We had a very small audience for our first performance but I suppose it wasn't too much of a bad thing because we were more comfortable with this and in a way we were more able to connect with the audience.
The performance went well because everyone did everything on cue and we were all focused. We also managed to avoid the problem with running and being obvious backstage.
The set was simple but beautiful with canvases of pictures of the war hanging from the ceiling and the rostra at the back. Compared to our other shows it was quite bare but it's essential for a physical theatre show because we need al the space we can get to be able to move around properly.
From watching the audience react, I could see that they were engaged in what was happening on stage and they understood each part. Some of them got a bit emotional at the parts we expected them to and even some of us got emotional at parts too. For example, in the women's section when we drop the jackets and look at Catherine waltzing, I genuinelyt felt sad because her husband was alive and all the rest of our's were dead. I understand that in real life, none of us have partners who have died in the war, but understanding that this happened to real women and feeling it made it realistic.
During the rehearsal process, I worried that the quality of the performance wouldn't be very good due to the concentration from some people but the performance proved to me that there was nothing to worry about. They knew what they were doing and were on it for the whole thing. I think for everyone rehearsing it was just rehearsing but when we put it in front of an audience, we began to feel as well. We emoted with the characters we were playing too which made our performance even better.
For our next two (final) performances, I hope that we have a bigger audience and give more energy.
