Hello, welcome to today's lesson where we are gonna be diving deep into the text "Leave Taking" by Winsome Pinnock.

This shouldn't be the first time you've read the text.

I'm gonna be expecting some prior knowledge and understanding of the characters and the plot today.

But we are gonna be diving deeper, analysing how stagecraft has been used in the play.

You are gonna need to make sure you have a copy of the text.

This is Winsome Pinnock's "Leave Taking," published by Nick Hern Books.

Make sure you do have that in front of you, because you are gonna need it open and looking at some scenes today.

Alright, I'm really excited to get started.

Thank you for joining me.

Let's go.

So let's have a look at today's outcome.

By the end of the lesson, you are gonna be able to explain how the use of stage directions and stagecraft can enhance the storytelling of "Leave Taking." So here are three key words that we're gonna keep an eye out for, really important for today's lesson.

The first is stagecraft.

We saw that in our outcome.

And stagecraft is the technical elements of a theatrical production, lighting, sound, set design.

We'll look at this in more detail shortly.

Stage directions, something else we're gonna be looking at shortly, are the instructions that are written into the script of the play, and they indicate the kind of stage actions, the movements of the performers, the production requirements.

And the setting then is a timeframe or location in which a narrative takes place in literature or drama.

So keep your eyes out for these three terms, and see if you can use them in your own discussions and writing today.

Okay, so in today's lesson we are exploring the stagecraft of Winsome Pinnock's "Leave Taking," and there're gonna be two learning cycles today.

In the first part of today is lesson, I'm gonna make sure we really do understand what stagecraft is.

Of course we've briefly talked about this when we looked at keywords, but we're gonna make sure we really understand what stagecraft is before we start to look for it, and think about how it's being used in the play.

So let's start by thinking about what is stagecraft.

So it's really important that when we're analysing a play that we don't forget that plays are meant to be performed on the stage for an audience.

Often when we're sitting in classrooms, or sitting at home reading it, it's quite easy to forget that we are actually supposed to be watching this, not necessarily reading the words on the page.

So what kind of things then does this mean plays might contain that we wouldn't necessarily see in other types of writing, like a novel or a poem? So what else might be in that written text that we wouldn't necessarily see in other types of written text? Why don't you pause the video, think about this question.

If you've got a partner you can discuss with them.

Otherwise you can just think through this independently.

Pause the video, and remember to press play when you are done.

Welcome back.

I heard lots of you zooming in on some of our key words.

So remembering that plays are gonna have stage directions, they're gonna have really specific instructions telling an actor how they should perform particular lines, 'cause, of course, the playwright, yes, they're deciding the words that the characters are saying, but they've also got some kind of idea of how these words, or how they imagine these words should be said.

And these stage directions are really useful for us when we're analysing a text to learn about a character really quickly.

It can help us to understand their attitude, their feelings, and how they develop across the course of a play.

Other things that we could look out for is the stagecraft.

These are the things that have to be considered when we're putting on a play.

If someone is putting on a play, they have to think about how they are going to put it on, the technical aspects of theatrical production.

These could include things like scenic design, set design, lighting, sound, the costumes characters wear.

But again, playwrights are thinking about this as they write their plays.

So they will be thinking of kind of these specifics, the stagecraft, and exploring these through some of their stage directions, often at the very start of the scene.

So the opening of the scene will, you'll often see some kind of more detailed stage directions which will contain some of these technical aspects of stagecraft.

So in today's lesson, we are gonna imagine two of our eight pupils, Aisha and Andeep, are putting on a performance of "Leave Taking" in their school.

And we are gonna be tasked with helping them to make sure they have done a really great job at bringing these characters to life.

So I want you to think then, what kinds of technical things will Aisha and Andeep have to consider when putting on this performance? Again, over to you to think about this one.

So pause the video, think by yourself, or if you've got a partner, share some ideas with them, and press play when you are ready to continue.

Yeah, welcome back.

I wonder if you remembered that keyword stagecraft, like Andeep said.

He said really important to think about the technical aspects of putting on the play, sound, lighting, costume.

I wonder if you also mentioned what Aisha said here, is actually the stage directions, the things that are written into the text, are gonna be really key, 'cause these are some specific instructions for the actors and the directors in thinking about how this play should be performed.

So what kind of things then will they need to take into account as part of the stagecraft of their production? Let's see if you can remember what we have said already.

Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got some ideas.

Yes, well done if you'd said any of the things that you can see on the screen.

The lighting, really important.

Lighting can really affect mood of a play.

The costumes, what characters are wearing, what do the costumes tell us about those characters? Stage design, you know, what does the set look like? What items of furniture are there? What do they tell us about the characters and how they interact with them.

That links to use of props.

So other things on the stage that characters might use, hold, interact.

What does that tell us about the characters? And of course we can have sound and music perhaps, also adding atmosphere, and telling us about the characters, their loves, their feelings, their emotions.

Now Andeep said he really focused on the idea of lighting.

He said harsher lighting can be used when there's conflict and it can really shine a light on the experience of the characters.

So really important that we think about the stagecraft when we're putting on a production.

And also when we're analysing a text, we look at those stage directions, we look at the stagecraft within there and think about the messages that Pinnock was trying to show through the stagecraft and the stage directions, not just the lines that the characters say.

So we start talking about this, we also have to think about the stage directions.

These are specific instructions that have been written into the script by Pinnock.

They give the actors and the director indications of how to perform a particular scene.

So Aisha and Andeep will not make all of this up themselves.

They will not make all of these decisions themselves.

They will have used some of the instructions that Pinnock has given, has written into the script.

So this might be an opportunity to have your copy of the play open.

Remember, you're gonna need the the copy published by Nick Hern Books.

And I want you to see if you can think of a scene, any scene in the play, that you think really benefits from clear stage directions, and how that might help the actors involved.

So you want to pause the video, take a bit of time, flick through, find some of your favourite scenes, and think how have the stage directions, how are they helping and benefiting the actors involved, in helping them understand how to perform these characters? Alright, pause the video.

You can do this independently or you can do this in a pair or a small group.

But let's get those copies of the text open now and see if we can find some interesting scenes.

Over to you.

Press play when you're done.

Welcome back.

I saw some really great work there, so fantastic.

I wonder if you said something similar to Aisha who said at Scene Four, where we learn that Enid is grieving over her mother Mooma's death.

It's really brought to life by the stage directions.

We see that Enid is not answering, and she's draining her drink, really quickly drinking her drink.

And both of these things really help portray the sadness, the grief, that she feels at this part of the play.

If we just looked at the lines that characters were saying, we wouldn't be able to pick up on these things, like that Enid isn't answering, that she isn't talking, and I think that's a really important part of showing Enid's grief.

I wonder if you said something similar, but of course well done if you were looking at other scenes as well.

Alright, let's take a moment to check to see how we're getting on before we continue.

So true or false? Aisha and Andeep will have to make up their own stage directions when putting on a production of "Leave Taking." Is that true or false? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you've got an idea.

And also think about why.

Why did you choose true or why did you choose false.

Press play when you're ready to continue.

Well done if you said false.

Why? Well, although there is room for interpretation, so I could see why somebody said, "Well yeah, of course Aisha and Andeep will have to make up some of the stage directions." We know that there'll be plenty that have been written by Pinnock into the script.

So they're included into the script itself, and there are a really good starting point.

Of course, Aisha and Andeep can bring their own interpretations to this when they are setting their own version of it.

But we should always start by looking at the stage directions that have been suggested that have been written by Pinnock, because of course, as we've said before, the playwright is not just thinking about what they want the characters to say, they're always thinking about how they want their characters to act, how they want them to be presented when they write a script.

Alright, onto our first task of today's lesson, and you are gonna need a copy of the text in front of you.

We're gonna be looking at Scene Two, which is where the pastor visits.

So Aisha and Andeep are considering the stagecraft required for Scene Two.

We're gonna help them do that, and we're gonna start this by annotating each of the below.

So whenever this appears in the text, we are gonna annotate it, and we're gonna think about how these different elements of stagecraft can really bring this scene to life, can enhance the action.

So you're gonna look for the lighting, anything it says about the lighting, anything about stage design, set design, and anything about use of props.

So these are objects on the stage that the characters may interact with.

So, let's remember some of the really key things that happen in this scene.

We know that at first Enid is preparing for the pastor's visit.

We know that Brod complains about his treatment as an alien.

So this is where we find out that Brod doesn't feel like he belongs in Britain.

We know that Viv is discussing her English education.

So Viv, as a second-generation immigrant, born in England, born in London, is talking about her education in England.

And we know there is an argument which finishes with Enid slapping Del.

So here are some key events.

You might want to focus on those, and I want you to find these elements of stagecraft, identify them in the text, and think about why these choices by Pinnock, these suggestions by Pinnock, might enhance the action.

What might we learn further from the stagecraft? Alright, over to you for this one.

Time to get analytical.

Pause the video, and press play when you are done.

Welcome back.

Time for a little bit of feedback now.

We could say so much about this scene, and we only have so much time.

So I'm gonna focus on the lighting, only the lighting.

So you can compare my ideas about lighting to what you've said, but then you can also extrapolate this and think, "Okay, I can see what Mr. Barnes's ideas were on lighting.

Are these similar or different to what I said about other elements of stagecraft as well?" So one thing I said about lighting is that the lighting is warm and dim for Enid's preparation.

It really creates this homely atmosphere.

It reflects Enid's kind of nurturing domestic role, and actually how she wants the the pastor to view her.

But we know that the lighting could be colder and harsher when Brod is delivering his monologue about feeling alienated.

This can be used to highlight his isolation and the frustration, and how he's physically separated him from his family.

We could talk about the intensive flickering lighting during Enid's and Del's argument.

It really heightens this emotional tension.

It represents conflict.

And then we could talk about a spotlight on Enid after slapping Del, really focusing on the guilt that Enid feels.

It can really emphasise the emotional impact of what she's done by raising a hand and hitting her daughter.

I wonder if you said anything similar to what you can see on screen.

And of course, did you say similar things, or did you have different ideas for some of the other elements of stagecraft as well? Why don't you take a moment to pause your video, reflect on what you've done.

If you want to add any more annotations now, now's the time to do it.

Press play when you're ready to move on.

Welcome back.

Now we've thought about what stagecraft is.

We're gonna take a deeper dive into thinking about the stagecraft in "Leave Taking." We started doing that in Task A.

We're gonna go even further in this second learning cycle.

So we know the action of "Leave Taking" take place in Britain, very specifically London, in the 1980s.

But in particular the play has two very distinct settings.

There's Mai's bedsit and there's Enid's flat.

What effect on the play do these two separate locations have do you think? Why don't you pause the video, have a little bit of a think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back.

I wonder if you'd started thinking about how Pinnock uses the stage directions there to show there is a really clear difference between the two settings of the play, and I'm sure lots of you will have will have picked up on that.

Mai's bedsit, we know, is very, very messy.

And this is in contrast to Enid's flat, where we are first told she's cleaning up, she's scrubbing the floor.

Those stage directions show she has it takes a real pride in the presentation of her flat.

And she also makes significant use of lighting and music in the play to develop the key theme.

So let's think about lighting.

So we know that scenes involving Enid after her mother's death are often in partial darkness.

We've talked about this, how this could mirror grief and loss.

But music, we know that Brod and Enid listen to Jamaican dub music, which transports them back to their homeland, to Jamaica, and it makes them reflect nostalgically.

Alright, let's check for a moment.

Stage directions can include which of the following? Music, a character's dialogue, descriptions of a scene's setting, lighting.

What do you think? Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you think you've got an answer.

Well done if you said A, C, and D.

Stage directions can include lots of different elements of the technical stagecraft, music, setting, lighting, but they are not going to include the character's dialogue.

So the stage directions that Pinnock uses are really helpful in giving us indications about the characters.

We've talked about this now.

We should start feeling really sure that we're not just gonna analyse, we're not just gonna analyse the characters words, we're also gonna look at stage directions.

So let's think about these opening stage directions when we meet Mai.

"Mai sits in the armchair.

She wears a cardigan over her dress.

She's slumped in her armchair, drinking from a bottle of stout." What do these stage directions potentially indicate to us, as an audience, about Mai? Pause the video, have a think.

If you've got a partner, you can discuss with them.

Otherwise just think through this independently.

What do you think? Press play when you're ready to continue.

Welcome back.

I wonder if you said something similar to what you can see on the screen.

Maybe she's struggling financially, she's not got the heating on, so she needs to be wearing as many layers as she possibly can.

The fact that she's slumped down in her chair may indicate some form of depression, unhappiness, uneasiness of some kind.

And she's drinking in the day.

Potentially this suggests she has issues with alcohol.

Maybe we can link this back to this idea of depression.

But we can see from this very short section, before we hear anything that Mai says, we can start to make our own interpretations of Mai as a character.

Right, over to you then for our final task in today's lesson.

We're now gonna do the same thing.

Look at some stage directions, this time from Scene Two and Scene Four.

These scenes are kind of either side of Scene Three, which is where we, the audience, and Enid learn about Mooma's death.

Okay, she learns about her mother's death back home in Jamaica.

I want you to think about how these stage directions from the scene before, and the stage directions from the scene after, indicate a change in Enid.

Let's look at the the stage directions from Scene Two.

So this is before Mooma's death.

"Enid's living room.

Evening.

Enid wears her work overalls and is cleaning up, scrubbing at the floor, while Viv, wearing a dress, sits on the sofa, books balance on her lap, making notes." Let's look at the stage directions from Scene Four after Enid has learned about her mother's death.

"Very late that night.

Enid's living room.

Enid sits on the sofa with a drink.

The lights are out, but the room is lit with the lights from outside.

Enid sips her drink." Alright, let's now try and we're gonna put, we're having a discussion here, so if you've got a partner you can discuss with them.

But don't worry, if you're working by yourself, you can either think through this independently, you could even make a few notes, you can write down what you would say if you were having a discussion with someone else.

There's a thought stem here to get you started if you're struggling.

Aisha says, "The stage directions really help highlight Enid's crisis of identity.

." So if you're struggling to get started, use Aisha's sentence stem there.

Alright, let's put together everything that we've learned in today's lesson.

Let's be really analytical.

Let's zoom in on specific elements here of the stage directions, and use these to justify our interpretations.

Alright, I know you can do this.

Pause the video, give it a go, and press play when you are done.

Really well done on that.

Welcome back.

I hope you've realised just how much you can say about stage directions.

I think it's really normal for us to zoom in on the words that the characters are saying, but hopefully you're starting to see here just how much you can say about stage directions as well.

Let's just look at an example of something that Aisha said, and you can compare it to the discussions that you were having.

So Aisha said, "The stage directions really help highlight Enid's crisis of identity.

Initially, Enid seems secure as a hardworking, first-generation immigrant, but her mother's death seems to make her more reflective, choosing to drink late into the night and question her sense of self and her position in society." Alright, take a moment to reflect now by thinking about what specific evidence from the text, from the stage directions, could support Aisha's point further.

Pause the video, have a think, and press play when you are ready to finish today's lesson.

Okay, that's it.

We've reached the end of today's lesson, and you have done a fantastic job as we've been exploring stagecraft in "Leave Taking." We've learned that the technical elements of stagecraft, like lightning, sound, and props can all enhance a play's action.

We've learned that stage directions can reveal character, emotions, and development.

For example, we've seen it in Enid's identity crisis.

We've talked about setting, which is a part of stagecraft, and the contrasting settings of Mai's bedsit and Enid's flat, highlight the key differences between them.

And we've also talked about how lighting and music can emphasise themes of nostalgia, loss, and identity.

Great work today.

Thank you so much for joining me, and I do hope to see you in one of our lessons again in the future.

See you all soon.

Bye-bye.