My Checkout Girl label. By not giving the characters names, we used Brecht's alienation technique and effectively stopped the audience becoming engaged or emotionally attached to the characters.

Evaluation of Our Performance

I think our group managed to use many of Brecht's Techniques to create a really effective piece of theatre. The fact that we managed to alienate the audience using many different techniques proved really effective because the audience remained very disconnected, but the message we were trying to convey still got across and led to them questioning themselves.

We used name tags to make it clear to the audience that we don't have names, which disconnects them, and also used stereotypes to show the different characters. This worked really effectively. Especially for the checkout girls.

You were also able to see everyone on stage all the time and because you were able to see people changing character, you know that it is fake, so helps to remind the audience that they are watching a play. The fact that we used songs also helps to break up the play and keeps the audience alert and interested, while disconnecting them from the original storyline.

We managed to get the message across really well because people said that they were laughing at the fact you could buy a dead baby and afterwards they were really questioning themselves because it changes your views and makes you question the subject or situation.

The fact that we had the characters complaining that you can't check the price of a baby, but it is still ok to buy one really questions the morals of the audience as, when you are watching the play, you automatically find yourself agreeing that buying a baby is the normal thing to do, which strongly alienates you from the play.

I think when we performed it we did really well, such as the smooth transitions between the married couples stayed really clear and it was obvious they were the same couple. Also, when things went wrong, we managed to cover it up really well. We obviously did it effectively because we made buying a baby seem normal, which made the audience question their morals and got our message across.

We had really positive feedback from people saying it was really good, everyone worked really well together, knew their lines, knew the songs and it was a really effective piece of theatre in which we managed to use many of Brecht's techniques effectively.

Evaluation of Will Rennison's Group

Will's group did a great performance using many different techniques all developed by Brecht. The fact that they performed it outside was very brave and made it clear that anything could happen, which reminds the audience constantly that they are watching a play.

The fact that they also shouted out the stage directions and punctuation in the script, such as, "Beat" and "Exclamation point" made the audience very aware that they were watching a scripted piece. This worked really well with introducing the alienation technique to the audience.

The fact that Shanon came out of character and came to the front really alienated the audience from the piece and made them realise that they were an audience watching a piece of theatre. This also makes the audience question why and how their message is getting across.

The staging also helped with being disconnected. The audience are positioned quite far away from the action. Sometimes, it can be quite difficult to hear, so you have to really focus to hear what they were saying. This made it very easy for them to get their message across to the audience.

Also the fact that all the cast were visible to the whole audience all the time and the fact that they used very over the top and repeated gestures, helped to alienate the audience and still allow them to get involved in the story.

Overall, I think this piece was very effective. It used effective techniques to dis-engage the audience, but also portrayed the message. You knew that the message got across to the audience at the end, because the audience were gasping and looking very shocked, which was their intention within the story-line.

Evaluation Of Sarah Goodall's Group

Sarah Goodall's group had a really great performance and focused a lot on many of Brecht's techniques. They focused on gestus by having certain characteristics overstated - such as "Her" flicking her hair and they also didn't use names for their characters, which disconnected the audience and made them focus more on the issues that the play was trying to portray.

Within their performances, they repeated many scenes, numerous times, this alienated the audience by taking away the linear structure of the play. Each time, the scene went differently or had a different ending. This helped to disconnect the audience as each scene juxtaposed the different endings to further highlight the issues the play was trying to convey. This looks at Brecht's alienation technique, which effectively disengages the audience to make them really focus on the meaning the play was providing.

Their play showed good examples of prejudice and stereotypes, which contradicts the audiences initial thoughts, therefore asking the audience to question themselves, which is often what Brecht tried to do through his performances.

They also narrated what happened and read out the stage directions, which highlighted to the audience that they were watching a play and this was a further use of the alienation technique. For example, when Dee was talking about the holocaust she was telling the audience the reasons behind it, but narrated it like a children's story. It made everyone laugh, but at the end made you think and question the audience and yourself. Which really helped to get the message across.

The character's in their performance were very two-dimensional, so the audience were not drawn in emotionally. This allowed you to question things about them and made you think. By using songs in their performance it makes you become emotionally attached by the lyrics, but also creates distance and reminds you that you are watching a play. For example, having James play Thatcher. He made her a caricature and reminded the audience he was an actor. The fact he was playing a woman, also distanced the audience from becoming too engaged with the character. Which was even further use of the alienation technique.

Overall, I really enjoyed their performance and I think that they used Brecht's techniques really effectively and accurately to disengage the audience and portray their message.

Rehearsals - Response to Feedback

Some of the feedback we received today was really helpful to allow us to improve our piece, so that we can really refine and clean it on Monday and on Tuesday before the performance. We were told to make sure we were saying exactly the words in the script, otherwise some of the scenes we performed didn't make sense.

We also really need to work on stage discipline. Our rehearsals have felt really long sometimes, because people won't be quiet or focus. I think before each rehearsal we need to do more calming exercises to get us to really focus and work hard. I think if we all had a really focused attitude, when it came to working, we would be able to be really hard-working and get a lot more done, leaving us more time to clean and refine any last details of our piece.

We need to have a little more confidence in our songs and make sure everyone knows the words. Everyone in our checkout girl song knows the words, but sometimes we get confused because it doesn't quite fit the rhythm. It is a lot easier when the music is playing louder, because it allows us to find the right key to sing in. I think the babies "Price Tag" song is very good because they all know the words and once they had worked on the diction today, in the lesson, the audience found it a lot easier to understand what they were saying.

I think the wives song, "Bills, Bills, Bills" is much better because they worked on their volume, which makes it a lot easier to understand, although I still think they need to work on their diction, just so the audience can hear every word.

We need to be a lot smoother with the cross-overs between couples as they change control of the trolley. They became a lot better today, because more people knew what they were doing and it seemed to flow a lot better.

I think overall, the piece is really coming together. I think the songs have become a lot better because people are a lot more confident with the choreography and lyrics. The husband and wife scenes are really good and as long as we keep practising the change overs, I think we will have a really good play.

Evaluation of Political Protest

Today we did our political protests at break time. I was in a group with Gus, Keon, Raph and Emily and we did ours on maximum security prisons in America. We had to change it a little because Emily was not there on the day; however I think it still went really well.

We ran through it a lot of times and because it was in the style of a circus, it didn’t really work or feel effective until we had an audience to watch. When Sarah came to see it, we also didn’t have an audience and she told us to work on making it clearer and really focus on the political side of it. When it was about five minutes into break, we managed to get a crowd of people to watch us, as they were interested in why Gus and I were stuck on the fire escape. Raph then walked up to them and started shouting facts and statistics, which really caught the audience’s attention and made them want to listen.

We then got Keon to walk out from the audience and have a debate with Raph, which further engaged the audience. I think that Gus and I being locked in was very effective because it made people stop and want to listen.

We managed to get another large crowd, which was really effective because we could all feed off their enthusiasm. It was very effective and one girl even started to join in the debate. When Raph went to let us out and show what it would be like to have us released, some of the girls were becoming really nervous and backing away, which was exactly the effect we wanted to create. When He opened the door and we went running, they all screamed and ran away. This proved to us that we really connected with the audience and managed to get across the feeling of being at risk from people, but also the fact that prisoners should not be kept in such bad conditions.

If I could have changed anything, I think I would have made more signs, just to be really clear what we were supporting and what we were meant to be expressing. I also would have maybe played some circus music and had Raph wearing a hat to attract more people and to make our idea clearer.

I think most people understood it, but some of the people walking past looked very nervous. It worked so much better when we had a large audience, who got really involved and excited. I would have liked to have had a bit more time to perform it, maybe over lunch, just so we could show it to larger groups of more people. However, I met up with some of my friends who were watching and they told me it was really good, really effective and really engaged all of them and they wanted to know what Gus and I were going to do. One of my friends in Year 11 told me that she had no idea of some of the conditions people were treated in prisons.

Overall, I was pleased with how our performance went. I think I would change a few things, adding signs, having more people and maybe including the audience a bit more in the debate too. I was happy with how it went and I think we managed to convey our message well and managed to create an atmosphere which engaged and informed the audience. Next time, I might wear more layers, as being out there was very cold! However, the rain added to the effect and the cold made me feel more in character because of the cold the prisoners would have faced. Overall, I was happy and feel we did well, it definitely improved the more we did it.

Epic Theatre

"Epic Theatre is a dramatic form developed in Germany after World War I by Bertolt Brecht and others, intended to provoke rational thought rather than to create illusion. It presents loosely connected scenes often interrupted by direct addresses to the audience providing analysis, argument, or documentation. Brecht's goal was to use alienating or distancing effects to block the emotional responses of the audience members and force them to think objectively about the play. Actors were instructed to keep a distance between themselves and the characters they portrayed and to emphasise external actions rather than emotions."
http://www.usq.edu.au/artsworx/schoolresources/goodwomanofszechwan/epictheatre