We discussed lighting and decided to dim the lights. Noha suggested the schizophrenic could shine a torch on the faces of the people voicing the thoughts.
When we put our ideas to practice, we were not fully content. The thoughts pulled Lorri, who role-played the schizophrenic, down too hastily. This spoiled the effect and we decided to try this once again, with a few amendments, such as moving more slowly towards the schizophrenic. We carried out this exercise a third time, but this time the schizophrenic, who was portrayed by Samaa, seemed to be in control of her thoughts. I strongly feel this didn’t work as well as the others because it no longer showed the helplessness of the victim, which diluted the impact.
Now that we had an insight into a schizophrenic’s mind, we wanted to explore what goes on around the schizophrenic. The plan was to divide into two groups and form three still images each, with thought-tracking, showing the different stages in the development of the illness.
In the second still image I was teamed with Hana and Sarah. I role-played the schizophrenic. I lay in a defensive position, facing Hana, who was offering me a pair of scissors. I had overacted and my character’s thoughts went somewhat like this:
“Should I hurt her? No, that would be a sin. But she is trying to harm me, so why can’t I hurt her in my defense?”
To depict a clear difference between the ‘normal people’ and the schizophrenics, we have used space and levels. Hana is up right, making apparent that she posses no signs of abnormality, whereas I was lying on the ground, further away from her, to show the complete opposite.
This still image showed how schizophrenics’ thoughts keep conflicting and how paranoid they are. It also builds up tension amongst the audience, given that they are unacquainted with such reactions. I feel that it also demonstrates how everyday situations can make a schizophrenic feel intimidated. Through this exercise, we gained thorough understanding of people’s attitudes towards schizophrenics.
Our next task was to divide into two groups, one representing Van Gough’s era and the other, John Nash’s era, so that we could compare and contrast attitudes towards schizophrenics in the past and the present. Each group began by creating six still images, then develop them into short scenes and then cross-cut between the two groups. These still images showed the different stages in the treatment of the schizophrenic. The stages were as follows:
1) The schizophrenic being taken away to the mental asylum or hospital
2) Her first moments in the asylum or hospital
3) A meeting between her family and her doctor
4) First stage of treatment
5) Dealing with the situation
6) Adapting to their environment after being discharged.
My group’s work was founded on present-day schizophrenics. I think our most effective scene was the fourth one. It showed that Sarah, who role-played the schizophrenic, hesitant to take her medicine. Her doctor, who I role-played, and nurse, who was portrayed by Samaa, gently explained to her why she needed this medicine.
This scene was effective because it showed how today’s doctors try to maintain a healthy relationship with their patients, in contrast to the ignorance of doctors in the past.
To show the consequences of ignorance, the other group created a very powerful still image. We saw Hana, who role-played the schizophrenic, out cold. We could tell she had just undergone shock treatment. By her side was her doctor, portrayed by Lorri, who was looking at a bottle of medicine with confused expression on her face.
I felt the third situation truly showed the contrast we were looking for. The group representing a recent case showed a doctor sharing her notes with the patient’s mother, whilst the other group revealed, through their harsh language, the doctor’s impatience with the family.
The lives of schizophrenics had become a lot clearer for us, and now, we thought we ought to hot-seat each other as patients in a mental asylum in order to create a whole-group scene in the development stage. Although, looking back at it now, I don't think it worked very well because most of the hot seats were stereotyped. Had we have had additional time to research, I am sure we would have been able to gather information on other mental illnesses and prevented our characters to be so stereotypical.
Some of the hot seating were successful. I thought Samaa's was the most interesting. She sat on the chair with her feet on the edge of it, and was holding on to her toes as though she was preventing them from falling off. She later explained why she was holding on to her toes so protectively.
"That cat is trying to bite them off."
She also added that all the nurses and doctors ‘lied’ about not seeing the cat she was petrified of. This proved to us that she was role-playing a schizophrenic.
Those who had succeeded in the hot-seating had obviously put much thought into their characters, whilst the others needed to have a clearer idea of whom they were trying to portray.
After conducting some research and thoroughly studying the three stimuli, I have come to notice that most schizophrenics are either very talented people, or geniuses. A few examples are John Nash and Van Gough themselves, and then there is Antoin Artaud, a dramatist and artist, who is suspected of suffering from schizophrenia; Lionel Aldridge, a football player and Vaclav Nijinsky, a famed Russian dancer.
It has also come to my notice that both Van Gough and John Nash were social outcasts. Van Gough was disliked by most of the people he acquainted with. Similarly, John Nash was rejected by most of his fellow students.
