The first set of activities involved the hero, Irena Sendler (15 February 1910 – 12 May 2008), a Polish Catholic social worker who served in the Polish Underground and the Żegota resistance organization in German-occupied Warsaw during World War II. Assisted by some two dozen other Żegota members, Sendler smuggled over 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, providing them with false identity documents and housing, outside the Ghetto, thereby saving them from being murdered.
When asked to include characterisation and empathy (two of the most important elements in Drama) we decided to act out the part where parents had to be persuaded in a highly charged, emotional atmosphere to relinquish their children to an unknown quantity where guarantees could not be given and everything based on the sincerity of the persuader. The parents would most likely never see their child again, which was indeed the case for as the vast majority of them died at Trebluka.
This activity was one of the hardest out of all: we had to make it was realistic, sympathetic but not silly. Characterisation was probably the most successful element we utilised as it enhanced the audience’s feel of empathy.
Playing the oldest child, I had to act responsibly and supportive to my younger sister, Lucy who was being rescued. The opening scene found us to playing with my watch at centre stage left. It was important at this point to concentrate the audience’s attention on centre stage where the dialogue between Irena and the parents was taking place. I then became involved in the discussion after Irena said ‘I can only take one of them.’ This strategy was complemented by someone in the audience who thought my entrance was the epitome of perfect timing and enhanced the drama of the moment arousing empathy from all quarters. Following the performance, Mr Stevens gave me constructive criticism which included his insistence for me to come in more forcefully as it would elevate my importance in the family decision process.
Lucy, on the other hand, only became involved after she heard her name. We, the family, and Irena started to discuss the rescue plan of Lucy, who was obviously in shock from her facial expressions, to hear such news: a pivotal dramatic moment further amplified when Lucy said to the family ‘I can’t leave you, you are the only thing I have in my life.’ To make sure that she was the focal point I stood away and this effect was acknowledged by a member of the audience who commented: ‘The placing of Mahmoud definitely kept the attention on Lucy; he made sure he wasn’t the centre of attention.’ At the end of her speech, I narrowed the gap between us to be close enough for an emotional embrace of sibling love. Once again, this was acknowledged by a member of the audience who felt ‘it definitely allowed us to feel empathy.’ The timing of when people spoke was another crucial element in the creation of realism to what we were trying to portray. As to the tempo/pace my suggestion that it should be fairly slow in order to enhance further an air of realism, was agreed. It helped to create a climax and realism of the story being told and this was also accredited with comments such as: ‘the climax was built very well thanks to the pace of the piece’. Slowing down also gave us thespians additional time to compose our lines as the whole play had no written script.
The mother, played by Lauren, had the most difficult role as she had to convince the audience that her acting portrayed a very distressed mother who had to make probably the difficult decision in her life: to keep her child in the knowledge that this mean death or imprisonment in some labour camp or give her over to an outsider in the hope that this will give her a chance of a future. In order play this role realistically, she decided to completely disagree with the idea of Irena taking away her daughter. She made herself cry which played on the audience’s sympathy. This was obviously good role – play as some of the audience themselves started to cry: a truly emphatic scene! She gave Lucy a long hug at the end, down – stage centre, which was definitely the spotlight of attention.
Another set of activities involved the Mr Steven Nyembo-Ya-Muteba social conflict: a major incident which resulted in the murder of a Mathematical Cambridge Candidate on the 20th October 2006. The father of two was stabbed through the heart as he struggled with one of the 15 youths in the foyer of his flats. Only one of the youths, named Joseph Ekaette, also known as Tiny, was charged with felony of murder. The others were released on bail as no forensic evidence was found.
When asked to use forum theatre and hot-seating, we decided to act out the gathering of the gang members soon after the killing had occurred. The task involved us
Unlike the previous mentioned activity in this essay, the tempo in this activity had to be quite high in order to build up the tension in order to result in an effective climax. However, another group decided to slowly build up the tension to result in an amazing ending!
Mahmoud E. M. ShehabThe Truth Behind Heroism GCSE Drama
