Week Five

W5

During Week Five, we rehearsed using most props that we brought in and performed to a small group of people. This helped us gain an insight into what was working in our piece and what wasn't. From this exercise, we realised that our piece wasn't effective enough. There was a lot of lulls and it seemed very stereotyped and boring. Mr Rennison helped us direct and adapt the piece and with that, we endured a lot of new ideas and thoughts about how we wanted the piece to be. 

Updated Timeline of Performance

Time limit: 10 minutes
Time scale: morning-night

1-3 mins:

• Audience enter through door. Escorted by Mia and Rio. Airline sounds, symbolising tourism. 
•  Immediately captured in washing line by Poppy, Lili and Charlie. Cramped space: representing crowded street bustle of India.  They will be captured in the washing line most of the time, maybe a metaphor of the blockade between the unexposed scenes of India and the generalised stereotypical view of India seen by tourists.
• Immediate traffic sounds (see Performance Material post)
• Washing line holders: general information on India homelessness, facts & figures (30 seconds): See Performance Material.
• Washing line straightened out to other side of the room, blocking off the audience from rest of the room. 
• Aaron stall owner improv: interaction with audience - throwing of oranges, stealing of oranges, stealing accusation. Tension will build up and up until escorts are forced to exit: washing line moves to next scene. 

3-5 mins:

• Washing line holders move to middle of room: information on street children's day in a  life statistics and facts, with locations and activities (30 seconds)
• Block shelter: lifted up 
• Zafra (stealer of oranges) finds refuge and crawls in the block, this gives the audience a reason to be let in on the action.
• Lifting of block: exposes rubbish, pictures of Indian idols & family plastered on
• 4th wall not broken, displaying innocence and purity of street children as they open oranges and talk to each other: improvisation.

5-7 mins:

• Washing line holders move to next scene: facts and figures on Exploitation. (30 seconds)
• Exploitation scene

7-9 mins:

• Drug and substance abuse facts and figures
• Gesture theatre piece between father and daughter (Charlie and Ruby)
• Street children 'drugged out' going to sleep
• Audience interaction: Looking for daughter

9-10 minutes:

• Airline voiceovers
• Audience exit
• Actors reset the stage area for next group

Scene 1: 

In Scene 1, we have a multimedia approach to begin the piece, where the audience hear voiceovers as they enter of airline sounds. This shows how they have landed in another country. They will also almost immediately hear the lulling sound of traffic, which will be played throughout the whole piece.  The capturing of a squashed audience in the washing line represents the hustle and bustle of a real life Indian street and these two features demonstrate elements of Realism, where the audience have to use their senses to capture the feeling of being squashed and cramped into a small space, something that almost immediately creates the impression that they've arrived into a different world.  Street children like Amelia could reach their hands in and interact with the audience. In each scene, the washing line holders (myself, Poppy and Charlie) are going to say some facts and figures about homelessness in India. The facts and figures here will be General Information.  The audience will be directed by Mia and Rio as tour guides throughout the piece. 

Scene 2:

In this scene, this is where the audience get involved into the piece, to make them feel like they're part of it and to give them a purpose. Aaron is using the idea of throwing oranges to each audience member and then accusing them of stealing it and making them pay. This will potentially force any audience member to interact back with him and it makes the performance much less boring and more immersive. The audience are still restricted from the rest of the room by the washing line, which will be a key prop throughout the entirety of the piece. The tension in this scene between Aaron and the audience will build up and up until Mia and Rio are forced to exit this area of the room, giving the audience more flow and direction. 

Scene 3: 

As we transport the audience to the middle of the room via the washing line, the washing line holders will read facts and figures based on the day in the life of street children, where you can find them etc. The audience will then be introduced to the home of 3 street children, underneath the white block, which could represent a small and desolate alleyway or the underneath of a bridge. The 4th wall will not be broken in this scene so the audience can get a clear image of a conversation between three street children, perhaps talking about stealing oranges. 

Scene 4:

Facts and figures about child exploitation in India will be read out by the washing line holders as the audience are moved to the next part of the piece: a studio. Amelia (a streetchild) and Esme will expose the harsh reality of child exploitation in a short scene which will branch directly into the next scene. 

Scene 5: 

Facts and figures about substance abuse will be read out by the washing line holders. The idea that drugs are a significant role in the day to day lives of young street children is a shocking yet prominent aspect of homelessness in India and we are going to portray this idea. Street children that are zoned out on the use of drugs will be sleeping in dangerous outside environments, using basic materials (that we have brought in) such as cardboard, dirty sheets and plastic bags. The lighting of the room is much darker on stage right to show that it is night and the traffic sounds will still be continually playing, to show the realism aspect where audiences hear the jarring, non stopping sounds that street children hear all day. Charlie, taking on the role of a father, will then begin to interact with the audience, saying that he has lost his daughter and telling the story of the crumbling of their relationship. Again, this adds to the idea that the audience are included and makes it more immersive. To end the piece, a gesture theatre/physical theatre piece will occur between Charlie and Ruby as father and daughter are reunited and it tells the story through movement. The piece will then end with the queue of airline sounds, to symbolise the end of the tourist holiday.