THEORETICAL ANALYSIS: the VISIT by JENNIFER WILKE WILLENS A
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THEORETICAL ANALYSIS: THE VISIT by JENNIFER WILKE WILLENS A THESIS PROJECT Presented to the Theater Arts Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Theater Studies in Production and Design Ashland, Oregon June 2009 11 APPROVAL PAGE "Theoretical Analysis: The Visit, " a project prepared by Jennifer Wilke Willens in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Theater Studies in Production and Design. This project has been approved and accepted by: \!k/6/o& Dr. Eric Levin, Chair of the Examining Committee Date Chris Sackett, Committee Member Date Deborah Rosenberg, Committee Member Date Dr. Josie Wilson, Acting Dean, College of Arts Date and Sciences Copyright 2009 Jennifer Wilke Willens iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the professors and guest artists from the Ashland Center for Theater Studies at Southern Oregon University whose guidance, wisdom and great talent has inspired the final product as it is presented in this theoretical design. In addition, my deepest thanks are due to Judith Lyons and Susan Deeley-Wells, my professional mentors at Brentwood School, who opened their doors and their theater to me over the past three years to support me in my growth as a theater educator and professional. My participation in this program was made possible by their generosity, advice and most valuable recommendations and input. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Directorial Analysis 2. Beat Analysis 3. Costume Design 4. Set Design 5. Lighting Design 6. Sound Design 1 I. The Justice of Everyman: A Directorial Analysis of Durrenmatt's The Visit Friedrich Durrenmatt was a playwright, a visual artist and a novelist whose artistic themes indicated a fascination with justice, distortion and morality. His most famous play, The Visit, is a study in all three of these themes. Durrenmatt categorizes The Visit as a "tragicomedy" because he did not believe that tragedy could exist in the modern world. He said, "We can achieve the tragic out of comedy. We can bring it forth as an enlightening moment, as an abyss that suddenly opens; indeed many of Shakespeare's tragedies are really comedies out of which the tragic arises (1)." To analyze and present a directorial analysis and production concept for The Visit, an initial discussion on Durrenmatt and the opinions he communicates through the play is crucial. Durrenmatt expressed strong opinions on justice in his work, from beginning to end. He made it clear that he was not a moralist but that he strongly believed that in a catastrophe, the truth would become apparent (2). One analyst stated, "Justice and freedom, evasion of responsibility, guilt by passivity, greed and political decay, the contrast between the small state and the large state are all prominent aspects of what Durrenmatt calls the dramaturgy of life" (3). Whether reading analysis of Durrenmatt's work or reading Durrenmatt's statements about human nature, it is clear that he wrote plays to challenge an audience or reader to question human nature in relation to personal definitions of right and wrong and how personal definitions can be affected by society 2 and the will of a community. This is an important place to start when discussing production values for The Visit. Durrenmatt's play The Visit (as translated by Patrick Bowles) is a play about shaping your moral code to justify your beliefs, guide your choices and define how your life will unfold. The play begins in a depressed village called Guellen (the Swiss word for liquid manure). The people of the town once knew prosperity but it was taken from them without explanation and now they live a life of desolation and poverty. The town is awaiting a visit from an old friend, a woman who was born and raised in Guellen but is now the richest woman in the world, Claire Zachanassian. They hope she will restore their resources and save them all. The protagonist in the story is her former lover 111. He is preparing for her arrival having been told by the Mayor that he is next in line for the job and about to hit a high point in what is painted as a sad and dull life. After her early arrival to the underprepared town, Claire quickly reveals why she has returned home. The inciting incident occurs when Claire announces to the townspeople that she will give them one million dollars, on one condition. She tells the story of how she was forced by the courts to leave town as a pregnant girl and had no choice but to become a whore, thanks to a lying 111. The only way for the town to receive payment is by trading in Ill's life. "I want justice", Claire proclaims and when the Mayor tells her that justice cannot be bought, she replies, "Everything can be bought." Ill and the townspeople are shocked and are unwilling to bend to the whim of Claire's vengeance. And yet as time passes, it is clear that the lines between right and 3 wrong are becoming a blur for the people of the town as the level of individual guilt clashes with collective guilt (4) and they move closer and closer to finding 111 worthy of assassination. From buying on credit to purchasing new yellow shoes and new gold teeth, the townspeople of Guellen are sinking deeper into a justification for a new kind of justice to be executed. Ill is left to search for support from those who are societal paragons of justice: the Mayor, the policeman, the priest and the schoolmaster. The only answer offered by society is for 111 to run away. The Priest says to him, "Flee! Lead us not into temptation with your presence." The second act ends with 111 at the train station about to leave town and watching as all of the townspeople gather around him to "see" him off. The crisis occurs when 111 decides that he will not go. He crumples on the ground of the train station and says, "I am lost." In this moment, 111 accepts his guilt and his fate. Ill accepts that he must stand bigger than the world that is crumbling around him. He must accept his guilt, for he is an imperfect hero, and he decides that he will return to the town and he will not run away from his fate. The climax occurs when 111 speaks his last words as the town leaders stand before him, ready to kill him in order to receive Claire's money. The Priest begins to read a prayer and 111 waves his hand for him to stop. The Priest says, "Are you not afraid?" and 111 replies that he is not. The Priest says to 111, "I will pray for you" and 111 replies, "Pray for Guellen". Claire, the human embodiment of death, has come for 111 and has gotten what she wanted: a life for a life. Ill loses his life but he maintains a personal sense of 4 dignity as he leaves the world as a brave and honest man. The town may become a more beautiful place but they are left morally and spiritually bankrupt. The physical world of Guellen is established through a set design that is both realistic and presentational. Using Durrenmatt's art and a comic book rendering of the town of Guellen as inspiration, the opening images of Guellen's buildings paint the picture of a sad and lifeless place. The set units are movable and are built with painted flats that represent the railway station and the old hotel. Upstage hangs a faded sepia backdrop that acts as a representation of the sad town and the flats, covered in old paint, broken signs and windows covered in stains and dirt, convey the depressed state of the town. During act two, 111 travels to different businesses in the town and each of these spaces is simply defined by tables and lampposts. But these items shift and grow to match the changing shape of the moral code in town. As the people of Guellen start to want the money Claire dangles before them, they change their homes, their businesses and their clothing. With each passing scene, 111 is welcomed by symbols of the shifting culture in the form of newly purchased signs, furniture and decor. The wood and the barn represent two sacred spaces in the story and they exist for the audience as they would in Claire and Ill's memory. The simple wood and the old barn are brought to life by simple set pieces and gobos. Guellen shifts gradually over time and the town is revealed in act three as a place transformed by the promise of money. From faded Guellen to a world of neon and high design, the material offerings and promise of everything new and prosperous that Claire brings with her is too tempting an offer for the townspeople to resist. 5 Clothing is an important indication of status and the costume design in this production is a particularly striking statement on the physical display of wealth and power. While the townspeople wear vintage clothing that is worn and battered by the passing of hard times, Claire wears couture fashion in expensive fabrics and colors. With the loss of many of her body parts, Claire uses her jewelry and her clothing to make up for her human disintegration. Claire is a metaphor for the overpowering force of wealth on modern society. The physical embodiment of material goods is something the people of Guellen strive to attain. As they begin to dream about better times ahead, the townspeople buy yellow shoes as a symbol for the new journey they are hoping to take in the near future.