Resolution 217 Final Evaluation

Despite the devising process being very chaotic and difficult, I thought we ended up with a very good piece of physical theatre. The material we had created had purpose, flow and a large interpretive element so that the audience could take what they wanted from it. It successful combined spoken word, music, images and our physical body’s to create a statement & a comment on the world in which we live in. The visual images that were made on stage with bodies and props were thought invoking and ones of power. I know that as an onlooker at the side of the stage there were pieces that were performed that made me have a such strong emotional reaction to what was portrayed, I felt anger I felt sadness and I felt hope. All of these aspects only helped fuel my performance more because I was able to carry those feeling onto stage with me. As a whole the performance had strength, a quality I think is massively important when creating work about the fight for human rights. Without strength your statements might not hold power and therefore won’t be as sparking in what it provokes in the audience. The best moments of strength in resolution 217, in my opinion, came out of stillness. The picture of Grenfell projected onto the back in silence, the holding up of the crosses on paper and the punch of a fist into the air. All these moments, amongst others, were the ones that most resonated with me because it was bold and fearless in what was presented on stage. These moments seemed to echo a punching gesture, it was unapologetic and filled with defiance and that was definitely felt by the audience. 

I feel like this strength and power could have been present the entire way through resolution

217, but we held ourselves back by not committing. A lot of the movement wasn’t respected by us as a cast and it was viewed as stupid or worthless. This really let us down because I think it was evident in our performance, the lack of commitment from us showed that for a lot of people their heart wasn’t in it. This was because for a lot of people they felt as if the work they had created didn’t reflect what they wanted to fight for, and this I can understand. However, I think by the time your at the final performance you might as well give everything you’ve got into the piece because you are going to have to do it anyway. I felt like the second two performances were a lot better and more effective because as a cast we go a lot of good feedback. The confidence and pride this gave us in this piece meant that it was taken a lot more seriously and a larger element of commitment was present.  For me, I felt the last performance was the best because I really felt the tense atmosphere that was created on stage. Possibly what also let us down in the other performances was not being able to fill the space with our thoughts, feelings and ideas. There were moments were I felt the action going on on stage felt quite small in this big space, and when this happened I think the significance and strength of the piece was diminished.