Drama Review Homework 16/02/14 - Arts Award

Masquerade | GTS Drama Studio | Reviewed on Sunday 16 February 2014

As I sat in my seat ready to watch what was proposed to be an award worthy performance, I began to wonder whether a mere theatre production was to produce such a spine-chillingly feel with a minor set of a table, 4 chairs and some beer bottles, all shone upon with the use of some cringe-worthy stereotypical lighting in a deep red. 

This was the only part of the set that disappointed me slightly; it automatically produces a guard- you are ready and waiting for something horrific to happen due to the significance of blood, anger and fire through the use of the colour. Perhaps the colour white may have lead to a more frightful performance, with a switch to the colour red further on. Therefore creating a more frightful and jumpy atmosphere for the audience. 

But the main question was, will this be powerful enough to have the same effect of confusion and fear that is created through the use of special effects, but without the use of anything other than the four actors and their minimalistic props.

The answer to my question was yes. Admittedly, I wasn't shocked to the point of jumping out of my seat, but the original performance and eerie music complemented each other to create confusion and chills.

Primrose Hill (Previously seen in Agamemnon), provides an extremely convincing performance of what has been concluded to be a wife, fed up of family life, and abused by her husband, and children. Here we see Primrose removing any sign of emotion from her face, and shouting the word creep between parts of typical family conversation. This sets of what is formed like a glitch in their family. Her Husband (Patrick Stark) and two children (Amy Wright&Hayley Willats) then proceed to put on masks. The glitch is repeated, each time coming to an end with her husband shouting out sexual words, hinting to sexual abuse.

The performance came to an end with the family mingling throughout the audience, creating shock and tension. Primrose drew to a close what was a chilling, yet twisted performance with her own version of a beautiful, yet cruel dance. This resembled the likes of ballet, but she created the shock factor with slowly falling to the floor to signify an ending to not only the performance, but her character.

I left the room mulling over the whole performance in great deal, how could a performance with such little props or detail, have a such a strong message. Let alone leave such a strong feeling of confusion throughout the whole audience. As the final applause sounded, I watched as every watcher, discussed a variety of deep, different messages, everyone with a different view on what a simple rendition of family life could be trying to create.

A performance that could have ended up being a tragic attempt to give the audience a scare, ended in being a twisted and unusual performance, that left me with thoughts to fill up the rest of the day. A chilling interpretation of a woman masked by family life.