Here are some of my bullshit notes from 2004. Nah, they're actually ok. Enjoy. Be thankful. Kiss my feet.
Running Up a Dress Breakdown
General Info
-RUAD was written by Suzanne Spunner in 1986.
-RUAD first performed in ‘Home Cooking Theatre Company’ in 1986. The production was entirely created by women.
-6 monologues in the play reveal the woman’s experience, interwoven with several scenes.
-All female cast.
-Much of the material used in RUAD was derived from the answers by a number of women to a questionnaire conducted in the 80s, about sewing and the mothers/daughter relationship.
Comments and Themes
RUAD was written in 1986, a time in which feminism had changed the public perception of the role of the woman, and multiculturalism had significantly changed social and political environments of Australia.
RUAD is a comment on the slow evolution of feminism in Australia with a basis in the ‘glass ceiling’ theory (you can see the ppl above but never get up there with them). RUAD uses positive feminism, encouraging the audience to embrace and accept the role of women in society in the past. In RUAD, the traditional image of the woman is not rejected or discarded but rather celebrated however the play is unequivocally feminist. RUAD in production and in the play itself, is a reaction to the implication of the Sex Discrimination Act that was implemented in 1984, awarding women with ‘equal’ rights.
Reflection of a multicultural society --> challenging public ideology on immigration. Written in Melbourne during 1986, during a boom of Italian immigration to Victoria --> Influenced Spunner. RUAD exposes assimilation --> mother stills speaks Italian, child speaks English…much to mums disgust.
The multi-layered, multi-charactered and short scenes create a perspective of the women’s experience as the dress is being built. 6 monologues give unique/individual perspectives on the experience of growing up and being shaped by their mothers. Each of the six monologues are from different characters of varying nationalities. We witness the differing experiences of these women in Australia as their family either choose to assimilate or oppose it.
RUAD explores the notion of ‘perfect’ and the desire for ‘the ideal’ Australian society embodies. The mother and the daughter are plagued with arguments and circumstantial problems that halts the progress of the construction of the dress. They both have different agendas on what perfect is thus the audience is presented with conflict as they both strive to achieve what they each want.
Teacher: Good better best
Never let it rest
Till your good is better and your better best.
The play is centred on the relationship between the mother and the daughter. The tolerance, the love and the understanding, ‘Daughter: We are bonded together, faster than any seam’. The effect that the mother daughter relationship has on the role of women and their individual quest for identity is explored. The daughters are keen to firstly reject the similarities between themselves and their mothers, however soon realise that they are products of their care. ‘Daughter: My mother made me what I am.’
Visual Metaphors:
The Dress: The dress can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, the dress is an item of clothing that is worn to cover ourself. Protect our nakedness. Dresses are wore by women --> ‘running up a dress’ could be seen as a metaphor for the female experience and the creation of the dress onstage also emphasises the creation of a woman, how mothers can shape their daughters and vice versa. The dressmaker has a view of what the dress will be like, just like the mother knowing what her child will be like.
Mother: I am the mother, she is the child.
Child: What will she make of me? The choice is hers, the possibilities without limit. She must mark out my boundaries, redefine my edges.
The Cloth: She loved me so much before he destroyed me. I am inert, without a vision of my own. I rely on her.
The dress has the capability to become anything (many possibilities), but ultimately becomes one. Similarly, many experiences (positive and negative) shape who we are, out of the possibilities of what we could’ve become.
Theatre Forms/Styles/Staging
Singing/Music: In RUAD, a childhood rhyme occurs in varying forms on four occasions and is an allegory for the connection between generations as many characters from diverse ages sing it. It informs the audience that some things never change; we value our experiences as a youth and appreciate the relationship with our family.
Chant: ‘When Suzy was a baby,
A baby Suzy was! She went:
Wahhhwahhwahhhhwah’
Transformational acting: RUAD utilises Grotowski’s technique of transformational acting and this demonstrates the change in women and their lifestyle over the last thirty years as we encounter over 20 characters played by 2 actors. The actors on stage use characterisation to show the evolution of not only the characters but also the story.
Workshopping: During our study of the play, Emily and I workshopped scenes from RUAD and found that through distinguishing voice and physicality we were able to define the characters from different backgrounds and generations. However this was difficult as the dialogue in the play is fast-paced and fragmented, small passages for each character. During our workshopping we also explored the approaches in staging RUAD. We found that placing the dress centre stage with constant interaction helped the audience identify with the dress being a metaphor for shaping a child. We added to this by placing sashes (each with a word describing an experience on it) over the mannequin wearing the dress, emphasising the experiences help shape us --> a primary theme in RUAD.
