The Obscene Madame D: Play Analysis

Rehearsal the day before had ended early to enable Gail to go and collect the headphones that the audience would wear during the performance to experience the binaural recording of the script. When rehearsal resumed today, everyone was busy preparing elements of the production before a run occurred using (and testing) the headphones for the first time. Two hours later, the run begins and as Carlos puts on his pair of headphones, he jokes about silent discos, and Gail responds, ‘You never know Carlos, we may be the proud owners of a silent disco set.’

As the fieldnote extract above suggests, modern technology has altered the process in which theatre is devised, executed, understood and documented (cite McAuley). Theatre Kantanka utilise technology in their theatre-making and performing process of The Obscene Madame D through their decision for the audience to wear headphones and experience the audio closely and undisturbed, minimising live speech, and pertaining to the idea that the prominent monologue of the production is occurring
Between scene runs, when Gail and Sam turn their attention to their individual work for the production, and Carlos works on lighting, Katia is sitting in a chair at the back of the performance space, appearing very patient. Working silently and individually, she occasionally stands and walks to one of the hanging lights or manoeuvres around the scatter of chairs. My attention was so focused on what Katia was doing during these moments as in my knowledge, I know rehearsal to be primarily focused on the script, and the verbal and physical execution of it. With my own knowledge unfocused on modes of performances that delineated from the traditional, I detailed the actions of Katia, questioning what she was and wasn’t doing rather than turning my attention to what was being said in soft whispers between Gail, Sam, and