During our last rehearsal Wes attended, and we discovered that we needed to develop our performance slightly. After Wes had explored each of our sections of the path we had a discussion about them. For Jordan’s section, of just sitting with the audience, we were advised that, rather than just having a blank wall for them to stare at, we should actually place something there for them to look at. We thought about maybe having a table with a vase of flowers, however, due to the lighting that we are using it may be too dark for them to be able to see the flowers. We have decided that we will use either a lava lamp or a candle (we will experiment with both to see which best suits our piece). We feel that this will be good visual stimuli for the audience to look at as it will make the atmosphere less awkward.
For my section, of holding hands with the audience members, we decided that the chairs that we use need rearranging. This is due to the fact that when they were side by side and we all agreed it was awkward. So now we will be angling them towards each other with a small gap in the middle of them in which I will place my hand, after saying the beginning speech, for the other person to hold if they want to. This just makes it easier for both myself and the participants. Previously I placed their hands inside my own which then made it awkward for them when they wanted to leave as it made them feel somewhat trapped. This then made it seem like I had ownership over them. Whereas now, by holding just one of their hands in the middle of us both, it makes us equals in the relationship.
Leanne’s section, of cuddling the audience, has not really changed much. The only thing that we have altered is that fact that there will only be one chair now, which is for her to sit on whilst waiting for someone to come to her. She will then stand up and deliver the beginning speech of asking them if they want to partake in the piece. We decided to remove the other chair as then she did not have to ask them to stand up.
While discussing Demi’s section we realised that for the audience to kiss her it will take a lot of commitment on their part. We wanted to give them something at the end to thank them for joining in in our experiment. We also wanted them to have a souvenir that they could keep to remember the performance so at the end Demi will give them a napkin, which she will have kissed while wearing red lipstick, which they can take away with them. We also decided to change the angle of the chairs in this section to give equal ownership to the action. Whereas before, the chairs were positioned so that Demi would have to lean in towards the person, which could be a bit imposing.
