Blocking

Key

·         Act 1 Scene 1

·         Act 1 Scene 2

·         Act 1 Scene 3

·         Act 1 Scene 4

·         Act 1 Scene 5

·         Act 2 Scene 1

·         Act 2 Scene 2

·         Act 2 Scene 3

·         Act 2 Scene 4

·         Act 2 Scene 5

·         I-Ivana

·         K-Katya

·         S- Szilard

·         N- Nikolas

·         V- villagers

·        ()^1/2- 1 signifies the characters will start in that area and 2 means they will move across the stage to get to a new location

Blocking for first act

Blocking for second act

Rehearsal Plan

Scene Numer and Name

·         Act 1-Scene 1 “Mamma I’m leaving”

·         Act 1-Scene 2 “I cannot let her go/mysterious phone call”

·         Act 1-Scene 3 “Gossip in the town square”

·         Act 1-Scene 4 “A midnight meeting in the dark alley”

·         Act 1-Scene 5 “We have a plan/you can’t make me stay/kidnapping”

·         Act 2-Scene 1 “Look you good for nothing, father has gotten you a bride”

·         Act 2-Scene 2 “The first time Nikolai sees a woman”

·         Act 2-Scene 3 “I haven’t seen my daughter in two weeks”

·         Act 2-Scene 4 “The wedding”

·         Act 3-Scene 5 “You’ll never see her again/what have I done?”

Rehearsals will take place from Monday to Saturday for 4 hours each day 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1 -Read through Act 1 -have initial talks with set, costumes and lights and sounds	2 -Read through Act 2	3 -Read through of entire play (if not then as much as possible) -see where set, costumes lights and sound are, give them feedback on their initial ideas	4 -Block Act 1 Scene 1	5 -Block Act 1 Scene 2	6 -Block Act 1 Scene 3	7
8 -Block Act 1 Scene 4	9 -Block Act 1 Scene 5 -Finalize all designs with set, costumes, lights and sound	10 -Block Act 2 Scene 1	11 -Block Act 2 Scene 2 -Come up with posters and program layouts	12 -Block Act 2 Scene 3	13 -Block Act 2 Scenes 4 & 5	14
15 -Run entire Act 1 -Lines should be memorized	16 -Run entire Act 1 -Costumes and props due	17 -Run entire Act 2 -Lights and sounds due	18 -Run entire Act 2 -programs and poster designs due	19 -Run entire show	20 -Dress rehearsal (only with costumes and set) -Set due	21
22 -Full technical rehearsal (working in lights and sound	23 -Time to work on problematic scenes -	24 -time to work on problematic scenes	25 -Full dress rehearsal	26 -Full dress rehearsal	27 -Full dress rehearsal	28
29 -Day for final touches and polishing of problematic scenes	30 -Full dress rehearsal	31 -Full dress rehearsal	1 Final Show	2 Final Show	3 Final Show	4

Casting

·         Ivana

o   should be a female who looks young enough to play a 16-18 year old

o   Should have a sort of innocent look

o   Should be very pretty

o   Should be able to portray a childish ignorance

·         Katya

o   Should be a female who looks around 40-45

o   Should have a refined mature look

o   has to be able to capture the desperation and fear the character possesses

·         Szilard

o   Should be a male who looks around 55-60

o   Should be very stern

o   Should have a sort of feeble frame but at the same time should have a strong intimidating presence

o   Should be able to capture the cruelty of the character

·         Nikolas

o   Should be a male who looks young enough to be a 18-20

o   Should be able to be very expressive without the use of words

o   Should be able to  express the combination of fear, anger and frustration that the character possesses

o   Should have a very innocent boyish look with the ability to switch to something psychotic.

Lights and Sound

Lights 

·         Very dim lighting all throughout

·         Yellowish light

·         Lights will always focus on whichever section of the stage the actors are in, the rest will remain as dark as possible

·         Light in the morgue will be white brighter than before but still fairly dim

·          Smoke machines used to create fog when above ground and the coldness from the freezers in the morgue

Sound

·         Preshow and post show music to be dark and eerie.

o   Very slow

o   Instrumental

·         The occasional instrumental songs during scenes to increase tension

Costumes and Props

·         Ivana

o   Simple

o   Milkmaid type

o   Flowing dress

o   Innocent look

o   Whites, light blues

·         Katya

o   Blacks, grays, browns

o   Covered up

o   Lots of layers

·         Szilard

o   Black suite

o   Black top hat

o   Black cloak

o   cane

·         Nikolas

o   Almost like he’s wearing a sack

o   Brown (stained white)

o   Nightgown type thing

·         Locals

o   Farmers outfits

o   Simple dresses

o   Dark colored

o   Hints of white

·         Props

o   Needles, balls of yarn sewing kits

o   Operating tools

o   Farming tools

o   Mannequins

Ivana type costume, should be lighter, more white

Undertakers costume

Another idea for the undertaker

Type of thing Nikolas would wear, more torn, possibly white but stianed brown

Type of thing the villagers would wear as well as Katya. Katya should be wearing more black

Another idea for the villagers

Scenic Design

·         Town square

o   Everything dark

o   Cobble stones

o   Stone houses

o   Street lamps

o   Curtains shut in windows

·         Mortuary (top level)

o   Dark wood

o   Coffins

o   Dimly lit

·          Morgue (bottom level)

o   Very silver/chrome

o   Everything sterile

o   Lots of tools

o   Chrome operating tables

o   Nikolas’ room is plain except for a small mattress in the corner

·         Ivana and Katya’s house

o   Dimly lit

o   Dull couches

o   Two small beds

Type of street lamp, one at the very end of the alley

Type of stone house, without signs or flowers, very gloomy dark stone

Ivana and Katya's house, darker, smaller

Type of coffin at the undertakers

Morgue, should be darker, less modern looking

Type of Theater and Ground Plan

The theater should be a proscenium type theater where the audience faces the stage. In the first act the stage will be of the town and all its houses, in the second the stage will consist of the basement of the mortuary

The ground plan for the first act

Ground plan for the second act

Predominant Element

The predominant element would probably have to be plot. The play should focus more on the story that’s happening more than anything else. The good thing about the story is that it doesn’t need to focus on the language, what the people say isn’t as important it’s the story that is and all that really matters is evoking that dark emotion in the audience. A more secondary element would be spectacle. This is because the visual things the audience will see will help to intensify the emotions. The visual aspects of the play will really bring the plot to life and will help the audience understand it further

Script Analysis

·         Where?

o   Small (fictional) village of Doprava in Czechoslovakia 

§  Its isolated

§  Everything is made of stone/cobble streets

§  Majority of the people earn their lively hood by farming

·         The farms are far away from the village, when the people are in the fields, the whole village is pretty much deserted

·         When?

o   1890s

§  Some social and cultural changes happening in Europe

§  The village is mainly unaffected by it though, they do not matter there

·         What?

o   Plot description

§  Story of mother trying to keep her daughter close to her

·         She wants the “best” for her

§  Her husband died

§  She is scared she can’t support her daughter

§  She wants her daughter to get married and have children

§  Daughter wants to run away and join the Russian ballet

§  The mother is desperate for her to stay

§  The daughter decides to leave and has told her mother that she will go in the morning

§  Fearing this, the mother makes a deal with the undertaker, the deal happens in a shady alley

§  The undertaker has always been hated throughout the village

§  No one knows what happened to his wife, everyone suspects he killed her and then hid the body

§  He has a son

§  No one’s seen his son

§  They don’t even know if he’s alive

§  The undertaker couldn’t get anyone to marry his son

·         The mother  only agrees to it because she’s so desperate

§  The deal is struck and to make sure that the daughter doesn’t escape, the undertaker kidnaps her

§  He puts her in the basement of the mortuary (in the morgue)

§  Eventually she gets to meet the son

·         The son is a normal boy, his only flaw is that he can’t speak

·         The undertaker was embarrassed by him and hid him away, making him socially crippled

§  Seeing a woman for the first time he gets overly excited

§  He starts to make advances, when she refuses he brutally rapes her

§  After days of being confined with him the wedding arrives

§  The mother returns to find her daughter bruised, bleeding and weak , she hasn’t been fed in days

§  The girl is forced to marry the undertakers son

§  The two are forced to spend the rest of their lives underground in the morgue

§  The mother is never allowed to see her daughter again

§  The play ends with the mother realizing what a huge mistake she made and she is hysterical as the undertaker locks her out of the mortuary

o   What does the audience take from it

§  Shock

§  Horror

§  Realization of intolerance in the world

§  Realization of how something that is done with good intentions can go horribly wrong

§  Realization of how unforgiving life is

§  Realization that not everyone gets a happy ending

·         Who?

o   Ivana Oravec- young vivacious girl who recently lost her father, which reminded her to embrace everyday and live life to the fullest. Her dream is to get out of her small village and join the Russian ballet. She loves her mother very much but does not agree with her more conservative ideas of what women should do.

o   Katya Oravec (Mother)- the village seamstress who lost her husband (the cause of his death is unknown), after his death she is worried that she won’t be able to support her daughter and desperately wants to find her someone who she can marry that will take care of her. She used to be calmer and relaxed in her youth but after her husband’s death she is overprotective and cautious all the time. She was once a beauty as well, the most desired woman in the village but her looks have faded.

o   Szilard Zabavnik (the undertaker) - a cruel, cold hearted man, he is the towns hated undertaker. His very presence makes people feel as if death is around the corner. He is a stern man who no one has ever seen smile. No one know how he got his wife to marry him, moreover no one knows what became of her. It’s suspected that he killed his wife and son since he has easy access to a cover up. Embarrassed by how his son isn’t perfect, he locks him up under his mortuary and never speaks of him. Since he is tired of taking care of his son, he tries to find a wife for him. Naturally no woman agrees to this so he is thrilled when he finds that Ivana’s is willing to have her daughter marry his son.

o   Nikolas Zabavnik (the undertakers son)- born without the ability to talk, he was an embarrassment to his father. While locked in the basement for over 18 years, he never got the change to develop any social skills or ever meet anyone other than his father. He is emotionally and socially crippled and often very scared. He fears his father a great deal. He also has no self control and can be very violent

o   General town people- the people are mostly pessimistic because they live in suck a dark village. They are also all gossips and always talk about the town news. They have no regard for other people’s feelings and usually just do whatever they can to “get by”