Evaluation

Both performances were successful but I feel the one to our peers was most  successful because there was more energy, the audience understood what we were trying to achieve and the comedy I feel was best suited to their age group. The one to the parents was also successful bevcuse we really felt the meaning was clear. I think it was less successful because we experienced  technical difficulties with music, and this was difficult because we relied on music quite heavily through the piece. Another difficulty is that the audience didn't know Brecht as we did, so I think some of it may have confused them or seemed a bit odd to them. The feedback I got from my peers was glowing. They all said how they really understood the message, and that they found it very entertaining and thought provoking. The feedback I got from the parents was that they enjoyed it, but were confused by it. Some said confused by it in a not so negative way (score for the V effect!!)

I think the play achieved what we hoped it would because most people I spoke to said they had a question for themselves from it. Alice said she got a whole lot of meaning from it and she was really moved. I think this shows we achieved what we wanted, because if we can give one person some real meaning from this, then the message is passed.

We used Brechtian in many ways through our piece. We used the placards to show the audience who was each character, giving them non-specific names such as 'boy' so the audience couldn't get the attachment of a name to get into the characters. We also used narration during Sarah's speech so the audience couldn't get into it and start believing in it as it is a powerful one. The characters were very plain, we all wore black. We made all scene changes for them to see, so they know it's a play, and we made furniture with our bodies. We used a projector to get our points across, we used songs and dances to narrate which is also brechtian.

The final performance went very well, the audience were rather a dead one, so we did our best to keep the energy, and they appreciated many of the jokes. I feel my own performance was rather strong, I did  keep energy levels up, I feel I pushed my characters far enough, especially in the Bush scene. Not to mention my stunning performance in the video... cringe. I think universally we could have pushed things a bit more in the 'Blondie' scenes but apart from that it was very good.

One cast member I thought was outstanding was Parris, he worked so hard all the time, never dropped anything and kept his characters firmly pushed to the limit (with a pinch of extreme sassiness.) I think his performance in the Bin Laden part was hilarious and brilliant, it would not have been the same if he hadn't pushed him that far. It made him very humorous but also scary. He was great in the Blondie scenes and hotsteppa, volume could've increased here though. He was still acting at the sides, he was on the ball at all times.

I have come to like political theatre a lot, I think it's great fun. At first I was a little skeptical because I had so much love for Stan last term. However it was enormous fun making this piece and being able to be silly and have a play around with and make a bit wacky. Also by the end of it, I feel like I've still found something really meaningful and serious in it. It's a very nice and satisfying feeling.

Is All Theatre Political?
Well at the beginning of term I thought, yes it is, politics is everywhere, hard not to miss it.
However now I feel that to come to the root of that question, you have to question what are politics. I think it's about the government and the central system and how do we follow rules. That's not what we are. There is theatre about us, as people, individuals and who we are in our minds.

Lesson 5

Learning Songs and Dances.

We've learnt another song, to the tune of 'Hot Stepper' (?!?).
It is quite a humorous twist and I think the audience will enjoy it and find it humorous.
We also staged 'Vote Me' and did a dance to it, which made it look a lot tidier, because it was looking a bit ridiculous! I think the audience will enjoy the songs because they are really funny, especially watching Tian do slut drops in drag. When we get it really neat I think it will tie in well with the rest of the performance.

Extra Social Scenes.

All the social characters (e.g. wife, husband, students, old people etc) have written another scene each. This time the scenes are about how upset they are in Blondie, and we have done this to show the change in Blondie, and how this affects the other characters. It's also interesting to see how they blame her, even though they are the ones who put her into power. Was it because of her looks rather than policies? My scene with Holly goes like this.

Single Mother 1: Nah, I'm pissed off, how can she give out free nappies yeah, then take em back? 

Single Mother 2: Yeah babe, my vote was wasted on her.

Single Mother 1: Let's start a fucking riot.

Single Mother 2: Yeah let's do it babe.

Single Mother 1: Fucking YOLO.

We decided to do this to show the stereotypes of young mum's as being 'chavvy' and troublemakers. We used the language to really exaggerate these characters. 

Political Protest Evaluation

I feel our performance went well. In my performance protest we decided that something we all felt strongly about was tortures in prisons. Our justification for this is, is that we feel the inmates in these prisons are tortured so viciously that their mental state is worse from when they came in.We decided the best way to grab people's attention is to demonstrate these dangerous attacks. So we had Laura and Tian as the inmates and they wore orange jumpsuits (another way to catch viewers eyes). Jack and Harrison were the guards, they did a choreographed attack. We dunked Tian's head in water, and made Laura dance to show the humiliation some of them were put through. We ended by singing the Barney song to the inmates repeatedly, to show the mental torture involved. My role was that of narrator, telling facts and I drew and wrote words on the floor.

We decided for the location to be outside. This is where most of the students will be other than the canteen so there would be plenty of opportunity to be noticed. However we did not foresee the weather, which happened to be very very rainy. When we got outside  it was freezing, so we were very cold not to mention Tian's head being dunked resulting in his whole body being soaked and his ears popping and other sad things happening to him. This was unfortunate, and may have hurt him, however the cold did spur us on to keep working! We also decided to do it in a sheltered area which did stop us from getting wet. This was good for weather purposes but it did mean we weren't in the middle of it all, so some people missed us. The reception was good, we got a few people asking questions, and being narrator I could answer. One group even stood in the rain and watched for three whole cycles of the performance.

I think our energy levels and determination were excellent but maybe next time we could search more specific examples, and have a few more facts from my end maybe.

Lesson Four

Lesson Three