I have written my performance in three sections. This structure came naturally as my ideas progressed, and I feel as though they are coherent and suitable for my topic.
Section One: ‘the Mannequin’
I will dress a mannequin to ‘UGH!’ by the 1975. I decided to use this song because it was my very first inspiration to look at how we project ourselves; an idea sparked by the lyrics ‘using other people’s faces as a mirror for you’.
I aim to dress the mannequin in the same clothes that I will be wearing. This portrays how easy it is to create a ‘new you’, particularly online. There is such ease to creating a fake profile, especially on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The mannequin is a size 6 and 5’11: a desirable height and weight for many people, particularly amongst young girls. This is due to the social stigma of the ‘perfect woman’ being tall and thin, which is made worse by social media. This all links back to the idea of having no self-love, whether that is due to societal pressure about appearance or personal issues; all reasons why one may resort to Catfishing. As I dress my mannequin, I am creating my online self.
Section Two: ‘the Tape’
I intend for this to look like a confessional tape, and so will place the camera inside the audio booth in Studio 2. This makes it look more like a home movie, rather than a performance inside a theatre space. It will be a live feed, and I will speak my script directly to the camera, making the audience feel as though I am making intense eye contact. (UPDATE: several audience members commented on how uncomfortable the ‘tape’ made them feel, particularly due to this ‘eye contact’, and it was as though they “could not escape”).
Section Three: ‘Blooming’
The final section of my performance will be a projection of a time-lapse of different flowers as they bloom. This will be projected onto a black curtain, and I intend for the projection to hit my mannequin (as seen in photograph below, which was taken on my technical rehearsal). This is the most visually beautiful section of my performance, and so it will be projected in silence. It perfectly captures both the idea of how we project ourselves, which I have been interested in from the start, and also the idea of self-love, and how one can learn to love themselves and grow as a person. Part of the script in section two states ‘you let me lie to you as part of my therapy…as part of finding myself’. This section of the performance could warrant the audience to consider whether Catfishing actually worked as therapy, and whether my character did learn to love herself.
‘Blooming’. Alex Revill (2017)