First Light - Bert

Bert is from Salford in Manchester. He is young soldier fighting in world war 1 in the battle of the Somme, France, famous for being 'one of the most savage assaults in the history of human warfare' - Mark Hayhurst. The story is about Bert and his best friend Alfie going to fight in the war, their journey of desertion and the effect it has on them and their family. Bert's monologue takes place in a British army prison cell. He has been imprisoned by the British for deserting his battalion on the front lines, trying to escape to America on a cruise ship where Alfie and himself are caught. He has just been trialled in court and sentenced to death by firing range. He is talking to his close friend Conker who he fought along side in the trenches. Conker is in tears so Bert, trying not too cry himself, decides to reminisce about home.

Why Enlist, Bert? - Link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/shot_at_dawn_01.shtml




When enlisting to join the army, men knew that they were signing a contract to fight for their country, it's King and it's people. They were expected, without question, to face any mortal danger that came like men, honourably and courageously with out hesitation. The ultimate sacrifice. 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing' - Edmund Berk. By understanding that this was the mind set of my character before going to war I learned that by being young and naïve made it easy for the government to advertise war as an appealing way of gaining honour as a man, not forgetting that during this time, there was still this stereotypically masculine agenda that men had to be warriors and courageous fighters and protects as if they were still in the medieval ages.
I believe that it was an easy and obvious thing for Bert to join the army at his age when it has been so positively advertised by his own country. Knowing this was the start of my research into this monologue and figuring out how each emotion that Bert is feeling in the speech has been forged by his journey from enlisting to knowing he has been sentenced to death. This was the task I set myself before I started rehearsing to make sure I could portray Bert in the most truthful and realistic way possible.

Examples of WW1 Propaganda


Themes






Friendship, Respect, Courage in light of Cowardice, Sacrifice, Family
Contrary to the pictures above that I thought would have been the real reason that Bert deserted the army, the main reason and theme of this play is that Bert and Alfie are so close, that when Alfie propositions Bert into leaving, Bert feels inclined to go with him. It's the sort of friendship where to people can't do something without the other one being present down to the fact they have so much love for that person they might as well be brothers.

Bert We cant do it....
Alfie Course you do. They love you.. And I love you too, and that's why you should come with me.
Bert Where would we head?

This scene shows this as it tells of how Alfie is set on leaving. He has planned it all out pretty thoroughly and with lots of imagination. Bert tries to tell Alfie that people will notice their desertion and will report them missing and tries to convince Alfie that they should stay. But eventually, understanding that Alfie is hell bent on leaving, he decides to go with him. It shows Bert is a loyal friend and values other peoples goals more than his own. It shows he is rational and optimistic and trustworthy. Knowing this is important as during the speech Bert says how his dad is like his role model and that he is proud of his him for being a caring father that doesn't turn to violence like the other men in the neighbourhood;

'He was a giant in my eyes'

This shows Bert's respect for his father.

'One night he were taking a thrashing from his dad'

Bert is describing how their neighbour beats his child; Robert and how his dad never once hit him and actually took Robert in to protect him from being hurt again;

'He got up out of his seat and the door went, we knew where he were going. Anyway the sound stopped. Such silence like when the guns stop here ya know. And in a minute he comes back with Robert and mum takes him in that night and protects him...'

Knowing that Bert has the up most respect for his dad and finding out that Bert is staying loyal to Alfie even though it goes against what Bert wants to do, knowing that his life is at risk. I think that Bert is a really good, respectful human being and I think that he does everything knowing that his father would be proud of him. What hit me hard about this speech and is why I decided to chose this is because of how Bert admires his father, he realises, at the end of the speech, that he thinks he has let his father down;

'I think he should know what has happened to me'

and how he feels disappointed, failed and un-deserving of his fathers respect leading him to feel empty and lost inside and yet never ever giving up his loyalty to his friend.

'I am with you Alfie... forever'

To conclude the themes I found in the amongst the speech, there's an infinitely strong friendship between Bert and Alfie which never broke during the harshness of war or nor the tearing loneliness of death. Bert's upmost respect of his father and how he feels like his actions have disappointed him. How Bert has sacrificed his position in the army and the way his father will look at him all in the name of friendship. And last but not least, what would seem like cowardice to the inexperienced that can be seen as courageous respect for Bert to follow Alfie to first light.

Putting this Knowledge to Use
The first thing I did was stand in the front centre of the stage, focusing on a point in the back of the room, keeping my feet still, hand movement to a minimum and made my facial expressions show emptiness by barely doing anything. I read the speech like this to see where that level of expression worked the best and found that it suited the last line;

'I think he should know what has happened to me'

I found myself feeling lost and lonely and felt the need to hold in a tear which I think Bert would do. I started saying the first line;

'He never hit us, Dad'

in a remising way and was telling the story as if I had already planned out what I was going to say. After doing it this way it didn't feel right and I was redirected by a teacher to try again and instead of having Bert tell a story that is already planned out, make it seem like Bert was thinking about his dad, then he remembered that his dad never hit him, then he remembered a lad across the back called Robert who's dad hit him and then he remembered that his dad did this and that... I tried the speech using that thought process and I found my body started to encompass subtle hand gestures every so often that showed a new thought, my face would lighten up with every new thought;

'Must of been a Sunday I suppose, so there were no smoke in the sky to spoil it.(New thought where the energy would increase slightly) / The bloke had sobered up and he was no longer angry...'

By making me think about my character's thought process in a different way I have been able to show how Bert is reminiscing and how thinking back to the past is making him remember a proud event that happened allowing him to momentarily forget about being shot at dawn.

I thought that my monologue was ready but then realised it was very similar to my other two. I decided to change the staging so that it contrasts which is what the drama schools require. To do this I sat on a chair back a bit from the front of the stage and pictured Conker to my diagonal left. I looked at Conker and spoke my dialog facing him looking out to the sky when hitting a positive thought and looking down at the floor when hitting a negative thought like;

'Through what? not pity, shame I suppose'

where Bert's saying how he didn't do anything to help Robert next door, they just acknowledged it happened. I think these actions really attributed to the truth of the speech and helped direct the language with visuals that will hopefully be interesting for the panel. I also found it natural to say the line;

'He was filling the doorway my dad, but it were like his spirit were filling the whole street, the whole universe aha'

out to the audience giving it the appearance of Bert talking out to the sky. I think that this action helps amplify the dialog and make the meaning behind it more powerful.

To conclude, I went to see this play in the Minerva theatre in Chichester as it premiered and had instant rapport with me. It was really powerful and dramatic which is a side of my acting ability I wanted to test and to be able to prove I can do to in my audition. I think that this is a speech that the audience will enjoy and hopefully remember me for.