I performed a monologue to give the audience a chance to find out more about my characters inner most feelings and used duologues to show how she interacted with other members of her family and friends. To help with my characterisation and involvement in the situation, I researched the topic of physical and mental abuse using the Internet and library books. My main source of information was a beautiful poem. “My Sunglasses” is written by a former victim of abuse and was useful, not just for factual information, but for providing me with a way in which I could understand her emotions, and try to imagine what she might be going through.
We recited this poem to the students in the workshop and to further educate them, we edited information we found on a site and included it in a pack with helpline numbers (e.g. Child line) to call if they had any worries.
After reading scenes of the play “Heroin Lies” I would like to compare some of the aspects of it to those of our piece of drama. “Behind Closed Doors” is set in the present day, where attitudes have modernised and dramatic re-enactments of these life scenarios are accepted in public. Thirty years ago, when “Heroin Lies” was written, people were less open minded and believed private matters should be kept private. They would have been considerably more shocked, when watching something like this on stage, than we are now.
Although the theme of drug abuse in “Heroin Lies” differed from our main theme, both plays focused on sensitive subjects and had many similar aspects. The characters appearing in the productions were from middle class families suffering from domestic problems and arguments. The main character in both was a teenage girl, struggling to cope with the tension at home but feeling isolated with no one to turn to for support or advice.
“I’m not...I’m not...alright? You’ve heard it from me now, ok?”
Thankfully, unlike Vicki in “Heroin Lies”, Maddy was able to confide in her best friend Sarah as the play concluded.
Both girls use monologues to provide their audience with more of an insight into their minds; a flashback features as the first scene in “Heroin Lies” so as to introduce the characters and their situation before continuing with the story. Similarly, “Behind Closed Doors” starts with a day in the future before going back in time to explain the past events leading to this conclusion.
The two plays feature scenarios occurring in different environments; the comparison between school and home life, illustrates the changing attitudes of all characters concerned. To promote the idea of Theatre in Education, Stanislavski’s realistic feel is introduced when scenes are set in classrooms or at school discos. Here, the conversation is very relaxed and typically teenager related.
“Pretend you’ve not seen him. We don’t want him to think you fancy him...do you know your lipsticks crooked?!”
This demonstrates the clear change in atmosphere when both girls arrive home and emphasises the confrontation between parent and child.
“Vicki, is that you? I could shake you, you’ve had your father and I worried sick!”
Whereas Vicki’s parents appear annoyed yet concerned, Maddy must cope with the aggression and indifference her mother and father express.
To portray Maddy’s gradual breakdown as her mothers behaviour becomes too much to cope with, we used music with differing tunes and lyrics to symbolise her change in mood. To show she was under extreme pressure, she became violent and ripped down the posters in her bedroom in her desperation. Near the end of “Heroin Lies” Vicki collapses on the floor as the entire cast assemble around her, chanting “Vicki’s on drugs, Vicki’s on drugs...” As the lights blackout, she screams. This again shows her deterioration and panic.
Many abstract techniques are used throughout both plays. These include freeze frames, flashbacks and monologues. Surrealism, like narration and sound effects (for example, the heartbeat in the hospital and the reporter’s type writer) are used to create atmosphere and signify the end of a scene. With these techniques, there is little need for extra props or staging. Using Brecht as inspiration, we used as few of these as possible so that our play could be purely educational and provide less distractions for the audience.
As I mentioned before, “My Sunglasses” was the poem we chose to represent our production. Wayne Denfhy (writer of “Heroin Lies”) also wrote a short song called “See a Friend in Tears” that he could relate to his play.
In conclusion, I have learnt a lot during the time I have worked on this performance. As well as new acting skills and dramatic techniques, I have more knowledge on abuse in general and now know how to put this across to an audience. I would like to think our group succeeded in this and that our viewers will remember and reflect on what we have shown and told them.
Mair Hewitt Stubbs
