Leah Kurland- Journal 2

What was the name of the piece you saw? (one sentence) The Celebrity Guide to Mental Health and Wellness

Describe the final moment of the piece? What happened? (four sentences) The final moment of the piece shows the character having a panic attack, or demonstrating one. There is another guy with him who helps calm him down and does breathing exercises with him. Once he’s alone, he tells the audience a story about his experience with depression in college. The ending was definitely a good way to close out the performance because of the power it held, and the message it had.

If you had to ascribe a moral to this piece, what would it be? Why do you think that? (four sentences) If I had to ascribe a moral to this piece it would be about the importance of awareness. I think there is a stigma around mental health and it’s hard to understand something that you don’t have experience with. This performance kind of broke that stigma and showed the audience that not everything is what it seems.

What was an element you enjoyed about the piece? Why did you enjoy it? (six sentences) The element that I enjoyed about this piece was the fact that you forget you’re watching an act. Of course some scenes were dramatic and unrealistic, but there were also some scenes that felt very real. The actor portrayed the emotions well and although he was mocking the medias take on mental health, it was still very informative. I also thought the way they added humor to a serious topic was done well and not taken out of proportion. There was definitely a risk making jokes and talking about mental health in the same performance.

What was an element that confused you? Why did it confuse you? What could have been done differently to make it clearer to you? (six sentences) The element that confused me was how quickly the tone would change. It was hard to differentiate between what was real and what was apart of the piece. I don't think anything could have been done to make it clearer to me. This is because it happened a lot during the "seminar", and it was only until after I finished watching that I read the description of what they were recreating. If I read it before, I probably would have understood it more.

Select one of the performers and answer the following questions.

What did the character WANT? (one sentence) The character wanted to be okay mentally.

What tactics or actions did they use to get what they wanted. (three verbs) he asked for help when he knew he needed it, he ignored the panic attacks and tried to focus on his breathing and what was around him

Did you enjoy their performance? Why or why not? (three sentences) His performance was good, but I don’t think it was for me. It was honestly a bit confusing at times which made it hard to enjoy. It was also just a weird piece that made me want to stop watching.

What moment in the piece did you feel the most connected to the performance? Describe it. (six sentences) I felt most connected to the performance when he was doing the role-play activity with the other guy. They were trying to find his anti-self, and were playing two very different roles. The one guy was telling the actor in a variety of tones that he would be alone forever, while the actor was denying the claim. I connected to this part in particular because the emotions from both men seemed very raw. Whether or not that was apart of scene, it was definitely my favorite part.