Cinelive 2016- Gregory's Girl, Immersive cinema at The Gulbenkian Theatre
On the 3rd of May 2016, the Cinelive company once again paired with Bexley Grammar School and Invicta Grammar School to create an immersive performance taking place in the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury. The theme of the performance was the act of interpreting a film from a different period of time into a live performance using understanding, elucidation skills as well as creativity upon a set task. Immersive performance, currently being made very popular by a company called Secret Cinema, involves actors creating the environment of a film or play around the audience, interacting with them and transporting them into the world of the film.
The performance this year was based upon the 1981 film ‘Gregory's Girl’ which follows the tale of an adolescent boy, Gregory, who falls in ‘love’ with the new girl at school Dorothy because she seems to be the only girl at school who is athletic. When he finally brings up the courage to ask her out, she devises a plan with all the other girls in school so that he can go out with a girl who actually likes him. The task we had as actors, was to perform extracts based on themes in the film, creating an opportunity for cross-curricular activities such as looking at hormones, what they're called and what they do to make us behave a certain way.
Our role as actors, was to take the audience back to the early 80s (by dancing to The Human League and listenign to a Sony Walkman) and create the world of a fictional school. Our scenes explored the themes of flirting and attraction between school children- this acted as a stimulus for the other schools involved to learn about the science behind these behaviours.
The Cinelive company invited real scientists to explain the way they work and do different workshops with the students. One explaining how the brain reacts to appearance and the other explaining how hormones like serotonin and oxytocin affect emotions.
We ended the day with watching the film in the university’ auditorium and although short, it contained examples of the performance thoroughly going through what the day was based upon. This trip was truly a challenge of being able to stay in character as well as linking different subjects together through performance and, as a school, we would sincerely like to thank the Cinelive production for giving students these opportunities. Until next year!
Fathia Alade 8AWS
The performance this year was based upon the 1981 film ‘Gregory's Girl’ which follows the tale of an adolescent boy, Gregory, who falls in ‘love’ with the new girl at school Dorothy because she seems to be the only girl at school who is athletic. When he finally brings up the courage to ask her out, she devises a plan with all the other girls in school so that he can go out with a girl who actually likes him. The task we had as actors, was to perform extracts based on themes in the film, creating an opportunity for cross-curricular activities such as looking at hormones, what they're called and what they do to make us behave a certain way.
Our role as actors, was to take the audience back to the early 80s (by dancing to The Human League and listenign to a Sony Walkman) and create the world of a fictional school. Our scenes explored the themes of flirting and attraction between school children- this acted as a stimulus for the other schools involved to learn about the science behind these behaviours.
The Cinelive company invited real scientists to explain the way they work and do different workshops with the students. One explaining how the brain reacts to appearance and the other explaining how hormones like serotonin and oxytocin affect emotions.
We ended the day with watching the film in the university’ auditorium and although short, it contained examples of the performance thoroughly going through what the day was based upon. This trip was truly a challenge of being able to stay in character as well as linking different subjects together through performance and, as a school, we would sincerely like to thank the Cinelive production for giving students these opportunities. Until next year!
Fathia Alade 8AWS
