BEST-SELLING POP RECORDS: ★ 17th Jan 1983- The BBC broadcast 'Breakfast Time' for the first time,

Britain's first regular breakfast TV show.

★ Karma Chameleon- Culture Club, ★ 29th Jan 1983- At the 40th Golden Globes, Gandhi, ET and Tootsie win in
★ True- Spandau Ballet, their categories.
★ Red Red Wine- UB40, ★ 1st February- ITV began doing breakfast TV, launching Daybreak & Good
★ Baby Jane- Rod Stewart, Morning Britain.
★ Give It Up- KC and the Sunshine Band. ★ 2nd Mar 1983- The final episode of M*A*S*H airs with 125,000,000 viewers.
★ 5th Jun 1983- At the 37th Tony Awards, Torch Song Trilogy and Cats win
Tonys.
This research links to the play as we know that Alice’s family, in each
universe, likes to listen to music- Alice specifically loves 80’s music so ★ 2nd Nov 1983- American President Ronald Reagan signs a bill to establish
knowing some popular 80’s songs is useful for us to be able to decide Martin L King day.
what song Alice might choose to listen to. Also, we’ve talked about ★ 2nd Dec 1983- For the first time the music video for "Thriller" by Michael
having a radio onstage so it’s important to know which songs would
Jackson is broadcast.
most likely be playing on the radio at the time for the scene set in
1983 so we can make the setting believable. This research links to the play as it’s set around breakfast so we have an idea now of
breakfast show sounds we could perhaps have playing in the background as the 1983
TOP TOYS/GAMES RELEASED: scene plays out to set the scene. We can also think about news broadcasts playing in the
background, like the winners of the Tony awards or posters/ pictures to decorate the set
of popular media the characters could’ve been interested in, we can build characterisation
★ Star Wars toys won Toy of the Year, and present an accurate interpretation of Alice’s kitchen in the 80’s which is important to
★ Rainbrow Brite (a doll), make the setting believable, the audience needs to feel like they’ve been transported back
★ Terrahawks Action Zeroid (robot), to the 80’s with Alice as this is such a big part of engaging the audience with Alice and
empathising with her as she discovers parts about herself/ her life, which’d be made less
★ Tomytronic 3D (electronic portable game),
effective if the audience doesn’t feel like they’re going on the journey with Alice.
★ Zoids (self-assembly mechanical toy),
○ FACTS & FIGURES FROM 1983:
★ Cabbage Patch Dolls (become a huge success). ★ The Ford Escort MkIII was the best selling car.
With this knowledge we can consider if we want to use these toys as part of the ★ 98% of British households owned a TV, 77% a telephone & 64% received
set, not only to set the scene in for the 80’s part, but Shelly could’ve kept some
central heating.
of her old toys for Alice and her siblings that could continue to be in the 2018
★ ‘Karma Chameleon’ was the best-selling pop record.
scenes which could show how Alice naturally experiences variations in her life as
she has variations of belongings with modern ones and others from decades
This links to the play as back in the 80’s scene, Shelly, Bex and Dean own quite a few of
ago. Also, this links to the play as Dean plays with a Rubik's cube which was a
these things, a TV, a telephone etc. they seem to fit into the status quo of the time so we
very popular toy at the time, so it could be that Dean and his siblings owned
can think of more ways to make their kitchen fit into the typical 80’s home which is an
other popular toys that were in households across the country.
effective way of transporting the audience to the setting as they can quickly recognise
TECHNOLOGY RELEASED IN 1983: it, especially if we play into a more stereotypical 80’s vibe, which’d also contrasting from
★ The Motorola Company releases the naturalism of the 2018 scenes creating greater ‘variations’.
the first mobile phones to the
public. TOP FILMS RELEASED:
★
★
ARPANET created the internet.
IBM releases their PC DOS version
Variations ★ Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

★
2.0 on the 8th March.
IBM releases their PC DOS Version
SOCIAL CONTEXT ★
★
Superman III
Never Say Never Again
2.1 on the 20th October.
★ Gandhi
In the play emphasis is placed on technology with Alice’s Mum taking her phone and the siblings hearing the
news of their Father’s new born baby simultaneously as their phones ping, we can show this technological
★ Flashdance
element easily in the 2018 setting with iphones and air pods for example that we already know about, but in the ★ Ghostbusters
80’s scene we need to keep this theme of technology running to show the family's, especially Alice’s, reliance on
technology, so it’s important to know the kind of technology that Shelly and her family had accessible to them
This links to the play as Alice’s family makes several
in the 80’s.
Top Films of 2018: Star Wars references and in the 80’s scene Alice
1983 ↑ recommends films to Bex so it could be interpreted
2018 ↓ ★
★
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Bex has an interest in films so she’d probably know
of these ones which could be useful to know for
★ Jurassic World: Fallen It’s interesting to see how in both 1983 and 2018 the top characterisation.
films seem to often bring in action or fantasy themes,
Kingdom
which is reflected in the play with Alice’s journey between
★ Green Book universes. We could have as the costumes to show this TECHNOLOGY RELEASED IN 2018:
★ Incredibles 2 continuity in a 2018 scene, one of the characters wearing ★ iPhone Xs,
a top with a movie poster design on it, then in the 1983 ★ Samsung Galaxy S9,
scene the top could look almost identical but with a ★ Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K,
This links to the play as the character’s do seem to be different poster. ★ GoPro Hero 7 Black,
music lovers, particularly 80’s music so it’s good to know ★ Dyson Airwrap,
what the 2018 counterparts of the 80’s hits are as Alice ➔ 2nd Mar 2018- Toys “R” Us announces it’ll
★ Dolby Dimension (headphones),
goes between these two time periods in the play. These shut all its stores (after 65+ years).
songs would probably be well know to the characters in
★ Google Home Hub.
➔ 6th Mar 2018- Jeff Bezos becomes the
2018 so we could use some in the transitions to set the
scene for when Alice is going to a universe in 2018. world’s richest man. Technology links to the play as it is a recurring
➔ 17th Mar 2018- The Guardian and The New image in the play with important news for Alice
TOP MUSIC HITS OF 2018: and her siblings always coming around from
York Times publish articles about the texts on their phones or calls on the landline so
★ God's Plan - Drake. Facebook data scandal, involving data being knowing other technology available in 2018 we
★ Perfect - Ed Sheeran. sold of 50 million users- Facebook lost $119 can think about what other things the family
★ Meant To Be - Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia billion in value in 24 hours. could own, however it can be interpreted they
Line. may live in a low income household so may not
➔ 7th Mar 2018- The Met Gala’s Heavenly Bodies own some of the technology above at it would
★ Havana - Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug. exhibition becomes the most visited have been affordable straight after launch so it
★ Rockstar - Post Malone ft. 21 Savage. exhibition in the museums history. is probable the family would own older versions
of these technologies which is good to be
The stats show the most ➔ 2nd Aug 2018- Apple reached $1 trillion in
purchased products considered for set/ props and thinking about
value, the first American publicly traded insecurities the character’s may have from not
from eBay in 2018 came
from: Electronics & company to do so. being up to date, it could be interpreted Alice
Accessories,Clothing & ➔ 15th Oct 2018- Sears files for bankruptcy. compares herself to Chloe.
Accessories and Health &
Beauty which links to the In the play Alice seems to go through a period of imbalance with herself which is reflected in the year
themes of technology Variations is set, 2018 as several major companies went bankrupt and companies values either
and body image/ skyrocketed or plummeted. Also the Met Gala exhibit 2018 being most visited shows the great interest in
identity in the play. fashion at the time which is a trait Alice holds as she’s very conscious about her image, stressing when her
friends comment on the changes she’s made to her eyebrows.
 (Image of Yves Saint Laurent at the Met Gala
➔ 31st Jan 1983- Now front seat passengers & drivers in the UK had to 1983) These events link to the play as some of
wear a seat belt when driving. them cover turning points in UK history where
society changed which gives an idea of the
➔ 21st Apr 1983- £1 coins were put back in circulation (1st time since
atmosphere at the time the 1983 scene is set,
World War One). which is reflected in Alice’s journey in the play
➔ 26th Jul 1983- Victoria Gillick lost her case in the high court in order as each universe is a trigger for her to grow as
to stop girls under 16 years old getting prescribed the a person. The widespread coverage of the Met
Gala that year also reinforces the idea of a
contraceptive pill.
fashion conscious society that I already found
➔ 14th Dec 1983- Yves Saint Laurent’s exhibition opens at the to be mirrored in 2018 which links to the theme
Metropolitan Museum of Art, curated by Diana Vreeland. of body image/ identity in the play as Alice is
➔ December 1983- Steve Cram wins BBC Sports Personality of the concerned with her image, both her in 2018 and
her mother in 1983 could’ve had the same
Year. insecurities, linking to why Alice goes into her
mother’s body, they’re more similar than she
In 1983 it becomes apparent that Shelly and her family are struggling financially, thinks.
her parents aren’t really present so Shelly and her siblings have to deal with the
bills and licences which links to these facts as some offer reasons for why they
experience this, with unemployment at a record high and lower wages for women,
WEATHER IN ENGLAND 1983:
it’s presumed its Shelly’s Mum who’s earning money for the family so she’d be
earning a lot less than a man would and on a female wage solely trying to support
★ On the 26th January the rainfall in the UK was red due to sand
a family it explains why the family is in a difficult position.
coming from the Sahara Desert being in the water droplets!
★ There was a heatwave across Great Britain, that July the
FACTS ABOUT 1983:
hottest temperatures were recorded in the UK which weren’t
beaten till 2006. A mean daily temperature in July of 19.5 °C was
★ Average wage (male workers) - found by the Central England Station and the mean for the
£164.70 summer was 17.07 °C . Many areas across England in June
★ Average wage (female such as the South East of England had less than the average
workers) - £109.50 rainfall for that area, only 12 mm of rainfall got recorded in
★ #1 Baby Names were Jennifer & London Heathrow.
Michael
★ In February unemployment This links to the play as the scenes centre around breakfast time so to set the scene in the 1983 scene the radio
reached a record high at could be playing the weather broadcast. But also in 1983 the hottest temperatures ever for the UK were
recorded which shows how the year brought significant change as from 1983 the UK’s temperatures have
3,224,71. continued to prove in years to come the instability of global warming, with 2022 being the hottest year on
record for the UK. This is reflected in Alice’s world as we see in 1983 the instability of her mother’s home life which
Alice herself experiences in 2018. The year 1983 plays an important backdrop for Shelly and Alice’s lives as ‘both’
are 13 in the 1983 scene, the first age of being a teenager, it’s a turning point in growing up with is mirrored in
the atmosphere at the time in 1983, with the weather changing and other significant events, like the first
Breakfast TV broadcast in the UK, contextually in the Scene 6 universe things are changing as much as they
are for Shelly/ Alice personally.

↑ 1983 2018 ↓
Variations This context shows how in 2018 there was an
increasing climate of change for women which is

1983
HISTORICAL CONTEXT shown in the play with a strong female lead who
learns to appreciate herself and her life over the
erica
s wo n Miss Am course of the play, with no gratification from men,
a William 018.
Vaness Mund won in 2 Alice makes choices for herself and the writer
ra
and Ca doesn’t play into usual male female dynamic tropes
with girls wanting boys attention, Alice looks for
approval from all her friends and family, this
context is useful to consider when characterising
DECISIONS BRINGING ADVANCEMENTS FOR WOMEN: Alice and portraying her journey to the audience.

★ For the 1st time it became allowed for women to drive in Saudi Arabia on the 4th #MeToo MOVEMENT:
June.
★ The controversial swimsuit competition segment at the Miss America pageant In May Harvey Weinstein turned himself
got removed. over to the police facing many charges
★ In May the results of a vote in Ireland which would lead to abortion being of sexual assult and rape from
legalised there ended with the majority of votes in favour of bringing this accusations covering several decades.
change. Also, Bill Cosby got sentenced 3-10 years
in prison for ‘aggravated indecent
These events link to the play as Alice is a feminist, she calls her brother Dan out for his misogynistic assault’, sixty women had accused him
comments and Jasmine for her internalised misogyny, as does Pearl in Scene 7, with the climate of
change for women at this time it seems natural this could be a factor for Katie Hims to have included the
of sexual misconduct but this was the
feminist theme. This context can be useful for the characterisation of Alice and Pearl, we can consider only case which got Cosby criminally
how they’d say their lines in reaction to situations from creating our own backstory for them, would charged.
they know about the advancements at the time, does this affect how they carry themselves? This context is useful as it links to the play with
the number of characters who come in and go
➔ 4th Mar 2018- Sergei Skripal (a former Russian double agent) and his daughter were out of the scene to/ from the outside world such
poisoned in Salisbury. as Chloe and the Postman, it needs to be
considered how this affects the characters, do
➔ 14th Mar 2018- Stephen Hawking died aged 76. they have windswept or wet hair, speak
➔ 9th May 2018- Meghan Markle married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle. breathlessly etc.? These decisions all depend on
➔ 14th Jun 2018- The 2018 FIFA World Cup begins in Russia. when our director decides to set the events of
the play within 2018, whether the weather was
➔ 10th Jul 2018- After two weeks 12 boys and their football coach were rescued in good or bad at that time.
Thailand from inside a flooded cave.
➔ 26th Oct 2018- A person attempted to steal the Magna Carta inside Salisbury WEATHER IN ENGLAND 2018:
Cathedral.
➔ 22nd Nov 2018- PM Theresa May begins Brexit deal negotiations with the EU. On the 2nd of January Storm Eleanor
arrived with winds reaching up to 100
These historical events link to the play as 7 of the 8 scenes are set in 2018 so contextually, these could be events the
characters are aware of and as a few of them are distressing we could think about the effect this has on how the mph, then February brought the ‘Beast
characters carry themselves, are they more stressed as the outside world is as draining as it could be argued their from the East’ causing great disruption
home life is? Also as the play is set around breakfast if the sound designer uses breakfast news broadcasts in the play as the Met Office stated there was a
in scene or in transitions to set the scene these events could be included on the broadcast which the audience would
‘potential risk to life’.
recognise, helping to place them in the world of the play that is set in 2018.
 ➔ 7th Jan 1983- Ronald Reagan ends the US arms embargo against Guatemala.
➔ 9th Jan 1983- Margaret Thatcher visits the Falkland Islands.
➔ 1st Apr 1983- There’s a 14-mile human chain in England as Anti-Nuke
demonstrators link arms.
➔ 9th Jun 1983- Margaret Thatcher returned to power of the government with
the Conservative Party.
➔ 2nd Oct 1983- Neil Kinnock elected Leader for the Labour Party.
➔ 14th Nov 1983- US deploys Cruise Missiles at the Greenham Common Air Force
Base.
➔ 17th Dec 1983- Outside Harrods an IRA bomb explodes.
The PM of the UK was Margaret Thatcher.
This context links to the play as in the 1983 scene it is clear that Shelly’s home life is difficult with her and her
siblings having to take on lots more responsibility as their parents aren’t really present, in the scene we see This links to the play as Margaret Thatcher as the
how Shelly has to deal with her Mum’s angry partner over the phone and they don’t know where the Mum is, PM was making very important decisions that
then Bex and Dean have to hide the TV from people doing checks as they don’t have a license and warn Alice of impacted millions of people’s lives in the 80’s so in
calls from ‘any of the utilities’. Just as Shelly’s home life in the play is stressful and things are changing with her 1983 where Scene 6 is set we can see where the
taking on more responsibility as she’s a teenager now, things in the outside world in 1983 were changing also decisions would have affected the character’s which
with significant political events such as Margaret Thatcher being voted in as PM again, and an increasing fear we could show with newspapers on stage which’d
of nuclear weapons. Furthermore, as the scene is set around breakfast these events could be being communicate more to the audience about why the
broadcast on a breakfast news program which we could have playing in the background of the scene which family is struggling and that it’s set in the 80’s.
could aid in transporting the audience back to the 80’s with us as they’re recognisable events from the time.

LEGISLATION FROM 1983:

Several major acts were passed in 1983 such as the Medical

Act, the Energy Act, the Finance Act and the Mental Health
Act.
Energy Act- Following an act in 1982 which meant pipelines
for ‘British Gas’ got used in distributing and transmitting
the gas supply of other suppliers, the Energy Act allowed
for an extension of this to encompass the supply of
electricity. This laid the path for privatisation of the
electricity industry in the late 80’s.

This links to the play as Bex and Dean warn Alice as Shelly of the ‘utilities’,
‘British Gas, British Telecom. Or the Electric’ which would suggest they haven’t
been able to pay their bills for them, especially because neither parent seems
to be present in their lives and the prices in 1983 were high, even after the
Energy Act in 1983 as it’s widely agreed the Act didn’t affect prices until
privatisation of the electricity industry in 1989 where prices lowered, so in 1983
prices were still high as Shelly, Bex and Dean are experiencing.
↑ 1983 2018 ↓ Variations
POLITICAL CONTEXT
These cases of censorship pick up on some of the key themes within Variations, with gender and women’s
issues being brought up. This context gives insight into a possible reason for character’s holding the views
they do on these topics as in 2018 they could’ve heard of these topics coming up in the news. In the production
we could use news broadcasts/ newspapers about these events to highlight these themes within the play
and set the scene for the opinions on these topics in 2018 to communicate the setting the the audience.
CENSORSHIP CASE STUDIES FROM 2018:
● After a school in London had censored in textbooks references to sexual orientation
and the liberation of women Humanists UK called these actions out and Ofsted implied
these complaints would be noted when the school is inspected.
● A segment in American TV show ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ about Brexit was
denied broadcast in the UK as Oliver referred to it as ‘genuinely insane and frankly
anti-democratic’.
● Following feminist activist Linda Bellos’ comments on physically fighting political
opponents if she felt she had to, Giuliana Kendal -a transgender rights activist- filed
against her for a private prosecution.
● Graham Linehan ( a screenwriter) received a ‘verbal harassment warning’ after
deadnaming Stephanie Hayden -a trans activist- on Twitter after a debate on gender
transition should be recognised legally with a ‘medical opinion’.
The context of who was PM at the time is important as I can
look at how the decisions they were making at the time
The PM of the UK was Theresa May.
could affect characters in the play. In this case Theresa
May played a massive role in the delivery of Brexit in the UK,
and Brexit has been found to be a great factor in the strain
on the NHS with doctor and nurse shortages. Alice’s Dad
works in medicine, though it’s not specified what his exact
job is, however the Brexit negotiations happening at the
time would’ve affected his work as strain was already
starting for the NHS so this could be another factor in him
not being so present in his children’s lives anymore, besides
starting a family with his new partner, if he’s under
pressure to work more, then he wouldn’t have as much
time to remain present in his children’s lives. We can think
how to show the repercussions on the children for having
less time with their dad when it comes to characterisation,
in the script Dan especially makes digs at his father.
In the early 1980’s the British Government released
propaganda warning the public of nuclear
weapons and distributed leaflets with how to
survive a nuclear war. Whilst this did incite fear in
some people the general response was mockery,
people thought the posters and such were ‘sinister
yet pathetic’ failing to get anyone to take them
seriously. This links to the play as a scene is set in
1983 where the character’s would’ve been aware of
these messages, perhaps on the set there could be
cast away posters/ leaflets to set the scene, the
family’s home situation is far more important to
them than outside situations as the siblings have
lots of personal responsibility.
➔ 29th Apr 2018- Amber Rudd resigned as
Home Secretary and was replaced by
Sajid Javid over the Windrush Scandal.
➔ 3rd May 2018– In the UK local elections are
held.
➔ 12th Jun 2018- American President Donald
Trump meets North Korean leader Kim
Jong-un, the first time any leader from
either country had met when both were
in office.
➔ 15th Jul 2018- Donald Trump visits the UK
for the first time in office where he meets
both PM Theresa May and Queen
Elizabeth I.
This political context links to the play as 7 of the 8 scenes are
set in the year 2018 so the characters in these scenes would’ve
been affected by decisions of these people and events like
these at the time. As the play is set around breakfast we may
have a breakfast radio/ TV broadcast playing in transitions or
in the background of scenes to set the backdrop of the year
being 2018, a detail that we may decide to highlight by speaking
the stage directions to the audience. Political events like these
could well have been spoken about on these broadcasts and
are significant for the year of 2018 so audience member would
probably recognise them so we can transport them effectively
to 2018 with us. With characterisation it can be considered how
the political climate of 2018 would have affected how the
characters deliver their opinions, Dan for example making
misogynistic comments could come from thinking those kind of
comments are acceptable as political leader such as Donald
Trump being in power kept those sorts of messages going,
Dan’s motivation for saying them can be given a background
to build his character.