Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly

More documents

Recommendations

Info

But then later, when Madeline has found out her Dad is dying... Kate I said stop crying! Madeline Why?! Why fuck would I stop crying!? Madeline rocks and cries harder. Kate I wasn’t aware we mourned for those we hate. Madeline rocks to a stop. Kate I’m just quoting. (p.78) Kate can see a special bond that exists between Paul and Madeline. In this moment she highlights it and points out something fascinating. Madeline would never be this emotional about Kate. She just doesn’t effect her like this and Kate knows this. If this was a romantic melodrama then this would be the moment when a lesser character points out to the heroine that all her antagonistic behaviour towards the hero is actually because she is deeply in love with him. This is where the tragedy lies. We believe Paul does love Madeline. Enough to give her everything. Enough to give his life when he realises that the only thing that would set her free would be if he were to be gone. His demise becomes his gift to her. He will make the ultimate sacrifice for her. Does Madeline really want to be free from her father? The father she blames for everything? What does she want from him? Has he got this one right? Look out for moments when Paul and Madeline either connect or choose not to. Note that when Madeline enters after her shower she announces “I’m here” and her mother runs to her in excitement. We have taken great care for Paul to see her but act like he has not. Yet when he arrived in the previous scene he could not stop talking about her. This is another denial of the effect that Madeline has on him. His actions are sometimes like that of a bashful teenager in love. While there is a definite theme of Paul vs Madeline we were just as interested in exploring the Paul 4 Madeline theme. Spin Paul let's go man, let's run. I'm no coward Mr Cave. I just love your daughter. Paul We all do son. Some of us are lucky enough to voice it. (p.82) (This is an obvious example of a sometimes subtle language that exists throughout the show. It is illuminating when Kate carefully and cleverly announces her understanding of it. It places Kate historically as the parent who has always been there yet never really been the one whose love was desired. This is a tragic situation and should send Kate a degree of sympathy. If not then the least we can do is accept that we may have underestimated her astuteness). In Paul and Madeline’s estranged relationship, representation of different worlds and their final battle and reconciliation, we were inspired by a surprising filmic reference. Although I doubt that when Brendan was writing the play his mind was actually on Star Wars! But that is just a reference point of our age group. The relationship between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker could exist at any age. It is a fairy story, restoration tragedy, a western. One of the most interested and telling lines comes from Madeline when she launches her tirade at her father Madeline I have to change who I am - because of you. (p.62) Madeline lets it slip that she is trying to be something, something else. She is forced to change who she is because of what Paul is. She is essentially trying to run away from what she is, what she will become. If you like she is Luke Skywalker. Paul is Darth Vader. They are one. Madeline Dad they hate me because they know who I am. (p.59) Consider Madeline’s growing understanding of this apparently corrosive relationship. We have found that they are both lovers and enemies but Madeline is about to make another leap of awareness that turns their initial roles completely on their heads. From Madeline’s rap: Madeline Sick to my heart - I must impart - this revelation - that puts a permanent stain on my generation. The questions I’m so afraid I hold the answer – in the truth of night daddy I believe I am your cancer. (p.89) This is a shocking admission of guilt, not just personal but generational. Madeline has come a long way in a short time. The prospect of losing the father she ‘hates’ is having a profound effect on her. 6
Drugs vs The Real World Paul Have you had any reactions to the grief? Insecurity? Paranoia? Drug addiction? Popularity?...‘Cos it's boring, drug addiction. Seeking false refuge in the caves of high. Especially heroin. As a drug - tenacious, seductive. As a friend - greedy. You start using it to warm the soul. Heat the heart. But I'll tell you this from any distance Spin. It always ends up owning you. Controlling you. I don't care who you are. Grief is such a cheap ticket. (p.38) *** Spin It’s good baby, it’s really good. It’s all honey and sparks. Madeline Why can’t you just see that I’m trying not to want something and support me through that? Spin Why can’t you just see that I know where the good cloud is and help me put you on it? (p.24) Above are two very different accounts of the effects of drugs. Paul highlights the users need for companionship, how the user becomes dependent on something essentially false. It is interesting that this should come into his thoughts. He is obviously obsessed with confronting The Real World and cannot abide anyone who runs from it. Ask why Paul would have such strong feelings about drugs? For Spin there is not really an intellectual argument to be had. Drugs make him feel better and that is a damn fine reason to use them. But things are not quite as simple as that. His body is wracked with pain when he is not on drugs. He is an addict. The drug is already owning him, demanding its place in his blood stream. By most peoples’ definition The Real World for Spin is a painful place. Not just his physical pain but the emotional effects of the death of his parents have all been negated by the drugs and the simple fact of their death gives him the continual excuse to indulge. He habitually runs away from confrontation and into the arms of his drugs. These acts would disgust a natural fighter and responsible person like Paul. But it is Spin’s way of coping. There are other people who choose other coping mechanisms. Different alternatives to The Real World. Kate runs to the drinks cabinet at the first sign of stress (another drug). Madeline adopts a language and attitude that ultimately appears false. Paul continually buries his head in the sand when faced with the emotional requirements of his daughter. And what about Driver? How does he respond to The Real world? Instead of acting and doing what he knows to be right he bows to the priorities of another man’s world and ultimately fails in his own world. DISCLAIMER There is always a concern when presenting drug taking on stage that there must be a moral mission to decry its misuse and tell the audience that drug taking is bad. If we do not there is always the possibility of leaving ourselves open to the accusation of advocating the misuse of drugs. We felt that this was nonsense. For us it was important for the audience to see people taking drugs on stage just as people take drugs in the real world. We have to see why they take drugs, what they offer for them. We had to be honest and accept that the characters take drugs because it makes them feel good. This does not mean that drugs are good or bad. There is no moral judgement here. There is no intention to glamourise drugs either. As the play is about facing up to the real world we felt that our audience did not need us offering any moral guidance on their behalf. They know the real world and don’t need patronizing. Feeling vs Thinking This is the crux of the argument between Paul and Madeline. In many ways it may define the generations they defend Madeline How does that make you feel Dad? That I'm not going to be a studious little achiever. That I'm going to be butt naked in seedy clubs up and down the country? Kate Oh, Mad. Surely you could wear a slip. Madeline Answer me dad. How does that make you feel? Paul I think - Madeline Feel - ? Kate Oh, Mad. Paul I think - you'll feel - cold. (p.56) Note how Madeline carefully sets the issue up. The use of the word ‘feel’ is obviously steeped in history. It is placed like a red flag in front of Paul and he takes no time in noticing it. His response is a denial of what she is demanding of him. He rejects her and clearly sets out his world and how it is opposed to her world. It is a petty reaction. But are we convinced by Paul? Is he sometimes his own worst enemy? Is he happy to think and not feel? How does the ‘think’ vs ‘feel’ question effect the other characters? Should Driver have responded to his feelings and not conformed to Paul’s thoughts on ‘definition’? Are there other places where this ‘think’ vs ‘feel’ dilemma exists? It is also interesting to note that this generational argument is not exclusively contemporary. It rises at times of great social change when one generation sees its hard work represent nothing in the eyes of the following generation. Look for these markers in history. Rock ‘n’ Roll, Mods, Hippies, Punk, Rap, Hip Hop, etc. Music has played a crucial role in defining a generation and alienating them from their parents (see Frank vs Marshall p.8). Paul And yes on the topic of ‘word up’ - you see I would definitely, and Kate I’m sure you’d agree, I would definitely regard myself as a lover of music. Possibly even endow myself an ‘aficionado’ of everything fine and auditory. For it is my society. But I must be honest with you Spin, I feel hip hop and rap sit outside the term art or music, and in a place of their own more resonant with the sounds of traffic and anarchy. Kate We’re a bit old-fashioned Spin – Paul I find nothing in their clamour but a catalytic chant to violence and vandalism. Stabbing music. Provoking killings, rape, and graffiti at best. (p.44) Paul is effected by Madeline’s request to feel. Despite his frosty stubbornness his antipathy is starting to melt. As he sets out into the forest with Spin he is clearly finding a new language as a direct result of Madeline’s challenge and his fast approaching fate Paul I am going to take my clothes off. Spin Sir, no. Paul How does that make you feel? (p.72) The great gulf in understanding is provoked by the eternal misconception that the other generation or world either does not ‘think’ or ‘feel’. By the end of <strong>Rabbit</strong> those worlds have at last communed in the silent peace achieved between Paul and Madeline. The tragedy is of course that it is so late in the day. 7
Page 1 and 2: Rabbit BY BRENDAN COWELL A COMPREHE
Page 3 and 4: How? Why? Who? DISCOVERING RABBIT R
Page 5: THE REAL WORLD The City vs Nature T
Page 9 and 10: THE RABBIT Why is there a live Rabb
Page 11 and 12: d) Who is Paul Cave? This is a ques
Page 13 and 14: The Last Supper This is the final m
Page 15 and 16: c) Spin Spin is an opportunist. We
Page 17 and 18: Chapter 4 Essay Suggestions THE PLA

Rabbit Resource Pack - Frantic Assembly

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?