Reviewing our recent production of Take me by the Tongue, I thought it was an excellent production with high energy and many humorous moments. The audience varied from students to older people, which was good because from the start of our company we have stated that our work is for a wide range of people. It is important to have a range of people as it creates more money for the company as more people want to see it. The staging of this production worked extremely well as it was something different and allowed the audience to follow the performance and as a performer this gave more intensity due to having the audience so close the performance space.
‘Promenade theatre is extremely versatile. With no formal stage, and the audience and actors occupying the same space, it allows for experimentations with both new and old plays, and explores what the theatrical experience can entail for an audience. In moving the audience around throughout the performance, promenade theatre also pushes boundaries of setting in a way that can’t be achieved in regular theatre.’(Gouk, 2012, Online)
This staging really worked for this production and can be explored again for future performances, even challenging the location of where we perform, allowing Hand me down to explore various locations. Demi-paradise is a Lancaster theatre company who works a lot with promenade exploring the audience and performer relationship. This idea would be something that we can develop allowing a lot more audience participation. As a performer in Hand me Down it allowed me to become more aware of the audience and making sure the audience are involved as it makes the speeches become more powerful and effective bringing across a powerful message particular in the ‘generation game’ scene.
The costumes in Take me by the Tongue worked smoothly and quickly this is because in every new scene there would be a transition with costume. The idea behind item of clothing for parts of a new scene was to also compliment the staging. This is because both costume and stage design needed to collide together making it a smooth production with no faffing. For example in Take me by the Tongue,The flowery, girly, innocent looking dress which was used in one scene, contradicts the personalities of the two characters as they talk about themselves being villains. It’s completely suggestive and again shows the feminists intentions behind this scene, using one dress to show the feminity message.
(Taken by Jozey Wade: 2014)
Gouk.A. (2012) Behind the Scenes: Promenade Theatre. Available: http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/behind-the-scenes-promenade-theatre/ [Last Assessed: 1st June 2014]