Live theatre is one of the most powerful ways of communicating to
an audience in 2023
Some may argue that in the 21st century, there are a whole range of media easily available
to communicate to audiences through entertaining and informing them. On the contrary, I
wholeheartedly agree with the statement that live theatre is one of the most powerful ways of
communicating to an audience in 2023. I went to see Complicite’s performance of ‘Drive
Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’ at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre in February 2023 and
was blown away by the foreign yet important themes that were brought to life. It is fair to
argue that the cinematic industry is comfortable with their familiar style of acting, special
effects and common exploration of subjects. Conversely, Complicite's Drive your Plow was
not afraid to explore unfamiliar territory in a story about mystery, borders, lying and animal
rights all represented in an eccentric way with bold performance styles, which were all
brought to life as the messages were conveyed as they were happening live. Therefore,
through innovative techniques and exploration, I believe that live theatre is one of the most
powerful ways of communicating to an audience in 2023.
This explosive unravelling of the hypocrisy of societal norms, and the idea of action being
moral, even when it is ‘lawful’; is based on the novel by Olga Tokarczuk. However, much
credit can be given to director Simon McBurney who steered the production in a way unlike
any other. The protagonist Janina is played by Duszejko who impersonates the role of an
activist perfectly. Her narrator-like role had a huge impact since she could break her role and
speak as an outsider peering into a tableaux. In the first scene when a corpse is found
Duszejko perfectly projects her voice into the stand alone microphone in a low pitch with a
fast tempo to emphasise her calm personality upon reflection. She contrasts this upon re
entering the scene with a frantic high pitch voice with inflection for denouement. Her voice
breaks as she reveals how her ‘girls’ had been murdered. This conveys her complete
distraught and the need to stop animal hunting due to the adverse effects it has on members
of the community. This was effective since as an audience member I could feel involved
which meant the message of protecting animal rights is communicated first hand in real time,
making it more believable and easily digestible. This is often not possible on TV due to
actors getting to have as many retakes as possible to reach this emotional state whereas in
theatre, the stakes are higher, meaning the emotional performances are more authentic.
Therefore live theatre is one of the most powerful ways to communicate to an audience in
terms of emotional storytelling to convey key ideas.
Lighting Designer Paule Constable uses his unique immersive style to stand out and speak
to a young audience. For example, a popular topic between young people is horoscopes,
some believe in them, some hate them but they are known by all. When Janina starts talking
about fate and the alignment of the stars a dark blue revolving sphere filled with each star
sign projected onto the cyclorama begins rotating to highlight how Janina is spiralling with all
the death that surrounds her. The axis of the projector was then adjusted so the design was
imprinted onto the auditorium where as an audience member I felt amazed by the intricacy of
the design with such meaning to it. Therefore this live performance brought a controversial
topic to light through multimedia to communicate key themes to an audience in 2022.
an audience in 2023
Some may argue that in the 21st century, there are a whole range of media easily available
to communicate to audiences through entertaining and informing them. On the contrary, I
wholeheartedly agree with the statement that live theatre is one of the most powerful ways of
communicating to an audience in 2023. I went to see Complicite’s performance of ‘Drive
Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead’ at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre in February 2023 and
was blown away by the foreign yet important themes that were brought to life. It is fair to
argue that the cinematic industry is comfortable with their familiar style of acting, special
effects and common exploration of subjects. Conversely, Complicite's Drive your Plow was
not afraid to explore unfamiliar territory in a story about mystery, borders, lying and animal
rights all represented in an eccentric way with bold performance styles, which were all
brought to life as the messages were conveyed as they were happening live. Therefore,
through innovative techniques and exploration, I believe that live theatre is one of the most
powerful ways of communicating to an audience in 2023.
This explosive unravelling of the hypocrisy of societal norms, and the idea of action being
moral, even when it is ‘lawful’; is based on the novel by Olga Tokarczuk. However, much
credit can be given to director Simon McBurney who steered the production in a way unlike
any other. The protagonist Janina is played by Duszejko who impersonates the role of an
activist perfectly. Her narrator-like role had a huge impact since she could break her role and
speak as an outsider peering into a tableaux. In the first scene when a corpse is found
Duszejko perfectly projects her voice into the stand alone microphone in a low pitch with a
fast tempo to emphasise her calm personality upon reflection. She contrasts this upon re
entering the scene with a frantic high pitch voice with inflection for denouement. Her voice
breaks as she reveals how her ‘girls’ had been murdered. This conveys her complete
distraught and the need to stop animal hunting due to the adverse effects it has on members
of the community. This was effective since as an audience member I could feel involved
which meant the message of protecting animal rights is communicated first hand in real time,
making it more believable and easily digestible. This is often not possible on TV due to
actors getting to have as many retakes as possible to reach this emotional state whereas in
theatre, the stakes are higher, meaning the emotional performances are more authentic.
Therefore live theatre is one of the most powerful ways to communicate to an audience in
terms of emotional storytelling to convey key ideas.
Lighting Designer Paule Constable uses his unique immersive style to stand out and speak
to a young audience. For example, a popular topic between young people is horoscopes,
some believe in them, some hate them but they are known by all. When Janina starts talking
about fate and the alignment of the stars a dark blue revolving sphere filled with each star
sign projected onto the cyclorama begins rotating to highlight how Janina is spiralling with all
the death that surrounds her. The axis of the projector was then adjusted so the design was
imprinted onto the auditorium where as an audience member I felt amazed by the intricacy of
the design with such meaning to it. Therefore this live performance brought a controversial
topic to light through multimedia to communicate key themes to an audience in 2022.
