Today we spent the entire class discussing the nature of objectives and interactions in “Pig” as we began to go through marking the beat-changes in the script. Matt’s definition of a beat-change is when something occurs or information is revealed that immediately causes every character on stage to shift their objective.
One of the things we discussed at length was the nature of abuse in this family… and generally what is commonly observed in the majority of abusive families. Matt noted in particular the way that characters often project their own personal fears onto others, as well as turning tactics commonly used on them back on other members of their family, causing just the sort of cannibalistic deterioration that we see so much of in the play. People also tend to take on established roles, as described by Karpman’s drama triangle.
Karpman’s drama triangle depicts an interrelationship between three classic roles: the Victim; the Persecutor or Oppressor; and the Rescuer, Hero, or Pacifier. These roles have generalized guidelines for behavior associated with them—not as strict parameters, but as empirical generalizations about how these roles tend to be filled: The Victim appeals to the Rescuer and acts defensively towards the Persecutor. The Persecutor attacks the Victim and either attacks or ignores the Rescuer. The Rescuer defends the Victim and attacks the Persecutor, or else simply tries to defuse the conflict altogether.
What is interesting about the drama triangle is that each role is dependent upon the others. A Victim cannot exist without a Persecutor, nor vice versa. A Rescuer depends on both a Victim and a Persecutor to exist. Thus these roles tend to sustain each other in any given abusive situation, all the persons involved naturally taking these roles according to habit or personality.
Also interesting is that if one person shifts places in the triangle, such as a Victim becoming a Rescuer or a Rescuer becoming a Persecutor, it causes all the other people involved in the conflict to shift their positions on the triangle accordingly (beat-change, anyone?)
Much of this is stuff we discussed in class, but it bears repeating. This to some extent at least works as a good model for the behaviors of people in a conflict, especially a contained and ongoing abusive situation.
Jason is an interesting character because for a large part of the show he seems to be trying desperately to extricate himself from the drama triangle. He several times refuses to respond to Jack’s (his father’s) insults, and is clearly doing his damndest to remain mostly neutral for the entirety of his first scene. By neutral, of course, I must clarify that he still has opinions about everything. He’s just keeping them to himself. He’s struggling to keep them from exploding out of him. They nearly do when Jack reacts so unimpressed by his official induction into the order of the Shellbacks (a Navy honor for those who have crossed the equator and survived a ritualistic hazing).
That doesn’t mean he isn’t a part of the power-play. Quite the reverse. Removing himself from the drama triangle is very much a tactic—and a highly successful tactic at that—for gaining power and significance. Refusing to play the game according to Jack’s rules and not rising to Jack’s bait is what makes Jason so very threatening to Jack in that first scene of theirs (Scene 2 of the play). But it’s also something that Jason becomes unable to maintain once Santos enters the picture in Scene 3 and begins questioning Jason’s tribute of the pig.
That’s when Jason snaps. The outsider comes in and threatens to topple the empire of respect he has built in Scene 2, and in order to get it back he pulls the gun and—as Matt has so eloquently observed—becomes his father: Holding the family hostage in the backyard. Of course… Jack did it figuratively. Jason does it with a gun in his hand and in order to prove a point.
So that’s where I’m at right now. For Jason's animal I've come up with the idea of a stag, a male deer. Something with a lot of vertical energy and power but flighty enough to justify his nervous break-down when he pulls the gun.
On a different topic, we’re beginning Icons next week in Movement. So far I think I want to do Bugs Bunny from “1001 Rabbit Tales (1:09:15??)” (long strides, hugely animated gesticulations, and casual style of speech), Jessica Rabbit from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (undulating, lots of Laban ‘wringing,’ smoky, sensual vocal quality) and for my third I want to find someone really light and flitty. Someone that carries all their weight upward and is less smooth in their movement. That’s something I definitely need to work on, and I think those three then present a good contrast.
As for my writing, we workshopped “Time and Time Again” today in Playwriting and I’m going to be making huge changes. I’m cutting the base scene down to 12 pages and adding repetitions so that there are a total of 5 scenes, each with one of the major landmarks of the scene changed. “Bare” is also coming along. Have to finish that by next Friday.
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