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Working with all these different pictures has brought to my attention the thought that it could be anyone in the images, the idea that if circumstances were different it may have been somebody else. What if it was you? Most of the images we have worked with have included a theme of loss or a theme of tragedy. As each image has been presented, I have attempted to put myself into the situation that I can see, to imagine and try to represent the emotion that I believe would have been experienced. However, I do not know the people, I can only try and reach the truth I see within the image and it is important to remember that “Emotions aren’t on tap like water, to be turned on and off at will. They have to be coaxed from the unconscious” (Alfred, 2007, 92.) Because the piece we are creating is being done in small fragments, our journey throughout the piece is broken up. Making the changes in emotion rather rapid, we have to learn to prepare ourselves for the journey of the piece so the build of emotion happens naturally rather than forcefully.

The piece is called When You See It? We are not aiming for people to guess the global images straight away.  Laura has been finding many different ways in which we can slowly reveal the situations of the images. In one scene, we represent the Sydney Siege. Below are a few images that will give an idea into one of the many ways we are building these scenarios.

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Works Cited.
Alfreds, M. (2007). Different every night. London: Nick Hern.

Throughout this process we have developed a piece of theatre that displays a particular interest in movement and the physical embodiment. Movement is a passion for the majority of the group, so I’m glad we are making use of it. Movement is a part of every scene we have created and I think it suits our purpose. Images are still and in order to give them life we need to make them move. We use the images to serve as the “Material from the real world and from direct observation, selected only those elements which revealed the relationships and the tendencies lying under the surface” (Benedetti, 1982, 17).

We have recently worked with an image that was taken from the tragic event of 9/11. (See Below)

We took this image and focused on falling. What is falling like? These were some of the answers that appeared when Laura asked us. This is now being used to form some text for the piece.

• It’s like losing all self-control
• It’s like a puncture
• It’s like giving in to the forces of nature
• Tom, our choreographer created some movement that gestured toward the motion of falling, using tilts and reaches, we repeated his choreography and began developing and creating an atmosphere through use of dynamic expression.

Spaven, L. (2015)

Crow, P. (2015)

L, Spaven. (2015)

L. Spaven (2015)

Spaven. L. (2015)

Whilst working closely with the body it is easy to ignore the importance of facial expression. “Movement can be a heightened reality and can be rooted in everyday situations and, most poignantly, be performed by everyday characters. Encourage your performers to use their personalities within movement and not to lose themselves behind a physical theatre mask” (Graham, S and Hoggett, S, 2012) Laura has ensured we are always aware of what we are trying to show. She has consistently made us aware to act with both body and face and reminded us to use them simultaneously and not to think of them separately.

Works Cited.

Benedetti, J. (1982). Stanislavski, an introduction. New York: Theatre Arts Books.

Graham, S and Hoggett, S. (2012) The Frantic Assembly Book of Devising Theatre. Oxon: Routledge