Evaluating your work
If you鈥檙e evaluating a production or writing about work of this kind, most of the things that matter will be the same as for any reviews or practical work. The significant difference is that you have a useful yardstick for measuring achievement. Did the audience grasp what was intended and did they start asking the questions you wanted them to? Did they look confused, and worst of all, uninterested?
Writing a review
Just like any review you must consider the importance of direction, design elements and acting in creating a successful production. Look at Writing about and evaluating theatre for more information.
You should also consider how successful the performance was in meeting its aims of educating, and stimulating discussion or activity. Younger audiences can be challenging in their honesty. If they鈥檙e not kept interested it鈥檒l show! More than any other genre of work, TIE must be age and content appropriate. Monitoring audience reaction can be an excellent way to gauge success.
Performances are often accompanied by an after-show discussion or workshop. Make a note of the way that young people have engaged with the themes and characters to evaluate if a production achieved its educational aims.
Practise how to target a particular audience
Read the brief, answer the question then check your response against the sample answer.
Question
You鈥檝e been asked to present a piece to Year 7 pupils (aged 11-12) about dealing with online bullying. You need to leave them with an effective slogan. What would it be and how would your presentation introduce it?
The slogan should be short, memorable and aimed at the age group:
Turn off the troll
A way of presenting this might be a comedy in which the bully is presented as a slimy troll-like creature in Shrek-like make-up. Lurking behind the screen, the troll tries to make himself feel important by insulting others online but fails to do so. The balance in this production would be crucial. Everything should reinforce the values of the people who know that there鈥檚 no hiding behind a computer screen and human decency means kindness and respect for others. It鈥檚 a good idea to incorporate a sympathetic character that suffers from the bullying antics of the troll so children can see the impact this kind of behaviour has on victims. The young age of the audience means that the production should mock the troll-like monster so that they won鈥檛 have nightmares. However, they鈥檙e old enough to know that the concept is metaphorical.
The actor should play the troll as a ludicrous figure who sings his insults and dances badly whilst the other characters dance well. This would also reinforce the message that trolls are not role models. Using current music would also appeal to the audience.