11.02.20 - FEST - Ms Trono

In today's rehearsal I spent most of the time script writing as we needed some more content.  Silvana and I scripted the scene where Marie confronts Jane about David's plan.  We decided to have the start naturalistic and then go into a physical theatre where it starts with Silvana and then Tristan replaces her.  We took some inspiration from Frantic Assembly's 'Things I Know To Be True' with having a monologue whilst still doing physical theatre.  We took specific inspiration from a scene where the main character is doing a monologue and there are hands touching and holding her.  This was the physical theatre we started to create.
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After that I began to script the scene where David and my character first meet in the bar.

SCRIPT WRITING

Scene where Marie confronts Jane about David's plan

Jane - Hi Marie!
Marie - Hi Jane love.
Jane - How is it living with boys for the first time? Hahaha
Marie - Oh my god it's a lot harder than I thought hahah.
Jane - Trust me it doesn't get any easier!
Marie - Hahaha. *pause* I brought you here because there's something I wanted to bring up.  I've heard a little rumour that you and David we're trying to break up Meredith and Harry?
Jane - I-
Marie - Don't worry, I won't tell anybody.  I think that you're a lot better than that, to be honest.  I know it's not my place to say anything because I haven't known you for too long but you seem a little bit off with David.
Jane - What? No... It's fine.
Marie - Are you sure?  You know you can talk to me about anything.
*Into physical theatre*
*Jane's monologue*
Jane - It started two years ago.  He seemed like the perfect man.

Scene where David and Jane meet

*On way out of pub, David picks up Jane's jacket*
Jane - Excuse me! Hey you!
David - What do you want?!
Jane - You've got my jacket there.
David - No it's my jacket.
Jane - I'm telling you it's mine.
David - Trust me.  I'm not in the mood for this now piss off.
Jane - Seriously check the label.
David - Jesus! Fine!
*Jane waiting with a smug face*
Jane - Hmm?
David - Wow I'm such an idiot.  I'm so sorry, please don't think I'm a burglar.  Let me repay you.
Jane - For what? It was an honest mistake.
David - No please let me do this for you.
Jane - Look I'm with friends right now but I'll be here tomorrow night.
David - Okay see you tomorrow... Um-
Jane - Jane. And you are?..
David - David.
Jane - Nice to meet you David.
David - Have a nice night.
Jane - And you.

Things I Know To Be True

PLOT/THEMES

• Rosie comes back from her trip in Europe to see her family who live in Adelaide.  We are then introduced to her overprotective mother, loving father, business savvy sister, brother who wishes to transition and criminal brother.
• Rosie's sister, Pip, decides to move from Adelaide to Canada to take up a job for 12 months and has to leave her entire life behind.  We then find out she'd been having an affair.
• Rosie's brother, Mark, tells his family he wants to move to Sydney and transition to Mia.
• Rosie's other brother, Ben, has been stealing money and spending it on cocaine.
• Rosie's parents, Bob and Fran, try to help all the children with they problems.
• The children don't appreciate their parents' concerns and excessive worry which is why they needed to move from Adelaide in the first place.
• Rosie then decides to take up a creative writing course in Brisbane.
• Soon after she left, Fran with all her stress and fatigue, fell asleep on the expressway and flipped her car and died on impact.  
• The family then reunites in Adelaide to attend her funeral and support Bob.
• Relationship, family, marriage, heartbreak, sense of belonging, tragedy.

STRUCTURE

• Naturalistic and non-naturalistic - moments of dialogue as well as moments of direct audience address and physical theatre.
• Linear timeline - chronological, with ellipses - shown through physical theatre, direct audience address monologues, music
• Sort of cyclical structure - Rosie talking about the things she knows to be true before coming back to Adelaide and after her mother died.

SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS

• The first scene of Rosie explaining her trip to Europe - heartbreak she felt foreshadows the events in the play.
• Meeting the family - sets the base of the play, we get some exposition on the relationships of the characters.
• Pip explaining she wants to go to Canada - after she's left, Fran reading the letter Pip wrote admitting to having her affair - Fran lies to Bob about the letter - foreshadows lies that the family keep from each other.
• Mark telling his parents and Rosie about transitioning to become female - a lot of selfishness is shown from both parties - Mark wants the entire conversation to be about him coping and doesn't think about it being hard for his family to deal with all this information at once.  
• Finding out Ben is a criminal - see a scary and threatening side to Ben - "I want mum" shows he relies on his mother for help but almost abuses it 
• Fran dying - so tired from trying to help her entire family and just as things appear to be getting better, she falls asleep on the expressway and dies.  

ACTING / MOVEMENT

• First scene physical theatre - shows relationships between family members and portrays the way Rosie was feeling without her needing to say it.
• Table when Rosie gets home - transitions from garden to kitchen in a smooth way.
• Physical theatre - showing the passing of time.
• Fran and Bob dancing - the proxemics of how close they are emphasises the love they have for each other (even if it wasn't always there).
• Monologues - providing exposition on the play and also showing the situation from a different point of view.

TECHNICAL DESIGN

• Different lighting - sometimes a low light with a spotlight (usually during monologues) - sometimes a brighter light covering the entire stage (when the family were in the kitchen in the beginning) - sometimes a blue light (usually during times with physical theatre).
• The garden - signified the passing of time (through the seasons with the rose bushes) - at the end, when Bob had lost everything (his wife dying and the children all leaving him) ripping out the rose bushes.
• Bridge - only used once for Mark's monologue - water signifying rain drops coming down on him.