'Knife' Movement

Act One, Scene Six of LTROI is a defining point; when Oskar meets Eli. It is a special moment and so it could be argued that the simple text followed by Eli’s laughter is not enough for the occasion. Therefore our theatre company has devised a piece of movement centred around Oskar’s stabbing of the tree whereby the Oskar begins by stabbing the tree in a variation of ways and is slowly joined by other actors, also symbolising Oskar as well as Oskar’s anger and fear, in waves who build up as a unit around him, mirroring the movement of Oskar. Ultimately, the movement builds a lot tension and suspense before the two character’s initial meeting as well as disguising Eli’s entrance enhancing the fact that she is swift, fluent and supernatural.

This movement was inspired by a similar piece in the Apollo theatre’s performance of LTROI although was choreographed by our company. Our main concern was hitting the beat as, this along with the synchronisation of the group, we hoped, would achieve an impacting and effective final result. However, at times I believe the movement might be too simple due to its repetitiveness and might be more effective if we spent a little more time choreographing more and/or different steps.