32 marker live theatre

MRS WILKINSON: 

likes limelight

confident

extra/bubbly

self assures

maternal gigure to billy

lives dream through students

authoratitive

glam and has experinces fame before

--> looking back at her past 

--> regret 

--> she knows all the girls and mums names = lived there for a while = not able to escape? 

children in a frantic manner untiul she says chairs = her authority

--> she enters upstage and walks down to centre stage

--> children run to grab a chair creating a traverse stage = catwalk, the children are her audience

--> audience are foreced to focus on her in HER space

--./ the children look up to her physically and symbolically 

--> she lives the dreams she has through the girls - physically inbetween them also 

''come on at least pretend'' - harsh, condescending/patronsing

                                            - grevelly low pitch

                                            irritation

                                              slow controlled pace

''youre doing'' - reassuring, gentle tone

''fine'' - higher pitch = tricking them

          - faster pace 

harsh on girls,     geordie accent,     LINK: lack of attention from husband. Excuse to pretend: old school musicals

--> left arm reaches up to the sky folllowed by her right - outstretched = sucess, grabbing more power and fame

--> she then covers her face with outstretched fingers revealing herself - like curtains of a stage revealing what's behung/ revealing her true self

--> energy shift represents her becoming her destined true self

--> as tempo and pace of music quickens, so does she

--> her treu persona is allowed to shine through

--> her desire for shpowbiz is fuelling her energy

--> face expressions - eyes = wide, fixed     eyebrows = raised    mouth = exagerated smile    emotion = passion, exhileration, theatre nostalgia

movement : focused + assured, glides back to centrestage

On Friday 9th July, I saw a live recorded production of Billy Elliot recorded live at The Victoria Palace Theatre in 2014, which is directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall.

This play is set in 1984 inCounty Durham, England. The prime minister of the time is Margaret Thatcher and the miners strike is currently happening. 11 year old Billy wants to be a professional dancer when he is older but faces disapproval from his immediate family and friends. This was a brilliant musical production which was both hilarious and heartwarming. The actor Ruthie Henshall plays Mrs Wilkinson, Billy’s Dance teacher. She is an inspirational teacher to Billy, who ignites something in him and she becomes his mentor and a mother figure to him(as sadly his mother has passed). In her first appearance she wows the audience with the song ‘Shine’, in a dance class that Billy appears in accidentally.

Henshall uses her spatial skills to represetn Miss Wilkinson as an authoritative character who the girls repsec and obey. This is demonstrated by her sudden upstage entrance and the way she asserts her dominance on the line, 'chairs'. 

The students rush, diverting from their preivious frantic manner into an ordered line with chairs representing a traverse stage which is Mrs Wilkinso's catwalk. This space allows the students to be her audience and makes the actual audience focu on Henshall highlighting her desire folr fame. 

It also allows Henshall to give detil into Mrs Wilkonson's fame filled past because of the symboloism of the stage and her new audience, so she is seen as a  odel everyone has to go and see. 

The children also physically have to look up to her tp see her and symbolical;ly look up to her and respect what she does for them. You can tell this because of thrir immediate response to her words and everyone anting to do a perfdect job oerhaps. 

Henshall moves from upstage to cemtrestage directl;y in the middle of both rows of girls showing how she is livng her dream through the girls because maybe this is her last change of an escape. 

Henshall uses her vocal skills to portray Mirs Wilkinson is looking out for the girls, protectibg them from negative outcomes of fame she has perhaps experienced. On 'come on at least pretend' she has a harsh and patronsing tone indicating her frsutartion to the girl's lack of prefection and ability alos presenting Mrs Wilkinson as a perfectionist. 

She also has a low and gravelly ptch on this line whilst also extending 'pretend' to trick them and make sure they know what top do n order to succeed. Her sow and controlled pace also fits into that. On 'you're doing fine', Ruthie uses an assured, gentle tone to assure them especially because of the general strike and drama behind the scenes. She is encouraging them and showing performance as an escapism.

The pitch gets higher and pace faster to show she is tricking them possibly showing her worry abvout the situationand the uncertainty of the end result. 

This line mirrors how Miss Wilkinson needs topretend whilst at home because she doesn't get as much attention as she desires so she also turns to prefromace to pretendand feel part of something she always wanted to be e.g. musicals. 

Henshall uses her physical skills to convey that Miss Wilkinson is becoming her more energtic destined form/self through the change in tempo. On ''give em the old'', Hendhall moves her lrft arm up to the sky followed by the right with spread out fingers symbolising her reach forn sucess and more power to eventually benefit the girls and their futres. 

This is followed by her covering her face wih outstretched hands revelaing her ture self like pulling back curtains on a stage to reveal the next chapter/scene. She now doesn't have to fake anymore because she can express er [passiuon and desire freely and it is fueling her and her energy and creative visions. 

The facial expressions Henshall includes are wide, fixed eyes, raised eyebrows, an exageratred smile and emotion s full of nostalgia from the theatre, and exhildreation. This could show that alonsides her passion for working in showbiz with the gitld and training them, shewants a fresh start and to star a new chapter where someone picks her so she doesn't have to watc everyone else leave creating sympathy for her. 

In conclusion, I think Ruthie Henshall was very good in her role.In different ways she used her physical and vocal skills to create a memorable and highly important character. Of course the script and song itself has very humorous and emotional words in the lines but it was the choices that Henshall made that made the character of Mrs Wilkinson so likeable and an inspiration and idol to Billie setting off his career and helping him pursue it.