8

Taboo Subjects. 

The whole idea of experimental theatre was to look at reality- not this false fantasy we want to see. Which means confronting and dealing with taboo issues. Which we explored over a number of lessons. 

Some of the taboo subjects we looked at included:
-necrophiliac 
-bestiality
-incest
-mental illness 
-cannibalism 
-drugs
-rape
-child abuse

And we included these within our whole piece. In the lessons previous we devised small minute long performances about these subjects. I particularly remember one where I was a farmer who liked to have sex with my animals and we realised that we all found it funny. We thought possibly it was because to look past the awkwardness of it we laughed or maybe some taboo subjects we couldn't take seriously. So when we added these to our piece, we picked ones we thought we could portray honestly and well. 
So we picked:
-Self mutilation, which I did in a scene but cutting my wrists and painting the roses read with my blood.
-Rape and Cannibalism, in the Mad Hatters Tea Party. 
-Drugs, in the Artaud Drugs scene. 
-Child Abuse in the opening Scene. 

I felt like we managed to explore these subjects in a safe environment and it helped me get over my fear or acting out mental illnesses so I was grateful of that.