Drama Coursework – The Evaluative Phase

1. My group's performance started in blackout with sad music which sets the mood and grabs the audiences attention making them listen and think. A red light comes up showing importance and there are narrators talking straight away all dressed in white to show purity and it looks a bit like they are angels. We also see the protagonist who is pregnant as she has a baby bump. In Scene 2 bay lifts come and take Mary's things. There is a lot of confusion and action and the bay lifts are dressed all in black to show they are nasty and harsh. We see this when they grab things off the protagonist and throw her to the floor and everyone stares with their arms folded showing negativity and shows Mary is trapped. To show a change of scene there is a light change and the actors with there arms folded turn in to face off. Then there is another scene change shown by the music being raised and a new set being brought on. The actor who plays the bank manager wears a suit to show importance and seriousness and Mary's husband wears a coat to show he has no intension if stopping with Mary and is going to go back outside. I think the next part of the performance is the strongest part of the play as the music is raised very loud and the actors mime an argument which is a contrast and then the protagonist looses the baby but as there is no speech you can interpret it any way you want. It is a very powerful and emotive scene. Then in the last scene a bed is made and the narrators look like nurses. They then give all the factual information about the advert and they all end in a still image on the bed and the lights fade which makes the audience think about what they have just seen and the music fades with it as the music is played all the way through. . In the beginning there is a lot of movement which grabs the audience's attention and there is also a slide and toys to signify a playground. You can tell that the actors are playing children as there voices are high and squeaky. There is a contrast when two of the actors are in a still image and the others are playing: silence verses sound. There is a use of face off when the stage becomes clear and then the actor turns in to a narrator. There is then an argument given in gibberish so the audience can interpret it however they like and there is a prop used to show alcohol. Music comes in which is emotive and shows sadness and all the actors are in a family portrait. It starts out happy and ends up sad showing what it was like before the father started drinking and then after. Then the light changes to a blue spotlight to show a change of scene and it also symbolizes sadness and focuses on one person that gives a monologue. We can tell the actor is a child as she uses a high squeaky voice and has a dolly which seems to give her security and it makes you feel sorry for her. The scene changes and to show the dad is living on the streets he has a drab blanket and grubby clothes and the only possession he has is a box with newspaper in it. People walking by have changed there character and this is shown by change of costume which shows the performance has multiple role-play in it. At the end there is narration to tell the story and it ends with all the actors in a still image with the lights fading. 3. Before I started homelessness and runaways I used to feel scared of anyone I saw living on the street. I thought that because they are worse off than me and desperate they would try and mug me and if they asked for money I quickly walked away feeling nervous. I think I just judged them because they looked different and lived a very different life to what I did. Now I have learnt about homeless people I realise that they aren't scary and are just the same as me. If I see someone homeless on the streets I feel sorry for them and I think this is because I didn't really no why they were living on the streets. I think I just assumed they were all drug addicts but now I no there are lots of different reasons why people live on the streets and I have learnt that there are all types of homeless people. Now if I see someone I would give them some of my extra change if they needed it because I feel so lucky to live in a house and have a nice bed to sleep in and all they have our the clothes on my back. I think I would feel really happy if I had helped a homeless person out if even just a little bit.