The main themes that Four ways to Speak Out explored was domestic violence and oppressive love. The way in which the ensemble showed this to the audience was clear through its narrative in two different ways. The use of a voice over allowed the audience to understand the journey of ‘The woman’ and how she was treated and also made the genre of physical theatre more accessible to those who are unfamiliar. However, the audience was also shown how pure love could be oppressive. In Four ways to speak out the audience was shown visually, aided by hearts threaded on to string, that obsessive love can also be the a type of abuse and domestic violence. When Andy was left at the end of the performance, it was not the rape, the control or anything else that made ‘The woman’ leave it was solely the overpowering amount of love that was exploited to her. A theme that ran throughout the piece was that someone does not have to be beaten on a daily basis in order for it to be classed as an act of domestic violence. It can be, “psychological, physical, sexual or emotional.” (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/domestic-violence/) and as a group we managed to allow this to emerge from the performance.
Being a female dominating group we felt that we wanted to create a woman who was emotionally strong enough to leave the man at the end. This showed the audience that domestic abuse is unaccepatble and most importantly there is a way out. As an ensemble when we finally moved away from the validation part of devising and edged closer to the performance element of the RSVP model we, “discovered a collective imagination.” (Callery,(2001), p5). What is meant by this is as an ensemble we had finally rooted any ideas about what ‘The woman’ was like and what she wanted in life. This allowed us to become emotionally attached to ‘The woman’ and give an honest performance on the stage.
What tied the community together was that as perfomers our characters were an extention of ourselves. As a performer I found myself calling on my emotional memory (a technique created by Stanislavski) in order to realise how my character would act if I was put in the situation of my character. As a performer this was “natural and unavoidable” (Merlin,(2007), p143), and this was the case for many other performers within the ensemble.
In order for Four Ways to Speak Out to work the ensemble had to reinvent the entire space that it was performed, in order for the narrative to become believable for the audience. Callery believes that, “commanding the stage demands a control of the space.” (Callery, (2006), p79) If the ensemble was weak and did not have control of the space on stage the performance would lack energy and honesty.
On the day that the cast of the performance moved from the studio in to the performance space it was obvious that the group was excited to see the sceneography for the piece. It was important that the ensemble were, “connected to the space they occupied,” (Callery (2006) p84) as well as everything that was included within the space such as props. This was a strength of the ensemble as we all managed to adapt to the new space and connect and feel comfortable within it.
A weakness that the ensemble had when making the transition from the studio to the theatre was filling the space. Many performers felt that if they were not centre stage that the audience would not see them. A performer can have presence on stage wherever they are placed and “when an actor has this presence it can make us feel as though we are standing very close to them, wherever we are sitting in the theatre.” (Callery,(2006),p84). Although it was difficult to realise this initially, as the day moved on and the cast began to finally validate the piece we slightly overcame this problem.
Although as a member of the ensemble I felt that the group responded positively to the change in space some critics believe that changing a space can have a negative effect on the performers. For example, Zinder believes that even changing the floor surface can, “certainly limit physical expression.” (Zinder,(2002),p23). When working within the genre of physical theatre it is important that performers create a good relationship with gravity and the floor. Zinder also believes that the foot is an, “integral part of the body’s physical expressiveness.” (Zinder,(2002),p24). Therefore, changing the space an inevitably the floor could of had a dramatic effect on the way the ensemble performed.
My character did not develop at a fast pace, which as a performer I struggled with and found myself concentrating on creating movements that had no intention behind them. The RSVP model continued to apply to the process right up until the end of the final show, everyone’s character seemed to perform on instinct, as there was space for variety within the performance. For example, my character did not express as much anger within the first and second performance like it did in the third. This is because of the way my character was treated by Andrew Smith’s character in the ‘chaos’ scene. Andrew pulled my hair, which then fuelled my anger in to me pulling his leg back as if to gain revenge. This changed the dynamics of the performance for my character and created a different experience for the audience watching on the third night. Callery sees the, “actor as creator, as opposed to the actor as interpreter.” (Callery,(2006),p13) This is relevant to Four ways to speak Out because as performers the ensemble creates the characters and narrative through movement which allows the audience to interpret what you are trying to express.
The performance grew immensely over the three-show period and this led to my character validating just in time for the third show. The RSVP model was still being applied to Four Ways to Speak Out at this point and perhaps throughout the third show for my character. As a performer you don’t validate a movement or gesture until it is being performed because you must stay alert to the surroundings. In the physical theatre genre it is important to understand that, “every action has to be justified by a rational and logical analysis in behavioural terms.” (Callery,(2006),p149) What this means is that as a performer you have to be ready and alert to react to how everyone in the ensemble reacts. However, this doesn’t mean you should ‘do something because everyone else is’ as this couldn’t be justified within your character.
As previously mentioned my character developed slowly over the R and S stages of the RSVP model which made me as a performer feel nervous about performing as I was worried my character would look forced. However, during the dress run my character seemed to validate itself, which allowed me to relax into the character more.
The role of my character in the flash back was of a friend who had taken ‘The Woman’ to the pub in order for her to indulge on some drinks before she went off for a meal with her partner for their anniversary. This part of the performance grew over the shows as the three other members of this group along with myself really started to enjoy the choreography, which made the section flow more easily. With particular reference to my character within this section, I allowed my character to have a little variance to the other performers at the table as I felt that my character still had a slight feeling of regret within this section so I made sure as a performer that I kept looking over at ‘The Woman’ to make sure she was okay. However, the members of the audience can interpret this differently.
Over the three shows it is fair to say that the performance grew as a response to the characters growing. I found myself becoming more attached to the woman, which gave my character an intention to perform and bring ‘The Woman’s’ story to life.
Bibliography
Callery, D. (2006) Through the Body: A practical guide to physical theatre. New York: London: Routledge.
Merlin, B. (2007) The complete Stanislavsky Toolkit. London: Nick Hern
Zinder, D. (2002) Body voice: Imagination. A Training for the Actor. New York: Routledge
Other Sources
(http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/domestic-violence/- Accessed on 22/04/2010 at 19:04)
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