HIC Day 27 - Finale script + future chaos scene

Today we finished the script and made sure all the scripts are done so we could just learn our lines and preform the scenes.

After we finished all the scripts we ran the first future scene we had and added to it. We felt it started weak so we added a movement piece where the students are closing in on the teacher. I feel this emphasizes the fact that the students have all the power in the scene.

Next lesson we are going to work on the transitions between scenes so when Dan gets back we can simply put him in and do a full run through.

HIC Day 26 Last scene + Soundscape

We spent today in two groups, Ashley wrote the final scene while the rest of us recorded the sounds for the soundscape. We then read out the scene and next lesson we will correct all the mistakes and add/change parts we feel as a group needs to be changed.

HIC Day 25 - Script scene 2+3 with sir

Today we read through with sir the scripts we wrote last week, so we got a teachers opinion on how teachers speak to each other. We then made some minor adjustments to our scene.

HIC Day 23 + 24 - script scene 2 + 3

As we are missing one of our performers for the next two weeks, we spent these days writing the next two scripts. We struggled to write them before as we hadn't planned where we wanted our piece to go yet. Now we have that done we wrote two first drafts of scripts.

HIC Day 22 - Future Prison Scene

Today we worked on our dystopian future scene where school life is like a prison. We added the song "We don't need no education" so we can add better timing to the piece and so it is more of a movement scene to contrast from the spoken meeting scene. Since we added the song we decided to take out the on screen teacher as we felt there would be too much happening at once so the audience wont get the chance to take in all what they are seeing.

I really like how this piece turned out, I feel it perfectly shows what we wanted to portray and it is ready for the performance. We just need to practice to make sure we get the timing right.

HIC Day 21 - Prison Future

Today we created the future scene where school life is like a prison. We decided to have a ratio of two guards for the four students and we agreed that we should have a teacher projected on a board to show that the teacher is in a safe location and that we aren't really being taught just controlled. As students we all attempt to rebel in some way but we just get beat by the guards, even if it is for something as simple as coughing.

I see the guards to look like this:

complete with riot shields and batons. I picture the students to look like this:

Unwashed, beaten and bruised. I envision a major contrast in guards and students.

Next lesson we will work on this piece and show our teacher to get their opinion on how to develop it.

HIC Day 20 - Future scene Complete

We now have two different future pieces, one showing the chaos created from the lack of teacher control and one showing the control students gain over the teacher. We then discussed which piece we should include with our teachers and they had contrasting viewpoints so we decided to put the best parts of both pieces and put them together.

We started with the opening of the chaos piece however instead of pointing to Toby, I point to meg. She then controls me and spins me like a ballerina. Kyle and Ashley then pick up 'rope' and pull so I'm stretched out for Toby to mess around with, showing both control and chaos. Ashley and Kyle then drop the rope and Dan picks up string and controls me like a puppet to a seat like the ending of the control piece. He then cuts the string and I drop to a chair, everyone then leaves me on stage as a lifeless puppet.

I really like how we have incorporated both pieces to create this future scene. After creating the piece we then discussed the next future scene where teacher control has become extreme and the next lesson we will create the piece.

HIC Day 19 - Future scene Development

After having the weekend away to think about our piece, we all thought that we should change what we originally created. We felt that we should show more of the fact that the students control the teacher rather than the students are out of control because we felt it looked too messy. So we created a piece to show that the teacher is being controlled like a puppet by the students and as the piece goes on the more puppet like the teacher becomes, to show the deterioration in power that the teacher has.

I really like the way that this is more organised and structured than the previous piece. I also like that it is about the controle that the students have over the teacher rather than the chaos created from the teachers lack of controle.

Rent Day 12 - Christmas bells + Santa Fey

Today we set Christmas bells are ringing, all it we did was, from the end positions of Rent everyone not needed for the next scene (Dom, Dan, Freya, Toby, Lorna and I) move to a clump at the front of the stage in the centre. We need to be there for "somewhere else, not here" so we can deliver that line. We put them in a clump so they are more like a group of carolers singing in the snow, which they should be. However I prefer my suggestion of having everyone get into lines and cross each other to make one long line across the front of the stage so we can individually show our bright happy faces during "Christmas bells are ringing" and then drop to a pissed off face for "somewhere else, not here". I just feel it looks better to use the whole length of the stage rather than a clump in the middle.

We also started to look at Santa Fey. We had Meg choreograph a simple movement piece for everyone to do behind Toby and Dan as they sing and next lesson we will do the rest of the song. I really like the simplicity of the opening and how it sets up the dance routine.

Rent Day 11 - Tango Maureen + Lorna

As we had Lorna available, we used this lesson to put her into everything we have done, Rent, Tango Maureen and La Vie Boheme. She picked it up very well though I thing we need to reorganize where we sit for La Vie Boheme. This is because we have Freya and Lorna in the middle of the table so they can't get out easily for their solo part and then when they do get out they're stuck behind the table and everyone on it. I think they need to be moved to the end so they can easily move out from the table.

We also tweaked Tango Maureen because when we walk in a box there wasn't enough room for Ashley and Freya to dance in the middle so we enlarged to box we walk in. We also shifted the way we walked so our hands point to where we are going rather than pointing at the audience. This way we travel easier and faster.

Rent Day 10 - Seasons of Love + Putting Lorna in Tango Maureen

Today we spent the first lesson running through Seasons of Love and put the people who were missing yesterday in the number and made sure the whole cast knew the harmonies. Once we adjusted the harmonies and sung it through I think the song sounded good, I still think I need to give my solo to a girl who could sing the part. I think Lorna would do it better than I would.

In the second half of the double period we had Lorna available to start putting in pieces. So we spent the lesson teaching her Tango Maureen. By the end of the rehearsal I am still in need of help with the dance, so by next lesson I will practice it and have the routine ready.

Rent Day 9 - Seasons of Love

Today we listened to and sang Seasons of Love, we learnt the harmonies and had some people volunteer for the solo parts. I volunteered to do a solo but I do think it should go tosomeone better as it is usually a girl solo and I don't feel like I can hit the notes and when I sing it lower it dosen't sound right to me. This is why we then had Ashely join me on the solo so we can work together to get it to sound allright. Other than that, I think we sound good, even better when we have the eintire cast here. We staged it with us simply in a line across the stage and then we clap during the "It's time now" I like the simple staging as I feel it is a contrast to the othe danced numbers of Rent, La Vie Boheme and Tango Maureen.

We then ran through Tango Maureen as we had a week off and we anted to refresh our minds with it and to ensure that we have to dance right before we move on. Next lesson we are going to put the people who were missing in to Seasons of Love and meke sure we remember the harmonies and we will teach the harmonies to those who don't remember them.

HIC Day 18 - Future Scene

Today we created the future scene where the students are out of the teachers control and also where the students are controlling the teacher. We opened the piece with the students moving the teacher every time he attempts to teach them to show their control over him, but it escalates to the point where the students beat up the teacher and have a fight between each other. The teacher then attempts to break up the fight by restraining the girl, she then screams the the teacher immediately lets go and backs away. This is to try and portray the fact that teachers can't restrain a child no matter the circumstances even when it is needed.

I like the opening where the teacher is being controlled and I like the fight but I don't think the piece looks as good as I feel it could look. The transition from the classroom to the fight I feel looks a bit naff when the teacher is standing there with his arms above his head. I would also want to improve the control bit so that when the students move the teacher it is with force and more precise, like twist the body, move the arm, bend the elbow, change the hand, start writing.

HIC Research - Interview with a Teacher

I spoke with a teacher within my school to get their opinion on what the present standard for discipline in schools and what the future holds for students and discipline. Their strong belief was that children have been the same throughout time, they will always find a way to cause disruption and they are always smart enough to know when a teacher isn't in control. Teachers didn't have as many restrictions to what they could do to discipline a child in the past, they could grab a child and throw them out of their room if they felt it was needed. however this wasn't necessarily a good thing. They believed that for good discipline there needs to be a good relationship between the teacher and student. This good relationship requires a mutual respect from both teacher and child, however, the teacher must be in charge of their classroom but not show that they are in charge so the child feels included and respected in the classroom. The child also needs clear boundaries, consistency in rules and behavior from the teacher and fairness in their judgment. There needs to be constant communication with the students, especially the ones who tend to kick off, the way to respond to a child who is making a fuss is explain clearly what is going to happen if they don't stop then if they don't explain what you are going to do and why to them. The children need to 'see the teachers teeth' so to speak, the child must know that their teacher has the ability to be a threat to their comfortable lives, in the standard way (detentions, phone call home) but also showing them the bigger picture of requiring an education to help later on in life. The children need this as they might not get it at home, some parents rely on teachers to take over their role but a teacher can't take over completely, there are somethings a parent can get away with that a teacher can't. The parent-child relationship is different now to what it was years ago, it is more open and positive and so the relationship between teacher and student needs to mirror that. My interviewee believes that experience is key in responding to badly behaved children. They also felt that new teachers generally try to create this semi-friendship with their students, but this never works as the student then lacks the clear boundaries that they require. They find that male teachers generally find that a misbehaving child is a challenge to their masculinity and so the male teacher then retaliates in a way that just makes the situation a lot worse.

We then discussed what the future holds, they think that mental problems like anxiety and depression is going to play a big part in how students act around school and so teachers must be well equipped to deal with these issues. They believe that all teachers must be equipped to deal with mental issues now let alone later as students with particular problems, such as autism, react to things differently than most students and so need to be taught and dealt with in a different way. For instance a child with autism will replicate situations so if they are being shouted at they will shout back and the situation gets out of hand. One thing I did pick up on is the comment made that a good teacher is a good actor, when a teacher is at work and in front of a class they aren't being themselves, they put on this facade of a strong, level headed person, who knows what is best for them. A teacher doesn't really know what is good for them, they don't know what the future has in store for them, they can only prepare them for life by getting them the best possible grades that they are capable of and train them to hold as many personal qualities (ie. responsible, respectful, prepared, punctual etc.) that they can.

HIC Media idea

This picture gave me the idea to do a performance about how the media takes situations then present them in a way to twist what really happened to get a reaction from people. This topic would be a broad subject as we could do a range of incidents. We could do stories of (enter celebrity name) who had allegations from people that they touched them when they were younger. So the media runs their name through the dirt, then it turns out that the allegations weren't true but it is too late, the performers name is ruined by that time yet nothing is done to the person who falsely accused someone of touching them. We could also do a piece about the effects of fear mongering through the media, we could do a movement piece showing two people repeating the same motions of going through their daily activities. However one person ends his night watching TV and we could have head lines of bad stuff that is happening in the world and as the days go buy the guy watching the TV is more nervous and worried whereas the other guy is just fine. We could do a movement piece about how before the child washed up on the beach in Turkey the media was showing the refugees as a threat and calling them 'immigrants' but after that they completely change their stance and suddenly everyone has also changed their stance.

HIC Research - Strange Fruit Theatre Company O'Povo

After watching this artistic performance, I think there is a lot of elements my group could use in our own performance. Starting with their costume, I like how their costume fits with what they are doing to begin with but doesn't as the performance progresses. However I don't think a technique like that would work for my performance, it would be too obscure for our style of performance. I also liked there running moment followed by the post-it notes with personal stories with the sugar plantation. I feel we could do something like that to show the modern day teacher struggle, show that they are exhausted, tiered and frustrated with the situation that they are in. Then we could have stories about what particular teachers go through on a daily basis to then only get paid on average £29,446 a year (according to http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=High_School_Teacher/Salary) so instead of doing a line like they did in the video we could mark out the number £29,446 in post-its'.

HIC Day 17 - Teacher Interview

Today we planned what we want to do after our next meeting scene and after some technical difficulties I suggested we go to the future rather than another flashback to the past. This was because we currently had no access to our research of the past so I thought the future might not rely on the research we had previously done. After we spent some time discussing how we think a future would look where nothing is changed, we had ideas of school being more of a prison ward with teachers behind safety barriers or a more wild idea of the students being like animals in a zoo or tribal with a form of hierarchy. However we then shared our ideas with our teacher and he advised we talk to other teachers and get their viewpoint on the matter. So we each are going to talk to a teacher and get some more info, anonymously so we get a truthful report.

HIC Day 16 - Research + Script

Today we split into two groups again, one to do research and the other to script the next meeting scene. I did some research and found some information about the Tripartite System of education.

Wikipedia (The Tripartite System of Education):

The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970's in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 1947.

State funded secondary education was to be arranged into a structure containing three types of school, namely: grammar school, secondary technical school (sometimes described as "Technical Grammar" schools) and secondary modern school. Not all education authorities implemented the tripartite system. Many authorities maintained only two types of secondary school, the grammar and the secondary modern.

Pupils were allocated to their respective types of school according to their performance in the Eleven Plus examination. It was the prevalent system under the Conservative governments of the 1951 to 1964 period, but was actively discouraged by the Labour government after 1965. It was formally abolished in England and Wales in 1976, giving way to the Comprehensive System. However, elements of similar systems persist in several English counties such as Kent which maintains the grammar school system alongside comprehensive schools. The system's merits and demerits, in particular the need and selection for grammar schools, were contentious issue at the time and remain so.

Wikipedia (Opposition to the Tripartite System):

In 1958 the sociologist Michael Young published a book entitled The Rise of the Meritocracy. A mock-historical account of British education viewed from the year 2033, it satirised the beliefs of those who supported the Tripartite System. Young argued that grammar schools were instituting a new elite, the meritocracy, and building an underclass to match. If allowed to continue, selective education would lead to renewed inequality and eventually revolution.

This reflected a growing dissatisfaction on the left with the results of the Tripartite System. Whereas the previous generation of Labour politicians had focused on the social mobility afforded to those who passed their eleven plus, now concern became focused upon those who were sent to secondary moderns. Once the Tripartite System had been implemented, the middle classes were found to be much more likely to win places at grammar schools. It was feared that society was being divided into a well-educated middle class elite and a working class trapped in the Modern schools, or "eggheads and serfs". To some on the left, such as Graham Savage of the LCC, it became an article of faith that the only way to bring about equality was by putting everyone through the same schools.

In July 1958 the Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell formally abandoned the Tripartite system, calling for "grammar-school education for all". The party's fiercest opponent of the Grammar school was Gaitskell's protégé, Anthony Crosland.

Experiments with comprehensive schools had begun in 1949, and had taken hold in a few places in the UK. Anglesey, London, Coventry, the West Riding and Leicestershire had all abolished the Tripartite System in the 50's and early 60's, for a variety of reasons. They offered an alternative to the existing system which was seized upon by its opponents. Comprehensives were held up as less divisive, and pupils were said to benefit from the abolition of selection.

Paradoxically, at the same time as Labour was attacking the Tripartite System for its inequalities, some in the middle class were increasingly upset at the social mobility it fostered. As educational testing became more exact and subject to less class bias, an increasing proportion of middle class children were being sent to secondary moderns. The Tripartite System fell victim to its own elitism, as the traditional supporters of the grammar schools began to worry about their own children's educational future.


From this research I thought we could do a monologue led piece, where we have a couple of monologues to show the unfairness of the system. We could do a few made up scenario's of how each of us was brought up and how the system worked/didn't work for us. We could do some from a child's point of view, i.e. Starting school knowing ABC's and how to count + not a lot of help from home, knowing nothing + no help, knowing nothing + the best help money could buy, we could also do some from a parents point of view. Like a parent who gave them everything they could and they are successful children or not successful as some cases were or a parent who left it solely to the school and gave no additional help.

The other group from today attempted to start a script for the next scene, however they were struggling on where to go with the scene because we haven't planned on where we want our performance to go yet, so I think that until we have an idea of the parts we want to happen between the meeting scenes we can't properly write them as we lack a direction for the scenes to travel. For next lesson I think we need to have ideas on where to go next and start work on one of them. I feel that since we went to the past before I feel we should go to the future next and show what could happen if nothing is changed.

Link to my other Tripartite System research (here)

HIC Day 15 - Victorian/caning

Today we created our Victorian caning scene. We wanted to go into the past and show what education/discipline was like back in a stricter time, a time with strong rules and when students feared their teachers. We used a Victorian era because we all felt that was a time when this form of teaching was at its peek. We also wanted to use the soundscape idea we used before and have that lead us into this scene, so we have an effective transition and a clear difference between a modern class and a Victorian class. We created the simple repetitive movement to reflect the way teaching was done, copy what your teacher wrote then rub it off and start again, everyone doing the same thing, working in the same way, at the same speed regardless of who you are. We also threw in some other historical facts (everyone had to be right handed, everyone had to have good posture, only boys went to higher education) we used a whipping sound for the actual caning because it sounds more painful and in the silence of the room, the whip has a clear ring to it that we found suiting for our piece.

After this lesson I feel that our next stage is running what we have got with the desks and possibly costumes.

HIC Day 14 - Script Read Through (Sir)

For today Kyle had typed up our script and printed off enough copies for each of us. we spent the lesson running through our script with Sir watching and afterwards he gave his suggestions and helped adjust some lines so it sounds better.

Next lesson we are going to create the Victorian school scene with a caning.

HIC Day 13 - Run Through Script + Adjust

Today we ran through what the other group created and afterwards we adjusted the script to what the research group felt.

After running the scene I felt that as Ashley's character is late that he shouldn't come in until the next meeting scene. I felt we could open that scene with his entrance and the group seemed to agree with me. So that was pretty much the main change we made but it was a big one as we had to readjust the last 8 lines to cut Ashley from the scene.

HIC Day 12 - Script and Research

Today we split into two groups one group continued writing the script from last lesson, the other group (which I was in) done some research in the history of caning and got some stories people put on the internet of times they we caned. So that for next lesson or once we have finished the scripted scene we could quickly create a piece about caning. We also discussed as a group and agreed that this meeting could be the center point of our piece and that we always revert back to this meeting and further discuss education. We also agreed that this scene could be good as an opening rather than have the soundscape as an opening.

Link to my research of caning (here)

Rent Day 8 - Tango Maureen + Staging ideas

Today we went over Tango Maureen and polished it. I feel that we just need to run it with Maureen then it is done and looking good. We then spent the remaining lesson in groups planning an idea of how to have the stage look. My group wanted to extend the apron but have stairs embedded in the extension.

We also talked about having a table constantly on stage (Though it probably won't work with Tango Maureen) but have the table at an angle.

This could work well for La Vie Boheme as we would just add more tables on either side. However we would have to reorganize where we all sit as it would get cramped on stage if I stay where I am, so I would be moved to the other side of the stage. I still think Mark should be across stage from Benny so Ashley would be moved to the other end of the table. I would also move a few people around so that it better suits their characters. As it stands from left to right we have Benny, Waiter, Mimi, Rodger, Angel, Joanne, Maureen, Dom, Collins then Mark, but that is just because that is how we sat when we first tried the song without our characters. Now that we have our characters and with the new staging idea of the table at an angle, I would reorder it to be from left to right Mark, Mimi, Rodger, Angel, Collins, Dom, Maureen, Joanne, Waiter then Benny. I would keep Rodger next to Angle because during the start of the dance they do something together, but I moved all the couples so they are sitting together. I put Dom in the middle because as he doesn't have a named character at this point he will blend in the group better there than if he was just left on the end. I put the waiter right at the end so he can easily get up from where he is (same goes for Joanne)

Rent Day 7 - Tango Maureen + Christmas Bells

Today we split into groups to work on different things, Tom and Meg worked on "Another Day" and got that looking really cool. Freya, Ashley and Dan worked on "Tango Maureen", while Toby, Dom, Dan and I started to work on "Christmas Bells are Ringing". We found it hard when we didn't know what was next, so we didn't know how in needs to end with who needs to be on stage and who off. However we did have some ideas on what could happen to start, from where we are at the end of "Rent" Benny is on the floor on one side of the stage, Collins is on the stairs at the other end of the stage and Dan and Meg are separated on stage. We thought that we could all move together around the fire we made during Rent and just sing it while trying to keep warm. The simplicity of it could work with whoever can be in it so it doesn't necessarily matter what comes next as it is simple to move from that position. However I feel this song could have a bit more to it, I feel it would be better to have Benny, Collins, Dom and Dan slowly walk to the front of the stage but be spread out across it and sing the song directly at the audience in a snarky sort of "somewhere else ... not here". While that is happening we have some flats come down behind us and block the stage apart from where the table is and we get the apartment kind of framed by these flats and the stage could be cleared behind the flats for the next scene. Its a lot for a small moment but I kind of like the way I think it will draw the audiences attention to the singers and not the whole stage. After brainstorming some ideas for this song we were then needed to take part in "Tango Maureen" and for the rest of the lesson we were learning the steps for it. Our next step is to finish Tango Maureen and get that looking good.

Rent Day 6 - Will I + Life Support

Today we learnt and staged Will I and the Life support scene. We thought we would put Mimi in the life support scene as we don't have enough actors to play all the people in the scene so we replaced Sue with Mimi and tried it out to see if it still fits, which I think it did. We're also putting the life support scene off the stage and on the ground floor with the audience to get them closer and personal with the scene. We had also left a table in the "apartment" (the stage) for Tom (Roger) to sit on for this scene. We also ran through "Another Day" but quickly and didn't spend much time on it as to let Tom and Meg work on it together in more detail on their own, but it was sung well in my opinion. This led to "Will I" in which we staged it so there is no movement as to allow the vulnerability of the song to come through and also so we're not distracted while trying to sing in time. (something I struggled with) I think the simplicity of the staging works really nicely with the song and our next stage is just to learn the lyrics. Tom and Meg however need to set their song together, which I think they will do next lesson.

HIC Day 11 - Script

Today we thought about creating a script to get a scene with really good dialogue in and we all liked the scene in Future Conditional with the school bored talking about how to get better grades from the schools. So with that in mind we wanted to create a scene with teachers discussing how they can get the students to behave but we wanted everyone to have a specific character. So we done some research and found nine stereotypical people in a meeting:

someone who is late,
person paying no attention,
person using too many cuss-words,
The know it all,
over caffeinated person ,
person texting all the time,
someone who doesn't understand technology/anything,
eating lunch/snacks,
passive aggressive one.

From that we then created a basic character for each of us and started to write a script. We thought a good start would be the debate on caning as it easily opens up the possibility of going to the past in the next scene which we wnted to do at some point of the performance.

HIC Day 10 - Opening Soundscape

We spent today adjusting our opening because people in the group felt the opening wasn't of a good standard, we also needed to change it because the way we were going to seat the audience has changed. We created it to have more of a structure s it is more like a soundscape rather than a lot of noise we also made it a lot simpler, we started the piece with noises like a phone going off, someone chewing gum or someone filing their nails. and we want that to build in volume so we decided to prerecord the noises then play it and just raise the volume. This happens and builds until Dan enters as the teacher then it goes silent which is when we build the verbal noise, Our teacher (Dan) asks "Do we all have our English books?", in which Ashley replies "Yes sir", Meg then will say "No Sir he left it at home with his balls" to which Kyle will defend "oi leave Ashley alone" to which I say "Bender crawl out his ass" and finally Toby is going to say "shut up Meg, you little skank". We then repeat this until Dan slams a ruler on the desk silencing us all and we are back in Victorian times.

I like how we staged it and developed it to be more structured, however I think it could go further. I don't like the way were just sitting, I wanna add some movement to it. I think that we should start the piece in our chairs in a tableau of all five of use doing our noise (Meg filing her nails, Toby on his phone, me chewing) and as each noise starts the person making the noise moves. So the nail file noise starts, Meg starts filing her nails, the phone goes of, Toby starts answering his phone and texting but meg stops and freezes again. This happens until all five noises have started and the last person just freezes after a short period of time. The noise then builds until Dan enters, we then all stand up and we start walking in a circle and I want us to throw a ball around while Dan tries to gain control. This is during the vocal soundscape and eventually we pass the ball to Dan still with the vocals happening and we get back to our places for Dan to slap th e ruler on the desk and us to sit immediately and in silence.

Rent Day 5 - Staging the Opening (Tune up #1, Mom calls, Tune up #2, Rent)

Today we staged the whole opening to Rent on the stage, we started by improvising the opening up until "how we gonna pay?" in Rent. After seeing how everyone looks and play's their part we worked together to alter how we are blocking them. So we moved Meg (Mark's Mom) into the gap in the wall behind the apron of the stage and we can just spotlight her so we just see her upper half as she rattles on to the answering machine. We moved Collins from the stage entirely, he walks up the isle in the audience where he is mugged and left on the steps of the stage. I (Benny) was moved from the back of the stage, where I put myself, to the front, left apron for my phone call with Mark and Rodger. We then choreographed the rest of the number we have Meg, Dan and Dom as more of backup dancers than their specific characters, Freya is Joanne when she needs to be but when she isn't she is another backup dancer. Collins does his part from the steps in which he was left after his mugging and Benny walks down the right side of the audience to do my bit off the stage but to the right of the audience. When we were creating the dance break Tom remembered seeing the dance break in American Idiot and wanted to incorporate the run, hop turn thing that they do because the music has that similar feel to it.


Look closely at the dance break (when the girls come on)

Also during the dance break we had the idea of Rodger rocking out on his guitar while Mark films it. However we wanted a live feed of Marks filming to be played on a screen on the left side of the stage. We thought it would look cool to have Rodger in a kind of concert with lights and stuff as he stands on his table with the back up dancers behind him. After we got the whole song choreographed, I felt the piece looks really good we just need to remember it for next lesson and learn our parts.

Rent Day 4 - Opening to Rent and La Vie Boheme Lyrics

Today we sang through "La Vie Boheme" so we all know the lyrics then we started to create the opening of Rent, we started the lesson running "La Vie Boheme" just to be sure we remember it. Then we sat down with our scripts and practiced just singing it, we also gave the parts of the song that don't have specific characters sing them to people. So we ended up with the dance known and the lyrics understood, the only issue we were having was the timing of all the words, especially the "bisexual, trisexual" part, so that is something we all need to work on individually. We then ran La Vie Boheme one last time and put the dancing and vocals together, I feel that unless anything drastic happens to the show "La Vie Boheme" is basically there.

After we were happy with how La Vie Boheme looked we started to set Rent. Tom had the idea of an empty stage (except a table and maybe a few chairs) but the second the music starts everyone bursts on stage each with props and set (like chairs, tables, a bin, a ladder) and we hold this busy stage until "How we gonna pay?" we then stop face the audience and sing out to them. That is as far as we've got but I really like the sudden burst of action at the start of the song however the effectiveness of the hustle and bustle on stage will wear off pretty much after the first "how we gonna pay" so we need to choreograph the rest of the song and make it as wild and energetic as the start.

HIC Day 9 - New staging

Today we looked at how we are going to stage our piece. We watched a performance of Black Watch in which they performed in traverse and it got the audience close to the action and really created an intimate setting which we felt would be good for our piece. There was also a moment in Black Watch where one guy was doing a monologue about the history of the Scottish army. However he was pacing up and down the stage discussing the history of different points in time and everyone else was changing him into different costumes that matched the period of time in which he was talking about.

I really liked how this moment covers a lot of history in a short time, while being entertaining to watch. I would like to use something like this in our piece going through the history of discipline in school however we could go from the past up to present day then if the piece is really short we could go into the future and make predictions of what could happen.

After we watched the performance we then discussed how we will do to opening we created for a traverse audience. We still like the idea of the audience behind desks but we didn't know how it would work in traverse. I had the idea of moving the desks like this:

have the audience facing forward and have an isle in between for us to perform in but then the audience will find it difficult to see the performance int the isle. So we developed the idea to look more like this:

with the desks at an angle so the audience can see the isle better. however there was still the issue of things happening at the back that the audience at the front wont see so we changed the staging once more.

This staging has the audience each behind their own desk (black box) looking in towards the stage (blue arrow) We each sit behind our own desk (red box) and face in for the soundscape. This way the audience will always see half of our casts faces while having access to viewing the whole stage.

Rent Day 3 - La Vie Boheme

Today was our first official rehearsal with all everyone knowing their parts. We spent today going through "La Vie Boheme" and finishing it. We sat me, as Benny, on a small table to the side of the long table we had center stage. We have in order of stage left to stage right Me (Benny), Dan (Waiter), Meg (Mimi), Tom (Roger), Dan (Angel) Freya (Joanne), Lorna (Maureen), Dom (Paul), Toby (Collins) and finally Ashley (Mark). This is simply the order in which we happened to sit during the audition process so I think we should have a look at where everyone is sitting and better organize it based of everyone's character. That being said I haven't come up with an order that works better in my head yet. So we finished the song and I really live the dance, I love the way it is simple movement at the start but builds throughout the song. I also love the way it holds the characters crazy personalities and fun-loving spirit. The way I think to make the movements better is everyone knowing them firstly and the poses at the start I feel should be more characterized.

Rent Day 1 - Audition (opening scene) Day 2 - Audition (La Vie Boheme)

We start our audition process with the opening scene consisting of Mark and Roger in their loft doing their thing and constant disruption due to the phone. I went for the character Mark and felt I did it well. For the next audition we need to prepare something to show to the class I prepared Marks opening to La Vie Boheme, I rehearsed the vocals and I thought they we ok and I watched how other people have performed it to get an idea of what I want to do with it. The next day I got everyone to sit in a circle and said just go along with the song and have fun. So I performed the opening and had fun with it and everyone in the room and I thought it was a fun time that everyone could enjoy because it is that kind of song, friends having fun and showing their exciting lifestyle. After everyone performed what they prepared we started to set La Vie Boheme, we all sat behind a desk and faced the audience and we started with 8 simple poses to show after each "La Vie Boheme" we then created this basic idea of movement to go with the music. Once we all know our parts, I feel we can better create the piece. I didn't get the part of Mark I got Benny, although he wasn't the character I was going for, I like him. I understand where he is coming from in the situation of the musical and I feel I could play him well. Next rehearsal we will update La vie boheme incorporating our characters in the piece and finishing the song.

HIC Research - Wikipedia extract - Tri-partite system

The Eleven Plus examination was employed to stream children into Grammar Schools, Technical Schools (which only existed in some regions) and Secondary Modern Schools. Claims that the Eleven Plus was biased in favour of middle class children remain controversial. However, strong evidence exists that the outcome of streaming was that, overwhelmingly, grammar schools were attended by middle class children while secondary modern schools were attended by working class children.
The most academically able of students within secondary modern schools found that their potential progression to university and advanced post-secondary studies was constrained by limitations within their schools, the wider educational system and access to higher external examinations.
The 'baby boomer' generation was particularly affected during the period 1957 to 1970 because grammar school places had not been sufficiently increased to accommodate the large bulge in student numbers which entered secondary schools during this period. As a result, cut-off standards on the Eleven Plus Examination for entry into grammar schools rose and many students who would, in earlier years, have been streamed into grammar schools were instead sent to secondary modern schools.
Although the Butler Act planned a parity of esteem between this and the other sections of the tripartite system, in practice the secondary modern came to be seen as the school for failures. Those who had "failed" their eleven plus were sent there to learn rudimentary skills before advancing to factory or menial jobs. Secondary moderns prepared students for the CSE examination, rather than the more prestigious O level, and although training for the latter was established in later years, fewer than one in ten students took advantage of it. Secondary moderns did not offer schooling for the A level, and in 1963, for instance, only 318 former secondary modern pupils sat A levels. None went on to university.
Grammar Schools were generally funded at a higher per-student level than Secondary Modern Schools. Secondary moderns were generally deprived of both resources and good teachers. The Newsom Report of 1963 reported on education for these children, and found that in some schools in slum areas of London 15-year-old pupils were sitting on furniture intended for primary schools. Staff turnover was high and continuity in teaching minimal. Not all secondary moderns were as bad, but they did generally suffer from neglect by authorities.
The interaction of the outcome of Eleven plus streaming (middle class into grammar schools and working class into secondary modern schools) and better funding of grammar schools produced the result that middle class children experienced better resourced schools offering superior future educational and vocational options while working class children experienced comparatively inferior schools offering more limited prospects for educational and vocational progress. This reinforced class divisions in subsequent vocational achievement and earning potential.



I feel that a good movement piece could be created from the unfairness of the classist system that the Tri-Partite system created. We could show three people going through the three different secondary schools and show that their opptions for work, pay and life are decided from birth and on the basis of their class. I was thinking of putting this piece to the song 'The Scientist'.

HIC Research - Caning

Caned for Deceit Towards the end of my third year at grammar school I went through a more rebellious phase than was usual. I had a couple of dental appointments and on the last noticed that the receptionist had written the appointment on the card in pencil.

My ever devious mind saw this as an excellent opportunity to rub out the one written and invent a new one which gave me what I thought was a sure fire excuse to bunk off school with my absence covered.

It worked well for the first two goes. Change the details, show the card to my deputy housemaster and I was covered, I thought

Quit whilst you are ahead would have been a good maxim to follow but no, I kept it going. On the third occasion I wanted to spend the day with my new girlfriend Jane who was at home recovering from the last stages of the flue. Her parents were at work and she was as keen as I for us to get together alone.

On handing the card in the next day the dep. housemaster asked to hold onto it for a while; I could pick it up later he said. This didn't bode well and at break I got the summons to attend the office.

Both housemaster and deputy were there and I had been sprung. A phone call had been made to check and the game was up.

I could offer no explanation other than to confess. This was followed by much dressing down about deceit and lying not to mention the time lost at a crucial stage of my schooling, blah, blah ending with wait outside.

I was under no illusions that I would be caned. The door was ajar and straining my ears I heard them discussing who was to give me the thrashing. Both were experienced caners but the deputy Mr Cooper was new to the position and was making a mark [excuse the pun] for himself as being strict. I had seen the backsides of four boys in the showers who had been given 6 by him the day before for smoking and they looked bad.

I was called in and told the worst news. I would be given 6 strokes by Mr Cooper then and there.

The office was undergoing some alterations and there was no room to swing a cane so, armed with the junior cane and punishment book he told me to follow him.

We found a nearby classroom and entered to find, to my embarrassment, three first year girls who were waiting for one of the mistresses to arrive for something or other. He asked them to wait outside and they filed past a red faced me with smirks and knowing grins. Well, it was pretty obvious what was about to take place with him holding the cane and book.

He then went on a bit more about the severity of my actions and then got down to it by placing the teacher chair in position and telling me, much to my terror, to take trousers down and bend over the back 'in the usual way'.

I pulled my Y-fronts up and did as I was told. My bum was tight and after a couple of the practice swishes that all teachers love to do I felt him rest the cane across my backside and measure his distance. Although this was not my first caning it was my first with trousers down across the pants. The girls were caned across their knickers so I guess this was no different.

There was a savage swish and pistol shot and I felt a terrible pain across my backside. I simultaneously yelled out and started up only to be pushed back down by him. Nothing was said. Just as he lined up for the second the door opened and the maths mistress Miss Burton burst in with apologies, looking for the girls. This was awful. She left promptly and Mr Cooper quickly addressed the job in hand by giving me five more excruciating stingers.

I remember, thinking back as it was taking place that he really seemed to relish his task being not too hurried and putting fair force behind each stroke. I quickly thought of the boys in the shower and now realised why. I was also mindful of the humiliation of having Miss Burton and the first year girls outside the door witnessing my punishment and yells after each stroke.

After the sixth I instinctively stared to raise myself off the chair but Mr Cooper placed his hand on my back as he pulled back my underpants to glimpse his handiwork. I was then allowed up and pulled my grey school trousers up and did the schoolboy cane dance around the room clutching my backside, the tears streaming down my face. He entered the details in the punishment book .We both left passing a silent mistress and girls on their way back to the room .As soon as we were a few paces past them the girls exploded into excited chatter and giggles.

I went straight to the toilets and looked at my bum in the mirror the way all schoolboys seem to. I stared at six well placed scarlet tramlines with raised edges.

After school I went to see Jane who was not quite as sympathetic as I thought she might have been. She was good girl and would not have bunked off herself but was happy for me to do it and spend time with her. But she still inspected the results of the thrashing.

This was one of four canings I received at grammar school. I got many summary execution slipperings, mainly in class but they can be for later.




From this story I think we could create a piece about this boys experience. We could have a monologue of the boy setting the scene and explaining what happened, explaining how his parents are proud of him, his teachers expect great things, his girlfriend trusts him, the other girls fall for him, other boys respect him, and as each character is mentioned we have said person stand up. Once we have all the family and friends standing we move the monologue on to where he gets canned and then everyone is disappointed in him. Everyone could then circle the boy telling him how betrayed they all were and try to make the boy feel really bad. This could be used to show how the cane doesn't work in bettering grades and all it does is harm the child physically and emotionally.

HIC Day 8 Discussion about Education

Today we discussed a new topic idea of education and the lack of power that teachers have nowadays. We talked about how students feel like it is acceptable to talk back to a teacher when in Miss' day she wouldn't of dreamed of talking back. We also discussed the change in teaching methods from back when there was the cane and everyone had to learn at the same pace, in the same way and using the same writing hand to accommodating to every individual way of learning. We also discussed the different education systems in different countries, like here in England we have national exams whereas in America they have internal exams and how in America if a student isn't ready to move on to the next year of education they will be held back. We also discussed future possibilities where the students get out of hand and run the school or where it goes to the other extreme where teachers regain power but abuse it so they have like taser guns or regular guns and electric chairs and stuff for discipline.

We then started to create an opening to our performance, we thought about sitting our audience behind desks for the creative effect. and have a front row where we are sitting. We then had Dan come in as a teacher and he does the register and then we kick of with everything we could think of that a student nowadays would do that back in the day they wouldn't dream of doing, like having a chat, talking back, being on phones, showing off to the class, the annoying cough the people do in exams. So we are building noise and drowning out out teacher who turns around and starts to get changed into an old-fashioned teacher robe at the same time we alter our uniform and neaten it up but still making noise and acting modern. Then Dan turns around with a meter stick in his hand and slaps it against his other hand and we go silent and we are neat and back in time to when students were well behaved. I like our opening and I really like our topic, I feel it is very mature and perfect choice for an A level performance. With the opening I feel that we should use the individual exam desks to sit behind but have them right next to each other to make two big tables, so while we a altering our costumes we move the desks and separate them so they are then individual desks and more apropriate for the time period we are traveling to.

HIC Day 7 Drug pt2

Today we finished our drug piece, however during the weekend Dan had an idea of this movement/dance moment where we are in recovery and we have this cool beat thing going, we liked it so we incorporated it into our piece. We cut out the moment of people yelling at the drugged body and we replaced it with him in recovery with the movement piece the Dan came up with. We then ended it with the guy trying to shake himself awake bet it was too late for he had died. We performed our piece to the class and I think the idea is good but we would need to run it a few times so that our actions are in time with the music that we chose to go with it. I like how the performance turned out but I do still thing the idea is too GCSE for our A level performance, but I liked what we created so we talked about how we could change our topic so we could still incorporate what we created. We talked about how we could broaden our topic of drugs to things like smoking, alcohol or caffeine, we also thought about doing something with prescription drugs and that led to topics of medical marijuana and the NHS and the fact that America doesn't have a universal healthcare system. We also talked about how we could use our piece for a topic that has nothing to do with drugs like mental health issues or shell shock in war or something.

HIC Day 6 Drug idea

Today our group had a change of heart about the drugs idea and we decided to give it a go. We wanted to use some techniques that we haven't used in a while so we came up with this idea of someone pressured at a party to take a form of drug who then gets split into two worlds. I thought we could add some cross cutting to separate the two worlds. The first world is the drug world it is what he is seeing and experiencing while under the influence. I was thinking we could do a movement piece to show this happy world. The second is the real world where we see him crashed on the floor and the people around him are angry because "he can't afford the drugs", "he's been missing for days" the drugs have basically taken him away from his life. I think a good vocal piece would work nicely to show the anger everyone has for him. The version of him in the drug world then notices that he isn't really in a good condition and tries to return to his body but everyone else stands in his way and stop him reaching his body. This was our idea but we only got round to staging the struggle of him trying to get back to his body, the party/drug taking moment and a bit of the happy drug world.

HIC Day 5 Discussion

Today we had a discussion about what we actually want to put in our performance. We spent some time going through what we thought of each idea that we previously done and started narrowing down our topics. We then decided on out audience and the effect we want to have on them also the style of performance we want. As a group we decided that we want our audience to feel like they have experienced something and maybe learnt something. We also wanted our audience to be thinking about something as they leave and maybe inspired to learn more about whichever topic we chose to do. With that in mind we decided we didn't want to do a realistic or naturalistic piece, however we also didn't want to do a Brecht piece because as a group we felt we have done a lot of Brecht recently and want to get away from it. This led us to our actual topic, we talked about doing drugs but the majority felt that was to GCSE for us, we felt the same way about war but I really like the idea of war. I feel if we look at a specific war that no one really thinks about or knows much about or look at war from a different point of view then it could have great potential. However we have done a lot on war recently and my group are adamant that they don't want to do it. We also discussed adding more to our slavery piece or our Hillsborough piece but decided against it, we felt we had done the topics and wanted to move on to other ideas. Toby had researched the Armenian Genocide and wanted to try and do a piece about it because it was a devastating moment in history for some people yet not many people know much about it. Kyle also wanted to look at kinder transport so we decided that as a group we will research into both topics.

HIC- Research- Tomorrow when the war began

I recently read a book series called "Tomorrow when the war began", it is about a group of teenager in Australia who go camping but while they are away their country is invaded and all their friends and family are taken prisoner and used as slave labour while the new settlers eventually move in. The story follows the teens as they attempt to fight back and survive the war cased by this invasion.

I really like using the idea of war in our piece but I especially like the way this series looks at how war can affect civilians trapped in it and how the characters change throughout the war. I feel that if we do a piece where we each have a distinct regular teenage character before a war and we have a short monologue each explaining who we are. This will bring great levels of characterization to our performance and we would each have to do some research in the possible effects of war. We then do a movement piece to show the start of war and we freeze to to do some more speech on how we have changed already. Then we do some more movement to show maybe a death of one of our friends and more monologues about how we feel the end with the end of the war and speech of how we have changed. We could do each speech in a for of a short diary entry to quickly get the idea of whats happened since the last speech.

The first book was turned into a movie and the opening and ending have a kind of diary entry where Ellie talks directly to the audience. I'm thinking of our speeches to work similarly to that kind of like and interview. Here is the opening and ending of the movie

Opening
I'm not gonna hold back.
I warned the others that I wouldn't.
Recording it like this
is so important to us.
I guess it's our way of telling
ourselves that we matter.
That we mean something.
Maybe...
some of the things we've done...
and the friends that we've lost...
hopefully it all makes
a difference somehow.
There's only one way to do this.
And that's to go back
to where it all began.


Ending

HIC - Day 4 Voice

Today we looked at voice and how we could use only our voice to get a story/message/feeling across. My group decided to to the Hillsborough Disaster but as a soundscape. We divided our piece into two parts: the first part we each had a line to say and repeat like a football cheer/help or can't breath to show vocally what happened. however we do it in cannon and as each person starts we start stamping our feat so as it builds it sounds like a stamped. Then Meg screamed and we all stopped and let the silence fill the room. the second part was that one by one we tell a fact about what happened like the date, the teams, number of deaths/injuries, what happened.

I liked how the performance turned out, I feel that the build could have been more gradual and the noise and silence could have been held for a bit longer to maximize the effect. But I love the idea and that it worked well. I think we could use this idea of soundscape in our actual piece. If we were to put this piece in our actual performance I would want to add movement to the moment where we are saying facts so it isn't just a soundscape.

HIC Day 3 Contact Impov(perform)

We started today by finishing out slavery piece that we created last lesson, we added a lift and some contact improvisation. Where we left off last lesson we had just dragged the last emotion forward to be "set free" however we changed that now and we lift him up and pull him back to the others. This is where we got into pairs and added some contact improvisation, my partner and I improvised a moment where I was the slave fighting back and he was the owner stopping me.

I like how the piece turned out but I still think we could develop it further by looking more into how each emotion would react and why.

HIC Research the Armenian Genocide stories

Varter Nazarian
By Hagop Martin Deranian 

Varter was born in 1885 in the lively village of Hussenig which, with its population of five thousand, was located in a valley a few miles below the flourishing and more urban city of Kharpert. 
It began with the ominous knock on the door in the middle of the night. The Turkish gendarmes said that they wished to make some immediate purchases in the Nazarian store. Mugrditch was not given time to dress but left his tranquil home dressed only in pajamas. 
Varter never saw her husband again. No one agreed on the precise fate of Mugrditch Nazarian. Some say he was taken out of town a few miles and shot. Others relate that he was among those who were imprisoned in Mezireh and exposed to inhuman tortures so unbearable that he and the other prisoners poured the kerosene from the jail lamps onto themselves and ended their lives as human pyres. 
A few days later, on June 11, the horror began for Varter, all the more frightening since she was nearly full term with another child. Ordered to prepare for “deportation”, she gathered her infirm in-laws, her maid Tamam, and her children, Eghisapet, Takouhi, Nazareth, Yeghsa, Arakel and Avedis. 
She obtained a donkey with a saddle bag with two pockets. In each pocket she placed one of her smallest children. The next day, the gendarmes pushed the donkey with its two children down a mountainside and to their deaths. 
“I saw Varter at noon”, a fellow companion tearfully recalled of that day, “and when I saw her again in the evening, I could not recognize her, She was almost naked”. “Elmas”, Varter said to her friend in utter anguish and pain, “let us find a well and throw ourselves into it”. At that moment of despair, some Arab woman took pity on her and drew some water from the well and quickly gave it to her before the gendarmes saw. They had been traveling in these terrible conditions for a month and a half since leaving Mezireh. 
One morning soon thereafter, Varter awoke with her children and saw that the caravan had moved on. Seizing the opportunity to hide, she descended into a dry well with her children. There she remained safely for two days without food. A passing Arab, some say a Pasha, came to the well and shouted into it, “If there is anyone down there, let him speak, as I am about to throw stones in the well”. “No, don't throw any stones”, Varter shouted, “I am here with my children”. “Very well” the Arab replied, “I will help you out”. Varter was relieved. “Help my children out one at a time”, she pleaded. “Then I will come”. “No!” the Arab emphatically responded. “You come first so that we may pull the children out together”. Hesitatingly and very slowly, Varter lifted herself out. Seeing her comeliness, the Arab seized her and forcibly adducted her. He was totally deaf to her appeals for her children left in the well. Their echoing voices cried after her, “Mother, Mother!” Those infant cries haunted and tormented her the remaining days and dark nights of her life. The dry hole became Varter’s wailing well.

I think we could do an emotional movement piece to a sad piece of music (possibly 'make you feel my love') and do possibly a contact improvisation thing a bout someone taking a picture with their family and the people she holds dear but army officers/soldiers pull them away and kill/imprison them.

Tiruhi Khorozyan
“EH, IT WAS OUR LIFE”: 
Tiruhi’s recollection of escape and resettlement 
Tiruhi Khorozyan, 96, is one of the few living witnesses of the Genocide She was only six years old, but already perceived the words ‘enemy’ and ‘Turk’ as synonymous. She was too little to understand why it was so, but big enough to remember those bloody episodes and atrocities for the rest of her life. 
Tiruhi remembers the day when she escaped the Turkish sword 
Ninety years after 1915, Tiruhi speaks about the events in her native town of Adabazar in a way as if it was only yesterday when she miraculously escaped the enemy’s sword. 
“We were escaping for two days through rocks and gorges and were so thirsty that our mouths had dried, we gasped for breath. My mother went downhill to fetch water from the gorge and came back terrified. The river had become red from the blood of the dead bodies thrown into it,” Tiruhi remembers. 
Adabazar is a town situated in the northwest of Turkey. In 1915 it still had a population of about 30,000 people, more than half of whom were Armenians. They were mainly engaged in trade, crafts, husbandry and fruit-growing. There were four churches there with preparatory schools and gymnasiums attached to each of them. 
Tiruhi remembers that they had a large orchard of mainly chestnut and walnut trees. “We had plenty of sacks of them in the yard,” she says. 
Beginning in 1915 the Armenian population was displaced and killed on the road. Tiruhi’s father, Andranik Arzumanyan, was a fidayi, a guerilla as Tiruhi calls him, who helped people escape Turkish yataghans (swords). 
“One day two Turkish soldiers caught my father who had me with him. He was seized and taken away, I was a little kid, and I lost my way,” says Tiruhi. 
“The soldiers showed me the direction to get to home. I took that way and what I saw was murdered people, blood and deaths on all four sides. I didn’t know what to do, where to run. I was lucky that an elderly woman was passing by with two children, she took me and said she would take me to my mom.” 
On a way seemingly leading to home three Turkish soldiers caught them, and one of them wanted to kill them. “Happily, one of them said: ‘Since they have survived after all this, let them live’.” 
The Turkish soldiers took Tiruhi to a place where there were 15 children. 
“I became the sixteenth. When one of the Turkish officers saw me, he said he would take me with him as his daughter.” 
Luckily, after long searches, Tiruhi’s mother found her daughter the same day and was able to rescue her. Then the mother took Tiruhi and her younger sister and brother to Izmir and later to Greece. 
A year later they were joined by their father who had managed to escape. 
During the short period of peach in 1918, about 4,000 Armenians returned to Adabazar, but not the Arzumanyans. And it proved they did the right thing, as the armistice was of a formal nature and three years later Armenians again had to leave the town for Greece and other countries through the familiar emigration roads. 
“We lived in Greece for about 18 years, until 1932. We worked at a tobacco plant. When Soviet Armenia began to receive repatriates, we came to Yerevan,” Tiruhi says. 
She has seen five generations following her. Today, sitting on the chair, she enjoys the company of her three-year-old great grandchild. 
A few months ago Tiruhi had a brain hemorrhage and she still speaks with difficulty, though she is gradually getting better. 
Tiruhi has no item from her birthplace that would remind her of her native town. “Where should I have them from if we fled from there with lightening speed?” she says. 
The old woman confesses that she would hardly be ready to forgive the Turks ever. “Perhaps the young people will forgive them, because they didn’t see all that, but not me. I cannot forgive them ever,” she says and repeats: “I can’t.” 
And with what seems to be her look cast back at her burning childhood, she adds: “Eh, we lived that life, good or bad it was ours. We will perhaps have a better life in the other world.”