lesson three

In todays lesson we worked on our solo performances that we were devising from a stimulus. my stimulus is the poem 'Dulce et decorum est'. I chose it as I think it gives a very visual, impacting view of the war. my original idea was to read a section of the poem I had chosen whist physicalizing it in an inhuman way. grabbing my arms legs and all over my body and expression the pain i was feeling on them as if I had been shot a thousand times. However after performing it to the class we decided it would be better, as the words themselves are so powerful, if i contrasted it with something gentle like holding a baby.I this this is a very good idea as it shows the contrast of war and home life and also shows the audience the shock soldiers must have got when arriving at the trenches because of how different it would have been to home. In future lessons I am going to re work my piece and try to change it to fit more with this new idea as I think it will improve the piece greatly.

Aside from the change that I am going to make with my physicality I was very happy with my piece when I performed it. however when I develop it more I want to work on making the way I say the poem itself more impacting by making my voice harsher and changing the pace at which I say certain parts as I think the language in the poem is the most impacting part of it because of the imagery it creates so emphasising lines like 'froth corrupted lungs' really shows how hideous the war was and the things that surrounded it.

I also want to include noises separate to my voice such as slamming my feet together as this puts the audience on edge and heightens the imagery making them feel as if they are really there in the trenches or on the battle field.