Current Events

• What was happening when Antigone was created? Sophocles was appointed as one of the ten generals to lead a military expedition against Samos. The Peloponnesian War started in 441BC. As the Athenians began to lose the war to the Spartans, some people, including men like Socrates and Plato, thought they should abandon the democracy and go back to an oligarchy. When they were desperate and were on the verge of loosing the war, the Athenians tried oligarchy, but it didn't help, and in 404 BC they lost the war. When Philip of Macedon came south from Macedon he attacked Athens, the Athenian army could not defend their city, and Athens fell under the control of Macedon. Athens was under the control of a monarchy. First the king was Philip, then his son Alexander. Hundred and fifty years later, the Roman army arrived and conquered Greece. Then Athens fell under the control of the Roman Republic. Athenians were part of an empire - under the Roman emperors, and then, from the 1400s AD on, under the Ottoman Empire.

• Was its creation influenced by any specific historical events? - From the research I have found, I think that some parts of Antigone are influenced by historical events. The first thing i believe was influenced was the monarchy that was led by Phillip of Macedon, in Antigone the play is about how Creon seizes power and becomes dictator. The play also has a massive war at the beginning which starts of the whole play, In 441BC there was the Peloponnesian war which led to Athens becoming a weak city with a weak democracy, in Antigone it shows a weak democracy which falls slowly apart as we see in Creon's life, so maybe Creon's falling of his family symbolizes the falling of the democracy. In the play we see Antigone being mistreated because she is a women, and in 441BC women were seen as the lower sex. 

Social Context of Antigone

• What do we mean by the social context? - it is the background information on somebody, where their from, where they went to school, who their friends and family were ...

• How did people live at the time Antigone was created?-  In the 4th Century Art, theater, music, poetry, philosophy, and political experiments such as democracy started to flourish. In Athens, society was male-dominated, only men could be citizens and only upper-class had a formal education. Women had few political rights and were expected to remain in the home and look after the children. One quarter of the population was made up of slaves,most of them were prisoners captured during the Greek fights overseas. These slaves worked in shipyards, quarries, mines, and as domestic servants. Most homes were modest, windowless and wrapped around a courtyard. Furniture was very rare and people spent the most of the day outside. The Greek diet was mainly made up of wine and bread. A typical day would start with bread dipped in wine, the same for lunch and a dinner of wine, fruits, vegetables and fish. Meat was reserved for special occasions such as religious holidays.

• Who was the target audience for the piece?Mainly men as only men were allowed to watch the play.

• What were the needs, values and beliefs of the target audience?- Women were the lower gender and only men should watch and perform in the plays. Also how men should be first priority above women.

• How did this influence the themes and characters of Antigone? - Well in the play Antigone tries to bury her brother and in doing so disobeys the orders of Creon. Antigone is then ordered to be killed by Creon and even though Creon is Antigone's Uncle he must go along with this rule as he is newly king and must show what he believes early on so no one defies him again. And also as Antigone is a women he mush show that women have less power then men and cannot go against the King and especially not men.

• What have you found out about the social context of Antigone? Think about what was going on at the time that Sophocles wrote the play. - When Antigone was being written there was a war going on between Athens and Sparta. Also philosophy was becoming increasingly popular, but people disagreed with this as it went against religious beliefs, and as we know religion was a very big deal in these times. In Antigone it shows the power religion had over people and what it would make them do, for example Antigone buries her brother because the Gods told her too. Also in the time Antigone was written, women were seen as the ones who looked after the children and wouldn't go out and do important things that the men would do. In Antigone you see Antigone being mistreated because she is women and she is seen as inferior compared to the men.

• Who went to the theatre? - Only men were aloud to go to the Theatre.

• What was the relationship between theatre, politics and religion? - The Greeks believe that they performed for the God of Theatre (Dionysus). 

Sophocles

He was born about 496 BC in Colonus Hippius, his father was a wealthy merchant. He had a very good education and he studied all of the arts. By the age of sixteen, he was already known for his beauty and grace and was chosen to lead a choir of boys at a celebration of the victory of Salamis in 480 BC. From 468 BC, Sophocles won first prize about 20 times and many second prizes. He died in 406 BC at about the age of 90.

In his lifetime wrote more than 100 plays of which seven complete tragedies and fragments of 80 or 90 others are preserved. 

Evaluation

In the performance there were variations of multimedia used, such as projections of videos, phone lights, live feed, pre recorded video clips shown on televisions, and voice recordings. I think the use of the multimedia enhanced the performance, because it helped us t0 perform a very old play and with the assistance of the multimedia make it modern and relative for today's audience. It was able to make scenes more intimate with the audience, for example the voice recordings, they let the audience hear our voices directly above their heads, making them more involved with the meaning of what we were saying, and the actions we were showing. It also made the performance more interesting to watch, they could see things and understand things that they may not have understood if we had performed the script word for word. 

The play Antigone is rather horrific, as it shows many serious topics, like female discrimination, murder, war, and suicide. All these issues are still around today, and for the audience watching they may be able to seriously relate to some of the play. Maybe some members of the audience haven't directly dealt with any of these situations, but it would still effect them as they are all problems that have either had a big part of our  history as a population, or have become more significant in today's society. Either way the problems that Antigone shows, even though it was written years and years ago, are still going on today. As an audience member I think it would be a large impact on them, as it would make them think about these problems, think about if they have ever had to face one of these problems, and lastly think that however hard people fought, or however many people died to stop these problems, or however many people have faced the problems for millions of years, they have never fully disappeared, and that is quite a scary observation. 

Even though the multimedia was really cool to use, and gave many scenes that bit extra, I think if we hadn't of used it, the effect of the show as a whole wouldn't of changed. Personally I think the multimedia distracted us as a class and we possibly didn't concentrate as much on the acting side of the play. If there was no multimedia we would have only been concentrating on the acting and just our roar emotions and connections to the play, I think would have been very effective.  Also without the multimedia we could of kept it in its original traditional form, which I think would have been very powerful and beautiful to watch. I actually think the multimedia died down the tragedies that the play had to offer. By using the multimedia I think it made the huge topics not so big, so maybe without the multimedia we could have focused more on those topics and that would of made the play even more effective. 

I think the most effective use of the multimedia was the pre recorded voices, I thought they made the chorus really come to life and let the audience watch us in a really cool, different way and also be able to hear us clearly. I thought the breathing underneath our voices was so effective and made it really creepy. I thought the recorded voices worked really well with what we were doing with the chorus, they both complimented each other very well. I think some of the other multimedia didn't work that well with the scenes and it seemed kind of pointless, but the recording just seemed to fit so well with what was happening and it was a good contrast between the scene and using multimedia, I think it gave that chorus section that bit more and if I was performing Antigone again I would use that multimedia in it.

Scenes from Antigone:	Multimedia used and locations	How did the multimedia in each scene enhance the performance?
1. Creon announces that Eteocles will be honoured and Polynices will be shamed and left un-buried.	Video to be shown on screen in reception.	It opened up the beginning of the multimedia introducing the audience to what the show is about.
2. Antigone goes to Ismene to persuade her to assist the burial of their brother. Ismene refuses.	By the tree - video shown of the thoughts of the characters.	It gives an inside to how people felt about Creon, helping the audience to understand.
3. Antigone goes to bury her brother.	Round of wooden stumps.	The Alarm used created a more realistic setting making the audience feel more aware of what was happening.
4. Creon looks for the support of the chorus of Theban Elders in his  decision to leave Polynices unburied.	Creon announces from fire escape door of 415 - chorus round the tree looking up. Audience looking up also.	Lets the audience see the action from the same perspective of the actors making them feel part of the show.
5. A Sentry reports the burial of Polynices. Creon insists that the Sentry finds out who or face death.	Filmed footage of event is shown on screen top of stairs. Sentry talking to Creon.	Shows the audience what happened in a more detailed way, which is interesting to watch.
6. Chorus sing about honouring gods.	From the yard up to windows of 413 Recorded chorus played.	The voice recording makes the audience feel like there is a God actually talking to them from above.
7. Sentry returns with the Culprit: Antigone. Creon confronts her.	Burst into 413 - audience turn to see. Lighting used.	Creates tense moments, by only showing people on stage and what there doing.
8. Creon confronts Ismene. Ismene tries to confess but Antigone won't allow it. And in the end, the two sisters are imprisoned.	Still in 413 but Creon live speaks to a projected Ismene. Antigone is walked out the room and joins the real Ismene - escorted off. Lighting used	Lets the audience see an argument from 2 different angles, creating a intense moment that they are in the middle of, so they feel involved in the play.
9. Haemon both pledges allegiance to his father, Creon, and asks that Antigone be spared. After the discussion deteriorate, Haemon storms out vowing never to speak to him again.	Traverse in 413 - iphone lights as the two talk. Throughout confrontation, lights go out, one by one.	Shows the audience how the actors are feeling without using words, making them watch and concentrate on the actors emotions.
10. Creon choses to spare Ismene, and to bury Antigone alive. As she is dragged out, the chorus express their Sorrow.	One light left on Creon's face. Sound of s body being dragged...etc.  Projection and video used	Lets the audience see what happens to Antigone in a more scary, tense way, which we then could use to show what Antigone was thinking.
11. Tiresias attempts to advise Creon that what he is doing is wrong and that the Gods are angry. The prophecy of a dead son is mentioned.	Tiresias never moves his mouth but what he says coupled with weird underscore is played through speakers of 415. Projected video played	The music creates a dramatic atmosphere drawing the audience in, and the video shows them different sides to the scene.
12. The chorus, terrified, begs him to take Tiresias' advice. Shaken, Creon agrees to release Antigone and bury Polynices.	As many chorus as possible fill cavities of 415 and urge Creon. Three doors and side grated window thing.	Music played makes the audience understand the emotion of the scene, and are more interested by the physical theatre.
13. Chorus deliver a choral ode to the god Dionysus.		Phone lights make the layout of the chorus look like a city, which is really amazing to look at. The sounds make what we are saying come to life, and make it more interesting to watch.
14. Messenger informs Eurydice of Haemon and Antigone's death.	Filmed footage on repeat of Haemon stabbing himself and Antigone hanging, swinging from a branch.	Lets the audience see what horrible thing had happened without showing them in person which would be easier to watch.
15. Carrying the body of his dead son Haemon, Creon is then met by a 2nd messenger informing him of Eurydice's death.	Audience back outside looking at tree. Creon walking through the courtyard, holding Creon, confronted by messenger at the tree. Chorus look down from 415.	Rounds the play up, giving a horrible message at the end, that selfish decisions come back to bite you.

Thursday 16th April

Today we recorded the moment of choral speaking and some breath. 

Why did we do this?- So when we perform the chorus the audience who are looking out the window can watch us doing the physical theatre work and listen to our voices, by putting us breathing over the top, it gives a scary feel to the piece creating a tense atmosphere which will intrigue the audience.

How will having the pre-recorded sound support this moment of the performance? The audience will be listening to this whilst you perform on the basketball court. - By having our voices recorded before and played while we perform the chorus it will make it the audience understand the piece more. It is also a lot easier for us performing to have pre- recorded our voices, as it would be hard for the audience to hear us from the basketball courts, and if we did speak the chorus live we would've had to of shouted and it would not of sounded as good as the creepy whisper we did in the recording. Finally it gave us a better chance to concentrate on our physical theatre movements instead of the words.

  The chorus has been difficult sometimes in rehearsal, as trying keep everyone focused was sometimes hard, but with things like this you have to have good discipline. I think to make the chorus look really good we all have to be really committed to every move. For example when we do the marching on the spot, some people are really going for it and are hunched over swinging their arms, but others are just moving up and down on the spot, so it looks weird if some people are going for it but others are just not committed.

 

  

For the second chorus I think everyone found this a lot harder, as we had to learn lines for this one. The lines were sometimes complicated, with words that are hard to pronounce and do not use today. But i really liked using the Greek language, i thought it added something to the piece, and even though they were hard to learn it would be definitely worth it for the performance. I am going to learn the lines by reading them over and saying them lots so I get it stuck in my head. I think its really important to learn the lines exactly, as it gives the performance that much extra, and also helps us expand our vocabulary and acting skills.

We discussed how the pieces that you are creating are relevant for a contemporary audience.

How is your piece relevant for an audience?- Our piece is relevant for a modern audience, because in our scene we show betrayal in family, men having the higher status, sibling love, death, prison, war, all topics that are important and still here today. This means that everyone in the audience will be able to relate to the characters in some way or other. Maybe they have been hurt by someone, either in their family or a good friend, like how Antigone is betrayed by her uncle as he sends her to death and her sister because she wouldn't follow and bury their brother.

How is the moment of multi-media in your piece relevant for the piece?- In our piece we have two videos, the first one is off Antigone being dragged away to be buried alive, it also shows the reactions of Ismene and Creon, showing how Ismene is devastated and scared at her sisters death, but Creon is happy about her death, it shows his evil side. This is relevant because it shows the audience what happens to Antigone in a more interesting way then just showing it live, as we use different locations making the video look really cool. Our other video is when Antigone is in the cave and behind her is a video of Creon and other people dressed as guards speaking into the camera. This is relevant to the piece because it shows how Antigone is feeling, and what she is thinking, it shows Creon in the background and this conveys to the audience that Antigone has horrible visions of him in her head and that is shown in the video behind her.

Some groups did some filming today. How did it go? How will this support your piece? - The filming went well as they all got it edited and it looks really good. In one of the videos it shows interviews of people talking about Creon. Some people show fear about talking about him, while others either praise him or are not scared of him and talk harshly of him. This supports my piece because it shows how people feel about Creon, like how evil he is and that helps with the character we have interpreted Creon as in our piece.

What planning did you have to do before the filming?  Write the script? Rehearse? Think about the best place to film it? Costumes...? - Before filming we spoke about what we wanted to do, and we all agreed that we would film it as non- speaking, because we thought it would be more effective. We didn't as such rehearse but talk about what we were going to do and film it, but a lot of what we filmed was improvised and it looked really good. We chose to film it behind the canteen, as we were able to use different levels and angles. It was also a good place to show the dragging bit, as we did it down a hill where i run off camera and in our piece i run on stage just after so it looks really effective. With our costumes we kept to the dress code, Antigone wearing red, Creon wearing a white shirt and black tie, Ismene wearing white, and the Guards wearing black.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5nIyHd5q7s&feature=youtu.be

Antigone Presentations

Why is the piece still relevant to the world today?- Our piece is still relevant to today because the way we have used multi media. We have used a video and sound effects. Also in Antigone she strikes against the King because he does something she disagrees with, nowadays people are always going on strike because they disagree with something that someone has done to them, so people may be able to relate to him.

  

  How might modern directors and/or performance companies adapt the work to make it more suitable or relevant for a modern audience? - They might use multi media, for example videos, music ext. They could also change the language and story line to make the audience understand more. 

    

The setting of the piece-  Set in a castle.

 the plot and characters- The plot is off how a women is sent to death because of going against the King for something she believed in. 

    the staging-  At the beginning Creon is in the middle of his two helpers who are slightly behind him. This shows how Creon is more important and of a higher status than his helpers. Then when Antigone and Ismene are dragged in they are tied up one each side of Creon, this lets the audience see the whole cast more clearly and again show the lower and higher statuses. By having people at different heights its a lot more interesting to watch by the audience.

    design elements of the piece- there are two sheets hanging from the ceiling, they will be used to handcuff Ismene and Antigone but also when we project are video it will project onto them as well.

Rehearsal Log for Antigone

In today's lesson we learnt about Garage Band. We learnt about what it is and how to use it. Garage Band is basically this app where you can play lots of different instruments like the Piano or the Guitar. We are going to use Garage Band in our performance, by editing the chorus voice over we made as a class. I think Garage Band will be good to use because it can make any boring piece of music or voice over a lot more exciting and original. We can also use it to give any kind of atmosphere, from a happy to a scary vibe.

We have developed the character Creons scary side and enhanced it. For our scene we really want to make it as creepy as we can, because we think it will be really interesting for the audience to watch and also not many of the other scenes are really scary so it will be a good change that will keep the audience on their feet. 

We have looked at different ways of using multimedia. One of them being where we film someones face which is then projected onto a screen, and they are talking to someone who is in the room but not facing them directly. This gives the affect of showing how these two people are in different places, or you could show it as someones thoughts and feelings, which my group are attempting to do a similar thing. We are projecting Creons face onto the cave walls ( were creating the cave out of grey sheets hung onto the ceiling) when Antigone is in the cave, its going to be as though Creon is always watching her and all her fears are all around her as Creon. 

In our scene we are using multimedia, we are projecting onto sheets, videos of Creon shouting Antigone's name and Antigone being dragged to the cave in which shes going to be buried alive in.  Were also using music in the background, which will create a tense scene that will keep the audience guessing. Were using the multimedia to develop the work we have created. We will do this by showing different peoples consciences, and from their prospective. We will also show what happens to Antigone without showing the audience live, which gives me the chance as Antigone to get off stage while the audience are watching the video and then run back on for the rest of our scene. 

  By using multimedia in our performance were able to show the audience what happens to Antigone when being taken to the cave. As that part is very violent it would of been harder to show live, so by filming it before and editing it we can make it a lot more scary and thrilling watch but mostly look more realistic and better than it would have done live. We are also telling the audience about how Antigone puts up this front and comes across as this brave, fearless character, when actually she is terrified. In our scene we have used multimedia to show how scared she is and also her fear of Creon.

 I want the audience to see a different side to Antigone, which is the fearful side to Antigone. I also  want the audience to be really scared when their watching it, and actually feel like there in the cave with Antigone. I want them after to feel relived to be out of there but amazed at what they just saw. I also want them to grow a fear of Creon so when they watch the other scenes they feel a lot anxious about him, and hopefully will make the show even more exciting for them to watch.

Multimedia Monday 16th March

Within a Theatre production, how does the use of multimedia help in its communication to an audience? What does it add to the piece?

I watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLcnj0pJMA0 which a multi media production in Hong Kong. It helped to communicate to the audience not by the actors speaking, but the music and the imagery they used in the background. It shows that multi media can over come the language barrier and can communicate to anyone from any different country.

 I really liked the simplicity of this piece, it showed how you can tell a story through music and basic images projected onto a sheet behind the actors. In this particular production they had white sheets placed all around the stage, which meant they could project everywhere on the stage. This was really effective, it was very interesting to watch and gave a sense of anxiousness as you dont know what or where the next image will be. 


I really like the music they used because it matched the physical theatre the actors used and the images that were projected. This has now made me think a lot about the music we will use in our piece, as we need to find the right contrast so there isnt too much going on or there isnt enough impact. The music also needs to relate to what we are performing and showing, so the piece makes sense to the audience.

I am definitely going to use some of the ideas from this in my piece. We were already going to use two sheets and project things onto it but also use it as a cave. But I really like the idea of having sheets on the floor as well, so I need to talk to my group and see if there is a way we can use that, as there are other groups that perform before us.



review of a multimedia theatre production 

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2006/dec/04/wavessetsahighwatermarkfo

This review of the play Waves by Katie Mitchell shows that multi media if used right can be a amazing, spectacular show, which is really interesting for audiences to watch. It shows how people watching can connect to the piece on a different level than a non multi media production. It also shows how the audience can understand to a bigger depth about the characters and their emotions, and also the story of the play. 


Mobile Phones

We use our mobile phones in the chorus during some of the lines. At different points of the chorus some people will raise up their phone and when we have them all up it looks really effective. By using this multi-media it allows the audience to take in the beautiful figure we have all created with our bodies, like the view of Greece. The phones have the torch on, and in a dark room it looks really effective when we there are some lights shining from different areas and angles of the portrait we have created.


Live Feed
In one of the performances they used live feed. This is a really good use of multi- media, as it shows the audience a closer more interment way of using mulit - media. The audience get to see one conversation in two areas of a room. By having the person being filmed in the live feed in the room, the audience get to see kind of like a behind the scenes of what is happening and i think thats really interesting. Also using the live feed gives the actors a new challenge as they have to talk to a projection of someone instead of the live real thing.