Yoshi Oida

Yoshi Oida is someone Ben talks a lot about in rehearsal so to understand why he is so important I thought I needed to do some research. Yoshi Oida is a Japanese actor, director and author. Throughout his career he worked closely with Peter Brook; in 1970 he joined the International Centre of Theatre Research 2 years after moving to France to work with Brook. He has written 3 books-- the floating actor, the invisible actor and the cunning actor.

He believes in finding a rhythm of life and the connection between your body and the world around, being able to exist and notice the world and in turn listening to your bodies impulses to react. There is an exercise which experiments with this in which a group of people would clap together with no one leading, finding a rhythm which eventually begins to build and gain speed and momentum until it reaches a peak by which time you go back to the start and build once again. I think I understand the connection between this mans work and the work we do in rehearsal with side stretch. At the end of the movement when we all come to standing we try and notice the world around us, listening to our bodily impulses, syncing them with the intentions of the whole cast. Building that tension and feeling it rise is a very similar effect to the clapping exercise, when you finally reach a peak- the ha- and without talking or commenting you set up to start all over again.

Both our work in side stretch and the teachings of Yoshi Oida ask us to listen to what our body wants and not matter whether it is right or wrong. Learning to be attentive and sensitive to your surroundings so as to understand what your body is and wants. Developing this and putting it to use when I work with a scene or a character development means learning how to notice my bodies instincts and not deny them so as to keep playing and to keep building the energy and tension within the play.

Taking a walk in Claudia's shoes (literally)

Claudia's costume is where the transformation happens; a costume is named so to indicate that the clothes an actor is wearing are there for 'dressing up' purposes as they exist as another being for however long they are on stage. Claudia's clothing does this for me; and where else to start but with the red shoes. The picture included here are not of the shoes I will be wearing, nor any shoes I believe Claudia would have in her wardrobe, but instead are a very famous pair from 'The Wizard of Oz'. When talking about the power of red shoes you need look no further than this comparison as it holds many of the same explanations as to the power of red shoes. Dorothy's shoes transport her and my shoes transport me- the magical transformation device taking me from a rehearsal room to a cooperate world of business. Walking in the shoes changes a lot about me: my posture, my walk, the way I stand and so using them in the rehearsal room is key so as to connect with them as they become an extension of my foot. Rebecca was described in the New York Times as a dominating figure of business strutting all over the word in 'stiletto heels' and Claudia Roe will be doing just that all across the world we are creating.

The clothing is also a big part of getting into her character because it is a very bold statement and it requires a certain kind of person to pull it off and therefore I have to push everything about her character to literally and metaphorically fill the clothes. Myself and Claudia clearly do not share the same taste in style; a shoulder padded short red dress, leather trousers with a red leotard and an extravagant funeral hat are nowhere to be found in my personal wardrobe. However I think the polar opposite nature of our style helps me. To put this character onstage is daunting, to do as myself is wrong, so to have a costume which allows me to shake off any excess 'olivianess' that I have is essential when I am building a character such as hers.

In the costume parade, when I walked into the workroom wearing my 3 different outfits, there was an audible reception for each which made me a little embarrassed. However things like that are the kind of thing I need to start embracing. A costume is a visual aid to help the audience enter this new realm of business and finance and Claudia's look is one that is made for the soul purpose of standing out. If I am able to work with that I believe a lot of my other insecurities will drift away- when I look in the mirror wearing these outfits, it's not me I see, which means the women onstage is not either giving me the armour I need to be bulletproof against all the nagging doubts I have. The outfit has allowed me to feel like this women the most I ever have so far in this process, so adapting to it and knowing how to work it, will make her come to life. 

Frantic Assembly

When it comes to our physical work, being inspired by the work of people such as Frantic Assembly. will help us as an ensemble to make work that is well structured, imaginative and effective at portraying our story to the audience.

If you take a look at the work in this video you can see that Frantic are able to have a whole cast transition on and offstage with focus and pace without getting in each others way. As a group I believe our ensemble is what will make the play the best it can be. The play will not be made great by a small group of people, it will be made by the whole ensemble working together; it will create a performance that creates this religious cult that existed at Enron. Having a look at the work of a group of young people such as that in the video above, proves to us that it is possible to have discipline whilst still maintaining our creativity and playfulness.

Frantic assembly make a lot of their work in a devising process instead having one person choreograph. They allow their performers to trial an idea and then adapt it until they find a motif, routine or move that they believe works for the company and the project. I think applying this creative approach would work for us but only by using the second half of Frantic's approach which is working within the boundaries of certain rules. Therefore we would be able to create informed work which we had all communicated about, agreeing on the sort of work we were aiming to produce. We are a group with a lot of ideas and a lot of energy, but admittedly sometimes we need guidelines to help the work become less messy so as to give it a clear purpose making it as effective as possible.

Another element that Frantic make use of throughout their process is music. I think the Enron soundtrack has been underestimated in the rehearsal room; it creates atmosphere and energy and yet when we create work I often feel as an ensemble we work against it instead of listening to what it is the track can provide for us. Frantic choose music to help tell their story and I think Ben has done the same. Allowing our work to be informed by the soundtrack is fundimental if we want to tell this story to the best of our ability. Frantic's work centres around creating motifs, sequences and performances that tell a story and entertain an audience the same way a more traditional naturalistic play does. Our music is part of taking our audience to an alternative universe, so letting the music run through us will make all our physcial sequences look so much more well rounded. 

The love affair of Claudia Roe and Mike Alfreds

A lot of the advice I have been given in this process and a lot of the approaches we have taken in rehearsal have reflected the work of Mike Alfreds and thus Claudia's character got a second love affair.

From the start of our process I adopted a Mike Alfred's technique to begin my text work. Alfreds asks his actors to action their scripts so as to bring the text to life This is a page from my last scene in which Claudia sees Jeff for the first time since he fired her; obviously a little awkward. Therefore employing Alfreds' technique of actioning, I came up with 4 objectives for the lines. When working on this scene Charlie and I have been able to work with Alfreds theory of developing the actions into physical gestures. The 4 objectives for this scene all seem to centre around Claudia belittling Skilling and metaphorically saying 'I told you so.' To do this I started playing with these objectives in their extreme forms; with my voice, by pushing it's patronising tone and with my physicality by invading Charlie's personal space, with the confidence that he is so broken that he couldn't push me away. Obviously to an audience these actions look very childish, which to an extent Claudia is in this scene, but with Claudia being Claudia her voice and physicality wouldn't show this so blatantly. However playing with the extremes means I can find a happy medium. Knowing my purpose onstage means I can carry it out better and playing around with my actions and intentions allows me to breath new life into this scene.

Alfreds looks for truthfulness in his work; he does't want his actors to pretend to be he just wants them to be- to live, become and be true to the character to the extent that the line between fiction and non fiction should become blurred. With someone like Claudia, me pretending to be her wouldn't work- I am too different to just make an educated guess. Therefore I need to research and dedicate myself to coming to know and understand her so it is not just a stab in the dark, but a well informed, mature response to the character and the stimulus it produces. For a women that is so self assured, if my portrayal doesn't match her on that level, it will just be unconvincing. For someone of my age and experience to have any hope of playing this character well, I will have to be unrecognisable as myself onstage. 

If you ask someone who Mike Alfreds is, the work they are most likely to know is his book 'Different Every Night'. The title of said book is a fundamental aim for our cast. This play has the potential to be playful and fresh every time we perform- whether in a rehearsal room or for one of our shows in the New Theatre. Being able to be playful with this piece will bring a dimension to the performance that a clean cut show wouldn't- it brings raw energy and excitement which means we could have the same audience every night and they would see a different show. If we can have a mixture of Alfreds ideas about structure, rules, playfulness and truth and we can create a dynamic performance which takes an admittedly messy play and make it into something magical. 

How do you make a tie sexy?

In answer to the aforementioned question- who knows? Although I do know how to answer it a little more succinctly after today's session. To transition from the opening scene into the second scene Ben has asked Sam and I to create a movement sequence to get us from one end of the platform to the other using Skilling's tie. I loved the idea when it was told to me; I think it was something I needed and wanted to transition with because the time in between became a little cloudy as to what to spend it doing. So I was keen to start devising.

Our first block occurred before we had even begun as it would appear that I am unable to undo a tie; apparently of all the skills 17 years of life has taught me, undoing a tie is not one of them. So we had to sort that out initially because I was making the whole thing look sloppy and unprofessional, clearly indicating that it was a student on the stage not a 40 year old business women, who has encountered this situation plenty of times (3 to be exact). Weirdly it shouldn't be an issue, but it was one of those things that frustrated me because Claudia would know and I didn't and it's those gaps that start to make me uncomfortable because the clear differences between myself and my character show and that makes me nervous. Yet I suppose the main thing here is that I learnt to undo a tie so it was no longer a problem. 

Sam and I were able to improvise, create and then consolidate a sequence of moves quite fast, so the material wasn't the thing that needed improvement; it was the emotional impulse and connection we had to the movement. When Ben watched our sequence his direction centred around us trying not to do the moves just because it was choreography, but because of the need these two characters have to do it. Truthfully, the reason Claudia has sex with Jeff isn't because she is romantically invested, it is because she can and she wants to- part of me believes that the only way this women could express any connection with a human being beyond formal obligation was in a sexual way. The world of business- especially for a female in that time- was often one of perpetual sexual connotations and Claudia embraces this; it's not romantic, it's not personal, it just is. Contrasting this we have Skilling who genuinely cares for her, he loves her, enough to leave his wife. We therefore have this chemistry that comes together to make something electric onstage. Therefore we have to inject that energy into this instead of just stepping left, right and doing a little spin. Claudia and Jeff's relationship has iconic elements to it and the energy they share whether founded in sex, business, anger, hatred, competition or pity- they are brimming with animation and if Sam and I can pull that off and truthfully invest in it, it could become a vital source of energy in the play. 

Learning to walk and talk like Claudia Roe - the talk

On the long list of 'things I don't share with Claudia' one of the most obvious ones is that we have completely different accents. Perfecting your vocals for any character is essential, so when it is someone with a different accent you have an even harder job; if my accent isn't convincing then all the other elements that I have built her character with will suddenly share the same quality- amateur and fake. For a women who uses words in such a calculated, effective way, her voice has to have a quality to match. Her voice has to be just as perfect as everything else about her person.

Although I have been rehearsing in an American accent for weeks having an accent coach in to actually tell you what your mouth is doing to make the sounds, irons out an creases in your technique and she was also able to answer the specific questions I had regarding things I couldn't quite get my tongue around. As far as mouth placement for different sounds the key rules I learnt were:

• The Enron cast's new motto- flat, back and wide. These are the three things that describe the mouth and tongue placement for an American accent- flat tongue, speaking from the back of your mouth with you mouth wide open.  When getting into your accent it is a good phrase to repeat over and over so as to adjust your mouth to it's new setting. 
• The l sound used in the American accent is called a dark l. The word 'little' contains both a light and dark l sound, with the first l sound being light and the second dark. That 'ul' sound created at the end of this word is the sort of sound an American accent will use to form the l sound. 
• The t sound is made by placing the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth instead of how a British accent places it, past the front teeth and onto your lips. 

Something a little random that I finally addressed with the accent coach today is one word that I cannot say without turning from a DC accent to a thick New York accent; the word 'divorced.' This word from Claudia's monologue has taken on a life of it's own and I can't help but do it in a New York accent and I have no explanation as to why. However our coach was able to to tell me that when I make the 'or' sound I needed to stretch the top of my mouth instead of keeping it rigid, which makes the sound lighter and rids it of the deeper, grittier tones of my freak New York accent. 

Even though my mouth had been forming these shapes and making those placements for weeks because I didn't know what I was actually doing there were inconsistencies. Claudia's voice has to match the smooth style that you see in every aspect of her character. Everything she does is to draw attention; it's something she needs to function. Her voice has got to be that of a women with command, sex appeal and 40 years worth of knowledge. Her voice will be such an important aspect when trying to convince people that I am that person because if my accent is executed skillfully, I've already won half the battle in my attempt to transform. Now that I have solid roots in the accent I can play and put my stamp on it, knowing that I have a solid foundation I can build on. Layering on all these elements is really starting to make me feel like I can give a convincing, informed performance.  

The REAL Claudia Roe

Jeff, Andy and Ken are all real; this begs the question who the hell is Claudia? If you read up about the play many critics and theatre enthusiasts will talk about the presence of Claudia acting as a foil for Jeff and yet I was curious as to how the detail in her role could be culminated if not based on someone true. My answer came in a surprisingly familiar, blonde, stiletto wearing women named Rebecca Mark.

 My first clue came in the form of a New York Times post from 2006 about the 10 Enron Players and where they landed after the fall. The article described her as 'Enron's flashy ambassador abroad' dominating the world of business in 'stiletto heels and a miniskirt'. The article also said Mark was 'widely reported to have been a rival of Mr. Skilling's to be named chief executive.' And if that wasn't enough proof, there was more. The article also praised Mark for being 'listed on Fortune's annual index of the 50 most powerful women in business'. So then my second clue arose. I was able to find this particular list from 1998 and filling the number 14 spot, just as Claudia did, is Rebecca Mark. The evidence is conclusive: Mark ran the Dabhol Power Company in India and Claudia "just happened" to run the same plant. Mark resigned in August 2000 when it was the clear there was no support left for her within the company. She sold her shares for $82.5 million and was never accused of any wrongdoing when the company fell. And now- she is president of Resource Development Partners who invest in water, energy and agriculture whilst Jeff is still serving his 24 year and 4 month sentence; so by all accounts Ms Mark did get out and she got out just in time.

The hints across 'Enron' leading to this connection are not only really clever and interesting for me to uncover, but oddly rewarding. At the start of this process and the beginning of everyone's character development many of the other central characters had stimulus to work with- they could find pictures, interviews, statements and articles all assisting them build a picture of who and what they're character was and is. Claudia was the anomaly to this rule. By uncovering her all to similar doppelganger, there is a sense that I have answered a whole heap of questions and filled in a piece of the puzzle in terms of my interpretation. Of course my Claudia Roe isn't going to be the same as Rebecca, not only because it is a dramatization and therefore some creative license has been employed, but because I do not want  a carbon copy, most probably because that is not all that entertaining. And yet having this glimpse into who this woman is, where she started, the parallels from her time in Enron and where she is now informs me about a core part of this women I am grappling with to bring to life. 

Dancing our way into the new millennium

When everyone brought in the new millennium I was 5 months old, but creating the party atmosphere needed is something I'm pretty sure a group of 17/18 year olds are capable of.  So what was it like:

From the footage we've been shown and a first hand account from our director about the scale of the celebrations, our understanding is that this was a party to end all parties; and not only that, it was an Enron party. There stamp has to be smeared all over this work; the flashy, classy, crazy atmosphere they built over the years coming together in a huge celebration; a celebration that was worldwide, but an Enron party, that has to top them all.

Ben had asked us to create a series of poses, the kind you would see on the front of a 90s magazine promoting Enron as the new, flash face of business. Using our poses we created a repeated routine, which could translate onstage into a dance. My moves were hand on hip, arms folded, looking over my shoulder, sat on the floor with my legs extended and crossed and standing with one leg kicked up and my hand and arm thrown backwards. All very glamorous, all very fake, all very Claudia. The idea of using poses to choreograph a dance seems a little over the top- hence why it's perfect for Enron. They were all about the image, at every angle picture perfect and so getting the employees to 'dance' in this way immerses us in a culture which was obsessed with the surface value of everything- on the outside everything needed to look perfect; it was what was underneath the surface that no one could see.

And if this wasn't already out of my comfort zone we needed to make Claudia's entrance even bigger to upstage the grandeur already being presented onstage. My entrance will occur on Mani's shoulders and today I was so shaky in the air. Claudia's entrance needs to be poised and controlled and yet what I was doing replicated a wild animal gripping Mani's hands so tight and letting out yelps of fear- so not exactly the aesthetic we were going for. Therefore this is something I definitely need to work on. Like everything else that has stumped me in this process I need to practice it and become comfortable with it before I can perform it successfully. It's the same with this entrance- to me it is so extravagant and embarrassing, but saying that just makes me sound like a broken record. Most of what Claudia does in this play makes me feel this way and it's just got to be something I embrace- not necessarily on a personal level, but in that rehearsal and performance space I have to learn to love it. Again, it's all about creating an illusion of control and beauty, no matter what may be happening underneath, perfect for our particular story.

When I get down onto the floor everyone creates a semi circle around me and performs the dance moves from my sequence. Even though it is something I have just I need to deal with, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous performing in this way. As an actor you want the audiences eyes on you for many different reasons and yet there are moments when they won't be and that provides a safety blanket. Everything in this scene means that I will be observed: the outfit, the entrance, the dance- there is no way of hiding. This idea can be a little daunting. I know that I am essentially being put on show and to become confident with that I need to generate some solid self confidence in what I am doing. Hopefully this will come when we revisit the scene, but today I felt idiotic. However the only reason an audience will see me as an idiot, is because I ooze that negative attitude. For 2 minutes of my life I am going to have to learn to enjoy this sort of limelight. It's a strange juxtaposition- an actress who loves to perform, but who when given the full limelight doesn't want it. Unfortunately what I want doesn't matter; Claudia would want every single persons attention in that room and what Claudia wants she gets.

Gliding and slashing with Claudia Roe

Today we focused on finding the quality of our characters using the eight Laban efforts, which are:

• Wring- heavy, sustained, indirect  
• Press- heavy, sustained, direct
• Flick- light, staccato, indirect
• Dab- light, staccato, direct
• Glide- light, sustained, direct
• Slash- heavy, sustained, indirect
• Float- light, sustained, indirect  
• Punch- heavy, staccato, direct

We experimented with all of the efforts paying attention to the different speeds, weights and direction moving around the space experimenting with both dramatized and naturalistic ways of moving within these rules. There are two that I identified with for Claudia's character:

Movement- glide
This choice was very easy for me to make and yet there are different variations of the gliding motion. One of the first things Ben picked up in the first weeks of this process is that when Claudia moves, she has a purpose; she plans it does and moves to effect someone, so the effect I chose had to be direct. Take Claudia's planned movements and her status and you find a women who refuses to rush for anyone- she moves around when needed but it is in no way hectic; it is always calm, cool and collected, so there comes our sustained motion. Not only does Claudia walk in heels, so automatically walks on her toes, she is the kind of women who would see heavy footedness as something ugly; it would ruin her sleek appearance, so her movements must be light. Gliding to me felt regal and powerful. Moving in this manner is a vote of self confidence in ones self to keep up this upheld, gliding motion. It is this effect that causes Claudia's movement to fit her overall aesthetic.

Voice- punch
Judging Claudia's vocal quality on this scale proved to be harder- I don't actually believe any of them fit completely with her voice. However for moments in the play I believe punch is an effect which can be seen in her voice. Claudia says a lot of horrible things, directly aimed at particular people in the aim of creating the most impact. The line that came to mind was the one we wrote in which was 'you know, your ideas sound just about as successful as your marriage.' It is heavy- after a scene in which Jeff opened up to her she is delivering an insult that is meant to hit Skilling hard. It comes out of nowhere and changes the whole tone of the conversation so you can see a staccato nature in her wit and replies when she is battling for the upper hand in an argument. Plus this line couldn't be delivered to any one else; it was designed and crafted in her brain, it was gift wrapped specially for Skilling and therefore direct. It is line's like these that indicate a punch effort in Claudia's words.

Identifying these are important because it gives you something more visceral to work with. When I move now or deliver a line, I can imagine these actions which will begin to exaggerate and push my character to the extremes that it needs to make a stand in this play. I think having a key word or effect to focus on makes your work more succinct and thoughtful.

My crazy, table jumping, keyboard tapping baby

If this scene was my baby, then I must be a bad mother for bringing it into the world I created today. Today I got the chance to direct the physical sequence that myself and Tat began last term. Due to a recent injury I obtained, I can thoroughly blame the effects of co-codomol for the crazy explosion of ideas that were translated to stage today.

My ideas began with Ben giving me a track to listen to over the break so I could start forming some plans in my head.

The track he gave me was: Knife Party & Tom Morello - Battle Sirens

I fell in love with the track, listening to it profusely as it became the stimulus from which all my plans began to form. Mix that with Ben's ideas and perhaps we have an explanation for what we created today.

Stage 1- For approximately the first 30 seconds the track builds up to the initial beat change. In my head I saw the energy and atmosphere of the world come seeping in as the audience waits for the track to kick in. As Skilling is already positioned onstage I would like him to take the time to look out over the balcony, imagining the Enron he will create and in the next minutes, those thoughts that only he is privy to at the start begin to appear before the audience's eyes- it is like watching Skilling's dreamworld come to life.

Stage 2- When the beat changes, a perfect cue for the explosion of Skilling's dreams to appear on stage presents itself. As our tables are on wheels I envision the ensemble entering in groups with people sat typing on the table and being pushed on by people talking on the phone. Each time the beat hits consecutively in that beginning section a new table enters and they line up: one upstage right, one centre and one downstage left.

Stage 3- In the following crescendo, the people sat down will clear the tables and leave room for the ensemble to take turns jumping over the tables, running across the stage, making the feel of the scene be one of the world being these people's playground. The tension will build as they jump and they will make one final jump into position onstage in preparation for the next section when the crescendo comes to it's conclusion.

Stage 4- There is then just over a 20 second period of time in which people can exit to get props, set tables in new positions and move across the stage in preparation for the main section of the track and indeed the piece.

Stage 5- The track's chorus kicks in and for 45 seconds the ensemble have a period of time in which to perform devised motifs they have created for their individual element. They will use it to interact with each other, move across the space in a direct, structured fashion, responding to the music and their surrounding, attempting to paint a picture of the world Skilling has created.

Stage 6- With Skilling at the front of the stage leading the ensemble and Claudia on the balcony looking on in dismay and bewilderment, Skilling and the ensemble track the sun moving across the sky right to left as time passes- 2 years complied into 30 seconds of the lull in music.

Stage 7- when the lull in music is finally interrupted everyone breaks the trance and in this last section of the music everyone has a different job onstage: the table pushers line up the 3 tables and make a walkway for Skilling to walk along from stage right to left, his very own walk way. As he reaches a new table the previous one will push around to the front of the line so the walkway continues across the stage until they reach the other side at which point they set up the tables in a triangle formation ready for scene 7. Once the tables are set and secured one person will bring a chair on from the wings so Sam can jump down and sit cuing the end of the track. Whilst this is happening the back of the stage is full of the busy officer workers which Claudia will navigate through to come to arrive in Skilling's office. By the end of the track the stage should be clear with just Jeff and Claudia ready for the next scene.

And thus Skilling's world is brought to life. What I wanted from this piece is a combination of style and raw energy- I want the theatre to come to life; the audience thought the play was mad and now they think it's scary in it's lunacy. Skilling is this ball of energy bursting onto the scene at Enron creating this new world of business. I want all that energy we see trapped inside realised in this piece to create this landscape that is frightening for an outsider to walk into which we see in Claudia's entrance. It's great to be able to get creative with these scenes because in the same way Skilling see's his world come to life, I got to see my ideas carried out by the ensemble. If this scene is polished and technicalities addressed it could be a moment in the play which captures the vibe Enron produced in the 1990s and the one it built it's name on.

Let the games begin

The cast have been competing in a series of challenges to work on the competitive nature we see at Enron. We have done the research, now it is about working out how it feels for us individually and for us as a group of people and the effect we all have on each other. We can then take the ideologies we discover and the atmosphere we create and feed it into our work.

The first challenge was the plank challenge. Admittedly when Ben mentioned the idea I was not a massive fan, probably because I knew it was a competition I couldn't win; and if there is one thing that Claudia and I share it is an (occasionally) unhealthy competitive nature. Looking around the room at the physically fit company I was in, I entered this particular challenge with a bleak outlook. My prediction came true; although I was determined not to be the first person to drop I was within the first 10; a disgraceful performance, but when my other competitors began to fall shortly after and I observed the array of talent left, I could see that I would never have stood a chance. Ben then asked those of us not competing to pick someone to support. With Iris being the only girl left at this point, us 5 girls stuck together and all got behind her. We cheered and offered encouragement (possibly some threats), anything to keep her up. Eventually, not even our words of wisdom could battle gravity for Iris and she dropped out in a very respectable 3rd place. So then it was down to Courtney and Vlad and I took my chances with Courtney. Now there were about 11 people surrounding each boy, screaming at them to keep going and screaming at the others to give up. Accusations of cheating were flying around the room and any underhand tactics were allowed, as long as the other team didn't catch you. Although I did not win, Courtney did and that was as close to winning as I was going to get with the challenge.

Why was getting a group of students to plank, scream at each other and take on the character of a dance mum helpful in our character development? Because it showed us everything someone needs to ignite their competitive nature. Entering the challenge with my mind set meant I was definitely going to lose. If you don't have faith in yourself to win, then what's the point in even trying; you are your own worst enemy. That teaches us many things: we must have confidence in other characters- 'I believed in Enron'- we have to believe that this company is going to work, even though we know the ending we must believe in those moments that we are working for a company that is godlike and untouchable; it is what will make the story work for us and the audience, we must have confidence in ourselves to pull of these characters, which on a personal level means letting go of inhibitions and doubts because they are going to become the very thing holding me back and finally we must believe in the piece- we want this piece to be the best? Then we have to believe it is. This challenge also revealed a nature in all of us that we can all channel in the creation of the play and our characters- we are animals, competition is our nature, it is a survival instinct and to survive in the business world you must tap into that. I have nothing against Vlad and yet some of what I was saying to try and persuade him to drop just so I could win, is unacceptable, explained only by the need I felt to be on the winning team. It is instinctual, beneficial, egotistical and it feels good. The joy and excitement Enron generated was by making people believe they were winners. We need to know what that feels like and on a deeper level what we sacrificed to achieve it. The importance of winning is something Claudia and the company share and this exercise allowed me to access the recesses of my body and mind that crave this like a drug which is hopefully something I can refer to as stimulus.

Our second competition was a devising challenge which was something I was more confident walking into. The team leaders: Tat and I, Alfie and Amber and Sam and Charlie. We were given a group to direct in a physical sequence to appear at the end of scene 6; a pinnacle moment in our physical timeline seeing as this was written in by the playwright. Tatenda and I used the phrase organised chaos as our inspiration: its mad and crazy but ordered and precise. The world Enron created was bizarre to the outside eye and the audience should feel that, but the companies work was slick which was why they continued as long as they did, so the combination of the two was what we wanted to bring. We worked with 2 tables and 3 props- paper, phones and keyboards. The paper was dropped, but then promptly picked up by someone following, a phone was picked up thrown around the group and then someone would stand still take the call and then carry on and keyboard leads were used to walk the employees like dogs and then they got up and continued to type; so to reiterate, hectic but stylish. I am happy to report that our team won and I'm sure Claudia and Lay would be very proud. Although, on a level similar to the plank challenge this allowed me to experience what it is to spend energy and get a reward for it and it fed that element in me that wanted Claudia to beat the group led by 2 Skilling's.

Bad day at the office

Today was not a good day. We did some good rehearsing for a time, but this will be recorded as the Enron cast's bad day.

We worked through two scenes today so I'll start with that. Firstly Sam, Tat, Kai and I worked with Ben on the split scene which was a really interesting dynamic to work with. Working in a split scene is a test of concentration and is a demonstration of how well you can build and invest in your world. Kai and Sam share a scene that is very active and upbeat, a scene of high energy and light humour. Sam and Kai's scene is the kind of scene I find myself wanting to watch when I'm not speaking; I find myself taking a glance at them working because they are producing work that is enticing, fun and witty and so naturally you are drawn in. However, I am not their audience in that scene- to me they do not exist in that moment. My scene is about Claudia and Lay sharing a mother and daughter moment, which contrasts the nature of Jeff and Andy's scene, but my investment in my world will be paramount not only in building a good character and relationship in this scene, but helping the audience stay on track in this duel scene and matching the work of the boys on the floor.

I love this scene because it is the first time we see a flip side to Claudia's character. We see a more vulnerable person, a childlike side being bought out by this mothering figure of Lay. Working alongside Lay in our first private scene is a pure joy and something I feel is important to record and talk about because it was the light of a dark day. Tatenda oozes a regal, commanding vibe which creates such a rich atmosphere, yet in this scene Claudia is deliberately contrasting this because she is having a tantrum- if she can't be happy, neither can anyone else. The clash of these two natures in this scene is how we will create sparks which will contrast, but hopefully match the energy the boys bring on the floor. My concerns about this scene currently reside in the feat of making our scene as entertaining as Skilling and Fastow's. The natural comedy Kai brings to his role is so entertaining, so then to be the one to bring a downer on the whole scene; I almost want to tell Claudia to get a grip and shut up so we can all focus on Fastow in that moment. However what I need to remember is that Claudia has been genuinely hurt at this point: her dreams have been shattered, she feels betrayed and worthless and this is her acting out. Our section of the scene may not be lighthearted or go down in the history as the most comical and yet the entertainment and drama will come from the relationship myself and Tat form onstage, fuelled by the raw necessity our characters feel to get their point across. It will be an interesting combination to watch onstage and as Claud and Lay always follow the boys, we have to match their energy and intensity by investing in our world as much as they do. It creates that competitive fight that Enron is all about: to be heard, to be on top, to be the best.

The second scene we blocked today was the analyst scene. You could say the extent of Claudia's role in this scene is opening the doors and that's it, job done, but what I got to do here was watch. There aren't many plays and rehearsals in which when you are told to 'just watch' that you enjoy it- it isn't the meatiest task to be given, but I really enjoyed just experiencing this world that is being pieced together each week as we work. I was observing in two minds: number one as Olivia, getting to revel in the excitement that this world gives me, for me as an actress, it's like being a child at Christmas; it comes around every year and yet each time you get just as excited. Then I observe as Claudia, bitter and begrudging of Skilling as he obtains everything I wanted. Both gives me emotional stimulus in my gut which is something I want to carry through into the next scenes, an energy that I hope will translate onstage and inject passion into my following scenes which is informed entirely by the stimulus of the world and the character.

And now for the elephant in the room- why was the rehearsal so bad? If you took into account how personally productive I found it, it would appear to be a very successful rehearsal, but here's the catch. Forgetting the details of the incident, today our ensemble forgot the core thing holding us together; we are a unit, a family and when we decide to turn on one another, we lose a relationship and connection that we have all seen grow and form over the weeks. And it was really sad to see that in question today. Our rehearsal finished today with Ben reminding us that if we repeat what happened today, we will let him, ourselves and each other down. What he said to us today was harsh but it needed to be said- at the end of the day as a group of people, we are responsible for each other's actions. This is a unit reliant on communication, care and trust- without that we are left with nothing. If we forget that these people are our family for the next 5 months, not just out of necessity, but because we are coming to know and love people we have not been able to interact with previously, we will lose a component that makes this all so magical. That bond is so precious, so special and yet fragile- one person could destroy that and without it we lose a spark that lights up this whole piece. Having a bad day today is okay, as long as we move forward heeding the words that have been spoken and making an internal promise to sort it out- there is no other way if we want this piece to come to fruition.

Let's Trade

Today was a learning curve- both in our development in creating the world and our creation of the physical aspects to the piece. Today we devised the physical sequence for the trader scene which threw us into the hectic mess that is the trading floor seen at Enron. This video explains what the traders at Enron were like:

“No one was more aggressive than the traders.” 

“If I step on somebodies throat on the way that doubles it, well I’ll stomp on the guy’s throat.”

“A new economic religion.”

Sources like this were really helpful when informing our work today. We had to get to grips with the violent necessity of the work these men and women carried out, whilst depicting the sacred ritual which existed on the trading floors of this major cooperation. It is moments like this in the play that will make or break the atmosphere of the world we create which will have a huge impact on whether we are able to immerse the audience in the story. If we can make our physical representations truthful and slick then we will be able to represent this sector of the business well and yet if we allow it to become sloppy and uninformed, the piece as a whole will become less mature, which will destroy this piece entirely. To make this play not just good but great, we need to bring a level of maturity and understanding that perhaps would not be expected of a group of students. We have no hope of understanding the business world from personal experience, so our research and dedication to the facts and artistry of the reality we are representing in our 'fictional' story, is of the utmost importance. 

To find truthful physical stimulus you need look no further than the trading floors and their abundance of hand signals used constantly to communicate with one and other. This video shows some of the many signals used:

I also made reference to this article in my research: Trading Pit's Hand Signals

Both of these show us the aggression and specific movement we need to channel in our physical sequence for the trader scene. From today's rehearsal I believe the key to this scene will be the confidence in what we are doing with our hands and bodies. As I am not going to be in the sequence today my main job was to watch and feedback to the group what it looked like. When we started it looked like a complete mess, but that was to be expected and with a scene (and indeed a play) like this it isn't so bad to have some of the components a little rough around the edges. However there's messy and then there was what we were producing at the start of today's rehearsal. The problem was that people had taken a glance at a video or picture of trading pit hand signals and then just made up their own movements. For this scene to be effective we need to know what we are doing with our hands, otherwise it is really obvious that the movement is not founded in truth and therefore the audience won't get on board. This piece could be a high energy, interactive moment which would pull the audience directly into our world; that is, if we know what we're dragging them into. After today's rehearsal it is clear that as a company we need to go away and do some thorough research on this part of our world and come back all on the same level of knowledge so as to make this movement and our world not a stab in the dark at what we think it would be like, but knowing exactly what went on in these chaotic trading floors.

Another element that will push this scene to be better is our ability to connect with the music we are using. The track is going to be one of the biggest aids when bringing the atmosphere of the trading floor to life, but I think as a group because we have focused so much on getting to grips with the movement, we forget that it won't work if it doesn't compliment the track we are using. I think as a general target, we all need to start to let the soundtrack of the whole play effect us, in the same way the text does. It is a key component to the piece and we need to start using it to enhance and develop our actions onstage. 

Side Stretch

It seems that side stretch is fast becoming part of the ritual of the Enron rehearsal room. Recording and understanding the significance of this warm up is important so as to make it something I do for a specific purpose and not just as a passive movement.

Step 1

Step 1:  we walk around the room and when we feel the need to we: stand still with your legs wide, raise your arms above your head and arch your neck backwards releasing your breath on an 'ah'. This should open you up both physically and to the space you are working in, making you focused and aware.

Step 2- when we have completed step 1 enough times to become sufficiently focus we assume the warrior pose in a space in the room. The aim is to connect with invisible lines that run through the space, our body and the atmosphere. Remaining silently strong and focused whilst waiting for others to assume this position allows the energy you gained from step 1 to be transferred and maintained.

Step 3- when everyone has completed steps 1 and 2 a person in the ensemble calls whether we are going right or left first and then we go right to left with our arms 8 times. Keeping the lines in your arms and counting aloud normally creates an atmospheric environment in the room.

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 4- after you reach your final 8 count, you twist your hips to face the direction of the last count lifting your hands into a diagonal parallel, an extension which should coincide with the line your legs are making. If you went from your toes to your fingers you should be able to draw a diagonal line.

Step 5- keeping your arms in parallel you slowly bend at the waist so your hands come down to position themselves one hand on either side of your front foot.

Step 6- stepping your front foot back you come into a plank position which then leads you into a press-up aiming to keep the transition from each movement as smooth and controlled as possible.

Step 5

Step 6 

Step 7

Step 7- after your press-up you move your arm nearest to the back of the room under your torso and use this motion to roll the opposite way onto your back so you are laying flat.

Step 8- slowly raise your arms and legs at the same time with your ankles and wrists crossed over each other with the aim to crunch your abdominal so you can see through the hole in your legs. Breathing is key in this position and you should hold this position until the room generally decides to lower back down to flat.

Step 9- after taking a moment to regain a normal rhythm of breath, roll back over onto your front and push yourself up into the sphinx position. When there, rotate your head slowly from left to right trying to take in everything you can see and sense in the room.

Step 8 

Step 9 

 

Step 10 

Step 10- after completing step 9 lower back down to flat. Then push your bum up and back so it comes to rest on your heels whilst extending your arms out into prayer position. Take a moment here to breath as if through your toes and experience the difference in breath when in this position.

Step 11- after time in position 10 flip your palms to face upwards and drag them backwards lifting the top half of your body up into kneeling. Take a moment here to rest and slowly feel the rotation of your body; your breath, physicality and mentality and when you feel the urge to stand and finish the rotation, come to stand in neutral, exuding energy towards the horizon.

Step 12- once everyone has come to the end of step 11 the room should be alive with the energy the actors are giving out. The focus should have peaked in this moment. Then our director will shout 'HA' and we jump back into warrior pose. The aim is to say and move on the 'HA' as if simultaneously without delay.

Step 11 

Step 12/1 

The aim of side stretch is to obtain the energy and focus that our rehearsals require. Taking a moment to get in tune with our bodies and minds sets us up for a good rehearsal full of positive energy and creativity. Side stretch should become not a serious of steps but a flowing transition, not separating any movement, but allowing them to become one move. It shouldn't be performed, but experienced and lived and it is important that if it doesn't work for one rehearsal with time and practice the exercise will become an easy entry point into the alive, constantly moving world of the play.

THAT Scene pt.2

Sam and I came in this Friday to work on Scene 2- the one which we tried and failed to work on this Wednesday. Ben was correct; it was definitely something me and Sam needed time alone to work out. The first time we attempted to block the scene, we couldn't take it seriously for more than 1 second; but that is what we expected. After that we took about 10 minutes to sit and laugh about this as Sam and Olivia and then continued, attempting to work as Jeff and Claudia, and if not at that level just yet, as a more professional version of ourselves. We still had awkward  moments and things we had to address that neither of us particularly wanted to mention, but eventually we were able to get comfortable with the scene and were ready to show it to Ben. Ironically for two people that didn't feel particularly comfortable with the scene, to be told that we'd done too much, was amusing. However in a way I'm glad we did because now I know that I don't have to go so far and so whatever happens now, can't be any worse. I think it is one of those things that once we get further on in the process, will be a moment that is so irrelevant in the grand scheme of things, that the fact that it made me uncomfortable will be laughable. However for now I am happy with how it is and I do feel much more comfortable with the whole thing which is important. 

I wanted this role because it was challenging and this tests that- it asks me to ask myself if I was prepared for that? The answer: perhaps I didn't know the specific challenges, but I'm ready to tackle them as they come. Although writing this now it seems as if my professionalism and willingness to give myself over to the character and the process is slim to none, but those feelings are just personal thought processes and the truth is that she is pushing me so far out of my comfort zone, but that is exactly why I wanted the chance to play her. Every day I'm slowly realising that a women that I saw as my foil is someone that I enjoy coming to know. As I come to develop an understanding of her mind, body and soul I see that she has so much depth and texture and she makes me so happy and excited to play. This is difficult, there is no contesting that, and yet it is moments like this, moments in which I feel so uncomfortable, that my inspiration to make the scene work has to come from outside of my own head; it's her I want to make it work for. It is a connection to a character that is proving to be so compelling and it is wonderful to sit here and begin to reflect on work that I would never have believed possible for me to do and the fact is I haven't done anything yet! I have mentioned many times now that the power of the play is that through the creation of these characters you come to love them and develop a sympathy for them and that is so true; Claudia is effecting me and I am coming to love a women that I logically having nothing in common with, a concept that is so thrilling for me as an actress.

THAT scene

Today's rehearsal's main focus for myself and Sam was Act 1 Scene 2 aka. the sex scene. Although the sex lasts for a matter of seconds and does not carry with it any romantic weight, for both myself and Sam taking the leap of faith and getting inside Jeff and Claudia's heads instead of our own was a little daunting.

Ever since reading the play we all knew that if we were successful in obtaining the roles we wanted, we would have to do this scene and at the time the prospect of a new challenge was enticing. However when you get told that your partner in said scene is your best friend, pros and cons start to appear. The pros; that I am comfortable with Sam and am able to be both physically and emotionally vulnerable with him, the cons; are self explanatory. Something like this divides the process and initiative of you as a student and as someone who wants to work professionally. Even recording this seems a little strange because in an ideal world it would be something that you could just get on with and wouldn't need to express any concern about and yet the reality was a little different. Our attempt at staging this scene today was fuelled less with professionalism and more with giggles. We decided with our director that this was something myself and Sam needed to work out for ourselves as admittedly it was an intimate, personal battle that we both had to conquer. This Friday we are going to try and stage it ourselves, get comfortable with the scene and then feed it back to Ben when it was at a stage in which we have overcome the initial barriers.

The rest of the scene was more successful in terms of our approach to the work. Similarly to last lesson, I was able to experience and experiment with the power Claudia holds at the start of the play and I think it is more enjoyable when a scene is one on one. When you are holding a whole group of people in the palm of our hand, of course you technically have "more" power and yet being able to focus all of your efforts on one person allows you to really hone in on what makes them squirm and therefore directly effect them and have more of an impact over all. When I wrote my first impressions of the play I talked about being complicit to the criminal actions as a reader or audience member throughout the play as we come to know and love the characters. I am starting to understand this concept at a more personal level. Although Claudia and I do not have much in common, I believe that we both enjoy exerting our power over others. There is an almost animalistic instinct to it, with power making you feel safe and untouchable, plus a basic human desire to be needed by someone or to control someone lies in the enjoyment I get out of these scenes. This scene is really fun to play around with because Jeff and Claudia seem to be in two very different states of mind; Jeff about to tell Claudia that he loves her and Claudia telling him (in not so many words) that this is just a bit of fun and doesn't really mean anything to her at all. Claudia seems to have a fundamental set of standards in her life, a scale in which she ranks everything in her life; power and control topping the list, adoration and sexuality possibly in the middle with sex and Jeff being at the bottom. Playing around with this mentality is so fun because as an actor she allows you to be bold onstage without the burden of emotional consequences- it's all just a game.

We also blocked Act 1 Scene 3 with Tatenda which was interesting to do directly after scene 2. In the space of a few paces across the stage I need to find a way to switch from playful, fun Claudia to the bitchy business women we see appear in the next scene. I think the change comes with the necessity of the power play; in Scene 2 she asserts power because she can, in Scene 3 she does it because she needs to. Ben wants me and Sam to start playing with our onstage 'battle' physically; actually pushing each other out off the way and stepping forward to make our point. This is a method which give us an initial grip on the intentions of the scene and we will then go on to find the subtleties later on. Something I'm loving in rehearsals is that with Claudia I can play a scene which is alluring and playful and then go straight into a scene of aggression and raw energy which keeps me on my toes and doesn't let me stop working. She is presenting me with a character which offers a spectrum of personal and extended relations and for me to work with, is proving it be immense fun. Although having fun isn't necessarily the priority in a rehearsal room I think for a play which requires such concentration and energy, the moment you loose fun, you've lost the magic of the whole piece.

And the Messiah came forth to the boozy office party

In today's rehearsal we started with the first scene; the office party. Before we started actively devising we needed to establish what an office party at Enron would be like; formal or informal? Classy or dirty? Polite or trashy? My answer would be both, entirely both. I believe that Enron was allowed to run for as long as it did because it had two natures, both completely true and both officially recognised. It had its lighter side; the side presented to the general public and investors formally, installing them as a secure, believable and profitable company. And their darker side; the side shown more in the play, the one that got them their reputation for partying and crazy antics (mostly of the books) and essentially the one that stained their other half. Enron were both. Perhaps the problem is you can't be both, you can't have everything. And yet at the start, Enron did have everything, so the start of the play can reflect this duality when it worked at its best.

Physicalizing this scene did not come as a surprise as we all expected much of the ensemble parts of the play to be in that style; plus I believe Enron's physical style was a reason why many people were attracted to it and so we were all keen to start working in this way. To start off our devising we were introduced to something called push hands. This consists of the hand, fingers and wrist being the only physical point of contact between two people. We experimented with movement across the space and the interaction with our partners whilst maintaining this point of contact. We then layered this with the context of an office party introducing a key component of that sort of event; drink. We started to give our experimentation purpose, finding ways to drink our own or our partners drink whilst keeping our hands attached. What I found with this exercise was that our movement became very ritualistic with the sharing of drinks being a sacred act which made us all commit both with our partners and with the whole group. This created a place in which drinking and partying were a core component of our lives, thus tapping into a key part of the Enron lifestyle. Taking something considered casual and impersonal and giving it platform to which we all turn and worship creates this feeling of Enron as a cult which added a dynamic layer to our work. 

We then created a secret handshake sequence in pairs which reflected the authoritative almost elitist feel of the him hands exercise with the whole ensemble taking pride and joy in the fact that no one but their partner knew the sequence. This pompous vibe is created by the people at the party feeling like they are part of the club. Having the confidence in our performance and movement will heighten this because if we believe that we are somehow special with the piece being completely about the personal involvement with the others in the room, almost ignoring the audience and Fastow with anyone who is not an insider being immediately cast out setting up this company as a ruling factor of the 1990s social scene. Now one else could compete because no one else knew how, in the same way no one could join this movement piece because they wouldn't be admitted by the general ensemble.

My favourite part of today's rehearsal was blocking the entrance of Roe and Lay simply because I was given power and could exercise it as I pleased, a prospect which seemed to speak to Claudia in me. If the ensemble is a cult, Roe and Lay enter as their leader or as their Messiah. We created two lines of people so myself and Tatenda could walk in the middle. Having the power to ignore or engage, to touch or deny, was intoxicating and strangely enjoyable. You know the effect you can have on someone and yet it is your choice whether to engage it that persons life. We then added in water bottles to fit with the style of the opening. Myself and Tatenda were able to choose whether to drink someones water or not. The most memorable moment of this exercise was leaning down to someones water as if to drink it but then just simply kissing the top of the bottle. Reflecting on it it all seems a little strange but in that moment two people become magnets; either fully connected or one repelling the other. I think this exercise has given one of the first real insights into the adoration the world had for Roe. She has so much power and responsibility and it is that exact thing that allows her to be so careless and cut throat with her peers. Its cruel... and I loved it. 

The non-fiction version of Enron

Although Enron is a fictional play it is rooted in the truth of what happened at the company. Understanding the chronology of events at Enron in parallel to our story is important because we need to honour and reflect the dealings that went on at the business. 

This is a timeline leading up to Enron's fall taken from the New York Times on which I have highlighted the key dates that I believe are important to know for the play:

1985 - Houston Natural Gas merges with InterNorth to form Enron, HNG CEO Kenneth Lay becomes CEO of combined company the following year.

1989 - Enron begins trading natural gas commodities.

1990 - Lay hires Jeffrey Skilling to lead the company's effort to focus on commodities trading in the deregulated markets. Andrew S. Fastow is one of Skilling's first hires later that year.

1991 - Richard Causey leaves Arthur Andersen LLP to join Enron as assistant controller.

1997 - Skilling named president and chief operating officer of Enron. Fastow creates Chewco, a partnership, to buy the University of California pension fund's stake in another joint venture dubbed JEDI, but Chewco doesn't meet requirements to be kept off Enron's balance sheet. First step toward similar financial moves to hide debt and inflate profits that fuel Enron's downfall.

1998 - Fastow named finance chief.

1999- Causey named chief accounting officer. Fastow creates the first of two partnerships, LJM, purported to "buy" poorly performing Enron assets and hedge risky investments but really helps the company hide debt and inflate profits. Enron directors approve Fastow's plan that he run the partnerships that do deals with Enron while continuing as Enron's finance chief. Causey and former chief risk officer Rick Buy assigned to monitor such deals to protect Enron's interests.

August 2000 - Enron shares reach high of $90.

December 2000 - Enron announces that Skilling, then president and chief operating officer, will succeed Kenneth Lay as CEO in February 2001. Lay will remain as chairman. Stock hits 52-week high of $84.87.

2001:

Aug. 14 - Skilling resigns; Lay named CEO again.

Aug. 22 - Finance executive Sherron Watkins meets privately with Lay to discuss concerns of murky finance and accounting that could ruin the company.

Oct. 16 - Enron announces $638 million in third-quarter losses and a $1.2 billion reduction in shareholder equity stemming from writeoffs related to failed broadband and water trading ventures as well as unwinding of so-called Raptors, or fragile entities backed by falling Enron stock created to hedge inflated asset values and keep hundreds of millions of dollars in debt off the energy company's books.

Oct. 19 - Securities and Exchange Commission launches inquiry into Enron finances.

Oct. 22 - Enron acknowledges SEC inquiry into a possible conflict of interest related to the company's dealings with Fastow's partnerships. Lay says, "We will cooperate fully with the SEC and look forward to the opportunity to put any concern about these transactions to rest."

Oct. 23 - Lay professes confidence in Fastow to analysts.

Oct. 24 - Fastow ousted.

Nov. 5 - Enron treasurer Ben Glisan Jr. and in-house attorney Kristina Mordaunt fired for investing in Fastow-run partnership.

Each invested $5,800 in 2001 and received a $1 million return a few weeks later.

Nov. 8 - Enron files documents with SEC revising its financial statements for previous five years to account for $586 million in losses.

Nov. 9 - Dynegy Inc. announces an agreement to buy Enron for more than $8 billion in stock.

Nov. 19 - Enron restates its third-quarter earnings and discloses a $690 million debt is due Nov. 27.

Nov. 28 - Enron stock plunges below $1 as Dynegy Inc. aborts its plan to buy its former rival.

Dec. 2 - Enron goes bankrupt, thousands of workers laid off.

2002:

Jan. 9 - Justice Department confirms it has begun a criminal investigation of Enron.

Jan. 10 - The White House discloses Lay sought help from two Cabinet members shortly before the company collapsed, but neither offered aid. The company's auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP, says it has destroyed tons of Enron documents.

Jan. 23 - Lay resigns as chairman and CEO.

Jan. 25 - Cliff Baxter, former head of Enron's trading unit and later vice president before his resignation in May 2001, found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Feb. 4 - Lay resigns from the board.

Feb. 7 - Skilling, Fastow, Michael Kopper appear at Congress with McMahon and in-house Enron lawyer Jordan Mintz. Skilling testifies; Fastow and Kopper invoke Fifth Amendment rights.

Feb. 12 - Lay invokes Fifth Amendment at a Senate hearing after expressing "profound sadness" at Enron's collapse.

March 14 - Former Enron auditor Arthur Andersen LLP indicted for destroying Enron-related documents to thwart investigators.

April 9 - David Duncan, Andersen's former top Enron auditor, pleads guilty to obstruction for instructing his staff to destroy documents as per company policy.

June 15 - Andersen convicted.

Not only is important to understand this timeline so I can apply my knowledge to my work but my choices as an actor will be informed by it. When I first read the play I was reading about these events that I had no clue about, let alone the significance in the companies journey. When you see the lawyers and accountants crop up in the play it just seems like a tool for making the world more formal and yet if you dig deeper these names were plastered all over the scandal. Plus it is enjoyable to find this all out because when you do a scene that is quite literally verbatim of an advert or an interview said by the characters onstage it makes you feel like you are a part of this crazy world. When building said world and forming relationships it is so important to allow ourselves to be informed by the real life events because it may not be 100% true 'but we're going to put it together and sell it to you as the truth' anyway.

Claudia's Dabhol Power Plant

Claudia's adventures in India are something that gets mentioned in the play a lot with it being the thing that brings her and Lay together, divides herself and Skilling and is ultimately the reason for her downfall. To understand the grand scale of the project I wanted to do some research into what, where and how this power plant came about.

The plan to build the plant was announced in 1992 with Enron saying they would invest $3 billion into building it. The plant was meant to be pinpointing Enron's international status and with the purpose of helping the Indian economy by providing them with the largest foreign investment in the countries history. However it turned out to go completely the other way for both Enron and India with the plant causing great economic turmoil and raising many questions about the human rights of the whole plan. From the start of the process the plant came under scrutiny as it was making direct deals with corrupt Indian politicians and officials in the hopes of getting the plant up and running faster. Human rights groups accused Enron of stealing land, damaging water supplies and employing criminal tactics to get there way. For example an attack by state police on a village who opposed the plant saw a pregnant women being beaten naked for being the wife of one of the oppositions leaders. However the US government found that the state forces and the Dabhol Power cooperation has violated no human rights and provided a further $300 million to Enron for its ventures in Dabhol ignoring the refusal the World Bank had given them. However in June 2001 the plants only customer, the Maharashtra state government, broke it's agreement as the power was too expensive. The power plant was a huge mess, with corruption and cut corners a plenty with the power plant itself having caused a huge economic and social impact in Dabhol that it is still recovering from to date.

Researching this made me really uncomfortable. I have talked so much about this women who I enjoy playing, getting into her head, listening to her thoughts and thinking with her brain and then you look at the consequences of all that ambition and the reality hits you that this women's big dream was to build this plant which caused such environmental and social problems. I suppose it goes to show the extent people at this company were willing to go to; for power, for position,  for money and it was all to be at whatever cost to the outside world. Using this to inform my character I hope to use my new found understanding of deals such as this to show a darker, ruthless side to my character that was willing to step on innocent people just to keep climbing the cooperate ladder.