PDF file: Drama - Higher - Lovers - Education Scotland

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22 OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY feeling for him. He wants to marry Hannah and settle down in his cottage, ‘Riverview’. He doesn’t like Mrs Wilson. She drives a wedge between him and Hannah. He reluctantly acquiesces to Mrs Wilson’s wishes but is clearly uncomfortable at being made to go through the ritual of the Rosary every night. Andy and Hannah are frustrated every time Mrs Wilson’s bell rings. They rarely get the opportunity to be alone. As soon as they get passionate they are interrupted. This happens regularly. • Frustrated Christianity: They worship (in Andy’s case he is forced to worship) a plaster-cast saint. St Philomena represents the Church. The ritual of placing St Philomena at the heart of the proceedings when they go through the ritual of the Rosary highlights Cissy and Mrs Wilson’s dependency on ‘Churchianity’ 1 . The references to Father Payton’s dogmatic maxims further help to point up their dependency on Churchianity. Cissy and Mrs Wilson use their Churchianity as a powerful weapon to maintain the status quo and keep the moral high ground. Andy and Hannah are not shown any kind of warmth, understanding or caring Christianity by Cissy or Mrs Wilson. They consequently suffer from the harshness of a cold, calculated, brutal, dogmatic and inflexible Christianity. • Uncertainty about the future: We clearly see as we go back in time that Hannah wanted to break free from her mother yet couldn’t find a way of achieving this aim. Andy wanted her to break free also. He wanted her to be his wife and for them to lead their own life without interference. But he lacked the strength of character to give Hannah an ultimatum. Andy conformed to society’s mores as much as Hannah did. The uncertainty of their future only becomes certainty in hindsight. Andy’s narration indicates a bleak future as far as his relationship with Hannah is concerned. They will still be married out of propriety, but they will not enjoy the passionate relationship they once knew. • The inevitability of repression: Hannah conforms to society’s expectations and is unable to escape her predicament. Andy is unable to show Hannah a way out. They are both trapped. They are not in control of their destiny. They are obliged to forgo their own happiness out of duty. • Moral responsibility: Hannah is all too aware of her moral responsibilities. Society expects her to put the needs of her widowed, invalid mother before her own. 1 Churchianity is a frustrated view of Christianity as perceived by certain narrowminded clergymen and their followers. DRAMA
OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION AND DRAMATIC COMMENTARY • Overbearing rigidity and domination of a restrictive environment: The play opens with Andy sitting in the gloomy back yard. This is an immediate indication that he is trying to escape from a restrictive environment. The scene in the kitchen, the room which is under Mrs Wilson’s bedroom, is a further visual reminder that they are caught up in such an environment. This is Mrs Wilson’s house. As long as Andy and Hannah live under her roof they have to put up with her rules and her sense of propriety. • The influence of the Catholic religion: Mrs Wilson is a deeply religious, pious, old woman. Andy informs us that she gathers Cissy, Hannah and himself around her bed every night at ten to say the Rosary. Mrs Wilson’s has her shrine to St Philomena. Her bedroom has been turned into a place of worship. There are flowers. There are candles which are lit each night when she goes through the Rosary. Andy’s portrayal of Mrs Wilson depicts a woman who is dogmatic, authoritarian and inflexible. • Hope: In this extract we see that Hannah longs to be free from her mother. She wants to escape from her ‘prison’. Andy in turn wants to be master in his own home. • Imposed divisions: Andy is exiled to the back yard. Mrs Wilson has her ‘centre of operations’ upstairs. Thus Mrs Wilson comes between Andy and Hannah. Why would this Extract be important in your production of the play? • Will you retain Friel’s non-naturalistic setting? He recommends that the acting area has three equal divisions. Would this work in your intended theatre, studio or acting space? If so, how would this work? If not, then what type of staging will you use? Why? • How will this staging further develop and demonstrate your directorial concepts as outlined in Winners? Will your directorial concepts be the same or will they be different for Losers? • As a director how will you establish the mood of the opening sequence with Andy and the binoculars? • What do you want the audience to think and feel as they see Andy sitting staring at a brick wall? How will you get across Andy’s isolation? • How will you want the audience to feel towards Andy? How will this affect the acting of this character? Is Andy a complex character? Do DRAMA 23
Page 1 and 2: INTRODUCTION In 1993 Scottish CCC p
Page 3 and 4: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 21: OVERALL DIRECTORIAL INTERPRETATION
Page 45 and 46: DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Mag. The
Page 47 and 48: DIRECTORY OF ACTING PIECES Hannah.
Page 49 and 50: Winners, Episode One Page reference
Page 51 and 52: Losers, Extracts Two and Three Page

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