Collaborative Project

I, then, suggested the implementation of a carnival motif because although renowned for joy, celebration, and escapism, it can often mask underlying inequalities and darker realities. We then immediately began researching the history of carnivals … However, it seemed that this approach merely presented snapshots of the problem. Essentially, we felt that the sequence lacked a connection to show a knock-on-effect, specifically how our own actions or inaction perpetuated this cycle of exploitation we believed to be at the heart of the issue. In order to achieve this, we then visited Gecko’s "I move you, you move me," exercise, where we experimented with initiating and responding to movement to try and illustrate the ripple effect of actions within a system. … This was a significant moment in our development as it provided us with the missing link we were looking for: showing how individual actions, even seemingly small ones, can contribute to the larger cycle of exploitation.

When we first tried to devise this scene we were thinking about the scene being skit-like. Almost like a scene from a sitcom where we implement laughing tracks and characterized acting to portray how unseriously student problems are taken. However, as we started to try to organize other scenes in the play, this one seemed to stick out almost as if it were a part of another show. It carried more of a naturalistic tone rather than one which complimented Bogart's Viewpoints. Thus, we came up with the idea of presenting what seems like an extremely stressful manner to us - an exam - in a game show format in which each character has an opportunity to answer a question and we plan for three of the characters to get their answers right while one of the characters does not. The significance of this scene represents the emotions of isolation one feels when they do not perform as well academically as the others.

Firstly, our utilisation of the carnival motif was effective in achieving our intention of encouraging the audience to reflect on the dehumanising experiences of migrant workers and their own complicity. … The actors’ manipulation of the worker’s limbs gave the impression of “a puppet being controlled,” indicating an effective achievement of our intention as it highlighted the dehumanising effects of exploitation and stripped the worker of agency. … The carnival motif positioned the audience as spectators complicit in the spectacle, with one audience member sharing how it made them feel “guilty and responsible for the cruelty,” as if “we were exploiting them right now, which, in real life, we actually are.” … Yet, within the carnival scene, an actor forgot their line and they “giggled” a bit which briefly broke the immersive atmosphere and the intended seriousness of the moment, reducing our ability to effectively communicate our intention as it momentarily shifted the audience's focus from the gravity of the exploitation being depicted to the minor theatrical mishap.

At 2:13, after the ‘counting coins’ gesture, I slowly and deliberately brought my hand up to my palm twice while slowly pulling away, as if carefully placing two small imaginary coins to its side. … When I looked up at the audience, I furrowed my brows, tightened my jaw and extended my facial features to convey the depth of terror, exhaustion, desperation and utter despair, emotions my character is experiencing (Figure 4). … Moreover, the fact that I am directly looking and locking eyes with the audience at this moment, transforms these emotions into a desperate plea for recognition, forcing the audience to confront my character’s suffering firsthand. This direct confrontation adds a layer of tension as the audience is made to realise the meaning that they are no longer passive observers, but are implicated in their struggle, forcing into an uncomfortable confrontation with their own inaction.

Once, my character finally gains possession of her paintbrush, at 3:11, I attempt to walk towards the canvas however, I walk with an immense sense of tension specifically carried in my lower body causing me to struggle to move. Due to the tension being carried in my lower body, consequently my upper body becomes stiff as I try and pave my way to the canvas which is symbolic of a possible art career. Additionally, my facial expressions during this scene are ridden with the emotion of agony through the use of furrowing my brows and clenching my jaw while trying to walk to the canvas. … With the combination of tension in my body and an agonizing facial expression, the audience can clearly understand the pain the character is going through trying to fight the academic pressures put on her to become a ‘perfect student’, while remaining faithful to who she really is and keeping her interest in art.

During this visual representation of longing, to further emphasize the emotional chasm created by their separation, I introduced my contribution as sound designer at 5:05. My intention as sound designer was to amplify the impact of what the migrant worker has left behind. Over the top of this scene, I layered recorded messages from multiple loved ones in Hindi and multiple other languages. Each message was carefully selected to convey how deeply their family missed them, often mentioning major milestones they were absent for like birthdays, celebrations, and everyday moments in the lives of their children, mothers, brothers, and extended families, presenting to the audience how much the workers are truly missing out on. … Hence, this soundscape on top of the scene amplified the emotional longing that I aimed to present through my directorial choices with the coat stand: while the visual of the self-embrace conveyed the worker's internal yearning, the audible voices of their families made sure that the reality of their separation and emotional longing and distance is undeniably noticed by the audience.