First reaction to Nation

We sat down as a class and read through Terry Pratchett's Nation. My initial reaction was honestly very confused. Some scenes in the play I found were unnecessary and added to the confusion. After summarising the play and reading up about the plot and story line of it I was finally able to understand it clearer.

The hardest part for me was understanding characters and their relationships with others. For example Locaha has no relationship with anyone of the island however the goals of this character is to make death happen.

Once the play had taken its shape and characters were given to each actor amongst the class, it was much easier to understand. Character research truly helps as it informs the actors their mantra's and how to play them successfully.

For my character Cahle I found that doing tribal research of the Victorian era was necessary as this was when the play was set. It was interesting to find out rituals and how things have changed to the present day. For example, when my character gives birth in the play its not in a hospital with trained nurses but on an island in the 'womans place' where I receive support from an islander. To convey the same intentions of giving birth I had to involve the same screaming and level of pain any woman would go through despite era. However to make this interesting I wasn't giving birth in semi supine but instead squatting.

Another confusing part to analysing the play was how the different characters spoke and learned to understand eachothers language. A vital part to this are the gestures used to the audience understand that these characters don't speak the same language however they are learning to. Gestures such as sipping tea and crying faces made this make sense. Furthermore the structure of language informed the audience who were the original members of the island.