Evaluating Performance Technology in Drama

After viewing the production of Joy Fear & Poetry, it is evident that the use of performance technologies both live and pre-recorded, effectively enhance the space, mood and overall meaning of the play. The technologies used include digital projection, lighting and sound which are all neatly integrated to produce an insightful performance that frames the daily ideas, perspectives and experiences of children of various ages and cultural backgrounds.
The incorporated performance multimedia used in conjunction with the use of space, enriches the meaning of each scene. The set of Joy Fear & Poetry consists of a plain cardboard structure positioned in the middle of the performance space. With the assistance of lighting and projected images, the space transforms to visually assist the dramatic action and/or meaning. An example of this is introduced in the beginning as the child actors use a couple of weak torch lights to explore the black area surrounding them. The thin rays as exchanged for spotlights which gradually illuminates the stage. In a dramatic context, this draws on the importance of joy to children and how it exploring it can introduce various revenues of the world they live in by “taking risks and mak[ing] discoveries” (Bell, dir. Budd). The lighting is also effectively used to indicate what the focus of the scene is on. During the first section, joy, the lighting was outside the house structure, creating an open and much larger area for the actors to work in. However the lighting gradually creeps closer to the house leading into the second section of fear. This deliberate effect highlights the increasing finding that childhood fears are founded and manifested at home. Projection is a further performance technology incorporated throughout the production. One of the most effective examples involved a girl sitting in a cube hole within the structure, behind a scrim with a tinted light projected to see a silhouetted object. This was effective as it