A SENSE OF DIRECTION

Yesterday, I came across a video of a scene from ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ presented by a pantomime society based in one of the London boroughs. The set, which was basic, but clean-cut, represented the top of the beanstalk, which was visible stage left. There were five pairs of female dancers wearing mob caps, white, puffed-sleeve blouses, bodices, flared skirts, and pinafores, who bravely attempted some kind of dance number. To put it mildly, there wasn’t much cohesion in the cavorting, and the director and or choreographer had contrived some quite ridiculous acrobatic movement for the humble hoofers. At one point, this involved them all lying on the floor and waving their legs in the air. Some of the weightier wenches had a little difficulty getting back to their feet.

At the end of the musical number, a good-looking witch entered down stage left, addressing the girls and the audience. Unfortunately the sound quality of the recording left a lot to be desired, and I found it difficult to hear the dialogue clearly. The girls then picked up feather dusters and cloths from behind the footlights/groundrow, and started to dust the cut-out bushes, the beanstalk, and the floor, quite vigorously.

Enter three characters down stage right. There was a two-legged cow, a chap I presumed to be the Silly Billy character, and the principal girl. The trio were ‘roped’ together with thin twine which couldn’t have been more than three sixteenths of an inch in diameter. They stayed down stage left and the witch stayed down stage right, leaving a big gap in the middle of the stage where the girls continued to dust the bushes, the beanstalk, and the floor. Two girls had a ‘sword fight’ with their feather dusters, and one crawled about the floor on her hands and knees, dusting. Yet another jumped up and down, trying to dust the top of a bush.. They paid scant regard to the dialogue being delivered out front by Silly Billy and the witch.

The tied-together trio departed from whence they came, as did the witch, leaving the girls to fill the stage. If one watched very carefully, it was just possible to see Jack climb over a bush at the back, and enter the scene, almost completely hidden by the girls, who then parted slightly to allow him to reveal himself to the audience, and move downstage.

At that point I gave up on it.

I am of the opinion that the person who ‘directed’ this would struggle to direct a nail into a piece of wood!

Where does one start with such a shambles? Everything is just about as wrong as it can be.

Well, here goes, even though most of it is stating the haemorrhaging obvious…

1              If you have a group of people who can’t dance, don’t devise a dance for them, no matter how keen they might be to ‘give it a go’.

You can include them in a musical number, providing they can make a reasonable attempt at singing, but keep their movement to a minimum. This may require you to do some thinking, and be creative, but if you are the Director, then that’s what you’re there for, isn’t it? Have a look at my posting ‘CLASS ACT #1 - 12 June 2011, where Miss Patti LuPone sings, “There Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens”. Yes, she can sing… yes, she’s got a stage presence… but the choreography is so simple. Her backing boys aren’t dancers, so they simply move to the music. The feather boa prop is a great help, so try and think of something that might work for your group.

Look what I found at the first attempt with a Google search for “simple choreography moves” at… youtu.be/KHm5XXXq4t0 Isn't she a lovely lady, and doesn't she talk sense? There must be much more on YouTube. Seek and ye shall find!

2              Nobody, but nobody dusts bushes or the floor, outside! It’s absolute nonsense, and whoever dreamed it up needs a reality check. Not only that, but by having all this pointless, frantic action, the audience’s attention is diverted from the principals at the front of the stage. The swordplay is completely outrageous. The girls should be rehearsed in listening and reacting to the conversation. There is an art to that, and like the basic moves to dancing (see above), it should be choreographed and fixed.

3              The climbing rope should be thick even to excess. It looks better, and it can be a comedy prop in that it suggests the climbers are taking no chances. The rope illustrated is 1½ inch diameter cotton rope. If you can’t get that, buy some cheap clothesline wind three strands together and glue on a gauze bandage wrapping. Because the actors enter and depart tied together, step-in loops could be tied in the rope for easy application.

4              The cow costume was cute, but wouldn’t some of the younger members of the audience wonder where the back end of the beast was?

5              The trio and the witch should have been centre stage, with the subsidiary extras in two groups at the side of the stage, listening and reacting as described above. As it stands, the very important centre stage area is filled with irritating and distracting dusting. Bringing the trio and the witch closer together would also be more confrontational, with the witch being able to dominate more. She could give a wicked laugh or growl towards the trio, who step backwards in fear disrupting the onlookers behind them in another choreographed, rehearsed, and fixed move. The threesome then exit somewhat timorously, leaving the witch as the dominant character. She has centre stage for a big sweeping move and a villainous laugh as she exits.

6              There is no point in having Jack enter by climbing over a bush if no one can see him do that. He may as well simply come on from the wings in a big bold movement. If the bush is a must, then fix it so that he can climb up behind it and jump onto the stage in a dramatic way.

There are lots of books that explain the basics of stage direction, and thanks to t'Intenet, it has never been easier to find information... as indicated above. Joe and Josephine public are advised not to mess with electricity if he or she doesn't know what they are doing. The same applies to directing a theatrical production, where the end result can also be shocking.

If the director of the debacle twigs who I am referring to from the above account, and is not best pleased with this particular post... well... you can always improve, can't you?