Textual Analysis (reposted)
Textual Analysis
DGEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
1. Where is the play set?
The play is supposed to be set in a fictional contrast to the Chinese city of Sichuan under the name of Setzuan but our adaptation keeps the name but is in fact supposed to be set in the present in the Chinatown suburbs of London.
How does this affects how I play my character?
As the play has incorporations of both London and Sichuan I have to find a way of combining both Chinese and English characteristics into my role.
What is significant about the locations used in the play? / How does this affects how I play my character?
2. The locations are quite significant as the original play was set only in China but now we have adapted it into the setting of suburban London, it affects how I play my character because it means that I have to find a way of balancing out my character’s Chinese background with the characteristics of a Londoner to show the audience the setting of the show.
DATE AND TIME
3. Any references to time of day: As the main prospect behind the play are businesses such as the selling of water and tobacco including reference to the weather it can be assumed that the play is set in either spring or summer time. At one point when Shen Te allows scroungers into her shop it can be assumed that it is the evening as they are looking for a place to stay for the night and then when they discover Shen Te alter ego Shui Ta in the next scene it is clear from the lines being said along with the scene being set that it is now early morning.
Season: Spring/ Summer
Year: No confirmed time period, the audience are supposed to be left with making an assumption to the year
How does this affect how I play my character?
It affects how I play my character because I have to make sure that I am showing the time of day in my body language. E.g. To show that it is very early in the morning I have to give the impression that I am tired from being woken up unexpectedly and really want to go back to bed instead of arguing with this stranger. Also because it is epic theatre, one of the main parts of the alienation effect in which we distance the audience is used by not really making it clear as to when the play is set. This affects how I play my character as I am wearing clothing for the husband that bears resemblance to 1950-1970 cockney tradesmen and it is also clear from the accent in which I am using and this can make the audience question whether or not it is meant to be set in this period in time.
TIMESCALE
4. How much time passes during the play?
How will that passage of time be played/represented?
The average amount of time that passes throughout the day is approximately 1 day, this is represented when Shen Te’s adoptive family all decide to go to bed after a weary day of finding accommodation the very next day they are woken to find Shen Te’s “cousin” Shui Ta
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
5. What is the economic environment of the characters?EE
The main issues that are represented in most of Brecht’s plays including “The good woman of Setzuan” are usually to do with the main flaws behind society including economic state. It is shown that all the characters within the play (excluding the gods and the policeman) are all living within poverty.
How are the characters affected by this?
As the economy has been hard upon these characters financially and it has affected their way of living it has made a majority of them selfish and bitter towards those around. Husband and wife are an example because when they turn up to Shen Te’s newly opened shop instead of fully congratulating her all they really want to do is convince her to take them in so as they won’t have to spend the night on the street after selling their tobacco shop. Another example is Mr Shu Fu who is horrible towards Wong for attempting to steal from his shop and takes a swipe at his hand with his curling iron.
SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT -
6. Is this the same as their economic environment? Eg are they high class but
poor due to hard times or are they working class winning the lottery?
Funnily enough I was originally going portray the husband with a middle class accent as it said in the script that him and the wife were an elderly couple, this accent could have been used as it would imply that maybe he used to have a wealthy upbringing however over the years the business had declined and he was now in the realms of working class. However I feel that this would be too complicated to for the audience to figure out and so I am now using a more expected accent to represent the character.
What are the differences in the social environment of characters in your plays?
In this play most of the characters are in the same financial state but it is possible that Miss Mitzu represents higher authority over Shen Te as she regularly encounters Shen Te to demand the money that is owed to her.
What are the differences in the social environment of characters in your 2 roles?
My 1st character the 2nd god shows the highest in social standing and is given the greatest respect down upon earth as are the other two , all three of them are referred to as the “illustrious ones” whereas my second role of the husband is quite the opposite as he is more in the realm of working class without the same level of respect and is seen to be more of a nuisance in the eyes of society.
How does this effect how characters interact?
When the gods are on stage their interaction with other characters is straight forward and reserved they do not need to say much as people are already aware of the power in which they hold whereas the husband is more snappy and informal with attitude and find that he usually has a lot to say on the spot when talking to others, usually as a way of convincing them in one way or another.
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT
7. Any reference to political events?
There are references to the wartimes from the character of Yang Sun who is a pilot in the military also the prospects of poverty and economical downfall is the main plot key within the play.
How will the political context be played/represented visually or through dialogue or sound?
It will be represented solely from dialogue and also the costume in which we are wearing.
How do culture morality and upbringing shape the characters behaviour
As the characters have been brought up in a time of economic downfall almost similar to the great depression it has shaped their behaviour of thinking only for the survival of themselves and gives a bitter image on their portrayal.
PROTAGONIST
8. Which character is the protagonist?
Wong is the first character to introduced to the audience but it is in fact Shen Te that is the main protagonist within the play.
What is their attitude?
At the beginning of the play Shen Te reveals that she has to sell herself to men so as to earn a living the gods believe that she is a good person and that she can help with changing the views among the people of Setzuan but she refuses to believe them as she has no belief in herself thinking that she will have little to offer.
How does it develop or change throughout the play?
As the play goes on she takes into account what the gods and helps to run a shop but as she still doesn’t think that people will listen to the messages she is bringing across she chooses to create an alter ego for herself her cousin “Shui Ta”. This character only appears when Shen Te is in a difficult situation however as the play develops with all the promises that Shen Te makes in order to remain a good person she has to use Shui Ta regularly and it begins to conflict with her true persona. Shen Te is insecure and kind whereas Shui Ta is unemotional, cold and vicious.
How does this affect how you play the character?
My character of the husband is only happy with Shen Te because she never says no to my offerings and will let me stay within her accommodation , he is very shocked to discover Shui Ta believing that it was just a cousin that we had made up.
ANTAGONIST
9. Who’s the antagonist?
The main antagonists within the play are Shu Fu and Mrs Mitzu
10. What is their attitude? Shu Fu has a strong sexual lust for Shen Te and finds people such as Wong the water seller to be a general nuisance and Mrs Mitzu is untrustworthy and disrespectful towards Shen Te and wishes only to be given the money that is owed to her.
VOCABULARY AND LANGUAGE
11. How informal/formal is each characters language? Unlike the Shakespeare language that we had to speak in last year this play uses a script of modern English and relies more upon the Brecht techniques to make it different to other plays. The gods are formal within their language and Wong and Shen Te speak to them in a formal manner to show their respects towards them whereas if they were to speak to each other or anyone else they would become more relaxed with their way of speaking.
12. Are there any clues to levels of education or background?
As it is epic theatre there is not much in a way of detailed information behind the backgrounds of these different characters, however it can be assumed that Shui Ta would have had a good upbringing and education into becoming a strong headed businessman whereas characters such as husband, wife and family have been more unfortunate with their life and have been brought up to believe in smuggling in illegal goods and stealing from local businesses.
13.Do any of the characters use language to bully or impress?
Wong uses very over the top and persuasive language when addressing the gods so to impress and convince them it is almost as though he has structured his sentences in the form of a monologue so as to make it more impressive. The carpenter constantly makes threats in an intimidating language so as to get what he wants from Shen Te
Do words come easily or are they struggled over?
At times Wong does seem to stammer upon his words as he is most likely frightened of the demeaning presence in which the gods impose.
How this affects how you play your character:
Because of the aggression that comes from the role of the carpenter I have to show retaliation to his attitude when I am in role as the husband because I am fending for both my family along with Shen Te/Shui Ta’s business
PECULIARITIES OF SPEECH
14. Do any of the characters have accents / dialects? Yes there is a variety of Accents I give my husband an East London accent to represent the background behind the play. The main accents that characters seem to have are either London or Derbyshire accents e.g. the policeman talks with a strong Northern tone.
15.
If so what does this add?
It adds naturalism to the characters along with providing the audience an insight into the setting of the play.
How this affects how you play your character:
I need to make sure that I sustain the accent for my character at all times and that I don’t end up slipping into my natural voice.
CHARACTERS – WANTS (only complete if your acting style is naturalistic)
16. What are the super objectives of the main characters?
Wong wishes for people to buy his water and that he can continue successfully running his business, he wants the god to succeed in their mission in finding a good person with a life living worthy of human beings.
Shen Te wishes to not have advantage taken of her being “good”. Her main intentions is to live a promising life but the only way she can do this is through her role as Shui Ta who is on a contrast to Shen Te is more economically wise and does not perform with such generosity as opposed to Shen Te.
17.
Are there conflicts between what characters want?
Shen Te’s prospect of being good is taken aboard in the wrong manner in the city of Setzuan and people see as a way of using it to their advantage to scrounge off of her without giving gratitude in her goodness.
How this affects how you play your character. Originally I was going to make the husband kind and wise but now that I have taken into account that he is one of those people that does not respect Shen Te’s good nature I have chosen to make him more scheming and sweet talking.
WILL
18. Is there any difference between what the characters say and what they actually do
In the beginning Wong makes a promise to the gods that he will find them a suitable room with ease and that in the city of Setzuan they will have no trouble with finding a good person. However once he begins to search and ask different people if there are any spare rooms he is ironically told rudely that they don’t believe that gods have come to the city. And the gods soon begin to discover that in fact the amount of good people are minimal and there is less of a chance they will have a place to stay for the night.
Are the main characters determined to achieve their objective? MORAL STANCE
19. How do culture, morality and upbringing shape the characters behaviours?
Shen Te’s adoptive family have been brought up in a time of poverty and economical downfall and with those troubled times they are under the belief that the only way to survive is to steal so to kept fed and find ways to scrounge of friends so as to stay in their accommodation for free.
Shen Te is in fact a better person than them but because she had no choice but to turn to prostitution when money was sparse she now thinks very little of herself and strives more on the well being of other as opposed to herself.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
20. Are there direct references to the appearance of characters? Yes when Wong is describing the gods to the audience he explains that they will be wearing old fashioned clothing with very imposing looks upon their faces.
21.
Are there any other clues about physical appearance?
Shen Te is supposed to have taken the career of prostitution and this is shown from her clothing from the beginning along with her gait that she maintains on stage and physical appearance of an attractive young woman.
What connections are there between how a character looks and how they behave?
The old couple are dressed in stereotypical clothing that is to be expected for the elderly with cotton jackets and a headscarf along with walking sticks to carry which helps to go well with how they behave and interact with other characters on stage.
My character the husband is a smooth talking tradesman and so this is also portrayed from his over exaggerated costume of a long overcoat with a flat cap which is reminiscent to Dell Boy from “Only Fools And Horses”
SUMMARY ADJECTIVES
22. Which adjectives best describe your characters?
God 2 is arrogant, level headed and mature
Husband is sneaky, smooth talking and loud
How will these adjectives be played?
I will display smooth talking mannerisms for the husband and also make it apparent in his line delivery.
For the god I use a calm voice but add a sense of arrogance and confidence to his voice.
23. What are the implications for the design and costume for the characters personality? Eg they should wear sharp black wool suit because he is a cruel sharp tongued antagonist.
- Give examples of your ideas for this…. The gods wear sheep skins coats to represent Christianity and the lamb of god and the carpenter wears basic workmen based clothes along with a hard hat to represent his job title.
VARIATIONS IN CHARACTERISATION
Are there any inconsistencies in how characters react to situations or other characters?
Between the three gods the third one is the most immature out of all of them and her statements to Wong are much more informal compared to what the other two say, the other two usually react to her by giving her a cold glance of disapproval
24. What is the significance of the title? The Good Woman of Setzuan represents the importance that one good person in all of Setzuan and what she can bring to this city as the main purpose behind the gods is to find a good person on their mission as the amount seems to be lacking
Is the title metaphoric or literal? I would say that it is more literal as it mentioned a number of times in the script that Shen Te is indeed the good woman of Setzuan.
25. Is there another title you could give it that best describes the play/characters/story? The mortals of setzuan/ Setzuan Fundamentals
PHILOSOPHICAL STATEMENTS
26. Are there any key lines of speech which seem to encapsulate the writers view or which summarise and capture the ideas or mood of the play? When wong makes his full statement to the audience of the troubled times around Setzuan it is his way of summarising the play to the audience in a brief nutshell
27. Is there anything significant in who speaks them .Wong is significant as it is clear he seen as a minority within the city relying on a living by selling water.