Radio Far Side of the Moore Rehearsal Development

When first given the 'Far Side of the Moore' script I was eager to read through it and understand the character I was playing and the story behind the 'Sky at Night'. What first stood out to me when reading the script was Patrick Moore's relationship with a lady named Lorna. After reading through the script he says how he only knew her for about ten months yet from analysing the play he was in love with her.

Max Stafford Clark

The first mention of Lorna is on page 14, when Patrick is talking about a woman he likes called Eileen, he says how Eileen reminds him of Lorna, "Reminds me a little of Lorna" He then goes on to ask his friend Arthur Clarke if "Eileen would make a good wife?" This intrigued me to find out more about the relationship between Patrick and Lorna as Patrick mentions her in a good light and compares her to a woman he is thinking about marrying. As I got further into the script I learnt more about this key relationship with Lorna. We see a scene where Patrick first meets Lorna. Patrick describes her as his "first love". Through the scene there is obvious chemistry between Patrick and Lorna. With wit and flirty comments coming from both parties. In order to et this across through the audio, I think I will use the technique of Actioning by Max Stafford Clark. I use this method a lot as I feel it helps me portray emotionally what Patrick would be feeling. The method created by Max Stafford Clark looks at finding the intention behind the line and delivering it to its right setting. Before I would deliver the line I'd look at the relationship between the character I was saying the line to and my character and also what is being said. Patricks first line to Lorna is "No, Patrick, actually" while answering Lorna's question. This I perceive is quite flirty and witty and is in some ways trying to subtly be playful and seductive. For this I would do the action of allure, so I would say the words 'I Allure You' before delivering the line in order to get the alluring emotion.

After finding out more about Patricks relationship with Lorna I wanted to look into his life and what made him an astronomer as well as other relationships.

Patsy Rodenburg

A character we see a lot in this radio play is Getrude Moore, who is the mother to Patrick. Patrick has a good relationship with his mother and many of the scenes in this drama are with Patrick and his mother talking openly about Patricks life. Patrick also believes he and his mother are close "We're very close - Mother and I." For the scenes where I am with my mother I will take this into consideration and think about a more relaxed tone and presence. An acting theory that I find interesting talks about the presence of an actor and character. Patsy Rodenburg talks about the second circle and how there are three circles, she says how in the first circle is an actor who isn't present and is quite laid back and may seemed relaxed, the energy falls back into the person. The Second Circle is a more present energy with the person being present but not over pressuring. The third circle is often too over energised and these are the sort of people who Patsy describes as 'taking the oxygen out of the room'. I feel for this scene I will be in second circle as an actor so my voice doesn't fail, but as a character I will be in first circle, and give a more relaxed tone to my voice yet still connecting with the audience. Patrick has a strong connection with his mother which I believe means that his relationship wasn't great with his father and so he gravitated towards his mother more.

After reading through the script more in the following weeks I started to look into his relationship with his father and what sort of man Patrick Moore's father was and the impact he had on Patrick. I believe that his father was quite a stern man and would stick up for what he believed in. I got this impression after looking at the text as when talking about something he hates and how he would combat it he mentions how his father would. Meaning his father would stick up for his beliefs.

The Story of the Solar System

I was also keen to look at what made Patrick Moore and astronomer, he says in the script that from a young age he was handed a book at the age of 6 by his mother called 'The Story of the Solar System' by G.F Chambers, however he goes on to say how he was looking at the other children play and wanted to know their names yet looked up and learnt the names of the stars instead, this seems to give off the impression that Patrick Moore had quite a lonely childhood as he never interacted with other children, this may have been due to his father being stern and not letting him play with other kids. However in some ways this was a blessing as it showed him astronomy. Throughout the radio play I will imagine Patrick Moore's childhood in order to understand the experience he had before the time that this is set and to understand more about his relationship with his Father, Mother and the stars.


I am looking forward to doing the final version of this wonderful script and getting it recorded so I can make a good evaluation on areas of my voice that are weak.