P.S.A.

P.S.A. was a devised performance created by my Alternative Performance class taught by Dr. Dennis Beck. Through this course we learned about the creativity behind devising and in April of that semester we had to create a 60-90 minute piece to perform to the public. 

Of all the classes I took in college, I learned the most in this one and I found a love for devised theatre. Discovering the importance of collaboration in this course allowed me to put trust in my peers and take on roles I knew I’d be best at. Beck oversaw our research throughout the course, but we were left to hold rehearsals on our own so we would have to guide ourselves. We changed our ideas a lot. We ended up scrapping probably 95% of what we created. There were a total of fifteen of us. We rarely ever agreed on something.

A lot of the class was interested in mythology and feminine rage. We narrowed that topic down to Pandora’s Box. We researched how rage affects the body and the different versions of Pandora’s box. We found rage to be a response to injustices we were affected by in our everyday lives. We took a survey with questions we had created and found a lot of us felt rage in our stomachs. This gave us the title of our piece: P.S.A. (Pandora’s Stomach Ache). 

We all agreed to make the piece immersive. This gave us the opportunity to use multiple rooms. Our main space was the Studio theatre (a black box). We then decided to utilize dressing rooms, hallways, the green room, and rehearsal spaces. When the performance started, Pandora discovered the box and was curious about the noise and chaos the ensemble was making. Eventually, she opened the box, releasing a swarm of evils into the other spaces. Only one character (played by three people) was left in the box. Her name was Hope. 

I portrayed the evil, Vanity. I played a Barbie doll inspired by Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece. I allowed the audience to do whatever they wanted with me. Dress me, strip me, put on makeup, take off makeup, dress me in jewelry, do my hair, etc. This took place in one of the dressing rooms which we called The Doll’s House. The other dressing room was a foil of mine and Jealousy’s. It was dark and rather than focusing on outer beauty, it focused on our secrets and hatred of our bodies. 

Audiences were given a map and could roam through the rooms as they pleased, meaning not everyone went to every room. This was the beauty of our piece. Audiences could watch whatever they wanted. 

On top of devising, I also worked as our publicist. I created the map, the poster, filmed everything, and ran our social media. We ended up having a huge turnout. @jmualternative