EVALUATION

Evaluate  your  own  contribution  to  the  whole  final  piece,  reflecting  on  how  you  worked  as  part  of  an ensemble and how your role contributed to the whole piece.

I contributed consistently throughout the development by adding comments and helping ideas be explored. However, my biggest contribution to the final piece was the moment when we all walk and attempt to fit onto one spot of floor. This was taken from the smaller group piece in which I had a large part in creating in another rehearsal. My contribution was more evident throughout the development period as we worked on that moment for the overall piece quite extensively. Though we didn't end up using the entire moment - the absence of Robin in rehearsals meant that it was difficult to do so - we built on from it to develop it in a way that would work for the piece whilst matching the theme. I wish we would've been able to actually use the entire moment with Robin but at that late on in the rehearsal process, we didn't have much choice other than quick thinking. I think as a ensemble we solved the problem efficiently and were able to move on with our rehearsals. 

This contribution had a large impact on the final piece's structure. It allowed us to move from the partner work to floor work with ease. Without it, the piece wouldn't have flowed as well as it did and the structure would've been stifled. Furthermore, the movement I helped create wasn't movement for the sake of movement to make the transition look good - the roots of the piece's development were from Ellie's interview which we had also used in the duet work. This meant that moment was authentic to the production's sensitive theme rather than just plain choreography. I wish we were able to explore the idea of a mass group of people moving towards one place or attempting to stay in one place in greater detail as this was the idea I was attempting to interrogate with the pedestrian moment of the piece. 

Another significant contribution I played was with the development of looking at the ideas surrounding censorship and being politically correct. I brought one of my recorded interviews to class which opened up a discussion on my friend's comments about not paying more attention in geography class. This opened up a dialogue in class about the public being unable to define the words 'migrant' or know the difference between 'asylum seeker' and 'refugee'. We were able to use this to build on our ideas about people trying to be PC by twisting their own definitions of the words so not to offend anyone. This contribution was significant to the final performance as our piece mainly revolved around being PC and/or not being closed minded about the entire crisis. I was able to contribute through my recordings which I could use to build ideas from and help shape the final piece. 

I believe I worked well in our ensemble, especially during the more difficult moments during the rehearsals. Many of the cast were reluctant to cooperate, focusing too often on the negative side of things, making it a lot harder than it needed to be when developing work. However, I believe I was one of the more proactive members of the cast. This is because I attended every rehearsal, recorded multiple interviews and brought in articles for stimulus during different sessions. This meant I had a large range of material to work from which allowed me to develop myriad ideas that I was able to bring to the table. If given a second chance, I would have liked to have had a louder voice in the development of our piece both creatively and motivationally. This was probably the biggest area of my own personal failure because as the group was so large all trying to create one piece, it meant that some people's idea's got drowned out. I should've been more active in really pushing to explore some of my own ideas that I didn't end up suggesting. However, despite this, I believe our ensemble work in the final performance was a success. It took us a long while to get there, even up to the last minute, but I think we managed to tell the story we wished to tell successfully and efficiently. 

Overall, I wish the rehearsal period had run a lot smoother than it did. But, in the end, our goal was to create a piece of theatre about mass migration and I believe we did. We effectively explored different varieties of migration - the bird/floor bit, the current crisis - as well as the different responses - 'i think all migrants are [beep]' or 'i don't read the daily mail' in ways that were exciting and physically engaging. I wish we were able to actually put on the original show we were going to but I understand why we didn't.