I recently went to see the play Blackout by the Year 10 theatre students. It was exciting and interesting to watch, filled with great techniques and physicality. All the actors are constantly on stage and their is never a blackout so you can watch it straight from start to finish with no interruptions..
Blackout is performed in the theatrical configuration thrust so that the physical theatre is clear and clarity is not lost. Whereas if it was performed in the round it might have been difficult to fully experience the extent of the actors physicality. Also the use of music helped the audience understand skinhead culture a lot better and it brought the scene to life.
The play was performed in an ensemble which enabled the actors to change roles easily and it showed that they were able to work well together to make the play a success. Having a ensemble meant that no one was important than the other because everyone played the main character and were able to quickly change characters, emotion and energy.
Locations were changed in the play quickly by adapting the body language of the character and also by changing the atmosphere, for example when the space transformed from a quiet home with a sofa made from actors to a loud and noisy school. Having the actors be able to change location quickly means that no set is needed so locations are determined by atmosphere and physicality.
As well as having no set the actors have also decide not to have any props. This shows the audience that the play is supposed to be simple and all of the attention should be on the actors.
Furthermore the play involves a narrator. This helps the audience understand what James is feeling inside because the actors may not be showing this through their movement. It also helps us understand the exact events that took place and what James used to do in the past.
The play also beaks Aristotle's three unities:
- The unity of action
- The unity of place
- The unity of time
The unity of action is broken because Blackout goes off the story to get a better understanding, For example the play doesn't just talk about his crime it also talks about what made him do it and things that happened in the past to make him become a skinhead, therefore it does not follow one main action. Also action pauses and then other action takes place or someone speaks.
Secondly Blackout breaks the unity of place because it moves quickly to different locations and the stage represents more than one place. The actors use the stage to represent, home, jail, school and other places by changing the atmosphere through movement and sound.
Finally it does not follow the unity of time because it does not take place over 24 hours. Blackout skips back in time to the past to see what he used to be like and how things affected him to make him who he is now. Then it skips forwards to the jail cell where he is presently at and this happens throughout the play.
To improve their performance cues need to be know so that their are not long silences and also transitions need to be perfected. The actors need to also make sure they know all their lines and are able to say their lines in unison. However, overall it was a great play and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.
What have I learnt about acting?
From being in this play I have learnt that transitions are extremely important because if you have a bad transition energy is lost and also the audience loose focus.
I have also learnt that body language and physicality is extremely important because actions can speak louder than words which can be seen through the physical theatre.
Furthermore I have experienced how difficult it can be working as an ensemble because it is difficult to keep everyone focused and make sure everyone learns their lines so that the play runs smoothly.
Finally I have learnt that energy should not be dropped in a play, you can have a silence but if it goes on to long then the play's energy is not consistent. If there is a long pause then we know movement should be taking place or lines need to be said so to make sure this doesn't happen, we need to make sure we all know our cues.
Blackout! A new, modern, exciting play performed by year 10 theatre students. Blackout is the story of one young boy who becomes something he is not. Based on a real story, blackout gives an insight to the skinhead head culture and dangers of a young person trying to find their identity. IMAGINE! James has had a hard life, having to deal with Domestic violence, bullying and the loss of a family member, all he needs is someone to talk to and to listen but that is not available. Therefore he takes matters into his own hands which make things even worse. IMAGINE! James ends up in a jail cell and he doesnt know what he has done. Come watch us perform on Thursday 13th February so you can enter James's mind and life.
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Transition through emotions
Transitions are extremely important and they need to be seamless otherwise the play is broken and the audience loose focus. The above transition is good, however lots of our transitions need to be neater. Lots of the time people forget what they are supposed to be doing so the transition looks messy because it is being done at different times. One that needs to be better is when we are at the door and then we back away when jack comes to it, we are supposed to be walking backwards but still a few people walk forward ruining the transition. Also we need to work out better transitions between some of the scenes but I am sure we will work that out when we run the play all the way through.
I think that most of us had high energy throughout but some of us did become a bit lazy and start loosing focus, this is something we need to improve on otherwise people might miss things that are going on and then in the next rehearsal they wont know what they are doing because they were having a conversation with somebody.
