GCSE Drama – Live Theatre Evaluation

Two performances which I found particularly compelling in Approaching Empty were Rina Fatania as Sameena and Kammy Darweish as Mansha. The two actors conveyed two different aspects of the immigrant experience, partly due to their being from different generations. Mansha’s middle-aged character spends most of the play sitting in his office chair, occasionally occupying himself with minicab business tasks or turning to watch the TV. His hand gestures are often gentle or even pleading. By nature, he avoids fights, so his open hands and calming voice are suited to this. It is very different from Sameena, whose first entrance makes a strong impression on the audience. She bursts in from stage left and angrily stomps on stage wanting to attack Mansha, who she feels has treated her disrespectfully. She juts her chin out and has one hand curled into a fist. Her speech is fast-paced as she spits out her complaints. Her rage is so unremitting and unexpected that it provokes appreciative laughter from the audience. It is only when Raf moves between her and Mansha and he concedes that she will get the next job that she backs off. From Fatania’s performance, which was one of my favourites in the play, it is clear that Sameena has not had an easy life and has to fight for everything she gets. Despite his relatively meek exterior, through the middle section of the play, Mansha begins to find some backbone, and this is conveyed through Darweish’s performance. In the beginning of his conflict with Raf, he rubs his thumb and fingers together to indicate money, complaining, ‘You’ve got the cream of it as well.’ At another point, his gestures show the further deterioration of their relationship. When he finally decides to buy the business, he slowly stands and says in a solemn, low-pitched voice, ‘Sell it to me.’ This is a turning point, when Mansha decides he can make something more of his life. However, when they lose everything, Darweish’s performance conveys this disappointment. His facial expression collapses into one of despair. His mouth is tight and he looks down. His hands are loose at his side. He appears to be fighting off tears when his son-in-law tells him off for being a loser. At the end of the play, he is a defeated man, and we feel sympathy for him. His performance made clear to me how difficult it is to get ahead in a world which seems to be set against him. B TASK 9 1 Choose a performance from a play you have seen and answer the following question: Analyse and evaluate one performance in the production and explain how it creates interest and meaning for the audience. 2 Then annotate your answer in the same way as the answers above for detail, terminology, analysis and evaluation. TASK 10 Choose one of the questions below and make a detailed plan for how you would answer it: a Analyse and evaluate how one actor’s characterisation was used to support the themes of the production. b Evaluate how one or more actors’ skills conveyed the style and genre of the production in two scenes and the impact their choices had on you as an audience member. Advice on how to make plans can be found on pages 66–67 in this book. TIP You can use the acronym DATE to check your work: D etails A nalysis T erminology E valuation. TIP Part of the evaluation can be your particular reactions to a performance. These may be individual to you, but should be based on your experience as a thoughtful, well-informed audience member. 23 CHAPTER 3 ANALYSING AND EVALUATING ACTING