Part 1: The challenges that we faced as a group was the lack of cooperation from all the members. IN the beginning, before our draft performance, many of the members were not focused on the task and they would be off of the topic. The fact that we would work efficiently as a team in the beginning that definitely reflected upon our draft performance, as we performed very badly. Later on however, we were able to talk about how we stage the scene as a group, and also we spoke our the acting and the gestures that would be done by certain characters to portray the themes that each of us had picked. Individually, the challenge that I faced was memorizing the script- which was mainly because we haven't practice it much therefore I could not say my lines enough to get it memorized. However before our final performance, I practiced the opening and my parts that I am in by myself a couple of times which got me the lines memorized.
Performing Brecht was quite different and unique to perform to the audience compared to Romeo and Juliet and the scenes that we wrote from books last year. It was rather different mainly because of the elements of Epic Theatre. While we were practicing the scene, we had to keep in mind about the gestus, the montage, how to embed the themes that each member thought of, how to alienate the audience, how to break the third wall and many more. As a group, we merged the elements and themes that people picked. We showcased the themes through the elements gestus and montage. For example, my theme which was to show how men is disrespectful to women was shown through the fat prince and Natella Abashvili. The fat prince did not (or was not supposed to) stand up and greet her with a lot of remark.
While the beggar was on the Fat Prince's legs, complaining about the taxes and war, there was a montage of a woman in a corner and a hand on the side facing towards the women. This was to show how the violence against women is still there. Also through the Fat Prince and the beggar's gesture was intended to show the different classes of people. This was also portrayed by a montage showing a farmer and a rich man.
We also had a narrator/singer who was breaking the fourth wall quite a lot through out the scene which would give off to the audience a brechtian vibe.
Part 2: In the beginning of this task, I will be honest I was quite fed up with the group due to the lack of commitment, and also with my myself because I was not present at school for two classes and I was unaware of the situation. However, as time went on and we got everything sorted out after our draft performance, I believe that our group was in a much better state and we engaged. Therefore, I would give myself a 7, as I contributed in most of the staging, gestures, gestus, montage, and I had the longest lines and had all memorized by the final performance.
Ayat: 8, as she clearly worked the hardest in getting all the group members to concentrate and she had great contribution on each aspect of the performance.
Hamza: 7, as he worked well with the staging, memorizing his lines, acting, and he remembered most of his cues. However he slightly off topic in the beginning of the task.
Ulughbek: 5, as he would be off topic quite a lot, however he has his lines memorized and his acting was well.
Armin: 5, as she would be off topic quite a lot too, but she had her lines memorized and she knew her cues.
Part 3: I believe my group's performance went pretty well. During our final performance, all the members of the group had their lines memorized, and they all knew their cues. This resulted in the final performance to be smooth, or to flow well and sequentially. Also, each member tried to get into their character. As a team, we could have improved in projected the themes that the members picked in a stronger way. However I do believe that our audience was able to understand the "big issue". My theme which was to show how men is disrespectful to women was shown through the fat prince and Natella Abashvili. The fat prince did not (or was not supposed to) stand up and greet her with a lot of remark. While the beggar was on the Fat Prince's legs, complaining about the taxes and war, there was a montage of a woman in a corner and a hand on the side facing towards the women. This was to show how the violence against women is still there. Also through the Fat Prince and the beggar's gesture was intended to show the different classes of people. This was also portrayed by a montage showing a farmer and a rich man. Through the elements montage ans gestus, the audience should have been able to perceive the "big issue." Also, we had a narrator/singer who was breaking the fourth wall quite a lot throughout the scene which would give off to the audience a brechtian vibe. Therefore, I believe that we created a piece of Epic Theatre effectively.
Part 4:
Along with Vaneesa, Ulughbek, and Ryan's performance, we watch Noshin, Shubham, and Mifrah's performance. According to me, I thought their performance was the best reflection of a Brechtian play. This is because their scene was about a girl who gets raped but does not get any support from their parents and they claim to disown her as she is now impure. I thought their montage of sorrowful animals that have been abused complimented their scene about the girl. It really helped me get into the mood and understand the situation better. In the beginning of the play, they used a narrator that helped set the scene and for the audience to understand the play better. Also as the scene went on, they broke the fourth wall again and the narrator came on again to explain the scene. For application, I would give them an 8 out of 10. Along with the positive aspects and the proper brechtian elements, I also thought that the acting could have been a little more dramatic, for instance Noshin could have been more shocked and a bigger and bolder reaction from the parents (Mifrah and Shubham) would have been better. I feel like the theme of "rape" is a very serious one and it would involve major drama if it were to happen in reality. Although overall, I think their group did a good job!
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