Lesson Three

In today's lesson we talked about what we were going to do for our performance. We discussed the space we had and what we were going to do with it, then we split into groups and were given an area to develop a piece.

We will be creating an Immersive theatre experience which is audience led so they can go wherever they want. The audience will be allowed to explore the different rooms and will be able to join in with the performance. The audience will be the story teller and every audience member will see a different story/performance because we will have prepared 3 or 4 hours worth of performance material but we will only be performing 1 hour worth of that material. Our play is going to be set in 2050 and will end by a revolution taking place and O'Brien will die .

The set will be very detailed and have senses so that the audience can tough object, smell things, touch, taste and be able to interact with the set without the actors being there. We will also use some of the spaces to incorporate multimedia for example: Audio, images, video, live feed, projection, lighting, smoke and set.

1984 Rules of engagement (Source One)

• The audience must be dressed in boiler suits (something cheaper, sash, masks?)
• The audience is given free reign to explore a massive set.
• The set engages multiple senses - sight, sound, touch - and is incredibly detailed design.
• The set must be large enough to get lost in or feel totally alone at moments.
• The set lighting is typically quite dark with deliberate, staged pockets of light.

For each room we use we need to know the assets of the room, what the multimedia opportunities are, the function of the performance and the set and props we need for each room.

411 = Room 101

This is going to be the torture room where peoples worst fears are and is where we could have torture tool, sounds of screaming and a torture handbook. We could also find out what the audiences fear are in a questionnaire or by asking them but so they don't know why so that the fears are specific and will affect the audience.

Lecture Theatre = Reception Area

This is where the audience will be briefed to the performance, it will have a cold atmosphere and there will be a projection of big brother on the wall.

418 = Winston's/Hero Home

In here we will have his diary, a telescreen and home props.

413 = Ministry food hall

This will be the 'ministry of truth' canteen where we will be cooking real food and which I will explain in more detail in a later post because this is my groups room.

415 = O'Brien's Office

This will also include the monitoring station so there will be lots of files, video evidence of thought criminals and live feed of the audience in the other rooms.

Space = Group Hate Room

This will be where people shout and footage which will be of the enemy and footage showing rebels attacking. We will also have thought police watching for people who are not supporting big brother.

Hallways = Propaganda

In the hallways there will be lots of computer screens showing notices and speakers saying slogans and things about education etc. 

Court Yard = Exercise area

This can be used to show the Joy Camps (Labour camps) and what goes on there or it can be used in chase scenes when the thought police are chasing someone.

Grass and Trees = Woods or Rebels

In this area we might have the rebels asking the audience to join the revolution so they can take part in the rebellion or we will have hidden cameras in the trees so even though they think they are safe they are still being watched.

In this performance there will be a strong sense of security with people guarding rooms with weapons and ear pieces looking out for thought criminals.

It is essential that the audience take part. They will be respected visitors to air strip one for the day. They will be briefed before they enter our world and it can be a large audience(100?)We will be able to involve the audience and ask them to do things and certain audience



members may be taken away and be part of a scene so that everyone has a different experience. The use of multimedia will add to our performance and make it more realistic.