U5 & U6 – Task 3

Brief Overview

The play starts in Berlin 1930s. In Max and Rudy’s house. Max tends to bring home a lot of men after a drink out. However orders were sent to kill a Sturmabteilung man he brings home. After this it turn the two into running fugitives. They are then forced to try and leave Berlin, hiding in a camp for several years Rudy mentions about their plan and get caught. Rudy’s is then beaten to death after Max is ordered to do so by a Nazi. Eventually Max makes it to Dachau concentration camp and he meets Horse who he slowly grows fond of however several problems occur at the concentration camp.

Source:

Article title: Bent (play) – Wikipedia

Website title: En.wikipedia.org

URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bent_(play)

 

Characters

Max – A Gay man. He originally came from a wealthy family but left due to him being homosexual. Quite manly although very promiscuous although he is with Rudy. He also does ‘Deals’ to try and get by for a living. He also acts slightly as Rudy’s guard as well as partner due to Rudy being very naïve.

Rudy – A dancer in Greta’s Nightclub. Lives with Max in their house. However very annoyed about Max as he keeps bringing men home after a good night drinking. Very flamboyant compared to Max the two contrast in a lot of ways. Also has a love for plants as well as dance. He came be very Naïve at times although Max is normally there to help him.

Horst – Originally a doctor he first appears on the train to Dachau concentration cp. originally training to be a doctor he signed a petition before Nazi’s came into power. The petition was to allow gay people rights however Nazi’s found this out and thought it was best to put him in Dachau concentration camp that be a doctor. At the start he appears just to care about himself and staying alive however as time goes on he begins to have feelings towards Max.

 

Context

Era is 1930’s Berlin. At the time of the play Hitler has just came into power as the play goes on people realise he targets gays and Jewish people. This causes people to go into exile, killed or taken to a concentration camp. Berlin is a expensive place to live in a lot of people struggle to get by. For example Greta talks about how she may lose her club and Max and Rudy has debt collectors due to the extortionate prices in Berlin. However despite this the town’s streets are busy and full of buildings and very close together.

Max and Rudy’s House – Small dingy house. Little lighting or dull lighting. Has simple et not much set. This is due to the house being slightly run down and cheap. Possibly a small bit of light from a window as it is set in morning in the scenes in Max and Rudy’s house. Sparsely furnished as mentioned in the script.

Greta’s Club/ Dressing Room – Full of light even a spotlight at one point where Greta sings a song. Loves to be centre of attention and Greta’s club tend to try to as well. With lots of lights in various colours. The dressing room is still pretty well-lit from around the area it is set at night so maybe it will be slightly less lit in the dressing room. For set the dressing room has a small bit of props including all her makeup and cosmetics. Greta also has a dressing table and microphone for when she sings.

Park – Quite simple not too different from any park is set in morning/afternoon so is fairly well lit. Possibly a forest or trees in the park? May suggest forest gobo. The set would simply be a park bench. The pace is spacey as most parks are. However the park could be small too as a suggestion explains for a park it is fairly quiet or just happens to have no pigeons as Max says in the script. For sound effects there may be some birds or wind noises to set the soundscape.

Camp in the forest – This set is for when Max and Rudy go into hiding in the forest. The place is very small and simply a cloth with something to hold it up. The lighting is either very dark or barely lit or can be lit by unnatural lighting.

Train to Dachau – This set would be fairly small and contained. The main reason for this is the people on these trains are on there way to a concentration camp. And generally are filled with lots of people partly to save space and the other reason would most probabaly be that the Nazi’s would want it to unpleasant. Lighting wise this set would be fairly dim especially near the separate cart where Rudy gets beaten as we are hoping to be able to stage some things there and it would make it easier if this part was more dark. for sound effects its quite important on this scene as it will need some sound whistles and typical train track noises etc. For lighting it would probabaly be dimly lit and maybe a rectangle shape? due to the shape of a train however it all depends on staging. Lights would be very unnatural as i picture the train as dirty or with very small/no windows.

Dachau Concentration Camp (Barracks/Diner)  – For this scene it is quite a large place however is filled up with loads of people. The hygiene of the place would be very bad. Also for lighting it would be quite dimly lit or maybe patchy due to the bad lighting/ if any lights would be present in barracks. The lighting will probabaly be quite cold to match the mood of the place. The stage for this scene would just include the table and soup bowl where the capo serves food to the prisoners.

Dachau Concentration Camp – For this scene the main set is the rocks on either side of the stage this is what Max and Horst moves form one is of the stage to the other side. The lightning I am not sure on what the time is for this scene either night or morning? also behind the rocks will be the electrical fence which can now be seen. This fence is fairly big and will be behind black tabs hopefully.

 

Considerations So Far

• (Act 1 Scene 1) Coffee filled or not?
• (Act 1 Scene 1) Plants plastic or real?
• (Act 1 Scene 1) Bruises on Max (Makeup ?)
• (Act 1 Scene 1) Sofa to support standing person
• (Act 1 Scene 1) Wolf – needs wig as is not Blonde ?
• (Act 1 Scene 1) Wolf – Dressing gown needs to be shorter?
• (Act 1 Scene 1) Knocks from wings or sound effects?
• (Act 1 Scene 2) Greta – Dress needs fastens of some sort
• (Act 1 Scene 5) Blood packs and blood capsules?
• (Act 1 Scene 5) Disposable/ breakable glasses?
• (Act 2 Scene 1) Rocks making how?
• (Act 2 Scene 1) Fence proportions? too low? too high? easily taken down?