So for some inspiration as to visual images and effects performers have done in the past I googled “Solo Performance Drama Ideas” and looked at the images that came up. After scrolling through the page for a while I discovered these two images that really caught my eye.
The first one appealed to me for the use of simplicity in set and lighting. The performance space is of an unknown size as the spotlight covers the performance area in a red/orange light, with the rest of the stage in complete darkness. The fairy lights at the front of the stage are the same colour as the spotlight which gives the illusion that it is in fact the fairy lights that are creating the light on the stage. The performer (or who we assume is the performer) is lying on the stage almost as though they have just fallen or are mid way through some Physical Theatre performance.
The feeling the image gives is a feeling of helplessness and withdrawal, seeming like a very dark and person piece. From an image, we cannot tell whether the performance was authentic or even what it was about but aesthetically it has a sense of the self and a personal emotion being told.
The next image is dark. In the image itself you can’t see the stage but you do get a sense from it that neither can the audience. The most intriguing part of this picture is the fact that the performer is tied like a puppet but it also looks as though they are something to do with a mental institution. This picture looks very ambiguous, though the performance itself might not be, the picture looks to be. The performance could have been used to represent many things and express many feelings. The blue lighting and the shadows make the image appear sad a lonely. It is a striking image and hence why it caught my eye.
Although these images are very striking and do create the atmosphere and emotion I am thinking of creating they, do not seem very personal to the performer and from looking at them they are very ambiguous. They are very thought provoking though and I shall refer back to them for inspiration at a later date.