This is a play written by me for my VCE Drama class at school focusing on using techniques of Brechtian Theatre. It is not a piece of 'proper' novel-styled writing so don't get annoyed since it's written in 'script format'.
Also, this is only an overview, and it can be skipped.
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
Social Messages:
Family relationships are a mixture of trust and restraint.
You're choices are what define you, be sure to make the right ones.
Just because society says something is good for you, doesn't mean it always is.
Characters:
- Red is being played by Emily and is the innocent girl that is too protected by her mother who makes her want to break free even more. In the end Red becomes the Wolf.
- The Wolf is being played by Naomi. The Wolf is Red's future and narrates the story as she grows older.
- Red's Mother is being played by Caitie and is an overprotective parent who grows harsher and harsher the older Red gets, as she slowly loses her mind and is weighed down by her divorce.
- Chase (a representation of the Woodcutter from the original story) is being played by Ella, he helps Red break free from her mother by being her friend and helps balance out how restricted she is. He genuinely cares for Red and they've been friends since childhood.
- Officer is only in the first scene and is being played by Susan and interrogates the Wolf.
- The Drunkard is in the sixth scene and is being played by Susan and is the one to give Red the bottle of alcohol which serves to be her final little push towards the 'Wolf side'.
Props:
- Red cloak (worn by Red)
- Mask (held by Wolf)
- Books x2 (for 4th scene)
- Empty bottle (for 6th scene)
- Chairs x2 (used in almost every scene)
- Mugshot boards x6 (used in Intro)
- Basic dark clothing for everybody.
Narration:
We use narration in almost every scene, most of the time it's the Wolf narrating her past (her past being Red) except for the first scene where it's Red narrating her future (That being Wolf) while the Wolf is in the jail cell being interrogated. The Wolf that's narrates up until the point where past and future coiled and they became 'one' person. We used this as a tool to show that they were the same person and add a surreal feeling to our play.
Time Distortion:
Time is quite heavily distorted in our play that contains a mixture flask-backs and flash-forwards, the beginning being what comes right after the end. There's also Red's growing older through the Wolf narration. If you really and truly think about it, there is no 'present' as we are constantly being propelled forward through time and that single propelling present moment that technically doesn't exist is just a gate way, since past is constantly being created while the future explored, we decided that the ending should be at the clashing point of past and future, namely the strange gateway of present.
Transformation:
Place
Place changes quite frequently, going from different places and rooms although sometimes our scenes take place in 'neverworld' where it isn't a pace but like acting out the progression of Red's thoughts, an example being the lase scene where Red and the Wolf (who are the same people) meet and become one another.
Object
The main props used were two chairs which became many different things such as; actual chairs (I kid you not), doorways, walls, different places, etc. We were aiming to keep all of our props simple and small, so this worked well for us.
Other props that we used included a bottle, the mugshot boards, Red's cloak and the scripts that we used as books for a small portion of one scene as we didn't want to have many props.
Character
As far as actors go, we have no changes as far as single actors playing two different characters go, but the transformation from Red into the Wolf (past to future) is a key point in Seeing Red's plot line. They are of course the same person at different periods on the same timeline, which eventually meet up.
Signposting:
We used this in the introductory scene as a way to show exactly who the characters where. Our signs were in the form of mugshot boards as each character lined up and introduced themselves with their name and three words that define them.
Symbolism:
Compared to the Original Story
The party is a rendition of the woods in the original tale; a dangerous place where people can be lead astray and/or possibly find themselves and/or possibly their saviour (drawing inspiration from the poem 'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost).
Red acts as a representation of Little Red Riding Hood from the original story and Wolf acts as a representation of the Big Bad Wolf, but in our rendition the are the same person and represent the internal struggles that we all hold within; dark and light; innocence and tainted purity; order and chaos; right and wrong.
Red's Mother acts as a representation of Little Red Riding Hood's Mother from the original tale, although in our representation she takes on many Big Bad Wolf characteristics and it's important to note she is shown as the main 'antagonist' in our story while Wolf is portrayed as a 'victim' of malevolence. Although since the characteristics of the Big Bad Wolf are split both into Red and her Mother, it symbolises that Red's demon is not just the blatant exterior oppression but internal battle she fights daily within herself.
Chase acts as a representation of the Woodcutter from the original story, and although the character doesn't seem to be a rendition of him, they have the same role; hero. The difference being that Case fails (or in his eyes he does). The question is; did he fail? Yes, Red is a drug-abusing alcoholic on the streets with a criminal record and that in our society would be deemed to be an unsuccessful attempt at the game of life, but she also has in her grasp the one true things she always desired; freedom. So the question asked is; did you free herself or fall further down the rabbit hole? That is the question we wish to leave the audience.
Still, all that aside, the point of view of how different character's view other characters and example being, from the Mother's point of view Chase if the big bad wolf while the Officer would be more of a huntsman figure, but from Wolf's point of view it's the other way around.
General Symbolism in Props, Actions, Lines, etc
The red cloak, which was made by her mother and symbolises her innocents, is a symbol as when she abandons it for the Wolf mask it shows her abandoning her old controlled life. This is the same with her 'I don't know a Red' line which is foreshadowed in the first scene (which is the close-to-ending in the story) for a line that would become a significance in the dramatic moment when she abandons her life. It's the first and last things Red/Wolf says in the play.
The mask is strange in its mild symbolism as the fact that when Red decides that freedom is more important than friends and family, she puts on a mask. A wolf mask. Which leads to the question of how she views freedom, whether it's being able to be what she truly is deep down or having the choice to mould herself into what she wishes and of course there were probably better ways of achieving freedom that what she chose, but Red is just a person and that's what people do. They mess stuff up. Still, the mask shows the audience that she believes the definition to be the later, because when she has the mask, she becomes her desire.
Our use of mugshot boards in the introductory scene was meant to show how every character is both a protagonist and an antagonist. How there are more sides to each character. Like how Red's Mother is a law-abiding Christian and Chase is a warm hearted boy, yet they still are standing there being arrested. It's supposed to plant a seed in the backs of the audience's mind that it wasn't going to be a cheerful story with a happy ending, or a story full of black and white characters.
The part in scene six where the Wolf and Chase are both standing behind Red on either side as she holds the alcohol symbolises the classic angel/devil on shoulder skit. The devil (Wolf) that tells encourages what society deems as 'bad' behaviour and the angel (Chase) encourages 'good' behaviour.