Notes on Paper Sky PowerPoint DRAMATIC MEANING OF PAPER SKY - Love can conquer the demons that exist in someone’s head and the past they are determined to cling to, but the journey will not parallel an easy ‘love story’. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing. unattainable longings of the human heart AMAZING SYNOPSIS OF PAPER SKY agoraphobic writer who is immediately endearing in his tweed coat, chequered pants, and thick rimmed glasses. Terrified of the outside world, Henry never leaves the house, and certain of the inadequacy of even this precaution, he is terrorized by the open windows, the senseless violence of cars and construction work and bicycles and people immobilizing him utterly, presented to the audience in a relentless assault of sound. Any intrusion from the outside world is treated with panicked retreat: his neighbour Louise, with whom he is nervously infatuated (nervous to the point of paralysis) and with whom he may have had a previous romantic relationship, who slips weeks of unattended mail through his door and tries to invite him out; telephone calls from his mother, who hasn’t seen him for an eternity, and from his publisher, who is demanding the third draft of the book he is working on. The only respite is that he is not lonely: his interior life is personified by three characters who keep him company, each who wears some variation of his preferred tweed and plaid, and who attend assiduously to his daily needs – one pours him a cup of tea, one covers his mouth with a handkerchief when he sneezes, and one turns the pages of whatever book he has immured himself in. The nostalgia of the set design, as with the costume, is not to transport us to a date, but an emotional space: a swooning kind of romanticism that no longer exists. Henry survives, because in his writing, he is able to voyage to the land of his imagination, a phantasmagorical place that is inhabited by a beautiful paper doll, Lumina. This is physical theatre with very few words. The ensemble cast physically create the illusions in front of our eyes. The Heroine (Julia Croft) fights her way into Henry’s protective world with the most extraordinary physical feats: a highlight of ensemble skill, discipline and training. - - Red leap theatre has been operating for 11 years, creating award winning theatre for New Zealand and abroad. Its visual theatre Henry is broken-hearted Henry is an author Lives a very solitary life Terrified of the outside world due to his trauma of losing a loved one. Henry uses flashbacks to a terrible accident where he loses his love, Rosa. LUMINA IS ROSA AS A FICTIONAL HEROINE~~ Lumina can’t actually escape peril. Henry hates this. He keeps trying to keep her from death. DRAMTCI ACTION: Henry scrunching paper up and throwing it over Louise’s door. He does this out of fury of failing Lumina and in parallel, Rosa. Louise collects the stories and falls in love with his writing. “Their relationship grows through the thin walls that divide them, Henry starts to feel a gimmer of hope, warmth and maybe love” Although, not only is he afraid of Louise because of his inability to interact with her, but he is still grieving that memory of rosa and his guilt and grief of not having saved her from drowning. Lumina challenges henry to face the truth Henry releases the memory of Rosa and forgives himself. CHARACTERS - Henry – the writer Louise – the neighbour CHORUS Enrique – geeky and suave Henrietta – anxious and worried Humphrey - gloomy - Can true love conquer the demons that exist in someone’s head and the past they are determined to cling too? THIS IS A LOVE STORY EXPLORED THROUGH THE VEHICLES OF MAGIC AND LIGHT. - Stage design - The drgives this very and0crafted fell and allows the world of the play to feel fragile, human and precious SOME IMPORTANT DRAMATIC ACTION THEMES • Grief • Creativity as a form of healing • Hope • Fear • Loneliness • Letting go • Moving on • Working through personal demons • Overcoming blockages • Love • Regret PRODUCTION ELEMENTS MANIPULATION - - Use of light in the opening scene including the use of finger lights and torches to create atmosphere, lending a magical and mysterious quality through highlighting moments and images. ALSO MAGICAL REALISM CONVENTIONS CHROUS MOVEMENT - Worked specifically with ‘impulse’ Finding this impulse then translates into the physical synchronicity of the chorus on stage Used tension and humour in chorus pauses and response Synchronises breath DRAMATIC ACTION LINK: WHEN THEY ALL JUMPED BACK FROM LOUISE WHEN SHE SPOKE FROM THE WALL REPETITION - A lot of repletion comes through gesture Repetition sets up something to break DA: Setting up his typewriter This DA indicates that henry is ready to work by rolling up his sleeves, warms up his gingers and neck and gets going He eventually breaks the routine which causes mayhem and chaos in his organised life Other repletion DA, paper waves, diving under and searching, hand grasping of ROSA. This dramatic action and their repetition shows their narrative significance and allows the audience to comprehend the event that ahs happened TIME AS AN EOD - Whilst this story happens in henrys mind, the world of the play has a 1950’s flavour or aesthetic. Furnishings such as the typewriter, gramophone and the colour range, exemplify this. The 50;s was a time when urban society was undergoing many changes and it is therefore an appropriate setting for Henry’s own journey of self-discovery Greif and Fear - Grief feels like fear because it leaves you reeling in uncertainty. Grief feels like fear because fear, in a sense, becomes our reality. If we feel it and believe it, we have just created our own reality. We’re in it and don't quite know what to do with it. It’s our worst nightmare come true. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/what-the-wild-things-are/201509/grief-and-fear
