Verbatim Theatre consists of a piece of drama where an actor is trying to present dialogue to another actor or to the audience in the exact same words which were used originally by the person they are imitating. In the lesson today we analysed the use of Verbatim in theatre and looked at it in comparison to similar styles such as docu-dramas.
I think that Verbatim theatre can be quite restricting when it comes to making an in-depth piece. This is due to the lack of room to manoeuvre, given the fact that verbatim theatre can not sway from the truth at all, meaning that any re-wordings of statements or removal of lines is prohibited. On the other hand, docu-dramas are more freeing in this respect; they allow actors to present a true story but are able to dramatise it in their own way, and therefore show their own interpretation on events.
In our group, we looked at news stories from America regarding police brutality towards people of African-American descent; specifically focusing on an attack on a young woman at a swimming pool. One thing that we did find quite interesting was the difference between British and American articles covering the story; with the Americans in the article taking a more favourable stance on the brutality towards the offending woman.
By using the text exactly as it was spoken, it gives a more accurate account of what had happened in the real world.
