Closer

Here you can access a number of pages that document the Brechtian production of Patrick Marber’s Closer, staged at the University of York with professional actors in October 2016. You may wish to start with the ‘scene-by-scene guides’ as an orientation before engaging with other aspects of the production.

Scene-By-Scene Guides: choose any of the play’s twelve scenes and click through the series of images to understand the decisions that were made and the scenes’ aims

Why Closer?: this section introduces the play and discusses its challenges for Brechtian theatre

Directing Strategies: a Brechtian director has a set of approaches that can be taken to staging dramatic material, and these are set out and reflected on here

Problems with an Orthodox Brechtian Approach: to Brecht, performing a play’s Fabel was the cornerstone of a production. Here, the Fabel was difficult to identify. Learn how we worked without one, but still aimed at a Brechtian production

The Play’s Figure’s (not Characters): meet the four figures in Closer and gain an understanding of their social significance in this Brechtian production

An emphasis on Process: an emphasis on detailed work with figures and their relationships is central to Brechtian theatre. Click through the four examples offered on this page

Production Details: A Brechtian production lives from its sensitivity to detail. You will find four different, representative examples here

The Treatment of the Stage Directions: a consideration of how stage directions work in the original text and why a Brechtian director may choose to ignore them in rehearsal

A Stylised Production?: some thoughts on what ‘stylised’ might mean and how it may not apply to this production

The Actors’ Take: the professional actors discuss the challenges they faced working in a Brechtian theatre and the ways they negotiated the tasks set to them

Production Design: discover the ideas that informed the production’s design and how they relate to Brechtian ideas

Use of Music: sample the music used in the production and the reasons for the choices

Production Poster: look at the production’s poster and the ideas it presented

Closer’s Politics: a reflection on what might be said of the production’s politics

Credits: lists all those involved in the production