Muthoni's Section 3
Section 3 Muthoni Elizabeth Bradfield
In our adaptation of A View from a Bridge, we had to adapt a lot of the script to fit the focus of our performance; the plight of the immigrants. We had to remove a lot of lines that consequently resulted in Catherine not having many lines to say. We had to remove the inappropriate romantic feelings Eddie has for Catherine in the play, and we had to remove the romantic relationship between Rodolfo and Catherine as well. The last scene we performed was not actually a part of the play script, we had to edit it as a group and make some lines appropriate, where the focus was concerned. The fact that we had taken out the inappropriate romantic feeling Eddie has to Catherine, we also had to give him another reason to hate Rodolfo, and we decided to give the reason is because Rodolfo is not masculine enough for Eddie, and Eddie goes so far as to say that he is gay.Through the adaptation of the script we had hoped to change the focus of the performance, which is some of the reasons as to why people migrate and the problems they could face once they get to their destination.
As a lot of the girls in our group had male parts to play they had to really practice deep voices and the right walking movements, so as to not appear too feminine. I, on the other hand had a problem at first with being girly and cute, as that is not my actual personality, however the high heels I wore really helped the whole concept of being girlish.
There were a few problems we had experienced during rehearsals, and one of those was the scene changes. At the back of the stage was a backdrop that would create silhouettes while we were shifting from different positions on stage when we had to make some space for the dance we had devised for the flashback. We thought about completely removing the back drop but decided to keep it, as it did add the whole misery in Italy effect. However once we had decided who is carrying what and the fact that we had also a simplistic set, we were able to make the transitions a lot faster.
The dancing was among one of the problems we had. None of us had had any idea how to dance let alone actually think about movements that could convey the struggle Marco was going through in Italy. So we decided to ask the advice of one of the most experienced dancing students in our school. She gave us a few really useful movements that we then developed into our own movements that would convey suffering and deep turmoil. I had decided to start with something fast and deliberate at the start and then make my movements slower and less deliberate, like I was tired of working hard and yet not being able to get anything out of it. I made deliberate shoveling movements. We incorporated some synchronisation in the dance, to highlight the fact that we are all one with Marco’s struggle and we were his family. When he (she) lifted his arms at the end of the dance, this was a symbolic sign of crucifixion, that he has finally given up, and further highlights his pain and suffering he went through while he was in Italy. We had wanted the audience to feel the emotions Marco was going through and yet also think for themselves the problems migrants had before they immigrated.
Another problem that we had faced was that we had adapted the script to our aim, hence we had to think about Alfieri because he could not be talking to Eddie about why he kissed Rodolfo when he didn’t because we didn’t include that underlying message. We debated on whether he should still be a lawyer or Eddie’s confidante. We decided that Alfieri would be both as he could still be a lawyer and yet not be the lawyer he was in the actual play who dealt with illegal immigrants and the narrator at the same time, as some of his lines had to be adapted as well. By making Alfieri the narrator we wanted the audience to realise they are watching a performance and add that little aspect of unrealisticness.
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