Thursday 18th October 2012
(Video footage source) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKKeELULL1s&feature=plcp
The performance started with my character, The Narrator, I
was located downstage-centre whilst the rest of the cast were positioned in a
straight horizontal line behind me, spanning from upstage left to right; in
rehearsals we plotted (‘blocked’) out this staging to place emphasis on what my
character was saying but also to create a conscious proxemics between my
character, the audience and the other characters. I was the “middle man”.
Being so close to the audience and directly addressing them,
thus breaking the fourth wall further emphasised this, by breaking the fourth
wall my character facilitated a dialogue between the audience and the
characters. We wanted to establish this line of communication so that later they
would be far more open to it when I would be addressing them solely (during the
walk about) and there would be no action for them to witness.
It was also a part of
our stylistic element because we were going for a non-naturalistic play; we
wanted a production that was almost like a story book with a “Once upon a time”
narrative flare but with a modern twist that highlighted that ‘Suicide’ is real
and far more pressing than some of us care to think about. We wanted our
audience to “think this could happen to me or someone I know and what would I
do?” But we also wanted to address and be sensitive to people who might be
going through it, because even though we had a dictated audience that does not
mean we knew their personal circumstances.
That is why during, The Speaker’s; narrative about “My
friend Ziggy” I started to hand out fliers when she addressed the audience
saying “If you feel alone, speak to someone I beg you!” This was done because
although our piece is to entertain our main aim was to inform and educate that
there is help out there, and that it’s not always a “big thing” or event that
triggers bouts of depression or suicidal thoughts.
The fliers contained numbers to real suicide help lines and
internet web pages, other real information in our play were the statistics
being held up at the back by the masked characters in the midpoint of scene
two.
During the end of scene two, I instructed the audience to
leave the Hexagon theatre and meet me in the foyer of The MAC; this was so I
could begin the promenade element to our performance. However before that, I
let the music play (“Nobody Knows by Pink”), whilst Jonathan (Jon) one of the
actors playing our protagonist Alex, sat hunched over and crying due to his
actions early in the scene, where he depicted of one many self-harming processes,
in which he was methodically slashing away at his wrist.
I waited because; I wanted the lyrics of the song “Nobody
knows, but me, that I sometimes cry” etc
to really sink in, especially after what they had just witnessed because
the song was chosen to evoke a reflective/sad emotional state from our
audience. And it worked because I could see and hear members of the audience
crying.
Once I met the audience in the foyer of The MAC I ushered
them outside, instead of starting my narrative straight away this is because I
had timed everything I had to say during my groups rehearsals and knew that is
if I began too early I would run out of scripted material before I reached ‘point
B’.
The moving from location to location or “A to B to C” was
quite demanding on me as a performer and the play. This is because I had to
keep the audience occupied with the storyline whilst detailing mundane aspects
of Alex’s life “On Wednesday he watched the T.V. from dusk till dawn”, whilst
having to project a great deal because we were outside in a vast space and my
voice stood a risk of being lost or swallowed up.
I believe I managed to project to the point that everyone
could hear me.
The two outside locations: the bench by the fair ground and the
bridge, where the other two Alex’s waited in character where also quite
effective they were like still shots, images the audience could absorb and
associate with the characters words.
However I’m not sure if it was because the audience was
spread out or because actors in my ensemble could not hear/project enough some
cues where missed, but instead of seeing this as a negative I think it was a
good thing because it allowed the actors that it happened to, to improvise
their way around the miss haps.
At the end of our performance we decided to sing the song (“Lean
On Me” the Bill Withers version), this decision was made in the rehearsal
period, it was a democratic vote on whether to have it or not. Personally I
think it was the right song done for the right reasons. The song was there to
uplift members of the audience after the emotional journey we had taken them
on.
The Old Man, played by Dannel began with a verse of the song
upon which the rest of the ensemble joined in and we encouraged the audience to
which they joined in because it’s a well know song. I believe it helped to
raise spirits which was its intent and to signal a positive end.
The end of the play is Kev’s Alex just sat still on the
bridge, the thought whether he jumps or not is left up to the audience. However
on looking back at the video of the performance I do not think a long enough
pause was left, thus this may have gone over the audiences head.
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