Chelsey Loveday

Characterisation of the character Dwayne.

Chelsey Loveday

Within the play Fallout by Roy Williams there is a gang of young boys who murder another boy called Kwame. In WAKE UP theatres rendition of the script 130,000 I play a character named Dwayne. He is a member of this gang who killed Kwame and is represented as the leader of this gang. Through reading WAKE UP’s version of the script in depth it can be seen why he is the leader, throughout he is the alpha of the group who seems to boss all the others around. This is supported when the script states “Oi! I’ll slap you both if you don’t stop it, pussies” (WAKEUP Theatre Company, 2013, p.53). The script gives the impression that they are all scared of Dwayne and as most of the other members of the gang back down when he speaks. This is supported within the script when it states that “Dwayne – Don’t do this yeah? Get it. Emile – Alright mate, chill. Dwayne – You chill! Emile – I’m cool. Keep the money. Dwayne – There’s no more fucking money! Emile – Alright mate, whatever, I made a mistake, innit” (WAKEUP Theatre Company, 2013, p.54).

When working on the development of my character I watched channels 4’s TV drama version of Fallout which can be found at http://www.channel4.com/programmes/fallout/4od. It was important for me to understand the play fully and understand why the characters do what they do to Kwame. By watching the TV version of the script I was able to really understand my character and both sympathise and dislike him at the same time. Although Dwayne does some really bad things such as encouraging other’s to kill someone, beat people up, kiss other peoples girlfriends and treats his friends badly at times, I sympathise with the character at times as I fell as though he is misunderstood by others. He does care about his friends and others, this can be seen when we find out that Dwayne doesn’t kill Emile like he has planned. Within the last couple of pages of 130,000 it reads “Dwayne – You think I would’ve shot Emile” (WAKEUP Theatre Company, 2013, p.66). If he was such a bad person he would have killed Emile as planned when he got a gun to do so. This is also supported by the way Dwayne acts with the character of the Shanice, although in parts he treats her badly you can see that he really does care for her even love her. This is supported within an interview which Aml Ameen who plays the character of Dwayne within channel 4’s drama Fallout participated in with FLAVOURMAG it was stated that “a wide grin materializes on his face as he eagerly talks about his role. ‘I play Dwayne, he’s the general. He’s the villain of the piece – which is nice because I’ve never played the villain before. I’ve always had some sense of morality with my character. He tries to keep everyone together and everything on a low. Then a rivalry begins between him and his best friend because his best friend has a girlfriend who Dwayne’s in love with’” (http://www.flavourmag.co.uk/aml-ameen-the-kidulthood-star-talks-to-flavour/, 2008).

It is also important to remember that the character of Dwayne is a black boy; I had to portray this on stage and make it believable to the audience that I was a boy. For more stimuli on my character I also watched films such as Kidulthood, Adulthood and TV programmes such as The Youngers. I did this so that I could listen to the language used by the people within these films and programmes. The more I listened to the language been used the more I was able to convey a true character on stage whilst playing Dwayne. Not only did all these stimuli help with language but also with movement, facial expressions and gesture, I was able to watch how the characters move and act. This was the most difficult thing for me as I am a female having to portray a male on stage. Although we do not show the background of the characters within 130,000 it was important for me to remember that Dwayne has had a very difficult childhood with no guidance from his parents. You see this within Fallout when Dwayne’s father is an a alcoholic who is always asking him for money to fund his addictions. The characters also live within a very complex and difficult community were gang culture is very common. Through the use of very intense rehearsals and constant notes from all involved I was able to develop the character of Dwayne, to make him a character which I loved to play.

There were certain scenes within the play which I found very difficult to approach at the beginning of the process. Within the fight scene between Dwayne and Emile both boys are winding each other up until eventually Emile snaps and pulls a knife out on Dwayne. You can see this relationship within the script when it states that “Dwayne-Cheer the fuck up what’s wrong with you. Emile-Don’t leave me like that again, yeah. Dwayne-What you gunna’ do. Emile-You’ll find out. Dwayne-Go on then” (WAKEUP Theatre Company, 2013, p.39).The first obstacle with this scene was how to stage it, we wanted different levels throughout and we wanted to transform the stage into another area for the scene to run within. We did this by transforming the one of the café tables and chairs into a park bench; this was done with a slight movement of the props and a lighting change. Both me and Julia who plays Emile within WAKEUP’s rendition played around with levels, I begin sat on the back of a chair, then sit on the chair correctly and eventually as the tension builds within the scene we both stood up from our chairs and were leaning across the table to each other.

Then there was the matter of the flow of the conversation between the two of them, parts of the script had to be cut and changed to make it feel more real and personal to both performers. The rhythm of the scene is very up and down with very intense moments throughout. We made a decision that when the knife is pulled on Dwayne there would be a silence which we held for a very long time of around 8-10 seconds. This silence after such a big build-up of both characters screaming and swearing at each other created so much tension on stage for the performance and the audience. Both boys have a very strange relationship with each throughout the play, to begin you get the impression they are best friends but as the story progresses you learn that Dwayne is in love with Emile’s girlfriend Shanice. This relationship changes and differs greatly throughout the play, they begin as friends then end up hating each other towards the end and threatening to kill each other, Emile gets a knife to kill Dwayne and then Dwayne gets a gun to shoot Emile as payback. We wanted to show the development of the boy’s relationship throughout.

Another relationship which we found difficult to begin with was the relationship between Dwayne and Shanice. Dwayne is in love with Shanice even though her boyfriend is Emile. Although Shanice is going out with Emile at the beginning of the play I think it can be seen that she also has feelings for Dwayne. We wanted the audience to see this relationship even if it was just by a look that the characters give each other. Within scene 14 between Dwayne and Shanice, Dwayne becomes very wound up and ends up shouting at Shanice. As soon as he does though he goes to apologise but when she doesn’t accept the apology he gets angry again and storms out of the café.

 

Works Cited

Channel 4 FALLOUT (2013) Available at: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/fallout/4od (Accessed date: 24/04/2013).

FLAVOURMAG (2008) Available at: http://www.flavourmag.co.uk/aml-ameen-the-kidulthood-star-talks-to-flavour/ (Accessed date: 23/05/2013).

WAKEUP Theatre Company (2013) 130,000 an adaptation of Roy Williams Fallout, Lincoln School of Performing of Arts: Lincoln.

Recording the verbatim of Duwayne Brooks

Chelsey Loveday

As stated by Marilyn Le Conte “studies show that 90% of communication is non-verbal. Facial expressions, gestures and eye contact are vital in conveying emotion and meaning. So how then is it possible to create a believable character and engrossing atmosphere using only your voice” (2012, http://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/other/news/inside_view/less_is_more_radio_acting.aspx). When acting for radio the listener is unable to see any of these gestures and facial expressions. This is a very difficult task to accomplish as a performer; I had to get my feelings across through the use of my voice alone. Therefore the process of acting for radio is very intricate.

The vocal and aural qualities which affect each performance are listed by Richard J. Hand and Mary Traynor as “volume, pitch, pace, accent, individual characteristics” (2011, p.175). It was important that I experimented with all of the qualities to find what suits your character best. When recording to the microphone it was important that as a performer I remembered that the microphone corresponds to the ear of the audience and listener. I wanted the audience to understand everything that I as a character was thinking and feeling, which was why I experimented differently with the way in which I developed and performed the verbatim.

The verbatim which I recorded was that of Duwayne Brooks, he was Stephen Lawrence’s best friend and present the night he was murdered. When the attack happened he was helpless and couldn’t do anything to help his friend. One member of the group of boys that killed Stephen Lawrence chased him with a metal bar. “Duwayne Brooks says it was like a ‘major car crash’ when his friend was murdered by a racist gang in 1993” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2013/apr/22/stephen-lawrence-duwayne-brooks-legacy-video, 2013). On a personal level I could never understand how it feels to watch your best friend be murdered and I wanted to make sure that I did the verbatim justice. I watched clips on www.youtube.co.uk of Duwayne Brooks for inspiration and to gain a full understanding of him as a person and his feelings about the attack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeHQM_TD2oo

The above video especially showed the emotions that Duwayne felt towards the attack, the attackers and the events which took place surrounding Stephen Lawrence’s murder.

“Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme today, Mr Brooks said: “For 18 years, I have endured harassment, victimisation, being blamed for the first prosecution failing, being brutalised and having false charges brought against me” (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/stephen-lawrence-murder-witness-duwayne-171398, 2012). After reading this article and seeing what Duwayne Brooks had said on the murder of his friend, really affected me. It shocked me to read that people had previously blamed Duwayne for what had happened to Stephen Lawrence. This only made me want to record the verbatim with even more honesty and integrity.

Works Cited

Hand, Richard and Traynor, Mary (2011) The Radio Drama Handbook Audio Drama in Context and Practice, London & New York: Continuum.

Le Conte, Marilyn (2012) Less is more: Radio acting Uncovered, Available at: http://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/other/news/inside_view/less_is_more_radio_acting.aspx (Accessed date: 04/05/2013).

www.guardian.co.uk (2013) Stephen Lawrence’s friend Duwayne Brooks on murdered teenager’s legacy, Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2013/apr/22/stephen-lawrence-duwayne-brooks-legacy-video (Accessed date: 21/05/2013).

www.mirror.co.uk (2012) Stephen Lawrence murder witness Duwayne Brooks says seeing killers jailed was “worth the struggle” of years of acrimony, Available at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/stephen-lawrence-murder-witness-duwayne-171398 (Accessed date: 21/05/2013).

Changes to the budget

Chelsey Loveday

Due to certain obstacles which WAKEUP Theatre has come across over the last few weeks, it was inevitable that changes would have to be made to the budget. Unfortunately as a company we were unable to partake in a fundraising event as we had previously planned. This meant that we had lost £100 that we had already planned to spend within different departments.

Figure 1
WAKE UP theatre company as it stands 6th May 2013

As you can see from figure 1 above, funding cuts throughout all departments had to be made from the previous budget. This is due to us only having the £250 in commission from the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre to spend.

We were fortunate as a company that we were very resourceful in finding materials that were needed for the show free of charge. The Lincoln Performing Arts Centre helped providing us with certain props and materials for the set and certain members of the group provided us with costumes and props. This meant that we were still able to afford other materials that were a necessity and had to spend money on. These materials were items such as the advertisement materials which included posters, flyers and programs for the show.

130,000 breakdown

Chelsey Loveday

Due to the performance of 130,000 (2013) having so many changes in scenes, scenery and costume, it was important that we had a breakdown of each scene accessible to the eye of the performers to see. This was placed within the prop box which was present on stage throughout the performance. Due to its positioning no audience members could see the list and it wasn’t a distraction either the audience or the performers. The reason we had a show breakdown was we wanted to be certain that all changes  were done correctly with no mistakes on the night of the final show. The breakdown of each scene consists of what happens in each scene, which performers are in the scene and any props or costumes that are used within them. There is also information on who moves scenery and when within the performance.

A copy of the show breakdown can be seen below:

130,000 Breakdown  

ALREADY IN CAFÉ WHEN SHOW BEGINS – RADIO, CLEANING PRODUCTS, CONDIMENTS.

  • Scene 1 – Kwame’s speech – Jess Dyer

PROPS – JESS = PHONE

  • Scene 2 – Ronnie see’s the stabbing – Jess Crosby

NO PROPS

  • Scene 3 – Doreen verbatim (knock at the door) – Julia

PROPS – JULIA = SCARF

  • Scene 4 – opening chicken shop – Jess Crosby, Jess Clubbe – Rob, Leanne

PROPS – CROSBY = TSHIRT, ROB+LEANNE = NOTEPADS

(DYER+CLUBBE+CROSBY MOVE CHAIRS TO MAKE SOFA)

  • Scene 5 – sofa scene – Josh, Rebecca

PROPS – DYER = THROW, JOSH = REMOTE, REBECCA = CUPS

(DYER+CLUBBE MOVE CHAIRS BACK TO CAFÉ)

  • Scene 6 – Gang scene 1 (troll) – Rob, Leanne – Jess Crosby, Julia, Chelsey, Josh, Rebecca – Jess Clubbe

NO PROPS

  • Scene 7 – Doreen verbatim (he loved to run) – Jess Dyer

PROPS – DYER = SCARF

  • Scene 8 – Radio verbatim – Jess Crosby, Jess Clubbe

PROPS – CROSBY = HEADPHONES, NEWSPAPER

  • Scene 9 – Shanice see Kwame – Jess Clubbe

NO PROPS

  • Scene 10 – Doreen verbatim (hospital) – Rebecca

PROPS – REBECCA = SCARF

  • Scene 11 – Shanice’s interrogation – Rob, Leanne, Jess Crosby, Jess Clubbe

PROPS – CLUB = MONEY

  • Scene 12 – Verbatim (rose bush) – Jess Crosby

PROPS – CHANGE OF COSTUME

  • Scene 13 – Gang scene 2 (who called the filth) – Rob, Jess Clubbe, Julia, Chelsey, Rebecca, Josh

NO PROPS

  • Scene 14 – Doreen verbatim (shown into the room) – Jess Dyer

PROPS – DYER = SCARF

  • Scene 15 – Dwayne and Shanice (what’s he gunna do then) – Jess Clubbe, Chelsey

NO PROPS

(DYER+CLUB MOVE CHAIRS FOR SCENE 16)

  • Scene 16 – Matt and Joe (Look Joe) – Rob, Leanne

NO PROPS

(ROB+LEANNE MOVE TABLE FOR SCENE 17)

  • Scene 17 – Doreen verbatim (I would like him to be remembered) – Jess Clubbe

PROPS – CLUBBE = SCARF

  • Scene 18 – Dwayne and Emile (fight scene) – Chelsey, Julia

PROPS – JULIA = KNIFE

(DYER+CLUBBE+CROSBY MOVE CHAIRS AND TABLE BACK TO CAFÉ)

  • Scene 19 – Verbatim (I think of him every day) – Leanne

PROPS – CHANGE OF COSTUME

  • Scene 20 – Let me ask you about knives – Jess Dyer

PROPS – DYER – NOTEPAD

  • Scene 21 – Emile interrogation – Julia, Rob, Leanne

PROPS – NOTEPAD, PHOTOS

  • Scene 22 – Gang scene 3 (we did it) – Julia, Chelsey, Jess Crosby, Jess Clubbe – Josh, Rebecca

PROPS – REBECCA = BAG WITH PURSE AND MONEY

  • Scene 23 – Ronnie interrogation – Jess Crosby, Rob, Leanne – Jess Dyer

PROPS – NOTEPADS

  • Scene 24 – Verbatim (release the body) – Rebecca

PROPS – CHANGE OF COSTUME

  • Scene 25 – Dwayne and Shanice (you heard from Emile) – Chelsey, Jess Clubbe

NO PROPS

(DYER+CROSBY MOVE CHAIRS FOR SCENE 26)

  • Scene 26 – Doreen verbatim (the letter) – Jess Crosby

PROPS – CHANGE OF COSTUME

  • Scene 27 – the bow – all cast 

NO PROPS

THE END

 

Why have a budget and what is it used for?

Chelsey Loveday

A budget is a very important document for any company no matter how big or small. When running your own company there are demands for careful planning over finances. This is to ensure that a company runs efficiently and are able to keep on top of their finances appropriately. Having this financial plan in place and following it properly guarantees that a company will not be in deficit at the end of the financial year. The company must be able to identify, measure, analyse and report all financial information; this is where the budget comes into place. The budget shows all the companies expenses and revenues with detailed notes on how the prices of each expense and income are calculated.

The budget is used so that a company can control its spending, set goals and to control the direction of the company.  It shows in detail how a company plans to spend money in the future. If all of these steps are followed correctly then the company should run effectively. By using the budget correctly you can see if any department is either over budgeting or under budgeting. When over budgeting takes places then its needs to be addressed as to why this is happening, on the other hand if a department is under budgeting then maybe more money is being allocated than needed which could be used somewhere else within the company.

Juliana Grenzeback is a financial manager with over 12 years’ experience in working with arts organisations, she states that the aim of a budget is to “emerge with a plan that is doable, that reflects the priorities and goals of the organization, and that translates into a balanced budget” (http://www.nea.gov/resources/lessons/grenzeback.html, No date). It was important to use that our budget also balanced correctly to ensure our spending doesn’t exceed our revenue and to guarantee that the company doesn’t become bankrupt. It is essential for us to not get into any debts. If the budget hadn’t balanced then we would have had to make adjustments without causing too many difficulties somewhere else in the budget.

A larger scale company would usually employ accountants and professionals to run the financial side of the company but due to WAKE UP theatre been a small student run company we are responsible to complete the financial demands of the company ourselves. We have come across small problems throughout the process, this could be seen when originally we had only budgeted £50 for the play rights to Fall Out. Fortunately we found out about the increased price of the play rights at an early stage in the process allowing us to modify the budget and put in the correct prices. If we had not found out this problem at such an early stage of the process then we would have had to take this into consideration later, as we would need to come up with a plan on how to save more money so to not make the company be in deficit at the end of the year.  The current budget for WAKE UP Theatre Company can be seen below.

WAKE UP Theatre Company budget as it stands: Thursday 28th February 2013.
WAKE UP Theatre Company budget as it stands: Thursday 28th February 2013.

WAKE UP Theatre Company is only a small student based company therefor only needing a small budget. This is the total opposite to a company of a larger scale; therefor a major company would need to have a budget on a much superior scale. As shown below is a budget that I put together demonstrating the needs of a larger scale company. As you can see from the example the theatre company would have a lot more income and expenditures to take into consideration when putting together their budget.

An example of a larger scale theatre company budget.
An example of a larger scale theatre company budget.

As you can see from both budgets there is always a contingency amount to be taken into consideration as this allows a company to have around 5-10% over what they have estimated to spend or make on each income and expenditure. In WAKE UP theatre’s case due to us only just starting out we have allowed for a 10% contingency amount. The more experience a company has the smaller the contingency amount usually is. This allows for small mistakes to be made without the company becoming bankrupt.

Grenzeback states that the budget “is a measuring stick to gauge how well you projected the future against what actually happened. By comparing the budget to your actual financial activity you will know if you are on track or losing sight of what you intended to accomplish during the year” (http://www.nea.gov/resources/lessons/grenzeback.html, No date).

 

Works Cited

Grenzeback, Juliana (no date) Converting the enemy: Budgeting During Planning, Available at: http://www.nea.gov/resources/lessons/grenzeback.html (Accessed date: 05/03/2013).