27th November '09

During the review yesterday, several points were raised. The main focus of the feedback was the use of the sheet.

We had developed a scene where the sheet was brought into the space and played with by one performer. Two other performers enter and take either end of the sheet and they played. The play then turns rough as the sheet is pulled down over the face of the playing performer.

He is dragged down and tied.

His face is pressed against the sheet as shown in the pictures.

Today we developed this moment further. The play is choreographed. Back and forth, sheets engulfing, being submerged. The boy is wrapped up in the sheet, twisted, then untwisted with a spin.

The boy is becoming submissive to the sea. He falls and the sheet is above him. The sheet is twisted over and over. It becomes a rope and he skips, the sea skips.

The relationship between the boy and the sea is very prominant in the moments we have created. There is clear attraction, also a very strong theme of innocence in the boy.

Also raised yesterday was the need for text. We took the texts written at the beach and used them.

A technique of mimicking waves was suggested.

'You enter. You enter aggressively. You enter aggressively then slow. You enter aggressively then slow. You are. Slow. You are slow as you reach me. You are slow as you reach me and you touch me. You touch me softly. You touch me softly and you tease. You touch me softly and you tease me to come. You tease me to come. You tease me to come with you...'

The flow of this text proves an effective technique. The sexual connotations can be heightened also.

This was combined with the chorus drowning moment described below.

5 performers, two in front, crawling, two behind and one behind them. They use their hands to reach forward, then drag their fingers back. They breath, out on the way forwards, and in on the return. They move further forward each time. They get closer and closer to a laying boy. They two prominent hands approach his body. They go up the feet, up the legs, thighs, caressing all the time. The boys feet twitch. As the hands retreat they pull gently on the boys ankles. Further up the torso. One hand goes into the boys hair and the other takes his hand. The boy holds the hand. Caress. One hand is forcibly put over the mouth of the boy while the others are holding down the rest of his body. There is a struggle. The boy is coughing. Struggle. Calm.

It was discussed that the optimum viewing position of the audience would be from above. This is possible with a studio with a balcony. In the meantime we have been using a ladder to view the moments we have created.