STATUS AND IMAGE THEATRE

Today we started off the class by playing a game of status
recounting- in this game, there are three volunteers. Each had their own status from highest to lowest. And all three have roles. The teacher can change the status in the group but the actors cannot change their roles.
reflecting- this was a great improvisation game.
conclusion - even though i did not have a turn to act in this game, it was extremely fun to watch it.

Next we moved into our chocolate groups and created some tableaus that explains a particular issue. Our first tableau was us enacting a bullying scene. We had to change this tableau to resolve the scene. 

BRECHT AND BOAL CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Explain how the work of theatre practitioners, Brecht and Boal, can help your playbuilding. 

The work of Brecht and Boal can help me in playbuilding in many ways. Firstly, the development of epic theatre by Brecht was a great way of showing various socio-cultural issues which can be linked to playbuilding. Brechtean theatre is not a realistic theatre. It demonstrates realistic issues but the style of theatre is very improvised. The sound effects are made up on stage. Boal,  a Brazilian practitioner and play-writer was best known for his 'theatre of the oppressed'. In this style of theatre the spectators become spect-actors, joining in with the action on stage. The work of these two practitioners provide a wide perspective for playbuilding.

What was Brecht's main aim in wring and producing plays?
Brecht's main aim in writing and producing plays was to make the audience think. He wanted to embody knowledge in a compelling manner. He created a phenomenon called 'alienation'. When an audience is alienated from the actors, they feel for the characters. He narrated parts of the play rather than acting them. Brectean theatre also often used songs to portray their action. He would have actors interfere between the action to explain to the audience what was going on. Sometimes there were people on stage with placards that showed the date and time of the event.


What is the main purpose of Boal's theatre of oppression? 
Boal's main purpose for the theatre of oppression was to, like Brecht, 'change people'. In this type of theatre, the spectators become 'spect-actors', who join in, contribute ideas and take something away from that play. Boal created three types of theatre- Invisible theatre where a script is written for a targeted audience but its performed in a place that is not a theatre but a regular place like a playground. Forum theatre is where the spectators know that they are watching theatre. There will be an issue that is raised and the spectators will observe the scene and decide what is wrong with it. Lastly Image theatre is where the actors create a series of tableau that demonstrates a particular issue.


Which three of Brecht's techniques appeals most to you and why? 
Three of Brecht's techniques that appeal most to me are :-
1) Using songs to depict the action- this technique appeals to me because it adds a contrasting entertainment to the serious issues of the play.
2) Having actors interrupt the play and explain or narrate what was going on- This technique appeals to me because sometimes you don't know what exactly is going on in a political theatre play because at times of action everything that happens is created on stage including the sound effects. This sometimes disrupts the audience, which is why it is good to have people pause the action in the middle and explain what was going on.
3) Retelling the story with a different ending- this technique particularly appeals to me because it gives you various different perspectives to that one story. It could be a happy or a sad ending depending on the way you change it.


Which of Boal's three types of theatre appeals to you most and why?
Out of all three, i think invisible theatre appeals to me the most because the audience is not at all aware that they are watching theatre. The actors will uncover what is going on and why it is happening and it is up to the targeted audience to uncover new perspectives the scene. Also, invisible theatre is not actually performed on a stage so it is even harder to tell that it is a play. Instead they perform it infront of a live audience. For example, if the actors are in playground and one actor starts picking on a much smaller and vulnerable looking actor, showing the issue of bullying, it is up to the bystanders to step in and speculate the scene.

ABDUCTED GIRLS IN NIGERIA

In this lesson we were put into out pizza groups and we had to sit and analyse a sheet about the abducted girls in Nigeria. We had to read through the sheet and pick out the main bits. There was a narrator and he told everybody what character they were. I was four people becuase actors in political theatre played mulitple roles. 

VIDEO AND NINJA

Today we started off with a game of ninja.

recounting- in this game, we had to form a circle and strike a ninja pose. We go around the circle and each person has to do an attacking move and the person who he targets to hit can have one reflex move. The aim of the attacker is to hit someone's hand.
Reflecting- This game is mostly about focus and good reflexes.
Conclusion- We have not played ninja for a while so I had kind of forgotten to use my reflexes very quickly.

After the video, Miss Daley made us watch a video about Brecht. 

FIRST LESSON TERM 2 !

Since this was our first lesson back, we were properly introduced to political theatre. We were made familiar with Brecht.

So  after talking about Brecht, we played a game of me you.
Recounting- in this game, we all have to stand in a circle and one person has to make obvious eye contact with another person and they have to walk towards them saying 'me, you'. Now person B has to walk towards someone making eye contact and the game goes on. Eventually, we just did eye contact and eliminated the words.
Reflecting- this game really got us into focus.
Conclusion- i think our class did really well as a team and cooperated with each other really well. This game was a great way of starting the new term.

Next we were put into groups and one person had to tell us a story about a time when their parents forgot them. Ben told us a really great story about when his father forgot to pick him up from the airport. After listening to the story we had to improvise the scene on stage. One of my weaknesses are that I cannot improvise very quickly. It takes me a while to get into character and act something out. So we did have a bit of time to talk about the scene and then we had to perform it in front of the class. I think we worked well and developed a good scene.