How acting techniques or design elements and the use of dramatic form were consciously employed to achieve the intended effect.

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An evaluation of the ways in which ideas were communicated to the audience.

Our piece had several key ideas behind it. We wanted to present a piece to educate about drug use, in a way that was different to the methods currently being used – and to a slightly older audience. We felt that the currently methods of education and were not working as they were biased towards the negative side of drugs. We aimed to show the audience both the positive and negative side of drugs.

We did this using ‘Epic Theatre’ format, having several running ‘story’ have having quick changes to and from each ‘story’. Each ‘story’ was given a certain amount of scenes. We wanted to show a positive scene, a negative scene and a ‘turning point’ in which the drug user decides to go into rehab. We felt that the audience would then get a brief understanding of the story within a small amount of time. They would also be provided with enough evidence to make a decision on the issues brought forward through the production, questioning the legality of drugs, questioning why people use drugs and questioning the education about drugs.

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Some scenes, which began as a positive, warped into a negative effect of drugs. For example the “Row Your Boat” opening sequence began as a calm and relaxing ‘positive trip’ however it turned into a ‘bad trip’ and the user quickly became frightened. This was also used in the pub scene, in which everyone began as friends but the relationship ‘soured’ and when confronted about his drinking problem the ‘alcoholic’ became violent. This was used to show the volatile nature of drugs, that things can change at any minute and they are therefore unpredictable.

One scene that was ...

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