At the bottom of this page is a link to my Catalogue Document for The Rising Sun, that I created alongside the devising process. There is a lot of information about the show, including pictures and a brief synopsis. Since the first performance I have decided to rewrite the show, using the same characters and story but elevating both based on the feedback I received from peers and lecturers. Currently it is mid-rewrite and I will hopefully be sharing more about its next draft soon. However, this page is about the original script and performance, and my response to work that led to the performance that was shown to audiences.
The Rising Sun was a show that I created for my Independent Project and Research module, but it was most importantly a passion project. The experience of writing, developing, casting, and working on every little detail of a show has taught me so much about myself as a writer and artist. This project really made me see what I was working towards doing, and it further cemented that this is what I want to do with my life.
The show itself was a passion project because it focused around climate change, something that I am heavily involved in and feel really needs to be spoken about. The way I went about it though was very interesting to me. I wanted to look at how climate change would affect the minds of young people years from now, showing that the effects don’t stop with what will happen to the world. Another level to this was based upon people’s unwillingness to act upon climate change right now, with the play aiming to show people that they will be affected, and it isn’t simply some far off danger.
The way I went about this was by taking elements, and inspiration, from The Breakfast Club and other stories dealing with youthful individuals changing through the course of realising the wider world around them. The show takes place in a forest that is outside of time and therefore could be anywhere, bringing in the idea that for decades climate change has threatened our way of life, but no one has tried to do anything about it. The shows style took a lot of inspiration from the 80’s era of The Breakfast Club as well. I dressed the characters in clothing reminiscent of the time and even my promotional material payed homage to the promotional material of the movie.
While writing the show I wanted to keep in mind that this project was about seeing what I could do and learning from everything I couldn’t. I kept note of all the things I could work on improving, and this has really helped me with the draft I am currently constructing. Characters are one of the biggest things I learnt from the experience of creating my own show, focusing on character specific dialogue and making sure that all of your characters decisions make sense to who they are. I want to carry on learning about elements of writing, making sure that I continue to grow as an artist.
A question I find myself asking, having come further to knowing what it is I want to do with my art is what feeling did I want to communicate to my audience? I want to take my audience out of the monotony of life, so how does the show do that? These are some of the questions I plan to take forward with me, throughout my career.
The Rising Sun – Catalogue Document for The Rising Sun