All in black tops -------- Subtle music (guitar)
Still pictures of suicide.
Satinder – Knife
Stephanie – Hangs herself
Rakhi – Jumps over cliff/building
Hemma – Scissors
Scene 7 =
Facts
Movement in middle of stage
Act out fact
Scene 8 =
Music from 1st scene
Walk around first then same as 1ST SCENE
Lyrics of song – destruction
Wear string tops
Scene 9 =
Club = Sam collapses
“Not funny anymore”
Scene 10 =
In memory of LEA BATES
1995 went out for 18th birthday
She drank too much water after having drugs that lead to the swelling of her brain.
END OF PERFORMANCE
Review
The Acting
There were four characters playing the part of “Junkies”. They called themselves:
Rea
Alice
Donna and
Sam
The characters were believable and they all sustained their role successfully.
Rea was said to be 19, her character’s history involved her having a miscarriage, due to taking drugs at the time of her pregnancy.
At times Rakhi who was playing the character of Rea tended to become melodramatic which made the rest of the characters seem to have a much lesser problem, which in my opinion was not the case.
Alice was also said to be 19, her character’s history involved her being spoilt, as she was rich and the only child. Alice feels she is not an individual, so she resolves to drugs in-order to go against the stereotypical rich child. She rebels.
Hemma, who played Alice, portrayed the character in a very realistic approach, which made it more interesting. To me realism adds that extra bit of suspense as in everyday life.
Donna was said to be 27. Her character’s history involver her being depressed at the fact she had broken up with her boyfriend who she had been seeing for two years. She resolved to drugs for comfort.
Satinder who played the character of Donna managed to add depth to a part that was not necessarily a major issue. She was ale to bring out her emotions maturely, as a 27 year old would do.
Sam was said to be 17. Her characters history involved her being homeless. She resolved to drugs in-order to add joy to her life.
Stephanie who played the character of Sam was an asset to the group. She portrayed her role in a way; we were all left believing her.
Overall their gestures and movements were suitable to heir character they were playing, for example in scene 5 when they are at the Rehab centre the positions they are sitting in link in well to their character and age.
Rea 19 = on a chair
Alice 19 = Lying on the floor
Donna 27 = Cross legged on the floor
Sam 17 = Knees curled up towards chest and back to them.
The way they sit can portray many things to an audience, for example;
Rea who is sitting on a chair shows, she has had a miscarriage, therefore maybe in pain both back and stomach wise, which by sitting on the floor could lead to further discomfort.
Alice who is lying on the floor, fidgeting is trying to go against the stereo-typical ways of a rich girl, who would usually be seen sitting on a chair with her leg’s crossed and hands neatly in the lap.
Donna who is crossed legged on the floor portrays mature behaviour, which is due to her age, and is sitting casually not sending any signals to the others.
Sam who is sitting with her knees curled up towards her chest and her back to the rest of them shows she feels threatened by the others maybe because of the age and her individuality of being homeless. She turns her back to them sending a signal to the rest of them that she wants to be left ALONE like she is use to.
Many of the reactions in the play were true for example when Rakhi threw the chair in anger, this is a reaction that is quite common when in distress throwing whatever is in front.
The characters were projected well both orally and visually, in the way that we were able to hear everything each character said throughout the play without difficulty.
They successfully managed to change their tempo without letting their volume drop, which is difficult when portraying certain emotions. A prime example is when their telling each other why they at at rehab, tit is hard because naturally when telling someone a sad story you tend to project a quiet volume in your voice as of your tone.
The Directing
I enjoyed the concept of the play as it conveyed naturalism, which is a theme I enjoy. Naturalism is probably one of the most successful concepts to convey as everybody can relate to the emotions and can have a better understanding of things.
The tempo throughout was medium, not to fast and not to slow, a cross between the extremes.
The stage composition was logical and quite appealing in presentation.
The performance was smoothly run and at appropriate times unified, which made it neat and easy to follow even while changing costume, the characters did not fidget outrageously.
Everything was quite systematic.
The design
The set established the correct mood and background for the play. At the back of the stage, they had pinned up key words that were linked with the theme, which looked effective.
Lights were a key factor in the play. Most of the time, I found the lighting was dependant on the music. For example, in scene 2 at the disco the lights were flashing to the tempo of the music playing (Destiny’s Child = Jumpin Jumpin) AND IN SCENE 5 AT THE Rehab centre there was no music therefore the lighting was left normal and untouched.
The play begins with each character wearing string tops, which was appropriate for the club scene that followed.
In scene 5 (Rehab centre), they change into jumpers, which adds realism.
In the sixth scene they all change into black tops, which is the right colour for the deed they are going to carry out (commit suicide).
The only time they don’t all change costume is in scene 2 where only two of them wear black tops with white writing on it telling us, the audience who they are:
“FIRST TIME USER”
And
“DEALER”
The music contributed in the sense that it set the mood. The play began with slow music, which soon got faster (tempo) which emphasised the pain they were in after taking drugs. The music then changed to a much calmer tone where they then knelt down on their knees and moved from side to side with the music, moving towards the audience.
This is a dramatic opening to a performance, which requires the audience to get their thinking caps on and figure out what the play is about.
In scene 2, the club scene, the music of Destiny’s Child is played. The R’n’B music sets the scene of a club and the lyrics of the song “jumpin jumpin” relates directly to what they are doing on the dance floor “jumping”.
The Reaction
The audience were attentive, which shows the performers were able to interest us.
The reaction the audience took away with them was of either sympathy or disgrace. This shows they conveyed their message efficiently. The audience responded at the proper times with the proper emotions, i.e.: they did not laugh at a point where seriousness was required.
My opinion of the play as a whole would be that it was well structured and I did not loose interest, at any time of the production which is a sign that the piece was satisfying and left me thinking about the message conveyed.
I agreed with the message that was being conveyed as I also believe that drugs is a waste of time and money and can also lead to a waste of life, a s it does not solve your problems.
What I specifically disliked was the use of foul language, I thought it was un-necessary and instead of realism, it added humour, often to where it was not needed.
I do not believe that the only way to interest 13-14 year olds is through bad language it just conveys a bad message along with the good.
I personally feel that the play could be improved by beginning the play with the last scene, which was telling us who the play was a tribute to and why.
This would have given us a slight insight to what the first scene was all about, as it seemed from the reaction of the audience that they did not understand what they were doing.
Overall, an excellent performance that is right for the intended audience. In addition, I would not mind watching it again.
