Revolution Arts: Man Going Back's Monologue (writing in role)

Revolution Arts: Man Going Back's Monologue (writing in role)

Revolution Arts: Improvised Scene - Man Going Back & Tom

Revolution Arts: Improvised Scene - Man Going Back & Tom

pictures of the dust bowl

These are all pictures of or during the dust bowl it depicts the baron land, huge dust storms, ruined vehicles and buildings. some even show families like the Joads and Floyd's family moving in a truck and even camping by a ditch in the road. The map shows the area in which the dust bowls happened (dark brown) and it shows that it was over several states.

Dust Bowl (Wikipedia)

The Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion (the Aeolian processes) caused the phenomenon. Extensive deep plowing of the virgintopsoil of the Great Plains during the previous decade had displaced the native, deep-rooted grasses that normally trapped soil and moisture even during periods of drought and high winds. Rapid mechanization of farm implements, especially small gasoline tractors and widespread use of the combine harvester, significantly impacted decisions to convert arid grassland (much of which received no more than 10 inches (250 mm) of precipitation per year) to cultivated cropland.

During the drought of the 1930s, the unanchored soil turned to dust that the prevailing winds blew away in clouds that sometimes blackened the sky. These choking billows of dust – named "black blizzards" or "black rollers" – reached such East Coast cities as New York City and Washington, D.C. and often reduced visibility to a meter (about a yard) or less.Associated Press reporter Robert E. Geiger happened to be in Boise City, Oklahoma to witness the "Black Sunday" black blizzards of April 14, 1935; Edward Stanley, Kansas City news editor of the Associated Press coined the term "Dust Bowl" while rewriting Geiger's news story.

The drought and erosion of the Dust Bowl affected 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km²) that centered on the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and touched adjacent sections of New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas.

The Dust Bowl forced tens of thousands of families to abandon their farms. Many of these families, who were often known as "Okies" because so many of them came from Oklahoma, migrated to California and other states to find that the Great Depression had rendered economic conditions there little better than those they had left.

Floyd Knowles

The character seen in these pictures is know as Floyd Knowles. Floyd I think is older than to Tom but younger than Pa or Uncle John. He is in the same situation as the Joads as he fell for the lies of the hand bills and has traveled for the "slums" called Hooverville which is named after President hoover who everyone blamed for the Depression. When we met Floyd the Joads have just arrived in Hooverville and meet the mayor. The first person Floyd talks to are Tom and Pa, They talk about the lies of the handbills, cruelness of the authority and the low wages they get given if they work and that its not enough to survive.

Floyd then talks to Al, They talk about Tom and during the conversation Floyd reveals he has a wife and kids, he then gets help with his truck by Al. Then after this a Contractor comes on stage to find men for work. Floyd then jumps in and criticizes the contractor and protests the result is that a sheriff tries to take Floyd away but Floyd fights back knocking the sheriff down and then running away to get ready to leave. Floyd comes on once more to warn tom and Al to leave and to say goodbye.

The costume for my character is a lumber jack style shirt, a pair of black jeans, a flat-cap and plain black socks. The shirt was because it was the style many people during this time had so it was used to look authentic. The flat-cap was used to hide my hair as a way of changing my character and to make it obvious to the audience. The black jeans was mainly because jeans were really popular back then because they were strong and were cheap. The socks were to show that he is healthy and not rich but not poor either unlike the Man going back who wears no socks. Overall the costume is to show that he gets by and that he is neat, tidy and healthy.

I wished that i had known that the tea stained shirt underneath and my hand i my pocket looked like i was a gangster.

man going back

These photos were taken during my first appearance in the play . The character I was playing was called Man going back. The basis of this character is that he got a hand bill like the Joads and has gone to California with his wife and two kids but sadly he couldn't get work and both his wife and his kids die so he decides to starve and travel back from where he came from. Where he meets the Joads and tells them what its really like. The Joads believe him but decide that they have come to far and have nothing left at home to go to to give up now.

Because my character is starving and probably incredibly weak because of this i gave my character the stance of continuously being supported by his knee as if he would collapse with out it. This gives my character more depth and shows his life is slowly degrading before he dies. The hair was actually Miss Cordell's thought but i agree it does look more authentic to the time period than my normal everyday hair.

The costume used for this Character was simple a t-shirt with a tea stain tint to it, which i used instead of a white school shirt, and ripped trousers which are better shown in the first picture to show he is poor and is breaking down to his death. Then in the first picture you can see i went on with bare feet which was also to show his poverty problem  but also that he has been walking for days or weeks on dirt roads which makes the audience feel sorry for him and feel sympathetic for what happened to his family. It could also be a way for people to fear for the Joads and what they are going to.

Man going back writing in role 2

I've failed my love, I've failed at what i swore to the heavens, to you, to the kids. I tried to tell them, by god i tried but i failed and they looked like a nice bunch of men and women.The one thing i swore i would do before i died did not happen and im slowly reaching my end. I will die with much regret my love and hopefully our lord and savior see's that i tried my hardest with the low amount of strength i had in this frail body and allow me to be with you and the kids once more in the spectacle that is heaven. Goodbye to everything i once knew.