Verbatim in Class

I think Verbatim theater is done mostly for political purpose. Because it reflects the reaction of people and put it on stage for many to watch, verbatim theater can present some “minority” thoughts and can open it for public to discuss. Thus Verbatim theater can be used to present unique political views. By appealing to strong emotions from small or anonymous characters, Verbatim Theater achieves to present not only the character but also many other voices that are not heard by the top rank society. I think experiencing Verbatim Theater is different from experiencing any other theater production. In Verbatim Theater, my group and I are imitating the character that is already exist. It is different from other theaters because the existing character in real world might not have distinct features that stands out. On the other hand, the fictional characters, however, are created to serve a distinct purpose. For example, telling the storyline; every character is important. Thus I think creating production for a Verbatim Theater has two important elements: 1. The choice of interviewees. This is important because to serve our purpose of expressing political views, we need interviewees that are suitable for the topic. 2. The specific character that need to be emphasized. This is important because I think while some characters or habits are redundant and can be eliminated, some characters that bolster our purpose should be largely emphasized. These two essentials, however, could be difficult. First, if we do not know the potential interviewees well, it is hard to know who we should interview with. Picking the “right” interviewee is hard because it could be time consuming. Some surprises from non-expected interviewees might also be found. Second, it is hard to find the points that need to be emphasized from the videotaped interviews. It is hard to determine which subtle gesture or certain language is related to the purpose of the production. The Verbatim theater is not only about the emotions and the meaning of the scripts, but is also well emphasized on the oral/body language patterns. However, the interview parts of the Verbatim Theater is easy because the questions are prepared. Although some questions are added during the interviews, it is fun to do so. Verbatim Theater is enjoyable because it needs careful observations and a throughout delivery. Learning others’ languages also gives me an insight that how people change in a certain way while accoutering a certain situation.