Timeline washing line

With Jonathan, the company created a washing line with every scene of the piece on a separate piece of paper. This washing line allowed us to see each scene standing alone, allowing us to see if it flows, and change, get rid of, or add scenes. From attaching all the scenes we had so far, we all wrote down either scenes that needed to be added, thoughts of the piece as a whole and/or anything necessary that needed to be spoken about.
We then went round the group, each person speaking with absolutely no interruptions until they had finished. This discussion meant every person had a chance to speak, and more importantly, to be listened to by the whole company. Letting everyone have their opinion meant every voice was heard clearly, and that the whole group was involved with the decision making, not just a number of people. This got the message through that decisions about the piece as a whole needed to be whole company discussions, so everyone is aware of everyone's opinions, and there is no small talk which could misinterpreted or misunderstood.
Decisions that came from the timeline were:
- Transitions need to be made to link scenes together
-The time characters need to be slotted into the piece now the story is there and establish what their characters are
-Intertwining of old and young could increase and more fun to be had with it
- P.O.W dance section is now gone due it not really having a definite point, and using up time that needs to be used for story clarification and what is truly necessary
-The love letters scene has swapped to the first time Alfie is drafted to war, to establish war, and it fitted better than later on in the play
-The first song that originally opened the piece is now gone as it contradicted our message of celebrating old people, and didn't really fit into the rest of the piece, that even though it was humorous and engaging, it didn't fulfil the purpose

As well as this, Jonathan suggested another opening which we all agreed was much stronger and set the message of our piece really clearly, setting up the audience with the right information from the word go to understand what the piece is all about. Originally, it opened with the antagonists song straight into Alfie and Evie, with no real direction of what the audience should be looking for, apart from being told one day they will die. The new opening was that Alfie and Evie are sat on stage with old masks on, doing everyday things alone. The antagonists then come on, describing time and stories, why memories are everything, how they should be cherished, really getting that message directly to the audience, letting them ponder over it as the story begins. The main point was that after this scene, the antagonists ask 'what do you see?' before revealing the people underneath the masks. And at the end, the masks go back onto the people and again the audience are asked 'no tell us, what do you see?' linking the piece altogether, with the message clear as crystal to the audience, that their perceptions of old people should change, that underneath a mask is an extraordinary person. This is visually occurring on stage, so the message is visually there, making it hopefully less complicated and straightforward for the audience to grasp.
The session was extremely helpful, everyone sat listening to each other, accepting what was said and together solving any problems. I felt it got the group together, got rid of tension and problems, and it felt like the whole company were taking control of moving the piece forward in the same direction, instead of different groups trying to take it in different directions. It was a real mark in moving forwards efficiently, knowing exactly what needed to be worked on. Also that we needed to stop splitting into our usual groups, that now material is there, we need to be working on it together as a whole group.