“If We See Theatre, Something Is Wrong.”

Oh French bureaucracy...How I missed thee... I spent four hours at the police prefecture today in order to get my titre de séjour (long stay student visa). I got what I needed (yay) but there’s yet another stage to go (doh!)...

And because of that I only got to school by 5.30pm and thus only caught the last hour. It’s quite strange coming from the real world straight into the atmosphere of class. It’s more clear just how strange the world is at this school!

~

Christine and Duncan presented the scene in which the sexy woman tries to make love to the young porter. Duncan was good as a dorky pubescent 17 year old, but Christine was strange as her woman. Philippe said she seemed “sick” and “not healthy.” We also couldn’t hear her. She never raised her voice to a good level, and then when people were saying “more! more!” she jumped to shouting and it was too much.

“I don’t see the game.”

“It has to be more direct.” - We need to see Vicky with Philippe’s son...

“You have to speak loud. If you don’t speak loud many things don’t come out. And they have to come out.”

“You [Christine] eat yourself too much...you eat yourself.”

~

Steph presented a monologue of Hermione from A Winter’s Tale.

Sir, spare your threats!
The bug which you would fright me with I seek.

“I don’t see you...I see theatre...If we see theatre, something is wrong.”

Philippe then got the whole class (except me because I wasn’t in costume) to go on stage as if it was a grand dance at Chateau Versailles and Steph is the most important guest. She walked slowly between different clumps of people, saying her text. Light and simple. When she raised her voice Philippe said “we go up, but don’t go to anger.”

At one point Philippe said to Steph, whilst she was doing her monologue, “I love your lipstick.” A little shot of pleasure. I feeling a little bit silly, and beautiful.

“She is beautiful. We love her.”

“You have to do it like this...without everyone else.”

Philippe also told her she needs to do her hair and wear makeup to class from now on. To be a woman - not a boy scout. “I don’t see you when you present yourself as a gymnastics teacher...You have to be beautiful every day.”

~

At the end of class I asked Philippe about how to avoid going in a conventional way, because I understand it’s bad, but I find it hard to know exactly which way to go (although following your fun is a good start).

“Kill academic - It’s not your friend.”

~

Philippe was pretty funny today, mumbling to himself:

“I love to think about something stupid...You could be surprised by how many stupid things I think about in a day.”

“My Poetry Goes This Way And Fuck You Conventional Theatre.”

Back to a full class in Movement today, which was nice! And Élena made a good clear change towards more physical. We sweated a lot! And it was fun. So that’s really positive.

~

In class today Philippe announced that on Wednesday we will start to present scenes to be accepted (or not accepted) into the show next week. Until then we can still show things to be worked on.

~

Barbara tried her Spanish monologue again but her voice was still bad - weak and breathy. Philippe got her to read out loud a Plan de Paris, listing off all the street names and their arrondissements. This gave her a clear, decided, matter-of-fact tone and rhythm which with the text was good. Philippe then said she could change the rhythm if she wanted to but keep the same voice, but it fell away. He then got her to mock the theatre of Mexico, but do it 10 times as big, which brought her alive more.

Finally he got her to pick somebody to play Toy Soldiers/War with. She picked me! So we played war with imaginary figurines across a table. “War to Mexico! You’ll never defeat New Zealand!!!” Like this, we had a “good game”. But Barbara struggled to do it with the text, and without me playing with her. 

“The movement you had during the war with Guy, with the text...it could be good.”

Philippe said she needs a director, which I’d like to do, but it could be a struggle to find the time.

~

Lee presented this fantastic Feydeau monologue he’d originally tried for the Cabaret way back when. It starts with “I’m leaving” (which was the only line he got to say in the Cabaret) and he goes on to explain that he hates monologues, and there’s a guy in the other room reciting one...which he can’t stand. And he rants about all the reasons why he hates monologues. But of course it’s funny because he is in fact saying a monologue!

What he did wasn’t working at first. Well, we weren’t laughing, and at this school that usually means it’s not working. But at one point when Lee had pointed his arm out rather strongly, Philippe got him to do it again, and then to do it yelling. And with his costume - a little black bowl-cut wig and too-small mustache - he looked like Hitler. A german walk topped it off.

This was funny. But what made it funnier was the fact that the resulting movement and sweat from shouting like Hitler led to his mustache and his wig slowly coming off. He ended up holding his mustache on his face with two fingers, and holding his wig on top of his head with the other hand, and it was hilarious. “In this way he is good.”

“Do we say he has to lose his wig and mustache during the show? I think so.”

~

I then presented an Edmund monologue from King Lear.

Thou, nature, art my goddess;

To thy law my services are bound.

I started deep, slow, and brooding (I was trying to find the ‘dangerous’ that Ben had found on Friday), but while I was doing my (boring) thing Philippe interrupted me and started asking me about my girlfriend. About how me met and how our romance bloomed. He asked me about my other girlfriends too (Jocia, Heavenna, and Cherie!) and got me to describe what happened when I lost my virginity. This made me feel a bit naughty, I had pleasure, and I was open. He then got me to do the text like this, but he corrected me every time I fell into anything that had a hint of anger, or sadness, or revenge. “No revenge.” 

Then he got me to sing some Frank Sinatra - Come Fly With Me - and to the text in this way. Sometimes singing, sometimes speaking. A dance here and there. Not too loud. Casual. Like a party. Big smile. I had fun like this, and I was open. 

“The more open he is, the more he is dangerous.”

“Like this, with what he says, he is going to kill...He doesn’t think what he is going to do it bad.”

Philippe said what I did at first conventional:“we can see that everywhere”. Philippe said in this way, Edmund is less conventional and more me. More with my spirit. And he spoke about how you have to say “my poetry goes this way and fuck you conventional theatre.”

I’m going to try and present this for the show, and go more towards Frank Sinatra, with big-band music, a loose shirt, cigar, and glass of whisky.

Realtime - 2005 International BHS Quartet Champions

~

Mike tried out his Jail Bird monologue again, bringing with him a big list of different rhythms and voices to try out. None of them worked. 

“I don’t see where he has fun.”

“You are always the same sad guy...I don’t know how to catch.”

I think what Mike is doing isn’t working because he’s pushing, he wants too much, he’s not listening to us, he’s not having fun, and he’s not actually playing. This is a lot of reasons (!) but I think if he really plays he might find that many of his problems are solved. Because last week, he had a great moment where he imitated an ice hockey commentator with his text and he was really alive and we loved him...because he had pleasure and he was playing. He was surprising himself! But the following two times he’s done that rhythm again it’s been mechanical, pushed, and he doesn’t have fun. I said to Mike that I think he needs to really play with the text. Improvise the rhythm every time he does it, rather learning the musicality of the rhythm off by heart and repeating it beat by beat, note by note...which is what it seems like he’s doing. And I think what I told him is possible. Because an ice hockey game is always different. It’s unpredictable, just when it looks like somebody has got the puck, somebody else slams him into the wall!

And that’s where the actor’s imagination comes in. It’s the actors imagination and sense of play that keeps that text and rhythm alive and fresh every night. 

Samedi/Dimanche

Time goes too fast on the weekends! I never get everything done that I want to do! I need a time machine...

But I did get myself a rather gay Puck costume from Marché Montreuil. Kind of a cross between Richard Simmons, a belly dancer, and a drag queen.

Learned some more lines...

And hosted a real French lunch (that means French food, and several courses, and lots of cheese) with an old friend from New Zealand, Georgina Harris!

“Every Teacher Has Something To Give”.

Class started a little differently today. Philippe brought us together early, with our movement teacher Élena, because he wanted to talk to us about the issues we’ve been having. The issues being: nearly everybody has stopped going to movement (bar 4 or 5 people). It was a bit awkward having Élena there with Philippe - it would have been easier if she wasn’t there and he could relay the message. Easier because nobody wanted to hurt her feelings. The meeting came about because yesterday a few people had brought up the idea that we should cut movement for the next two weeks, so that we can have more time to rehearse for the upcoming show, and because with only 4 or 5 people in class it’s not worth it. Yesterday Philippe kind of brushed it off, which often happens when you ask him anything administrational, but today he came in trying to make a change. It was nice to speak together as a class. As an ensemble. Because we don’t really ever get to do that. At this school, it’s very individual. But we came together a bit today which I really appreciated. Philippe said obviously we’re not happy with the movement class and wanted to know why. 

He said “every teacher has something to give”. I stayed out of the conversation at first but eventually said that I think it would be unfair to decide to cut movement classes altogether because we as a class haven’t given Élena a chance to change. She has been trying to adapt to us, but more and more people have dropped out, so it’s pretty shit for her. I also told her that I am one of the people who have stopped coming (I have chosen to go a run instead, which I told her) and why I stopped. I said for me, I want to move/sweat and in her classes I wasn’t moving/sweating nearly enough. There’s also too much talking which I find frustrating. And that the talk about ‘feelings’ doesn’t work for me at this school, because with Philippe, we kill that kind of thinking completely. I was really nervous saying this, but I thought it was a fair thing to do. And a safe place to do it. Philippe said he liked what I had said and that it’s “generous”. I then took on a bit of a leadership role in the group and led the group to make a decision whilst Philippe and Élena were out of the room. We decided that we should all give it another go, and to try and commit to another way of learning. I’m happy about this. I think it will be good for us as an ensemble to come together before the show.

I also, just with the class, expressed that I had been frustrated with the class in our ability to get up, and work a lot. I was nervous and didn’t start so well and got a bit of a knee-jerk  reaction from a few people saying it’s not anything to do with me what other people do, which is fair, but I finished saying that we have an opportunity to really come together for the show and work hard as an ensemble. Which I thought was more positive and what I wish I’d begun with. It felt a bit silly to say at this point, because everybody is working now because the rush of the show is approaching. And I don’t think it was that well received, although a few people thanked and supported me. But I’m glad a finally said something. And I was proud of myself today for being how I was. It made me realise I’m good as a leader, and gives me confidence to try out the role of director.

~

The rest of class was taken up by a list of things presented. From now on I think class is going to be like this. When there’s only a week to go before the show, there are lots of things to present, but not a lot of time...

~

Akron returned and did his Bouzin scene with Thomas and Vicky. It was usual Akron stuff for the first half of the scene, but he really started to come into himself in the second half. He found his feet, loosened up, played, and listened well to us. He did this crazy laugh which we loved, and he gave it to us a lot.

“If you do it like this next week, then we take.”

It was a relief to finally see Akron do something. To give something. We were all really happy for him. Before class, Philippe had told Akron that he was “furious” with him when he didn’t come to class yesterday. Which was odd, because he’d told us that he thought it was a good thing. But the effect of his words seemed to help push Akron to give. The result of a crisis? I’d say so.

~

Katy, Steph and Christine presented the witches from Macbeth. Philippe killed them for being too heavy.

“We see three witches having the fun to put Macbeth’s destiny in a soup? Or three pain in the ass feminists?”

~

Mia, Vicky and Lee presented the Redillon scene entirely in French (including poor Lee). “We don’t understand anything.” Even from Mia who speaks French fluently. I think because the way they are doing it lacks physical story telling. Or much status interchange. It’s just talking. So if you don’t speak the language it’s totally unclear.

~

Michael worked his Jail Bird monologue again. He tried to do what he did yesterday, but he couldn’t get it again. He wasn’t far off what he did yesterday, but today it was mechanical and there was no pleasure.

“When something works - tack! It has to work the second day. Or else it’s not normal.”

 Philippe got him to sit on a chair with a cigarette and tell us a story...his inner wanker and idiot starts to come out! Then Philippe got him to change to the Feydeau text, but Mike kept falling out of his story telling rhythm, and into the rhythm of the text. No! Stay in the rhythm of what your playing! He did find something fun when imitating the bird sounds CD that his father used to listen to in the car. In the middle of telling us a story, every now and then he would do a little whistle of a bird call and then name the bird in a low, bumbling old American’s voice.

~

Barbara tried to show her Spanish monologue again but Philippe kept killing her for her voice. She wasn’t grand like the beginning of an old film. She was just “classic spanish.” The problem was purely technical - her voice was falling down at the end of each sentence. But she couldn’t figure it out and so Philippe said “no”.

~

Ben showed a monologue of Antony from Antony and Cleopatra. “We need the voice of an orator. Politique.” Like Churchill.

Ben ended up doing a nice slow, deep, and controlled voice and rhythm. 

“In this way, when you are dangerous, it’s good.”

~

The end of a big week (even though I had a long weekend and missed Monday)! Thank goodness.

“It Takes Time To Explode.”

Sometimes I think I must be bipolar. Because my moods can swing quite drastically. Today, unlike yesterday, was a better day both for me as an actor, and for the productivity of the class. Thankfully.

~

Lee and Thomas re-presented their Hotel Pussy Gallant scene, with Lee playing gay and Thomas in drag.

“If I tell you we will never see this scene again...are you happy?”

Philippe cut this scene for good. It’s not going to be in the show, and he doesn’t want to see them do it again. He said from now on he’s going to be doing that leading up to the show.

~

Barbara and Christine also re-presented the scene between mother and daughter they had worked a bit on a while ago. But it was bad this time. Empty. “Now they do it mechanically and we don’t see the fun.”

“If we see the actor doesn’t have fun, everyone in the house enters in a deep coma.”

I challenged Philippe a bit (after feeling frustrated by how his killings block and obstruct rather than guide) saying if they had a director it might work. Because I could see some things that I would change. But Philippe didn’t want to hear it. “If! If! If my aunty had balls she’d be my uncle.” 

“Did you see them beautiful? Did you see them having fun? No. No.”

I can see Philippe’s point of view here though. There aren’t a few small things that are stopping the scene from working. There are many quite big things. So perhaps it’s not worth it.

Philippe then worked a bit with Barbara getting her to be tall and beautiful (she needs to start remembering to do this, because when she is reminded she can do it!) and with Christine. He asked her about how she is when she Skypes with André. Does she put makeup on? Christine was difficult and wasn’t seeing where he was trying to go with her. Blocking. She was afraid and not thinking straight I suppose. I ended up playing André (doing a bad Australian accent) having a Skype conversation with Christine. We spoke in an intimate way, and when she was in a good zone Philippe got her to change to the Vaudeville text. Here she was more human. With sensitivity and tenderness. He told her “you have to do something” because at the moment she’s stiff like a deer in front of headlights when she’s on stage.

~

Thomas and Vicky wanted to present a Bouzin scene, but their Bouzin, Akron, had disappeared from class in a rush just before we started. It was a bit shocking, but Philippe said that “it’s good”, and that “it’s not negative...it’s positive.”

“When you start to realise ‘Merde, I don’t give anything’, it’s good.”

“It takes time to explode.”

Philippe went on to say it’s also smart, when you do something good, to not ruin it by going again and potentially flopping. It’s good to go home with the pleasure of “I have given something.” I told him that when I was bad as Camille yesterday I already knew I was bad, but through Philippe’s killings it made it worse and I crumbled inside which made it much harder to find anything in that moment. Whereas I felt like if he hadn’t killed me so badly and instead helped me find another way I might have indeed discovered something. He kind of dismissed the nicer option. It’s generally not how he works. He said killing is good because in three days I could be sitting on the train grumbling to myself about my nasty teacher, and through that struggle I might discover something good. 

For the scene without Akron, I offered to read his part. So we did the scene, but me with script in hand. I quickly thought before going on, ‘what should I do?’ to play this strange character. And I decided in the moment to imitate what Akron has been doing. Because the way Akron performs is very distinct and his rhythms and voice are very recognisable. It was funny, and I had fun, and the scene worked. At the end, Philippe said “Guy, you are nasty” because I mock Akron, but he said I do it with good humour. But Akron doesn’t mock himself. But he should. Philippe said that if Akron did mock himself, with his face and  body, he could be a genius.

~

Mike presented a monologue from Jail Bird of a character who in the play get’s mistaken for a crazy murderer (I think), because the cops have been told to look for an absolutely idiotic guy...but he’s not actually the guy...he’s just an idiot! 

What Mike offered at first was boring. Philippe then encouraged Mike to show his true idiotic self (as he is known as the biggest idiot of the class). He asked Mike what his girlfriend’s (Marie from first year) parents think of him. Which suggested that the father thinks he’s an idiot. He got Mike to shout loudly in a pissed off way “I’m not an idiot!” and explain to us why he’s not. Which was very funny. He told us about how he was a debating champion at high school, and that he did a 70 page thesis on beer at university - to which Philippe said that it’s clear that he’s an “idiot and wanker”. Then in this way, Mike did the text, and it came alive quite nicely.

Philippe then got Mike to sit still on a chair with a scarf tied around his face with a bow on top like an easter egg, and to speak quietly, with a lisp, and a little laugh. This worked too. It wasn’t as exciting, but it was interesting, and he had good fixed point and energy. Philippe tweaked it slightly so that Mike played slighty Paranoiac: “I will kill them. You will see.”

Finally he got Mike to do the text in the rhythm of an ice-hockey commentator, which was great. “This rhythm is not bad, and you have good fun.”

~

I felt better today because I’d blown off some steam, because re-entering class I realise that Philippe isn’t this bad guy - he just teaches this way for a reason, and because people were working today. I’ve felt lately like people in the class haven’t been as serious about studying theatre here as I have been, that they’re here more for a good time than to learn, but today there were more people working and that feeling went away. A bit. There was a party tonight which I didn’t go to, partly because it was in Étampes and I didn’t want a late night with the long train, but also because in a way I don’t feel like I want to party with many people in my class. I’m angry with them. I wish instead of partying they would prepare some work! But that’s their choice. But I think in a way this frustrating issue is going to disappear now because we only have a week to go until our show-week starts. So that will give people the drive I wish we’d had all the way through.  

"A Writer Is Always Looking For A Character."

We started today with Philippe's notorious firing squad.

  "Ready, Aim, Fire." Before the word "fire" is said you have to do something beautiful. "You have to be beautiful. If not, bang."

"You have one second to exist with something beautiful."

"We have to see you beautiful."

We each got two goes. And nobody survived.

~

It's Duncan's 22nd birthday today, and after the firing squad Philippe got Duncan to go and sit on a seat at the back of the stage. He then got the whole class to call him. "Duncan! Come! Duncan! Come with us!" He advised Duncan to take his time, and when it's the right moment, slowly rise and walk towards us. He did this, whilst we were all cheering for him, and he was tall and open and beautiful. At the end Philippe simply said, "It's your birthday."

"An actor, he feels so many people asking him to come." You walk, carried by your friends.

"When we say 'come' to somebody, everyone is beautiful...They called me!...They want me!"

~

Ben and I got up and presented the short scene between Camille and Finache that Mike tried yesterday. It didn't work. Essentially, I'm not having any fun to speak the way I'm speaking, and so it's boring. "We don't think you have fun." And I don't. Philippe said what I did was forced and heavy. "Push too much. Push too much. Push too much. Push too much." Not funny. And I "want too much." 

He tried to assist me in finding a funny voice to imitate. Like the Hungarian language, Samoan language, and even a throat cancer victim with a hole and tube in his mouth.

I was trying different things, but Philippe kept getting at me for pushing too much. I'd go to speak and he'd say "push too much" and I'd go again trying to make an adjustment and again he'd say "push too much." I eventually just stopped and calmed down, looked at Ben, and then went again from a more grounded simple place. But I wasn't really in a happy mood for discovering a funny voice. I just got really frustrated. 

I haven't been killed properly in a while. And it didn't really hurt, because I know it's bad and I understand it's about the thing I'm trying to do. But it felt really unhelpful. Like, I wanted to ask Philippe "Why do you do this? What is the point in humiliating actors? Does it help at all?" Because if he hadn't, and he'd simply said "this voice doesn't work - let's find another one" I think I would have been able to. I would have felt safer and freer to play. But that's not how this school works. And I know that. And I'm sure he'd say if we can't have fun with being bad then it's just depressing. And as well, the killing could make me more sensitive (it appears it has!) which will help me with my heaviness problem. And that it could push me into a crisis which makes me come back stronger. But it's still pretty shit. I can't help but wonder whether a lot of the actors in the class would be thriving if we weren't killed every time we were bad.

He did however say Camille "needs to be normal", meaning the only thing that is strange about him is his voice. But everything else is fine. And I now know that I need to find a funny voice that gives me pleasure to speak with.

~

Ben then presented another scene for his Feydeau play, in which a woman comes into his office who wants to be an actress. He falls in love with her right then and there. Philippe was trying to find something  beautiful for the woman. "You have to show something special."

"A writer is always looking for a character...He looks at people on the street." Georges needs to look at the actrice in this way.

I tried playing Feydeau with Mia as the woman. I started on the phone, pretending I was speaking to a theatre owner assuring him I would have a play for him by the end of the week. I played kind of confident/charming, but Philippe killed me for being heavy "from Wellington, New Zealand" and said I was just administration - a stage manager - and there was nothing poetic about what I did. Nothing poetic? That hurts. But yes, I agree. I'm starting to get scared that I've caught the heavy bug again that I dealt with for most of last year! But Mia did something fantastic. She was absolutely beautiful as this mysterious character. Still, slow, open.

"Now we have something. We don't know what, but there is a world and it's interesting."

"La, we have something and we dream."

~

I'm pissed off with the class again today. Really pissed off. I just can't help it. I keep trying to just focus on myself and what I am doing, but when it comes down to it, I do care about how the class is doing and the atmosphere and relationship and drive we have. These are my colleagues. It's important. It's important for me to feel supported, and want to support them to. And to be inspired and challenged. And I don't feel that way. In fact, I feel the opposite. From the majority of people in my class I feel uninspired by, disappointed, and pissed off with. I don't have much respect for them anymore. And it's because I don't feel like they are pulling their weight. Like they are putting into the class what some of us are. It feels like there's a few of us that are serious about learning and about theatre, and a bunch that are just here for shits and giggles. And I'm getting sick of it. I've been thinking about leaving school. Because I feel like I'd be happier and more inspired and productive out of it, than in it. I do want to do Bouffon and Clown, but perhaps I should just do the summer courses. Get it done in a shorter time - because it's more the forms that I'm interested in than the acting anyway. But right now, it's the Vaudeville workshop I'm concerned with. I'm sick of being one of the only brave people in the class to get up first. I hate waiting about, so I get up, but I get up for the wrong reasons, and then it's over. Because nobody is presenting new scenes, we keep working on Ben's Feydeau play which is not Vaudeville - not the workshop we signed up for - but we're only doing that because there's nothing to see! And people have said "tomorrow" for presenting scenes for the past five weeks. And we have a show to put on in a week and a half. It's a big problem. And I'll be pissed off if Philippe cancels the show because we don't have enough material, or it's not of a good enough standard. We need to work! I've been holding off saying something to the class out of fear of coming across badly. Of people not liking me. But I'm considering it now because time is running out, and it's important to me.

“How The Mayonnaise Works Between The Two Actors Is Very Important.”

It appears I didn’t miss much yesterday. People still haven’t presented anything new, and so yesterday Philippe did chorus work (apparently referencing Monsieur Dumas from Mélodrama too) with the class. We started with this today as well. We split into two groups,  one of all men and the other of all women. One person was the leader of each group. Philippe assigned a different piece of music for each group, and when your music was played, the leader would move/dance in a way that the chorus could follow, and they would say some text from Vaudeville whilst listening to the music. Philippe emphasised that it was to be played lightly - as if at a party. 

• It’s important to keep distance between two groups. The tension dies when they’re too close.
• Have a good voice. Listen to the music. Take your time.
• Be tall. Philippe said leading a chorus, and moving in a way they can follow, helps the actor to be tall and light.

~

Katy and Duncan presented their ‘Hotel Pussy Galore’ scene again. They were trying, but it didn’t work at all. Their games are too technical, too alone. They don’t play together. And they aren’t having any fun with their games. We need to see Katy’s character love to lie to her husband. “Every woman has fun to lie.” And we need to see the cuckolded husband look absolutely ridiculous. But what they presented was “not a funny way to present a cuckold and a bitch.”

“You have to think: ‘With my body, how can I be a ridiculous cuckold?”

~

“How the mayonnaise works between the two actors is very important.”

“How you play together is so important.”

“When you present something, I want to see you have fun.”

“If you have fun, we love you. You are light.”

~

Mike and Ben presented the Camille and Finache scene in which Finache presents Camille with the mouth-plate that will help him speak normally again. 

The problem with what Mike presented was that we could understand the words he was saying. But “we don’t need to understand anything.” We’re not supposed to, and that’s what makes it funny. Philippe also said Camille has to be light and that Mike pushed too much. Good for me to watch from outside, because I also want to try this scene.

~

Ben also presented some more writing for his Feydeau play. First, a scene between Feydeau and his wife. A flirty scene in which Feydeau tries to have sex with his wife. But it didn’t work with the play he’s writing, because we know that she is going to divorce him soon. The scene could have worked if it was set a long time ago when they were in love. But that complicates the play I think. It’s better to be set all at the later years of his life. 

Ben also presented the scene in which the wife does ask for a divorce from Feydeau. But Philippe said it is too conventional. It was a typical kind of end-of-marriage fight. “She is too ugly...She needs to be light.” He said she was from a very wealthy upper-class family, and would be more dignified than that. 

“We need a beautiful cruel scene.”