Ultimately, in a group of six people, it can be quite difficult for everybody to settle on the same idea, same experiment and the same wants for the outcome of a performance. Luckily, after lots of discussions, we managed to come to a performance idea that we were all happy with.
The performance ended up being an installation piece, where the audience were invited to take part in activities. We had five different sections in the end result, and these were:
1. Colour Explosion
Here we invited the audience to partake in popping paint balloons onto a canvas and then also painting on a separate canvas, depending on their mood. This section was originally created to help create the atmosphere of childish behaviour.
2. Sensory Deprivation
Here we invited the audience to sit down and place headphones on, and we (acting as audience members and performers) then were given the chance to blindfold the participant, and tie them to a chair – so that they couldn’t hear, move or see anything going on. This was to see if the audience would trust us explicitly with themselves and how their mood would alter.
3. Lose It
Here we invited the audience to smash crockery onto a target on the floor. The section was created to help release and anger or stress from the audience and allow them to feel like they were free to do what they liked.
4. Say Something Nice
Here we invited the audience to walk around the space looking at pictures of ourselves (hung from the ceiling) where we had said nice things about each other. This was influenced by Improv’s piece entitled Say Something Nice. This section was to encourage the audience to say something nice about our pictures or even to walk away from the performance with the intention of saying something nice to the next person they see.
5. Express Yourself.
Here we invited the audience to sit down, relax, listen to the music playing and see how it affected their mood. There were beanbags on the floor for the audience to sit on and the music continued to change throughout the performance – ranging from sad to happy to angry. This was to allow the audience a break from reality in a sense and to just experience the music and watch all the other audience members taking part.
This was the end result of our performance and personally, I believe that together they worked on a whole to create a range of affects on the participants mood and this was then logged on our twitter account.
I would also like to point out that invitation is one of the most important aspects of our performance. We did not want the audience to feel like they were told what to do, and so we invited them to do what they felt. What they think they should do.