Performance Evaluation

In the end we did 3 performances in front of an audience. The audience wasn't big for these shows but in a way that was quite nice. I think when it came to performing it in front of an audience everyone committed to the piece more than they had done in rehearsals. It was a good chance for everyone really live through the emotional journey of their characters and pay respect the the first world war generation.

The feedback we got was all very positive and the audience seemed to really connect with what we were trying to do. The funnier sectioned allowed for some light relief from the intensity of the story which I think the audiences appreciated. You cannot force an audience into a cathartic state for an hour, we as performers and directors also have a duty to entertain our audience.

If I were to change anything about the performance it would probably be having the cast sitting in the back in view of the audience the entire time. I think this often drew away from the action on stage and meant the audience could see us drop in and out of character which makes it harder for them to suspend their believability. Also in our final show one of the actors fell ill and became unstable whilst standing at the back and all the audience saw this, which again took away from the performance. But overall it was a successful piece which was heart felt and funny and I think we all enjoyed performing as a whole year group for the first and final time.

Costume

Costume for this piece is very basic. The idea is we are not impersonating 1920s characters but that we are young people exploring the past. So we decided to have black and white and grey costume so everyone looks similar but not identical. Some pictures of costume: