a dream play

7/27/2019 A Dream Play

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Presents

By August Strindberg in a new version by Caryl Churchill

By arrangement with Dominie Drama

Copyright Ignite Productions Inc and Danica Kohn 2009

A Dream PlayEducation Notes

Ignite has pleasure in presenting these Education Notes as a guide or Drama students. While the notesmay be seen as a valuable resource or students and teachers, they are not necessarily a denitive study.Instead we oer them as a springboard to a broader exploration o the production and the play text. We hopethat students approach A Dream Playanalytically and imaginateively in order to experience the work as anevocative and engaging piece o theatre. We encourage students to interpret the production or themselves,to explore its innate theatricality, its relevance to their own and others lives, and to place it in a contemporaryindependent Australian theatre context.

Photography by Chris Nash


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CONTENTS PAGE

Introduction pg 03

Ignite Theatre pg 04

Cast and Creative Team pg 05

Beore the show - Background material. Questions & activitiesor analysis and discussion pg 06

Stage and Space Outline pg 12

Ater the Show pg 13

In conversation withOlivia Allen Director pg 15Eugyeene Teh and Kat Chan Set & Costume Design pg 16Russell Goldsmith Sound Designer pg 17

A Dream Play Cast pg 18

Resource List pg 26

Olivia Allen and Danica Kohn

Ignite Productions Inc.

PO BOX 425 Northcote VIC 3070 Mobile 0414 348 884 e: [email protected] w: www.igniteproductions.com.au


3/27A Dream Play Education Notes pg 3

Introduction

Everything can happen, everything is possible and probable. Time and place do not

exist; the imagination spins, weaving new patterns on a imsy basis o reality: a

mixture o memories, experiences, ree associations, absurdities and improvisations.

August Strindberg, Notes to A Dream Play, 1901

Ignite has developed a reputation or its distinctively brash, bold and irreverent approach to bringing absurdist

and non-naturalistic texts to lie. Ignite aims to create the spark that sets the audiences imaginations afamewith possibilities that only the theatre can provide.The non-naturalistic styles o Absurdism and surrealism promote creative thinking as they discard andragment traditional ways o looking at the world. Logical thought is turned on its head. Students arecatapulted onto a creative landscape where they must think outside the box. This excites them. They get turnedon. They get creative. They engage.It is recommended that students read the play beore attending the perormance o A Dream Play. It isimportant that you read the version written by Caryl Churchill in 2005.Note: I you read an English translation o August Strindbergs original by John Calder (1954) you may seethe process o the playwright Caryl Churchills distillation o the themes and language into a contemporarycontext.

Activity - To get you started...

Read the script as a class allocating characters to students

OR

Break up into groups and allocate a small number o scenes each. (Allow students time to read througheach scene in their groups) This will allow students to have a quick practice beore reading aloud.Students will be able to make more sense o the play using their own initiative in the rst reading.

AND

Divide the scenes as equally as possible between three groups. Allow the groups time to discuss each o

their scenes as a group and present their initial responses / analysis / interpretation to the class.


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Cast and Creatives Team 2009 Production

Perormers

Agnes Meredith Penman

Glacier, Police, Voices, He, Husband, Blind man, Crew, Bishop Nick Dubberley

Ocer, Police, Voices, Crew Gary Abrahams

Father, Police, Quarantine Master, Lieutenant, Mark TregonningBuilding Worker, Crew, Chairman

Mother, Victoria, Prompter, Police, Kristin, Teacher, Lady, Crew Karen RobertsLina, Singer, Police, Kristin, Alice, Building Worker, Psychoanalyst. Kate Gregory

Stage Door Keeper, Ballet Dancer, Police, Kristin, She, Wie, Crew Hannah Norris

Police, Writer Heath Miller

Solicitor, Police, Ugly Edith, Scientist. Michael Finney

Creatives

Director/Producer Olivia AllenSound Design Russell GoldsmithLighting Design Angela ColeSet and Costume Design Kat Chan and Eugyeene TehProduction Manager/Stage Manager Amy BagshawProduction Assistant Kieran SmithPhotography Chris NashGraphic Design Claire BurnsEducation Notes Danica Kohn and Olivia AllenAssistant Producer Alia Vryens

This production premiered at the New Ballroom, Bella Union at Trades Hall, 5th o May 2009.



Beore the show

A Dream Play

By August Strindberg in a new version by Caryl Churchill

A young woman comes rom another world to see i lie is really as dicult as people make it out to be. InStrindbergs A Dream Play, characters merge into each other, locations change in an instant and a locked doorbecomes an obsessively recurrent image.

A Dream Play was rst written in 1901 by August Strindberg and the version used by Ignite was adaptedor the National Theatre by Caryl Churchill in 2005. The style o the play is described as Surrealist and/orExpressionist. The non-naturalistic style is used to theatrically represent a dream.

The characters split, double, multiply, evaporate, condense, dissolve and merge. But one consciousness rulesthem all: the dreamers; or him there are no secrets, no inconsistencies, no scruples and no laws. He doesnot judge or acquit, he merely relates; and because a dream is usually painul rather than pleasant, a tone omelancholy and compassion or all living creatures permeates the rambling narrative.(August Strindberg, Notes A Dream Play, 1901)

Caryl Churchill has created this new version in collaboration with theatre director, Katie Mitchell. As theoriginal play is over 100 years old the adaptation was done to modernise or update the play while staying true

to the themes and ideas o the original. These changes enable a modern audience to connect with the contento Strindbergs play.

When Strindberg was writing the play a castle was being built in Stockholm and grew over the trees, and thetown was ull o soldiers. The equivalent ast-growing buildings or us are ofce towers; a soldier means ourcurrent wars to us, not the romantic ofcer o the play; our city towers are ull o businessmen.(Caryl Churchill, 2005)

Activity:Read Scene One and Two rom Strindbergs original play and Scene One rom Caryl Churchills version.In groups, discuss the dierences between the beginnings o the two versions. Present your ndings tothe class. Discuss why these changes may have been made.



August Strindberg, the writerJohann August Strindberg (1849-1912) was a Swedish playwright and writer. Hewrote over 50 plays and many books. He is arguably the most infuential and mostimportant o all Swedish authors, and one o the most infuential Scandinavianauthors, along with Henrik Ibsen, Sren Kierkegaard and Hans Christian Andersen.Strindberg is known as one o the athers o modern theatre.

His plays were usually naturalistic in style, the most amous being Miss Julie, written

in 1888, and dealt with the issues o the time (such as materialism and class andgender struggle).

A Dream Play (1901) signied a change in style or Strindberg and he wrote it ater a near psychotic episodeand the breakdown o one his marriages. Strindberg reerred to the play as the child o my greatest pain.Other non-naturalistic works are the To Damascus trilogy (1898-1902) The Dance o Death (1900) and The GhostSonata (1907).

Strindbergs work has infuenced many great writers and his shit in interest to the subconscious has sincegenerated more interest than his naturalistic plays.

Strindberg was the third son o Carl Oscar Strindberg, a shipping agent, and Ulrika Eleonora (Nora) Norling.Ulrika was twelve years Carls junior and o humble origin, called a domestic servant woman by Strindberg.

As a young student, Strindberg worked as an assistant in a chemists shop in the university town o Lundin southern Sweden. In 1868 he worked as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry or some time at theInstitute o Technology in Stockholm in preparation or medical studies, later working as a private tutor beorebecoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. He returned to Uppsala in January 1870 to study andwork on a set o plays, the rst o which opened at the Royal Theatre in September 1870. In Uppsala, he startedRuna, a small literary club with riends who all took pseudonyms rom Nordic mythology; Strindberg calledhimsel Fr ater the god o ertility.

The rise and all o the Paris Commune in 1871 led to a political awakening or the young Strindberg, andhe started to see politics as a confict between the upper- and lower classes Strindberg was admired by theSwedish working class as a radical writer. He was a socialist, but Strindbergs political views nevertheless

shited considerably within this spectrum over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor washe oten ound campaigning or any one issue, preerring instead to pour literary and maniesto-style scornover his enemies en massethe military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers,the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiotsand he was loyal to no party or ideology. Manyo his works however carried at least some political colouring and sometimes an abundance o it. They otendisplayed the conviction that lie and the prevailing system was prooundly unjust and injurious to ordinarycitizens.

In satirizing Swedish societyin particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, andhis many personal and proessional oeshe could be bitingly conrontational, with scarcely concealedcaricatures o political opponents. This could take the orm o brutal character assassination or open mockery,and while the presentation was invariably skilul and hard-hitting, it was not necessarily subtle.

A multi-aceted author, Strindberg was oten extreme. His novel The Red Room (Rda rummet) (1879) broughthim ame. His early plays were written in the Naturalistic style. His works rom this time are oten comparedwith the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindbergs best-known play rom this period is Miss Julie(Frken Julie).

Strindberg wanted to attain what he called Greater Naturalism. He did not preer expository characterbackgrounds seen in the work o Ibsen, or write plays that gave his audiences a slice o lie because he eltthat these plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg elt that true naturalism was a psychologicalbattle o brains (hjrnornas kamp). Two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and striveto drive the other to doom is the type o mental hostility that Strindberg strove to capture. Furthermore, heintended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature somewhat o a science.



Later, he underwent a time o inner turmoil known as the Inerno Period, which culminated in the productiono a book written in French, Inerno. He also exchanged a ew cryptic letters with Nietzsche.Strindberg subsequently broke with Naturalism and began to produce works inormed by Symbolism. Heis considered one o the pioneers o the Modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance o Death(Ddsdansen), A Dream Play(Ett drmspel) and The Ghost Sonata (Spksonaten) are well-known plays romthis period.

Strindberg, something o a polymath, was also a telegrapher, painter, photographer and alchemist.

Strindberg was married three times, to Siri von Essen (1850-1912), Frida Uhl (1872-1943), and Harriet Bosse(1878-1961). He had children with all his wives, but his hypersensitive, neurotic character led to bitter divorces.

Strindbergs relationships with women were troubled and have oten been interpreted as misogynistic bycontemporaries and modern readers. Most acknowledge, however, that he had uncommon insight into thehypocrisy o his societys gender roles and sexual morality. Marriage and the amily were under stress inStrindbergs lietime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems o prostitution andpoverty were debated heatedly among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing oten dealt with thetraditional roles o the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.

At Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia, and he never ully recovered. At this time he alsostarted to suer rom a stomach disease, presumably cancer. He died in May 1912 at the age o 63.(Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Strindberg)

Questions:

How is Strindbergs Lie similar to A Dream Play? What themes do we see in his lie and in the play?

What do Caryl Churchill and August Strindberg have in common as playwrights?

Caryl Churchill, the writerCaryl Churchill (b1938) is an English playwright. She has written many plays or theatre, radioand television. She is known or being a writer who deals with political and eminist issuesand also or using non-naturalistic techniques. Her work is requently compared to the worko Brecht and Artaud and uses Epic theatre techniques including ragmented structure andsurrealistic narrative. Some o her well-known work includes Cloud Nine(1979), Top Girls(1982) and The Skriker(1994).

Churchill was approached by theatre director, Katie Mitchell to create a new version o A Dream Play. She hadthe original Strindberg version translated literally rom Swedish. She then shaped the play. In the processshe edited and revised some o the elements o the play, at the same time staying very aithul to otherelements o the original (including stage directions). Like other plays she has worked on she used a processo improvisational workshops in the development o the play. She made important decisions in relation toreligious reerences, out-dated language and imagery and decided to cut quite a lot o text.

She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading emale writer. Her early

work developed Brechts modernist dramatic and theatrical techniques o Epic theatre to explore issuesaround gender and sexuality. From A Mouthul o Birds (1986) onwards, she began to experiment with ormso dance-theatre, incorporating techniques developed rom the perormance tradition initiated by Artaud withhis Theatre o Cruelty. This move away rom a clear Fabel dramaturgy towards increasingly ragmented andsurrealistic narratives characterizes her work as postmodernist.

Questions:

Why might Caryl Churchill be attracted to A Dream Play and August Strindberg? The meeting o a renownedeminist with a reputed misogynist?



Non-Naturalism, the style

Denition Non-naturalism : n. the meta-ethical doctrine that moral properties exist but are not reducibleto natural, empirical, or supernatural ones, and that moral judgments thereore state a specialkind o act. (Collins English Dictionary)

Denition Non-naturalism is the manipulation o time, place, object and/or character to create theatrewhich does not seek to re-create real lie as it is lived. It is, by its very nature eclectic and is

the juxtaposition o a number o theatre styles, theatrical conventions, dramatic and stagecratelements, which combine to create impressions, eelings and aspects o our real or imaginedlives. Together they culminate to make dramatic statements and theatre that is new, challengingand vibrant. This style o theatre has a variety o orms, is closely associated with the twentiethcentury and has many practitioners, most notably Jerzy Grotowski, Berthold Brecht, AntoninArtaud and more recently Peter Brook and Arianne Mnouchkine. Interpretation is ocusedmore on passing comment on, or responding to, aspects o the real world rather than merelyrefecting the world as it is. Some conventions o non-naturalistic style include the alienationdevices o Bertolt Brecht. (VCE Drama Study Design)

A Dream Playhas been classied as a Surrealist or Expressionistic play. In 1901, it is one o the rst pieceso writing to explore non-naturalism as we think o it now. Here are some denitions and examples that mayhelp.

Denition Surrealism: n. a movement in art and literature in the 1920s, which developed esp. romdada, characterised by the evocative juxtaposition o incongruous images in order to includeunconscious and dream elements. (Collins English Dictionary)

Denition Expressionism: n. an artistic and literary movement originating in Germany at the beginningo the 20th century, which sought to express emotions rather than to represent external reality:characterised by the use o symbolism and o exaggeration and distortion. (Collins EnglishDictionary)

Activity:Individually or in groups nd an example o some work by the ollowing surrealists and share the pieceswith the class. SalvadorDali(ndanimageofThePersistenceofMemory,1931) AndreBreton(searchforquotationsfromTheSurrealistManifesto,1924and1929) JoanMiro(ndanimageofTheTilledField,1923-24)

AustralianartistJamesGleeson(itisagoodideatoselectwhichimagesmayormaynotbeap-propriate or your class)

AntoninArtaud(searchforquotationsorpoetry)

Activity:Individually or in groups discuss the ollowing Expressionistic artworks. EdvardMunch(TheScream,1893) SidneyNolan(theTrial,1947) EgonSchiele)portrainofEduardKosmack,1910)



Questions or Analysis and Discussion

Background:

As you may only be seeing a perormance oA Dream Playonly once, you may nd it very useul to considersome o the ollowing questions to set you on your way into a dream world.

August Strindberg

WhatdoyouknowaboutAugustStrindberg? WhatconditionsdoyouthinkhemayhavebeenlivinginasanartistinturnofthecenturyEurope?(20th

Century) WhatmajorworldeventswerehappeningatthetimeofhiswritingA Dream Play(1901)?

Caryl Churchill

WhatdoyouknowaboutCarylChurchill? Whatdoyouimaginesomeofthechallengesarewhenaplaywrightwritesanewversionofanexisting

text? Whatdifferentconcernsdoyouthinkmayexistforacontemporary,femaleplaywright? WhatparticularpreoccupationsisCarylChurchillknownforhaving?Howdoyouimaginethatshemight

bring them to the ore in A Dream Play?

Imagining

Howdoyouimaginethesetwilllook? WhatimagesfromthestorydoyouthinkwillbecrucialinstagingA Dream Play? Fromyourreadingoftheplayhowdoyouimaginethattheactorswillcreatedifferentcharacters? Howdoyouimaginethecostumes,lightingandsound?

In accordance with the VCE Study Design Outcome 3 (to analyse and evaluate a non-

naturalistic performance from the prescribed play list) we have created the following

Questions and Activities to stimulate the students.

Ways in which perormance styles that are not dependent on lie-like representations o everyday lie andtheatrical conventions are used in perormance

When writing the play Strindbergs intention was to create a piece o non-naturalistic dream theatre. Tryperorming a scene rom the play as naturalistically as possible. Refect on the diculty o translating thispiece into naturalism. What are the advantages / disadvantages o using non-naturalism in theatre?

Ways in which dramatic elements, theatrical conventions and stagecrat are manipulated to enhance non-naturalistic perormance

Using the text, list the dierent settings or environments in A Dream Play. Create a naturalistic set

design and then a non-naturalistic one. It may help to look at surrealistic images online or in artbooks/ magazines.

Choose a character and create a costume sketch or her / him. What sort o abric or colour would theywear? What parts o the body would they accentuate? As the play is non-naturalistic it is important tothink outside the square. How could a characters costume be symbolic or surreal?



Have you ever seen a non-naturalistic theatre perormance beore? Which one? What were yourimpressions? How did it dier rom a naturalistic perormance?

WhatnonnaturalisticconventionsdothinkwillbeusedinthisproductionofADreamPlay?Whatstagecrat elements do you think will be most important to the production?How do you think dramaticelements will be used to manipulate the audience?

The language o drama associated with perormance styles, traditions, and practitioners rom contemporaryand/or cultural traditions relevant to non-naturalistic perormance

Researchnon-naturalistictheatrepractitionersinAustraliaandoverseas.Youcanndexcerptsfromtheatreproductions and conversations with theatre directors on youtube.com. Some directors and companiesto look up are: Robert Wilson, Robert LePage, Barrie Kosky, Benedict Andrews, Improbable, ForcedEntertainment and Complicite.

Ways in which characters are represented in non-naturalistic perormance through the actors use oexpressive skills including voice, movement, acial expression and gesture

Create a character prole or one o the characters in A Dream Play. Improvise in pairs and nd whichexpressive skills work best or that character. (Expressive skills should include voice, movement, acialexpression, gesture, etc) Write a journal entry about your ndings.

Analyse the representation o characters within a non-naturalistic perormance

StrindbergandChurchillmadeveryclearandconsideredchoiceswithcharacter.Whenthenewversionwascreated by Churchill she made some changes to the characters. Do you think she did this to connect with acontemporary audience? How?



VENUE: BELLA UNION TRADES HALL PRODUCTION: ADREAMPLAY

DRAW/SKETCHTHESPACEANDSETDESIGNFORTHISSHOW.INCLUDEASMUCH

DETAIL AS POSSIBLE.



Ater the show...

Ways in which perormance styles that are not dependent on lie-like representations o everyday lie andtheatrical conventions are used in perormance

Listsomenon-naturalistictheatricalconventionsthatareusedinthisproductionofA Dream Play. How dothey support the writers intention?

Insmallgroups,telleachotheravividdream.Chooseoneofthedreamstointerpretandpresentasanon-naturalistic scene. Focus on using dramatic elements o confict, tensing, timing etc.

Ways in which dramatic elements, theatrical conventions and stagecrat are manipulated to enhance non-naturalistic perormance

Thedirectorisresponsibleforleadingtheaudiencethroughthestory.Howhasthedirectoruseddramaticelements, theatrical conventions and stagecrat to enhance the perormance?

Listsomeofthedramaticelementsthedirectorhasusedtocreateasurrealisticpieceoftheatre.Someexamples o dramatic elements are space, rhythm, contrast, symbols, mood, ocus, tension etc. Be specicabout how the director has used the elements to heighten the theatrical experience.

Non-naturalisticconventionsareusedtocreateadream-likeorsurrealatmosphere.Whatconventionswere used and how did the director use them to evoke a mood or atmosphere? Does this mood aect theaudiences understanding o the play?

Whatwereyourrstimpressionsoftheset?Howdidthesetgiveshapetotheactorsperformances?

Closeyoureyesandpicturetherstmomentyousawoneofthecharactersfromtheproduction.Thinkabout how their costume infuenced your eelings about them. Did the colour or texture evoke a certainmood or determine certain character traits? Was the costume lit in an eective way? Do you think the choiceo costume assisted the actor to play their part well?

Lightingandsoundareveryimportantinnon-naturalistictheatre.Theymaysignifyshiftsintimeandplace,or create an atmosphere that is eerie, warm, comorting, rightening, etc. How did the designers use soundand lighting to present a non-naturalistic atmosphere?

The language o drama associated with perormance styles, traditions, and practitioners rom contemporaryand/or cultural traditions relevant to non-naturalistic perormance

The notes on non-naturalism and the interviews will help in developing the appropriate language or the task.

Ways in which characters are represented in non-naturalistic perormance through the actors use oexpressive skills including voice, movement, acial expression and gesture

Chooseoneofthecharactersfromtheproductionandcreateacharacterprolebasedonthechoicesthat

the actor made in presenting their character to the audience. Analyse the eectiveness o their choices.Were their choices predictable? Or were there huge surprises in how they presented the character?

Analyse the representation o characters within a non-naturalistic perormance

In groups, list 5 characters and discuss why those characters were chosen or the play? What do you thinkthose characters could symbolically represent to the audience?



Some more questions...

Do you think the design has had an impact on how the script has been realised?

Consider the casting choices or the play. Did you imagine the characters dierently?

What particular directorial choices struck you as being powerul / surreal / dramatic / comic?

What production elements do you consider to be dream-like?

What sounds did you hear in the production? In what ways did the sound create mood? Time? Place?An underscore?What sorts o lighting states are used to enhance the non-naturalistic perormance?

How is language used in the play? Is it poetic, nonsense, lyrical, realistic?

And nally...

How does this production explore the ideas o the play?

Does it draw any conclusions or present any answers?Is there hope in the play? Where is it evoked or you? In particular characters? In particular actions?In what ways do sound and design elements help to tell a story?Consider the plays structure. Is it linear? Is it disjointed? Can you nd any logic? How does the plays structurechallenge you as an audience?



In Conversation with Olivia Allen, director o A Dream Play

Do you have a particular connection with A Dream Play?

I love plays that are about philosophy. They are a collective statement about how and the way we live ourlives. Caryl Churchill and August Strindberg are sensitive souls who are attuned to the sadness that people eelin their lives. There is so much pressure to be amazing but when you are something can still seem missingthe green bucket syndrome.

The play also has an inherent theatricality to it. I have a preerence or extremely physical theatre this has alot o text or me. But the text is so precise and resonant that it is a joy AND certainly a challenge to create aphysical world which compliments the text, the verbal world.

Why did you chose to direct Caryl Churchills version oA Dream Playinstead o the original by AugustStrindberg? What are the signicant dierences between the two?

I love the precision o this text. It certainly is sparse and poignant as one o the English reviewers said o itsLondon premiere. I also like that she has ocused on the social realities o the characters. She has prioritisedthe human aspect o the dream world rather than the god and mythic elements. But she has managed toprovide a clearly dreamlike absurd world and still has moments o pathos and connection. When we had therst reading we sighed collectively at certain moments when that happens in a reading you know that there

is magic in the words. It made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. It is very tender despite Strindbergsgru reputation.

How does Caryl Churchill change the contexts o the play? (Social, historical, political, cultural)

So there are changes in the emphasis on religion and myth. There is an emphasis on Academia that Strindbergwas very sceptical o. He had a very bad time at University it seemed and was very vocal in critisingAcademics. But it was a particularly ormidable institution in his era ruled o course by class so you can seethe reasons why he might have been a bit shirty.

The most signicant cut is the meaning o lie. It is a smart move because contemporary audiences dont reallylike the play explained to them certainly not given to them on a platter. So the meaning is ltered through theplay as it was by Strindberg until Agnes tells the Writer.

What is the dierence in directing a non-naturalistic piece o theatre as opposed to a naturalistic one?

Actors usually need meaning, as they should. We all have a conscious or unconscious purpose or everythingwe do. But in non-naturalistic pieces meaning has a dierent context. It is multi-layered; it has another set orules. It may never mean the one thing. It is very subjective. So we look at and work with that in mind. It ishard sometimes to say to an actor dont try and naturalise or look or meaning. It is still there but we makechoices that leave a conclusion as dicult as possible.

Does your approach in the rehearsal room dier greatly?

I hope I encourage more play. I leave the room open to as many suggestions as possible and make choices aslate as possible, because we are all making the world together. It is highly collaborative. I see my role as theoutside eye in the true sense o the word. The one who sees what things look like in the bigger thematic andtheatrical picture. In working with a naturalistic text time is spent mostly working on motivation, and meaningand then action and rhythm, tempo and mood. In this case a good portion o time is spent on the latter. Itseems to make more sense when you stretch the possible extremes o rhythm, tempo and mood.

In what way have you collaborated with the creative team in making A Dream Play?

The actors have bought in a lot o ideas that we have played with as well as the designers (set, costume,lighting and sound) it is important to be on the same page with the theatrical concept o a play. So I describethe eelings or vision I have about specic things and the designers then have reedom to credit within thoselimitations. But there is a usually very expansive space to move in between those limitations.

What do you think is the directors role?

To acilitate a creative environment which means, coaxing, bullying, encouraging and a lot o other tactics toget the perormers to stretch themselves. I am a sounding board. A councillor. I also provide the playgroundI like to think o it like that. The play is the playground. The kids are the cast and creatives and we just jumpall over the pace and nd nooks and crannies to play in and invent other worlds and stories. I also act as theannoyed neighbour sometimes who gets the kids to settle down and ocus. It is important to keep an eye onthe bigger picture all the time. I oten say to mysel how do I want the audience to eel when they leave thetheatre. And I shoot or that.



How would you describe the world that you are creating onstage or this production?

At times perplexing. Always intriguing. A land where anything is possible and probable.

How do you hope audiences will engage with the production?

On all levels by the theatrical event as well as by the beautiul philosophy o the play how wonderul itwould be i audiences were inspired to do a nice deed or someone the day ater seeing it!!

InConversationwithEugyeeneTehandKatChan,setandcostumedesignersor A Dream Play

As a designer what process did you go through to create the set and costume or A Dream Play?

Eugyeene: Read the script, made some notes, did some research which includes history, context, research

into the period o the writer. Started to orm some ideas based on the research and anythingthat was related to it. Then communicated these with the director and discussed what we allelt was relevant to the world o the play, and then participated in conversations with the actorsin a series o scene studies, dream analyses and other ideas. And then started drawing andmodelling.

Kat: The process or this production o A Dream Play has been slightly unconventional as usually the setwould have been designed beore we get into rehearsals, but with the sheer enormity o Churchill/Strindbergs world its been good to be able to discover the play and its meanings along with theactors. Ater reading the script several times and going to rehearsals, Eugyeene and I researched(together and individually) what this play meant to us and what Olivia wanted and envisaged. Itsbeen a gradual process and continually evolving.

How did you initially respond to the play? Were you amiliar with August Strindbergs A Dream Play?

Eugyeene: I was not amiliar with the play. Ater reading it I got quite excited with the prospect o designing asurreal landscape.

Kat: I hadnt read A Dream Play beore, but I knew Strindberg was a heavyweight in the world otheatre; Ive designed a Churchill play beore and knew it would be a crazy ride. My initial response

to the play was sheer enthusiasm - the script is laden with meaning and I thought it would be sucha challenge to interpret it visually. It is really a designers dream to get such a script.

Are you amiliar with designing or non-naturalistic theatre?

Eugyeene:Yes.Infact,ImuncomfortablewithdesigningfornaturalistictheatreasIhavenothadmuchexperience o it. My design methodology is stylized and expressionistic, and as such does not ndnaturalism necessary.

Kat: I would have to say my style is predominantly non-naturalistic. I have had experience designingnaturalistic plays (as naturalistic as a theatre set can be!), but nd that I would preer my designs toevoke more rom audiences - to make them use their imagination.

What role does the set play in the overall production o the piece?

Eugyeene: The set has to aid in the storytelling process by complementing and quite possibly accentuatingthe director and writers vision and intention.

Kat: Essentially the world we create onstage is an illusion, and along with the other design disciplines,the set is crucial in orming this environment. The set has to be a place where the actors eelcomortable to perorm and inhabit or it is in that space and in that moment that another world isconjured.

What are some o the key ideas or images have you included in your design?

Eugyeene: The dream analysis process with the actors helped us create a world that was genuinely dreamlike;uzzy, fuid landscape without the sense o location. It is also a commentary on Strindbergsrustration and nihilist view o lie.

Kat: From the outset, Olivia had the idea o having a billboard onstage and a series o latches,peepholes and doors or the actors to appear rom. We have managed to integrate this image with

our idea o threads o consciousness networking across the stage, eliciting that eeling betweenwaking and sleeping.



How would you describe the world created onstage in A Dream Play?

Eugyeene: Stark with a sense o urgency oset by certain playulness.Kat: Its a world o ambiguity, mutation and permutation.

How have the costumes assisted in creating the characters o the play?

Eugyeene: The costumes present actors as preconceived archetypal characters that perpetuate the setting ascreated by the writers.

Kat: The costumes weve designed are modern yet timeless and non-specic, they allude to the every-dream, the interchangeable nature o people and characters in our dreams. There are also elementso the ridiculous - as in our dreams - there are inexplicable circumstances or characters that appearbut are accepted as normal.

It is rare that there is a design team working together on a theatre production. How did this come into being?How did you work together?

Eugyeene: I thought it would make the design process a lot more enjoyable.Kat: Eugyeene and I have always been each others sounding board since we met at university over ten

years ago, and have a similar design sensibility. Over the years, this has naturally progressed toa plan o starting a business and working together. So when we were approached separately byOlivia to design or this production, we thought it would be the perect opportunity to collaborateinstead. With such a short timerame to design, we have worked well together which is a testamentto being so amiliar with each others work methodology and style. We complement each othersstrengths and weaknesses.

In Conversation with Russell Goldsmith, sound designer or A Dream Play

What was your initial response to Caryl Churchills A Dream Play? Were you amiliar with August Strindbergsoriginal?

I was not at all amiliar with Strindbergs original A Dream Play, and was extremely intrigued by Churchillsrecent adaptation o the piece. It immediately presented a huge opportunity or sound to play a signicantrole in the story telling and the realisation o the antasy contained in the text. My hope with this piece that thesound can exist in the non-literal domain, where it need not have a direct connection to the spoken text, but

can be used to represent the subtext, and accompany the perormance on stage.

Briefy describe the process or creating the sound design or the production. How did you begin? Did you doresearch? What was your principle inspiration?

My starting point or any production I work on is to read the script. The rst time I read it I take no notes andtry to read it rom ront to back in one sitting. I then re-visit the script a ew days later, noting my impressionso sounds, tempos and emotion as they occur to me. This is all conveyed to the director, and I then startconstruction o the sound cues based on their input and how I eel the scenes should sound. Each pieceinvolves a slightly dierent process or me. Sometimes I will delve deep into researching elements o thesetting o the piece, or machinery and environments rom the time the play is set, or even source movie reelsand radio transmissions rom the time. In the case o A Dream Play, the nature o the work allows me tooperate in an abstract domain, and to really imagine what I wish to represent audibly, and how I wish to do so.

How does the sound infuence the style or world o the play?

In this case I believe that sound helps to establish the ethereal nature o the world that the play takes placein. It also allows or sharp contrasts in setting and mood, and or us to provide emphasis to certain elementswithin the piece. I always endeavor to provide a parallel narrative to the written text, and to accompanythe perormers on stage, providing support or their text, and a credible world in which they belong. I havelong believed in replacing the ambience o the playing space with one o my own making, allowing me tocontrol the environment o the theatre, and choose the sound that exists in it. Theatre audiences are reallyvery tolerant o less than ideal acoustic conditions, rom ampliers and air conditioners whirring, to mobilephones going o, people coughing and wriggling in their seats and trac on the streets around the theatre.Sometimes these things break through the wall we establish when we suspend our disbelie and watch atheatre piece, and they become something we are unable to tune out. I always aim to have my sounds exist inthe space in preerence to the environmental sound, and hopeully provide the audience with uller theatrical

experience in the process.



When August Strindberg rst wrote the play the technology o sound was very dierent. How do you thinkmodern technology helps create a non-naturalistic world?

One o the great things about writers like Strindberg, who possessed such extraordinary theatricalimagination, is that they never elt constrained by the theatrical realities that existed in their time. Whetheror not their theatrical vision could be executed by others was not their concern, and they set out purely toexpress themselves and convey their message as they desired. It is our challenge, in a time when we haveembraced technology and apply it to many aspects o theatrical presentation, to be as creative as we can ininterpreting the wishes o the author and conveying their wishes as elegantly as possible. We now have at ourdisposal, particularly in the world o sound design, many more tools than existed just a decade ago. Sound

design is no longer limited to the occasional doorbell or gunshot sound eect played o cassette, and muchwork goes in to crating a sonic world in which the production takes place. The technology we use allowsor extraordinarily detailed and textured soundscapes to be created that fow with the action onstage, andultimately help to tell the story. In a piece like A Dream Play, this means that non-naturalistic settings can becreated and erased, contradicted, misrepresented and perverted, all in aid o honouring Strindbergs (and thedirectors!) intentions.

Ifyouwereasounddesignerin1901whatresourceswouldyouhave?Andwhatdoyouimagineyoursounddesign would be like?

Early incarnations o the microphone and the phonogram recorder were invented during the same periodo time in the mid 1870s. The moving voice-coil speaker was invented in the late 1890s. These technologieseventually inltrated the mainstream, and morphed into equipment ound in todays theatres. However, in

1901 this technology existed mainly in the laboratory, and would not have been utilised in a theatrical contextor many decades. It in act wasnt until the 1920s that sound reproduction was commonly ound in thecinema. We do know that sound was used to accompany productions o Greek Tragedies, and certainly a roleexisted within early Shakespearian companies or someone to make sounds to ollow the action and createatmosphere. Thereore I would think that early productions o A Dream Play would have eatured musicalaccompaniment by live musicians, and sound eects provided by a oley artist. This would have served amultitude o purposes, but it would also have been used careully, to aid in the story telling, heighten actionand drama, and lend some credibility to the perormance on stage. It is my hope that my sound design or ADream Playin 2009 serves the same purpose.

In Conversation with the cast o A Dream Play

What initially interested you in being involved in this production?Karen: I was interested in working with Olivia and the kind o theatre she makes, also I really like Caryl

Churchill.Kate: First to work on a play that has been created by two amazing writers, it is always a blessing to work

on a piece that has been well crated with fowing dialogue, clear and vivid imagery and interestingcharacters. The subject matter is also very inspiring with its endless possibilities and scope orinterpretation. The chance to work with a reasonably large cast is also pretty special.

Gary: I thought the script very beautiul and very, very unny when I rst read it. Its themes and itsexploration o love, suering, and the hopelessness (and hopeulness) o the human experiencespoke deeply to me. I was also surprised at how easily and clearly the script read consideringthe abstract nature o the piece, and was excited by the perormance possibilities inherent inapproaching work o this nature. The director (Olivia Allen) has a great reputation and I was eager

to have the opportunity to work with her. There were also members o the cast I was keen to workwith again having worked with them on prior projects. I also liked the prospect o working withina large ensemble, something that seldom happens within independent theatre. The last projectI worked on (earlier this year) was a strongly naturalistic piece o theatre, and I enjoy having theopportunity to work on projects that allow me to explore varying modes o perormance styles.

Meredith: I was drawn in by the expanse o the text. There seemed to be limitless possibility, and the calibreo people on board creatively was something I was keen to throw mysel into.

Heath: I had seen a previous Ignite production, Jet o Blood and had wanted to work with Olivia sincethen. Additionally Ive always enjoyed the challenges inherent in bringing a classic text to the stage.

Mark: I wanted to work with Ignite again as I eel its artistic vision is similar to mine. I read the script andloved its compassionate, melancholy nature and how it takes you into another, strange world.

Hannah: I worked with Olivia last year on 3 Short Absurd Works which was a rare triple bill o The Lesson byEugene Ionesco, Proesseur Taranne by Arthur Adamov and Picnic at the Battleeld by Fernando

Arrabal. At high school, I really enjoyed absurdist works, and remember reading Strindbergs ADreamPlayinYear12sowasexcitedthatthisnewversionwasbeingdoneinMelbourne.

Michael: The main reason or my interest in this production o A Dream Play was my involvement in aprevious Ignite production. The production was 3 Short Absurd Works, and included was EugeneIonescos The Lesson. I really enjoyed Olivias directorial approach to the Surreal and Absurd nature



o the text. So many times as an actor in todays theatre industry you never get the chance to beinvolved in these classic Absurd Works.

What was your initial response to Caryl Churchills A Dream Play?

Michael: I hadnt previously read the play, and I was exposed to an earlier translation at the same time, and

the older one to me elt dated. Churchills translation is quite stripped back, without losing any othe strength in its themes. Also, the theatricality o these themes can be explored more openly inrehearsal due to this paring back o the language.

Kate: To be honest, at rst I ound it hard to crack. I think that she has striped it back a lot rom the

original leaving it with a slightly more distanced eel, observational almost. I also struggled to ndthe humour in it and it wasnt until the rst read through that I heard it. We as a cast are good atlaughing at ourselves and empathising with other peoples misery in a tongue in cheek way.

Gary: I hadnt read August Strindbergs version beore, but I was aware o it. But I am a long time an oCaryl Churchills work. I love the brutal sparseness o her writing in this play, her ability to conveyvery rich and complex ideas in very ew words. I also eel she has managed to transpose a verycontemporary humour on the original work that makes the scenarios, characters and themes veryaccessible to a contemporary audience. She allows plenty o space or the actors and creative teamto interrogate and explore the play, ultimately allowing us to take ull ownership over our versionor interpretation o the play. I have, o course, now read much earlier translations o Strindbergsplay and eel strongly that Churchills contemporary adaptation captures, embellishes and makesrelevant the ideas Strindberg himsel was attempting.

Heath: I was very impressed with it. Anything that breaks down the barriers between the audience and thestory is a good thing in my book. I think Caryls new version clears away some o the obstructionsthat had accumulated over the years, as well as counterbalancing the distancing eect a translatedwork can oten have. It is a very contemporary, vital, stripped-back, immediate version that Carylhas given us to work with.

Hannah: I had to read it again straight away because so much weird stu happens, I was trying to work outwho was who and what was going on, but with a second read I had a better idea o the world andthe events. I was denitely curious as to how some o the stage directions and set descriptionswere going to be brought to lie.

Meredith: When Agnes identies why the Billsticker is so desperately disappointed about his bucket - greenbut not exactly that green, thats it or me. Its the same as when she shows the solicitor that thisworld is a copy o an original, brighter version. Both the billsticker and the solicitor seem to knowimplicitly what she is saying and dont require a quantied reasoning, it simply is. I read the play asi Id dreamt it.

Mark: I thought that it presented us with a parallel world to ours that is very similar but just a little bitskewed - or else someones very unique view o the world we live in. I liked how it seems to bringall the people in the world together, like we are all dreaming the same dream.

Nicholas: What the hell is this thing? How on earth are we going get this to be engaging? Why wouldanyone want to watch this? I really like the more recent work o Caryl Churchill, but the disjointedand dreamlike structure o the piece struck me as a bit o a challenge.

Did you do any particular research or this production?

Karen: Yesandstilldoingit.WenttothelibraryandreadasmuchaboutStrindbergaspossibletolearn

about what was happening in his lie when he wrote it and a bit o the history.Kate: The rst thing I did was try to remember my own dreams, something that I very rarely do. Then you

nd yoursel reading up about all sorts o aspects, rom the obvious like reading about the authors,past productions, dreams, psychology, etc - to more character specic tangents your mind mighthead o on like mythology, slavery, music, animals and time periods. Its an ongoing, ever evolvingprocess.

Michael: We covered many topics as an ensemble when researching or this production, but I think the mostimportant thing was the research into our own dreams and giving the world o dreams a clear,identiable vocabulary we could all draw on to communicate with each other in the rehearsalroom.

Heath: We did general research on Strindberg, his lie and his times, as well as the production historyo the play itsel. We also did some delving into our own personal thoughts and experiences odreams and dreaming. Additionally I did a lot o digging around into the biographies o poets andwriters whose lives and writings I might use to help me nd a way into the character o the Writer.

Gary: I nd peoples attitudes to research very interesting, especially what certain people deem to becorrect or proper research. I always eel that the term research conjures up images o intensivestudying, and ploughing through numerous historical documents, as i the research was thenecessary slog one should endure beore getting to the un part o rehearsal. For me the entirerehearsal and creation process is one and the same as the research period. And what that entails



depends entirely on the production you are working on. O course we all read an older translationo the play, and brought in inormation about Strindberg and the time period he was writing thiswork. But or me it was always clear that we were not attempting a historical staging o the play, orindeed basing the play in a historical context. The work we were creating was to be contemporaryand o our time and thereore the bulk o our research sprung rom very un and casualconversations about dreams, our own dreams and common dreams we all share, and our ownideas about lie, love, the universe and the human experience. The great thing about working in alarge ensemble is that you have so many dierent minds all sharing and gathering inormation, all

o us concerned with dierent aspects o the play and choosing to share many dierent things thatwe had ound on the internet, or in books, etc. For mysel, my continuing research, has been to payattention to the nature o my own dreams; how I experience them, the images my subconsciousconjures up, the emotional experiences I recall rom dreaming, the seeming proundity odream logic. Married with this is the constant exploring o the physicalisation o the text and theperormance styles I might attempt to inhabit in order to help create the world o the play and mycharacter in particular. Ultimately or me, the ongoing research, always, is that o observing people,understanding them within their habitats with a compassionate and non-judgmental eye, andobserving mysel and the way I exist in the world.

Meredith: Ohyesofcourse.Youcouldresearchtomesforeachsceneoftheplay.Strindbergseemstobe investigating dierent versions o lie/pain in each scene. His lie itsel was a good start, hisenvironment, his lusts and disappointments, his drive and intellect. Agnes provides an interestingcharacter to research, a version o a rebel angel with roots in Indian mythology and Churchillsquietly Christian play. Asking people about their dreams, particularly recurring dreams, was myavourite part, it invites honesty and intimacy straight away!

Mark: I looked into Quarantines throughout history, and also did a little research into the concept o aRoyal Commission. The whole cast talked at length about dierent research each had done andshared it with each other.

Nicholas: I started reading Freuds The Interpretation o Dreams but ound it slightly too dry and academic tobe any use in the construction o characters. As a company we all shared our dreams during theearly stages and the images within those dreams have been a helpul reerence point to eed someo the oers in rehearsal. Apart rom that, I had a look at the original productions education notesand skimming through Strindbergs version.

What kind o world is being created onstage in this production o A Dream Play?

Karen: We are making a surreal world where the logic ollows many dierent lines. Ultimately very

playul.Michael: Churchill has a wonderul touch as a writer which enables her to change little in terms o the

characters age, occupation and general eeling, but still make them all identiable and accessibledue to the dialogue between them.

Kate: A slippery, scary, evocative, elusive one.Hannah: One where anything can happen - and usually does!Michael: The theatre o Dreams has allowed us to create a weird and wonderul world that is unexpected,

strangely amiliar, and sometimes all too real. But above all, I think its a lot o un.Heath: Well, it is still very much taking shape as I write this and is not a xed orm yet but I think we are

creating a liminal, transormative space where characters and places can shit and change as perStrindbergs own notes on the play. I think what may be unique or specic about the direction our

production has taken, at least or me, is that the world is a grimy kind o place, lled with all thedetritus and debris o people living their lives and dreaming their dreams. A kind o backstage on-stage.

Gary: I think it is the world o a dream, but a dream that is ltered specically through our own eyes andexperiences and theatrical aesthetic tastes. It is a heightened world in which anything is possibleand everything is surprising, yet it is all held together by an intangible logic that always allows thework to be accessible to our audience. At present we are exploring the physical style o the piece,and trying to understand and share a common physical language; that is we are trying to nd amode o perormance that is shared by the ensemble that is exaggerated, heightened and veryspecic and prevents us rom alling into the dull traps o naturalism.

Meredith: Hopeully something that the audience can recognize but also be kept on their eet. Hilarity andpain are two words which come to mind.

Mark: A world where there is a lot happening all at once, where things occur what may seem illogically,but actually have a logic o its own. A scary world, a dislocating world, a world where peoplestruggle to be good and do good.

Nicholas: Wow, thats hard to articulate! The best way I can describe it is: a dark, dirty dream.



How does Caryl Churchill make the characters contemporary?

Karen: The truths about love and the hardships o existence make it contemporary to any human o

anytime.Hannah: For me its less about who the characters are and represent but more in the way that they speak.

Even though it is dreamlike and some o the characters are not the type o people we are amiliarwith in our everyday worlds, it is the way that they speak that makes it contemporary.

Kate: By nding what may be the modern equivalent o Strindbergs more archetypal characters. Shealso changes their language quite signicantly making it more relaxed and colloquial.

Heath: Changing the Poet to the Writer springs to mind as a useul example. The label poet has somany connotations in our culture and many o them not so relevant to the character as he is in ADream Play. For one we perhaps dont think o poets as the revolutionaries and anarchists they mayhave represented in 1901. Also I dont think poets demand the cultural attention they might havehad in the past. Writer or me, opens up rather than limits the possibilities.

Gary: I think more than makes the characters contemporary she makes the language contemporary. Andby doing that she automatically makes the world o the play contemporary. And by contemporaryI mean timeless in a way. These characters and the language are not contemporary in the way thatwe see obvious gures rom contemporary Australian lie (skateboarders, emo kids, pop stars etc)on stage, but rather characters that represent archetypes that the audience can clearly identiy aspeople that they might recognize rom their own lie. Because the language is contemporary we arenever allowed to eel that we are watching characters and scenarios that have nothing to do with

us, or that are removed rom us, or belong in a dierent world to ours. And this language rees upmany o the design choices that can be made. Because the characters talk like us we can dressthem up in period costume i we choose to, and the language they speak stops their appearancerom alienating us as an audience.

Meredith: Churchill allows a lot o scope or slippage in style in this version o Strindbergs play. Attimes it seems like we are in an ethereal period piece and then we shit to a nightmare o verycontemporary measure. The text and language she adopts doesnt sit comortably in any one genreand she hersel has acknowledged that anachronism was something they werent araid o. I lovewhen Churchill allows her angel to swear! She keeps us on our toes and doesnt ever let us sinkinto one mode.

Mark: Sometimes she doesnt need to, as sometimes Strindbergs is writing about something we haveright now - like perhaps the young lovers. Other times she changes a proession to t our currenttimes, and she also makes the language more contemporary, although keeping a sense o ormalityin it.

Nicholas: She cuts down on a lot o the fowery language used in the original and makes the whole thing abit more vital and immediate rom a textual perspective.

As actors, do you have particular processes that you use in preparing or a role?

Karen: YesbutIthinkitvariestosuitthevariousstylesoftheatreyouareworkingin.Alwayshavetodoasmuch script work as possible to nut out what is the main anchor o the characters world.

Hannah: I believe that I can nd everything I need to know in the script with some back-up rom myimagination. So really, I read the script a lot and try to get a sense o what lie might be like orthe characters Im playing outside o the play and the scenes that theyre in to round them out.However, as there is a denite perormance style or this piece, we are doing work as an ensembleon physicality and character in order that we create a cohesive world.

Kate: It varies depending on the play, the role, and the director and rehearsal process. Some charactersevolve very reely and easily and others can be more elusive needing a dierent approach to ndyour way into them.

Karen: In this play I think a lot. In other ways o working physical shits can also do the same.Heath: Yes,wedo.EachactorapproachesthisfromadifferentperspectiveIwouldsay,basedontheir

training, their experience what has worked or them in the past and what they think might workor them on the particular show or a particular character.

Michael: Personally, my process is one o no process. I try not to place any rules on mysel whenapproaching a character, because I eel this will limit me. I generally just use my intuition and letthe character nd me, rather than the other way round.

Gary: As I alluded to earlier, my process depends entirely on the project but there are certain aspects thatdont really change or me when working in theatre. I will preace this by saying that I when I work

in television or lm my process is very dierent. In theatre I spend a lot o my time outside therehearsal room thinking about the work and my lines in my day to day lie; on the tram, washingthe dishes, watching TV, etc. But as an actor I try never to make decisions too early on the rehearsalprocess. As scary as it is, I like to approach every rehearsal rom a place o not knowing. This



allows me to make important discoveries on the foor in the act o doing. I cant learn my lines anddecide away rom the rehearsal room how I might play a scene, or what a line might mean. I needto approach the rehearsal empty in a sense, and thereore I can play with my ellow actors, andbe aected by the oers they make, and eel ree and in tune with my own impulses in order tosurprise mysel and my ellow actors. It takes me quite a long time beore I start to concretely setany decisions I might make in terms o how I play a scene. I like to explore dierent possibilitiesor as long as possible, and gradually things start to make sense and inorm me as to what choicesmight work best. For me its also really important to gain a sense o what the piece or play mightbe as a whole beore I can start to ne tune my own work within it. There is no point in me making

very strong decisions too early on, only to nd that the rest o the play has gone in a dierentdirection to the one I was on or my own character. Every actor and character is a piece o thepuzzle along with the lights, sound, script, movement etc. its really important to make sure thatyou are a piece in the same puzzle as everyone else.

Meredith: Yes!Theynecessarilychangewitheachprocess,however,todevelopsomethingentirelyuniquewithin the specic cast and creative team on the project.

Mark: Some o the processes I use in nearly every show - like the way I learn lines, or let mysel dreamabout the character, or try out voices and movement. But many processes change depending onthe type o production & what the director wants. In this show you need to be sensitive as a grouprather than simply an individual, as it is a very group show.

Nicholas: Yes,butIcantellyounow,Ivehadtodevelopabitofanewprocesswiththisshow.Approachingthis text with a naturalistic Stanislavsky type process (while useul in parts) really doesnt cut it interms o realising the imaginative possibilities o A Dream Play. Ive been re introduced to a lot ophysical stu that I havent done since drama school that has been really helpul. But at the end othe day each new show does require a dierent approach. Thats what makes acting exciting!

How do you think costume will assist in creating and dening character and type?

Kate: Costume can have a huge eect on character and can sometimes either hinder or confict with an

idea you have developed or a role or it can really clariy and enhance something. Most obviouslyare the physical restrictions a costume might have on you. Costumes may be tight, baggy, short,long, heavy, fimsy - even itchy and these aspects will always eect how you move. The one thingI like to know early is what kind o oot ware Ill be wearing as this can really help with the eel o acharacter.

Michael: Because o the quality and eel o the environment we have created, costume is very important. Ithe character is uptight and stifed, then having clothing that is restricting or too small will speakvolumes to the audience even beore the character has uttered even a single word.

Hannah: From what I understand o the design, it seems to me that it will really be a key or the audienceto understand what is going on and who we are at dierent times. Most o us are playing multiplecharacters and the audience need to know who they are so costume will be a real signier in thatrespect.

Heath: Costume has a huge eect. Both on the audience in identiying and enhancing the character and(or me at least) in nding the character as an actor. I am usually thinking about costume rom dayone o rehearsal. How it will eect my movement, what it says about how the character wants otherpeople to see him, what it says about the characters social position, his role in society etc.

Gary: I actually dont see costume as all that dierent to the various other aspects that make a piece otheatre. I am just as infuenced by the lights, the sound and the physical score as I am by costume.I think its very important that designers work closely with the actors so that the costume design

can be as organic a process as the creating o the perormance is itsel. Its a ying/yang approachor me. I eel the physicality I start to develop should infuence the costume designer, and then theirdesigns will in turn start to aect my physicality. It is an awul experience or an actor to spendages developing a character, only to at the last minute be put into a costume that bears absolutelyno common thread to the character you thought you were creating. But ultimately its essential oran actor to make their costume work, to adapt their own character development so that it can liveinside their costume, because or an audience, the costume they see will be their rst clue as towhat or who the character they are viewing is.

Meredith: I am hoping Agnes will arrive the moment she steps into her dusty shoes! Its really easy to relyheavily on the aesthetic o a show, especially when you are nding a scene dicult - the wholesmoke and mirrors eect, but my job is to ocus on what goes on inside that too.

Mark: A lot o the characters are named ater their proession. This is not o course all they are, but it

gives a clue. Costume will be able to mark out that characters place in the world, but also anyparticular colourings we want to give it - or example is this quarantine master a quiet man or aboisterous one?



How is the process dierent or an actor when nding a character in a non-naturalistic style? How do you useyour voice, movement and gesture dierently?

Kate: I dont nd my process varies that much, you are simply more ree to make varied choices. There

are ar less limitations on what is appropriate or acceptable so your character has a larger rangeo tools at their disposal but I still eel that any choices must have a logical impetus, even i thismay not be obvious to the audience. Impulses become much more important and the reedom toexpress these impulses to their limits no matter how large or loud the outcome.

Heath: Wow, this is a dicult question. I dont really see it as an entirely dierent process. The results maybe markedly dierent but I still approach it in the same way, trying to nd the whys o each line,

investigating the possibilities o each situation/scene. With perhaps the dierent that I might workmore rom an outside-in approach, letting external physical choices inorm the intention, moodand meaning o the role and the text rather than the other way around.

Michael: Its dierent or each actor, but or me, when dealing with non-naturalism I start by just heighteningeverything. Voice, physicality, movement and gesture, then slowly nding what works and whatdoesnt, with the directors guiding eye.

Hannah: That is all to be explored throughout rehearsal. One thing Ive learnt though is that Olivia doesntwant us to do accents as the easy way in to character - even though my French accent was genius!

Gary: I nd this question very interesting because it suggests that there is a type o theatre that isnaturalistic (real) and a type o theatre that is non-naturalistic (not real but somehow other). Ithink all theatre is non-naturalistic; theatre is an artice, it is by its nature ake, not real, pretend,antasy. Even the most natural plays are heightened and very ar rom actual lie; everything in

them is rehearsed, decided upon, strictly organized to relate a story and a set o relationships.For me, the process o developing a character doesnt alter that much because a play might bedeemed naturalistic or abstract. In both styles I still have to discover and create a physicality or acharacter that is dierent rom my own, as well as a voice (which can include accent, vocal patterns,the way a character might breathe between thoughts and sentences, etc) its just that in a morenaturalistic style these shits and changes are sometimes more subtle, depending on how closea character is to my actual sel. I always take my cues rom the director and my cast mates. I thedirector is attempting to construct a theatrical world that is more heightened they will encourageme to make my physical and vocal oers more extreme or exaggerated. The rhythms o the playwill also be worked on so that the actors on stage dont relate to each other in the mundane waywe do in actual lie. Always, as a company, you are working together to develop a shared physicallanguage so that all the actors are existing within the same space. In this play, we are still in theprocess o discovering what this is. In doing so we are encouraged to pay close attention to howwe use our bodies, how the tension might sit in our bodies, how we use our gaze. For example,in my normal lie I am quite dgety and I oten look around the room while I am talking, my pointo ocus shits a lot. But in this play I need to limit my gaze, to be very clear not to let it shit whenI speak, and limit the way my body moves to be precise and quite held. I can also allow mysel toexplore more grotesque shapes with my body and seek to develop ways o exaggerating throughphysical orm my characters emotional expression.

Meredith: Well, there are no rules, or a start. I love that about this play and the open direction Olivia inspires.I like to throw stu out there and just generally embarrass mysel in a rehearsal room, but thats animportant part o nding it. At this stage Olivia is happy with whatever we oer, no matter how bigor bizarre, well start to compose the whole depending on what the piece needs.

Mark: Even or naturalism, being on stage is dierent rom being in real lie. There is a certain heightenednature to just having to tell your story rom the stage. However when we move away rom

naturalism we explore even more what the essence o a moment, or gesture is, sometimes byexaggerating it, or repeating it, or have many characters do it at once. We perhaps draw more romother arts like dance or physical theatre or musicals, to create a heightened world.

Nicholas: For instance my choice o physicality or the Billsticker character rst started with ideas o a smallchild. But due to my size and the general nature o the choice, it wasnt working. So I then justthought, what about a broken gorilla? Its not a human choice, its sort o abstracted.

How playing in a non naturalistic style diers in perormance rom naturalism?

Kate: Working on a naturalistic play you need to consider many contextual elements o the text. Thereare many more boundaries that need to be adhered to, acceptable human behaviour varies romgeneration to generation. Language, social rituals, physicality and use o body language all vary.Non-naturalistic theatre in theory can remove all those boundaries and the cast and director can

use what ever elements they chose to create the world o the play.Hannah: Perormance is perormance. So long as you are being true to the world o the play, then I dont

think actual perorming diers that much. It is still always or the audience.



Michael: The most noticeable dierence rom a perormers point o view is the amount o energy needed innon-naturalism I think.

Gary: It doesnt. In both orms I play out a strictly developed and rehearsed series o movements andadhere to the perormance laws established in the rehearsal room. I those laws dictate that theworld should appear naturalistic and that the characters should be seen to move as people doon the street then any new impulses I might have in perormance need to stay true to that. I cantsuddenly choose to start exaggerating my expressions on a whim in ront o the audience. Andvice versa or more stylized works. Ultimately though, a perormance is a perormance and as theactor you stay true to what has been developed in rehearsal. This doesnt mean that in perormance

you cant nd new things, in act as actors you are constantly looking at improving and tweakingmoments, it just means that regardless o the style you have to keep your perormance in tune withthe aims o the director and company.

Heath: Another hard question. I guess naturalism is characterised by the sort o movement, vocal deliveryyou might see in an everyday situation. This doesnt mean that a more heightened, exaggerated,or perhaps surreal perormance style is less realistic necessarily, just that it is operating in adierent context. In this particular play the context o dreams, which could hardly be said to berealistic.

Meredith: Nothing is static. Is there a wall? Push it over. See a ace in the audience? Talk to them. Speak orthe winds and the waves? Sure, o course. Naturalism depends on confict and resolution a lot othe time and Strindberg constantly denies his audience this satisaction. I know Im going down thewrong track with this play when I start questioning why. Reason simply doesnt apply.

Mark: Hmmmm. Playing in a non-naturalistic style may require you to work more simply physicallyrather than ollow what would be called a normal emotional path. For example, you may haveto go rom being very happy to being very sad in a moment; you cant let yoursel think o this as anatural progression, you just have to make the leap.

Nicholas: Within the naturalistic style its a lot easier to engage with other perormers without having to puteort into creating another abstract layer on top. Having to create something rom an abstract andthen make it real and believable is probably the most challenging thing or an actor to do.

How important is non-verbal communication?

Kate: Extremely. The smallest gesture or shit in balance can show a characters change in action, even onstage. A glance can speak words too hard to vocalise, a breath can be enough to show a decisionmade.

Hannah: I my answer to that question is non-verbal then you tell me...!Michael: In A Dream Play, and especially Caryl Churchills economic and stripped bare translation, the need

to be specic in this non-verbal communication is extremely vital to telling the story.Heath: Very. As important as the words, sometimes more so. Samuel Becketts quote about theatre is

that it should have the maximum o verbal presence and the maximum o corporal presence.I agree with this completely. The one thing that the stage has over a lm, a television show or acomputer game is a breathing actor sharing the space with the audience.

Gary: Essential. In my view it is the most important ingredient in creating a theatre work. Especially incontemporary society, with modern audiences, the images created and the physical relationshipsbetween characters portrayed convey a depth o meaning that can sometimes be lost in the words.Modern audiences are ar more used to watching and receiving visual inormation, than listeningand receiving the inormation. Im not saying that this shouldnt be challenged, I have seen someincredible plays that contained plenty o text and very little movement or physicalisation. I dohowever think that special attention needs to be paid to the images created on stage, no matter

how subtle. For example; how characters are placed around the space, their physical proximity toother characters, the gestures they use, the way the bodies can convey psychological states andemotions. For example, lets say you have a man and a woman on stage. They stand close together,they look at each other and he says I love you. That tells a story. I, however you have the sameman and woman onstage, but he stands upstage, and she stands downstage, ar away rom him.She looks at him, he doesnt look at her. He is wringing his hands. She is clutching and unclutchingher dress, maybe even digging her ngers into her leg. He says I love you. She turns away, andhe begins to wring his hands more desperately. This image, with the same words and the samecharacters, tells a very dierent story indeed!

Meredith: Essential. I never want to see the script been spoken on stage. I like to work through text quitephysically. Sometimes it takes a while to get to know other actors bodies, but once that trust isestablished the text can soar to new levels.

Mark: Verbal communication is just one o the tools o the theatre, albeit arguably the main tool orspoken theatre. Strindberg & Churchill have set out a lot o the verbal communication through thewords, but the non-verbal is much more up to us as a company to decide on. In that way it is veryimportant.



Nicholas: I personally think it is what makes up the majority o the perormance so, yeah, without it (in thisproduction) youd be at a huge loss. I mean I have nothing against radio plays, but this is theatreand its primarily physical.

What is the biggest challenge when working in a surrealist or expressionist style?

Kate: For me its about making relevant choices. It can be very tempting to get swept up in the

reedom o the style but we still have the responsibility o telling the story and making it not justcomprehensible to the audience but eecting and rewarding.

Heath: For me it would be nding and retaining a truthul interpretation o the text even though you may

be in an extremely heightened, exaggerated, abstract orm as part o realising the work. Its aboutnot getting lost in the extreme actorlyness o it all.

Michael: I think the biggest challenge is to not censor yoursel as an actor and allow yoursel to go anywhereand everywhere the character wants to go.

Hannah: Making sure the style is cohesive I think. Which is really up to the director, and luckily Olivia hasa very clear vision and is good at communicating what she sees and imagines. We as actors,need to make sure that we do work as an ensemble and that we are nding a similar result in ourperormance styles. It doesnt really matter what our individual processes are so long as when weperorm we are all on the same page.

Gary: Its about making sure that the whole company is sharing a physical score and perormingwithin the same style. Another challenge is making sure that no matter how crazy or avant-gardeyour presentation o the material may be, it still has its roots rmly set within a recognizable

emotional and psychological reality. I truly believe audiences coming to the theatre want to beable to recognize and connect to the characters onstage. Even the most exaggerated and stylizedrepresentation needs to be recognizably human. In act, heightening or exaggerating a characteris never about disguising that characters humanity, it indeed does the opposite, making moreobvious and clear the characters aults, faws, charms, humour and heart.

Meredith: Getting o track! The play invites so many tangential ideas, experiences, theories, which we haveall brought to the foor, but there IS a spine to it and we have to remind ourselves o the whole.

Mark: The biggest challenge is not holding on too much to your own interpretation o the script. There isa great reedom in how a script like this gets brought to lie and I think its best ound as a group, asyou go along.

Nicholas: Most denitely having to strip back the extraneous layers created by naturalistic perormanceand heightening each characters emotional response in not a necessarily human way. It can bea very intellectual exercise at the beginning o rehearsal that takes quite a bit o time to becomeconnected and real.

What do you enjoy most about it?

Kate: The chance to play!Hannah: In Australia, most acting we do and see in the proessional world is naturalism so its really great to

explore dierent perormance styles and create something that can be quite weird and wonderul.Gary: HmmmmI guess there is a certain reedom in working in more heightened styles, more

permission to be a little crazy and courageous in your choices. I also like the physical demands itrequires o me. Perorming in a highly stylized piece can be quite a work out, its exhausting, but ina good way, like exercise.

Michael: I think the most enjoyable thing about working in this style is being as intense, silly and crazy asyou like in the process and exploration o nding your character and how they relate to the other

characters in the script.Meredith: As with all great texts, my horizons have been broken open!Heath: That this style o theatre perhaps gets at the truth in a way naturalism cant, a deeper, more

intuitive kind o meaning,Mark: I enjoy working with these groups o people and being crazy within a crazy world.Nicholas: The release o not being bound by naturalistic conventions. This style o theatre really is theatre o

theimagination.YoucangiveANYTHINGago,evenifithasnofunctionintherealworld.

iGNITE presents

by August StrindbergIn a new version by Caryl Churchill and IgniteBy arrangement with Dominie Drama



Resources

Plays

Churchill, C. A Dream Play, Nick Hearn Books, 2005

Strindberg, A. Five Plays: The Father, Miss Julie, The Dance o Death, A Dream Play, The Ghost Sonata,University o Caliornia Press, 1981

Strindberg, A. Strindberg, Selected Plays and Prose, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1964

Churchill, C. The Skriker, Nick Hearn Books, 1994

Websites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dream_Play

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Strindberg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryl_Churchill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrealism

http://www.theatrelinks.com/

www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Books

Quigley, A. The Modern Stage and Other Worlds, Methuen Inc, 1985

Esslin, M. The Theatre o the Absurd, Doubleday, 1969

Brecht, B. On Theatre, Methuen Publishing Ltd, 1978

Styan, J. Modern Drama in Theory and Practice 2:Symbolism, Surrealism and the Absurd, Cambridge University Press, 1981

Films

The Dance o Death (1968) directed by David Giles

The Father(1969) directed by Al Sjoberg

Miss Julie(1960) directed by Al Sjoberg

Miss Julie(1999) directed by Mike Figgis

Labyrinth (1986) directed by Jim Henson

Eraserhead(1977) directed by David Lynch

2047(2004) directed by Kar Wai Wong


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a dream play

Documents