Week XIV — A Matter of Dissection

"An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces and uses his experience."
—Rosamund Pike

Power as an illusion, identity and power. These were key concepts of Shadow Queendom, this year's school play. Now, there is another play this year where we, the First Year IBers, will act that is in part about identity. We are participating in the British Schools of Peru's One Act Play Festival in our own small play, which by tradition is created by us. This is called A Matter of Dissection, and will have a subtheme of identity.

Description

On Tuesday, we had a test on Paucartambo, for which we had to read five excerpts of books in the form of handouts. In the end, Roberto (our teacher) let us use the handouts for the test.
After class, we stayed in our first One Act Play rehearsal, and came up with a few ideas, mainly the setting of the play and the genre; the latter being black comedy. Here, we read two small one act plays, Us and Them, by David Campton; and another I believe is called Over the Wall.

On Wednesday, we reviewed Paucartambo and talked more about its main festivity; festival of the Virgin of Mount Carmel, known as the Virgen del Carmen in Spanish. We learned about some characters; the masks they use, how are their costumes, and the main points on their dances.

On Thursday, we again talked on Paucartambo characters.
After class, we again stayed to rehearse on the One Act Play, and this is when Stefano came up with the game. And when I was given a character I actually don't like at all.

On Friday, we had the second part of the test on Paucartambo, this time without handouts. We also decided on the name of our play, A Matter of Dissection.
That afternoon, we went to an adaptation of a play by Federico García Lorca, called Yerma. Yerma is the Spanish word for Barren, and the name of the protagonist.

Analysis

The Paucartambo part was a bit straightforward, and it leaves me not much to reflect upon; but I can't help but to wonder on which character to focus on. Probably something that needs physical work.

In the One Act Play rehearsals, we read those two plays and talked on them. I decided I liked the fast pace of the plays, and how the lines intertwine to make a constant counterpoint that leads to the wordless climax.