Books in Rehearsal: Mrs Affleck
Elly Green, Staff Director on Mrs Affleck, describes the books used in the rehearsal room of Samuel Adamson's new play taken from Ibsen's Little Eyolf.
Researching Mrs Affleck has been an exciting process, especially because Samuel Adamson has transplanted the original Ibsen into a completely fresh era and location. Set in Britain in 1955 (rather than the Norwegian Fjords in the late 19th Century) our primary focus of research was the social, political and cultural climate in the early-mid 1950s. We have used a variety of books, DVDs, websites and magazines to try and immerse ourselves in the world of the play.
We used several books on British history: Never Again and Having it So Good by Peter Hennessey, Austerity Britain: 1945-1951 by David Kynaston, Classes and Cultures: 1918-1915 by Ross McKibbin and Never Had It so Good by Dominic Sandbrook.
Topics of especial interest included: the resignation of Churchill and the election of Anthony Eden (which happens two days before the start of the play), the increase of West-Indian immigration to London, National Service and the newly created Welfare State (including the NHS, National insurance, and the raising of the school leaving age). We were also lucky enough to have two guest speakers come in to chat to the cast: historian Peter Hennessey and actor Larrington Walker who spoke about his childhood experience of coming to London from Jamaica.
In terms of researching Ibsen as a playwright, and the original Little Eyolf text, we found Michael Meyer's biography (1971) and translation of the play particularly useful. Also, of interest is the James McFarlane translation, which has an especially good introduction.
Another area of research was WWII, and the experience of those who served (as one of the characters in the play did). One useful source of information on the experience of WWII and its effects upon soldiers and civilians was the BBC's WWII People's War website, which contains a collection of memories. We also looked at some letters included in Letters from Two World Wars by Ernst Sanger, which helped to illuminate the experience of the average Tommy, and how Alfred's journey through the war might have been punctuated by letters home.
Getting a feel for the popular culture of the time was very important, as there are lots of references in Sam's script to literature, music, radio and television programmes. We watched a film made by British Transport entitled ‘Holiday' to get a feel for a coastal resort town. We also had many magazines from the period in the rehearsal room for people to browse through, including an edition of Women's Weekly from the fifties and the Eagle Annual (with lots of extracts from Dan Dare, which is referenced in the play).
Other books which helped us to visualise the period, and the domestic world Rita lived in include Picture Post Britain by Gavin Weightman, the Hulton Getty Picture Collection 1950s. Also, we also had a map in rehearsal to help locate the town on the Kent cost in which the play is set. Finally, a visit to The Science Museum's exhibition on Dan Dare and the Birth of Hi Tech Britain was also incredibly informative, not just on the comic book hero, but also through its display of 1950s domestic appliances and inventions.
The playtext of Samuel Adamson's Mrs Affleck will be available to buy from mid January.
Mrs Affleck plays in repertoire in the Cottesloe theatre from 20 January to 29 April 2009.
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