AAS (19) - Artaud Piece

In this lesson we completed our piece and performed it to the rest of the class. We decided that our ideas from last lesson were a bit dry and we couldn't get any inspiration from them to carry on so we decided to change what we were doing. Our final piece was as follows:

• Aftermath   -   Me in centre crying. Charlie lying behind one audience member in front of me. Others standing behind other audience members.   -   Experiments with actor-audience relationship. Actors positioned behind the audience makes the audience more vulnerable. Uses proximity to create tension. Use of sound builds atmosphere as well. Blackouts enable changes without audience seeing, also creates tension.
• Charlie's body   -   Charlie in centre lying on floor as if dead. I run in from behind the audience towards him and try to wake him up, panicked. Others behind the audience.   -   Audience shocked at how there is someone else in the centre. Feel sympathy for my character. 
• The lift   -   The other three come in from behind the audience, pick me up and then lift me over an audience members head.   -   Experiments with levels and actor-audience relationship. 
• Disorientation   -   Change of music. Charlie in centre staggers about and holds head. Others walks backward, circling audience, then all stop at once.   -   Audience is also disorientated like Charlie. Music creates contrast. Quite deafening. Flashing lights. Includes lots of Artaud techniques.
• In the club   -   Physical theatre duo sections inspired by Frantic Assembly and "People, Places and Things".   -   Manic atmosphere and lots of commotion. Shows Charlie taking the drugs and presents narrative. 
• Aftermath   -   Everyone ends on the floor. Change back to the dripping sound.   -   Presents cyclical structure. 

If we were to do this piece again, we would have had our music louder so it is almost deafening, as this is an Artaud convention. We would have had proper strobe lighting (for ten seconds at a time, as you are not supposed to have strobe on for longer than this) during the disorientation and in the club sections. We also could have has a strong wash of light between each blackout to create more of a contrast and to almost blind the audience initially. Unfortunately, our piece didn't come out very well for camera as it was too dark, but we got the effect we wanted for out live audience. I particularly enjoyed this section as it is something I haven't done before and it is very movement orientated.