Friday 24 October 2008

Verbatim

I had never heard of this style of Theatre before but rapidly became interested on what it could do for an audience

'The intimacy of the interview makes the audience feel as if the characters are talking to them directly and the relationship I had with the interviewee is that which the audience experiences. However the fact that these private moments have been transported into a public arena is what makes them all the more surprising, especially as they are re-enacted with the uncanny immediacy that the technique produces. The way people communicate in real life is far more absurd and inarticulate than we realize if we take time to stop and listen to it.'
This interested me bacause the hard facts that are presented on stage is directly presenting the opinions of people that might not necessarily be heard. One example that we heard was a play that was about soldiers fighting in Iraq where the audience got an idea of what they were experiencing through the medium of theatre.
We then talked about our own Verbatim Theatre project concerning Binge Drinking as it is something that is a common problem, not only in St Mary's College but nationally. The ambulance crew was called out many times during Freshers week due to students drinking too much, one person needed an ambulance twice in one week due to execive drinking. We talked about how older generations tend to binge drink as well and the fact that the drinking we do now as twenty-somethings could lead to problems later in life. Our task for reading week therefore is to interview people about binge drinking such as the paramedics who get called out due to alcohol related problems, taxi drivers, parents, pub landlords, freshers and the SU and AU presidents.

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