The echo needs to be clear throughout, not just
how she affects the couples, but how certain things mirror her story (think
when Kitty is talking to Laura and trying to get custody of Leo)
·
Focus on the crime of rape and how it is
discussed within the court and domestic scenes as a juxtaposition
·
Bookends of the play with Gayle need to be clear
in that the entire frame is based off of her experience and how the couples
react to their understanding of what happened to her
o
Needs be clear that she is not a ghost in the
sense of a real ghost, but leaves impressions, particularly emotional ones on
the rest of the characters
·
Main plotline not quite as important as the
impressions left on the audience
Costuming/Make-up
·
Changes depending on scene
·
Edward
o
Black or navy trousers with a button-up and a
tie
o
Add vest and suit jacket as needed
o
Black gown and wig for court scenes
·
Tim
o
Same as Edward with glasses
o
Add vest, jacket and tie as needed
o
Black gown and wig for court scenes
·
Jake
o
Same as Edward but with no tie
o
Add vest, jacket, and tie as needed
·
Kitty
o
Pants and blouse, but no jacket
o
Frazzled, especially in the first scene
o
Wears flats
·
Zara
o
Flowery dress, heels, white sweater
o
Full make-up, but not overly crazy
o
Hair should be done, and styled
·
Rachel
o
Pant suit
o
Heels also, very high
·
Gayle/Laura
o
G: has a rougher look, blouse with a long skirt
§
Not dirty when in court, but has some dirt spots
in other scenes
§
Long hair, somewhat bedraggled, pulled back
o
L: pencil or pants with nice blouse
§
Hair pulled back into a bun
§
Soft make-up, but professional
Actor staging
Act One, Scene One – left side
·
Scene should begin with less lighting, just
enough to see by, with the setting described earlier
o
Gayle should walk out through the background
curtains, light focused on her should increase, then fade to black as she
leaves. She is here to reference the rest of the play hinging on aspects of her
trial
o
Rest of actors come on, set in positions around
the room, lights come back on
§
Party/house-warming atmosphere
§
Bottle of wine and glasses on a side table, with
a nice tablecloth (to be used later)
§
Rachel and Edward are avoiding each other
Act One, Scene Two – right side
·
Gayle sitting in a plastic chair (possibly on a
bench) playing with her hands or skirt
o
Pause when needed, after certain lines maybe –
to be decided
o
Gayle can be getting frustrated, Tim is
flustered
o
Gayle also frightened and confused in her
frustration
Act One, Scene Three – left side
·
Again, a party atmosphere, laughing
o
Somewhat loud
o
Zara should be somewhat quiet, but speaking up
louder and louder to be heard
o
Something should be starting to linger from the
first trial scene
Act One, Scene Four- right side
·
Just Edward and Gayle for the scene where she is
in the witness box
o
Light centered on the two of them, not much
furniture
o
Gayle should be shaken, but standing up for
herself, she is sitting, facing the audience
§
Not necessarily brave, but she wants people to
know so that she can appeal to the empathy of the audience
Act One, Scene Five – left side
·
Jake is sniffling and sitting at the table,
Edward and Kitty look confused
o
Clear that Edward is affected by his trial and
takes Jake’s side as a consequence
Act One, Scene Six – right side
·
All have drinks in front of them, take sips
periodically while talking
o
Seems to be going well between friends
o
Tim starts to get angry and there seems to be
something between Zara and Edward
o
Their argument is a holdover from their argument
in trial, though not focused around Gayle in this particular scene
Act One, Scene Seven – right side
·
Setting is dusty, and furniture is arranged to
create a large area in the center
o
Tim and Kitty stand in the middle talking
§
Here the ghost section comes up, and can be made
evident that it does not necessarily need to be haunted but that there is a
different feeling to this house than the others, unless there is leftover
emotion with Gayle
Act One, Scene Eight – left side
·
Kitty is stewing, she clearly is frustrated and
possibly angry with Edward
o
Edward tosses the box on the table and sits down
Act One, Scene Nine – left side
·
Party scene again, Kitty and Edward avoid each
other, Jake and Rachel are happy
o
When door rings Rachel walks to right side of
stage, light on her and Gayle talking
o
When Gayle comes on stage she shoves past Rachel
to enter
o
Light follows Gayle as she yells
o
Gayle is clearly dirty and her hair unwashed,
she has tear tracks on her cheeks and starts drying at the end of the scene
§
THIS SCENE IS THE TURNING POINT
·
Second half focuses more on the problems that
come from having the emotionality of Gayle permeate the lives of the couples, and
less on her directly, but that sense from her plotline needs to resonate
Act Two, Scene One – left side
·
Edward acts aloof, but actually turns up
frustrated during the discussion
Act Two, Scene Two – right side
·
Similar to Jake when he went to Kitty/Edward
(Act One, Scene Five)
o
Edward crying
o
When sound comes up, it seems as though he is in
the middle of explaining something,
Act Two, Scene Three – right side
·
Laura is the same person as Gayle
o
Acts kind, speaks straight forward
o
Edward is more of mess, but both Edward and
Kitty get frustrated
§
Laura acts much the same way as Tim, does not
take Kitty as seriously, mimics the earlier scene
Act Two, Scene Four – right side
·
Kitty and Edward are clearly angry with each
other, and Jake has calming body language
o
When Tim appears, Edward gets visibly annoyed
o
Can be yelling
Act Two, Scene Five- left side
·
Zara and Kitty are both tense, same with Tim and
Edward
Act Two, Scene Six – left side
·
Similar to first scene, but not with the party,
just Edward and Kitty are there, so more like the beginning of the first scene
·
Folding of the sheet again, shows how the
relationship has changed
o
At the end of the scene both are kneeling, not
quite embracing, but not fighting either
·
Gayle appears again, showing how the trial
affected the characters intensely
o
She does not interact with Kitty and Edward, but
appears on the stage at the very end
o
The sense of overhanging fear and emotion that
remains from the trial and the subsequent consequences
Sources
Trueman, Matt.
“London Theater Review: 'Consent' by Nina Raine.” Variety, Variety, 8 Apr. 2017,
variety.com/2017/legit/reviews/consent-review-nina-raine-1202026413/.
Baksi,
Catherine. “Consent – A Play by Nina Raine.” Legal Hackette's Brief, 7 May 2017,
legalhackette.com/2017/04/10/consent-a-play-by-nina-raine/.
A set of videos
created by the National Theatre that introduced background, director ideas, and
the actors for the first time the play was performed
Part 2
Consent
deals with heavy themes and everyone leaving the theatre will have some
reaction to these themes. These themes include how crimes like rape and assault
affect others indirectly and how someone who is a victim to one of these crimes
might react when forced to relive what happened for a court. The difference in
directorial vision comes from how this situation is dealt with and what parts
of it should be in focus. The director of the version we saw had a different
idea of the play than I came up with after reading the script, but their
version worked under a different vision.
This
director’s version of the play focused specifically on the relationship between
Kitty and Ed. This might seem obvious, considering the script, but the scenes
all tied into their relationship and seemed like secondary plot points that
were not particularly necessary. The scenes with Gayle for example, showed a
plot that was not symbolic or shaping of the play, but more of one that seemed
almost disconnected. The other story lines were used as plot devices, or in an
almost complimentary way to Edward and kitty’s relationship. This was plausible
because of the way the script was written but did not provide the same impact
another interpretation could have delivered. This is the exact opposite of what
I wanted to do with Gayle’s storyline, emphasizing it as a parallel to the
story of the various couples.
In
addition, the director did not focus as much on the emotional disturbance of
the couples and characters, which took away from Gayle’s scenes, because the
panic and discomfort that come from her lines were not echoed by the actress.
Clearly, she was still important as a device for initiating points in the main
plot, but the lack of true emotion was odd. I wanted to make it clear that the
scenes with Gayle were not merely a plot device to ensure that the other events
of the play would happen, but that her scenes were integral to the feeling of
the play. Thus, this director and I seemed to build the play on a difference of
ideas regarding what was important.
In
this respect I did not like the portrayal of Gayle in the version we saw. She
wore a bright pink jacket, which added to a certain level of aloofness that
appeared within her character. There were still sections of her scenes that
held weight, but much of the court was distant, even when being discussed in
the other character’s scenes. The attitude of the court scenes was almost
clinical in a way and very stark. When Edward was cross examining there was no
setting, just the him and Gayle standing with a spotlight on each of them.
While I imagined that the set would be very simplistic and minimalistic I still
had a different staging in mind for this particular scene. I would have rather
had the two actors face the audience or at least cheat more towards the
audience, specifically Gayle, who I wanted to be sitting down. However, this
was not the only scene where I imagined a different setting/staging and the
play ended up following a different tone than my version.
This
director seemed to have the play built off of two, maybe three main scenes. The
first of these scenes was the party where Gayle shows up. This might seem a bit
late in the play, but the director showed that this was a turning point in the
attitudes of the other characters. In this version, the scene felt weird given
that there was no build up to the idea that something might happen with Gayle
during the court scenes. The second scene of importance seemed to be the one
where both Kitty and Edward are talking to Laura about getting custody of their
child. This scene seemed important because both of them were on the stage and
arguing with each other, even though they were in different places. This scene
also brought all of the tension and problems in their relationship to a head,
which was particularly significant in the version we saw, considering that the
basis was looking at their relationship. In this there were some similarities
between my version and the one we saw in that clearly the last scene of the
first act, the one where Gayle comes to the party affected the characters
strongly. I would have directed the scene slightly differently, but both had
similar impacts on the mood of the play and the vision each the director and I
had.
However,
for a majority of the play, this director and I focused on very different
things. This director seemed focused on the story line and how these characters
were directly affected by the trail, while I was more focused on the emotional
aspect, particularly for the audience, and less focused on the story. I wanted
the entire play to be inundated with a sense of knowledge that the trial was
wrong, and I wanted the audience to experience Gayle’s panic and discomfort. In
order to do so I included a couple of sections that were in the script as stage
directions, but that were left out of the version we saw. These involved Gayle
appearing both at the beginning and the end of the play almost like a ghost. I
believe that these were not included because of the focus of the play, but I
think that much feeling was lost by not including them.
This
play was effective in providing a somewhat believable storyline of Edward and
Kitty’s relationship and how various issues affected it, but not as effective
emotionally. I believe that my version would have affected the audience in a
different way and provided an experience that was lost in this version. Since
this play seems to deal in emotion, I believe that overall the version we saw
was less effective because of the lack of feeling in the court scenes and
distance between those scenes and the storyline being followed.
[1]
Actual director did take the cast to some cases in order to better understand
better what happens in the situations that are discussed in the play
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