H2 Too Much Punch For Judy- Live Performance Review The two classes of IGCSE H2 classes performed their

interpretation of the play Too much punch for Judy by Mark Wheeler on the 1st December 2011. The performance was set in Taipei European School Phase 1, 1st floor hard floor drama area. Too much punch for Judy is a play base on an unfortunate drunk driving car accident on 20th May 1913. Later on, Mark Wheeler adapted the events and turn to a written play. I had really high expectation about H2s performance and was really looking forward to look at how they interpreted the play using their imagination and creativity. The stage was formed in a way of Proscenium Theatre with two movable wings on both sides of the stage for the actors or actresses to enter. There are also use of black staircases and blocks to create different sets of level. The seating arrangement was formed in a semi circle shape with a gap in the middle for lighting and filming. During most part of the performance, the overhead house light was used. In addition, white light and mood light was also used for creating a sense of atmosphere and tension. Regarding to the costumes and props, most groups decide to wear black or white t-shirt and jean. However, the first group chose to let the male dressed up like girls in skirt and hat to represent the two main character of the play, Jo and Judy. I believe that most of the costumes stood out and dragged audience attention. On the other hand, they should have chosen a range of costumes to represent their character better. The H2 students had carefully selected a wide extent of props during their performance which linked to the play quite well. For example: In group two, 2 members of the group spilled out red paint or ink on Victoria to create the sense of blood. I think this was a huge success for group two because it actually caught many of the audience eye attention. Music is actually a very important as well as useful drama medium. Throughout the performance, there were recorded music played out. I thought it was a classical piece of music and it creates a peaceful and warm atmosphere. This classical piece was played out twice in the whole performance. Music built up the tension, which also creates the atmosphere. One of the music even played faster each time as has a slow to fast tempo. This creates the tension of the scene and made me wonder what would happen next. In the Bar Scene, there was a record of Pink Panther Theme Song played out. The music definitely creates a delightful and exciting atmosphere. Sound and Music helps to build up a better quality scene and makes the scene more interesting and easier to watch. The H2 even decided to put Powerpoint slideshow during the performance. The whole slideshow is describing the car accident and explaining about the consequences of it as well as flashback. I think putting a slideshow in the performance is a very clever idea, this is because the audience can understand more about the performance and the accident. There is also animations of the car movement on the road which the audience can clearly visualize it. More over, there is narration going on with the slideshow. I think throughout the slideshow, most audience would be focused and understand better for the performance.

Too much punch for Judy was set in the 1980s when Jo and Judy went to aerobic class together. However due to drunk driving, one of the sister had ended her life. Mark Wheeler, a play writer has picked up these series of events and turned it into a play. The H2 had interpreted this play with their ideas and created different scenes to it. I believe the whole performance was well organized and flowed very well like a story line. The whole play taught us a lesson and gave us a moral about the consequences of drunk driving and I believe most audience would have learn a vital lesson of their life. The H2 performance was base on an interpretation and so the performance was abstract and most groups determined to do non- naturalistic movements. In some key tension, one of the groups decided to do movement in union. Other groups had decided to use black blocks or staircases to do movements or show levels and even status. Non- naturalistic movements were shown in the performance to create abstract scene. I quite enjoy second group, they showed a lot of non- naturalistic movement by using the post with red ribbon. They went under the ribbon and did a lot of movement toward the post. They had created an absolute abstract scene, which also brought the performance to the tension. For characterisation, I believe the H2s had done really well, because they have more experiences. Being the audience, I could quickly identify different characters on the stage. They had used different techniques and mediums to represent their character. I believe they had put a lot of time and effort in to investigate their character into details. The H2s represent their character by putting facial expressions, gestures and movements. Further on, throughout their performance they stayed in role and made it very realistic. Narration was vital in H2s performance. For Narration, they explained and to the audience very well. Most of the narrators in the performance were very confident and they hadnt made any mistakes or errors. One of the thing was that, they pronounced the words very well so the audience can listen clearly enough. Sometimes, they control their voice and change their volume. Most narrators in the performance adjust their pace and made eye contact to audience. They felt relaxed on stage and didnt mumble the words in their mouth. I think that one of the key factors that the H2s was very successful, because they cooperated with each other very well. They made relationship and intimacy throughout the performance. For example: Jo and Judy had a very tight and closed relationship. The H2s showed this with various key techniques. After watching their performance, I discover that there are still gaps for me to improve in drama and learn. Too much punch for Judy was performed by H2s and they made their interpretation very abstract. I think one of the key factors that the H2 is very successful of their performance was that they had good characterisation. They sometimes exaggerated but often got in role and stay in character. They were all very confident on stage and made every audience very focus to the performance. The H2s taught the audience a lesson about drunk driving and the importance of not drinking alcohol after driving. Another thing is that they had good props and costumes and I can see that they really put a lot of effort and work in. They also created an excitement and build up the climax during the performance. They try

to use and test a wide range of drama medium and elements to show Too much punch for Judy. Regarding to narrators, they project their voice and spoke clearly throughout their performance Although they had presented us a well performance, I believe the H2s still had improvements of their future. One of the element that I noticed was that the transition between the scenes were sometimes too confusing for the audience. Second point was that, again they should choose a wider range of costumes. This maybe helpful for representing characters and made each character unique. For movement, I think one of the thing that they could improve on movement is they can always over exaggerate it or make it unison. Overall, H2s had a successful and a great performance, but they should find out ways and areas to improve in order to create a better performance in the future academic year.