Introduction to Verbatim

Verbatim theatre uses interviewing as a devising technique. All of the theatre is put together from the words that someone has actually said about something. The process of this is involves interviewing someone, and recording it, whether that is just voice, or film, and making note of physical body language, vocal quality, hesitations and gestures, etc. The interview is then transcribed into a script, which is used to devise the performance. The portrayals of the character must be human and realistic as possible. This means we leave in every detail, even fillers such as 'erm'.This is quite difficult to remember as the actor has to get everything exactly right for it to be a truly honest performance.

We used Verbatim in our piece, it was really difficult in some places, as the elderly people we interviewed had quiet voices, and some of the things they said we couldn't include, such as when they made comments about the other people living in the home! I also think we had to be sensitive and respectful because we needed to do their words justice.

First Impressions: The Elms

We went to The Elms to visit the elderly people we would be basing our stories on. We had prepared a number of questions to ask them, though in the end, personally I never had a one-on-one interview with any of them. However I still found the trip interesting, as it gave us an insight into the lives of the residents there. As a care-home helper wheels a snoozing woman past me, she nods at me and knowingly says 'She's One Hundred years old.' I wasn't quite sure what to say to that except nod in return. Words didn't seem appropriate. I reflected on that when I got home, and I am still unsure what to think. Part of me feels that that is an incredibly long time to have lived, and I wonder about the things she might have seen and done, and that's what I think was important about the performance, revisiting the lives and stories these people have. And another important thing is, is that as far as I am aware, none of the people were particularly extraordinary. I think that's what is nice about it. Celebrating perfectly normal lives, just glimpsing into the the time frames of these people, and letting them relive some of their memories. I listened in on a conversation an elderly couple were having with some of the art students. I was surprised by the fantastic energy and enthusiasm that seemed to radiate from both of them. They were very funny, full of life and character, and the sweetest thing was they didn't let go of each others hands once. Personally, I have a fear of growing old. Having arthritis and bad hearing, my body feels about 104 at best days as it is, and I don't like the idea of it getting any worse, especially knowing I could lose my wits as well as my dashing good looks! But these two were incredibly inspiring for me. They were brilliant, and had more life in them than most of the people I know who are my own age. This broke a lot of stereotypes for me, and I hope we broke some of the stereotypes they hold about teenagers, and I hope we did them justice and they trusted us with their stories.