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Today we started discussing our previous idea of the mental institute. We thought of a way to develop a story line, as this was the problem we had initially with the idea, and came up with having a psychiatrist shown around the place by a doctor and nurse who are not actual professionals.

We printed out two of the pictures we had and started devising in two groups. We based our scene on the introduction of my character who is a 20 year old girl that is stuck at the age of six because something traumatic happened to her at that age. In our picture there was a gate so we decided to have Carl, who is playing a schizophrenic, shut the gate while the audience is inside. We tried to create a creepy and slightly jumpy piece but also working on the characters of the mental patients.

The other group created a scene all about a patient who thought he was the second coming of christ which worked very well as their picture was of an area which looked much like a church. There are other patients present praying, and Tom (Jesus) is performing a ceremony and proceeds to get very angry when he is interrupted.

To develop the piece further we were trying to think of what kind of treatments they may have had, like the electric chair. We thought this would make quite a good scene and would work with Kyle's character who is silent, as it is a form of therapy to try and reforge connections in the b rain, which could trigger speech in his case.

Site Specific

Today we went on a tour of Fort Amherst, it has given us a lot of inspiration and finally helped us to start imagining our actual performance. The tunnels create a quite creepy atmosphere, they are quite narrow at points and also steep which I think will be interesting to perform in, but there is a good variety of locations within the tunnels which will inspire us for different scenes within out piece.

Some of the tunnels become quite small so we will have to think carefully about our audience and if they will be able to fit and also be able to see what we are actually doing in the space. It is also quite a complicated network of tunnels so we will have to plan carefully where we are walking with the map we have gotten, and then rehearse lots on the day.

We found out that there are 5 other forts like this in medway, one of which was used as a mental asylum after the war which has re-sparked my favorite idea which was about mental patients. I think it would very well, the mental patients have all been drawn there by something and are all living within the fort, isolated from the rest of the population.

Here are some pictures that we took while on our tour of the fort. I think it is a great performance space as it is completely different to a stage or traditional place of performance and will be very interesting to perform in, as well as giving us lots of inspiration from the set up and shape of the actual place.

Site Specific

Today we carried on trying to come up with a story line fore our piece. We were still struggling so we split into groups and each came up with some different ideas as to what we could include. We discussed the cause of the power struggle; was it war, political or some thing else but decided the story may help us. We thought maybe the Fort could act as an evacuation point for people trying to leave the country, but only certain people are allowed on this evacuation programme.

Our group decided that we would create a movement/dance piece that was centred around an imaginary child. Then each of us would adopt a role in the child's life that were useful jobs to represent that we would all be allowed on the evacuation programme, so we had the mother, a midwife, a teacher and a doctor. I think this could be very effective and be a nice addition to the piece to add some different techniques and show off what we are good at, instead of it being completely dialogue based.

Everyone's ideas seem to be quite similar but we are getting somewhere which I think is a step in the right direction. The most important thing now is that we go and see the Fort so we can really understand the location and start devising solely based on our surroundings.

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Today we tried to sort out our final idea, initially splitting into three groups to use the ideas from the previous brainstorm that we had selected as being our favorites and trying to work them into one story. Two people from each group moved to other groups so that our ideas were shared between all of us and they could develop as it went along.

When we came back together we had all come up with a similar idea of a futuristic setting with no power, based at Fort Amherst. So now we had our final idea we decided to start trying to come up with some kind of story so that we knew what kind of direction to start devising. My only worry with this idea that it will very easily turn into a cliché actin piece, much like films such as Maze Runner and Divergent, also like our previous devised piece which really didn't work. I'm also not sure how much we can actually develop this idea, in this lesson we have struggled to come up with any good ideas of a story line which I don't think will necessarily work because what else can we do but search for a power source. I am hoping in the next couple of lessons everyone will be more positive and we will be able to adapt the idea into something that we can fully develop and turn into an effective final piece that we all enjoy.

Site Specific

Today we decided that we would put all of the ideas we had had down on paper and narrow down our choices to try and come to a decision on  what kind of thing we actually wanted to devise, so we could get started on our final piece.

Again we split into groups and came up with one more, more elaborate idea to add to previous ones. My group came up with a sort of murder mystery evening where our audience is invited to a presentation evening at Fort Amherst and then everything starts to go wrong so they are not expecting it. I think this would work well as they would not know if it was real or not and it is something completely different from anything we have done before. All of the ideas are on this brainstorm.

When we came back together as a class we pitched all of our new ideas and wrote them on this paper, along with all of the previous ones we had come up with while doing our snippets of devising. We discussed which ideas we liked and what we didn't, also talking about which ideas we could link together so we used more of our ideas and had more of a complete base. Our idea was disliked by some people as they didn't want to play themselves, and they thought that it might be too shocking and scary for the audience if they actually thought it was real, although this was the point of our idea and I think it would be quite apparent that it was a performance once things went really wrong. 

There are quite a few strong minded people in our group so it can be difficult for us to talk about each others ideas without people getting very defensive over their own, and some people are being very closed about wanting a certain idea. I think after we go and visit Fort Amherst we will be able to make a more informed decision and hopefully get some inspiration for our piece which we can all come to an agreement on. 

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Fort Amherst - research

I got this information from the official Fort Amherst website - http://www.fortamherst.com

• In 1667 the Dutch raided the River Medway and attacked Chatham’s Royal Dockyard, which triggered the idea for some sort of defense system.
• In 1708 plans were beginning to be drawn up to construct a fortification to protect the Royal Dockyard from a land based attack.  
• In 1714 land was bought for the construction of the fortifications but work did not start until 1755.
• Part of the site chosen included a chalk pit with a number of caves.  These caves were extended between 1776 and 1805 to provide an underground labyrinth of tunnels, protected underground gun positions and protection in the event of a siege. 
•  In 1820 the defences were declared obsolete due to better artillery equipment with a greater firing range. 
• The whole of the fortifications were used as a training ground during the Victorian period and the practice sieges were so popular that thousands of people came to Chatham to watch them. 
• During WWII the tunnels were utilised by the Anti-Invasion Planning Unit and Civil Defence, who used a section as their headquarters.  This is where Civil Defence was co-ordinated for the North Kent area in the event of bombing as well as support and assistance to the general public after such an incident.  A section of the tunnels has been reconstructed into the Civil Defence HQ as it was in 1939.
• In the late 1970’s a group of enthusiasts were given permission by the Ministry of Defence to start tidying up the site, with the intention of restoring Fort Amherst. 
• Fort Amherst has been described Britain’s largest Napoleonic fortress.

Another fort in medway, Fort Clarence, was even used as a lunatic asylum for a period of time once it had served its purpose as a fort which I think makes our mental patients idea relevant and believable. 

Site Specific

This week we have been working on lots of different ideas to try and make more options. We split into groups and devised short pieces and ideas from pictures we were given. This is the photo my group was given, it is at Fort Amherst.

My group decided to create a small piece focusing on the hole in the wall. One of the ideas we came up with was based on ghosts, so we used that as a basis for our idea. It evolved into a group of people going on a tour then the guide being called away from something, subsequently the group spot a small child sitting alone by the hole. After speaking to the child voices start coming from somewhere, these call the child back into the hole, disappearing and leaving the tourists confused. When the guide returns he says there is no such child and the hole does not go anywhere, suggesting that it is a ghost child. I like the idea of a ghost piece as it fits really well with the location but I feel it may become cheesy as it is quite cliché and the fort is already known for ghost tours and such.

The next group was given this picture of another outside section of Fort Amherst.

This group went for a futuristic piece where we were all being trained to be soldiers. This piece was good as it was clearly relevant to our location, also the interaction with the audience worked well. They had us all line up with actors in our lines so that we were involved in the action when anything happened to the placed actors, making it feel quite realistic at points. Although I like the concept of engulfing the audience in the performance I don't think we could come up with a whole piece just with this idea as it is quite a specific setting. 

The next groups picture was this metal bridge, again located in the outside of Fort Amherst. 

Again this group went down the distopian/ futuristic path. They created a piece where there was no energy left and people were searching for a new source which they had been given clues about. I like this idea but I do not see how we can relate it to Fort Amherst, also I'm not sure it is suitable for a devised piece and may not be effective as it is quite like one of our previous devised pieces which didn't work out how we wanted and would have been much better as a film or such. 

We have made a good start to gathering ideas and I thin combining aspects from different pieces we create may be the best way to create something as everyone will then have an input and we will have a lot of ideas to devises from, hopefully creating a well rounded performance. 

Site Specific

Today we voted on what location we would like to perform in out of the four we had narrowed it down to; Fort Amherst, Chatham Dockyard, Upnor Castle and Upchurch Orchard. Most of us voted for Fort Amherst so this was our final decision for our location. After deciding this we once again split into groups and created a piece based on a picture, now all from Fort Amherst.

This was the first we had seen of the outside of the Fort. We were in the same groups as before so we decided to try and develop another scene that could go toward the mental idea. We had one doctor and then the rest of us adopted different mental illnesses that we had thought of, trying to come up with lots of variety so it would be interesting. We started by having the doctor bringing the group into the mental patients area and introducing them, then we have some small interaction between the patients and then they play a game in a circle, including the audience within the circle. This was supposed to be their outside/ free time, hence why they played a game, and were all together at this point. I do like this idea but we are finding it hard to come up with dialogue for the scenes so it may be too difficult to create a whole piece around.

Site Specific

This lesson we chose an idea from our brainstorm in groups and created a small piece to explore the idea. My group decided to create an interactive kind of performance following the mental patient idea. We chose to do have all of the patients sitting on chairs dotted around the room and then have a doctor bring the audience in, explaining to them that the patients were temporarily immobilised so that they would not move. It was interactive as the audience were spread in between all of the patients who weren't supposed to move but do, surprising the audience. Dan found a song called 'Seven Devils' which was creepy and really fitted the piece so we added some movement on our chairs that was simple but looked effective. Basically our idea is to involve the audience as much in our performance and enclose them in the mental place, this should create a great atmosphere especially in a location like Fort Amherst.

When we showed this to the other group they said it was really effective and although simple did well to create an atmosphere, even though we were just in a darkened classroom, so I think it will work very well in the Fort Amherst location. After performing we thought of having the current doctor sit down and one of the other patients take over the role and the control of the audience, so they will not know if it was a real doctor or not. We thought if we repeat this role switch after each scene we will create confusing and intrigue as to who the real doctor is, or if there is in fact one at all, which adds to the insanity.

Site Specific - Mental disorders

• Abulia: A pathological inability to make decisions or take action.
• Acute Stress Disorder: Also known as Acute stress Reaction and sometimes called Shock, this is a psychological condition caused by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying or traumatic event, such as a severe automobile accident, violent crime, or death. It should not be confused with the unrelated circulatory condition of shock, or the concept of shock value. Acute stress reaction may develop into ptsd if untreated.
• Antisocial personality disorder: Antisocial personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. Antisocial personality disorder is sometimes referred to as psychopathy or sociopathy. However, these three are not the same, psychopathy and sociopathy are generally considered subsets of ASPD. Some researchers believe that ASPD are psychopathy are separate conditions altogether.
• Catatonic schizophrenia: Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of the process of thinking and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction. The onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood, with a global lifetime prevalence of around 1.5%. Diagnosis is based on the patient’s self-reported experiences and observed behavior.
• Dissociative identity disorder (DID): previously known as multiple personality disorder (MPD), is a mental disorder on the dissociative spectrum characterized by the appearance of at least two distinct and relatively enduring identities or dissociated personality states that alternately show in a person's behavior, accompanied by memory impairment for important information not explained by ordinary forgetfulness. 
• Delusional parasitosis: also known as delusional infestation or Ekbom's syndrome, is a delusional disorder in which individuals incorrectly believe they are infested with parasites, insects, or bugs, whereas in reality no such infestation is present. Individuals with delusional parasitosis usually report tactile hallucinations known as formication, a sensation resembling insects crawling on or under the skin.
• Misophonia: literally "hatred of sound", is a putative disorder of uncertain classification in which negative emotions, thoughts, and physical reactions are triggered by specific sounds. It is also called "soft sound sensitivity syndrome," "select sound sensitivity syndrome", "decreased sound tolerance", and "sound-rage". Misophonia is not recognized as a disorder by standard diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5 or the ICD-10, and there is no evidence-based research on its prevalence or treatment.
• Tardive dyskinesia: is a difficult-to-treat and often incurable form of dyskinesia, a disorder resulting in involuntary, repetitive body movements. In this form of dyskinesia, the involuntary movements are tardive, meaning they have a slow or belated onset. This neurological disorder, by definition, most frequently occurs as the result of long-term (usually at least 3 months duration) or high-dose use of antipsychotic drugs, or in children and infants as a side effect from usage of drugs for gastrointestinal disorders.