Jasper's Group Performance

Jasper's group performance took place in the hut. We were instantly transported into their world by directly being addressed by Jasper as if we were students before we even entered the site. This gave me an initial idea about what their piece would entail before it even properly started. The site was dressed as a school class room set in the 1914. Though this was done in quite a minimalist way, through the modern plastic chairs and a white board, I feel it was carried effectively as it allowed us to completely imagine the setting and create the world yourself rather than it being created for us. These were definitely two of the stronger aspects of their piece that helped immerse the audience into a 1914 classroom, however I feel the genuine aspects of the site that were specific for that area were lost.

Personally, I don't think the distinction between the modern day classroom and the 1914 classroom was made clear enough or explored in enough detail for it to leave a large impact, however, I did like the idea they were trying to explore and feel it was an interesting story to tell. The parallels made between the two classrooms helped us as theatre viewers, travel through time from 1914 to modern day - something we definitely can't achieve in general life, staying true to the experimental term. They mixed audience interaction with music. facts and theatrics that helped create an experimental and interesting experience to take part in.

I feel Jasper held the most prominence in the piece; though this may only be due to the fact I did not see any of the other cast members or that I couldn't decipher them from audience members - and that his bold and brave choices held the piece together. He was extremely believable as a 1914 teacher and helped carry the illusion successfully along for the audience - however, it would've been nice to see the other members clearly.

Overall, I generally enjoyed the piece. Though I feel they could have definitely explored more specific aspects of the site to incorporate into their story to make it a little bit more unique to the area, I found the concept they were trying to display interesting as an audience member as well as conjuring up interesting questions to think about in regards to our school environments and the social values from the different time periods.