The document discusses various stimuli and ideas that were considered for devising a play. It explores images, songs, and existing works that prompted discussions around themes of journeys, both literal and metaphorical. Specifically, a photo of a man on a road, the song "World's Greatest" by R Kelly, and the film Fame were analyzed for how they could inform the development of characters, plot, and use of performance techniques in telling a story. While stimuli provided opportunities, concerns were also raised about ensuring the devised piece had depth and avoided being too simplistic or cheesy in its storytelling.

1. Stimulus used Activities used in
devising activities
Performance strategies
applied
(plot, narrative, action,
sequence of events,
character/role
development and
delineation, scripting,
editing, dialogue selection,
structuring
episodes/scenes, use of
different dramatic
elements, design and
technical aspects.)
What would work well?
(selection and rejection of
material
What wouldn’t work
well?
(selection and rejection of
material
Performance potential
(communication of ideas,
intentions and style.
Audience awareness)

2. road picture This picture showed a
man on a road standing
over another figure on
the ground. at the end
of the sark dingy road
there was a group
looking in the direction
of the first man. we
discussed what could be
going on in this picture
and I mentioned its
similarity to the
landscapes described in
Cormack Mccarthy’s
“the road” (novel)
thinking about the
subject of journeys. The
picture made us
consider the long
physical journeys,
pilgrimages, journeys to
escape harm or threat
and even the
metaphorical journey
through life and into
the afterlife. We used
forum theatre in which
we placed ourselves on
the road and thought
about background
leading up to the
picture. this helped us
to think about the
possible journey this
could suggest
This offers scope for a
range of performance
techniques. The
metaphorical journey
through life stood out
to us as an
opportunity to use
narration and cross
cutting to show the
passage of time and
changing of location
the story of the
journey through life
could provide strong
points for narration.
it allows for a range
of other techniques.
the idea is very broad
and needs a great
amount of
development
the idea of a
metaphorical journey
presents an
opportunity for us to
use a wide range of
techniques to create
a very three
dimensional
performance with
very deep and
heartfelt themes

3. r kelly song The song, worlds
greatest provoked a
discussion about
dreams and
particularly the
dreams of those
involved in the
performing arts
industry. we thought
that we could use the
song perhaps in a
multimedia piece.
using the song to
show a lust for
success. because we
didn't want to make
the piece too cheesy,
further discussion
helped us decide that
if we where to pursue
this idea we would
focus on the gritty
harsh realities of the
competitive nature of
the industry.
this offered an
opportunity to use
media in our
performance. we
could use the song in
the background.
perhaps including a
dance piece, or even
using the lyrics within
the narration
the lyrics of the r
kelly song are very
relevent and suit
the piece well. the
song could give the
piece an
inspirational feel
and help the
audience connect
through multimedia
using the song in this
way could present a
risk of the piece
becoming too
cheesy/childish. this
is something we are
very much trying to
avoid
pursuing the idea of
an emotional
multimedia piece
gives us the
opportunity to use
movement and vocal
skills as well as action

4. fame fame is an example of
an existing piece very
similar to what we
where going for.
watching it made us
think about the harsh
reality of the industry
and provoked me to
think about drama
school as a setting for
the journey to begin.
this gave us the idea
that our piece could
include a variety of
acting sining and
dancing. this would
gives an opportunity
to showcase a diverse
range of skills
Fame is very similar
to the idea we have
developed. we can
take a lot from this
stimulus about the
idea of emotion in the
journey towards your
dreams
fame is also fairly
cheesy and is not the
sort of thing we are
aiming to create
applying the journey
theme to the
characters from a
performance
background allows us
to explore our own
journeys anfutures,
this is very personal
to us and we could
portray the events of
the piece very
passionately

5. Devising Plays - Stimulus table