Creating Carly's Silence has been part of the BTEC Level 3 Performing Arts students studies in Devising Theatre and Theatre in Education.
As part of the students studies they will need to use your audience feedback to help them evaluate the effectiveness of the play in educating their audience about Autism.
Please can you feedback in the comments box on how you found 'Carly's Silence' in performance?
- Did it raise awareness about Autism? (If yes, how?)
- Did your find the play easy to understand?
- What parts of the play did you enjoy or not enjoy? (Please give examples from the performance)
- If you participated in the educational workshop, what did you learn further about autism?
- Has the play changed your views towards those on the Autistic Spectrum? (If yes, how?)
Lisa Fernandez- Adams - Deputy Learning Manager for Performing Arts at Richard Taunton Sixth Form College
ReplyDeleteCarly's Silence was an informative and powerful piece. The performances from the cast were emotive, powerful, showed great versatility and commitment. It is so great to see students of this age tackle this very complex issue with sensitivity, accuracy and beautifully moving moments. I have certainly learnt much more about the complex spectrum of autism through watching this piece, and I hope others are also able to gain a greater insight through this fantastic TIE production.
Kate Downer- former student now studying Contemporary Performance at the University of Winchester.
ReplyDeleteThe performance of Carly's Silence was sophisticated and informative and engaged from start to end. Although I am fairly aware of Autism I found the piece would present to those unaware very well.
I found the piece very easy to follow and felt at times you didn't need to do so much explaining as the more minimal and physical scenes communicated to me more however as a TIE piece for the target audience I think it spoke well.
My favourite part when Carly first types. It was a well awaited climax and Ashleigh and Chloe portrayed their roles so (scarily) accurately. I felt empathetic towards both characters and feel that the physical portray of Carly was flawless and Rosie really connected with the audience.
I also very much engaged with the ensemble scene. Every member of the company was committed and strong within their performance and all stood out positively.
A section I feel could be developed further is the initial school scene. I feel like the amount of information was sometimes over baring the pace could have been a tad faster.
The performance hasn't changed my views on Autism however it did reinforce the support myself and communities should provide to those suffering and caring for those with Autism. I hope the desire effect is achieved in later performances.
Thank you for allowing me to be in the audience for this piece, it was informative and insightful and well designed for the target audience. The sheer amount of effort was shown by the cast and of course the Director throughout.
I must also highly commend the cast on the immensely mature performance when there were technical issues however the problems did not hinder my viewing.
Good luck with the rest of your performances!
As someone who has been very involved with teenagers on the autistic spectrum, I found Carly's Silence to be a fascinating insight into the autistic mind. The sensory overload experienced by many was very dramatically performed and it was easy to identify with Carly's distress at noises that we can ignore and allow into the background of our lives. Her frustration at the assumption that, because she doesn't speak it means that she must therefore be stupid was very poignant, as was her difficulties in expressing anger and fear.
ReplyDeleteAshleigh should be congratulated on a very thorough and convincing performance, but for me, the real star was Emily who portrayed Carly's Mum. As a mother myself, I could feel her frustrations and disappointments as she tried to connect with the daughter she loved, but who seemed to reject every gesture of love and affection. Her tiredness was almost palpable, and the fact that no-one seemed to be able to support her, or even give her explanations and help was very well acted. When she is finally able to peer into her daughter's mind and connect with her, I felt her joy as if it was my own.
The choreography of the ensemble was polished and detailed, never detracting from the story when scene shifting and providing so many voices for Carly's journey. The use of the sparse scenery was also well utilised.
Of course there were a couple of technical problems, but that didn't detract from the excellent performance. My only issue was that at points, the volume of the background noise meant that the main actor's words got lost. A small think that is easily rectified.
As a performance it was very enjoyable and moving. As a way of raising understanding it is incredibly powerful and I very much hope that the cast will be able to play to much wider audiences in the future. Treating people with respect and worth should be a fundamental thing, regardless of their ability to communicate. It is a timely reminder that everyone has worth and that with patience, love and the use of technology, these hitherto disconnected people can be understood and heard.
Well done to everyone involved.
Thank you very much for these detailed reviews and for your supportive comments and areas of constructive criticism. Speaking Up are so pleased that the story of Carly Fleischmann has been shared in such a successful way and that her journey and eventual break though on finally being heard was understood with such empathy from our audiences. Speaking Up feel so passionate about raising awareness about ASD and look forward to sharing her story further throughout the schools tour.
ReplyDeleteIt raised awareness on autism very well by showing the diagnoses stages of Carly.
ReplyDeleteThe play was easy to understand and you knew where she was and what she was doing with the clear sentences and monologues from a member of the cast at the beginning and end of each scene but the set also the scenes looked very different with the variations of how you had the blocks.
The parts I liked the most where the respite scene to show the diverse structure of the autistic spectrum and to finally see a smile on Carly's face and communicating with the people around her by answering there questions over the internet.
It's not changed my views on autism as I have someone autistic in my family but it was interesting to see how they would of showed it as a piece of theater and also I had a girl live next door to me who was autistic and she always used to rag the fence and try to pull it down, now seeing this it's has showed me why she did these things.
But a massive well done to the cast. The ensemble parts where fantastic and it was great to see how got everyone was included in many scene. This play was a very moving and emotional play hitting some hard subjects but executed brilliantly.