After a lot of hard work and under the time limit that we
had I feel that we created a not only very good physical theatre piece but also
a very moving, thoughtful and engaging final piece in aid of the centenary of
WW1. I think that though this piece commemorated the many lost and remembered respectfully
and truthfully the reality of the war and what it cost many people. I think
from the reaction of audience members that we created a piece which was a lot more
powerful than we had originally expected and as a result provoked many people
emotionally to think about what happened to so many people and families during
the war.
In the final piece my main contribution was as a member of
the ensemble. I found that working with such a large group of people one could
feel lost however I realised the importance of every persons contributions and
how they all added something and brought the piece to life. I discovered the
importance of an ensemble and the power that it can have visually on an audience,
as it creates such an impact seeing such a mass of people and I feel that it
really enforces the message that you are giving to the audience. I also feel
that it gives the audience a chance to see one larger scene and message but
also the opportunity to look closer at difference people and see the individual
in the mass. As a result of this I learnt how important it was to be fully committed
in an ensemble performance and to be emotionally and physically involved in
everything that you do even if you think that the audience can’t see you as an individual.
I feel this because there are audience members that would see you but more
importantly it creates the energy of the piece and the atmosphere if all the
actors are fully engaged which creates a stronger impact on the audience.
For my own role within the piece I found that it was important
to convey how the women would have felt at the loss of their partners and I
think for everyone in our group it was more about the relationships and the
love that was between them than the physical war. I think it was about telling
how it affects the individual and the emotional pain that came with the
distance and the fear. I think that my role with my group showed the reality of
the emotional side of the war and as a result of this I thought that it was
really important for me to connect to my character so that I could present the
emotional turmoil that came with the war so that the audience could connect to
this piece emotionally and understand the pain that people we though. I think that my role in the piece physically
demonstrated a very real reality for a lot of people and this made me more
committed and dedicated to the quality of the piece. I felt that because it
represented true emotions and stories that my convey of it had to be accurate
and strong and this pushed me to develop and explore the movement alongside the
emotional to tell clearly the development of the story and the experiences that
happened to so many people during WW1.
