Evaluation

We finally did our performance at the Hospice on 10th July 2015 and overall it went really well.

The day began with us all arriving 2 hours before the performance time which allowed us to do an extensive vocal and physical warm up as well as a full run through and polishing of certain items. It really helped to get us settled and focused on the task in hand.

We then did the performance which ran smoothly, with everyone playing their individual parts. Prior to beginning the project I anticipated I would enjoy the performance the most out of anything else we had done but actually, I found that I enjoyed the process more. I enjoyed doing the performance but it was very much signalling the end of our time at St Christopher's, and I found that the process was the most important part for me. I thought the performance being public was very beneficial because it provided the patients with the service of being able to watch a performance, as many of them will not be able to go to a theatre any more. The audience reaction was very positive, with many of the patients getting emotional, which we were concerned about, but after speaking to them they told us that they were elated by the performance.

Something interesting to note at the end of the project was everyone's roles and responsibilities within the community theatre organisation;

Anna and Rachel - They took the role of the directors of the project and prepared us for our time at the hospice, week by week. They were successful at creating a piece of work that was well-structured and a process which was stimulating and achieved its purpose. They had a clear aim throughout the project that they were working towards and were vital to the whole proceedings.

Marion - She is the Arts Facilitator at St Christopher's and arranged the time slots when we could go and visit. She set up the project and was a key part of it; doing her best to ensure we had as many patients as possible and regularly checking on us to make sure we were okay.

The patients - They were, in my opinion, the main components of the whole project - their role was to provide us with the stimulus for our show and to talk to us about whatever they wanted.

The performers - We had the responsibility of being on time to rehearsals, which I think we mostly did, being attentive and responsive to whatever was placed in our way.  We also had the responsibilities of attending every week and being truthful to one another. We had the role of performing at the end of the project and doing our best to make the performance as satisfying and as truthful to the patients as possible.

I learnt that there were many roles and responsibilities within a community project organisation, and that all rely on each other to create a fully functioning project and end result; the performance. Prior to the project I didn't realise that there were so many roles that people need to take, and it was much more difficult than I anticipated.

If I were to do the project again from the beginning I think I would be less nervous about meeting the patients - they were very down to earth and 'normal' people, I don't know why I built up apprehension prior to meeting them. I think I would also be more proactive in the rehearsals and volunteer to lead more, as I now have the skills and am less self-conscious of working with new people.

I have valued many things throughout this project such as meeting the patients and providing them with the service of listening. The most important thing for me was retelling the stories that people told us about themselves and finding the element of truth and honesty in the visual art form that we practice as performers.