Harlow College journalism student Daniella Dhorasoo reviews a show by performing arts students.
I had the pleasure of viewing the moving performance Innocence Undressed at the Glass Box Theatre, Harlow College.
The performance entailed an insight into how a teenage girl’s life is destroyed through cyberbullying. This was performed through drama and dance and the story was told in the most impactful and captivating way. The poetic narration reflected each and every move of the performance. The idea of there being no speech from the dancers seemed more touching to the audience as the story was only told through expressionism.
We see how a joyous and confident girl transforms into a timid and self-conscious individual. This story reveals the negative impact of social media and the effects of it in young people’s lives. The performance highlighted what cyberbullying can do to a person’s mental wellbeing. The peer pressure fitting into the ‘ideal teenage life’ and keeping up with trends on social platforms such as TikTok were portrayed very effectively. This also included the pressures of being involved in a relationship and dealing with the bullying stemming from exposed photos being shared around.
The performance reflected how a situation of this sort can potentially end up where one feels trapped, with no escape from shame, which is what this young person felt, who met her fate in the most devastating way – death.
The show really encapsulates the story by the choice of clothing worn throughout the performance. The strong sense and powerful communication came through when the protagonist wore a simple white flowing dress. As life was taken over turn by the bullying comments online the same dress was worn but it was completely covered with body shaming insults – this was genius!
A line that stuck with me towards the end of the performance was ‘sticks and stones can break bones but words can hurt me’. This quote is impactful and the scenario played in front of me addressed these words perfectly.
I believe that this topic needs to be spoken more frankly in schools.
These teenagers executed this drama and concept very maturely and gave a truly remarkable performance.
Our photograph below shows a scene from the performance.
