Phenomenology In Sondra Fraleigh's Consciousness Matters

‘Phenomenology is a method for studying experience’ (Fraleigh 2000). This quote from Sondra Fraleigh’s book ‘Consciousness Matters’ is just one brief understanding of Phenomenology. It deals with experience, emotions, gut feelings, and essences, as well as the study of phenomena. It come from a ‘first person’ point of view, how you feel, what you relate it to in everyday life. Personal opinions and feelings are key factor of phenomenology, every human being is different and will feel and experience things in different ways. Some may say it’s using your own experiences as a source of information. When reading a performance through phenomenology it is important to talk about how you feel as an individual, everyone’s reading will be different
no matter what the intention.
When watching Kneehigh’s ‘Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs)’ I found very strong personal phenomenological responses. There where parts that made me jump out of my seat, feel empathy for characters, and also gave me ‘a knot in my stomach’. One part within the show that gave me the strongest phenomenological response was near the end of the show during a ‘hanging’ scene. Within this part of the show you see Macheath, a murderer, being sentenced to death by the mayor. As the prison guard, named Filch, puts a noose around his head, it sparks off a conversation between him and Macheath. They talking about the safety of the equipment, Macheath notices the noose isn’t tied properly and he points this out to Filch. He re-ties it for Filch and then tricks the prison guard into testing the new knot which results in him being hung instead.
Phenomenological readings of performance can be done by using phenomenological reduction. This includes using bracketing to ‘bracket out’ any pre understandings, and assumptions of the work in order to try and find deeper readings. This is known as ‘bracketing and reduction’. The Initial readings I identified from the work were the historical references presented, and the confidence of the police guard. The key theme of this scene is the idea of a hanging. Hanging is “the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.”(Hanging, 2015) This scene presents the audience with a noose hanging from a wooden stand, the characters are performing on a raised wooden surface, in this context used as a stand which was facing towards what was indicated as a large audience (which audience members could be believed to take on that role, as well as other cast members stood in front of it) “Hanging was the principle method of judicial execution in England (…) Hanging could be the sentence for numerous crimes. (…) a hanging was a public event that attracted curious crowds” (A London Hanging, 2009). This scene has a lot of relevance to events that happened in the past. If someone had committed a crime, which ranged from burglary to murder, they may be punished by being sentenced to hanging. This is very present within this scene as the mayor sentenced Macheath to death by hanging. Another initial point I identified was the unusual body language of Filch. He is not seen as a typical prison guard, he doesn’t display the known characteristics like confidence and strength. He is a very inward character. As a spectator I could clearly see that Flich is very nervous, and also very quiet and unconfident. We can also identify this through the characters admission to Macheath that he doesn’t want to take part in this and he doesn’t want this job to be his responsibility. Earlier on in the show it is shown that Macheath and Filch already have more of a friendly relationship with one and other. When Macheath was originally detained in prison he was greeted by Filch and they shared a very friendly dialogue as if their paths had crossed at an earlier time. Because of this you can tell that Filch doesn’t really want to do this as he knows him personally as a friend or acquaintance.
From the first time bracketing I personally feel that there is a theme of vulnerability.
I mostly see this through the role of Filch the prison guard. Because of this reading I am going to bracket off the initial readings of the historical references and re read this particular scene using vulnerability as a starting point. After doing this I have found three main aspects that I feel communicate vulnerability. First of all empathy, as a spectator I felt empathy towards Filch. While watching I could see that filch was being ‘led astray’ by Macheath. With the relationship that both characters have I think that filch took comfort in him by listening to what he was saying and the advice he was giving. It made him a little more relaxed within the situation, even if Macheath’s intentions were not in any way to help Filch. I also started to feel sorry for him because as a spectator I could predict what Macheath’s intentions were and this started to frustrate me. Filch is very easily lead, in some ways you could take the reading that he trusts people very easily. Another point that I found from the scene was education. The whole scene is based around the noose not being tied correctly. Macheath teaches Filch how to re-tie to knot so that it won’t come loose when the hanging takes place. Macheath acts like he is doing him a favour, whilst he’s really ‘covering his own back’ and doing himself a favour in the long run. In some ways Macheath could be identified as the teacher and Filch
the student. Filch is very vulnerable so by Macheath taking him ‘under his wing’ he finds comfort and reassurance. The third point that I identified was the placing of the rope around his neck. Being stood up on a high platform itself could make someone feel vulnerable or alone, but then adding the context of the noose and having a noose placed around your neck could make you feel a different type of vulnerable. Does he feel alone? Scared? Maybe even regret about things? Just seeing the image of rope around Macheath’s neck made me as a spectator what to support him by unconsciously holding my breath, maybe because I knew the end result would mean he would be unable to breath. Throughout the theme of vulnerability I have started to think about my own vulnerability as a spectator of performance. Why did I react to seeing a noose around someone’s neck the way I did? Why did I feel empathy towards Filch?
Throughout the performance I reacted to different a range of different things, situations, and characters.
These things all add to a personal phenomenological response that I experienced within the piece. One aspect of this scene I reacted to was a sound of a timer playing through a section of the scene. This timer highlighted the time in which the hanging was to take place. “A gut feeling—or a hunch—is a sensation that appears quickly in consciousness (…) without us being fully aware of the underlying reasons for its occurrence.” (Cholle, 2011) Even though there was no timer present to look at, the sound gave me cause for concern. It gave the scene a certain time frame to work to. As an audience member I felt that the scene was getting tenser and tenser because of this. With the dialogue that was taking place and the main theme of the scene I wanted the characters to speed up what they were doing so that the scene could be over. The anticipation of seeing someone being hung made me want to look away or hide behind hands so I didn’t have to see what was happening. I had a very strong gut feeling that got increasingly worse throughout the scene. It made me feel very on edge. ‘Phenomenology begins when, not content to ‘live’ or ‘relive’, we interrupt live experience in order to signify it’ (Ricoeur, 1983: 116) As the timer ended and the moment arrived where hanging would happen you could hear other audience members mumbling things in disbelief, ‘No!’, ‘Don’t listen to
Macheath!’, I was also thinking and saying these things. In the final moment I let out ‘Squeal’ when the ground dropped from underneath Filch. It made me ‘Jump out of my skin’ due to the build-up of the scene I had witnessed and that I felt I had been a part of. Because of this I found myself having an increased heart rate due to the shock of the whole suspense throughout the scene and then from what I had witnessed take place. I can relate this scene to another performance where I had a similar feeling and experience. When watching Guillermo Gómez Peña’s ‘A muerte’, we see him holding a loaded gun in multiple positions and posing, he also points the gun straight towards the camera. This action made me feel very on edge and very worried because you don’t know what is going to happen. I also have a horrible feeling in my stomach when watching this piece. I had a gut feeling like something bad was going to happen, which I could relate to the scene In ‘Dead Dog in a Suitcase’
“Lenses act as a window into another world” (Goolish, p45). Within any performance there are a series of signs. Identifying these signs and then applying a semiotic lens can enable you to understand and find meaning from them. Charles S. Peirce’s approach to semiotics involves 3 main types of signs, Icons, Index’s, and Symbols. These three things help us gain our own readings and interpretations of the work. If a sign is “standing for its object in virtue of some shared quality” (Peirce’s Theory of Signs, 2010) then pierce describes this as an icon. An example of this could be a photograph. Within this piece there is one main ‘icon’ that I have identified. The rope used for the noose gives a similarity to its object, it is simply a long piece of rope tied in a Knott attached to some wood. Although the rope has been seen as an icon, I can also identify it as an index and a sign. An index is something that is connected with its object. Another way of explaining indexes could be that the sign has a physical link to the object, for example, the rope tied the way it is has a physical link toward a noose. Also the way the characters gestured the rope makes the rope into and index as they are indicating it as an object. Another index would be Macheath’s arms. His arms were placed in front of his body crossed by his wrists, this index’s handcuffs or having his hands tied. Thirdly, pierce talks sings as being symbols. “if we generate an interpretant in virtue of some observed general or conventional connection between sign and object” (Peirce’s Theory of Signs, 2010) Within this piece the noose is used as a symbol of hanging and also death. Also, the sound of the timer in the background can be a symbol of time, as a spectator it lets us be aware of time running out.
Overall this performance transported me into another world. Throughout the show there were scenes and characters that caused me to feel different things, and react in different ways. “Gut reactions, it turns out, may have a higher rate of accuracy in their ability to predict outcome then the most carefully laid” (Dr. Tian Dayton, 2009). Because of the shows intensity I was able to focus so much on what was happening, it felt like I was watching it in everyday life. I jumped out of my seat and ‘squealed’ when the hanging happened. This gut reaction and other reactions may not have happened if I hadn’t been transported into a place where everyday life was forgotten.