REFLECT ON DRAMA PROCESSES AND PERFORMANCES

The 1.6 exam will require you to reflect on drama processes and performances. This is an example of an excellent review from the performance 'Niu Sila' viewed in 2005.

The play that we went to see was called “Niu Sila” which is Samoan for “New Zealand”. It was written by Oscar Kightley and Dave Armstrong. It was about the contrasting lives of the two characters in the play, Damon Andrews – who played the typical pakeha boy, Peter, and Dave Fane – the Samoan boy, Ioane. The play advanced as the boys grew into men. Throughout the performance both characters took on various different roles and became other characters. Damon played the following roles of, Peter Burton, Mrs Burton, Ms Hagen-the Teacher, Lisa, the Judge, and the Police Officer. Dave played Ioane, Mr Burton, the Priest, Mr & Mrs Tafioka, Ioane’s sister, Mr Patel, the Police officer and the Uncle.

The technique of using voice in this performance was outstanding. As the actors changed roles, they had a complete different voice for each character. It was done so well, almost as if there was a different person on stage. They changed their pitch and pace for each different character, also the accent. This was demonstrated well between two of Dave’s characters, Ioane and Mrs Tafioka.

When Dave played Ioane he used a higher pitched voice to show the youthfulness in Ioane. He almost spoke hesitantly and as if he was shy. Dave also put on a young Samoan accent. When he changed his role to playing Mrs Tafioka, his voice changed to a higher pitched female voice, slightly squeaky at times and some words were also slurred and run into each other. She also had a Samoan accent and a soft, musical sounding voice.

The use of body was sustained excellently throughout the performance. We could distinctly see a change in posture and body movements as each character changed, and we were able to tell which character the actors were going to become next! Damon demonstrated this well between two of his roles, Ms Hagen and Peter. When he was playing Peter, his posture was slightly hunched over, to show his laid back personality. His gestures were usually putting his hands in his pockets, which showed us his youth. Whereas when he became Ms Hagen, immediately his back went very straight and pulled up, and his hands were clasped tightly behind his back.

The contrasting movements displayed by two of Dave’s characters were very well demonstrated, and we were able to distinguish the characters by their movements. One of Dave’s roles, Mrs Tafioka, swayed her arms as she walked, floated around the stage and had wavy movements and gestures, which flowed into each other. She  walked slowly and used mime to show props, for example, her hat. When Dave became The Uncle, he slumped over things, like the couch, lay around a lot and stumbled around the stage. This helped to show us the fact that he was drunk.

Even though there were only two characters in this play, the use of space was used very well. The characters moved around the whole stage throughout the performance. For example, when Damon became Peter, he came right forward to the front of the stage when he narrated. Peter also ran around the space a lot, which demonstrated his youth. However, when Damon played Ms Hagen, she was a character that more kept to herself, pacing around, back and forth across the stage, usually towards the front of the stage.

The technical aspects of this production really helped to create certain different moods by adding impact to specific moments. The use of lighting was simple most of the time, but it did help to create a sad and dark mood when Ioane was getting beaten up. The lights were dimmed when this event happened, and it was to symbolise that violence is kept behind closed doors, and the darkened lights were to help create a dark, sad mood.

Sound and sound effects were also minimal throughout the performance, but did add a lot of impact when they were used. Music was played as scenes changed, to show the transition between different scenes. The music that was played was by the band ‘Nesian Mystik’. This linked to the play, as Nesian Mystik is a New Zealand band, and the play was about two New Zealand families. Also there was a sound effect of a whacking sound when the boys were being hit on their bums at school. This added impact on the pain of the whack, and made it seem more real.

The costumes in the production were very simple, yet effective. There were no costume changes, only one costume each. Both Ioane and Peter wore simple orange and khaki green shirts. Ioane, the Samoan wore a shirt that was of a T-shirt style with a simple v-neck. Peter, the prim and proper English boy, wore a shirt with a collar, and a pocket on the front. This showed that he was a proper and prim English boy, all neat and tidy, whereas Ioane’s shirt showed the laid back style of Samoans. The colours of the shirts were the same to show that the characters were linked in the way that they were friends. They also both wore the same pants, of a greyish colour. Peter’s were pulled up, high and neat, and Ioane’s sat on his hips. Again, the way they wore their pants, reflected their personalities and family backgrounds.

There were no props used in this play with the exception of just two chairs. Instead of having lots of props the convention of mime was cleverly used. The audience could visualise everything really well. Like when the two boys were playing cricket, it actually looked like they were playing cricket. They used the snap technique and also slow motion really well. One other example of mime used in the play (although there were many more) was when Ioane was imitating his mother, Mrs Tafioka. He held his hands in such a way that he looked like he was holding a hat above his head. This convention of mime added a creative feel to the play, and it allowed the audience to use their imaginations.

The chairs were placed in different positions to show different objects. For example, one was placed upside down to show a police motorbike, the two chairs were placed upright and far apart to show the dinner table. They were placed in many other different positions to show a cricket wicket, the taxi, the church, a police car, the couch, the classroom and many more objects and places.

I think the directors overall intention was to show the contrast and diversity between a Samoan family and an English family, but living in the same country and town, demonstrating that life is simple when you are younger, but when you grow up everything becomes complicated. I feel that all aspects of the production did work very well towards the intention, as they were used cleverly and did not restrict the audience’s imaginations or perceptions of the play.

If anything was to be done differently perhaps props or more actors could have been used. This may have made it more interesting. Or more complex costumes could have been worn to give us a direct image of the characters and their personalities. However, overall I thought it was an excellent production, and it was skilfully put together and the two actors were marvellous!