Setting Of The Play example essay topic

Rusty Bugles, written by Sumner Lock Elliot was written in 1948. It is set in an ordnance depot in the Northern Territory in 1944. Whilst in World war two it's characters are sixteen Australian soldiers who are bored to the point of going "Troppo" with the stagnation besetting the outpost. The play is about the boredom of life in a remote Northern Territory army camp far from the progress of the real war, grown out of the author's real experience. It is a clever, funny play full of closely observed Australian types with hardly a character who doesn't ring true.

They live in huts and work in buildings shaped like igloos. They never saw Japanese planes and were never bombed, machine-gunned or sniped. Nobody knew they existed and yet they spent years waiting for leave or something to happen. They were soldiers that had to fight another type of enemy, boredom.

The soldiers lived close and tried to make the time pass as quick as possible. They are typical soldiers, hard headed, grubby and foul mouthed. They express the frustration of boredom whilst also expressing comradeship. The main force and tension of the play is created through the characters dialogues, and there is more to these than merely the expression of aggression, frustration or disappointment. Relationships are formed and expressed through the language of hope, fear, friendship, fantasy and realism.

These relationships are rarely deeply personal but they are appropriately structured for a context where group identity is perceived as important for the individual. In this ordnance camp the lives of the men are narrowed down to bare subsistence level. While there is no real threat to physical survival with the basic needs met of food, shelter and safety, high order needs for stimulation, variety, entertainment, close personal relationships or any kind of development are lacking. Life revolves around routine duties and fruitless repetitive tasks. Fantasy and escapism centre on sexual exploits and the hope of leave or a change in orders. But as there is little chance of fulfilling these fantasies, indulging in them tends to increase tension rather than reduce it.

Conflicts surface over petty issues such as the apparent theft of a violet crumble bar or the poaching of space on the washing line. While such conflicts are irrational and childish, realistically they are just the kind of incident which provokes anger in a tightly knit group, which has no focus for its energies. It is hard to define the dramatic question of the play due to the author referred Rusty Bugles as 'a documentary, not strictly a play... it has no plot in the accepted sense. ' (Authors Preface). Sumner Lock Elliot first called the play a documentary, due to fear of criticism because of its lack of standard form. The play is a true story, lived by the author and the characters.

The events of their lives whilst they were cut off from their home, family and normal life are authentic and no one event in the play is fictional. Rusty Bugles is set in the Northern Territory in 1944. It is set from early April till the beginning of October, which is the dry season, hot during the day and cold at night, ideal climate for winter. The setting is real and was exactly as it reads. The barracks were along a lonely strip of barren filled with sandy anthills and stunted trees. The sand was hot and red and the buildings were made out of iron.

The author, Sumner Lock Elliot, didn't need to create a setting for the play. During his time at the ordnance depot, the setting was im bedding into his mind through months of boredom. The first production of Rusty Bugles was presented at the Independent Theatre Sydney on the 21st October 1948. Appendix 1, shows the first program of the production.

The response of a full audience was remarkable. Continuous laughter echoed throughout the theatre. The delighted audience left the theatre with the greatest reluctance. After two more performances, with full houses each time, the play was banned. To show the realistic nature of the play, Rusty Bugles was literally studded with swear words and expletives than any other play that most Australians has seen. Appendix 2, shows the list of swear words and words they were replaced with.

The full house audiences excused the frequent language due to the natural use in the play's scheme. Appendix 3, shows the photographs of the first productions. As shown in appendix 4, the controversy of the banning created an uproar over the future of Australian drama. In appendix 5, many letter and reports were written defending the drama.

On October 28 1948, the play reopened and the language was diluted. The inspector decided to lift the ban, provided it be played in the same form as the reopening on 28 October. The play continued until the 15th January 1949. Bit by bit the offensive words crept back in.

But the play was never again presented exactly as its first night on the 21st October 1948. Rusty Bugles was written in the years of World War Two. It was not intended for a particular audience although a mature audience would benefit from its humor. To put the show on in today's times, would be entertaining to a current audience.

The play would be relevant to a current and specific audience because its is a true story. The actions on the stage are all real and happened in true form. The current theatre audience likes true stories, especially about Australians and the war. A specific audience would be the mature age generation of 35 plus. Whilst understanding the old Australian larkin humor, it is also a time that the older generation lived in, particularly people over 50. They lived in the war years and the times of soldiers and the Defense Force boom.

To keep the play in its original context would attract the mature age generation. Due to understanding and relating to the era and the characters. To increase more numbers from the younger generation the play has been altered in small and creative ways that adds an interest element to all age groups. While keeping true to the context and themes of the story. In choosing a performance space, I took into consideration the era of the play, the setting, the context and the genre.

Looking at a theatre that was located in Brisbane, The Brisbane Arts Theatre was a perfect option. Established in 1936, the theatre has constantly held plays to the current day. The theatre continued to hold plays even throughout the war years to increase entertainment and take people's mind off the war. Being around in the war years was a perfect place to put on Rusty Bugles.

The old building has a lot of character and heritage to it. In appendix 6, this is apparent. The performance space inside the theatre is very old and classic. As seen in appendix 7, the stage is at the front and almost the same level as the audience, just slightly raised.

There is another area behind the front of the stage that is also raised even more. This is a great place for the setting to be grounded in. the back drops and props will give a great sense of an army barracks, from an audience perspective. Rusty Bugles is an intimate play, with no huge music numbers or dancing, props or cast. The Arts Theatre is a very intimate theatre and creates a mood for the play. It will give the audience a chance to get up close and personal with the characters, while also have the feeling of living with the characters on stage. To feel apart of the play not just an audience member.

The space will create a warm and intimate mood. It will be true to the original story in may ways. The artistic vision I had created adds more to the play and the space it is in. Whilst looking at Rusty Bugles and the story in its original state, my artistic vision will still hold the story almost true to form.

The true story will remain with the same subjects and themes. The context will differ in that I have decided to set the same era, yet place women in the roles as the men. Although this may seem extreme and not at all true to the story, it gives the play an edge. It will be set in an ordnance camp in the Northern Territory in 1944. The characters will be sixteen woman soldiers, living life in a close knit environment with boredom, frustration and comradeship.

They swear and behave badly, like soldiers. It shows what the story would have been like if women were in the Defense Force in the years of World War Two. In Appendix 8, the picture captures what it would have been like for women to say good buy to their husbands before they go off to war. If you look at the picture with the perception as the women is saying good buy to her husband because she is going off to war, the meaning is completely different. It was unheard of for a women to be a soldier.

In today's times more and more women are joining the Defense Force as soldiers, and trying to push their rights as women with equal opportunities. In Rusty Bugles, I will keep true to the era of the war and show life as bored women soldiers. The women will be just like the male characters in personalities, only they will be women. The dramatic question of the play is "What was life like living in a small confined, isolated ordnance camp, waiting for something to happen. Whether is be was, or a bit of excitement in there daily life". As women the characters will portray what life is like whilst at the camp and how they overcome boredom and homesickness.

The women in the story will still make stupid jokes, play tricks on each other and backbite each other as it is in the original story. They will show their strength as women battling with the wait of a leave date, that seems endless. Just like the men in the original story they never saw Japanese planes and were never bombed, machine-gunned or sniped. Nobody knew they existed, they were women soldiers that had to fight another type of enemy, boredom. As in the original production, the setting of the play will remain the same. The women will live in huts and work in old buildings made of iron that look like igloos.

Placing the production at the Arts Theatre will give a great perception of the small living environment. As in appendix 9, the set design will be very minimal with little props. The backdrops will be painted like army camouflage. The front of the stage is where most of the action will take place. It will be close to the audience and give an intimate feel to the play.

The characters will portray a true story which will make the audience feel close to them and apart of the story. In an original production of Rusty Bugles, the audience of 35 plus mature adults would have been relevant. Although the production will be quite a bit different, the perfect audience would be aged 18 plus mature adults. The younger generation has been added into the new version of the play because not only do they appreciate a true story, but also they will particularly enjoy the perception of women in the roles. The older generation would also enjoy the non-fiction story, but appreciate it from the era that is familiar to them. The era of the war and a male dominating era, with women as the characters, the whole audience will value a creative difference that gives the story an edge and a modern feel.

In appendix 10, the clothing warn by the women of the 40's is evident. To keep true to the era, the costumes will remain as 40's and the characters will wear similar costumes to this, with small modifications such as pants. Pants had not been officially accepted to wear by women in that era. By women wearing pants in the production, it will spark a modern edge. The production of Rusty Bugles, with men played as women soldiers, will be a creative change. To present something today that wasn't possible in the 40's era is a refreshing outlook.

With women as second class citizens, not aloud to have jobs in the Defense Force, other than as a nurse, not allowed to wear pants, this production portrays life during the Second World War but from a forbidden point of view. A point of view that just wouldn't have happened in the era. Rusty Bugles is a mirrored phase of our history and the humors and simplicity of the ordnance Australian. It states the truth and cried a young man, or woman's, protest. At the same time it is richly entertaining and humorous. The production of Rusty Bugles will be placed at the Brisbane Arts Theatre and will portray the non-fictional story as it, almost, happened.