Dv8 Drama Performance Evaluation

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For our Drama GCSE our class went to see DV8’s ‘Can We talk about this’ at the National Theatre in March. The audience varied in not just ages but in cultures and religions too. The youngest person I saw was 14, probably because of the mature subjects in the play. By Lloyd Newson, ‘Can we talk about this’ is a documentary-style dance-theatre piece which includes real-life interviews with many different people throughout the religious, political and cultural world. It explores through not just speech but also movement, the taboo topics of our modern times and challenges the bounds of what we can and cannot say. The main themes that were explored in the play were the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to offend and multiculturalism. The theme of freedom of speech was show in the play by each opinion of the characters were allowed to be heard whether they be an extremist, fascist, racist or a politician. But a lot of the time their opinions were countered by each other’s or condemned, also showing that some people may feel that they don’t have freedom to speak about certain things. The play was stage in the end on arrangement which is the traditional audience seating layout where the audience is looking at the stage from the same direction. It’s good because the actors can make their entrance/exits/changes from the wings off-stage, therefore they won’t distract the audience. However, the audience seated further away will get less of the atmosphere of the action then the audience closer to the stage. The set was very simple with the use of a wall mirror, a chalk board and some plain flats – I think it looked like it could be a community centre. The colours used were quite dull and plain, but I think it was to draw the audience’s attention to the performers away from what might otherwise distract them. It also meant that they could change the
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