We are still on our preparation for the TPPP orals, and we are over-seeing all the aspects we have to mention and how we must link all these aspects such as rhythm, acting, scenery, and set design aspects as well as with the different traditions we have studied and our school play.


There is so much to talk about that we have to be wise when choosing which aspects to focus on, for example there are some things that even though important, didnt offer many connections. Like when we studied Gordon Craig's "Moods" we could maybe talk about a few plays we have seen where it applies but in terms of our own experience, lighting wasnt something we were really involved with.


While making a short practice for the orals we had to do a five minute presentation, and I decided to talk about the use of puppets in our play shadow Queendom. At first it was easy to brainstorm ideas, given that there was so much to talk about, from the acting process and how it was different from previous years, to the reception of our actors, or the way the audience reacted to them, or even the production of the puppets. And it was the easy availability of ideas and information that made my presentation a disaster. I just started mentioning everything, first how we had been able to make the puppets and learn about them through the puppeteers that came and taught us, then i talked about the acting process for our actors, and then about how the audience had reacted. It ended up being really vague, only describing the process and not a lot of analysis of why things happened as they did.


I realized that even though there was a lot to talk about, we had to choose very specific things, spread along the course, but to focus only in concrete aspects, because this way we can reach actual reflection and not just description, which in the end is what the examiners might be looking for. Though it is still important to show that you know a lot and that you have been to many plays and know about different theorists, so a balnce has to be met between quantity and quality of the information you provide. My short presentation was an example of quantity, i just let myself go and tried to include as much as possible so that the examiner would know that I know. But thats not the way to go.


We are only a week away from the Paucartambo trip and I am really excited to see all that I missed out on last year, the masks, the dance and the atmosphere of the carnival. I am slightly concerned that I might not enjoy it as much as last year because all that we studied last year about the origins of the festival is now blurred in my mind. So I will have to refresh my memory by reading some of last years sheets and doing some reaserch. But that though made me reflect upon the experience of art.


If a person who is inexperienced in a certain art form, be it drama, painting or music, and has no previous knowledge of it, does he not enjoy said art piece? is he excluded from the target audience? or should he be able to still experience it in a valid way? Is art supposed to affect each and everyone, or only a select group of people with some background knowledge about it?