Devising hospital scene

With our structure in place, we then split into three groups and chose a section of the story to explore. Harry, Elsa, Megan and I chose the hospital scene, where the two lovers meet after he gets injured.
It was popular amongst us to use movement here, where perhaps words wouldn't be able to express what we wanted to convey, and movement requires no words, where the littlest movement can mean a lot.
'Lovesong' by Frantic has been a big inspiration for our piece, and a scene occurs with a young couple on a kitchen table. The actors was continuously in motion, doing circular pathways around/over/under each other with a constant point of contact, it was intimate with a affectionate quality that was beautiful to watch. We took inspiration from this and created a duet on a table.
*Video is on company blog*
Music was added over the top to bring another dynamic and provide an atmosphere, just piano, which to me, has a delicate quality to it, which fitted with the soft reuniting scene we wanted to create, 'I Giorni by Ludovico Einaudi' being careful yet loving out of disbelief that they have met again after such a long time.
When we came back to this scene after a break, we developed it from the present into the past. Elsa played the old lady, sitting at a desk that we decided the duet would happen on, that makes less set to cart around then getting a bed, and a desk is multi-functional. Harry wrote a brief script to provide some context, and linked the past and present together.
We thought it would look effective having the old lady reading, then the past appearing and happening around her. Having the two ladies on stage at the same time. To make it clear that the ladies are the same, we added a mannerism of gently pulling our hair in exactly the same way, a mannerism that would be repeated throughout the show to make it clear to the audience.
Again this developed with the older lady performing some of the actions as if remembering the memory, and speaking through months as the duet went on, to signal that the couple were together in hospital for a substantial amount of time as the man healed. It just added another layer to the scene, it gave the movement more context.
It was great to split into small groups, as we each got our ideas across equally and it was far easier to devise than having 12 people's ideas thrown in at once. It also gave 3 of us a chance to play characters we would potentially play.
How the table duet turned out in the final show was slightly different. Transitions changed and had text added that meant Evie no longer started at a table but was sat in her chair upstage. The librarians performed a transition with Alfie where they bandaged him up and spoke dialogue that informed the audience of Alfie's admission to the Queen Victoria Hospital where Evie was working. There were debates as to whether the scene was based around Evie discovering her patient was Alfie or whether she already knew. But it was agreed that we preferred Evie's surprise, and that gave the table routine a real intention and purpose, the movement happening through a result of delight that they were reunited. The movement sequence ended with the two lying on the table, then with a lighting cue to signal night and day, a passing of time, they wake up and their location is a bedroom instead of a hospital.
When rehearsing the sequence, Nick and I developed it and added moves to make it longer. Because there were lifts that would be performed on the table, we rehearsed it on the floor to make sure we got the technique correct, otherwise performing straight on the table with little rehearsal increases the chance of it going wrong and badly injuring yourself! Once we felt comfortable, we practiced on the table and taught Harry and Mandi. What was critical for this sequence was not to rush it, and there was a certain dynamic quality needed to turn the sequence from what had the danger of being 'corny and cheesy' to something very touching. Movements like how we stroked the others face or how the boys span us round on the table were details that gave an emotional depth to it. Nick and I made sure we gave good amounts of rehearsal, coming in early or staying late if needed, to add recognize and add where those moments should and needed to go, so hopefully when we perform it, its that much more meaningful than just a sequence.
*Video footage of the duets developments can be found on the Level 4 Facebook page, the final sequence seen on the tour performance dates*