Torbay. Last schools week!
Monday to thursday we were in St Cuthbert Mayne High School, Torquay. During this week we showed our final performance of “Abi” the main play that we had (finally). The last ever performance was a good one to end it with and the class loved it, which leaves a good memory of the play. thankfully. It seems like ages ago we were rehearsing it and trying to come up with characters for the people Abi meets. It was ages ago. And naturally the various characters have evolved into what they were last week, due to the reaction given by audiences. My drama teacher Kevin Davey always taught that you would know when the audience got the scene. There would always be the desired reaction from the audience If they understood it. And so inflections were changed and actions too so to communicate the scene in a clearer way to the audience.
What was good about the play was that it had many different characters. This meant that it was versitile and easier to relate to by different types of people. As we toured around we met alot of different people, obviously really, and in some schools the classes enjoyed the character of Kevin (the school geek) and in other schools a tumble weed would have been fitting in those scenes, but in that same school they would have responded more to Darren (the school football player). The play is mainly very light hearted, with a few quieter moments in individual scenes, but the play ends very seriously, a stark contrast to the rest of the play and especially the scene previous to it. This seriousness was always met with a still audience, even in rowdy schools, which was a testiment to the effictiveness off the play. The play must have communicated its message clearly, which was that Abi was in trouble if she continued the way she had, ignoring help and not caring about anyone around her nor even herself.
The last schools week as a whole seemed to be a bit flat though. I dont know whether it was because we werent having a gig at the end of it, whether it was just the kids in the school or whether we were out of practise. In the end though, it isnt really down to us. Perhaps that was a lesson that i needed to be taught. It isnt how well we did or what responce we got to see. But it is between those kids and God.
And so, at the end of one stage, I can see why dicipleship is so important. Being an active adherent. Just growing.
