Berkoff Adaptations
Today we began to look at another play by steven Berkoff.
This play is called Metamorphosis and is part of a trilogy of scripts which
Berkoff adapted from Kafka between the years 1968-1970. One of Berkoffs most
famous adaptions, it follows salesman Gregor Samsa who wakes one morning to
find himself transformed into a huge insect.
The other works in this trilogy are:
1970 The Trial- Joseph K has been arrested and is awaiting
trial but never finds out the charges.
1968 In the Penal Colony- about a torture mechanism which
slowly reveals the reasons why the man is being tortured.
We looked at a small, four page extract of the script and
began to try and devise movement to it. We began with a focus on the vocalisation and staccato style of Berkoff. This first attempt was a good foundation, but was particularly lacking in physical movement. We began using the gasp in canon, which I think would work better with a greater space in between each one, as the sounds blurred together. This would make it much more defined and also move it further from the realistic style in order to reflect the staccato nature of Berkoff. We did begin to add in some movement during the opening to reflect the lines "Beer!" "Clothes", but the focus for me was on the vocalisation and trying to create this shift from the initial panic into the realisation that lodgers meant money which was a much more appealing idea for Mrs Samsa. I feel like that sense of desire for things fits in well with the selfish nature of the family in relying on Gregor. She dreads something until she realised that it can benefit her.
Furthermore I like the idea of this moment just before we invite the lodger in, of the three characters striking a pose which reflects the way they want their character to be viewed by others. With Mrs Samsa its this desire to be seen as of much greater social class than she is. On her last line she transitions from a shrill grating voice, into this soft and characteristically posh accent, and holds out a cup of tea with her little finger pointed. I think in this case, the stereotype works best to get the message across. For one, the fast pace style of Berkoff only allows a short moment for the audiences to understand something, and for another, I think it emphasises the point that she herself has no experience of the upper class lifestyle as her understanding is only that of the basic stereotype. For Mr Samsa, I think the idea of him striking such an unthreatening pose creates an interesting contrast from this sense we get off him from other sections of the script. For Greta, we decided for her pose to not be a reflection of how she wants to be perceived, but how she actually is. From her line "What a funny face!" we get the sense that she is not as eager too impress as her parents are.
The physicality of the lodger on their entrance has a great impact on the perceptions of the audience and therefore the atmosphere of the scene. The use of incredibly small steps creates this pause after the constant sound and movement of the previous moment, a juxtaposition which introduces this sense of apprehension. I think it would be interesting to alter the facial expressions of the family so that instead of smiling, the action is more a grit of the teeth showing their uncomfortableness of holding these images of themselves. The facial expression of the lodger however, the scrunched up nose, gives immediately this perception that the character will be fussy and hard for the family to please.
In the next section, the family act as a kind of chorus, reflecting the lines of the lodger. Only their versions have much greater emphasis and use gesture which encompasses their entire bodies. This gives the sense that they are overworking to please the lodger by agreeing with everything they are saying, even if that means the lodger insulting their home. For the line "It's a very friendly household," I like the idea of Mr Samsa using a thick northern accent, but I feel it would be interesting to experiment with the idea of Mrs Samsa wanting him tone down his accent. I expect that her character is trying to control the other two- one who is at least trying but doesn't meet her standards and the other who simply isn't trying at all. I like the idea of having a movement similar to the sudden gesture for Greta to be quiet after "What a funny face!" This in itself could be much cleaner, perhaps using a lean as she "shhhs" her, having Greta lean away like she is trying to avoid a scolding rather than actually being hit which looks quite messy.
I think our next steps need to be to add in more Berkoff style movement and clean up the work we've already done by reading into the lines further and trying to create a real sense of the characters we're playing.
Furthermore I like the idea of this moment just before we invite the lodger in, of the three characters striking a pose which reflects the way they want their character to be viewed by others. With Mrs Samsa its this desire to be seen as of much greater social class than she is. On her last line she transitions from a shrill grating voice, into this soft and characteristically posh accent, and holds out a cup of tea with her little finger pointed. I think in this case, the stereotype works best to get the message across. For one, the fast pace style of Berkoff only allows a short moment for the audiences to understand something, and for another, I think it emphasises the point that she herself has no experience of the upper class lifestyle as her understanding is only that of the basic stereotype. For Mr Samsa, I think the idea of him striking such an unthreatening pose creates an interesting contrast from this sense we get off him from other sections of the script. For Greta, we decided for her pose to not be a reflection of how she wants to be perceived, but how she actually is. From her line "What a funny face!" we get the sense that she is not as eager too impress as her parents are.
The physicality of the lodger on their entrance has a great impact on the perceptions of the audience and therefore the atmosphere of the scene. The use of incredibly small steps creates this pause after the constant sound and movement of the previous moment, a juxtaposition which introduces this sense of apprehension. I think it would be interesting to alter the facial expressions of the family so that instead of smiling, the action is more a grit of the teeth showing their uncomfortableness of holding these images of themselves. The facial expression of the lodger however, the scrunched up nose, gives immediately this perception that the character will be fussy and hard for the family to please.
In the next section, the family act as a kind of chorus, reflecting the lines of the lodger. Only their versions have much greater emphasis and use gesture which encompasses their entire bodies. This gives the sense that they are overworking to please the lodger by agreeing with everything they are saying, even if that means the lodger insulting their home. For the line "It's a very friendly household," I like the idea of Mr Samsa using a thick northern accent, but I feel it would be interesting to experiment with the idea of Mrs Samsa wanting him tone down his accent. I expect that her character is trying to control the other two- one who is at least trying but doesn't meet her standards and the other who simply isn't trying at all. I like the idea of having a movement similar to the sudden gesture for Greta to be quiet after "What a funny face!" This in itself could be much cleaner, perhaps using a lean as she "shhhs" her, having Greta lean away like she is trying to avoid a scolding rather than actually being hit which looks quite messy.
I think our next steps need to be to add in more Berkoff style movement and clean up the work we've already done by reading into the lines further and trying to create a real sense of the characters we're playing.
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