Final blog, Four Ways to Speak out
1).According to the framework of the RSVP cycle the ‘V’ stage is the valuation stage, “is not about evaluation, which is a psychological process, but about selecting the best from a number of improvised scores, so it can be developed further into a performance” (Dundjerovic, 2009, p 37). The ‘P’ stage is the performance which “refers to improvisations of these selected scores” (Dundjerovic, 2009, p 37). When considering this framework in reference to Four Ways to Speak Out, the best material was improved and things that weren’t working where left behind. DV8 Theatre Company also adopts this style of working as they discuss in an interview, ““have the courage to throw out ideas that weren't working, no matter how wonderful or logical they appear” (Dv8, Interviews, 1993, p11-13). The core themes became more solid when moving into the ‘performance’ stage. The “basic fabric” of the piece was the “missing woman”, the theme of domestic violence was another core theme, domestic violence is not just physical “The violence can be psychological, physical, sexual or emotional” (www.homeoffice.gov.uk). Four ways to speak out explored all of these areas.
The themes of guilt and blame had emerged and grown from the core theme. These emotions were now the driving force behind the ensemble. The sense of guilt and blame were themes that were explored throughout the performance. In the first ensemble sequence, the community realised the woman had disappeared, the blame was place upon Dan, this was demonstrated in the ‘point’ gesture, where the community turned on Dan and the ‘point’ was directed at him. Alongside blame was confusion, animosity, worry and also intrigue. The intrigue was another theme which drove the story, in the sense that the community needed to know what had happened to the woman. This intrigued was communicated by the ensemble never leaving the stage; they remained present at all times, and watched the story unfold, alongside the audience, learning and reacting to the diary entries and the flashbacks. “physical theatres are [...] the making of sounds, the speaking of words, the listening to these sounds and words.” (Murray and Keefe, 2007, pg 35).
As the story progressed, the ensemble shared many experiences in discovering what had happened to the missing woman, this was shown through a variety of flashbacks and diary entries .This shared discovery tied the community together, as the flashbacks provided an insight into their past, from the Woman’s perspective. The flashback of the rape scene is one example of this, the community could see how ignorant they had been, and saw that we were all to blame. This collective emotion brought the ensemble closer together.
The second ensemble was again fuelled by a communal sense of guilt, with also a sense of anger towards Andy. When this point of the performance had been reached, the atmosphere was extremely tense, and had grown from a sad, guilt filled atmosphere to one of anger and hostility. The community were rejecting Andy, and literally running from his presence, at this moment the community formed a united front against him, and shared a mutual hatred.
2).When the group moved into the theatre after months of the rehearsal process taking place in the studio, a few problems arose. I believe this happened because the group were “connected to the space they occupy” (Callery, 2006, p 84). All the findings and discoveries had taken place in the studio, so when the group were faced with a new space (the theatre), just one day before the performance, it was slightly unnerving. The positioning of the stage meant minor adjustments needed to be made. An example of this was the “Bar scene”, we had been expecting a full length bar, and rehearsed with that in mind, but the actual bar, was substantially smaller than expected. The piece had to be adapted; however this was to be expected as this often happens in devised work, “The fine tuning of all performance elements did not happen until the dress rehearsal stage and run of performances” (Oddey, 1996, p128).
The space itself was a totally different, dynamically, to the rehearsal space. The stage was much deeper and narrower, and we had a lot more obstructions to face, such as the bedroom set, and the floor lighting. We, as a group, had to familiarise ourselves with the space once again “Commanding the stage demands a control of the space” (Callery, 2001, p79). The props were another challenge, we had not rehearsed with real liquids before, and I had not rehearsed carrying a tray with a heavy bottle upon it, it was not a major difficulty, though it did hinder concentration. This use of real props affected the whole group, as they had to be aware of spillage which had not been an issue in the studio rehearsals.
The depth of the stage created an issue, where many members of the group were positioning themselves at the front of the stage. The groups spatial awareness had been clouded by selfish instincts, and made some believe they could only be seen at the front of the stage, which is not the case. This is a common misconception, DV8 discuss a similar issue in an interview “a large auditorium, the subtleties of the gestures are often missed and performers feel they have to make actions bigger and in many cases they become less real” (DV8, Interviews, 1993, p11-13).
However, the transition from the studio to theatre was not an entirely negative experience. To be able to see the stage scenographically complete, brought the performance to light, the props and set “expose and validate their original meaning” (Holder, 2005, p 115). It rekindled some of the lost excitement and passion for the piece. The visualisation of the set also provided the “missing pieces” to the process, and provided a platform to the final performance.
3). The first show, in my opinion lacked sincerity and felt slightly robotic, this may have been due to the fact that the morning run had been particularly emotionally intense, so the group felt somewhat drained. Personally I believe the first ensemble was particularly weak in emotional intention. I remember going through the motions, and struggling to find intention behind the movement, and I could sense the group were having a similar experience to myself. This may have occurred because of the audience’s presence. It was the first time we had performed with an audience, so it was bound to have an effect on the group. As Callery discusses “a defensive attitude towards the audience, as though they have come to judge or, worse asses any particular actor’s performance, is counterproductive.” (Callery, 2001, p103) the group may have been worried about the audience’s reaction, and anxious as to what they would think of the performance as a whole, and to them as individual performer. I did become more self aware when they audience was present, in the rehearsal process the group had built a trusting relationship amongst each other, but when the audience were watching our community was exposed, this made the performance an entirely different experience.
The second performance felt different again, but I have come to learn this is the case in this genre of theatre “it’s alive, it changes every night” (Huxley & Witts, 1996, p239). During the warm up I felt tired and emotionally drained, and I could sense that the rest of the group also felt this way; I had to really delve deep into my characters mind and body to find the strength to carry on. I used the tiredness to aid my performance by making my “drunkenness” even bigger and more exaggerated.
Before the show, Royona said that the “funny bar” needed to become “nightmarish” and almost clown like. So when it came to that scene my character had evolved again, I had become my character from Naomi’s nightmare, I felt evil and wanted to frighten Naomi, this was a new layer to my character. This evil side to my character made the guilt and shame stronger than ever before.
The final performance was the most emotional performance for me, and it again changed from the previous night. The RSVP model was still applicable even at this final stage of the performance. “’Performance 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”( Dundjerovic,2009, p 30). The second ensemble, where the group ran to their partners, had a significant difference for Liz and I. The dynamic in the relationship had changed dramatically from her being my protector to, me being hers. I was no longer scared of Andy, I felt aggressive and confrontational towards him. I was no longer running away from him, I was running to protect Liz. This change had occurred after my character had dealt with sever shame during the second performance; by this point I had decided I couldn’t let Andy hurt anyone else, especially Liz. At this moment I felt truly involved and sincerely truthful in what I was performing. “with an actual exchange of emotion between the actors, the scene instantly will come alive” (Allensworth et.al, 1982, Pg.165).
Bibliography
ALLENSWORTH, C, ALLENSWORTH, D, & RAWSON, C. (1982) The Complete Play Production Handbook. New York. Harper &Row
CALLERY, D. (2001) Through the body, a practical guide to physical theatre London: Nick Hern Books.
DUNDJEROVIC, A (2009) Robert Lepage Routledge. Taylor & Francis e-library (2008)
HOLDER, M (2005) Scenography in action: space, time and movement in theatre productions, Konstvetenskapliga institution, Stockholm’s University, e-library (2005)
HUXLEY, M & WITTS, N. (1996) The Twentieth-Century Performance Reader: Routledge.
MURRAY, S & J KEEFE (2007) Physical theatres: a critical introduction London: Routledge
ODDEY, A. (1994) Devising Theatre: a practical and theoretical handbook, London: Routledge.
DV8. (1993) Interviews [Accessed 26th April 2010]. Available at:
http://www.dv8.co.uk/about_dv8/interview_dance_now_lloyd_newson_on_dance
Home office online [Accessed 26th April 2010] Available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/domestic-violence/
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