The Other Place.
Overview.
Written and directed by Alexander Zeldin, 'The Other Place' is a play inspired by Sophocles' Antigone. Its central themes are managing grief and the breakdown of relationships after traumatic events whilst also exploring the idea of secrecy and repression.
In the play, Annie (Antigone) is a troubled girl who returns to her childhood home to stop her uncle Chris (Creon) scattering the ashes of her father Adam (Oedipeus/Polynices). Her timid sister Izzy (Ismene), tries to keep the peace in the fragmented family whilst Leni (Haemon) and Terry (Tiresias) provide much needed comic relief.
During the fierce argument around the proper resting place of Adam, we find out that Chris and Annie had a strange incestual sexual relationship whilst dealing with the grief from Adam's suicide. This causes the rapid breakdown of Annie and Izzy's close sister relationship which tips Annie, who was already slightly crazy, over the edge - in the final scene of the play, Leni finds Annie's body in the garden tent after she has committed suicide.
Talk with the Director.
Alexander Zeldin believes that in order to make Antigone, or any ancient play, relevant in the modern day you have to link an emotion between the two settings. He describes a handshake through time between grieving characters and audiences.
To achieve this emotional link, he stripped away Antigone to reveal the central emotion: grief. He then improvised a script with the actors on dealing with grief after Antigone.
"Look at things you don't want to look at, otherwise you only live through perceived ideas." - Alexander Zeldin.
This idea of harsh emotions bridging the 2500 year gap between Sophocles and the modern day is vital for scripted extract 1. The emotion we will use is isolation rather than grief.
Practicalities.
Set.
The play is set in a house going through renovation. The set is an open kitchen/living room with no wall paper and exposed metal beams. The naked impression this gives the room reflects further on the theme of secrecy as it exposes the entire room just as Chris and Annie are exposed.
There is a kitchen unit and a table as well as a staircase on the left which the characters leave through when they exit the room - the entire action of the play happens in the room. The most interesting part of the set is the back wall which is entirely made up of a sliding glass door that leads into the garden. By using glass, Zeldin purposefully reflects the audience. Throughout the play, the audience can constantly see themselves in the glass which acts as a huge mirror. Furthermore, the characters can also see themselves in the glass and some, like Annie, refuse to look at themselves, whilst others like Terry dance with themselves in the glass.
Lighting.
In the play, the only light comes from a huge rectangular light that is positioned directly above the set. The huge light represents the gods/fate above as seen in the last scene where Chris screams at it to stop looking at him. This idea is furthered in Zeldin's speech before the play where he describes Korean theatre as having three parts - looking down=underworld, looking straight=mortal world and looking up=heaven.
It is harsh white light that illuminates every part of the set which ties in with the theme of secrecy and repression as there is nowhere the characters can hide from it - in the same way Chris and Annie's secret eventually comes out.
In the second half of the play, Annie builds a tent in the garden and sleeps in it to avoid Chris. The tent is blue and placed behind the sliding doors and once erected, it is light from within with a strange ghostly glow. This constantly draws the audiences eye and is subtle foreshadowing - Annie eventually kills herself in the tent.
Sound.
The play has an original underscore composed by Yannis Philippakis. The pounding energy of the intense songs builds huge tension. At one point, the characters go about their normal activities in the kitchen - Terry eats Chinese whilst Leni spins on a stool but for the entire sequence, a maddeningly-loud thudding song plays. This puts a sinister spin on the mundane tasks and the small tensions between the characters that have been building throughout the play grow even when nothing is happening.
The other interesting part of the sound used in The Other Place is the phone notifications. In every single scene there is at least one sound notification noise from the phone placed on the table. These serve as a break in tension as when they happen every character stops and looks at the phone. They often come after very tense arguments or serious lines to further their impact.
Costume.
All the characters in the play wear hyper realistic modern clothes. Chris wears a long black coat and jeans whilst Izzy is dressed in an adidas tracksuit. Zeldin chose these believable clothes to highlight to the audiences that the events of the play are happening to real people in the 21st century and that the powerful effects of grief are just as poignant today as they were 2500 years ago. This serves to send the overall message of the play: it is dealt with in different ways, but grief is a universal constant.
Links to Ancient Greek Theatre.
Not only is the plot of The Other Place similar to that of Antigone, but the entire play is based in the style of greek theatre. There are many links between it and Greek Theatre:
- There is no death on stage - Annie kills herself in the garden when the light is forward so the audience are unaware of it until Leni returns.
- The basic staging is similar - the tent in the garden is the modern day equivalent of the Skene whilst the downstage area of the kitchen is the orchestra. To further this, Zeldin realised that in order to create atmosphere of Greek theatre - in which audience members could see each other in circular theatres, the large glass doors allows this effect.
- It uses motion to convey emotions - ancient Greek theatre used dance and song (mostly from the chorus) to tell the story. The Other Place has no dancing but there is lots of emphasis on motion and in particular how the characters move around each other which conveys these emotions.
Overall Dramatic Effectiveness - 3 Moments.
The overall dramatic intention of The Other Place was to show how grief is dealt with in different ways and how grief rips people and families apart. When I watched it I felt very moved by the grief of the play. The key moments that stood out to me are:
Chris assaults Annie whilst looking for the ashes - driven by grief both Annie and Chris refuse to let go of their contrasting opinions on Adam's proper resting place. After Annie steals the ashes from the urn, Chris flies into a rage and shoves his hand down Annie's trousers whilst manically shouting "Are they in here?". The sudden violence of this scene - contrasting with the next scene where Terry comedically enters - clearly shows how Chris has been unable to cope with the grief of his brother's death.
Chris and Annie kiss - After being left alone in the kitchen, Chris and Annie have an extended kiss scene. from this the audience learn that after the death of Adam, Chris and Annie spent a lot of time in the garden tent together; a strange sexual relationship is heavily implied. This is another way that grief is explored in The Other Place - the strong emotions the two feel following Adam's death draw them together.
Annie and Izzy's argument - After Chris and Annie are caught in the kitchen, Izzy confronts Annie. She screams "He was my daddy too!", and accuses Annie of being selfish in her grief. From this the audience can clearly see two types of grief: the first is Annie's loud crazy, protective-of-the-urn grief which turns quickly to violence with Chris whilst the second is Izzy's quiet resigned grief which explodes out of her after realising Annie and Chris's strange relationship.
Two Key Moments - Performers.
1. Izzy's screaming argument with Annie.
One moment in which an actor creates a strong emotion is when Izzy (Allison Oliver) confronts Annie (Emma D'arcy) over Annie and Chris' strange relationship. The strong emotion created is rage - Oliver successfully shows Izzy fury at Annie and her betrayal of their sisterly relationship.
Izzy screams at Annie "He was my daddy too!". On this line, Oliver stands centre stage with her fists clenched by her side. When she says "my" she pounds her chest and steps forwards, making eye contact with D'arcy who stands downstage left. She also screws up her face and knits her eyebrows into an expression of rage for the first part of the line. However, when she says "daddy" she completely falls apart and all the tension in her body falls away - she stands with her head down and shoulders hunched over.
Vocally, Oliver is hysterical in the first part of this line. She uses a fast-paced very high pitched voice and screams from deep in her chest. Furthermore, as she physically collapses on "daddy" she also has a sudden voice-break and sounds as though she is about to cry. This clearly highlights Izzy's rage at Annie as well as showing how much she loved Adam and how her deep-rooted grief has been bubbling away below the surface.
2. Chris' final monologue.
Another moment in which a strong emotion is created by an actor is in the final moments of the play where Chris (Tobias Menzies) has a complete breakdown after realising Annie has committed suicide. The strong emotion created is regret at how the tragic events of the play have played out.
Chris quietly says "Stop looking at me" to Erica and Leni who back away. He talks slowly and deliberately with a low-pitched breathy voice. He stands very small and addresses their feet with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched over which creates the effect that he is smaller.
Contrasting this he suddenly roars at Izzy "Stop looking at me!" whilst stepping towards her. He is vocally very loud and out of control in this line which shows Chris rapid breakdown. Furthermore, he strides towards her with arms outstretched and fingers curled into claws. His maniac expression further shows the audience how strongly he feels regret at Annie's death.
Finally, he slowly walks to centre stage and stands in neutral with his hands by his sides. He then turns his face up to the audience/the light (which represents god/fate in this play) and says with a shaking, breathy voice "Stop looking at me". This final line is delivered in a tone of melancholy and shows Chris' regret.
The contrasting delivery of the three identical lines is extremely powerful at conveying to the audience the strong emotion of regret because it shows how grief (and subsequently regret) can take so many different forms.
Changing Relationships throughout the play.
1. Chris and Annie's building relationship.
At the beginning of the play, Chris and Annie have a series of furious arguments over Adam's ashes. This peaks in the assault scene. However, once left alone the two quickly return to the close relationship they had just after Adam's death. This sudden return to being close highlights one of the way the play explores grief: grief causes people to become closer.
2. Annie and Izzy's breaking relationship.
Although Annie lives away from the rest of the family, her and Izzy still share a close bond - they are the closest members of the family at the beginning of the play. However, this relationship rapidly breaks down when Annie's secret is out. Izzy says she "Doesn't actually like you" and accuses her of being selfish in her grief. This breaking relationship shows how grief can also rip people apart.
Briefly explain how two or more performers used their skills to create tension for the audience through their interaction at particular moments. Analyse and evaluate the contribution of the performers' skills to the total dramatic effectiveness of the production. [25 marks]
Planning.
Zeldin intention:
-Function of theatre = not entertainment.
-Outsider characters are interesting.
-Greif temporarily makes stronger relationships but forces them apart eventually.
-Link the play to Greek theatre.
Total dramatic intention:
-Grief = empathy for Izzy, less so for Chris and Annie
-Disturbing shock from choral motion and weird moments.
-Anger + hatred of Chris.
Two actors for tension:
Chris (Tobias Menzies) and Annie (Emma D'Arcy). 3 moments:
1. 'He lunges for her and puts his hands in her pockets and also in her trousers.'
2. Annie: 'Actually can we chat a bit' [Beat.] Chris: 'We're kinda late.'
3. Erica: 'Stop stop.' [They pull apart and freeze. A drawn-out pause.'
Writing.
On the 25th of October, I watched a performance of Alexander Zeldin's 'The Other Place,' which is a play after Antigone by Sophocles. Zeldin's dramatic intention for his piece was to show that grief introduces tension in relationships: it makes them stronger temporarily but ultimately forces them apart. This message was successfully conveyed through the links to Greek theatre which are very prominent in the play as it is after Antigone. Zeldin's use of choral movement was particularly powerful because it made me feel disturbed – Annie (played by Emma D'Arcy) is physically treated as an outsider whenever the family moves. Chris (Tobias Menzies), Leni (Lee Braithwaite) and Izzy (Alison Oliver) all travel around the stage together and have many synchronized movements, but D'Arcy is left out of this choral-style movement which gives the impression that she is an outsider. Zeldin has said that he is particularly drawn to outsider characters and another of his dramatic intentions in 'The Other Place' is to explore the idea of isolation through Annie's rejection from her family. The synchronized movement is particularly disturbing to me because it is coupled with moments of aggression – such as when Chris sexually assaults Annie whilst looking for the ashes. The contrast of the stylized motions of the rest of the family as Annie was assaulted and their subsequent lack of emotion was deeply disturbing and so created tension between Chris and Annie.