Expressionism, a devised piece on phone addiction

Task 1, Investigating (Criterion A·i)

Investigating expressionism and its practitioners

A.i.1Opening, art, innovation and possible futures

Art is a powerful tool that invites us to imagine realities beyond our imagination. Through unique forms of expression, art challenges us to delve into the complex tapestry of alternative societies, reinterpret historical situations, and question the future. This is accomplished through the use of technological innovations in productions, which has changed over time in order to create immersive, engaging pieces of theater. This is evident through various theatrical practitioners, such as Katie Mitchell, where in her 2006 production, Waves, utilized live videos to showcase extreme close ups of the actors’ faces, hands, and props, giving the audience the opportunity to see each character’s physical and emotional lives. Complicité also introduced projections, and instead of physically changing the sets, they projected images of shifting locations and abstract images, creating seamless transitions between scenes. For example, The Far Side of the Moon in 2000 used projections to show planets, stars, and lunar landscapes.

A.i.2Defining expressionism

According to the research (Motta), the term “expressionism” was originally used in 1850 to describe paintings in which strong emotions and feelings were actively portrayed to convey the artist’s inner experiences and subjective perspectives. This inspired theatrical practitioners to adapt these techniques and use non realistic settings, exaggerated movements, and characters referred to as archetypes. These elements allowed play writers to exceed beyond their limits of traditional theater, creating an engrossing experience that conveyed deeper feelings and truths about human life. This distinct approach creates a clear link to change and innovation, as this contrasting and unique depiction of theater differs to the typical, emotional play that doesn’t create a long lasting impact on the audience members beyond the auditorium.

To convey the inner turmoil of the characters and the complexities they face, shadows, sharp angles and distorted structures are commonly utilized, as opposed to the typical use of white lighting to impose focus and draw attention. In addition, through technological projections, sound effects, and smoke machines, expressionism is intended to connote nightmares, dreams, and shadows. This is an explicit example of scientific and technological innovation as these techniques are used to increase performance intensity and convey meaning beyond the surface.

A.i.3Production evidence, Toller, Treadwell, Kaiser

Man and the Masses (1920) by Ernst Toller is an extremely prominent Expressionist play, targeting the themes of class conflicts, sacrifice, and revolution. The protagonist, “The Woman” is trapped between the ambition for joy, and commitment to social justice. It was noted by Britannica that Toller uses dehumanization and mechanization to convey the neglect experienced within capitalist societies. The stage design included machines used to emphasize the exploitation of the workers, essentially becoming extensions of the machines they operate, lacking individuality and symbolic of ‘machine-like’ nature, imposed by the wealthier class. People were no longer valued for their unique qualities but in their abilities to sustain economic growth, referred to by their pronouns instead of names. This actively illustrates a possible future in which the wealthy dominate due to their societal class, suggesting that without consideration for humanity, this will lead to severe decay in society, not progress.

In addition, Machinal is another example of expressionist theater that demonstrates chaos and disarray through fragmented speech and disorganized timelines to exemplify Helen’s inner turmoil. In her opening monologue, Helen cries ‘don’t touch me’ and ‘no I can’t’ explicitly demonstrating her fear and deterioration. Treadwell aims to illustrate the hallucination and complexity occurring in her mind, as she is unable to grasp control over her surroundings. This nonlinear flow creates an expressionist piece of theater in which the audience can interpret a future whereby avoiding our own personal needs, we lose control of ourselves and embark on a rollercoaster of negative emotions, evidently showing mental distress and lack of order.

Task 1, Investigating (Criterion A·ii)

Critique of The Encounter (Simon McBurney / Complicité)

A.ii.1Introducing the production

Through inspiration from the book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu, The Encounter was created by Simon McBurney, the artistic director of Complicité, a company widely recognized for utilizing multimedia techniques. This expressionist play highlights the story of a National Geographic photographer, who, while stranded in a remote tribe’s territory, forms a telepathic connection with them, reinforcing how humans discover distinct ways to connect beyond spoken language. This actively links to the statement of inquiry ‘art imagines possible futures’ as McBurney delves deep into the complexities of scientific and technological innovation to create a momentous experience, incorporating technological innovations such as projections, lighting, and overlapping sound effects to engulf the audience, describing his theater as an opportunity to ‘listen’ and not to ‘hear.’ This demonstrates the rapid change that has occurred in theatrical elements over time, and how future art forms merge creativity with technology to transcend storytelling.

A.ii.2What, how, why: the overlapping soundscape

In Simon McBurney’s, The Encounter, non diegetic, overlapping sound effects and projections are utilized in illustrating emotional turmoil and stress that Loren McIntyre encounters amidst his fragmented state of mind as he struggles to reconcile his past, his own identity, and disconnection from the modern world. This is evident when McBurney, portraying Loren McIntyre, is rapidly pacing around the stage, hammering materials on the ground, and vociferously yelling “this is too much” (1:35:03). Accompanying this illustration is an overlapping soundscape of sirens wailing, indistinct chatter, and a percussion track, along with a projection of what is designed to replicate flames, with red and orange mixtures across the screen.

This complex sound design serves as a pivotal moment in The Encounter, as the overwhelming, overlapping urban sound effects exemplifies the character’s emotional catastrophe that he is no longer able to suppress during this tough time. As he was an American photographer, a nation typically connoting busy roads, loud crowds and lively streets, the utilization of sirens, chatter, and percussion signifies his roots, illustrating how the familiar concepts loop in his mind. The projection of the fire symbolizes how the aspects of his life are slowly vanishing completely, being burned into ashes and taken away from him. This evokes a sympathetic response from the audience, as the oppressive and overlaying sound effects convey a sense of powerlessness and suffocation to the audience, inviting them to indulge in Loren’s crisis and express despair for him. Through the experimental use of sound and projection, The Encounter does more than depict a character who finds himself lost in his intensity; it envisions a scenario where emotional and cultural dislocation implants chaos, asking viewers to question their own relationship with their roots and culture, and their take on the modern world.

A.ii.3What, how, why: fragmented body + direct address

Throughout The Encounter, Simon McBurney uses fragmented body movements and breaking the fourth wall to vividly mirror the disjointed and chaotic nature of Loren McIntyre’s mind. This is evident when McBurney vigorously paces back and forth in a disjointed, static manner, bending his back, legs, and arms. While doing so, he aggressively chugs a bottle of water and breaks the fourth wall, stating, “There’s no evening meal, we sleep on the forest floor, we drink water,” emphasizing the character’s agony and suffering (1:24:22). The unnatural movements vividly exemplify Loren’s undergoing feelings of distress, and panic, symbolizing his struggle to maintain composure in his disorienting environment.

Furthermore, McBurney forms a visceral connection with the audience, directly informing them of the dire conditions, encouraging them to actively engage with the story and step into the character’s experience and foster sympathy; this also showcases how the themes of survival and resilience can extend beyond theater and into human experiences as well. The rigid body movements in desperation for natural resources encourages audience members to reconsider the consequences of overconsumption, demanding a new relationship with the environment that supports sustainability over exploitation. Through encouraging the audience to actively take part in the journey, this invites them to consider the urgent necessity for change, encouraging a deeper reflection of our role in society to shape a sustainable future before we are in desperation.

Task 2, Developing (Criterion B)

Artistic intention + the development journey

B.1Artistic intention

My artistic intention for this performance is to explore the complex relationship that lies between humans and technology, particularly the alienation and mental deterioration caused by the reliance teenagers have on digital devices. Furthermore, I aim to project the diverse ways in which this shift from human interaction to the complex digital world plays a pivotal role in fostering anxiety, low self esteem, and amplifies social alienation, especially amongst the younger crowd.

This performance is greatly inspired by the Statement of Inquiry that “Art imagines possible futures,” as the performance delves deep into a world entrapped with endless notifications, overwhelming advertisements and the pressure to maintain a perfect image. Using George Orwell’s 1984 as a stimulus, this performance aims to target how social media has grown to become a consuming force, attracting different teenagers all around the world to become someone they’re not. Using the dystopian world of 1984, where oppressive surveillance and constant empowerment inevitably led to the lack of free will and complete control, this performance explores the themes of disconnection amongst society, exploring how digital closeness results in the erosion of personal autonomy.

Using expressionism to emphasize the lack of genuine relationships in the increasing virtual world, I will include exaggerated and fragmented body movements to display the destroyed, emotional states curated by the media, demonstrating a lack of order and complex inner turmoil. Furthermore, using technological innovations, I will implement overlapping sound effects and dialogue conveys an overwhelming mental state, actively illustrating the vivid change in emotional distance experienced by those who are addicted to the technology present in their lives. Moreover, the cyclical structure symbolizes the perpetual nature of this detachment; once you begin to become addicted to your phone, it is a great challenge to attend to your old self and maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

B.2Developing ideas + mood board

Originally, my group and I had a range of unique ideas we wanted to incorporate. One of the practical explorations was a projection of text messages, in which the screen the individual was on was portrayed on the big screen, as a metaphor for how individuals feel obliged to constantly be active. However, through endless run throughs and practice, the mood board came into great use, serving as a constant source of inspiration for refining and enhancing our performance. Using the image of the texting projections on the top left, this sparked the idea to include a projection to symbolize the screens of cellular phones, which added a visual element to clearly transcend our artistic intention. Furthermore, the image of the advertisements in my mood board sparked an idea, in which my group and I act as models in advertisements, presenting taglines such as ‘just stick two fingers down your throat’ to demonstrate the diverse body issues and constraints young teenagers face.

B.3Scene 1, modifying the opening scene

Initially, my group and I conveyed this by each of us walking synchronously, in a robotic manner. As the sound effects of notification dings were being played, we would each lose our composure and walk aimlessly, without direction with our phones in hand. However, through careful consideration, we found that this scene was not visually appealing and failed to effectively communicate the impact of constant digital distractions.

Afterwards, as seen at 00:31, the idea sparked to include frames, as the cuboid shape greatly resembles the screen of a phone. By each of us ‘escaping’ the frames, it was clear in showing how individuals are simply representations of their phones. Our arms move erratically up and down to show the compulsive nature of scrolling. However, while the physical movements conveyed mindless behavior, the overall impact of disconnection did not convey our artistic intention to the full potential.

Therefore, as seen at 00:44, by implementing six frames as opposed to just one, with each of us having our own ‘phone screen’ this was more effective in portraying the lack of collaboration in a tech driven world. I also had the idea to implement flashlights as a symbolism for the incoming influx of notifications. This unique and stark lighting powerfully highlighted intense inner turmoil. We end this modification in a clump in the center, showing how although we are all different, we seem to have one thing in common: addiction to technology.

Through further improvement, we decided to change the positioning of the frames from a straight, horizontal line to a diagonal. This dynamic visual shift aided the symbolism of the fragmented, disjointed nature of our connection to reality, as straight lines typically connote order, control, and stability, whereas the diagonal arrangement disrupted this sense of structure. Moreover, instead of ending in a clump, we positioned ourselves in a triangle to emphasize imbalance.

Then, as seen at 1:17, when entering through the frame, we added an element where we ‘charged up’ to display how we are essentially being turned on, as digital devices. Furthermore, instead of moving our arms erratically throughout, we decided to build up a crescendo of dings, to demonstrate how the internet slowly drags people in. Through further exploration, the idea of adding LED lighting to the frames sparked in my head. Finally, on our final improvement, we found that it was suitable to include projections of notifications physically overlapping each other.

B.4Scene 3, modifying the nightmare scene

This scene began with a counterpoint of me, being stage left, and all my group members approaching me from the right, following a rhythmic pattern of a heartbeat (2:01). They then stood around me and pounced upon me, acting as a symbol of my brain during my time of rest. However, we felt it did not leave a lasting impression on the audience.

Therefore, I thought that we could incorporate frames into the piece as they play a crucial role throughout the performance, acting as a symbol for phone screens. As each of us walks out of the frames, it demonstrates how we essentially emerge directly from the phones and into the individuals’ brains. Furthermore, instead of having her get on her phone and us fading away, we chose for her to simply wake up from her nightmare, illustrating how her subconscious mind is filled with content consumed by the media.

Then, as seen at 2:47, we felt that perhaps circling the person in the center would be more visually appealing and impactful, emphasizing the sense of entrapment as we roam their brain uncontrollably. We decided to move the frames in a rhythmic beat, in sync with the heartbeat, to vividly show the strong heartbeat of the individual. After experimenting with this idea, we did not find it effective and thought it looked rather messy and unpleasant. Therefore, we thought that by physically throwing the frames down, this would escalate the emotional turmoil and fully convey the harsh and damaging impacts of the technology.

Finally, as seen at 3:24, this began by creating a more immersive, inclusive and relatable scene to the audience, replicating when a child is told to go to bed, but does not want to because of the societal pressures to stay online. Furthermore, as we place the frames on top of the individual in the middle, I eerily said “who goes to bed this early?” mimicking the voice in her head and embodying her visible inner turmoil. As we surround her in a fragmented and disjointed manner, she reaches up occasionally and fragmentedly says ‘chatting’ or ‘need’ actively illustrating her thoughts alongside the crescendo of the heartbeat. The scene ends with her screaming for help, symbolizing her desperate attempt to break free from the relentless cycle of social media consumption.

Task 4, Evaluating (Criterion D)

Evaluating the performance + development as an artist

D.1Opening, intention restated

My performance aims to convey the profound impact of teenagers’ increasing reliance on digital devices, which can affect their mental health, social relationships, and overall sense of identity. This performance holds significant inspiration from the Statement of Inquiry “art imagines possible futures,” shedding light on a potential reality where excessive time is spent on our digital devices, creating a barrier from meaningful connections with those who truly matter. It serves as a cautionary reminder, emphasizing that without change, this disconnected and isolated future lies within the realm of possibility.

D.2PEEL, overlapping projections (what worked)

A powerful aspect of my performance which aided the communication of my artistic intention was the overlapping projections, utilized in illustrating emotional turmoil and stress teenagers encounter amidst their complex state of mind. This is evident when we rapidly pace around the stage, holding our phone flashlights, as we move our arms in different directions mirroring the chaotic nature of our minds (00:15-00:20). Accompanying this is an overlapping projection of numerous notifications from various apps, creating a rising sense of tension and emphasizing the chaotic nature the digital world creates.

This simple, yet effective use of projections serves as a pivotal moment in the piece, as the overwhelming, overlapping notifications exemplifies not only the countless messages teenager’s receive within such a short period of time, but also the character’s emotional catastrophe. The messages, being indistinguishable and chaotic, symbolizes the erosion of genuine relationships in a generation derived by the media, forming a clear connection to the statement of inquiry. Furthermore, this scene is also demonstrated at the end of our performance to convey a cyclical structure, emphasizing how this is an endless tragedy affecting more lives than one.

D.3PEEL, advert scene + juxtaposition

Moreover, contrastingly, lively music is utilized with exaggerated advertisements to effectively highlight the unsettling reality and the overwhelming struggle to manage the harmful content curated from the media. This is exemplified from 2:10 to 2:37, during which my group and I stood behind our frames as models in advertisements, promoting items such as ‘waist trainers to keep you snatched!’ This vividly portrays the negative aspects often promoted online.

Accompanying this illustration is jolly, playful music, which significantly differs to the harmful messages being shared. This sharp juxtaposition plays a crucial role in amplifying our artistic intention, shedding light on the absurdity of how unrealistic ideas are marketed in lighthearted, positive manners. This aims to evoke a sympathetic response from the audience, as the contrasting music and disturbing advertisements convey a sense of powerlessness. Through the experimental use of sound, this scene envisions a scenario where social media implants lack of self worth.

D.4PEEL, solo scene (and what could be stronger)

Additionally, an impactful scene which aided the conveyance of my artistic intention was at 00:40-00:50, when I am standing center stage, isolated, with my flashlight in hand vigorously directing its beam in various directions with my arm, accompanied by the crescendo of fragmented dialogue. The sharp staccato of the fragmented dialogue, “addicted, can’t, won’t, screens, stop” powerfully illustrates the immense frustration and overwhelming sense of dependency on technology. By increasing vocal intensity when repeating said dialogue, this clearly demonstrates my deepening entanglement.

Although this section of the performance was certainly impactful, perhaps it could have been more prominent if space was also explored, such as reaching extremely close to the audience or physically moving my entire body as opposed to just my arms, in response to the incoming influx of notifications. This could have enhanced the sense of urgency and immediacy, building a personal connection and implying that my desperation has reached a breaking point. This physical intensity could have posed as a powerful warning to symbolize the inevitable consequences of excessive screen time.

D.5Development as an artist

This opportunity to create a devised piece of theatre pushed me to step beyond conventional theatrical methods, encouraging me to experiment with abstract, expressionist techniques such as fragmented movements, disjointed dialogue, and overlapping soundscapes. Moreover, I gained an understanding of how just small adjustments, such as incorporating heavy breaths or changes in tempo, can strongly illustrate a scene much more efficiently. This vividly expanded my creativity and allowed me to feel confident in unique risks while devising the performance, even when outcomes seemed uncertain.

Rather than seeing feedback as critique, it grew to become a strong tool for growth, enabling my group and I to recognize when certain ideas weren’t serving the intended purpose. An example where peer feedback greatly improved our piece was in scene 2, when the protagonist is center stage on a live stream, and the rest of the group are standing behind their frames vigorously insulting her. Originally, this scene consisted of us overlapping one another with rude comments. However, through receiving valuable feedback, we came to notice that this was not effective enough and instead sounded like gibberish. Therefore, in the final modification, my group members and I seep through the frames in an aggressive manner while saying one worded insults like ‘ugly,’ making it more generic and realistic as to what appears in the media.

A challenge my group and I encountered amidst the countless rehearsals was initiating scenes and exploring our ideas. We struggled with bringing our concepts to life, with our ideas only being vague themes. We were too fixated on the final product and were extremely productive in mind mapping unique elements we wanted to include in our piece, but found that it was an arduous task to get up and going. This initial struggle led to long periods of hesitation. Therefore, communication skills became a crucial factor in overcoming this challenge. Ultimately, we discovered that embracing the process and experimentation without the fear of failure was the true answer to productively creating a piece of devised theater.