Chantelle Thought Sal example essay topic

Drama I watched a play called "other peoples shoes", Drama studio, written by Danny Braverman and directed by Clair Chapman. The play was basically about the lives of young people in a secondary school. The different characters each experienced different problems whether that was socially, educationally, emotionally, or sexually. The play basically gave us an insight of what it would be like if we were in the shoes of these people, who found life a bit of a struggle because they were different from other people, and were classed as not being "Normal". They play showed teenage kids, who suffered in their own ways, a sense of exclusion. As well as inspiring, the play was fun to watch as they used a variety of styles and genres.

The style was theatre like, which meant the style was very physical, educational, minimalist and forum as the play, was like a public meeting place for open discussions. From the opening scenes, I gathered up the idea that the play was very modern. This was reflected through the dialogue, the props and background. The play was mainly kept very contemporary as many of the different problems and characteristics in the play related to the present, or immediate past of many issues that occur on today. The modern style was carried out throughout the play, very effectively as they used slang, to represent the way in which teenagers carry themselves nowadays. (i.e. when Melissa said to Sal "Ay, are you a lesbo?" ) The director used thought tracking to go back in time so, the audience can get a taste of the characters past was like and how they got to be, they way in which they are.

Monologues were used quite a lot so we can have a set focus, on one character, to know their inner feelings and emotions and why they feel, they way in which they do. The play was set in East London, a democratic society with a mixed variety of cultures, creating a multi-cultural society, which meant that some people didn't fit in, as they came from a particular background or country. A good example of this was when Melissa didn't want to work with Vardaan, because his English was not up to Melissa's standards, and Melissa assumed, because of the colour of his skin, he came from Kosovo, and being a Kos oven was a bad thing to her. Melissa made him an outcast and this brought down Vardaan's self-esteem.

Melissa's bitterness, created an atmosphere of tension and people, tried to keep themselves to themselves, and not share their inner feelings and emotions, they truly had. (i.e. Sal kept her true feelings in her diary that only her eyes could see.) Music was used to reflect the culture of the characters we explored. They used popular r 'n' b music that many teenagers listen to now. They used the music very effectively as they choose an r 'n' b singer who sings about the wrong in gun crime and violence. Miss dynamite is an r 'n' b singer, who sings about peace, someone that people see as a role model, who they can look up to, and follow their example.

Sal followed Miss Dynamites footsteps and made not a song, but a poem about her feelings and emotions. The theme that stuck in my mind which was explored in the play, was the scene where Melissa, knew that Sal was attracted to a member of the same sex and used this against Sal to weaken her status as she knew Sal didn't want anyone to know about the way she felt, so every time Melissa would walk past Sal, she " ll call her a "lesbo" Melissa spoke in a manipulative and scheming tone, which just completely lowered Sal's status. This got to Sal, but if I was to play her character, I would not have just put my head down and walked very fast away from Melissa, but stood my ground and told Melissa, that there was noting wrong in feeling the way in which Sal felt. The scene was staged at the back of the stage, which symbolized that Sal was in a position that was hard to but not impossible to speak her heart out. From the consequences that occurred later on in the play, where, Sal felt as thought, she had lost a best friend I learnt that, its better off to share your a thoughts and feeling with other people, or someone whom you feel close to. Sal could have even spoken to someone who was in the same situation as her, as she had a male cousin who was sexually attracted to members of the same sex as he was.

If you kept something to yourself, and not tell someone, you should expect it to in the end finally come out, but just not in a very pleasant way. Another scene that was explored in the play was, when Sal was trying to tell Chantelle, that she loves her, in ways, which is more then, a friend. Sal was obviously not being bold enough because Chantelle thought Sal was being sweet and she meant it in a friendly gesture. This scene was set where Chantelle and Sal, were talking, sitting on chairs based on the front of the stage, and Chantelle said to Sal, that she's happy and lucky to have her.

This gave Sal, the opportunity to tell Chantelle about the way she felt, but if I was to act out Sal, I would have opened out more, and actually told Chantelle that I admired her, and my feelings for her were deep. The production made me think that all the characters had something in common, and if they interacted and communicated with each other, most if not all their problems would have been solved, as all their problem were similar, because they were all suffering from exclusion. The play was mainly set in school and by the setting of the stage I could clearly see the play was set in a classroom. The way the, layout of the chairs were set out worked effectively as, when there was a change of scene, one or two chairs would be removed, and so the audience could clearly see, it was the beginning of a new scene.

No lighting or any special effects were used as it was not necessary, nor was it needed for any part of the play. The costumes that were used where realistic and symbolic to modern day, as the characters wore the popular and most common uniform of black trousers and a white shirt. Vardaan, wore like everyone else, black trousers, a white shirt and trainers The teacher wore, black fitted trousers a white shirt and a scarf, and this made her look more sophisticated, and communicated to the audience that she had a higher status then Vardaan and his classmates. All the actresses and actors performed well but the character that stood out the most for me, was Sal. Sal was a very interesting character has, she had so many different personalities. Sal would be happy, rude, kind, sharing and funny depending on who she was with.

Sal was a very lively individual. To me I saw Sal as a very confused person, who didn't have trust for many people, and so wrote all her true feelings and emotions in her book. She would put on a brave face, as if putting on a mask of another person who doesn't care about what anyone thinks, and just likes to have fun, but really behind that mask, she's a lost sheep who needs someone to lead the way for her. It was hard for Sal to trust someone, and when she finally had trust in her best friend Chantelle, Chantelle betrayed her. This was when Sal took the mask off and showed the true Sal. Sal was a very exciting character to watch, as you never expect exactly what she would do next.

The play thought me of how bullying and provoking others does not always have to be shown, by Violence or loud voices. It can be done in soft, arrogant voice the way in which Melissa done to Sal. As the play was forum, I learnt that slightly altering a piece of drama can come to a conclusion. On the whole I really enjoyed watching the play, and the discussions at the end, of what we would do differently if we were either Sal, Vardaan, Melissa or Chantelle..