Performance Evaluation

Performance Evaluation:

When my class and I started devising for our section 'A taste of Madness' I was a little bit worried as it was hard to come up with a way that is effective to portray Mental Health in not only an entertaining way but also in an entertaining way.
Our performance starts off with all of the actors sitting on the stage portraying their own versions of mental health using various gesture as well as different objects. I think that this was successful because from the get go audience members are immediately captivated and intrigued and will want to know the story of each of these characters. I also think the fact that we had different levels when doing this (some of us were sitting down, some were bent over and other were standing up) was a good idea however i think it would have been more effective if we were all sitting down so that when the audience came in they would all have to look down on us and that would show that the audience hold power and give them an air of authority over us to show how powerless mental health patients really are.
After that Niyi screams which signified the ending of our previous bit and we all freeze. This part was some times difficult because we had to all freeze at the same time to make the ensemble effect effective and to have it not look like a domino effect however in the performance we all froze at the same time from what I could see from my periphery. We then proceeded to say a word that was given to us in order we had established. My word was 'Twisted' and I came after Mani who said 'Spoon', it was important to know your cue because when we started our word saying part of the performance it had to be quick - one after the other so if someone missed their cue the whole energy of the play could drop but thankfully no one forgot their cue and the audience found this part interesting as I recall seeing their heads snap at every new word spoken by each speaker. After this we all stood up and stared at the audience in a neutral stance with a neutral facial expression as well. We then proceeded to say our fact about mental health before sitting down. My line was '3 in 4 young people fear their friends reacts when discussing their mental health', before performing I slightly struggled with making sure that my voice filled the entire space and that I spoke clearly enough for the audience to hear and understand what I was saying. This is important because our performance was a piece of ensemble work and if one person doesn't put in 100% energy then the piece of the overall piece as I previously mentioned will deteriorate, this part of the play was interesting because none of us were playing a character, instead we were completely neutral which made what we were saying almost impersonal which complimented the idea of it being impossible and that it could happy to anyone and this is a message I think the audience received quite well.
In our performance we had a piece of physical theatre that had solely boys and one that had solely girls. In my opinion these pieces were the highlight of our show especially the boys' physical theatre part. The reason that this was the highlight in my opinion is because you could clearly see how committed each performer was to what he was doing and the movements that they repeated. The movements were extremely bold and clear and immediately captivated the audience members. And when all the boys started to repeat Niyi's movement (who's was my favourite) you could see the dedication they all put into that and they even had subconscious parts unison which I thought was really nice. Overall the choices made in the boys physical theatre piece all complimented each other, from the music to the increasing of the pace at which they did Niyi's movement it was all very well thought out and in my opinion very effective. On the other hand the girls physical theatre part was also effective but i think because we had to take off layers of closing we were not able to concentrate as much on out movements and this resulted in them not being as bold, clear and sharp as the boys one was, in addition we didn't use as much of the stage when doing our movements and focused on only moving our arms and legs in the spot we were standing in. I think next time to make it more effective instead of having three layers of clothing to take off we should only have one and that way we would be able to focus more on our movements, also we had to take our cue to take our clothes off from Becky and not everyone was able to see her so this made that task a little hard. However overall our physical theatre pieces within the play were my favourite parts and were extremely effective in showing the audience what metal health and hiding is like without using words which in my opinion made it even more successful.
All in all I think that my classes performance was extremely effective as the audience were able to see the portrayal of mental health in many different ways from sounds with found objects, to voice to the use of our bodies - all of which were productive. I enjoyed doing this play with my teacher and my class and was very happy with how it turned out.

Ending Evaluation

Ending Evaluation: 

The ending of our performance was very difficult to devise, not only because it is the last thing the audience will remember and we want it to be effective but also because it is a full ensemble piece with the whole of the theatre year group - all 75 of us. In the end we finally figured out the piece will end as follows: The stage will be split in two by a black curtain with the majority of the cast standing one one side of the curtain whilst around five cast members stand on the other side with the audience playing mad scientists. Eventually the curtain falls down and all the cast members run in a circle around the audience slowly increasing the pace ad then freeze. We then have selected cast members walk in between the cast members using cello-tape to bind the wrists and arms together. The lights have been lowered by the end of this point ad then phone lights and flash lights are used to travel in and out of cast members making sure the cello-tape is hit by the light. We then form 5 lines and proceed to pass balloons to the audience members. When that is completed we each say a fear that we have and pop our balloons before walking out.
I think that our ending is effective because for many different reasons. One reason i think that our ending is effective is because it immerses the audience completely into our performance and makes forced to face what we are talking about and how they feel about it. I was a little wary of the ending and thought that it might not work due to how close we were to the audience and the fact that the audience may have been squashed and a bit uncomfortable but after performing i think that just added to the audience-actor relationship and created almost an understanding and intimacy that may not have been there if not for the close proximity. 
Another reason as to why i think that our ending was uniquely effective is because we worked well as ensemble together. The fact that the audience would have seen the three separate pieces and then see all the characters come together in the end to almost 'solve' the problem that mental health presents in itself is extremely effective and would make the audience feel as though they were apart of the play and almost as if they are on a journey.
The use of the cello-tape and the flash lights created a very nice visual for the audience and would keep them interested in the play as the lights lower however i think that they not understand the message that we are trying to portray. That they are safe and we are not alone as we are connected in way or another but the visual created is effective.
Furthermore the popping of the balloon at the end of the play is effective because it as if we are letting of our fears and stopping hiding for the first time however i think that the audience may have taken it as a joke and may have popped the balloon for the sake of it and not because they were thinking about their fears, furthermore when the cast were saying the fears we always ended up talking over each other and making our fears inaudible to each other and the audience so if we had more time to rehearse it may have been better if we could set an order for at last 12 actors and then everyone talks over each other. That way the audience could have heard at least part of what we were trying to portray.
Overall I think that some the ending could have been slightly adjusted to make it the best it could be but it was very well planed and went off without a glitch when being performed on the day, furthermore i enjoyed performing the ending and being that close to the audience and feeding off of their energy.

Bethlem Trip

Bethlem Trip

When i heard that we were visiting Bethlem which was a mental institution  i was quite worried and really we were all going in blind because we did not know what to expect from this visit - if we were  meeting people with mental health problems or if we were going to learn about the effects of mental health almost as if it was a lecture. However it was none of the above as we instead saw picture that were drawn by mental institution and heard stories of some of the things that mental patients must have went through during that time.

In terms of how much the trip helped me in understanding mental health better it was a little useful as i was able to see into the minds of the patients as we looked at their picture and try to interpret what they were thinking and feeling at the time however overall i wouldn't say that the trip was extremely enlightening as or play is more modern base, as opposed to it being past based so i wouldn't say that i i was able to learn a lot of new things that i can use to further help me in my performance. However overall it was a very interesting trip.

 

                                                                                                  

Poem on Mental Illness

When I go off the rails
I hurt my self not you
I curl up in my bed
A snail within the shell
When I am depressed
I don’t rise up off my sofa
Let alone become a danger
Manned with an axe
To chop up you
When my brain is racing
From one thing to the next
I haven’t the space or time
To bother anyone other
So relax
When I’m up
I am creative
Making, painting a must
I become one possessed
But not with you
Stigma wielding man
My juices too precious to waste
On hydrating your prejudice
I have an illness
It is not contagious
And not the all of me
So if you cannot accept
Or treat me with a little respect
Then at the very least
Zip your mouth
Don’t tell me what’s best
Or simply to pull my self together
I am not curtains
And I do not care to be patronised
By your ignorance
Yes I’m talking to you
The uninformed jury
Assuming fear as fact
Remember one day it may
Be your reality too.

This poem touches on a lot of different topics of mental illness that comes up in my play and is actually quite inspiring. In our play not only do we discuss mental health in out play but we also talk about what we use to hide when we don't want people to see what's going on in our lives. This poem touches on not wanting to have to hide and how it feels when people judge her which gives me a better understanding of mental health.

Rehearsals (Solo Pieces)

Our performance is going to be very difficult because we are pushing the boundaries in terms of normal theatre and being very risky. I think because of the topic we are showing this is the right thing to do as doing a piece of 'normal' theatre wont effectively show the audience what we are trying to about Mental health.

One way we have pushed the boundaries is by performing solo pieces around the area we are going to perform, the audience will walk past and effectively see each actor in their own 'hell'.
 My idea for my one minute solo piece is to be screaming silently as if I am in pain ans suffering but cannot be heard. This was something i thought was good to explore in terms of mental health because a lot of people ho have mental health problems feel as though they are trapped and alone so i wanted to portray that in my performance. The poem that i used as a stimulus to my performance is the following:

At the end of the poem it says 'this is the silence of astounded souls' which compliments my idea and is actually were the idea of not being heard stemmed from. In my performance i will repeat the words 'black' and 'souls' as well as the sound 'shhh'. There will be chairs surrounding me on all sides to enhance the feeling of being trapped for me and also to make it clear to the audience how i feel. I think this will intrigue the audience and as i have positioned it in a corner it will definitely look as if i am afraid and will be effectively.

Mental health in images

Mental illness

Mental Illness To Me

mental illness

noun

1. a condition which causes serious disorder in a person's behaviour or thinking.

disorder

noun

1. a state of confusion.
2. disrupt the systematic functioning or neat arrangement of.

Mental illness means a lot of different things to me because it isn't as simple as one thing to me. Mental illness is just a label that society gives people who are not considered 'the norm' this is because in one way or another the majority if not everyone deals with a form of mental illness and the label in my opinion comes from how different people deal with these 'problems'. 

I am very excited to be exploring this topic this term because t is such a controversial topic and in my opinion it is not explored enough in things such as theatre. However i think that when we are exploring this topic we have to be very careful in the way that we portray the topic and the people who may be acting as if the have an illness because some audience members may take offence and may be uncomfortable. On the other hand maybe that could be the desire effect - to overwhelm the audience with the truth of this and make them uncomfortable so that the message is portrayed correctly.

Artaud

Antonin Artaud

Artaud was a very controversial figure in the 20th century. He is not only an actor and a playwright but also a poet and theorist as well as much respected across the world. 

Some of Artaud's theories are as follows:

• his theatre set to awaken the dormant dream images of our mind
• Artaud attempted to appeal to the irrational mind, one not conditioned by society 
• Artaud’s theatre aimed to appeal to, and release the emotions of, the audience 
• by bombarding the audience’s senses, they underwent an emotional release (catharsis) 

Sadly, the French mastermind known as Antonin Artaud(1896-1948) was not always a lucid one. The man who coined the term ‘theatre of cruelty’ spent a significant portion of his later life in asylums, and when on the outside, addicted to opium. 

Artaud experimented with the relationship between performer and audience, preferring to place spectators at the very centre of a performance surrounding them. His intention was to trap the audience inside the drama. 

WORKSHOPS

Workshops

At the beginning of the term we took part in three different workshops that introduced what we were to expect from the rest of the term ad to also introduce us to the practitioners that we would be working with. 

The first workshop that i took part in was where we studied a practitioner called peter Brooke. He was famous for conveying powerful emotions and feelings with very little movement and sound in his performances. We did a series of exercises to help us understand his way of thinking and working. One of the exercises we did is when we would have 4 to 5 people on stage and the rest of the audience would be watching them, the actors on stage had to then pick one emotion and portray it through one subtle audience making sure that there eyes were facing the audience because emotion is conveyed very well in the eyes as said by Brooke.

I think that this was very effective because it shows how effective subtle movement can be. Instead of using really big grand gestures to represent a feeling we can use thing that are a lot more subtle to show what we want the audience to see. I found this incredibly useful because as and actor i would have thought that i am not doing enough for the audience to understand what i am feeling, however watching other actors take part in the exercise i was able to see for myself that it is equally or if not more effective. Less is more in this instance.

The second workshop that i took part in was where we studied the practitioner Jersey Grotowski. Through this workshop there was not a lot of talking as before the workshop started we were told that we were to tidy up the room, take off our shoes and keep quiet. We were then told to run for around 30-40 minutes straight without stopping.As previously mention when we began doing this i was quite confused and didn't quite understand why we forced to do this - it all seemed rather pointless to me, however when we sat down to offer our feedback we found out that Grotowski though that his actors worked better when they were tired as they would have no walls kept up as they would be physically exhausted.

Even though this workshop was extremely demanding and i struggled to keep running continuously for this long as i am quite unfit i also found it effective and quite enjoyed it in the end. After we finished i found that i was surrounded by a calmness and ease i had not felt before i had started running. 

Finally the last workshop that i had the please in taking part in was where we studies the practitioner Artaud. We had several  exercise to take part in in this workshop. The first one being where the entire class stood in a circle and we all went around portraying the same emotion however the catch was you had to portray your emotion more intense and at a higher level than the person before them. The first emotion was happiness which everyone found quite easy because everyone went around portraying a higher lever of happiness everyone eventually became more excited and happy and it became natural to us. We then had to convey sadness which myself and the rest of my peers found a lot more difficult. This is because it did not come as natural to us and at time seemed forced and very unrealistic.

This workshop was very interesting and useful as when comparing the two emotions on a higher level both arouse creaming, shouting or loud sounds this can make the audience members shocked and maybe a little uncomfortable and this was what Artaud was going for as he believed that the audience should see a realistic story on stage and have them become completely immersed in that world. One thing that i found when doing this exercise is to not shout for the sake if, when we trying to increase the level at which we were working we all automatically became louder and started moving more which responded i us looking unrealistic and a little deranged. Overall i found this workshop very helpful.

Grotowski In Lessons

Jersey grotowski was describes as an enigma in the way that he was very different from what was considered your 'normal' practitioner. He had many different beliefs when it came to theatre band what would make an actors most effective. One technique he believed in was tiring out his actors physically to make them more vulnerable mentally when it came to characterization. We replicated this in class by taking part in a workshop that was designed to make us physically exhausted.


When my teacher made me run I immediately had the thought that i am sure most of my class had. "What is the point", "That's long" or "I cannot be bothered". But after running and repeating the majority of the weeks we did the workshop and I could feel the change of the energy in the room from before we started running to after, furthermore instead of focusing on feeling self conscious or not participating 100%, I focused on how it was making me feel and i found that when we started to work in lesson i was more stimulated and focused, and also able to access my emotion easier. Overall i think that my initial reaction is normal to having to run but i do believe the exercise was very effective.

Men And Women In Mental Health

· • Only 2 in every 5 people experiencing a mood, anxiety or substance use disorder seeking assistance in the year of the onset of the disorder.

• Unipolar depression, predicted to be the second leading cause of global disability burden by 2020, is twice as common in women.

• The lifetime prevalence rate for alcohol dependence, another common disorder, is more than twice as high in men as women. In developed countries, approximately 1 in 5 men and 1 in 12 women develop alcohol dependence during their lives.

• Men are also more than three times more likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder than women.

• The high prevalence of sexual violence to which women are exposed and the correspondingly high rate of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following such violence, renders women the largest single group of people affected by this disorder.

• Men are more likely than women to disclose problems with alcohol use to their health care provider.

Women's mental health: The Facts

Depressive disorders account for close to 41.9% of the disability from neuropsychiatric disorders among women compared to 29.3% among men.

Leading mental health problems of the older adults are depression, organic brain syndromes and dementias. A majority are women.

An estimated 80% of 50 million people affected by violent conflicts, civil wars, disasters, and displacement are women and children.

Lifetime prevalence rate of violence against women ranges from 16% to 50%.

At least one in five women suffers rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.

Depression, anxiety, psychological distress, sexual violence, domestic violence and escalating rates of substance use affect women to a greater extent than men across different countries and different settings. Pressures created by their multiple roles, gender discrimination and associated factors of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, overwork, domestic violence and sexual abuse; combine to account for women's poor mental health. There is a positive relationship between the frequency and severity of such social factors and the frequency and severity of mental health problems in women. Severe life events that cause a sense of loss, inferiority, humiliation or entrapment can predict depression.

 

• Myth: Mental health problems are very rare.

• Fact: 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year.

• Myth: People with mental illness aren’t able to work.

• Fact: We probably all work with someone experiencing a mental health problem.

• Myth: Young people just go through ups and downs as part of puberty, it’s nothing.

• Fact: 1 in 10 young people will experience a mental health problem.

• Myth: People with mental health illnesses are usually violent and unpredictable.

• Fact: People with a mental illness are more likely to be a victim of violence. 

• Myth: People with mental health problems don't experience discrimination

• Fact: 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination.

• Myth: It’s easy for young people to talk to friends about their feelings.

• Fact: Nearly three in four young people fear the reactions of friends when they talk about their mental health problems.

• The majority of violent crimes and homicides are committed by people who do not have mental health problems.

• People with mental health problems are more dangerous to themselves than they are to others: 90 per cent of people who die through suicide in the UK are experiencing mental distress.