Final Performance

This performance was the best we have ever run 100 years. We were all joined together in our energy and drive and emotion. We had the biggest audience we had had which I think made this performance feel like a real performance and not just a showing.

Because it was the last one, and the last time we would perform all together, we all put as much emotional drive as we could behind our movements.

Personally I felt that there wasn’t a particular moment that I felt was the most poignant. I felt as is the whole performance was powerful and emotional. This time around we took into account the audience’s energy, TTA’s energy and the theatre’s energy which is what made it so immersive.

We all pushed ourselves really hard and we were all very sensitive to the emotions going through each of us.

This performance was when we worked the best as an ensemble. We were conscious of each other and we supported each other throughout.

I really enjoyed performing 100 years and we all took something away from this whole process. This was a very interesting topic to explore and I think it looked and felt amazing to be a part of it.

100 Years

100 Years

Performance #2

We had a bigger audience this time around; this meant that I felt a bit more pressure in this performance. I did not have as strong an emotional connection in this performance as I did previously.

Nothing went wrong and I feel as if we still had an impact on the audience but personally I don’t think I invested as much emotional power as I have done so before. I still believe that the piece we have created is very powerful.

I felt as if we were a bit disjointed emotionally as an ensemble as I don’t think everyone was “feeling it”. What surprised me the most was that the moment I felt was most poignant this time around was the ending. I felt as if we were all joined as one at this moment and I think we were are all taking into account the different elements of the performance; the lighting, the poppies falling down.

I did not feel as if I was just going through the motions but I did feel as if I could have put a lot more emotional drive behind what I was doing to take it a step further.

Performance #1

For this performance we did not have a very big audience. Therefore we did not feel as much pressure as we usually would. Having an audience did change things though. We all had something to feed our energy off and it was good to be able to share what we had created and explored with someone other than ourselves.

For me the most poignant of the performance was the women’s bit. This is where the deep message of the piece sunk in. I found myself holding back tears whilst performing this section. This is when it hit me just how potent and important what we were exploring was. To remember those who died during World War I and the effect that had on the women.

It was enjoyable to perform this and we were able to really explore with the audience and how we could affect them with our movements. Having someone there to affect really helped all of us to bring the performance up to a high standard.

This went really well for a first performance.

Some images of 100 years:

Women's box section

Women's box section

Women's box section

Ending of the performance

Dress #2

For me this dress went really well. This is where I found my emotional connection to the deeper meanings.  I can engage every part of my body during the performance and can put more meanings into the movements.

This is when everything came together. This run was when I think we all finally understood what we were doing this for and why. We were all committed to what we were doing and we all pulled together as an ensemble.

It was not as emotional as it could have been because we had only just started to realise the performance’s potential.

This run in particular got us all excited to perform as we realised just how powerful this piece of physical theatre we created was.

Dress #1

This dress run did not feel much different to the tech. It was helpful to have a full run through of the performance without stopping, to really cement it into our heads and help us know what we are doing and when.

It made it feel more like a performance and I think we are all starting to create our own emotional reactions to our deeper meanings.

I am feeling very confident in this performance as I think it is visually very powerful but, myself included, I feel like we all need to invest some stronger emotional ties to make it as perfect as it can be. 

Tech run

This tech was quite helpful to us. It was a good practice for us to know what we are doing and when. Nothing went wrong but none of us were very connected to the deeper meanings. I feel as if it hasn’t sunk in what this performance is truly about. We all understand the subject matter but we don’t have a strong emotional reaction to it. I think the more we do it the more we will get used to the space and with what we are doing and we will begin to connect with it a lot more. This helped me to figure out where I need to be and when and how I can get there. 

The Endings

We devised two possible endings.

The first possible ending was to have everyone on stage sitting in the pairs they had for the women’s tracing the outline section.  We all looked at James and Molly who had finished the section before. Remembrance poppies would then fall down all around us.

This visually looked good and was quite emotional but I feel like we could have pushed it further. I also think there could have been deeper meanings involved.

The second possible ending was that the soldiers created five lines around the existing men from the couples.  The idea was for the soldiers to kneel down row by row. Cameron led this by coming on last. This symbolised the grave stones of the soldiers. The women would then wonder through this “grave” looking for their loved one. When they found that person they would kneel down next to them.  James and Molly stood in the middle of the stage embracing throughout all of this. When everyone was sitting the poppies were released.

This ending was much more interesting and I feel as if this has a lot of deep meaning and emotion packed into it. It visually looks amazing and is clear in what we are trying to show. I think this ending is a great conclusion to the performance, it is a very poignant ending to a very poignant performance.