Interview
GRADE 9 AQA GCSE DRAMA DEVISING LOG
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GRADE 9 AQA GCSE DRAMA DEVISING LOG. All three sections included. Full marks awarded in 2019.
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Elizabeth QuiggCandidate number 5019
Sandhurst School centre number 51115
‘The Panopticon’-Devising log
Section 1: Response to a stimulus
Our stimulus was a presentation containing a series of pictures, accompanied by Eva
Cassidy’s 1996 rendition of ‘Somewhere over The Rainbow’. The pictures at the beginning of
the presentation were vibrant, showing the exciting, technicolour view of youth. As the
presentation continued the pictures faded, lacking the colour shown earlier and with more
implicit meanings. Initially, I noticed the contrasting lyrics and tone of the song. The lyrics
talked about ‘dreams coming true’ and ‘rainbow skies’, however, these lyrics were
antithetical to Cassidy’s tone, making it seem mournful, like she was reminiscing about
previous dreams but was no longer innocent enough to realise them.
My response to the track was pity. I related to Cassidy as it felt like she was trying to seek
refuge from her struggles in the idyllic lyrics. I reflected on my life, the contrast between my
life now to the comparatively stress-free version of myself a decade ago. Despite the pity I
felt for Cassidy it did not translate exactly as I felt that the difference between my past and
present self was too great to have feel her connection to her childhood.
The song inspired our piece as we considered how and why we lose innocence. We
concluded that power was a recurring theme in this process: something had to have power
over a person in order to take their innocence or invoke an impulse to give it away. We
thought about powerful ideas or acts including crimes, such as assault or the idea of fighting
for a cause. We agreed that our piece should be thought-provoking, this led to the decision
to shape our piece around a strong, perhaps politically charged subject but also to create
emotional conflict within and between our characters to balance our emotional and
thoughtful intentions. Consequently, we looked at power in more depth and were drawn to
the quote ‘the individual is the product of power’ by Foucault. We researched Foucault and
discovered the ways he believed power was linked to institutions such as schools, hospitals
and prisons. Could we link the theme of losing innocence to an institution?
Additionally, we discovered his theory ‘panopticism’, the idea that surveillance modifies an
individual’s view of the world. ‘Panopticism’ refers to Bentham’s ‘panopticon’ prison design,
whereby continual surveillance caused prisoners to habitually monitor their own behaviour,
resulting in paranoia. We set our play in such a prison, linking the theme of lost innocence to
the Panopticon, a building that Foucault called a ‘mechanism of power’.
Such a prison enabled us to contrast the enforcement of physical power with the power of
Cecelia’s memories and experience of life.
I looked for images, interviews and quotes that resonated with our theme. One example of
my research was Adam Curtis’ documentary ‘hypernormalisation’, part of his thesis was
‘perception management’, the idea that if issues seemed complex enough people would
reach a state of cognitive dissonance, this came to inform Cecelia’s treatment throughout. I
then questioned how we could use this concept and merge this idea of power with
panopticism to develop our narrative. To provoke a socio-critical response they had to
, Elizabeth Quigg
Candidate number 5019
Sandhurst School centre number 51115
question the ways in which the power dynamics of the prison changed the characters so that
they would then ask how the power of institutions affected them personally.
The aim of our piece was to make our audience reflect on the ways in which the distribution
of power affected each character. We believed that emotional involvement would enhance
our audience’s ability to make considered judgements about the social comments of our
work. We thought that if our audience was emotionally invested in the play and were able to
identify with our characters then they would consider it’s messages in their own life. To do
this we used a naturalistic dramatic style. Our acting style would create the impression of
reality and present a representation of real life that was theatrically effective.
However, we did use some Brechtian tropes such as symbolic characterisation to create a
parable. We exemplified this intention in Cecelia who would be the ‘product’ of the prison.
My role was to play Dr Milgrim, a psychologist that designs a treatment to repeatedly expose
Cecelia to a traumatic event in her life. My character’s objective was trigger a state of
catharsis in Cecelia through getting her to admit guilt. On the surface she is obsessive,
distrusting and cold, however, as the play progresses it becomes more clear that she is
more fragile than she appears, as work becomes a way to block out the stresses of her
fragmenting personal life. Her compulsive monitoring of Cecelia’s behaviour leads to a
power struggle between her Dr Emit. My narrative objective was to create conflict in order to
feel sympathy for Emit and Cecelia. However, I maintained a sense of complexity throughout
as I aimed to incorporate moments where the audience could sympathise with, but not agree
with my actions.
For example, tapping my fingers rhythmically against a cup or desk with a dismissive look
conveyed a sense of arrogance and sarcasm during my scenes with Emit, yet this
mannerism would mark my anxiety and paranoia later in the play.
Word count for section 1: 851 words
Section 2: Development and collaboration
Through discussions, we decided that the most appropriate way to proceed was to write a
script. This helped to structure our play around key moments to create a clear yet emotional
storyline. I wrote much of the play, taking inspiration from the concluding scenes of Sartre’s
‘No Exit’.
I studied the units and objectives of my character. This heavily influenced my use of physical
and vocal skills throughout the piece; I now reviewed each rehearsal based on how
convincingly I had demonstrated Milgrim’s motivations. Consequently, my acting became
more authentic and multi-faceted and the range of emotions portrayed developed hugely.
The authenticity that this exercise led to intensified moments of dramatic tension, as
interactions between characters became more raw and believable.
Costume also provided an opportunity to realise the changing units and objectives of my
character; it helped to clearly differentiate between the personal and the professional. My
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