Chinese orphanage Essay Example

who holds onto her child tightly.

The idea of revenge was sparked by hot seating, leading parents to launch an anti-government campaign to overthrow the regime and willing to sacrifice themselves in honor of their son's life. We viewed this as a powerful concept, yet ultimately chose The Chinese Orphanage Article as our stimulus, as it addresses issues more relevant and topical to our society, including poverty. Though the previous stimulus raised important inquiries, the Chinese orphanages presented a stronger option.

I was pleased with the potential of this stimulus for creating a piece of theatre that was moving, controversial, and highly entertaining. The article was topical and heart-wrenching, providing us with ample scope and a diverse range of approaches to explore. Our group conducted research on the One Child Rule to accurately depict its impact on children and emphasize their plight through truthful portrayal. We discovered that families with more than one child receive fewer state benefits, including free education.

After a discussion, we agreed not to focus on the One Child Rule because of issues with casting and because we believed that families who could not afford to have any children were equally important. We brainstormed ways to increase empathy and understanding of characters in poverty, leading us to each create a character who is so desperate they cannot have a child. To help us imagine their experiences, we used hot seating techniques to think like our chosen character and gain new perspectives on poverty.

Various characters, including the infant's parents, participated in hot seating sessions. The discussions uncovered that although the mother admitted they could not provide proper care for their baby, she was less willing

to abandon the child than the father. In contrast, the father favored abandoning their baby to protect their limited assets.

Our idea involved a financially struggling couple from China who were forced to leave their baby at an orphanage. The child was adopted by a different Chinese family that moved to England. Our vision was to portray the birth family becoming prosperous and wanting to reconnect with their abandoned child. After a successful hot seating session, we proceeded with casting for our concept.

After discovering that they could now afford to raise their abandoned daughter, the mother was eager to find her and bring her home. However, the father was more realistic and acknowledged the difficulties in locating her. While the mother was driven by her maternal instincts and persistence, the father's views were more balanced and practical. Despite his reservations, the mother (Annabel) insisted on finding their daughter – with or without his help. She secured a job at the orphanage where their daughter, Annie, was left, hoping to gather information about her whereabouts. In our theatrical production, we utilized various techniques such as role-play, freeze-frame, and unified thoughts to showcase the different climaxes and emotions throughout the storyline.

We engaged in a role-play involving certain characters, instigated by a group member who presented a scenario, like "You recently left your baby and are debating the legitimacy of your actions." The actors playing the roles of the birth parents would then enact the scene. The activity would conclude when someone in the group uttered the word "stop."

During role-play, the actors would freeze in a still image typically at a poignant moment for analysis of language and facial

expressions. The exploration and generation of ideas were facilitated by this process. Subsequently, actors would offer their thoughts-aloud to refine character mindset and views. One such scenario involved the aftermath of a family abandoning a baby.

The exchange of thoughts between the two characters uncovered a variety of new ideas. For instance, the mother accused the father of not truly desiring the baby, whereas the father contended that the mother had gone insane and was fixated on having a child. Through their spoken musings, it became evident that the relationship was plagued by issues because of their contrasting viewpoints. The father wanted to let go and move forward, whereas the mother had already started developing a mental strategy to regain custody of the baby and was unwilling to accept that she may never see her child again.