Emalene Hickman. Assessment Blog 3. 0803198

Themes of guilt, anger, vulnerability, manipulation, confusion, helplessness and fear were all explored throughout Four Ways to Speak Out. Individual characters felt each of these to a different degree and at different moments in the piece but the fact that these emotions were felt by someone meant that they were explored. The performance element brings something new and sometimes unexpected to the process and different things emerge. As a personal example I had never felt any anger towards Andy in the ‘V’ stages of the process, however, in the ‘P’ stages I couldn’t stand to even look at him, he made my skin crawl and I wanted to lash out at him.

The opening ensemble section draws the community together for the fist time. This scene explores confusion and manipulation in particular. The cast start performing a series of movements and people gradually get drawn in, some people join in fairly quickly, others look a little confused but join in anyway and others take a lot longer to join in, but inevitably, they do. Manipulation is a theme explored greatly within the piece, particularly within the main domestic abuse storyline and ‘the woman’s’ controlling friends. However you also see it in this section as the whole ensemble do the same thing, they may not have a reason to but they do so because everyone else is, they are being manipulated by the community.

The middle ensemble was also particularly striking as it showed helplessness, fear and guilt. Each member has a moment of vulnerability as they run, fall, catch and collapse with someone else. Emotions run particularly high in this scene and I think this is clear to the audience as they begin to feel threatened by this male figure. Each audience member will create their own meanings however, “It is impossible for a piece of theatre not to convey a meaning” (Murray & Keefe, 2007, pg.92). I think this is particularly important in this type of work as the smallest of moments will create meaning for the audience. I feel this is something that was some what forgotten by the cast in the ‘Performance’ part of the project. The ensemble members who were not involved in the central action became very lacks and tended to simply watch the action. Whereas the simplest of gestures, character traits and body language will transpose a meaning to the audience.

The first thing I noticed about the stage space was that it was a lot deeper and narrower than the studio. This was inevitably going to cause problems as the cast grew used to these changes. People became selfish and felt as though they could not be seen unless they were front and centre. This meant that the ensemble sections became cramped into one part of the stage and everyone fought to be seen in the sidelines. Also, with the full set people soon started to realise that they couldn’t always be where they had originally anticipated. For example the bed and bar took up more room than I had expected and meant that I could not start the second ensemble where I always had done in the studio. The props and costume also caused a few problems; however, I feel the cast dealt with them extremely well. In the bar section drinks got spilt, pieces of costume flew across the stage, the bed had no mattress and the directors had to buy yet another suitcase on the day of the performance. All things considered I think the ensemble did a good job of avoiding the spillages, moving potential trip hazards and readjusting to last minute changes.

There is something about the stage environment that brings a performance to life in a way the studio cannot. Being in a stage environment with full costume, set and lighting immediately brings another level to the performance which allows the actor to feel more. This in turn allows the production to take flight and cause a response from the audience as “with an actual exchange of emotion between the actors, the scene instantly will come alive” (Allensworth et.al, 1982, Pg.165). However, as much as some people achieved this by taking the process seriously, others took a long time to get to an emotionally heightened place. This seriously affected the others on stage and in some cases distracted them from their character considerably.

I also noticed that the warm up became longer, more intense and a lot more focussed on breathing and character. For me, this helped greatly as the new space is off putting at first and the importance of character and personal journeys is higher in a performance environment. This helped me achieve “The neutral body, immobile, breathing, [which] is ready to act…ready to reflect, not only through the eyes, but through the whole body, all that is happening inside” (Dennis, 1995, Pg.52). I feel this quote is extremely relevant to what we were trying to achieve through our concentrated warm up. The neutral body is ready to respond to stage action and the use of breath helps the body to show this reaction, as opposed to just the eyes. The specific part of the warm up when we are asked to breathe, as our character would at its most intense, then asked to develop that into a physical gesture is a precise example of this. The physical embodiment of an internal emotion is something Process and Performance students are constantly trying to achieve.

This devised performance was very typical in the fact that it was used “to communicate and express particular interests or concerns” (Oddey, 1994, pg.12). I think the communication of the message became stronger with each performance, due to emotional connection from the performers and from the changeable nature of this work. Each performance was different and more developed than the last and the somewhat delicate subject of domestic violence was dealt with sensitively. “In a theatrical setting, the purpose may be to display skill or express a universal reality in an aesthetic form created by the individual artist” (Alter, 1991, Pg.75). The aesthetic we were trying to create was one of symbolism to represent the universal reality of oppressive love. In the performance we showed domestic violence without throwing any punches, without the woman being violently killed and without any blood and cuts. This aesthetic was achieved more successfully each performance as the casts reactions became more intense and more real. So much so that, particularly in the ‘Booby’s Girl’ scene, some of the actors found it very difficult to embody the happy-go-lucky, smiley faces the scene required.

For my character personally the growth was there but rather unexpected. I noticed throughout the performance several people crying and I originally took that to be a goal, I had to get so upset that I cried. However, I soon realised I was not being true to my character for two reasons; one, it meant I was trying to get to something and not feeling the emotions and secondly I realised that tears in their essence felt wrong for my character. I was extremely emotional in the performances and at times found it difficult to watch but I never became upset to the point of tears. I found that I became upset to the point of anger, I wanted to get up and help her leave, I wanted her to be her own person and I wanted to do something to stop it ever happening to someone else. Yet, I never did. I was so immobilised by my emotions, the anger, hatred and fear stopped me in my tracks. I just sat and watched, completely helplessly, more and more so in each performance.

I think the RSVP model can be applied at this late stage of the performance as actors will always analyse and wish to improve their performance for each show. I think the ‘S’ and ‘V’ stages of the model happen between each ‘P’. As Dundjerović (2009) supports: “’P’erformance as a final part of the RSVP cycles, [is] not necessarily a finalized and fixed performance as expected in professional theatre; on the contrary the performance structure remains fluid and open to further change” (pg.30). A specific example of one section I personally re-scored and re-validated each performance was my reactions to Hayley’s scene. The first performance I perched on the side of the bed, I think this came about so that I could get away should I choose to. When I thought back on it however I felt unengaged with the action. Therefore on the second performance I sat closer to the middle of the bed with my legs crossed in front of me. This made me feel more involved in the action but in comparison to my physicality in the other scenes it still didn’t feel quite right. So, I re-evaluated my position once more. The third performance I sat right in the middle of the bed, with my knees clutched in close to my body, holding a pillow tightly to my chest. This felt natural for my character; I felt involved in the action and gave me more of a stimulus to move for the next section.


References:
Allensworth, C, Allensworth, D, & Rawson, C. (1982) The Complete Play Production Handbook. New York. Harper & Row.

Alter, J. (1991) Dance-Based Dance Theory. USA. Peter Lang Publishing.

Dennis, A. (1995) The Articulate Body. UK. Nick Hearn Books.

Dundjerović, A. (2009) Routledge Performance Practitioners: Robert Lepage. Oxon. Routledge.

Murray and Keefe (2007) Physical Theatres, an introduction. London. Routledge.

Oddey, A. (1994) Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook. Abingdon – UK. Routledge