Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96‘Mind the Gap’ was a unique A Level Theatre Studies devised piece planned, written, built, lit and performed by ourselves. When three London born strangers, a 1956 housewife (Frankie), a 1943 air-raid warden (Cameron) and 1985 teenager (Josephine), found themselves on a distorted version of the London Underground, a clash of three of the seven deadly sins (Pride, Lust and Envy) met for a brutal confrontation that revealed dark truths. David illuminated our dystopian vision with a stunning number of lighting changes, far exceeding the examination board’s suggested minimum! Our hand-built set, based on the exact measurements of a London Underground carriage, had 3 sections. The first was the platform (six 4ftx4ft stage rostra in close proximity to the audience) which served not only as a tube platform, but also as a space representing memory. The second was a tube carriage (four 4ftx8ft MDF boards curved at the top acting as a back for two rows of 4ftx4ft rostra) which served as the main playing area. The third was the encompassing darkness created by a black scrim, which never changed but was pivotal to our narrative, referred to constantly by the characters. The characters moved through Purgatory, accompanied by audio tracks (recorded on the Underground and combined with music), going through a moral reckoning based on their respective sins (Pride, Lust & Envy). During the monologues the other two actors became different characters, disguised by wearing masks and stepping down to the platform. They embodied the memories of each character about the sin that led them to Purgatory. A main conflict in the play hinged around the idea that two of the characters did not realise they were dead and in Purgatory. To enhance this, we assisted Mr Wilkins with the design of graphic prosthetics of injuries that were visible to the audience but not acknowledged by our characters until part way through. This heightened the darkness of the piece, inspired by theatre practitioner Antonin Artaud. We aimed to unsettle our audience through the combined means of a disturbing narrative, and a warped music that blended familiar Underground sounds with the dark, foreboding track ‘Face of the Mountain King’. Thank you to our test audiences and final audience for your support of ‘Mind the Gap’. We thoroughly enjoyed the creative process! Francesca Brown, Josephine Hepburn, Cameron Low, David Peters, Gracey Spring, Year 13 a’level TheaTre sTudies performanCe 32 | The CovenTrian