The importance of simplicity
There was one scene too that we thought might have to go… The Doctors scene. The final scene which I feature in as Ashleigh, gets news of a brain tumor. The scene deals with a sensitive issue and as the overhead a voiceover of a diary is played I am onstage. I need a purpose to be there and what could I be doing? Mia (Choreographer) and I looked at the lines and thought carefully about the scenes intention. The scene is very much based on the confusion of Ashleigh’s lifetime. This needed to be expressed.
I ended up creating a simple frame of movements that linked smoothly and could be associated with waiting and confusion. This complemented the audio well. Oliver (acting as the Doctor) needed to have a way of getting off and onto the scene. As the scene was like a memory from Ashleigh’s character In the workshop, we had me puppeteering Oliver in a variety of ways, until in the end certain hand gestures I gave Oliver the direction to move and turn, and the placing of my feet walking on the spot gave him chance to move as though he was being put into place. Shoes from Ashleigh’s earlier scene were used in my movement I used them as a devise to bring back Ashleigh’s memories from her younger years.