Justin Mentee Session 1 - Style and Content

In this mentoring session we began to research and plan. I looked at the content and style of the play. I did this so that I could present the monologue the right way and understand why my character might experiences this emotion and the reason for her, what appears to be her anger and hatred.
The style of the play is In-Yer-Face theatre which is acting that challenges its audience in a clear and direct fashion, displaying extreme emotions and topical issues which can be displayed in a comic, serious or aggressive form. In-Yer-Face theatre also exposes moral wrongs which invades the audiences personal space and can often aim to make audiences feel uncomfortable but at the same time also highlights awareness to the issues being presented.

The content of my monologue is a very serious and often unspoken about topic. Sexual Abuse. Although throughout the play it is never directly acknowledged as sexual molesting, it is implied. To embody Dawta I must think about how some parts of my research related to her and then embed that into my monologue.

• The amount of any kind of other trauma you may have experienced : Alot.
• Your age when you experienced abuse :  A child. 
• Your relationship with the person/s who abused you : My father
• How long the abuse lasted : Until Late Teens.
• How people in your life have responded to your disclosures (whether you’ve been believed): My mother did not believe me. In fact she chose me.

Some of the most common effects you experience may be as follows:

• Helplessness/powerlessness. You may have felt as a child that you had no control over your own life or even over your own body. You may have felt that you had no choices available to you. - My mother chose me. The choice was made for me.
• Responsibility. Your abuser most likely made you feel responsible for keeping the abuse a secret. You may even have felt like it was your responsibility to keep the family together and the burden of this responsibility interferes with experiencing a normal childhood. - We live in a religious household, my mother doesn’t say anything and I want to protect my younger siblings.
• Isolation. Abuse survivors often feel ‘different’ from other children. They usually have to keep secrets and manage a lot of stress alone. This may have isolated you from non-offending parents and brothers and sisters. -  I thought that I was the only one being abused, I didn’t realise my father was abusing my brother aswell.
• Betrayal. Children who are abused feel betrayed because they are dependent upon adults for nurturing and protection and the abuser was probably someone who you should have been able to love and trust. You may also feel betrayed by a non-abusing parent who you feel failed to protect you. - My mother failed to protect me. 
• Anger. Not surprisingly this is one of the strongest feelings which you may feel about your abuse. You may feel anger against the abuser and also against others who you feel failed to protect you. - I am extremely angry at my mum and what makes me more angry is that all I want from my mum is an apology and to understand how she could let this happen.
• Flashbacks. These can be like nightmares which happen while you are awake. They are a re-experiencing of the sexual abuse and you may experience all the feelings again which you felt at the time of the abuse. This can feel terrifying.

UAL Unit 8 Research - Form of Theatre

17th May 2018

Style



In this mentee session as part of my research and reflection plan I had to explore the form of theatre of which my monologue uses, which is Born Bad. I am going to be using In-yer-face theatre.

This style of theatre is what ‘Born Bad’ is all about. The confrontational and aggressive language is supposed to make the audience feel shocked and uncomfortable. This style of theatre touches on real life situations and presents extreme emotions to the audience.

 Playwrights who use this technique are drawn to psychological and extreme emotions such as sexual abuse.

What’s a Complicit Victim?

A Complicit victim is someone who is involved in something that is morally wrong.
 So in this case the mother in Born Bad is a complicit victim, we know this because, she is fully aware about the father abusing the children but does nothing about it. The children are innocent therefore they are only victims.

In-yer face-theatre depends on a small audience, preferably between 50-80 people. This is to highlight the relationship between the stage and the audience. It is to invade the privacy and comfortability of the audience in order to provoke extreme emotions.

This kind of theatre was a radical break with much of the drama of the 1980s. At its best, its aim was to use shock to awaken the moral responses of the audience – its desire was no less than to help change society. -http://www.dramaonlinelibrary.com

Content

Experiencing sexual abuse in your childhood can have a wide range of effects on you in adulthood. Some adult survivors experience no o very few mental health problems, while others experience many and severe mental health problems. Sexual abuse is a kind of trauma and the effects of trauma include a complex combination of factors:

• The amount of any kind of other trauma you may have experienced
• Your age when you experienced abuse
• Your relationship with the person/s who abused you
• How long the abuse lasted
• How people in your life have responded to your disclosures (whether you’ve been believed)

Some of the most common effects you experience may be as follows:

• Fear. Your abuser may have sworn you to secrecy or threatened you and members of your family, they may have told you that if you tell something bad will happen. Sexual abuse is usually accompanied by coercion, bribery, physical and emotional abuse and threats. You would have been afraid to tell because of what the consequences might be. e.g. punishment, blame, abandonment or not being believed.
• Helplessness/powerlessness. You may have felt as a child that you had no control over your own life or even over your own body. You may have felt that you had no choices available to you.
• Guilt and Shame. You may have known something was wrong and blamed yourself. Your abuser may have encouraged you to feel that the abuse was your fault and you may have felt like a bad person.
• Responsibility. Your abuser most likely made you feel responsible for keeping the abuse a secret. You may even have felt like it was your responsibility to keep the family together and the burden of this responsibility interferes with experiencing a normal childhood.
• Isolation. Abuse survivors often feel ‘different’ from other children. They usually have to keep secrets and manage a lot of stress alone. This may have isolated you from non-offending parents and brothers and sisters.
• Betrayal. Children who are abused feel betrayed because they are dependent upon adults for nurturing and protection and the abuser was probably someone who you should have been able to love and trust. You may also feel betrayed by a non-abusing parent who you feel failed to protect you.
• Anger. Not surprisingly this is one of the strongest feelings which you may feel about your abuse. You may feel anger against the abuser and also against others who you feel failed to protect you.
• Sadness. You may feel grief due to a sense of loss, especially if the abuser was loved and trusted by you. You may grieve your lost innocence or the fact that you had to grow up too fast.
• Flashbacks. These can be like nightmares which happen while you are awake. They are a re-experiencing of the sexual abuse and you may experience all the feelings again which you felt at the time of the abuse. This can feel terrifying
• Loss of trust in others
• Impact on relationships:  survivors relationships may be characterised by lower relationship satisfaction, more overall discord, an increased risk of domestic violence and greater likelihood of separation and divorce
• Increased risk taking and low self worth

Psychological effects:  survivors of sexual abuse are 3 times more likely to develop psychological disorders in adulthood. Adults with a history of sexual abuse often present for treatment with a secondary mental health issue, which can include the following:

• Depression or feeling ‘low’
• Post Traumatic Stress
• Low self esteem
• Drug addiction
• Alcohol use / dependency
• Suicide attempts / self harm and self mutilation
• Anxiety
• Personality Disorders

-https://www.survivorsintransition.co.uk/resources/the-impacts-of-childhood-sexual-abuse/

Justins Mentee Session 3 - Annotating the Script

Today in Justin's mentoring session, I went through my script, line by line and explained to Justin my understanding of the script.

Mum: "Don't call me that."

Dawta: "...bitch got summink to say, looks like bitch can't help herself.."

It was suggested that this particular line related to a relationship between another mother and daughter with an abusive background and that's Constance Briscoe, the author of the book 'UGLY'.

UGLY is a true life story of a loveless childhood. Written in a raw form, the author- Constance Briscoe, tells in vivid details of how she was abused emotionally and physically, especially by her mother, Carmen.

What kind of mother is void of love for a child she carried in her womb for nine months? Carmen was always furious about Clare's (Constance was called Clare as a child) flaw of wetting the bed... and often accused her of doing it on purpose. We also read in the book how different efforts were made to help Clare (Constance) overcome it, such as a special alarm set to go off once she starts wetting the bed. But it did not work. 

-Posted by Jennifer Ehidiamen on BlogSpot.


So the similarity both of the mothers share is the need to be right, their need to feel in control. Constance's mother took her to court and tried to sue her because of the book, when really she should feel taken back by everything in the book and apologise. Dawtas mother tries to mentally control Dawta by saying "Don't call me that" When she should be apologising also, the irony is that she feels that she is owed  respect from her daughter and is offended at the fact that her daughter is continuously calling her a bitch throughout there argument. It is almost as if her mum is neutral and shows no emotion or empathy at all to Dawta and doesn't even listen to Dawta, she just wants to win.