Receiving Amanda Script, discussing newspaper topic and introduction to protest

The “Amanda” Script

Today we were assigned our script for our group performance which we will perform at the end of this term. Ours is “Amanda” from Theatre Uncut which is a series of short political plays written by new writers who respond to a current political question each year. Theatre Uncut’s plays are made available and free for anyone anywhere to perform to get people talking, thinking and taking action about political issues. I have booked a ticket at the Young Vic to see Amanda performed by Theatre Uncut to support me with my study this term.The creators of Theatre Uncut carried out a public survey to decipher a political question to write about and perform and settled on “Do people become more right wing in hard times?”. This is as a result the stimulus for “Amanda”.

As the plays respond to a current political question it was important that this was equally matched by updating the script , as stated at the front of it, to the area and circumstances of when it was performed. An example of this was one of my lines

"She is her in her high-ceilinged Edwardian flat in Victoria. Where she live. Here where she lives by herself." Tim told me to change this to a high-ceilinged Victorian flat in London. Clapham." The newer version is slightly more relevant and has more of a chatty colloquial tone .

...as well as aligning the time Amanda is in the bath to when we are performing the piece. I feel this will add to the feeling that Amanda’s troubles are present, prominent and inescapable and the political issues she hides herself from are existing current worries. Although throughout the piece her particular political duties and doubts aren’t revealed nor her political status or party, this intrigues the audience as to what they are, creating a captivated audience provoking debate in their minds as to what personally feels politically incorrect for them at that present.
I feel that although the script is clearly abstract as people portray Amanda's various voices it is also clearly very human as well as stress and anxieties are relatable to everybody.

For me the prominent message of Amanda is first and foremost to alert people to the fact that politicians are humans despite the hard outer shell they are perceived to have. This play challenges and manipulates common views of a politician which may be within the audience. We are studying Brecht so will therefore rehearse, stage, devise and perform it in a Brechtian style to emphasise this as Brecht also wanted the audience to be challenged,engaged and question their views which is what the piece Amanda promotes. I think the playwright, Kieran Hurley, purposely didn’t state Amanda’s political status and opinions as she is trying to show that it is irrelevant and regardless of what her political opinions are, she is still human. Showing her relaxing, or trying to relax, in her bath in her own home demonstrates a vulnerable side to politicians not often seen or acknowledged, which I think is engaging and can alter audience perceptions if performed effectively. Lastly, the audience’s mind is most stimulated by the ending as we are left unsure of whether or not Amanda finds the courage and energy to face another day of work or whether she chooses to stay underwater and drown instead.

Newspaper topics and beginning our protest

We discussed current newspapers topics from various papers in small groups and fed back to the rest of the class whether we think they are politics with a “small P” or “big P”, why this is and our opinion on it.
Politics (Big P) = is to do with government and society at large. It involved issues such as conservative vs liberal, right-wing vs left-wing. Typically political issues that are obviously political such as whether or not the BNP should be allowed to be a party. This clearly relates directly to the subject of politics.
politics (small p) = relate to a small scale, more personal politics between individuals and groups. This includes racism, intolerance, sexism and how we interact with others on a daily basis.  Everything we do I political.

We discussed the suggestion that Burqas should not be allowed in England or Europe since a story of a suspected terrorist who used one as a disguise was brought into light, which created a very interesting conversation. -

I understand the view that this topic is Politics (P) as this man has broken the law and is being sought by the police. I feel this topic could fit into either categories but personally feel it is Politics (p) as the article prominently deals with racism rather than the laws and how the government is planning to deal with this.

My Thoughts: I feel this topic is very controversial and found myself agreeing with contradicting arguments at some points. I agree that it is a human right to freely express ones religion but can also agreed with Nicholas's point that others may view covering all parts of one’s body except their eyes as unreasonably excessive or an opportunity for mishaps to take place, such as discussed in the newspaper article. However, I feel that the overwhelming majority of Muslims have no such intent and only wish to practice their beliefs. I feel disarming Muslims of their right to wear Burqas due to a particular and rare incident regarding one person would be unacceptable as that one person cannot represent an entire community of people. In my opinion, it would be similarly wrong to ensure that all school students are escorted form their house due to a small proportion misbehaving outside of school as you cannot put one umbrella over a large diverse group of people.

BEGINNING OUR PROTEST PLANNING:

The political subjects discussed in class today shall act as a great stimulus for possible topics to protest against. I am interested in exploring the Burqa argument as I feel strongly that people should be allowed to wear them to express their religion but understand that this is also highly controversial and I can sympathise with why people may disagree. There is potential for many dynamic and unexpected ways to approach this complex issue but seeing this is my initial thought I am going to explore many other politics (big P and little p) topics before deciding, which will help widen my political knowledge for this term.