Evaluation of Political Protest

Today we performed our political protest in front a large group of students during their break-time. After watching the protests from last year, I had a lot of expectations for both myself, my group and for the reaction we would generate from the audience and although we faced some challenges as a group, I believe the strengths of the piece fulfilled my expectations.

The piece was focused on the government cuts to the NHS and how it effected the most basic treatments, especially in emergency situations. There was also a focus on the slow privatisation of the NHS by the government due to issues with the production of medicines and their distributions. We set the scene with 3 doctors in bloody aprons and bloody hands, begging for money with posters detailing the reasons for our plight. Behind us was a stand labelled 'Tory NHS Tuck Shop' and laid out were packets of drugs, plasters, bandages and vials of blood. As the doctors begged for money the Tory MP was selling the drugs for extortionate prices. To enhance the message we had someone walk in half way through the piece and convulse on the floor in front of us. When the doctors tried to treat her, the equipment and treatment required would be denied by the Tory claiming it was too expensive. The message behind this piece related to the lack of basic treatment as a direct consequence of the £20 billion cuts made to the NHS.

This first picture shows the group in our costume, actively protesting during the piece. The second, our 'Tory NHS Tuck Shop.' These 2 pictures illuminate the ideas that we have been brainstorming for 2 weeks and the finished product we created. To further understand the effectiveness of the final piece, I must look at the strengths and weaknesses of both the piece as a whole and the role I played throughout the process.

I think one of the main strengths of the piece was it's ability to immerse the audience in the protest. We weren't tied down by the requirements of any particular space, so were able to walk around within our area, approaching audience members and discovering the best locations to push our protest forward most effectively. By making the doctors beg for money, we were showing the sheer desperation for funding caused by the government cuts. With 3 of us taking on this role, by spreading out throughout the space, we were able to ask everyone, pushing our message through at all angles. It also meant people would most likely here the message more than once, allowing them to identify the desperate cry from the NHS asking for funding. The loose configurations of the piece, allowed the performance to spread it's message widely, a very important, effective technique within political theatre.

Another strength of the piece was the topic we chose- the cuts to the NHS. It is something that has been headlining the news since 2010 and therefore a topic the audience could identity with quickly, efficiently enticing them to further investigate our protest. The effectiveness of a political protest greatly depends on the topic; if you can get people to rally behind your protest, you have fulfilled a key demand of the piece- people will stop and think about the issue and perhaps do something about it. Proof of this was the fact that we had donations from the audience, showing their awareness and want to interact with our cause. If this is the case, your political protest is successful, as it has brought the issue to the forefront of your audiences mind, forcing them to question outside the box they are put in by social and moral standards- something Brecht would encourage.

However, to fully evaluate the piece I must also look at the weaknesses of the piece. Although the location didn't restrict us in some ways, it did in others. At break-time, the reception is one of the busiest places in the whole school. If we had been the only group protesting in this area I believe it would have made the piece more effective; unfortunately, there was a total of 5 groups in the reception area, causing a hectic atmosphere for both performers and audience members. I believe the audience became bombarded by all the different group, all of whom were shouting and fighting to try and get their point across most effectively. I believe somewhere within this process, the audience members lost what we were saying and turned their attentions to escaping the now loud and busy lobby. I believe part of our message was lost in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. In the future, I would choose a location with the same steady flow of people, but perhaps a larger area, instead of confining them. Moreover an extended communication with the other groups about their locations may have sorted some problems.

Although immersive, our piece was not necessarily interactive. From personal experience and also what I witnessed from the performance, the audience seemed to be drawn to pieces that immersed them further by forcing to interact with their piece. Some examples I saw, were people buying children and they had to write down which child they wanted and people selling cakes to the audience. I think this makes the people feel less like spectators and more like vital people within a performance. In future I would involve interactive elements within the piece to centre the audiences
attention to our piece.

Overall, putting on this performance in under 3 weeks has been a challenge, but one every member of the group was willing to tackle, with an end goal of an effective, thought provoking piece. I feel very happy with our piece and am delighted to have worked with people who's passion and motivation drove the piece to it's destination.