In What Way Does “The Fall” Work In Terms Of Selective Realism And The Four Operations Of The Stage Picture?

In this essay I will talk about the play The Fall, produced by the Baxter Theatre Company in Cape Town, South Africa, and how it works within the style of selective realism and George Savona and Elaine Aston's idea of the four operations of the stage picture. I will explore the ideas of realism and naturalism to give a context for the themes that will be discussed.

To understand selective realism, we must first understand the movements of realism and naturalism.

Both naturalism and realism aim to find drama in the ordinary and tell tales of the everyday. They both appeared around the same time and are often confused with each other, but generally they had the same aim: “to replace the artificial romantic style with accurate depictions of ordinary people in plausible situations.” (Dramaonlinelibrary.com, 2017). Naturalism, however, follows the three dramatic unities of classical plays: unity of action, time and place. Realism is more flexible, and employs the four operations of the stage picture: functionalist, sociometric, atmospheric and symbolic. These two movements came out of a desire to understand the world, at the time of Darwinism, and a greater understanding of natural science- how the world worked and how we ourselves worked on a physical, psychological and biological level.

Elaine Aston and George Savona argue that “the stage picture operates on four distinct, if potentially interdependent, levels” (Aston and Savona, 2013) Their four operations of the stage picture are:

“Functionalist: the needs of the text and the demands of the action or narrative”

“Sociometric: an index of rank and gender”

“Atmospheric: the particular experiential qualities of the fictional place being depicted”

“Symbolic: meaning which can be inferred so that the stage picture stands as a metaphorical condensation of the text's idealogical operation”

(McKinney and Butterworth, 2009)

Selective realism “heightens certain details of action, scenery, and dialogue while omitting others. A realistic world, but the elements have been carefully chosen to underline thematic concerns.” (Quizlet.com, 2017). Selective realism aims to bring balance to each operation of the stage picture.

The Fall tells the story of a group of students in at University of Cape Town, South Africa at the time of the student protests over the removal of the statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes on their campus. The play takes place at a time of change in South Africa: the rejection of colonialism, by both the black population and the beginning of the understanding by the white population. 

The play focuses not on the riots, or the falling of the statue itself- the action of the play is entirely contained around these events. This focus on the bigger picture rather than the flashes of action is a perfect example of realism. “The production was a response by seven drama students and activists of the movements at the time. It does not offer solutions – it merely documents their experiences.” (Royal Court, 2017)

The Fall made comments on boxes and labels. You can't talk about racism without talking about feminism, because black people aren't just black people: they are men and women; gay and straight; cisgender and non-binary, rich and poor. Their common denominator is that they all identify as black- and even that is commented on in the play. How do you “define” as black? How much blackness is required? At what point do you no longer count? Is having white in you enough the transcend the racism barrier, or does it have it's own host of problems, because you fit neatly into neither box?

This is exactly what the realism and naturalism movements aimed to show: normal, relatable, complex people, who are defined by their nature.

None of the operations particularly stand out in the play. All are used in a way that subtly interact with each other to allow the performance and its message to take centre stage. It is not a “minimalism” play, or a “realism” play. It is not important for the story to have an intricate set that perfectly replicates the university meeting room, or the podium on which the statue of Rhodes once stood.

(Cassidy, 2017)

Dictionary.com defines sociometry as “the measurement of attitudes of social acceptance or rejection through expressed preferences among members of a social grouping.” (dictionary.com, 2017) The main theme of The Fall is social status, but it not only comments on the social status of a group as a whole, but their own statuses within that group. The group all identify as black- but this is merely their common denominator. They are male and female; gay and straight; cis-gender and non-binary; rich and poor. This is represented somewhat through costume, but mostly in the way that the characters speak and relate to each other. For example, one woman has a jumper tied around her shoulders- she is more well off than the other characters, considered a higher class. This is also depicted in her mannerisms and her language. She uses less slang than the other characters. Another character, male, has ripped jeans and a bandana around his head. He is hot-headed, aggressive at times, and we find out through the play that he is from a poorer background.

The atmospheric is felt entirely through the use of projected images and song. As mentioned previously, the set is very minimal, and so the audience cannot gauge a sense of place from the set alone. But the play opens with the cast singing in Afrikaans, and several songs and traditional dances are performed throughout the play. It is not through just the use of visuals that a sense of place can be created. In the book Theatre and Performance Design, the author refers to Adrian Curtin' s unpublished essay, in which he argued that scenography isn't merely what the audience sees: “the way we perceive performance is a multi-sensory experience and scenography cannot be fully understood by simply applying “ocularcentric paradigms,” that is, only by looking. Theatre is also a place for hearing and listening” (Collins and Nisbet, 2010)

(Daniel, 2017)

This is heightened further by the use of projection in a particularly poingent scene. There is a scene where the characters talk about the events of the riot, while footage of the riot is projected over them. Although the set is bare, it can only be in Cape Town, South Africa, and can only have been set at the time of the riots. It creates its own sense of place through the performance. It obeys, to the letter, Savona and Aston's requirement to depict the “particular experiential qualities of the fictional place”.

(Festival, 2017)

The symbolic and the functionalist are used in a subtle way. The set design is an excellent example of a purely functionalist set: There are three tables, and that is it. The tables serve as chairs, podiums, barricades, walls- all conjured in the imagination of the audience as the dialogue determined the environment. It serves the demands of the text and no more: the actors need something to sit on, the stage needs movement as the tables are rearranged to signify a change in time and place.

The tables, the walls and the floor are painted with rough, white brushstrokes over black: an obvious symbolic nod to the themes of the play, but effective nonetheless. The use of black and white together is one of the most obvious metaphors in today's society- to the point that it has almost become cliched, if it wasn't still so relevant. Black and white represents right and wrong, good and evil, light and dark. The Fall is the story of black and white: figuratively, of the continuing struggle between right and wrong, and literally, of the struggle between black people and white people.

The Fall uses all four of the operations of the stage picture cleverly to create harmony within the piece. It uses its set and costume designs to compliment the message of the play, in order to tell a story to the audience. As demanded by the definition of selective realism, the play “allow[s] the drama to unfold as if presenting real life.” (Koehler and Koehler, 2017).

Bibliography

Quizlet.com. (2017). Theatre Flashcards | Quizlet. [online] Available at: https://quizlet.com/8510967/theatre-flash-cards/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].

Cassidy, S. (2017). All roads lead to 'The Fall' | The Young Independents. [online] The Young Independents. Available at: https://www.tyi.co.za/entertainment/all-roads-lead-to-the-fall/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].

Royal Court. (2017). The Fall - Royal Court. [online] Available at: https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/the-fall/ [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].

Dramaonlinelibrary.com. (2017). Naturalistic/realistic drama - Drama Online. [online] Available at: http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/genres/naturalistic-realistic-drama-iid-2495 [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].

Aston, E. and Savona, G. (2013). Theatre as Sign System. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

McKinney, J. and Butterworth, P. (2009). The Cambridge introduction to scenography. 3rd ed. cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.159-160.

Collins, J. and Nisbet, A. (2010). Theatre and performance design. London: Routledge. pg. 143

Festival, A. (2017). Assembly Festival | The Fall. [online] Assemblyfestival.com. Available at: https://www.assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/the-fall [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].

Daniel, L. (2017). The Fall | Baxter Theatre Centre. [online] Baxter Theatre Centre. Available at: http://www.baxter.co.za/shows/the-fall-3/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].