PMD1/2 Masquerade Stimulus research - Annotations & Response VDU

As a group we decided the Mask of Red Death would be the most suitable stimuli to use. I was intrigued by this stimulus and decided to do further research and development into various performance possibilities and inspiration.

My initial ideas ...

- Hidden identity -> societal pressures to be the norm -> façade of two personalities/people -> your true self vs. fake identity

-Masquerade Ball -> Grand gala -> Gothic literature -> Dracula and vampires hosting grand ball-> Difference between humans and the supernatural -> Victorian era and traditions

-School Ball/ Prom -> more modern approach -> relatable to us as a company, suit audience age 16-17 -> choose to educate/inform -> inform on societal pressures and standards -> Mask symbolic to façade of people attempting to align with societal standards and place highly on hierarchical structure of power within school.

Artuad's "theatre of cruelty" work would be suitable for focus on hidden identity particularly with in the inclusion of gothic literature adapting well with the genre of horror and thriller. A focus can be draw upon the supernatural such as vampires and werewolves ,again complimenting Artuad's style of theatre where we can have an impact on the audience, making them feel involved and uncomfortable,therefore fully engaged in the piece.

Beckett's monologue strategy can also be suitable for the preshow in particular to convey our main ideas to the audience and set up the performance. His disjointed style of monologue is engaging for the audience, we can use his style of imagery too by having a focus on the mouths of the speakers to draw attention to the words. Within the monologue we can mention societal issues which we will choose to focus on, to help inform the audience on what the performance will encompass.

I suggest an audience of 16-19 years would be suitable for this stimulus and performance. If we choose to focus on the concept of hidden identity we can have underlying themes of the internet /social media and façades used online for power.
Drawing upon current societal issues will make our performance relatable and engaging to the audience. Additionally it will be easier to comprehend the message of the performance being how the internet has hypnotised its users and created an alternative doppelganger of which is their façade played.