Primary and Secondary researches play.

As primary research I asked my classmates which one they thought was a good one and which one would be good for my Play. Most of them chose the Journey idea, so the second one, and I personally like it as it was my favorite and the one I wanted to pick.

So my story will be about a Journey of seeking the true self of a woman. I will research about real stories-and non of people who left everything to find their true self.

For my primary research I also used Social media(Facebook/Instragram). I asked people where they would go if they had a ticket to a place to meditate and think about their life and why.

And as well Focus interview which I recorded myself. You can listen to the audio clicking here.

My classmates were my interviewed and through the answers I found some interesting stuff I could work on.

Lots of people thought straight away about Thailand for meditation which is a good one but I have in mind some other locations, others just want to follow their dreams and hopefully not being disappointed. I got also some ideas I will look after for my soundtrack and sound effects.

Secondary Research

1.Books

I think I can easily connect my story with Paulo Coelho's life and writing.

Paulo Coelho is a writer and lyricist.

He was born in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in 1947. Since the age of 17, his dream's always been becoming a writer. The pursuing of this dream brought him to a mental institution because his parents weren't happy at all with the path he wanted to take instead of following his father's steps. He escaped the institution 3 times before being released at 20 years old. After that, he abandoned his dream to enroll to a law school which he left soon and he started an independent journey in all South America, South Africa, Europe and more. After years of struggling with drugs, in 1986 Coelho walked 500 and more miles of the Road for Santiago de Compostela and during this journey of spiritual awakening, he wrote a describing biography called "The Pilgrimage".

"The Pilgrimage" (in the English version) was then released in 1987, once Coelho terminated his journey.

The story starts in 1986, before Paulo would undertake his journey of Santiago de Compostela. During the journey he learns to understand the nature of truth through the simplicity of life, and he's taught about love and its form as agape, philia and eros.

After a year, in 1988 he published "The Alchemist".

"O Alquimista" it's been translated in 69 languages, it is one of the best selling-books in history with more than 150 million of copies and it's awarded as Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living writer.

Coelho never wanted a film version of his book, even though lately it's been talked about a possible movie starring Edris Elba as main character.

He writes about the story of an Andalusian boy who leaves and sells everything he owns to undertake a journey to Egypt which he's been told that it hides a treasure and so for this he would accomplish his destiny and follow his dreams and heart.

During the book, the main character, Santiago will meet different characters like a King, an Alchemist and a girl who he will fall in love with. All of them teach him lessons about "Personal Legend", which means "what a person always wanted to accomplish".

This journey wants you to accomplish your destiny, to realize all your dreams because none of them are impossible. As the motto of the book says "When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream."

2.Movies

1. EAT PRAY LOVE

Before becoming a movie, 'Eat, Pray, Love. One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia' is a book considered best seller by The New York Times.

Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, this is a memoir of her own life. Gilbert is an American author, essayist, biographer and memoirist. Born in 1969, she published the book in 2006 and just in 2010 the Columbia Pictures purchased the rights to produce a movie.

Starring Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert, directed by Ryan Murphy and screenplay by Ryan Murphy and Jennifer Salt.

It describes the journey Gilbert undertook when she realized she was in an unhappy marriage and soon after divorced. During her journey, she spent four months in Italy enjoying her life(Eat), then she moved to India to find her spirituality(Pray), and at then she ended a year in Bali, Indonesia, to find her own balance and where she fell in love with a Brazilian businessman(Love).

A journey to try to clarify your own life, to know what you want, where you want to go, what you want to be. A journey to realize how complicated life can be and so it's worth it to take time for yourself.

I also found an audiobook of the book, read by herself Elizabeth Gilbert, as example of what my final work will be. Reading something is not easy at all, you need to read with the right intonation, right stops of commas and full stops. You need to give each sentence a sense, depending on what it is saying. Also the reader is telling the story fluently and with the same tone of voice. I'm pretty much scared and I know I will struggle a lot of giving the voice of my character because my English is not who knows who good and so the pronunciation can be eventually wrong, but I do want to give my voice to her because it will be my play and I personally really see myself in my character.

2. INTO THE WILD

Into the Wild was written by Jon Krakauer, published in 1996. It is the story of a young man who had everything in life but who wanted to get rid of everything he had and just 'live simply'. It's the story of Christopher McCandless.

McCandless graduated in 1990 and after he donated about $24.000 to the Oxfam Charity, to undertake a journey to all West America till Alaska where he's found dead in the August 1992.

In the book, Jon Krakauer wrote the book using written pieces from McCandless journey and he compared it with his own experiences, like the hiking in the region of Alaska and in the Andes in Argentine. Also, Krakauer himself researched about Christopher's

story and journey and it was interested in his death which he thought was caused by some seeds who didn't allow him to move and so to starvation.

In 2007 Sean Penn directed the adaptation of the same "Into the Wild". The main character Christopher McCandless was played by Emile Hirsch. The movie was shot in 2 years and in more than 30 different locations of America. Penn used 2 bus replicas for the shooting in Alaska, near a village where apparently the real Chris McCandless lived for a short time and filmed. To make the movie more realistic, Sean Penn also used the voice of Chris McCandless' sister, Carine, as voice over during the movie because he said that "No one knew Christopher better than his sister".

One of the scene I liked is the one below, just after his graduation his parents want to gift him of a new car but he refuses and complaints because it would just be a waste of money as his old car is still working. It shows that he wants to be different, that things, money, aren't the most essential things in the world. He wants to be different and his family doesn't see it and anyway don't want to accept it.

3. WILD

"Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" is a 2012 memoir by Cheryl Strayed. The author is an American writer and memoirist, and as well as Gilbert, she used her memoir to describe her 1,100 miles-hikes on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995, beginning in the Mojave Desert and going through all California and Oregon.

In the book, she describes what led her to undertake this journey: her mother's death from lung cancer, adrift from family and divorced, started using of heroin...

Following, she started the journey with no hiking experiences, seeking out for self-discovery and personal challenges.

2014 is the release year of the same name movie, "Wild". Starring Reese Witherspoon, directed by Jean-Marc Vallee and produced by Witherspoon( with her new company, Pacific Standard) herself and written by Nick Hornby.

Of course the movie was shot in the Pacific Crest Trail and nearby. Thanks to the ability of Yves Belanger, cinematographer of the movie, who shot all the movie just by using a handheld camera and real lights and locations. The only times he used mechanical lights were only when required, like under the rain.

The movie amazed me because of its beautiful shots and natural lighting.

I find this movie, as the others, very inspiring. The break down of a woman who can't bear anymore what is happening in her life, is probably major than finding treasures and discovering herself. However, like the others, Strayed went on her journey to find back spirituality in her life and trying to start again a new life from the point of her ending journey. She doesn't regret nor want to forget everything, but with that she wants to make her life better, she wants a "new beginning" which is what everyone's want at some point of their own life.