OPHELIA DROWNING SEQUENCE AND ATMOSPHERE

In the rehearsal for this sequence, Sarah taught us a routine that included rolls on the floor and arm reaches with a few lifts that will eventually become the drowning sequence.  As a collective force, all the Hamlets must support Tilly (Ophelia) to create a graceful scene of movement that feels like she is being engulfed yet controlled chaos. It must feel like she is against a force that she's fighting with, but eventually lets go; unable to win. The music will be very poetic as it a piece created with the stimulus of Virginia Woolf.  Virginia Woolf committed suicide by walking into a river with stones in her pocket in Sussex. That sort of tragic feel has to be present. We cannot in anyway glorify it or we're glorifying the likes of Kurt and Viriginias death.

Below are a few stimulus I have been using to get myself into the concept and head space of the piece. The first video being that of a clip from a film about Virginia Woolf committing suicide, while it is rather sad and in many ways perverse to watch these adaptations, it does however provide that feeling of 'I shouldn't be watching this personal moment' feel to it, which is exactly what is important to create. Another clip I'd like to feature is a news report about Jeff Buckley's accidental drowning. There is something so tragic about losing people who could've gone on to do much more like Ophelia, but these people who die young are often seen as martyrs. Ophelia isn't however, she's a victim of the world she's in.

Virginia Woolf Suicide (Film Recreation)

News Report of Buckley's Death

River that Jeff accidentally drowned in.

Similarly with Atmosphere, it has a very. very morbid tone to it. Death is literally watching on during this scene and the audience can visibly see it. Below is the scene from the Ian Curtis biopic 'Control, in which it shows Ians struggle to cope and inevitable plan to kill himself. It shows how heartbreaking life is when you feel worthless. These values are something Hamlet is feeling at this point in the play. It is only when he is greeted by his dads ghost that this changes.

Ian Curtis Control Final Moments Scene