Feedback/ Nature Nurture

To start the lesson we performed our small group pieces to the class, this was so that we could get some feedback from the class that would ultimately help perfect the pieces. Josh and I had already come up with most of the piece, and felt quite confident about it. But when showing it to our peers we realised through their comments that there was a lot more to be added and developed, such as:

·         pushing our physicality’s more

·         playing with the levels more

·         using the chosen props in a more constructive way

The feedback in general was positive, they liked our costume; this was all black with tights over heads, this had cut out eyes and a mouth inspired by the artwork The Pikes that we were responding to in our piece. They also liked our use of only three props; the ball, the book and the building blocks. From receiving their feedback Josh and I have decided to use the props to symbolise more things such as the ball when used by Josh will represent a toy but when I have the ball it will  represent a child/baby.

After viewing each others small group pieces, we started to work on our class piece which is based on nature and nurture. To start of with we were each given a question in pairs, my question was ‘are the traits we are born with influenced by the environment we live in’ we where then told to make this question our own through voice and physicality, Zoe and I decided to make it quite teacher based, we then put this on its feet and were told to physicalise an exaggerated scientist and fit this with the question. As we say our question the others take a different level, whether that be sitting down, leaning back or to the side. We responded to Artaud as after each pair says their question we all as a collective begin to mutter in gibberish, this is like Artaud as he believed that text was unnecessary and believed more in his performers making more natural emotive sounds such as screams and grunts.

We continued to devise the class piece looking more at the nature side of nature nurture, with the sperm and the egg. We looked at the natural production of a baby, through some of us becoming sperm and some of us becoming eggs, we then went to the birth of the baby. This is all looking at the natural aspects of the beginning of a life, with the main question ‘can some people born bad?’. Our piece is mainly in response to Artaud as it is a very physical and naturally emotive piece without much text; it also carries a shock factor for the audience, which compares to Artaud as he ‘believed that theatre should be shocking for the audience. And it should not be something that they sit down and enjoy’. Although I think that the audience will enjoy our piece, it will be more of a thought provoking performance than one of pure entertainment.