Citizenship
Citizenship:
Our new project is called Citizenship. This was written by Mark Ravenhill
for the National Theatre Connection and published in 2005.
Research:
This play is about a bittersweet one-act comedy about growing up in a sexualised world. This play follows a teenage boy called Tom, who is frank and messy search to discover his sexual identity.
It also explores Self-Harm and Body Dysmorphic Disorder, which many teenagers go through, and many other mental illnesses even through this was written and published in 2005. 13/14 years in 2019/20, this play is very relatable and significant; especially since we now the amount young people with mental illnesses has risen.
The target audience are 14 - 18 years-old, as they would understand the language and the topics raised in the play all though adults could understand but this play has been written for this specific age range so therefore they would have more an understanding. This play is described as being very outspoken about certain topics that most plays would not really touch on as they would be concerned about the sensitivity of the topic even though this was dealt with very well.
The story behind the play:
Mark
Ravenhill in the summer of 2005 Mark met a group teenager so he could read a
draft and get feedback of his play “Citizenship”. He was nervous as he
was writing for the National Theatre Connections programme as he decided to
write about teenagers and teenage sexuality as the arrival sex impulse. Quoted
by Mark Ravenhill; “alarming, exciting and excruciating.”
Mark
was aware that young people found talking about sexuality frightening and
uncomfortable. When the main topic on focused about a young man fumbling
attempts at sexual contact with his male friend, then his female friend, his
teacher and finally an older man he knew there would be some awkwardness. After
Mark read the draft of the script, the teenagers claimed it as theirs, he felt
overwhelmed by the stories, emotions the teenagers were telling him, and he was
happy that they claimed the plays as theirs as he felt it was theirs rather
than his own because was made for that age group.
After
the decisions with the group of teenagers, Mark rewrote the play as the teens
have suggested that they should be more physical context between the characters
he wanted to write about the humanise sex for young people.
Ravenhill
says that drama is sexual as it is about bodies, display and fantasy however puritan regimes had always resisted to due to
them being scared that people will sin. “We cannot ignore the fact we live in a
sexualised culture.” Schools can
either ignore this or help their young students.
My character – Amy:
Main topic:
Self-
Harm:
Self-harm
is when somebody intentionally damages or injures their body. The character I
play is called Amy; she Self- Harms and has Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
Self-harm
can be a way of coping with or expressing overwhelming emotional distress.
Sometimes when people self-harm, they feel on a certain level they must die more
than half of those people who die of suicide have a history of self-harm.
This
intention is sometimes meant to punish themselves, express their distress or
relieve unbearable tension. It can be a
mixture of all three things, sometimes self-harm can be a cry for help.
Types of
Self-harm:
People
can be different ways people purposely harm themselves;
·
Cutting or burning
themselves
·
Punching or hitting
themselves
·
Poisoning themselves
with tablets or liquids or something similar.
People
will often hide their self-harm because they are afraid, ashamed or fear of
discovery. For example, if they’re cutting they may cover up their skin and
avoid discussing their problem.
Often
up to close family and friends to notice when somebody is self-harming.
Signs of
Self-harm:
·
Unexplained cuts,
bruises or cigarette burns, usually on their writs, arms, thighs and chest.
·
Keeping themselves
fully covered at all times, even in the hot weather.
·
Signs of depression,
such as low mood, tearfulness or lack of motivation.
·
Self- loathing and
expressing a wish to punish themselves
·
Not wanting to go on
or and it all.
People
who self-harm can seriously hurt themselves, so it is VERY important for them
to go see their GP so they can seek help.
Why
people Self-Harm:
Self-harm
is very common than people realise it is especially common in young people due
to social media and other factors.
It’s
estimated that around 10% of young people self-harm at some point. This
figure is also likely to be an underestimated because not everyone seeks help
or reports their self-harm.
Most
cases people self-harm because of;
Social Problems: Bullying; (cyber, physically or social), Cultural
expectations; (arranged marriage, child marriage or disowned), Sexuality
issues; (coming out or deciding) Love relationship and Family/friends
relationship; (divorced parents, moving away, toxic friendship or strict
parents)
Trauma: Abuse; (sexually or physically), death (close friend,
family, or pet) and Health problems (miscarriage, diagnosing or cancer)
Psychological cause: Voices; (telling
them to self-harm), Thoughts; (telling them to self-harm to relive the pain)
and Disassociating; (losing touch with their personality, losing touch with
their surroundings) or
Personality disorder.
The
person who self-harm mayn’t know who to turn for help so the only way to release
their feelings is to self-harm. Self-harm is often linked to anxiety and depression;
these mental health conditions can affect anyone at any stage in life.
Although
people who self-harm are at high risk of suicide however, many people who
self-harm do not want to end their lives.
Second topic:
Body
Dysmorphic Disorder:
My
character Amy also suffers from body image issues as she says “I know I’m plain but
it is OK.”
Body Dysmorphic Disorder can come with the pressure of social media or verbal bullying
or physical bullying or a mental illness or a disbality thatamkes you feel ugly.
Body Dysmorphic Disorder: BDD is how we think
and feel about ourselves physically, and how
other we believe others see us.
Systems for
Body Dysmorphic Disorder:
·
Frequently looking in
the mirror
·
Feeling extra
self-conscious
·
Refusing to appear in
photos
·
Skin picking
·
Comparing themselves
to others
·
Avoiding social
situations
Body
Dysmorphic Disorder may cause:
·
Feeling of shame,
guilt or loneliness
·
Isolating yourself to
avoid situations that may make you anxious or discomfit
·
Misuse of alcohol or
other drugs
·
Eating disorder
·
Self-harm
·
Suicidal thoughts
Seeking help:
My character
– Amy:
Rehearsals:
When we first got our script we read-through it with Rob, we read from pages 1 to 6 which was scene one, when we read-through the script most of us had an idea of who we wanted to play.
After we read the first scene, Rob told us to read-through the rest of script for homework by ourselves. I realised that the play we are going to be performing had a lot of heavy topics that most plays would shy away from and the fact that Mark Ravenhill wrote about this shows that he wasn’t afraid to write about sensitive topics. I began to understand what Mark Ravenhill is trying to teach to teenagers and older audience about which is about sexually identity and mental health.
Casting:
We got the casting for the play after two weeks. Five girls are playing Amy, 5 boys playing Tom, 2 people playing Tarot Reader and 1 person playing Melissa. I have been casted Amy in the second scene and Adina has been casted in the first scene.
After we decided how Adina and I split the scenes, we then started to break down the scene in beats, which is what you would do at university. We have seven altogether and we have named all the seven beats.
Technical/Product side:
In Becca’s class we started to think about props and customs since my scene have
five props, which are;
·
Fake Needle
· Vodka
bottle
·
Phone
·
Polos
· Nurofen Pack
Adina and I will bring in most of the props since we have most the props at our own homes; we will also try to match our customs.
Our character will be wearing a jumper and jeans condensing she self-harms; she may ashamed of her scars so she will hid them in order for people not too see them.
Feedback on our mini performance:
We have performance n front a small audience before and have gotten amazing feedback, which has helped a lot with some emotions within our words for my character.
I feel like my-co star could have been off book and more fluid with his lines instead of him overacting; this does connect with him not really know his lines or his character’s motivation well enough.
I also need to learn not break character this is very important as it affect my grade. Therefore I have to remember the forth wall and it will help me not break character. Adina and I need to work out how we are going to change over, as we did not do it correctly in the rehearsal runs so when we need to work it out more when we are start to rehearse it more. This means the transition has to be slicker therefore; we have to rehearse and to make sure that the time is ACCURATE!
Talking about timing, my co-star needs to know his own cues and lines because I cannot say mine as he either forget, too early or too late. I also need to work on articulations sometimes I do not articulate my words probably and so that my words do not become mumbled or I stumble over them.
I spoke loudly and clearly, to the audience, I stayed in my character end even if I forget my lines I carried on. Rob always observed that my articulation was very clear and I did not mumble and that is something I am always worrying about. I need to avoid showing my emotions to audience as they do not what I am actually feeling, therefore I need to play the subtext need to find the hidden emotion in the scene; this could be behaviour or physicality.
Evaluation:
The performance for Citizenship was on Thursday 6th February 2019 at 14:30 PM and it went very superb I took on all my feedback and I spoke clearly and articulated all my words which I was very worried about and I did all of it perfectly I did not forget my scene and I spoke perfectly.
The research I did actually helped me play the role of Amy I made sure to be awkward/nervous but also in braced the role of someone who Self Harms and Body Dysmorphic Disorder
Skills:
- Confidence
- Articulation
- Making ourselves vulnerable
- Listening for cues
I have defiantly grown more
confident than I was when we first started the course. I do not get fazed if I
hear someone talking or laughing because I have to focus on the screen and that
i know what I am doing is good enough. I have certainly grown confident with my
words as I speak clearly with more reasoning behind my words.
My articulation was very
clear and I spoke loud enough for everyone to hear; I have always worried about
my articulation due to my speech and language therefore I worked really hard to
make sure that people in the back row and technically team could hear me. In
addition, I did not mumble I pronounced my words clearly and with clarity.
Making myself venerable in
the role, I feel like I made vulnerable in the role of Amy I wasn’t myself I
stepped into the role of Amy; I easily
made myself into Mark Ravenhall’s character because of the research I did.
Adina and I worked hard on the changeover, it
actually went really well, and I was happy of how quick we both switched. We both on time and as soon as I came on I siad my line straight away making sure to speak clealry and loudly but with clairtly.
Improvement:
·
Emotionally Deliverance
·
Physical Demeanour
·
Playing the motive
I could defiantly improve my
emotionally deliverance as I feel I wasn’t emotionally attached; I feel like I
was just saying the words even though I did a lot of research I did not feel like
the character Amy.
I think I need to improve on
my physical demeanour
because my character was meant to be awkward /nervous and low-esteem i felt
like my body was the same even though I
was sitting I could have made it more obvious I didn’t like my body by hugging
myself or even picking my skin.
I also could have improved the way I said my words
with meaning behind it especially at the beginning I felt like I was just
saying it; I could of acted like it was a proper phone call and been more panicked
about Tom being unconscious. I could have played my character’s motive as I did
previously in rehearsal
Comments
Post a Comment