The Caligari Animation Project

Caligari Animation Project

An animated representation of Theatre UAF's "Caligari, Alaska." You can see it April 17-26 in the Salisbury Auditorium. Directed by Anatoly Antohin. 

This project was completed over spring break 2009 by assistant director Brian Lyke. His goal was to provide a mock-up of blocking and sound design for actors and designers involved in the show.
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Caligari Questions

Hypnosis-slave
Hypnosis-slave


We've placed our scenes in order. Now that we have a line of narrative, plot holes emerge. I've started to document them.


My BIG Questions about the Show:


-What makes the circus audience afraid of Caligari and Cesare?


-How can we make it clear that the city has gone to sleep? Can oil lamps switch on in the city streets?


-Narrator Witches and Title Card Projections step on each other's shoes. How do we divide the work between these devices?


-Which scenes will the Flower in the Girl's Room bloom? In which scenes will it wilt?


-Where does Alan go to die? Can we find his body? Can he be dead in the madhouse?


-What are Policemen and Father R afraid of in Caligari's room? 

-What information does Father R find in Caligari's study? Can it destroy Caligari? How do we show that?

-Can the Father R/Caligari showdown be cooler? Can they attack each other?


-Cesare exits with Girl-Soul USL through the city in the dance scene. Why does Cesare go back to kidnap the Girl-Body?


-Right now prostitutes discover an unconscious Girl-Body twice. Can we have a new entrance for the gals in Death of Cesare?


-What does the Battle of Good/Evil scene accomplish?


-What are Cesare-Soul, Girl-Soul, and Sophie doing in the Madhouse scene?

-How does Father R and Policemen go mad?

-How do the prostitutes go mad?


-What is Sophie's dramatic arc in the show?

Post a comment Tags: theatre, directing, caligari, uaf

Caligari: the love story

What will make people afraid of Dr. Caligari? His powers of hypnotism do not extend beyond the world of the play. We need to introduce a villain that will follow the audience home after curtain call.


People will not empathize with, especially fear for our villagers unless we ground them to everyday life. Why should people care about prostitutes and policeman going mad? Unless they have a heart of gold, I have little invested in these characters.

If the tableaus you introduced last Friday were to show us a likable side to each character, then I would say they are a useful scene of the show. I don't think using it to introduce the dead mothers of our protagonists is effective. Frankly, I never wondered about these character's parents. It just didn't seem important enough to me.

What is the story of Caligari looking to explain? Is it the tale of how Dr. Caligari brought a town to its knees? Is it the tale of how Cesare found his love (and died along the way)? Is it the tale of a girl who falls in love with a sleepwalking stranger? None of stories need to explore a genealogy on stage. I fear that if we do, it will distance our characters from the audience.

To sum up: 
I don't mind the tableau if it helps us identify with the villagers. I don't like introducing dead mothers into the play. How can we instill a fear of madness in our audience?



1 comment Tags: theatre, horror, hypnotism, caligari