Week 3
Notes from Class
Talking about the show Gisèle Vienne: Crowd at Sadler Wells theatre
- The movement was very striking and almost cinematic due to the use of movement and how the light hit the bodies of the actors
- More inclusive piece of theatre then the carol Churchill piece. Due to the writing and modern movement, it appeals to the younger generation of audiences.
- The Movement and music gave a trance over the audience
- A larger focus on modern issues and ideologies i.e. same-sex relationships
- Dark performance
- Allows for a frozen moment
- Modern, nudity
- Evidence from previous parties
My Thoughts:
The crowd was a fantastic idea yet, in my opinion, there was one massive set back, the music. As a young person this performance was more of an attraction to me then Caryl Churchill's piece as there was a collective atmosphere of young people on stage and the issues that were explored where shown in a more relatable environment, aka a club atmosphere. As a whole this piece did a fantastic job of finding an environment in which young people face a whole wealth of issues and from there bring them to the forefront, in example for me personally the most striking moment was the exploration of the vulnerability of woman in the piece, the large nudity they expose of themselves and then the predatorial males who take advantage of this nudity is shocking; I did think to myself that if this is the way youths are seen in the clubbing environment I don't want to be there. This representation did strike an accord with me. Another technique used which was very fascinating to me and a which I try to implement into my directing pieces is the use of freezes and static movements to create drama and expectation in the audience, this was done very well depicting almost heart-stopping moments which characters would feel being in that dark environment. after personal experience of being in clubs, there is always a heartbeat slow-motion moment whenever you enter the venue or as many people have said when something shocking or bad happens life goes into slow motion. This use of freezing depicts both moments fantastically.
The biggest negative to this piece I came across was the volume of the sound was very distracting and made me somewhat uncomfortable, there is an argument that this was done intentionally to demonstrate the piercing music often experienced in clubs, however it took away from the important topics it was exploring, in my opinion, the sound design should have been focused on attacking the subconscious of the audience to increase discomfort and alertness.
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