Hello, my name is Ms. Grant.

I'm so glad you've decided to learn with me.

Today we're in the modern text unit and our modern text is "Leave Taking".

We're looking at an intersectional analysis.

Today we're going to look at the men in "Leave Taking", and I hear you say: Men, there's only one male character that is the character of Brod and he only appears in three scenes.

So we're gonna look at Brod, of course, and his dramatic functions.

But we're also going to look at an important offstage character and consider what Pinnock is doing with this person.

I cannot wait to hear all of your fantastic ideas.

I'm gonna be your support and guide as we work through today's lesson together.

Let's get started.

So by the end of today's lesson, you're going to be able to explain the choices Pinnock made about the male characters in "Leave Taking." Now she's made some very specific choices in "Leave Taking" because there is, after all, only one male character on stage that is clearly a choice that Pinnock has made.

However, we can also think about offstage characters and there are lots of offstage characters that seem to really dominate at the play.

So today, we're going to look at Enid's husband.

He's an offstage character but he is mentioned in a number of scenes and we're gonna think, well, why is he mentioned in a number of scenes? Why has Pinnock made this choice? There are some key words which can help unlock our learning today and help us achieve our objective and they are: dramatic function.

And this is the purpose of the character: how they help a playwright develop, emphasise, and reveal certain ideas.

And we're gonna look at the dramatic function of the character of Brod and the dramatic function of the character of Enid's husband.

Catalyst: this is something that causes a change or event to occur.

And lots of people argue that Brod is a catalyst whose questioning of the education system.

A foil: this is a character who contrasts with another character.

And again, we're gonna think about Brod.

He's a foil to Enid, particularly in Scene Two in terms of how they think and feel about Britain and Jamaica.

Insight: this is the ability to gain precise and profound, deep understanding of someone or something.

And again, we're gonna consider, well, how is Enid's husband? How did he allow us for some insight into the character of Enid? And develop: this is to increase, deepen and grow.

And we're gonna think, well, how do Brod and Enid's husband, this offstage character, how do they deepen our understanding of the characters who are actually on stage? So all of these words today, we're gonna reference them throughout today's lesson and you are gonna be able to use them really confidently by the end of this lesson too.

So our learning cycle, our learning outline for today, we're gonna start off by looking at "Leave Taking" and consider: in what ways it is centering women's voices? And then in our second learning cycle, we're going to think about the dramatic functions of the male character, specifically Brod and Enid's husband.

So let's start off with "Leave Taking" centering women's voices.

Now pupils re-read two sections of Pinnock's introduction and she says in her introduction: I wanted to make Enid the heroine of the play because I couldn't recall ever seeing such character, a hospital cleaner, as the lead in a British play.

And I started out wanting to write about the daughters, this new breed of Black British woman, but ended up fascinated by Enid.

Now reflecting on the cast list and considering the play as a whole, Aisha said: For me, one of the most powerful things about "Leave Taking" is how it centres women's voices.

Now I'd like you to discuss: what could have led Aisha to this argument? Pause the video and discuss this question using these moments from the introduction, but also your knowledge of the play as a whole and discuss the question now.

Welcome back after a really lovely discussion showing off your deep understanding of "Leave Taking" and Pinnock's purposes with this text.

So lots of people started off with these two moments from the introduction and started thinking, well, Pinnock is telling us that she was especially interested in the idea of the character of Enid being the heroine and really centering her voice even though it's a voice that she hadn't really seen in other plays, in other drama.

This did not put Pinnock off.

In fact, it inspired her to write her own play and think, "Well, I want to see this voice represented." Remember, Pinnock was just 23 when she wrote this play, so incredibly ambitious playwright even at a really, really young age.

She also says in her introduction that she wanted to write about the daughters.

So she was really interested in Viv and Del, and then became fascinated by Enid.

So we can see this kind of trio of characters with a real source of inspiration for her.

Some people thought, "Well, the cast list itself, four out of five of the characters are women and the women's voices are dominant throughout this text." So Brod does appear, he is an important character, but he is, after all, only in three scenes and there are eight scenes.

So he is in fewer than half of the scenes in the play.

So it really is a play about women's experiences and women's voices.

Now here's what Pinnock says of "Leave Taking" production history.

So this is also in her introduction to the play.

She says: "Leave Taking" has been produced four times.

The 2018 Bush production will be its fifth production since 1987.

So that was when it was first performed.

Years after the play was produced at the National Theatre in 1994, I was told that it was the first play written by a Black British woman to have been produced there.

I also learned that it was the first time that a Black woman writer and director, Paulette Randall, had worked together in the same venue.

After the first performances of the play at the Liverpool Playhouse Studio, women from different cultural backgrounds collared me to say: "That's my story, I'm Enid," or "That's my mam, she's just like Enid." So a really powerful moment in the introduction.

I actually feel sort of goosebumps as I'm reading this bit, the idea that it was such a groundbreaking performance and also thinking about the idea of people really responding to the play when they come outta the theatre, and that's what fantastic drama can do.

Now I'd like you to discuss how does this moment from the introduction, how might this develop or alter Aisha's argument? Her argument, as a reminder, was: For me, one of the most powerful things about "Leave Taking" is how it centres women's voices.

So just focus on this section of the introduction, the performance history of "Leave Taking" and think how might this develop or alter Aisha's argument? Pause the video and discuss the question now.

Really nice to see people focused on a small moment on this introduction and really developing Aisha's argument with some alterations.

So we're gonna start off with the idea of developing the argument.

Some people are saying, "Well, it does centre women's voices not only through its text, through the dialogue, through the characters, but also its performance history because we've got the idea that women working together to direct and produce the play, to not only produce the play but produce a play that was also written by a woman that was quite groundbreaking." And we've also got these really strong reactions from the audience.

So people are coming up and saying, "I really relate to the character of Enid." So Pinnock's desire to make the heroin of the play Enid, that was obviously worked incredibly well for the play 'cause this character really spoke to audiences.

But some people altering Aisha's argument a little bit and saying, "Well, this is not just about women's voices but actually about Black British women's voices because we've got the character of Enid, a Black British citizen whose voice is being heard, traditionally, maybe not heard so much.

And we've also got a Black woman writer and a Black woman director working together." So this does slightly alter the argument, refines it a little bit more Aisha's argument.

Now a pause, a check for understanding so that we can really think about the idea that "Leave Taking" centres women's voices.

So in what ways might "Leave Taking" be said to centre women's voices? Is it A, the play is about women, and written by a woman who was focused on women's experiences? B, through its cast list: there are no men in the play? C, through its choice of heroine: a character whose voice Pinnock couldn't recall seeing on stage? D, through its performance history: Pinnock has never allowed a man to direct or produce the play? So pause the video and select your responses now.

Well done if you selected A and C.

So it's not that Pinnock has never allowed a man to direct or produce the play, but it was just happened in that 1994 production.

1994, it was a groundbreaking idea, the performance, because of these two women coming together and producing this play.

And lots of people spotted this era in B that there is a man in play that is Brod.

He appears in three scenes, but it's just that the other characters are all women and they seem to take centre stage in this play.

Now Aisha argues, as we've seen before and we've interacted with this argument as well: Arguably, one of the most powerful things about "Leave Taking" is how it centres women's voices.

We've had really nice discussion about Aisha's argument and developed it and also slightly altered it at points.

Now I'd like you to develop Aisha's argument using the three sentence starters below: More specifically, and you could could refer to the cast list or Pinnock's introduction.

Furthermore, you could reference the play's performance history.

And your final sentence starter is: Ultimately, Pinnock, and you're gonna consider Pinnock's intentions.

Now we've had an amazing discussion about the ways in which "Leave Taking" centres women's voices.

So we just wanna get those ideas on paper so that you can return to them time and time again and really refine some of those ideas.

So get your pen and paper, your laptop, whatever it is that you are writing on, really give yourself time to consider what it was we talked about in this learning cycle.

So you've got a really beautiful paragraph where you have developed Aisha's argument.

Pause the video and I'll see you back here shortly.

Pause the video now.

Welcome back, it was so lovely to hear all of those fantastic discussions which we had in this learning cycle to see them captured in paper, refined, developed so that your personal interests, your personal interpretation of this play could come through.

Now I'd like you to self-assess using the questions below to guide you.

So for that first sentence starter where you said "More specifically," have you referred to the cast list or Pinnock's introduction? We looked at some sections of Pinnock's introduction in this learning cycle.

Make sure you reference them or the cast list in that first sentence starter.

"Furthermore," have you added to your argument, perhaps by referring to the performance history? Now there might be something else that you found particularly interesting in terms of thinking about how "Leave Taking" centres women's voices, but you might have referred to the performance history.

If you haven't, you need to have referred to another thing in the text.

And "Ultimately, Pinnock," have you explored why Pinnock might have made these particular choices? So again, you might return to the introduction really thinking about, well, what was Pinnock trying to do when she wrote this play? Making sure that you've got some intentions there.

So I'd like you to pause the video and using these questions to guide you, just read through your paragraph and self-assess your writing.

Pause the video now.

Well done for self-assessing your work so carefully discussion, then writing, and then self-assessment, all part of being a student of English.

Always refining your ideas and just making sure that your written work is as deep as powerful as the discussion that you have had.

Now we're going to move on to our second learning cycle.

We're gonna think about the dramatic functions of the male characters.

So we know that "Leave Taking" centres women's voices.

We know that's incredibly important to Pinnock.

But we do have the character Brod on stage.

We need to consider his dramatic function.

And we do have this kind of looming presence of Enid's husband who is referenced throughout.

So we need to think, well, why does she include these references? What are their dramatic functions? So although the cast list is dominated by women, there are a number of important male roles in the play.

Now, arguably, the two most important roles are Brod who's an onstage character and he appears in Scenes Two, Three, and Seven.

And then, we've got Enid's husband.

He is an offstage character and he is mentioned in Scenes One, Two, Four, Seven and Eight.

So I actually think it's nice for lots of the characters, we're looking at Brod and Enid's husband today, but often in a play, it can be really important to note that when particular characters appear or are mentioned, it can offer an insight into the play itself.

So you might think about that for "Leave Taking" with other characters like the character of Mooma, for example, an important offstage character but you could do it for any play that you are looking at.

But today, let's look at Brod and Enid's husband.

Those are our focus today.

Now I'd like you to discuss Brod and Enid's husband, how is each man presented? So quite an open question here, so any ideas that you can think of, nice to see people reaching for their copies of "Leave Taking", particularly turning to these particular scenes that are on the board to kind of guide your discussion.

So pause the video and just discuss, how is each man presented? Pause the video now.

Welcome back after a really complex discussion because these characters are presented just as complicated as the characters who are perhaps in almost all of the scenes of the play.

So let's start off with the character of Brod.

So we know that Enid relies on him.

We know that they're good friends and we know that he is a support.

We see even in Scene One that Viv calls him Uncle Brod, suggesting that kind of closeness that he has to the family.

And we can see that Enid does seem to rely on him.

She wants him there when the pastor is over.

And even though she does get frustrated with him at points, it all seems quite lighthearted in some ways.

But there is this sort of slightly more negative interpretation of Brod.

He is presented as drinking to excess.

In Scene Seven, we learn that he has a wife and children who he doesn't really see and Del certainly thinks that that is not a good aspect of his characterization.

And we also see that Brod has been chucked out of Enid's house in Scene Seven.

And she says, or Enid says that the reason she's done this 'cause she's carried too many people for too long.

So the idea that Brod relies excessively on Enid and is not able to look after himself.

So slightly negative interpretation there of character who is often on stage, often joking, often laughing, maybe you couldn't kind of present him as quite a funny character.

But we've also got this kind of more vulnerable side of him and also this slightly more negative characterization of him as someone who drinks to excess and can't really look after himself.

Now Enid's husband, so lots of people talked about this revelation in Scene Seven, that he abused Enid.

And this being really powerful, sad, poignant moment for the character of Enid, a horrible realisation for the character of Del.

And it really makes us think, "Okay, Enid's husband, he abused his wife." This is a terrible thing for him to have done and it really impacts our understanding of him as a character.

Certainly, Del is incredibly, incredibly angry, distraught, as she ends up calling him "That man!" in Scene Eight.

When she refers to him, she doesn't want to connect with him as her father.

But we also see this other side where he is hopeful when he arrives in England.

He does save to send money back to Enid so that she can come over, she can migrate to England, and we see the racial abuse that he has to endure at work.

So again, what I really love about "Leave Taking" is that Pinnock doesn't try to present characters who are good characters, who are bad, but we get this kind of really multifaceted characterization where we can see different aspects of characters, characters who are certainly flawed, and in some cases, presented as being incredibly cruel in terms of Enid's husband's domestic abuse of her as of course a horrible, horrible moment in the play.

But we also see other aspects of his character as well.

There's not just this one mention of him.

So quite a complex portrayal of these two men, certainly not simple.

And it was really nice that you were able to capture a lot of that complexity in your discussion.

Now in a play, each character serves a dramatic function.

Dramatic function is the purpose of a character, how they help the playwright develop, emphasise and reveal the ideas they want to explore in their work.

Now in her introduction, Pinnock tells us that when Liverpool Playhouse Studio first commissioned "Leave Taking," she was asked to cut her original cast as the budget would only allow for five characters.

In this way, the dramatic function of Brod becomes even more significant.

Pinnock could have cut him but chose not to.

So she obviously had more characters that she wanted to put on stage.

She had to cut them down.

She had to make some decisions and her decision was on keeping Brod.

So that means his dramatic function is really, really significant.

Now Lucas creates a table so he can reflect on Brod's dramatic functions.

He thinks, well, I know that Brod is an important character because Pinnock could have cut him but she chose not to.

So I want to think about, well, what are the important dramatic functions of Brod? Here's his table.

So we've got Scene Two, Three and Seven 'cause he knows those of the scenes that Brod appears in.

And he says in Scene Two, he thinks his dramatic function is he serves as a foil to Enid, arguing she is teaching these children all wrong by not celebrating their Caribbean souls.

In Scene Three, he says: Brod serves as a catalyst for Viv to question the British education system and engage with her Jamaican heritage.

And in Scene Seven: Brod serves as a catalyst for Del's resolution with Enid, telling Del of Enid's experiences of abuse, "you father change, into a hard man." So I really like the way that Lucas has got these keywords to anchor his idea, but he's also got some really, really carefully chosen quotations in order to support his ideas.

Now I'd like you to discuss in what ways would the play be impacted if the character of Brod was not included? So using Lucas's really helpful table, how would the play be impacted if Brod was not included? Pause the video and discuss this question now.

Welcome back, a really nice discussion there.

I think this is always quite an interesting question.

It really helps me to understand the dramatic functions of characters by thinking, well, what would happen if I removed this character on the play? How would the play be impacted? So we're doing it here with character Brod, but you could do it with any of the characters and you could do it with different plays in order to understand, well, what is the function of this character? What would happen if they were no longer in the play? So it's nice to hear that lots of people say, "Well, if Brod was not in the play, potentially Viv would not have questioned her education and would not have skipped her a level exam." So she wouldn't be thinking, "Well, I don't seem to connect to the education that I've been given in my school.

Even though I'm incredibly gifted, even though I'm incredibly academic, I can't actually connect to it." And this questioning is important for her in terms of her maturing, in terms of her developing, and in terms of her being happy to go to university and pursue Black studies, to think, "Well, I am gonna stay in the formal education system but actually, I want to look at something that I am going to connect with." And potentially, this course is going to provide that for her.

But lots of people focused on the idea that actually, without Brod giving that revelation that Enid's husband abused her, well, that resolution between Del and Enid would not occur.

And actually, that's incredibly important for our sense of the idea that there is a resolution at the end of the play.

So the revelation, even though Del finds it incredibly difficult, of course, she would, it is important in terms of her having resolution with the character of Enid.

It was also nice to see people focusing on Scene Two 'cause this moment in Scene Two where Brod and Enid have this sort of argument, it's an incredibly political moment in some way and a bit of social criticism where Brod is saying, "I'm criticising the British government.

I'm criticising the home office," in contrast to Enid's.

So we get these two experiences of Britain from Brod and Enid who migrated at roughly the same amount of time.

And in this way, in this dialogue, Pinnock is getting us to question, well, what was the experience of those who migrated post World War II? So it's a moment where it feels very realistic, kind of this conversation, this slight conflict, this disagreement between two friends, but actually gives the play some real political edge.

So really nice discussion there, thinking about the character of Brod.

What would happen if he was no longer in the play? And that has really cemented our ideas of what is his dramatic function.

Now check for understanding so that we can cement the idea of, well, what is Brod's dramatic function? We've got there's a lack of male characters in "Leave Taking" because; there's a lack of male characters in "Leave Taking" but; and there's a lack of male characters in "Leave Taking" so.

And I would like you to match those sentence stems to their endings.

So pause the video and match centre stems to their ending now.

Well done for completing this check for understanding.

Quite a difficult one, but showing off your real understanding of why there is a lack of male characters in "Leave Taking" and also considering Pinnock's intentions.

So there's a lack of male characters in "Leave Taking" because Brod is the only man who appears on stage.

There's a lack of male characters in "Leave Taking" but Brod and the offstage male characters still serve important dramatic functions.

And there's a lack of male characters in "Leave Taking" so some might argue Pinnock is centering women's voices.

Nice to see people relying on learning cycle one in order to complete this check, as well as the ideas we've had in learning cycle two.

Now I'd like you to complete the table, exploring the dramatic functions of Enid's husband, just as Lucas did to consider the dramatic functions of the character of Brod.

Now when you complete this table, you're gonna keep it really, really safe 'cause you're going to want to return to it if you are writing an essay on "Leave Taking".

Because then, you would be able to talk about the dramatic function of Enid's husband and make sure that you've got some really precise references in order to do that.

Now we know that he's in Scenes One, Two, Four, Seven and Eight.

Sorry, he's referenced in Scenes One, Two, Four, Seven and Eight.

And I've got some prompts to guide you when you're looking at those scenes to consider what his dramatic function is.

So in Scene One, I'd like you to think, how does Pinnock use him to give insight into the character of Enid? In Scene Two, I'd like you to consider, how does Pinnock use him as a catalyst for Del's moving out? In Scene Four, I'd like you to consider, how does Pinnock use him to develop the character of Enid? In Scene Seven, I'd like you to consider, how does Pinnock use him to give insight into aspects of 1980s Britain? And in Scene Eight, I'd like you to consider, how does Pinnock use him to create resolution to the play? So pause the video.

Get your copy of "Leave Taking." Get what you're going to write on, where you're gonna record these ideas.

Consider all the ideas that we've discussed throughout this learning cycle.

And also think about Lucas's table where he looked at the function of the character of Brod 'cause that's really gonna guide you in terms of how you can write your responses.

I will see you back here shortly.

I can't wait to hear all the different ideas that you've had in terms of the dramatic function of Enid's husband.

So pause the video and complete the task now.

Welcome back after a really, really nice exploration of an offstage character throughout the whole play.

So really, really well-crafted table here where you're thinking about one character, not just in one moment, but actually across the play and thinking, well, what is their dramatic function? Now I'd like you just to reconsider one of Lucas's rows from his table about the dramatic functions of Brod, which if you remember, is written in a full sentence, is supported by a quotation from the text, actually multiple quotations for this particular one, and uses a key word accurately.

So Lucas here has used the word foil.

Now I'd like you to self-assess your own sentences against the checklist.

So you've got sentences for Enid's husband across all the scenes where he is mentioned.

I want you to make sure that each of them is written in a full sentence, is supported by a quotation from the text and uses a key word accurately.

Pause the video and self-assess your sentences now.

Some brilliant self-assessment there, people just making sure they've got full stops in the right places, people making sure that they do have quotations to support their particular ideas about particular dramatic functions, and some really nice insertions that are key words so that your work is really grounded in these dramatic techniques.

In summary: arguably, Pinnock centres women's voices in "Leave Taking." The character of Brod is the only onstage male character.

Brod serves many important dramatic functions.

Enid's husband is an important offstage character.

And references to Enid's husband help audiences understand the character of Enid and aspects of 1980s Britain.

It has been such a pleasure to work through this lesson with you today, to consider the dramatic functions of the male characters, and to really consider how is "Leave Taking" centering women's voices.

I look forward to seeing you next time.