WHAT AN AUDIENCE!
Posted by: Daniela on: May 28, 2009
I wanted to begin my post this week with a quote from David Woods book: ‘Theatre for Children’ that I can really relate with after my own experience of performing in front off children yesterday.
“The way they willingly suspended disbelief and entered into the spirit of the performance was incredibly exciting and strangely moving… they became emotionally involved, they cared” (Woods, 1997: 3).
This was Woods’ reflection of his own experience of observing the children who watched one of the plays that he had co-written for children.
Yesterday was amazing it was the first time I performed in front of children and I side with Wood is was moving. The way the children responded to our performance really illustrated to me how they had suspended their disbelief and really became involved in our performance. It was not just a performance for them it was an experience.
As I observed the children’s re-actions during the performance I noticed that as a group we achieved what we set out to achieve. We wanted to create a performance that engaged the children’s interests and judging by their re-actions I think we achieved that. The fact that the children wanted to be involved in our performance again illustrates that as a group we successfully achieved our goal.
The best part for me yesterday, was in the second performance during the enchanted forest/ fairy scene, when one girl from the audience got up and came up to Tess: Blossom and wanted to give Poppy the puzzle piece without being asked. This showed me how involved she became in our performance, it was truly moving.
Well done all, as a group I believe yesterday we all had fun and also the audience we performed for also had fun! A win-win situation 
3 Responses to "WHAT AN AUDIENCE!"
May 28, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Well said guys! Yesterday was a truly delightful experience and it was particularly wonderful to have the opportunity to meet with the kids after the show and see some of their reactions to it all.
I believe one element of our playbuilding journey that made the final performance so rewarding was the fact that our audience was involved with the process.
Alison Oddey draws attention to the way that “Both spectator and performer engage in a devised performance in a different way to traditional text-based theatre, because of their direct, personal involvement with the process” (Oddey 1994: 21).
Having the chance to visit Mia Mia allowed us to make informed decisions with regard to the story and characters we created – and considering the success of the performances, I think we may say that our research paid off. I believe that our final product had more impact than it would have if we had not taken into consideration the views and interests of our young audience. And weren’t they just soooo cute! 
Well done everyone!
June 1, 2009 at 11:06 am
Yes Lyndal, I think what really made our performance shine was the amount of background research we did in order to create our masterpiece.
In order to create a relevant and worthy dramatic piece, we needed to understand our audience, and know the foundations of our type of performance.
The real time interaction with the children to get insights into their behaviors really drove our play. We couldn’t have been more spot on!
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May 28, 2009 at 1:48 pm
I totally agree Daniela! I know it was something I marvelled at when I was doing the role-playing excersises when I was being a tutor for ATYP with some slightly older chidlren – how they can get into a story so fully, without needing very much stimuli! It is, as you said, no longer pretend for them, but becomes a truely lived experience.
This sincere ability to suspend-disbelief and really commit to a story is one of the definate strengths of choosing a child audience. We pretty much made magic on a shoe-string! I know we made some excellent costumes and sets, but if we are brutally honest we did not go overboard in trying to transform the drama room into an entirely different place i.e. Puzzia. Instead, we allowed the story, and the performance of that story to become the focus – and coupled with the children’s keen will to particpate was magic enough in itself.
It truly was made into a very exciting and satisfying experience by the commitment and enjoyment of our audience!