Danny Szam played as Sk8 and the Graffiti Artist. Sk8 didn’t have many lines so to emphasize what he says; he does many physical and risky things.
For example when Sk8 talks about balance and the C.O.G (centre of gravity) he jumps up on a ledge and slowly from a crouching position he rises up with his arms outstretched. He also acts as Con’s guardian angel or a shadow, mimicking his moves or keeping him safe making sure he doesn’t fall. I believe that he plays the characters well but he can improve on making the characters more distinguishable from each other. For example I and many other people from the audience couldn’t tell that Sk8 and the Graffiti Artist were different characters, and he would have been more affective had these roles been more clearly defined. This lack of definition caused confusion in the audience and lessens the impact of the characters. Nevertheless the fact he had so few lines made this extremely difficult.
I think that the weakest character was the father played by Brand Damon. His acting was great and his character was believable. He played the father role well, and emotionally triggered the audience to get angry at him and feel sorry for Con. However by the end the
audience felt some sympathy for the father particularly when he realised what he had done. This was shown at the end of the play when he met the skate angel and received encouragement from the ghost of Con. But I think he was vocally weaker that the rest of the characters. Whenever he spoke his voice sounded horse and quiet and it was hard to hear anything he said. There were key moments when he had big parts to speak, but I feel that he couldn’t get across to the audience because we could barely hear him. This detracted from the part particularly as he has such an emotional role to play, and meant the character was less effective than it could have been.
In my opinion the best preformed characters were the Mum and auntie Eileen by Alys Torrance. I think this because of the way she played her different roles. She was supportive and encouraged her son to continue with his English as she knew he liked this subject. She did not want her cancer to disrupt her sons schooling and clearly she wanted him to do as well as possible at school. This was in spite of the difficulties that she was having dealing with cancer and an unsympathetic husband. In doing this she effectively portrayed her love and concern for her son Con. The change between the mum and the aunt was particularly effective. Alys Torrance seemed to be able to change between roles without any difficulty, even though the characters were so different. She managed to relate to the father convincing him that he needed to look after his son, Con. This was demonstrated when she convinced the father to watch Con skate. She could relate to Con and was prepared to change her views depending on the circumstances. She started by criticising the graffiti but eventually she saw it as art and indeed added to the graffiti herself.
The set of the play was that of a unique design. It was designed so that it supports the piece without having to change anything and not needing the use of props. This metamorphic stage was done so that the stage at one point can be a graveyard, a hospital, a house or a skate park all in one, meaning that they did not have to change anything, therefore not wasting any time on setting up the stage. This makes the performance quick paced, not loosing the audience’s attention. This is achieved by the stage not being that distinguishable for what it actually is, so that the audience can see it as what the performers want it to be. At the back of the stage there are three projection screens. These have been used for many reasons, such as flashbacks and special effects. They have been used thought out the performance and key moments showing a matter of images, shadows or movie clips on them. This was very effective. For example, at the beginning of the performance, in the graveyard scene, all there was on the projection screens were the shadows of dead trees. By doing this, it added to the atmosphere. On a later scene, Con describes a memory of his father and mother dancing, and on the screens there were images of the parents dancing fading in and out. This gives the effect of the audience seeing through Con’s eyes. The music was also very effective at setting the atmosphere. There was street music in the background witch gave of the theme of he play. Also there was a quiet sound of the wind in the background whenever Con was talking about how he feels that he could raise up high, higher that the clouds.
I believe that the play tried to show the audience that when something bad happens we’re not alone and that we should talk to people about it instead of bottling them up and losing or “balance”. I believe it did so extremely well and it showed this in the play when Con started talking to Sk8 and he started to skate, putting his problems behind and facing the by trying to do something with himself instead of mourning. I think that in future performances of mine I would like to consider having a metamorphic stage so that the play can be quick paced and keep hold of the audience’s attention. I believe that this play has been great and fast but sometimes confusing.
