Aims & objectives
A01i Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which playwrights, directors, designers and performers use the medium of drama to create theatre and are affected by social, cultural and historical influences.
A01ii Evaluate the effectiveness of the ways in which playwrights, directors, designers and performers use the medium of drama to communicate their ideas to an audience demonstrating knowledge and understanding of social, cultural and historical contexts
A02i Interpret plays and ideas using the medium of drama in a sophisticated way and justify any artistic decisions from the standpoint of an informed playwright, director, performer and/or designer
A02ii Communicate ideas, feelings and/or meaning to an audience making effective use of performing and/or design skills in response to a scripted play.
A03ii Communicate ideas, feelings and/or meaning to an audience making effective use of performing and/or design skills within the context of both devised and scripted work.
Planned structure / activity
Warm up
Grotowski warm up exercises from Towards a poor theatre
Rhythmical walking while the hands and arms rotate/ running on tiptoe
Flight weightlessness. Walk with knees bent, hand on hips.
Walk with knees bent gripping the ankles. Walk with knees bent, hands touching the outside edges of the feet/ holding the toes with one’s fingers. Walk with legs rigid as though pulled by imaginary strings.
Start in curled up position/take small short jumps forward/ land in same position with hands by feet.
Metal band
Imagine a metal band around the chest. Stretch it by means of vigorous expansion of trunk Take a lying position and then roll vigorously left and then right across the floor./ jumps like a kangaroo.
Sit on the floor and bring head to the knees.
These exercises warm up the body and allow the student to explore their movement capability.
Hand exercise
Touch/skim/feel/caress various objects
Then the whole body expresses these tactile sensations.
Oppositions of the body
One part of the body opposes the other - upper opposes the lower part of the body. A hand versus a leg. Use adjectives e.g. happy versus angry.
Unexpected movements
Do the opposite movement to that which you had intended – direction changed after a brief moment of immobility.
Blossoming/ withering of the body.
Slowly grow with confidence towards the sun and then wither back, then blossom again.
Emotional impulse of a body part- e.g. Shoulder cries like a face, e.g. a greedy knee.
Arbitary Cycle
To embrace
To take
To take for oneself
To possess
To protect
Create a piece of movement that expresses that cycle in a group/individual
Add music; discuss the emotions and story that organically grow from this stimulus.
Open
Create a movement piece that encapsulates all of these exercises on the theme of open to same piece of music.
Present and evaluate work
RESOURCES USED
Growoski Towards a Poor Theatre
Music Terma
Ry Cooder
RECORDS, AMENDMENTS & EVALUATION
Friday 28 September 2007
Tuesday 25 September 2007
Monday 24 September 2007
Devised project rehearsal schedule and structured record deadlines for year 13
REHEARSAL SCHEDULE FOR YEAR 13 DEVISED PROJECT
WEEK 1 SEPT:10
BRAINSTORMING
WEEK 2:SEPT 17th-21st
RESEARCHING/ opening scene ideas
WEEK 3: Sept 24th-28th
RESEARCH AND IMPRO AND STARTING POINTS
WEEK4 1st oct-5th Oct
FINDING CHARACTER/LOCATION/SITUATION
WEEK 5 oct 8th-12th
OPENING SCENES
WEEK 6 Oct 15th-19th
PLOT/STRUCTURE/ all scenes done
HALF TERM
WORK ON ALL SCENES DONE IN ROUGH STATE
WEEK 7 5th Nov-9th nov
WORK ON SCENES
WEEK 8 12th-16th Nov
Dress rehearsals/set building etc poster
Week 9 Nov 19th-
Open dress rehearsals
NOV 21st
Performance exam
REHEARSAL SCHEDULE FOR YEAR 13 DEVISED PROJECT
WEEK 1 SEPT:10
BRAINSTORMING
WEEK 2:SEPT 17th-21st
RESEARCHING/ opening scene ideas
WEEK 3: Sept 24th-28th
RESEARCH AND IMPRO AND STARTING POINTS
WEEK4 1st oct-5th Oct
FINDING CHARACTER/LOCATION/SITUATION
WEEK 5 oct 8th-12th
OPENING SCENES
WEEK 6 Oct 15th-19th
PLOT/STRUCTURE/ all scenes done
HALF TERM
WORK ON ALL SCENES DONE IN ROUGH STATE
WEEK 7 5th Nov-9th nov
WORK ON SCENES
WEEK 8 12th-16th Nov
Dress rehearsals/set building etc poster
Week 9 Nov 19th-
Open dress rehearsals
NOV 21st
Performance exam
Schedule for Year 13 Structured record
Wed 28th November
Draft 1-5
Tuesday 11th December
Draft 6-10
Final Draft
Structured record
Monday Feb 4th 2008
Also you need to find a play for January(20 minute play) to direct yourselves in!!!!
WEEK 1 SEPT:10
BRAINSTORMING
WEEK 2:SEPT 17th-21st
RESEARCHING/ opening scene ideas
WEEK 3: Sept 24th-28th
RESEARCH AND IMPRO AND STARTING POINTS
WEEK4 1st oct-5th Oct
FINDING CHARACTER/LOCATION/SITUATION
WEEK 5 oct 8th-12th
OPENING SCENES
WEEK 6 Oct 15th-19th
PLOT/STRUCTURE/ all scenes done
HALF TERM
WORK ON ALL SCENES DONE IN ROUGH STATE
WEEK 7 5th Nov-9th nov
WORK ON SCENES
WEEK 8 12th-16th Nov
Dress rehearsals/set building etc poster
Week 9 Nov 19th-
Open dress rehearsals
NOV 21st
Performance exam
REHEARSAL SCHEDULE FOR YEAR 13 DEVISED PROJECT
WEEK 1 SEPT:10
BRAINSTORMING
WEEK 2:SEPT 17th-21st
RESEARCHING/ opening scene ideas
WEEK 3: Sept 24th-28th
RESEARCH AND IMPRO AND STARTING POINTS
WEEK4 1st oct-5th Oct
FINDING CHARACTER/LOCATION/SITUATION
WEEK 5 oct 8th-12th
OPENING SCENES
WEEK 6 Oct 15th-19th
PLOT/STRUCTURE/ all scenes done
HALF TERM
WORK ON ALL SCENES DONE IN ROUGH STATE
WEEK 7 5th Nov-9th nov
WORK ON SCENES
WEEK 8 12th-16th Nov
Dress rehearsals/set building etc poster
Week 9 Nov 19th-
Open dress rehearsals
NOV 21st
Performance exam
Schedule for Year 13 Structured record
Wed 28th November
Draft 1-5
Tuesday 11th December
Draft 6-10
Final Draft
Structured record
Monday Feb 4th 2008
Also you need to find a play for January(20 minute play) to direct yourselves in!!!!
Friday 21 September 2007
guidance for structured records for year 13
1. How did your role emerge and how was it communicated?
Describe briefly your role. If you play more than one character then describe all the roles and their function in the play. Then choose one or two characters you can focus on and analysis:
Their function in the play
How did you work on developing the character?
What techniques did you use?
Stanislavski system or are they Brechtian characters?
What did your character contribute to the message of the play?
Physical and vocal and objectives of your character
Relationship with other characters and the audience
2. In what way was the Stimulus material developed through the drama process?
Explain how you used Physical theatre techniques
Artaud/Growotski workshops
Give specific examples from the play and analyse in detail
Body language/ Vocal techniques
Communication and relationship with the audience.
Also use one piece of stimulus you all agreed on text/poetry/ music and analyse how it was used during the process of devising.
3. How did group skills contribute to the development of the drama?
Analyse what skills each member of the group is strongest at and then give examples where they demonstrated that strength. For example who was best at research? Who gave the most ideas? Who shaped ideas well into scenes?
Who was the natural leader? Who mediated well? Who was a good listener? Who was the problem solver? Etc.
4. In what ways were acting techniques or design elements and dramatic form used to achieve the intended effect?
Analyse specific moments from the play and analyse the techniques you used and why you chose the forms you did and what you wanted to communicate to an audience through those techniques. N/B:Explain what the technique is before analyzing how you used it.
With design explain what the set or lighting design was meant to communicate to the audience, pick specific moments where the set and lighting was most effective and analyse why.
5. How did the group plan for a range of responses from the audience?
Think about what you want to communicate to an audience, what styles and techniques did you use? Quotes from Practitioners are vital. Give specific examples from the play and analyse what responses you wanted to achieve and then analyse the reponses you actually got from the final performance. This is focussing on audience /actor relationship
Things to mention:
What do you want the audience to think? feel? How will you achieve this.
eg: Dialectic: Do you want them to think about what they are seeing and want to change society?
Do you want them to have a subconscious connection with the meaning:
Perhaps through where you are placing them in the action. Artaud placing of audience in centre of action?
How are you achieving this? Set/ projections/episodic scenes? evaluate (So looking at the structure rather than the specific scenes.
In what ways were acting techniques or design elements and drama forms used to achieve intended effects.
This focuses on the rehearsal process as well as the final product.
Things to mention:
briefly the intended effects then how did you achieve them.
Did you use naturalistic acting in the piece? why? what effect did it give?
Did you use direct address to the audience?
voice over? again why?
sensory exercises eg artaud workshop?
lighting/set ideas why?
use of sound?
costume?
how did this create intended effects.
Did you use Stanislavski or Brecht techniques to achieve the characters or Grotowski and Artaud techniques to create the intended effects how?
6. How did Rehearsals and the production process contribute to the final performance?
Analyse the workshops we did, the choices you made in rehearsals. Give specific examples from the scenes in the play. Quote, analyse how and why they contributed to the final production.
7. Explain how research material was gathered and used within the process
Give clear examples of the research material you used
Then link it directly to specific scenes or character development that came from the research.
Analyse the choices you made and how and why you used the research and how effective it was.
8. Evaluate the ways in which ideas were communicated to the audience.
The key word here is ideas . Think about the message and meaning of the piece and the debate you are setting up and how you are communicating it to the audience.
Things to mention:
Dialectic
The scenes described and evaluated using the message as a focus.
9. Explore the impact of social, cultural and or historical conditions on the work.
1. As your piece is exploring an issue historically to present day, it is a vital part of your devising process. Therefore analyse the moments in history you have used in the play,
Why did you choose those moments?
How do they compare and contrast with present day?
How did they inform on the message of your play?
Give specific examples from the scenes and analyse how and why you used them. What impact do you want to make with these references to the past? Explain and explore this using specific examples and quotes.
10. Indicate how the influences and ideas of other playwrights and /or directors, designers and performers have been used.
Artaud/ Growotski/ Brecht/ Complicite/ Stanislaki.
Analyse and quote from the practitioners and use specific scenes from your play where you can see a direct influence from their work. It may be from character development in rehearsal to choices of audience / actor relationship to use of theatre space etc.
NB/ In all your answers clear quotes from practitioners is vital with analysis of quotes and techniques. Do not leave a quote hanging. Do not just mention a technique without explaining what it is and its function in theatre. Then always give clear examples from the play to back up your points. You must always mention the message in your piece in each essay.
Structured records must each be two sides of A4.
Describe briefly your role. If you play more than one character then describe all the roles and their function in the play. Then choose one or two characters you can focus on and analysis:
Their function in the play
How did you work on developing the character?
What techniques did you use?
Stanislavski system or are they Brechtian characters?
What did your character contribute to the message of the play?
Physical and vocal and objectives of your character
Relationship with other characters and the audience
2. In what way was the Stimulus material developed through the drama process?
Explain how you used Physical theatre techniques
Artaud/Growotski workshops
Give specific examples from the play and analyse in detail
Body language/ Vocal techniques
Communication and relationship with the audience.
Also use one piece of stimulus you all agreed on text/poetry/ music and analyse how it was used during the process of devising.
3. How did group skills contribute to the development of the drama?
Analyse what skills each member of the group is strongest at and then give examples where they demonstrated that strength. For example who was best at research? Who gave the most ideas? Who shaped ideas well into scenes?
Who was the natural leader? Who mediated well? Who was a good listener? Who was the problem solver? Etc.
4. In what ways were acting techniques or design elements and dramatic form used to achieve the intended effect?
Analyse specific moments from the play and analyse the techniques you used and why you chose the forms you did and what you wanted to communicate to an audience through those techniques. N/B:Explain what the technique is before analyzing how you used it.
With design explain what the set or lighting design was meant to communicate to the audience, pick specific moments where the set and lighting was most effective and analyse why.
5. How did the group plan for a range of responses from the audience?
Think about what you want to communicate to an audience, what styles and techniques did you use? Quotes from Practitioners are vital. Give specific examples from the play and analyse what responses you wanted to achieve and then analyse the reponses you actually got from the final performance. This is focussing on audience /actor relationship
Things to mention:
What do you want the audience to think? feel? How will you achieve this.
eg: Dialectic: Do you want them to think about what they are seeing and want to change society?
Do you want them to have a subconscious connection with the meaning:
Perhaps through where you are placing them in the action. Artaud placing of audience in centre of action?
How are you achieving this? Set/ projections/episodic scenes? evaluate (So looking at the structure rather than the specific scenes.
In what ways were acting techniques or design elements and drama forms used to achieve intended effects.
This focuses on the rehearsal process as well as the final product.
Things to mention:
briefly the intended effects then how did you achieve them.
Did you use naturalistic acting in the piece? why? what effect did it give?
Did you use direct address to the audience?
voice over? again why?
sensory exercises eg artaud workshop?
lighting/set ideas why?
use of sound?
costume?
how did this create intended effects.
Did you use Stanislavski or Brecht techniques to achieve the characters or Grotowski and Artaud techniques to create the intended effects how?
6. How did Rehearsals and the production process contribute to the final performance?
Analyse the workshops we did, the choices you made in rehearsals. Give specific examples from the scenes in the play. Quote, analyse how and why they contributed to the final production.
7. Explain how research material was gathered and used within the process
Give clear examples of the research material you used
Then link it directly to specific scenes or character development that came from the research.
Analyse the choices you made and how and why you used the research and how effective it was.
8. Evaluate the ways in which ideas were communicated to the audience.
The key word here is ideas . Think about the message and meaning of the piece and the debate you are setting up and how you are communicating it to the audience.
Things to mention:
Dialectic
The scenes described and evaluated using the message as a focus.
9. Explore the impact of social, cultural and or historical conditions on the work.
1. As your piece is exploring an issue historically to present day, it is a vital part of your devising process. Therefore analyse the moments in history you have used in the play,
Why did you choose those moments?
How do they compare and contrast with present day?
How did they inform on the message of your play?
Give specific examples from the scenes and analyse how and why you used them. What impact do you want to make with these references to the past? Explain and explore this using specific examples and quotes.
10. Indicate how the influences and ideas of other playwrights and /or directors, designers and performers have been used.
Artaud/ Growotski/ Brecht/ Complicite/ Stanislaki.
Analyse and quote from the practitioners and use specific scenes from your play where you can see a direct influence from their work. It may be from character development in rehearsal to choices of audience / actor relationship to use of theatre space etc.
NB/ In all your answers clear quotes from practitioners is vital with analysis of quotes and techniques. Do not leave a quote hanging. Do not just mention a technique without explaining what it is and its function in theatre. Then always give clear examples from the play to back up your points. You must always mention the message in your piece in each essay.
Structured records must each be two sides of A4.
Notes for Year 13 to guide Unit 6 notes
A guide to Unit 6 Section A
Annotated scripts: What should I write?
The Social, cultural and historical context surrounding the writing and performing of the play and its relevance to a contemporary audience.
For example:
The Greeks reasons for having plays performed.
The function of plays and characters within the plays.
The themes of the play and communicated through the language and plot.
The history behind the plot of the play.
The ways in which the playwright has structured the play and uses plot, language, forms, characterisation and stagecraft to communicate ideas to an audience.
For example:
Function of chorus
Soliloquy
Theatre space
Role of men and women in the play
Movement
Language/dialogue
Direct address
The proposed production methods being used to communicate the directors ideas to an audience.
Theatre space
Themes
Actor/audience relationship
Language
Characterisation
Setting
Lighting
Costume/props
Structure of scenes
The performers and/or designers contribution to the realisation of the scene in line with the overall production concept.
For example:
Acting style: What style should you use and why?
Design: For a production and /or a particular scene in the play, including diagrams
Overall production concept; What are you trying to say?
The development and shaping of an original production concept for the play as a director.
Take your overall production concept and discuss how you would communicate that to an audience through acting style/ theatre space/costume design and structure and how you would realise it through rehearsal techniques.
The planning and communication of ideas to members of a design team.
Notes outlining what themes and practical needs do you have to communicate your production concept to an audience. How will design and costume and lighting help?
The planning and structuring of a rehearsal based on characterisation.
Rehearsal techniques for particular characters
Key scenes: identify what are the key scenes
Acting style: work on voice and movement and language and communication of themes.
The planning and structuring of a rehearsal based on the exploration of meaning
Communication of ideas/themes/character objectives
Acting style/voice/movement always thinking of themes, ideas, objectives within the scenes. Again identify key moments from the play to work on.
THE MAIN RESEARCH AND NOTES SHOULD CENTRE ON AN OVERALL CONCEPT OF HOW YOU WOULD DIRECT YOUR OWN PRODUCTION OF TROJAN WOMEN AND HOW YOU WOULD WORK ON IT.
Some practice questions:
See Edexcel website :
There are several practice exams and questions for you to try out.
Section B
This part of the exam requires students to see one live performance of a play. This year it is A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream at the Roundhouse Theatre, Camden.
Then compare it with 3 other contexts drawn from secondary research sources.
The periods should cover the following periods:
Consideration of the original 16th/17th century performance conditions
Consideration of 18th/19th century
A production of the play in the 20th century
A contemporary production of the play seen as a live performance.
The notes should be as follows : pages 1-4 on the contemporary play
Pages 5-6 20th century production details
Pages 7-8 18th/19th century
Pages 9-10 16th/17th century
So what should be placed in each of the pages?
Historical/social/economic situation of the time.
Acting style
Staging
Theatre layout
Visual elements
Practitioners
Moments from the play including textual analysis
Language/text
Quotes from research/ and the play to back up your points
Class structure
Actor/audience relationship
Annotated scripts: What should I write?
The Social, cultural and historical context surrounding the writing and performing of the play and its relevance to a contemporary audience.
For example:
The Greeks reasons for having plays performed.
The function of plays and characters within the plays.
The themes of the play and communicated through the language and plot.
The history behind the plot of the play.
The ways in which the playwright has structured the play and uses plot, language, forms, characterisation and stagecraft to communicate ideas to an audience.
For example:
Function of chorus
Soliloquy
Theatre space
Role of men and women in the play
Movement
Language/dialogue
Direct address
The proposed production methods being used to communicate the directors ideas to an audience.
Theatre space
Themes
Actor/audience relationship
Language
Characterisation
Setting
Lighting
Costume/props
Structure of scenes
The performers and/or designers contribution to the realisation of the scene in line with the overall production concept.
For example:
Acting style: What style should you use and why?
Design: For a production and /or a particular scene in the play, including diagrams
Overall production concept; What are you trying to say?
The development and shaping of an original production concept for the play as a director.
Take your overall production concept and discuss how you would communicate that to an audience through acting style/ theatre space/costume design and structure and how you would realise it through rehearsal techniques.
The planning and communication of ideas to members of a design team.
Notes outlining what themes and practical needs do you have to communicate your production concept to an audience. How will design and costume and lighting help?
The planning and structuring of a rehearsal based on characterisation.
Rehearsal techniques for particular characters
Key scenes: identify what are the key scenes
Acting style: work on voice and movement and language and communication of themes.
The planning and structuring of a rehearsal based on the exploration of meaning
Communication of ideas/themes/character objectives
Acting style/voice/movement always thinking of themes, ideas, objectives within the scenes. Again identify key moments from the play to work on.
THE MAIN RESEARCH AND NOTES SHOULD CENTRE ON AN OVERALL CONCEPT OF HOW YOU WOULD DIRECT YOUR OWN PRODUCTION OF TROJAN WOMEN AND HOW YOU WOULD WORK ON IT.
Some practice questions:
See Edexcel website :
There are several practice exams and questions for you to try out.
Section B
This part of the exam requires students to see one live performance of a play. This year it is A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream at the Roundhouse Theatre, Camden.
Then compare it with 3 other contexts drawn from secondary research sources.
The periods should cover the following periods:
Consideration of the original 16th/17th century performance conditions
Consideration of 18th/19th century
A production of the play in the 20th century
A contemporary production of the play seen as a live performance.
The notes should be as follows : pages 1-4 on the contemporary play
Pages 5-6 20th century production details
Pages 7-8 18th/19th century
Pages 9-10 16th/17th century
So what should be placed in each of the pages?
Historical/social/economic situation of the time.
Acting style
Staging
Theatre layout
Visual elements
Practitioners
Moments from the play including textual analysis
Language/text
Quotes from research/ and the play to back up your points
Class structure
Actor/audience relationship
Thursday 20 September 2007
Deadlines and Mock it for year 11
Guidance for Mock Paper 3
To be performed in the Drama Studio in week beginning 7th November 2007
1) The minimum number in a group is three , the maximum is twelve.
2) The length of the piece should be no longer than 5mins per person in the group. So a group of 3 would have a 15 minute show.
3) Look at comparison of courses sheet for options. eg. scripted piece, devised, costume etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The performance should include a good understanding of
a)drama techniques.
b)sustaining character
c)good working relationship within the group.Giving and taking ideas.
d)good use of space and movement
e) vocal quality to communicate character.
The next draft for The Woman in Black course work is the 1st October and final deadline for coursework is 1st December. Please see Debby or Lydia for help with your drafts.
Friday 14 September 2007
Macbeth at Gielgud Theatre
An anatomy of the relationship between ambition and corruption, Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most bloody and fear-filled tragedies.
Rupert Goold, who recently directed Patrick Stewart in the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed production of The Tempest, now directs Stewart as Macbeth, the man who murders king and comrade in his quest for the crown, only to lose it all.
Complicite "A disappearing number"
Staged with Complicite's characteristic elegance and startling visual originality, A Disappearing Number takes as its starting point one of the most mysterious and romantic mathematical collaborations of all time.
This is a story about connections between ideas, cultures and times. In London a man attempts to unravel the secrets of his lover. In Bangalore a woman collapses on a train. In Cambridge in 1914 Englishman GH Hardy seeks to comprehend the ideas of the Indian prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Simultaneously a narrative and an investigation, A Disappearing Number weaves a provocative theatrical pattern about our relentless compulsion to understand.
Punchdrunk Theatre Visit
PUNCHDRUNK & BAC present THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH
Mon - Sat, 17 Sept 2007 - 12 Jan 2008.
Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TN
The Masque of the Red Death follows Punchdrunk's smash-hit Faust , which won a Critics' Circle Award in 2006. Journey into a macabre world and explore the four corners of Battersea Arts Centre’s Old Town Hall as Punchdrunk immerses the entire site in Poe's imagination. Inspired by the classic short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death is an indoor promenade performance lasting up to 3 hours, with two entry times at 7.15pm and 7.45pm . Evening dress is optional . On Friday and Saturday nights tickets for The Masque of The Red Death include entry into Red Death Late Nights, an after-show party with live music, dancing and surprise mystery guests .
Year 13 TTheatre Visit
Reverence was at the Salisbury Playhouse on 13th September 2007
Reverence - A tale of Abelard and Heloise
Around nine centuries ago, French scholar Peter Abelard and his beautiful, young pupil Heloise fell in love.
Exploiting to the full the dramatic potential of Southwark Playhouse’s atmospheric and stylish new venue, writer Gillian Clarke’s retelling of their tale, directed by Joel Scott, underscores its modernity, yet takes us right back to the chilling, medieval horror and complexity of what they endured.
As we wander rapt through cavernous vaults in this promenade performance, we are not just an audience, but religious novices, peering fearfully into the gloom. The lovers’ tragedy is not remote, but a trauma shaking our own community.
Pieter Lawman’s Abelard is fiery, wiry and burning with passionate intelligence. His Heloise (Leandra Ashton) is more sensual, but just as bright and a feminist opponent of blind obedience.
Their great ally is the reassuring, jesting but ultimately tragic Odile (Ian Summers). Those who undo them range from the querulous acolyte Thomas (Michael Cox) to the murderous William (Jason Cheater) and the lusting Canon Fulbert (Patrick Driver).
As Heloise’s jealous uncle, Fulbert deals the cruellest blows to Abelard, not just denying him his manhood, but denying him intellectual influence and ensuring posterity would remember him rather as a doomed lover than the greatest philosopher of his time.
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