1.
As Four Ways to Speak Out finally came together as a performance piece it was quite clear that the main issue is domestic violence. However not just the physical aspects which is normally referred to, but the mental torture one can endure. In the finale of the piece, the images created by Andy’s character and the four women are that of claustrophobia, with him clinging onto them and ’smothering’ them with his love. The community also portrays the mental aspects of domestic violence by the subtle, pedestrian movements such as stroking each others face and holding hand. The finale image depicts a web of hearts that the women were trapped in, preventing them from leaving. This image leaves the audience with the notion that domestic violence does not have to be the obvious physical abuse, that it can be much more clever and disturbing than that.
However there are various other issues and themes interwoven throughout the piece. Male dominance and patriarchal views are reflected from the very beginning of the performance. The two male characters become involved in conflict between each other. Although it is because of secrets untold, ultimately the duet reflects male competitiveness. Whoever comes out as the winner is the stronger male. This is apparent in every day life, (when considering male dominated sports and rowdy pub culture) and is depicted through movement in Four Ways in an animalistic way, relating the two males to animals trying to mark their territory. It is also apparent how, although there are only two males in a predominantly all female performance group, they have a lot of control over the females. An example is how in the ‘street scene’ the girls movement is suggestive as though to compete and impress the men and how Gemma’s representation of the woman is so easily led into the two men’s arms with her movement like that of a rag doll suggesting she has no control.
The community has definite individual characters who go through their own emotional journey and it is these shared journeys that tie the community together as one. At the beginning of Four Ways there are various cliques that separate the community, for example there are people congregated at the bar who are rowdy, there are groups in the street who have their own conversations and there are the individuals who keep themselves to themselves. However when the suitcase is revealed, it is curiosity, confusion and eventually blame that starts to bring the community together as a whole in the first ensemble. As the Woman’s story is told through the diary entries the community experiences anger, sadness and guilt which is portrayed through the second ensemble. The once separated community now find themselves needing one another for emotional supports, for example they fall and catch each other as they can take no more of the guilt caused by their own ignorance.
2.
I was aware that moving from working in the studio to the theatre would create a completely different experience. Admittedly it was a lot to get used to, mainly because it was a much larger space. This affected the beginning community improvisation and the community in the periphery. It took a while to force ourselves to use all the space, as the theatre space has a lot of depth performers were worried that all action would be lost at the back. However the larger space created more of a sense of where the community lived. It meant that there was no need for a complicated set that would separate the bar, the street and the bedroom, simple lighting would be used just as effectively. I believe it enforces the audience to work harder at decoding who these people are and where they are as “The most fascinating and rewarding of lighting is the possibility of influencing the mental state of the audience.” (Reid, 2001, pg. 6)
However as performers we had to be aware of certain obstacles on stage, lamps for lighting were in danger of getting knocked out of focus and pieces of set were now needed to be aware of. This was a challenge as in the studio the ensemble at individual movement pieces could be carried out with the knowledge that nothing except the four walls were in the way. In the theatre performers needed to be extra sensitive and use their peripheral vision and memory of the space to know when the movement was too close to an obstacle. Performers also needed to be aware of whether they can be seen and that their bodies are in the light.
Personally I found that these technical issues could sometimes detract from the quality of the performance. When worrying about whether one can be seen or not, or bumping into set pieces, the emotional quality put into the performance can suffer.
As a warm up just before every performance we were made to choose a specific area within the performance space that means something to ones character. When in that space we are told to change our breathing patterns into that of our individual characters, and in our characters emotional state gradually become aware of the space and to start moving around it. This was an effective and beneficial warm-up exercise , as a space that may seem alien to us is made completely familiar to our character. When eventually performing Four Ways, we knew why we were in that particular part of the space and what it meant emotionally to our own individual characters as “Commanding the stage demands control of the space” (Callery, 2001, pg. 79.)
3.
The growth of the performance developed significantly, especially when moved into the actual theatre space. Personally my character within the community completely changed. In rehearsals, as my character, I tended to interact with others and become a part of the ‘cliques’, however when in the theatre space I completely isolated myself and chose to remain at the back. I believed my character to be waiting for someone and developed nervous tendencies such as scratching my arm and wringing my hands. I believe this was due to the warm up of emerging into our characters (I.e. developing breathing patterns, noticing and reacting to who is around you), with the seriousness of the piece’s content fresh in my mind I felt like I had to isolate myself to protect myself from the truth, which leads to the overall guilt of the community. Therefore Robert Lepage’s “V” and “P” is still very much valid in the very final stages of the performance.
At first when performing the piece as a whole I found it difficult to get into the mindset of the woman, when I had previously been a completely different character within the community. However after the first show, experiencing the woman’s flashbacks became more and more emotional and poignant. My peripheral reactions of sadness, anger and fear became stronger and more significant which provided me with appropriate mindset and emotional ammunition to portray a woman who is clinging on to her last hope.
I am aware that music should not be an influence when creating the work, however I found that when performing the flashback of the woman trying to leave it completely heightened the emotion. The song “And Then You Kissed Me” by The Cardigans was used and when performing to it again and again I realised how real the woman’s situation is. Each time, throughout the three performances, the song managed to pull upon a slightly different emotion but always allowed me to convey the sense of hopelessness that will affect the audience.
At the first I believed that, as performers, we were telling the story of a victim of domestic violence through physical movement. However as the ‘RSVP’ process progressed my opinion changed. While the main issue is domestic violence, Four Ways To Speak Out is also about how the community deals with the knowledge of how the woman suffered. When performing it in the theatre, I became less focused on the storyline, which is not as important in physical theatre, but more focused on the emotions and how these emotions can join people together. As performers we had to convey these emotions as truthfully as possible in order to not only entertain the audience but to send out an important message about domestic violence and create more awareness by “communicating ideas and feelings clearly and unpretentiously […] to be radical yet accessible.” (DV8 Physical Theatre http://www.dv8.co.uk/about_dv8/artistic_policy) After realising this, for me the remaining two shows became emotionally heightened, and every emotion portrayed in the community and as the woman had attached to it a very important and significant meaning.
Bibliography.
Callery, D. (2001) Through the Body: A practical guide to Physical Theatre. Second Edition. London. Routledge.
Reid, F. (2001) The Stage Lighting Handbook. New York. Routledge.
Other Sources.
DV8 Physical Theatre http://www.dv8.co.uk/about_dv8/artistic_policy [accessed 26/04/2010]
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