Performative Aspects of Citizen X
In our performance of Citizen X we wished to address a range of themes, and employed a number of theatrical devices, such as manipulation of dialogue, proxemics and kinesics, and style of delivery in order to achieve these aims. The challenge, however, lay in exploring these issues in such a way as to remain sensitive to the subjects of the drama, whilst not appropriating their experiences. We further wished to present the piece in a manner which the audience would perceive as confrontational, but not offensive. Whilst selecting text for our performance project, we agreed on the themes we wished to explore, and that we should choose excerpts accordingly. The first of these is the issue of detainment of children. I believe this issue touched each of us as being at the heart of the tragedy, and as an issue that was almost impossible to accept. We became further concerned upon reading reports of the psychological conditions of which numerous children have been diagnosed, as a result of their periods of prolonged incarceration. We wished to include in our presentation several particularly disturbing images, drawings that had been done by children within detention centres; however, our technological capabilities were not quite up to the challenge of acquiring a computer slide show, and limitations on time and budget made obtaining slides an impossibility.