This week the experiment of having students perform scenes from a selection of contemporary British plays in class has started… with top results!!
The first texts were Act I and Act III of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls and I can only say that the women students playing the roles turned out to be top performers much beyond my expectations. They cleverly combined reading (as I’d requested) with using whatever props the classroom could offer –from chairs to our big screen– adding some themselves: minimalist items of clothing and even a bottle of Bailey’s which, somehow, stole a particular scene… Churchill’s text indeed came alive in a way that mere reading cannot generate and thus the whole point of the exercise was accomplished. The ensuing class discussion was, also, lively and productive. These top performers set no doubt a very high standard, a challenge to be met by the rest of the class. Well done and THANKS!!!
There are perhaps two moments I want to highlight, one from each act. On Tuesday, Act I, I was sitting among the ‘audience,’ making notes to comment on, once performance was over, and I was so enthralled by the lady reading Lady Nijo that I simply switched off: I was no longer in the classroom but in a real theatre listening to a real actor. Wow, Luca, thanks for that moment. And a thousand thanks to Gloria for her amazing energy in organising six women who hadn’t met before for that first experiment. It was brave… On Thursday, Act III, Gloria herself and Maria provided us with another unforgettable moment when, as sisters Marlene and Joyce, they argued about Angie’s future. This girl is Marlene’s daughter but was raised by Joyce and what was at stake was how Marlene’s professional success depended to a great extent on Joyce’s sacrificial willingness to raise the baby Marlene had at 17. Our two performers shouted and screamed at each other with passion, anger and love –Maria blushed so furiously we were all scared and Gloria visibly trembled with Marlene’s effort to control herself. We all giggled now and then, awed by their performance.
Unforgettable!!