Kemal Cakli
Candidate Number: 3145
Evaluation of a live theatre performance
Word Count: 999

The production in review was one of the Impulsive Collective’s self directed pieces, Exposed. It was performed on Thursday 18th April at Redbridge Drama centre. The company consisted of recently graduated students who provided a stimulating merge of physicality, vocalisation and humour to portray human impulses. These impulses are shown through the play, on reflection their performance piece suggests that human impulses must be expressed and dealt with.

Upon entering the theatre, it was a single set space with a somewhat empty stage, our seats consisting of party poppers and elastic bands and an actor already present. This set not only provides the actors with easy transitions but represents that impulses are in us all and happen at any time, no matter our environment, thus the simple staging. We were also shown a PowerPoint presentation providing the dictionary definition of an impulse and a doctor’s suggestion of homeopathic remedies to cure impulses such as “always feeling like you’re about to fall off a cliff”. It was only during the production did we realise that the bowl of pills located down stage right were the homeopathic remedies. This was extremely effective as it reasserted our understanding of the remedies and what remedy ‘works’ for what impulse. Only at times did they use a spotlight when the narrator attempted to recite his monologue, being interrupted with either a slap from another actor or being given a hug with a long pause, creating an awkward humour in the audience. This repetition enforced to the audience that what the narrator had to say was important as he managed to say a section more of the monologue each time he tried. This spot light managed to break the fourth wall of the Proscenium stage and reinforced that narrator’s communication with his audience.

The entire production dealt with the idea of different characters that all have one thing in common; they all have impulses that cause damage to their own and others lives. During the police monologue, the audience were shown a clip of recorded sound, of police officers beating up a prisoner. What was most disturbing was after the performance the actors told us all footage was real. This takes away any artificiality from the production and gives the audience a true insight to impulses and their consequences. Their use of elastic bands as props managed to create tension and rhythm. Each actor varied the pace of the band, eventually creating an ensemble of sounds to reinforce the enjambment of their minds when their impulses occur. The relationship between the actors and audience for the majority of the performance remained at a distant. The actors did not intrude the audiences’ space, however the audience we invited onto the stage with 2 frozen actors already on stage, allowing us to act through our impulses. Their aim for this was to highlight the audiences’ impulses thus reinforcing the play’s presentation of impulses.

Stage management was maintained throughout where scene transitions remained smooth. With no use of stagehands the actors were consistent through scene changes, not affecting the running of the production or the meaning they tried to convey. The audiences’ reception compliments this as they received a positive reaction to the jokes and when one of the actors suffocated another with a plastic bag, an uncomfortable atmosphere hovered in the audience. The use of this prop signified the horror of some people impulses and the lengths one would go to satisfy them.

The use of the stage’s space was used to the upmost effort. The company had created a number of physical scenes where they all performed different movements of impulses in unison. This succeeded into a solid movement piece. The movement was used in the initial scene of the play which automatically grabbed the attention of each