joshuaevans2020

[joshuaevans2020]

Bibliography

Eilish, B., 2020. Same Interview, One Year Apart.

HM Government, 2020. Cyber First - Fatima the Ballerina. [image] Available at:

<https://images.app.goo.gl/HBTeZeeaThtt5gYJ6> [Accessed 5 February 2021].

User Not Found 2020.perofmance [Video] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcCvR4y2yk8 [Accessed 8 February 2021].

Bryony Kimmins, [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmuBRJnysbM [Accessed 8 February 2021].

Bryony Kimmins, [Video] Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q-Uqs3bXAU [Accessed 8 February 2021].

Tom Marshman, [showreel][video] Available at  https://vimeo.com/391780412 [Accessed 8 February 2021]

[joshuaevans2020]

Evaluation Pt 2

of movements that explained exactly what we wanted to tell the audience at the moment in the piece along with the type of emotion we wanted to be conveyed.

A key moment within our performance is our physical sequences in which we pass one-another a heart containing hope and we all get up out of our chairs for the first time in the performance and the aim of the sequence is to show our hope and joy. We reprise this sequence later on but have it depicting the loss of our hope and joy with the heart now being a symbol of sadness that is then ripped to pieces with the sequence ending on a black screen.

If my group were given the opportunity to perform this piece again, there are areas that could be improved and even expanded upon; the performance would have benefited from us having more of an understanding of how we could have better used the framing and perspective of the screen we are on. As a group we should have made a more conscious effort to look directly at the camera lenses because it can create a more direct and personal relationship with the audience I found at times within our performance we would occasionally forget to do this action.

Another performance of Particular interest to me was “Covid Xmas” a creative take on how the pandemic has greatly affected familys and relations across the country/world. A moment of Particular interest to me was the use of repetition with the beginning of every scene starting the same with the characters getting out of bed whilst being accompanied with “Mariah Careys” (All I want for Christmas) this to me represented how repetitive and boring everyday life has become since the national lockdown as we are doing the same actions everyday due to being trapped inside. The choice of using the Pandemic as their topic like many other groups was a useful and effective was of creating a connection between the audience and piece.

[joshuaevans2020]

Evaluation Pt 1

The performance exceeded my expectations, I feel that myself and my group we worked incredibly well under the current circumstances understandably we had some concerns around the physical choreography and line order due to the nature of our piece and the line order being different on each question. There was a slight issue with our trigger warning not being read out for the audience but apart from that slight hic-up our audio cues played on time and in the right order which helped us immensely as our cue to speak relied on the audio cues. I was very lucky to be working with the people I was because I was with a team of hard working and committed people that all push one another to their absolute potential. Despite how well we worked together at times we tended to focus too much on one idea to the point where we would overcomplicate a scene leading to us being stuck and having no idea of where to take the performance from that point. Sita quickly pointed out this issue and we soon realised that sometimes the simplest route is often the best especially when it comes to preforming in a less theatrical way due to us being on camera. Sita made us aware of the trap we were beginning to fall into as the performance was becoming too repetitive by having the same people talk in the same order for every question, it was then suggested that we “spice up” the running order by having a different character speak at the beginning of each question to add a different dynamic. After hearing back from the audience, I believe that the message and story we were trying to tell came across in an effective and emotional manor with many members of the audience reporting that they cried due to how they were able to relate and sympathise with the characters situation. Our main goal for this project was to raise awareness and shine a light on how neglected and underappreciated the performing arts is by the government along with many members of society, the reaction from our audience proves this point to be even more true due to many members of the audience being future actors in training. I feel we were effective in ensuring the message was delivered in a clear and effective way that allowed the audience to understand its important whilst being able to relate to its emotional undertones. Being able to review the footage, I’ve realised that everyone within my group suffered at some point during our performance with their internet lagging, this was unnoticeable at the time but it is very noticeable as a member of the audience unfortunately it is something that is out of our control. The technical issues are an annoyance because as a performer you put so much effort and time into a project and for something out your control to affect or ruin the quality of your work it is disappointing. Apart from a few technical issues there was also a concern of how the coloured paper would appear on camera due to the camera often distorting some of the colours to look brighter than they actually were or even worse make it appear as a different colour entirely. I have found the transition from in-person teaching and performance to online particularly difficult especially due to me suffering from severe dyslexia, my condition means that I find practical work in person far more easy to pick up and understand compared to the new online format that focuses more on reading and written work which has caused me a lot of confusion as I’m not able to take in information from written text as quickly as the average university student. The most challenging part of this module for me is having to forget a lot of the theatre techniques I have learned for onstage theatre and adapting them to be more subtle and appropriate for online performance Infront of a camera set up, even though the methods were used for simplistic stage acting I found Bryony Kimmins staging work to be an effective unique and spiritual experience that featured simple yet purposeful movement within a performance. From this experience my group was able to create more simple and direct series of

[joshuaevans2020]

Rehersal Blog 4

My goal for this rehearsal was to be comfortable with the running order of lines within the script, I was nervous of the running order because this was our first off script run-through. I don’t usually have a hard time learning lines but for our groups type of script the order of who spoke and when they spoke changed with every question meaning I had to really pay attention and focus of where we were within the script. I created a cue sheet with a list of our names and organised the names in order of who spoke before and after me, this helped me greatly because I was soon able to memorise the running order of lines.

Physical movements within the rehearsal were slightly difficult to organise due to connection issues and camera quality lagging behind those of us on screen, we persevered through the technical issues and trusted in our ability to continue with the performance despite small mistakes. Pairing the physical movements with lines boosted my confidence in my ability to piece to best of my ability.

By the end of the session as a group we were in positive spirits and rather proud of what we had achieved as a team, we all came to the conclusion that memorising lines would be our constant challenge because if one person if off or late with their line it could throw everyone else off.

The target for our next rehearsal was to be able to do two full run throughs of the piece without stopping and this was necessary for us to be able to time and gain an idea of how long the performance would be.

[joshuaevans2020]

Rehearsal Blog 3

Our main goal as a group was to finalize our script this was accomplished in this rehearsal rather quickly allowing us to move on to the blocking of the scenes right away, we didn’t want to overcomplicate the performance by having lots of movement because with the performance being held on the platform zoom internet lag may ruin physical sequences along with this we didn’t want to flood the performance with movement for the sake of having it in there. We wanted all of our characters movements to be purposeful and true to the text.

With this being said we didn’t want our performance to be completely static either, so a lot of time was spent as a group trying to find the perfect balance between the flow/pace of when it was appropriate within the piece to be still and when to add movement. This balanced was soon mastered by all of us as we used physical movement within the performance as a transition between acts one, two and three, these movements would be related to the story by showing the rise and fall of our characters hopes and aspirations.

As a group we also knew that we had to play with our proximity to the audience this meant we explored the different ways we interacted with the audience through the camera involving us moving towards and away from the camera, it was important we explored this route as it was crucial for us to be able to create a direct connection with the audience/viewer.

[joshuaevans2020]

Rehearsal Blog 2

Today’s rehearsal was with our lecturer Sita, in this rehearsal we discussed all the progress that we had made since our presentation proposal in December, our original idea that we presented to sita was about 5 characters that were a part of a theatre production that gets interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sita thought that this idea had potential but our performance was too ambitious for an online platform and would become too complicated to present as our vision was unclear it was directionless; we had a few scenes we wanted to perform but no coherent performance structure.

We all agreed with Sita’s comments and decided to take another look at our survey results and decided to go down an alternate performance path, this path would be the basis of our final performance structure that being, how the arts are not apricated by the government and how people wanting to peruse a career in the arts are often unencouraged to do so.

[joshuaevans2020]

Rehearsal Blog 1

As a group our first order of business was to create a survey, this was essential to ensuring that we had the biographical material needed to write our script and help create a main concept for the story that we have envisioned. The survey consisted of questions that were relevant to our creative plan at that time with questions such as:

“Have you had any experience in the performing arts industry?”,

“Would you consider the performing arts industry a “real” job?”,

“Were the people around you supportive of your career choice?”,

“Have you ever faced discrimination based on your career path or from others within the industry?”,

“Do you believe the government provided adequate support to the performing arts industry during this pandemic?”,

“What were your thoughts on the “Cyber First” campaign photo? (Fatima the ballerina training in cyber ad)”,

“If you had a child or friend interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts, would you support and encourage this choice?”,

In hindsight these questions where very broad meaning people didn’t give as much information as we would have liked, with online surveys it is common for a yes or no question sequence but due to ours requiring full answers we should have put a disclaimer mentioning the type of survey it was and the type of answers we were expecting to see.

Despite a few of the answers being very simple we were shocked to see how venerable people were willing to be in their answers, this vulnerability will be beneficial to use when it comes to creating dialogue and structuring our performance piece.

[joshuaevans2020]

Influences Blog

In the early stages of our devising process, the group and myself was influenced by one of our weekly reading assignments “User Not Found” by Danté Or Die this performance made very good and effective dramaturgical choices throughout such as the use of images and sound to create transitional sequences between scenes along with the change of pace at the appropriate timings to keep the audience alert. This inspired us to implement music and images in a similar manor that the performance does however we was going to create images/tableaus to show our characters various emotions and thoughts at the time these sequences were taking place. The emotional images would be accompanied with music to create a sensory experience that displays the feeling of hope turning into loss of hope. The freezes/Tableaus soon changed to a physical prop that being a heart symbol that would be torn into pieces showing the rise and fall of our characters hope.

The biggest influence for staging our performance came from the singer “Billie Eilish” of whom has been doing the same interview with “Vanity Fair” for over 4 years called “Same Interview, one year apart” this format of converting this interview setting into a performance was suggested by group member Tasha and immediately we were all onboard with the idea. This pitch gave us the outline of what would become our final performance structure along with a first-hand account of how the performing arts had been affected by coronavirus and how there was fear of what would happen to the industry after coronavirus was gone which is a topic of interest we were thinking of using.

Now that we were all onboard with Tasha’s suggestion of creating a piece on the performing arts, I suggested that we also include “The Cyber First Campaign” that was released by (HM Government in 2015) with the ad, featuring ballerina tying her pointe shoes with a quote of “Fatima’s next job could be in cyber. (She just doesn't know it yet)” this advert resurfaced during the first national lockdown in 2020. This advert would later become a focal point of our interview style of performance the particular reason for this circumstance is we wanted to show the public that this proves the lack of support the preforming arts receives from the government. Despite raising billions of income and revenue that the government then receives a percentage off let alone the social impact of the arts on local communities.

The government quickly apologised for the upset but nothing was done about the issue in the long term inspiring us to talk about the issue because if the government won’t speak on this issue then we will!

Bibliography

Eilish, B., 2020. Same Interview, One Year Apart.

HM Government, 2020. Cyber First - Fatima the Ballerina. [image] Available at: <https://images.app.goo.gl/HBTeZeeaThtt5gYJ6> [Accessed 5 February 2021].

User Not Found 2020.perofmance [Video] Avaliable at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcCvR4y2yk8[Accessed 8 February 2021].

[joshuaevans2020]

Research Blog

Research gathered by my group and myself has been a joyful and enlightening experience leading to us discovering the works of Tom Marshman and Bryony Kimmins, these two have been incredibly useful sources of research for my group’s projects and a great influence of what drives verbatim theatre forward.

We had the chance to watch trailer of performance by Bryony Kimmins that focused on the mental health struggles of her partner , this showed us that verbatim theatre is not only about the auto/biographical story such as word spoken dialogue but it was also about the physicality of that experience. Being able to show the Physicality of such a sensitive and emotional topic such as mental health and using mediums such as singing or dancing creates a physical bond with the audience/viewer allowing us to be fully immersed within the experience because we are giving our real time reaction by viewing this experience rather than needing to take time to process spoken dialogue thus in my opinion is effective at creating a more genuine viewing experience.

Due to Kimmins experience and knowledge of verbatim theatre, she was able to transverse the message that these types of real and personal stories have the ability to be shown through different mediums by focusing on giving a voice to those that are not heard or represented.

Along with the works of Bryony Kimmins, we were given the opportunity to have an in-person workshop with Tom Marshman as well as being able to watch an online performance of his. In his workshop Marshman explained that his idea of verbatim theatre was to focus on people within society that don’t have a voice or are unable to tell their stories, he would usually interview these people in the form of a tea party creating a comfortable setting and environment for the person being interviewed to share their story. Another way that Marshman creates his work is by using historical archives available to the public such as newspapers and old court documents, he showed us an example of a one man show he has produced featuring the use of these items along with lip syncing, costumes and stylised movements. After this we were then placed in groups and had create a similar performance using old newspaper articles from the early nineteen hundreds, this was a useful teaching method in being able to understand the core of his version of verbatim theatre.

The research duration of this project has been incredibly beneficial to us as a group wanting to create a piece of verbatim theatre because we are now equipped with the knowledge of what creates a good piece of verbatim theatre along with what can happen when a topic is not shown in a delicate way. We are now more self-aware of the trusted position one is placed in when it comes to performing verbatim theatre as it is using real people and their real experiences, it is not a game.

[joshuaevans2020]

User Not Found

Why do you think the company asked us to watch the play on a phone and what did that add to the performance and the dramaturgy?

The company asked the audience to watch this performance on a mobile device for the reason that it is a personal item that most viewers have access to, this creates a more intimate connection between the audience and the performer with the connection being through the  phone and phone screen. With the performance being based on a phone made it feel more real almost as if you were the character having these conversations or a close friend witnessing the situation unfold, dramaturgically this creates an identity for the audience that they are able to zone into allowing them to become immersed within the storytelling.

If you were to describe this play to a friend how would you describe it?

If I were to describe this play to a friend I would say, User not found is an amazing show that takes the listener on an emotional journey of growth and loss whilst on this journey it is made very clear how small the world has become or feels due to modern technology such as a mobile phone. The show closes by displaying what can happen when social media spreads information to people before they have been made aware of personal news and how it affects them learning this from a second-hand source such as social media or a friend.

What specific dramaturgical choices were made in the piece – which made it feel immersive as an audience experience?

User not Found was able to create an immersive and emotional experience, this was achieved by the constant change in pace/flow of the performance. This change in pace/flow was a subtle but effective tool at keeping the performance fresh and interesting, the change of tempo of the show was noticeable through the various sound effects and images used therefore this demonstrates to the audience that we are a part of the world the characters are living in by us traveling to different locations and being a fly on the wall during private conversations. With the images and sound being the link between the change in location and scenario With the narrator not being visible throughout the story this created an aura of mystery around the narrator’s story almost turning the relationship between the narrator and the audience into a uncomfortable experience that you can’t help but watch.

What specifically might you take away from this piece when developing your own final performance?

From this performance I would like to implement the use of images and sound in a similar manor that this performance does, by using the images whether that being freezes by us the actors or using various coloured objects to represent our characters emotional journey. The use of sound would be done to create a sensory landscape with the style of music reflecting a similar narrative to the images or freezes appearing in our performance. This narrative will focus on those that are struggling and the struggles faced by those in the performing arts, looking at area’s such as support in our carrier and how lockdown has affected the industry and us.

[joshuaevans2020]

Fake it till you make it reading

What theatrical devices and images is Bryony using in this show?( Be specific)

The show ‘Fake It Till You Make It’ implores the use of a few effective and impactful dramaturgical technics that all work together to create an honest, social changing view on mental illness and how it affects those that live with it on a day-to-day basis.

I enjoy the use of playing with the different energy levels, by them establishing that the  energy and pace of performance. Playing with its ability to be fluid which is important to this style of storytelling because dealing with sensitive topics such as mental health it is important to use a fluid pace as it creates an accurate image/ depiction of the highs and lows on this emotional roller-coaster that is the mind. I was amazed by how honest and raw the performance was able to be, I believe this effect/imagery was possible due to the research being autobiographical based a style of theatre that in my opinion is a technique that has only gained recent popularity as being a simple yet honest form of storytelling in a situational role.

What do you think those images/ devices might do to the audience’s experience of the story and the theme of mental illness?

The theatrical devices and images used in Bryony’s work influence a social change around the public’s perception of mental health changing the idea of it being something shameful to a self-liberation of being able to accept that it is okay not to be okay. The images are able to unify the audience and make them all feel a part of this connective experience as if they were sharing their own story on the stage. With the research for the technical side being taken from a phycologists point of view and then to juxtapose it with the human element/experience of living with mental illness culminates to create an honest and truthful viewing experience of one’s own struggle whether it is big or small.

How can you use similar ideas to theatricalise your own work?

Having watched and researched the work that had gone into producing ‘Fake It Till You Make It’ I would use the theatrical techniques and devices to explore the connection between the performer and the audience. Especially now due to our work having been moved to an online platform, I feel that these techniques will help create an intimate setting for the viewer and performer.

[joshuaevans2020]

Ethics, The story of the other Reading

Who is speaking, who is spoken of and who listens is a result, as well as an act, of political struggle? (Alcoff in Heddon, p129)

Having read the set reading on Verbatim theatre I have realised that all of these headings can be represented in the form of untold stories, giving unheard voices a public space in which to flourish and gain much needed attention. This type of theatre allows us to get to the heart of the issue or event being described/told, it has often been described as a ‘Democratising form of theatre’ due to its ability to dismantle the rhetorical cliché of liberation/freedom. The person speaking is the written text or audio recording of the person of whom was interviewed being channelled/told by using an actor as a vessel for their stories to come to life. The people spoken of and whom listens as a result is firstly the people mentioned in the autobiography and then afterwards it is intended to be heard by everyone but especially the minority groups or subjects it discusses.

What does Alcoff mean by this and how might it relate to the process of selecting material in the creation of a piece of verbatim theatre?

I believe he means to help create a genre of theatre that has not been seen/used to its full potential because autobiographical theatre has the ability to connect with an audience on a far deeper and personal level based on the honesty of the text and scenario alone. This helps the selection of material due to using personal and real stories and sticking to the facts and spoken statements, one is able to create a simple yet effective piece that can be told in any format or space. Verbatim theatre is able to discuss sensitive and political topics in a format that the everyday person is able to relate and understand.

What do you understand by the term ‘metatheatrical’?

I understand the term ‘metatheatrical’ to mean being able to pick out an aspect based on the quality or force within a play and then using it to base whether it is set within reality or not.

In the chapter on 'Ethics: The Story of the Other', theatre practitioner Emily Mann is quoted as saying ‘There is no such thing as an objective documentary’ (p134) What is Mann referring to here and how might this be felt in the challenges with representing verbatim material theatrically?

Mann in this chapter is referring to the playfulness that is possible with verbatim theatre by being selective over the text chosen, varying the meaning and outcome of the situation affecting the audiences view on that topic or event in time. In the case of a personal story, you are able to mould the text to fit your own agenda as you don’t have to follow the text word for word necessarily. The challenges faced when staging this type of material come from how comfortable the person that had been interviewed feels with such personal information being shared and displayed on a grand scale. Along with this there is also a social/political issue when it comes to staging serious issues derived from autobiographical work, meaning that some topics need to be delt with in a sensitive manner.

[joshuaevans2020]

Uninvited Guests Performance

 Describe the show as if you were trying to describe it to a close friend .

I would describe the show to be an emotional roller-coaster that focuses on using peoples personal and emotional experiences to create an audience bonding cry session. The show to me is set like a wedding reception where all the guests are making speeches and various dedications to one another along with sharing personal stories with a dedicated song to compliment it.

Describe how Uninvited Guests created a sense of a live event. – and also, if you felt they didn’t create the sense of a live event.

Uninvited Guests was successful in creating a live atmosphere even though the whole performance was through the medium of zoom, their use of having the audience have drinks on standby ready to join and toast the three different categories was an excellent way to involve everyone. This helped create a bond/sense of community among audience members along with this the use of being able to send in our own personal dedications to be read out, made the show feel more personal and intimate.

What did the use of personal audience dedication add to the piece? – How did you feel if your dedication was read out?

The addition of the audience being able to add their own personal dedication to the show helped create a sense of community something that is rare to find these days. The dedications allowed everyone to have a safe space to vent and share their emotions without the fear of being judged, instead it created a sympathetic and open space where you felt it was safe to be vulnerable.

What will you take from this piece ( be specific) when developing your own Biographical online work?

From having watched this piece, I would like to add the sense of community aspect that Uninvited Guest was able to create because I feel that when we are telling a story of such a personal importance the human element of being able to connect and relate to the story being told, can either make or break the performance.

[joshuaevans2020]

Bryony Kimmins Readings

1.What are the main steps  Bryony Kimmins talks about in her devising process when describing developing 'Sex Idiot'?

Bryony’s main steps when developing her play ‘Sex Idiot’ include, immersing herself in the dialogue of the piece through the use of props or the characters scenario of situation presenting hints of method acting. She also lets the content lead the performance and directorial style. Moreover she acts off of random acts of impulse using objects for aesthetic purposes or using them because it felt right in that moment in time, an example of this is; she references how she smashed a vase of flowers over her head for the performance, even though the moment wasn’t long she felt it was a key moment in the performance.

2.a Explain what Bryony might mean by saying ‘instead of egotistically driving forward to make another show, the form will be dictated by the subject matter.’  [Dey, Misri.Making solo performance : six practitioner interviews ]

Bryony is describing that in future productions and performances she will focus more on content and text that inspires her rather than pieces that will gain her notoriety and public recognition. To her the quality of the text and subject matter is more important and beneficial to her as a person and performer.

2 b give specific examples from a few of her shows where the form comes directly from the content.

Two shows of importance that display the performing techniques previously discussed are ‘Mummy Time’ and ‘Credible, likable superstar’. I have listed these two shows because they are solo pieces that focus on breaking the fourth wall and focus on bringing the audience in as a participant. This format can be useful for this current climate as it is easily adaptable to an online space/zone along with this the use of it being a solo piece the content is able to direct the props used. Within these two shows the content leads the performance by using elements of classical theatre and more personal/autobiographical influences.

3.Looking at the practical work Tom Marshman did with you and the wider work within his showreel, what are the crossovers/ similarities between Tom Marshmans work and Bryony Kimmins work,in form, subject matter and process?

After having participated in the session with Tom Marshman and having read the works of Bryony Kimmins I have found a few similarities between the two directorial styles such as the autobiographical methods. Those methods being focusing on the connection between the past and present, using the lessons learned from those scenarios to help heal old and new wounds. Another similar method of importance to me is the focus on telling stories both on a social and personal level to allow the context of the piece speak for itself.

4. What kind of autobiographical/ archival work would you like to make?

At this current moment of time I would like to make work that focuses on current issues and events that affect me and fellow students throughout the country, this is because I feel we often get treated unfairly by the media. Along with this bringing up the issues of should we be respecting our elders when they can’t even respect us.

[joshuaevans2020]

Brian Astbury Reading

1.    What are the main problems with acting that Brian Astbury identifies?

Brian Astbury Identifies one of the main problems with acting as prepositions, he discusses how he never knows whether it should be a problem of or with or in. Meaning the way that actors take characters and use them as a sort of conductor for emotions. Astbury mentions how the right brain deals with big picture symbols, feelings and emotions and how this causes problems within actors as it provokes the primal fight flight or freeze. Simply this means that these emotions that are caused by an actor becoming too emotionally involved in a character creates a disconnect between the two and makes the performance less genuine within the true character.

2.    How does this resonate with problems you have experienced with acting in the past?

In previous situations when I have approached embodying a character for a role, I found it hard to stay in character so using Astbury’s exercises for concentration really helped with this issue and made me more invested and involved with the character development.

3. a) How do you think his exercises could help you to overcome/address some of those challenges with acting that you identified in your previous answer? and b) What was your experience of working with them to prepare your monologue performance?

a) In the past I’ve struggled heavily with differentiating between my own emotions/instincts and that of the character I was trying to portray, Astbury’s exercise that he performs on the ‘unhappy volunteer’ provides a sort of training for actors to make them become this character and not simply rely on their past acting experience when the scene requires it.

b) When preparing for my monologue I worked with another person and used Astbury’s idea of repetition where I would repeat the same 7 lines (at a time) of the monologue that was recited to me by my partner and repeated this exercise multiple times and followed by doing the same exercise again however this time as we spoke the lines we used all our force to press against the nearest wall to help with our concentration.

Overall, I have found this week’s reading to be useful and beneficial for me because it helps me strengthen and improve my acting technique and skills.

[joshuaevans2020]

Dramaturgy

1.     In the NTS film look specifically at the dramaturgical choices being made, how does the character create a sense of urgency?

In the NTS film a sense of urgency is created using various dramaturgical choices/stylings a particularly effective method being, Digital Dramaturgy taking a short story and placing it into a FaceTime/group call type of setting where the sole focus is on one character. The story is told in a situational role, the situation being a man lost in the woods and he needs to find his way home before sunset. To be able to tell this story effectively the audience or viewer is framed as recipient of his call an effective method to break the fourth wall inviting you the viewer into the story as if your opinion could help the main protagonist find a solution. A sense of urgency is created at 3:47 with the use of short and sharp jump-cuts leading to a speed up of the events taking place within the story and the use of natural lighting creates a sense of urgency as well, the use of natural lighting/daylight creates a race against the clock or elements for this character to find his way out of the woods before sundown and this leaves the viewer with a feeling of curiosity mixed with dread because what happens in the woods after sundown, a question we don’t want to know but also need to know.

2.     how do they create other person/ people in the story even though it’s a monologue?

Due to the monologue being delivered in a digital format it was rather a simple yet effective method of using the layout of a FaceTime/Group Call as the backdrop to use a new form of digital Dramaturgy, setting the audience as to being the recipient of said call is one way of interpreting the audiences position within the story or the audience in this scenario could also be a fly on the wall. The audience is captured within the screen on the characters phone trapped in this one moment of time being a witness to an event we can all identify and relate too. The monologue’s situation represents many scenarios the viewer can relate and find themselves within such as the character being lost or his strenuous relationships with his family.

3.     In Where I go (when I can’t be where I am) What are the dramaturgical choices created through the music and images to depict her pain?

The Dramaturgical choices made within Where I go (when I can’t be where I am) to depict the characters pain is shown through the use of music and various photo depictions, the short film/episode sets the audience as being within her head a member of her own inner dialogue bearing witness to the characters suffering. The use of visual imagery is used throughout the episode sharing a characteristic of the NTS short film that being the use of short and sharp jump cuts to convey the intense emotion that she is feeling along with the use of colours such as reds and greens to display disgust, pain or envy. This uses elements of Floor Dramaturgy as the use of the colours green and red to light parts of this short film/episode guide the audience and show the deuteriation of her mind along with her connection to people and the real world. A representation of how disconnected people can be come through forced isolation whilst suffering a mental battle.  The music and audio dialogue add the human element to the story, the directing choices made through the use of gesture and varying inflections within the voice builds the situational Dramaturgy, the situation we are all able to connect and identify is being isolated.

3.From David Lanes article and the Tuesday lecture define dramaturgy in your own words.

The term Dramaturgy can be described an infinite of different ways however in my opinion the term Dramaturgy is a method of finding am sense of identity and capturing it in a moment in time. Once captured we as performers and artists are able to display this identity found through the use of directing, lighting and the use of space etc, using these tools to explore social issues and create a change of thought or spark change.

[joshuaevans2020]

The Importance of live theatre

1.     After listening to the Tuesday lecture and reading Tannahills essay on liveness and @thetheatre what do you think are the most important elements needed to create a live experience? - Please refer directly to at least 2 examples in either the essays or the lecture.

When creating a live experience for theatre the 2 most important things are; the ability to create empathy otherwise the message of the story loses its meaning, for example the director mentions inspiration from the show “Rowanda 94”. Moreover physical presence makes viewers face the reality of the events unfolding infront of them and the proximity of the audience to it creates and demands a different response, “it’s a simple result”.

2.     Describe what Tannahill was trying to achieve by putting Rihannaboi on line and whether you think it was successful as a piece of live theatre?

Tannahill was trying to create a similar experience to the Sissyboy Youtube Night project creating a public yet private environment for the audience to feel included in the performance through the use of close face to face promixty and the ability to ask the characters questions and give them advice. This project is delievered in the traditional form of a monologue with the more modern feature being that it was shown via livestream. However though successful there were times where distance between the audience and the characters would of created a nice balance and variation in the performance through smoother use of camera movements and less quick cuts and sharp camera shots.

      3.       Where there any moments in Rhiannaboi that were particularly successful in terms of portraying connection to audience, character or world? Please name them and describe how you might develop these techniques in your own work for the in class monologues.

(25:30 – 26:30) This moment showed the informality of the performance through the use of speech and body gestures, such as; use of slang and more naturalistic body movements/behaviours. These were effective in propelling the story narrative and made the props used in the scene make more sense. I would use these techniques in my own performances through the use of monologue to portray a different type of character, that being a more down to earth relatable character that would make the audience feel more connected and invested in the overall story narrative. I would also pull inspiration from the later works of Stanivslaki where he explores the idea of tricking the mind and body to feel emotions to help strengthen character development.