On the 18th May 2016, our theatre company had our debut show. From the very beginning we all wanted to do something with traditional fairy tales and twist them in some way to give a different view or angle on a classic story that everyone knows. At first we thought of using different princess’s and each of them represent a different issue, however we quickly came to the conclusion that this wasn’t what we wanted to do and that it might be too messy. We therefore decided to just have one fairy tale and use that to represent an issue. We always wanted the stage to be a forest which represented the protagonists mind, and would be polluted and dark to show that they were not exactly stable or in a happy place. As the original story of Sleeping Beauty has rape and other issues involved we decided to use this as our focus. However after many meetings of trying to get the main story right we decided this again would be too messy for what we wanted to do and therefore we had to rethink what it was we were trying to achieve. Eventually after many meetings and discussions we decided to focus on Cinderella and her need to get revenge on her sisters for how they treat her.
Of course even though we were finally settled on an idea it didn’t mean that things ran smoothly from there. We kept our original idea of the forest and Hope (our director) thought it would be a good idea to use surrealistic elements to show that Cinderella is in a dream world and she is imaging everything that is happening. This then became our next challenge as we did not want to go completely surrealistic, but we didn’t know how to get our story going or how to get the to end where we knew Cinderella would come to the conclusion that her actions were not right. For weeks this was a problem and idea after idea came and went. This was really hard for me as a writer, as I felt the pressure of writing a complete play in a certain amount of time, but I couldn’t start without us having a solid idea of what we wanted to happen first. I wrote a few drafts but they never seemed right or good enough for what we wanted to present, and so it was a few stressful and frustrating weeks for all of us. Finally it was suggested that we have different genres for each scene to highlight certain moments and present the different kinds of revenge in different ways. We eventually settled on Film Noir, Western, Horror, Silent Movie, and Telanovela, with monologues in between to lead the audience into each scene. We also had a dialogue before the monologues between the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella, as though the Fairy Godmother was the voice of reason trying to get through to Cinderella and stop what she was doing.
As we only wanted to have the aesthetic setting of a surrealist play, this being the dream like world, I struggled with how to portray the rest of the scenes and how they would show this decline in Cinderella’s mind, which was Cinderella trying to kill the ugly sisters. We also researched the Cinderella Complex which is “When a woman (often submissive and needy) spends all her time searching for her “prince charming” to come rescue her; brainwashed by rosy romantic images and ideals” (Urban Dictionary, 2005). We wanted Cinderella to be able to take control of the situation herself and get revenge on her sisters because she feels she deserves it and not wait for the prince or anyone else to come and save her. This was also helped by the fact that we are an all female theatre company, and therefore we didn’t want any men to come in and save the day when our characters can save themselves. We were also struggling with how we were going to present our characters as we kept getting feedback that they were too pantomime, however this worked in our favor as the script turned into a pantomime for adults.
The play began with the original story of Cinderella told with shadow puppets, the research and inspiration for each scene is as seen below.
Film Noir
I didn’t really know a lot about Film Noir before this so I had to do a lot of research to understand the core aspects of this genre. One really helpful video was by the BBC on YouTube, and it was the basic rules of what a Film Noir is.
(ROCCO ACEE, 2013)
This video really helped me to understand the core rules of a Film Noir and what would have to be in the script for the audience to understand what genre it was. For example, Cinderella played the Femme Fatale, who would act nice and sweet, with crocodile tears and then when no one was looking would swiftly turn into the sly strong woman who knows how to get what she wants.
Photography by Phil Crow
(Flickr, 2016)
I also looked at scenes from different movies to observe the dialogue and the relationships between people. For example, The Limping Man, and The Big Sleep, to name a few. This scene showed the Ugly Sisters getting the invite to ball and Cinderella’s reaction to not being invited.
(excerpt of script)
Western
I was a bit more familiar with the western genre so I mainly looked at scenes with conflict. One scene I took inspiration from was a clip from A Fistful of Dollars. I liked it because the protagonist is asking for an apology because they upset his mule, and I thought this was a good idea to have in our play, to make Cinderella want an apology over something trivial, like the ugly sisters mocking her dress.
(Ross115, 2012)
Another scene I took inspiration from was the gun fight in My Name is Nobody.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkCqSHwhKVg
(husshillivideo’s channel, 2012)
I really liked this scene as instead of an actual shoot out, he is just embarrassing the other man and showing him that he is better than him. I really wanted a scene like this in the script but it was decided to have a quick shoot out instead. However, if we were to continue with this play to develop it more I would definitely add a scene like this as I think it really fits with our adult panto theme. I didn’t find this scene too hard to write as I was really inspired and enthusiastic with the possibilities it held. The main challenge was making sure we had some American words instead of English, such as, restroom instead of toilets or bathroom.
I also decided to have the stereotypical damsel in distress tied to the train tracks, which was the ugly sisters, but instead of a hero coming to save them, they saved themselves in time before the train came. I chose to have this in the scene as it is something that everyone immediately identifies and it doesn’t need any explanation as they are already familiar with this idea. This meant that I was free to use the situation for comedic effect and know that we would have the audience’s attention straight away.
Horror
This was my least favorite scene as I don’t like this genre, but the rest of the Theatre Company liked the idea and so I collaborated with our director Hope, to write this as she is a big horror fan. Hope wanted the Horror scene to be like a psycho killer rather than an actual monster of any kind, however I wrote it so that Cinderella is just seen in the background to the audience with a few moments of interaction with the ugly sisters, and therefore the audience could interpret what kind of ‘monster’ or killer she was. This one also relied quite heavily on tech compared to others to show a wolf attacking and a strobe light of the sisters trying to find a way out. If I was to develop this script further I think I would change this scene to not rely on tech as much or to change it completely as I really didn’t like it to the others. However, this scene was the favorite of some of the other members of the Theatre Company, so I think it was my dislike of Horror’s in general that stopped me from liking it.
However, one thing I did like was the relationship between Gertrude and Belinda. I thought this was a good place to show the affection and reliance they have on each other, especially as at that moment they are fearing for their lives. In this part they are discussing what has happened to Cinderella to make her act like she is, they also reveal that their relationship with their mother is not the best, and therefore they are not that different to Cinderella after all.
Photography by Phil Crow
(Flickr, 2016)
Silent Movie
This was one of my favorite scenes because it was all physical and relied on our body language and actions to show the story, it was also very fun devising it. The biggest inspiration for this scene was of course from Charlie Chaplin.
This clip is from The Lion’s Cage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79i84xYelZI
(manufrakass, 2007)
For this scene I didn’t write a script but came up with a basic plot of the ugly sisters going to the ball and each kissing the Prince, and coming back to gloat to Cinderella. There was a nice juxtaposition between the ugly sisters at the ball having the time of their lives and mirroring each other without realising, to Cinderella who is at home and has given up trying to get revenge at this point and is crying with a box of tissues. We used huge gestures to show what we were doing and big facial expressions to show our emotions. We all devised this scene together and it is one that I don’t think I would change if we were to develop this show any further.
Telanovela
Our final themed scene was Telenovela. I had never heard of this genre and so I watched a few clips from YouTube and found it to be very similar to Melodrama, meaning it is over dramatic and everything has to be said and done the biggest it can be.
(Flicks And The City Plus, 2015)
This made the perfect genre for our last scene where we wanted Cinderella to pretend to make friends with the ugly sisters and then poison them. This scene was quite fun to make and I really enjoyed performing it too, especially the death scenes. To develop this scene more I would definitely make it a lot more dramatic from the very beginning and add a lot more moments of tension and drama.
(excerpt of script)
Photography by Phil Crow
(Flickr, 2016)
Linking The Scenes
We wanted to have a dialogue between the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella between scenes, as the Fairy Godmother represents the voice in your mind that tries to reason with you. This was then followed by a monologue and I really liked the idea of them being very descriptive as if Cinderella can see it appear around her and this way the audience can imagine it along with her. Also at the very end the Fairy Godmother appears and helps Cinderella to understand what she has done wrong and how she can become a stronger person. We wanted to end with this thought as it follows the similar fairy tale story of a resolution and happy ending. The play ended once again with the puppets.
One thing we struggled with the monologues was whether they were too long. This was a hard thing for me to grasp throughout the process, as through different scenes we didn’t know whether to cut lines or not. I found this hard as I try to put meaning into all the lines, as I always think why say something if there isn’t a point, even if that point isn’t immediately obvious at that point in the play. This was something I had to keep explaining to the rest of the Theatre Company, as they might not have always understood why some things were said at a certain point or in a certain way. Also because we only had a short amount of time before the show I felt a lot of pressure to write the play in time. However, the rest of the theatre company were very supportive and offered help when they felt they could be of assistance, which I was very grateful for.
I feel like my writing has come a long way since the beginning of this process, and I am proud that I wrote a full length play, as this was something I was adamant that would never happen when I was younger as I prefer descriptive writing like in books compared to the almost bare writing of a script. The one thing I have definitely learnt though is not to feel completely insecure about my writing, as there will always be people who won’t like it, and to be more confident with my ideas. But I am definitely proud of this play.
Works Cited
Flickr (2016) [image]. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/61839232@N02/with/26821606630/ [accessed 19 May 2016].
Flicks And The City Plus (2015) Telenovela Promo Clips 1-6 – Eva Longoria NBC Comedy Series
. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuqBljIKZzs [accessed 12 May 2016].
husshillivideo’s (2012) My Name Is Nobody Bar Fight Funny Scene
. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkCqSHwhKVg [accessed 12 May 2016].
ROCCO ACEE (2013) THE RULES OF FILM NOIR
. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2_wWc99g88 [accessed 12 May 2016].
Ross115 (2012) Most Badass Scene in Movie History
. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izyVEzlIBpk [accessed 12 May 2016].
