Testing Theories With Sakuntala

Peter Brook was a drama theorist who emphasized two aspects of theatre. He focused on posing/position and on eliminating the barrier between actor and audience. Peter Brook thought that a performer's position affected the way he way he spoke which would help him to better embody the character. We proposed that we could apply this theory especially with the sage's character. Because the sage casted the spell onto Sakuntala so that her husband wouldn't remember her, he is seen as the evil character. When we imagined a sage we thought of a male witch-like character. So we would have him stand in a hunched over position to resemble how a witch or an old man would stand. Since Peter Brook thought that positions would affect speech, having the sage's character stand in this manner would allow him to speak with a tone of someone who does evil. Another theory of Brook was that he wanted to eliminate the barrier between the audience. We proposed seating the audience in the actual stage setting. The performance would be staged in a forest setting and the audience would sit scattered in the setting. By doing this, the audience would feel as if they're part of the performance rather than being the audience, only watching the performance from an outsider's perspective.

Another group proposed having audience participation so that the audience could better understand the play's plot. This would be very similar to the dinner theatre production of You Have the Right to Remain Dead where the actors stop the production at certain points to help recap the audience of what has just passed. Because The Recognition of Sakuntala is written in such a poetic manner, it's difficult for most audience members to understand especially for students. This group suggested bringing audience members on stage to reenact the events so that everyone can understand the basic plot of the story and the details. Because the audience is typically reluctant to participate, if this is actually successful it would be an effective way to help the audience understand the plot.