Our play was in chronological order, starting with me giving away my child, by leaving him on Shilen's doorstep. We decided to do this so that the audience would know what was happening from the outset, and so they would know a little bit about a few of the characters to stop any confusion later on in the play. During this scene, only the mother and the two children were present to avoid the distractions of having other characters on stage and to make this scene emotional and dramatic.
The play then jumped forward 15 or so years to the present day. Two the families met as Shilen as Darren had moved back to Shilen's childhood home; which also happened to be right next door to myself and Ismails. The next part of the play showed Darren and Ismail becoming friends, as well as different relationships within each family.
After that, we decided to speed up the play slightly, so that Darren and Ismail would find out the truth about being brothers. We decided that the only plausible way to go about this would be that Ismail's grandparents tell them, with Shilen confirming the truth. We also knew that we needed evidence to prove this, so not only did Darren and Ismail share the same
birthday, they also had identical birthmarks on their necks. At this point, Darren, Ismail, Keesha and Mishal were at Shilen's house. After finding out this news, we felt that the best response would be for Darren and Ismail to get angry and accuse Mishal and Keesha of lying. In order to try to create drama, Mishal and Keesha left, and it was left for Shilen to tell the truth. Up until this point, none of the characters on stage knew that I was Darren's mother and it was only after Shilen had explained the truth that he realised that I was the mother. This is where the first part ended.
We wanted the second part to be as dramatic as possible, as this was the main part of the play. The play continued with Darren, Ismail and Shilen demanding the truth. After repeatedly avoiding the issue, my character was forced to tell the truth. In order to create drama, Shilen decided that if Ismail wanted to live with him, instead of me, he was more than welcome to. The exit of these characters was provided to enable the build up to the tragedy that was to take place. In order to show the audience what the mother was going through, we decided to have Mishal visit, and once again show his coldness to me. Following this, I did a monologue, and it was at this point that I took an over dose. I felt this part of the play was quite effective as the monologue contained various heartfelt messages, which could grab the audience's attention.
In order to create more emotion, we decided that the mother should not be discovered straight away, but should be discovered following a decision which darren, ismail and Shilen had come to; They had all decided that it would be appropriate if the mother came to live with them.
We wanted the end of the play to be the most emotional and dramatic part, and so, on the discovery of the mother's death, all the other characters arrived at the house, ready to forgive the mother. This was too late, as she would be no longer around to hear it.
If we could do this play again, there are many things I would do in order to improve its quality. Firstly, the scenes should be rehearsed carefully, in order to avoid any spontaneous improvisation on stage. This is because while we were thinking of what to do next, it left too may gaps in the play. Secondly, better props should be used. This includes things such as two dolls for the beginning, a fake bottle of pills and a football (or a sponge ball). In addition, during the course of the play, no music was used, and I think that if some music were used, it would help to emphasise the things that we were trying to do in the play.
Another play I really enjoyed was the one with Bhavna, Arbab, Mitul, Rakhi, Poonam and Sejal. I enjoyed this play as it was well performed and the acting was very realistic. The play contained humorous parts as well as serious and emotional parts. I thought they play was organised, and the use of flashback made the pay easier to understand. I thought that when
Arbab killed himself; it was done very professionally, although he had no props. I also thought Poonam giving away her child was done professionally, as she seemed to react in the same way you would expect a real mother to do so. Each character in their play was different and made the play seem interesting. My favourite part was at the end, when Bhavna discovered Arbab, as it was a very sad scene, and the use of music made the play seem very real.
All the plays performed were all good in their ways and they all reiterated the same message. No one can be trusted, not even your own family, and if a lie is discovered it can lead to devastating consequences.