Our DP Theatre class has taken the main idea of Humpty Dumpty and turned it into more of a real life scenario, containing metaphors, Theatre of the Oppressed, and most importantly, Brechtian Devices, which include:
We use many of these devices and more, in our reincarnation of the lullaby, Humpty Dumpty. In our scene, there is a physical barrier between two places: the 'oppressed' side (grey and monotone), and the 'free' side (colorful and happy). Humpty (me) is on the oppressed side and Rain Flower (Chisanga) is on the free side. At the beginning, we make use of a flashback, where Humpty was a creative child, whilst the narrator (Angela) told the story. Humpty is playing and drawing and discovers that there is a girl (Rain Flower) on the other side, and he wants to go over, but doesn't know how. We showed a government agent (Natasha) taking note of Humpty's creativeness and puts an end to it, therefore he carries out most of his life in a monotonous, grey, melancholy work atmosphere, where everyone moves and looks the same. On his daily walk to work, Humpty's eye is caught by a writing on the wall, and recognizes his name on it, along with the girls'. He starts to slightly remember what had happened there- the incident. He repeats the name on the wall to himself and Rain Flower (still on the other side) calls back to him. He doesn't understand at first, but slowly RF persuades Humpty to come to her side, where it's happy and everyone is free. We use the Brechtian device of song, where RF sings a song while Humpty tries to come over the wall- this song has quite a happy tune but a very sad meaning, which Bertolt Brecht frequently did. Quickly, the government agent sees Humpty climbing and injects him with the anti-creativeness drug, but Humpty is hardly affected and starts to climb again. He is not spotted again by the government until he is at the top, where they shoot him and he falls to the bottom- but on the other side- the free, happy, peaceful side. RF sings her song again whilst holding Humpty in her lap. Humpty is free now, but he can't see what it's like to be free. He lives his whole life in monotonous agony, without even knowing it, and when he does find out that there is another better side, he cannot experience it the way one should.
- Characters being 'types of people', rather than complex characters (actors must demonstrate their role, instead of become their character)
- The use of gestus
- V-Effect (distancing, defamiliarizing, alienation)
- The use of song
- Narration
- Musical instruments
- Directly speaking to the audience
- Breaking down of the fourth wall
- Destroying climactic anticipation
- Flashbacks
We use many of these devices and more, in our reincarnation of the lullaby, Humpty Dumpty. In our scene, there is a physical barrier between two places: the 'oppressed' side (grey and monotone), and the 'free' side (colorful and happy). Humpty (me) is on the oppressed side and Rain Flower (Chisanga) is on the free side. At the beginning, we make use of a flashback, where Humpty was a creative child, whilst the narrator (Angela) told the story. Humpty is playing and drawing and discovers that there is a girl (Rain Flower) on the other side, and he wants to go over, but doesn't know how. We showed a government agent (Natasha) taking note of Humpty's creativeness and puts an end to it, therefore he carries out most of his life in a monotonous, grey, melancholy work atmosphere, where everyone moves and looks the same. On his daily walk to work, Humpty's eye is caught by a writing on the wall, and recognizes his name on it, along with the girls'. He starts to slightly remember what had happened there- the incident. He repeats the name on the wall to himself and Rain Flower (still on the other side) calls back to him. He doesn't understand at first, but slowly RF persuades Humpty to come to her side, where it's happy and everyone is free. We use the Brechtian device of song, where RF sings a song while Humpty tries to come over the wall- this song has quite a happy tune but a very sad meaning, which Bertolt Brecht frequently did. Quickly, the government agent sees Humpty climbing and injects him with the anti-creativeness drug, but Humpty is hardly affected and starts to climb again. He is not spotted again by the government until he is at the top, where they shoot him and he falls to the bottom- but on the other side- the free, happy, peaceful side. RF sings her song again whilst holding Humpty in her lap. Humpty is free now, but he can't see what it's like to be free. He lives his whole life in monotonous agony, without even knowing it, and when he does find out that there is another better side, he cannot experience it the way one should.