The notion of a journey is important to our Women of War performance piece, as we want to portray the transition that women took in society (as a direct effect of the war). To present the power and liberation that women gained during the war effectively, the Women of War group want to contrast the image with a representation of the lack of power that the women had previously.
The piece will begin outside, at the wall originally used to chain up the horses. One idea is to tie the female characters onto the wall, to symbolise how they were supressed in pre-war society. However, Pearson questions how performance can be “adjusted for different audiences” ((Pearson, Mike (2011) Some Approaches to Research, Online: http://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_67088_1%26url%3D (accessed Friday 8 March 2013).)), and in relation to our piece, we need to consider the age of our audience. Furthermore, the fact that our piece centres on war is significant to Pearson’s question, as awareness to sensitivity may be necessary for certain audience members. For example, we will use ribbon to tie the women to the wall, to ensure that the image is not too brutal, at a time when the notion of conflict is still resonant in our society. Another reason for the use of ribbon is that it will be taken directly from the garments that make up the cloth installation, revealed later in the piece. The ribbon will thus be a momentous aspect of the performance, as it links the outside scene to the inside. Equally, the image of the women tied to where the horses would have originally been kept connects the Grandstand’s war history with the more obvious history of the horseracing. Therefore, the idea can successfully “illuminate, explicate and problematize the multiplicity of meanings” ((Pearson, Mike (2011) Some Approaches to Research, Online: http://blackboard.lincoln.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_67088_1%26url%3D (accessed Friday 8 March 2013).)) that resound within the Grandstand.
