b'T3 Journal - Student Writing in Drama, University of Exeter 2020-21 Aoife RushAn exploration of the representation of cultural2013:45) allows the actors to experience and navigate characters. To explore the complexities of cultural identi-the interplay between the representation of their characterty (including the place of nation), the actors body works identities through the actors body in Small Island and the reality of their own identity during performance.through a phenomenal consciousness (Zarrilli 2013:45). Therefore, the actor engages in an embodied conscious- It is the dialectical relationship between the actors lived Submitted for the module The Actors Body ness (Zarrilli 2013:8) which allows the exploration of thebody and the phenomenal world (Merleau-Ponty 2012:np), resonances between the cultural identities of actorof both the play and the context, which enables this ex-Essay and character. ploration of nation as an aspect of cultural identity. The Aoife Rush actors performance is underpinned by phenomenological, Ultimately, the portrayal of cultural identity within Smallphilosophical paradigms of the body through which the Island highlights the value of a representation that invitesactors experience is, arguably, engendered by an embod-new ways of thinking about or problematizing questionsied (Loukes 2013:195) practice. It is characterised by the Within Small Island, the actors body works to representrepresentation of cultural identity within this performancearound the nation and national identity (Holdsworthactors self-awareness of this approach and use of the sens-the intricacies and tensions in the cultural identities sha- is presented through current theories of the body as a site2014:8), challenging assumptions regarding the signif- es. The actor brings the character, their history, culture, ped by the shared history of Jamaica and Britain (Howardof social and political significance and tension, as well asicance of nation within our identities. The conscious,and desires to life through their sensory body which works 2019:4). This adaptation of Andrea Levys 2004 epic novelphilosophical paradigms. psychophysical work of the actors also represents culturalas a product of their own history, culture, and personal presents a performance where cultural identity is ex- identities on stage through the depiction of overt racism.life. Therefore, underpinned by Merleau-Pontys theory, plored in three intertwining storylines and the charactersAdapted by Helen Edmundson and directed for the Nation- The actors body can become a device for exposing andin this performance the perceived object becomes the struggles to find a sense of belonging and self, a home,al Theatre by Rufus Norris in 2019, this performance is setdismantling oppressive systems which stifle and tormentcharacter and the perceiving subject (2012:53) is the actor, some work, some self-respect, some love (Edmundsonin the context of the Windrush Scandal, a renewed publicthe existence of black cultural identities. In this way, thewho works through sensing to engage their body phenom-2004:127), between the turbulent years of 1939 and 1948.responsiveness to the Black Lives Matter Movement, andbody works as a liminal site where discourse and debateenologically with their acquired understanding of their World War II, the post-war mass migration with the arrivalCovid-19. It is framed by globalisation, the shifting ethicsare stimulated, whilst being an active contributor tocharacter. This interplay requires the constant, conscious of the Empire Windrush in 1948, and the larger legacy ofof transmission and exchange (Evans 2019:104) of culturethat discourse, a voice, and a live vehicle of communica- engagement of the actors body with story and context, colonialism and postcolonial subjectivities (Holdsworthand the implications of these contexts for the expression oftion with real agency. Hortense and Gilbert address theand its resonances with the world in which the actor exists. 2014:10), all contextualise the representation of culturalcultural identity on and off stage. Online streaming of thisaudience, expressing their overwhelming desire to go toThrough their bodies, Harvey and Eustaches Jnr represent identities through the actors body. Their bodies representproduction during the 2020 lockdown locates the perfor- England (Small Island 2019). Here, their actors body worksthe complexities of the cultural identities of Hortense and cultural identity as multifaceted, shifting, and relationalmance within shifting understandings of theatre practices.to contest and unsettle ideas of the nation (HoldsworthGilbert. The actors embodied representation of cultural not only due to its innately dynamic state but because ofThe virtual presentation and consumption of the actors2014:np) and its place within cultural identity. Nation hasidentity exists in a dialectical continuum with the fiction-its complex relationship with the surrounding socio- body in this performance is a product of the breaking of abeen defined as a large body of people united by commonal, historical, and current context in which it manifests. A political climate. new paradigmatic wave of theatre, adapting to be pandem- descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particu- focus on the phenomenal consciousness (Zarrilli 2013:45) ic-compatible (Tripney 2020). The power and poignancy oflar country or territory (Oxford Languages 2020: online).of the actor when representing cultural identities, then, Cultural identity eludes precise definition. To define thisthis performance and the signification held within the ac- However, its representation through the actors body inelucidates not only the theatre but also the actors body concept absolutely, may lead to a misconstrued, faciletors body, is heightened by the unprecedented times (BBCSmall Island exposes this as limited. The reality of theseas a site through which the ideological maneuverings and interpretation which ignores the endless complexitiesMedia Centre 2020) and the resonances or associationsdefining categoriesdescent, history, culture or languageactions of the nation state could be put under scrutiny of human existence. It is an ever-changing framework[it] offer[s] of a different time, place, politics, or culture are contestable, filled with contradictions and tensions(Holdsworth 2014: 3).through which we understand what we really are; or(Holdsworth 2014:np). that result from colonial power. In this moment, the actors rathersince history has intervenedwhat we havebody explores the way in which a rigid, myopic vision ofMoreover, the cultural identity of the actors in this per-become (Hall 2005:445). Cultural identity is based onIn this performance, ideas of national identity as concep- nation affected the identities of those who travelled fromformance permeates the feeling of the form (Zarrilli our relationship with history, reflecting the different waystual categories (Holdsworth 2014:1), and the existence ofJamaica to England in 1948 as part of the Windrush gen- 2013:45). The actors multiple consciousness (Zarrilli we are positioned by, and position ourselves within, theoppression and racism are presented as defining elementseration. Harvey and Eustaches Jnr present both Hortense2013:45), which allows them to represent the characters narratives of the past (Hall 2005:445). It is, therefore, rep- of cultural identity. Actors Leah Harvey and Gershwynand Gilbert as yearning for England, attributing theiridentity through the work of the body-mind, could not resented as a multidimensional phenomenon shaped andEustaches Jnr provide insights into the representation ofhope and anticipation of future success to their status asfunction without the experience, knowledge, and perma-reshaped through a confusion of semantics and discoursecultural identities through a psychophysical process ofa British subject (British Nationality Act 1948). Whennence of their own cultural identity as part of this rep-as it undergo[es] constant transformation (Hall 2005:445).acting. This allows the interrogation of cultural identityHortense proposes that Gilbert should Marry me and goresentation. Their feeling of the doing is, perhaps, not There are overlapping emotional, psychological, physical,through an enactive approach to acting and embodimentto England (Edmundson 2019:75), Harvey and Eustachessimply an additional layer of resonance within the per-socio-political, and philosophical paradigms of the body(Zarrilli 2013:8) grounded in phenomenological, philosoph- Jnr stand apart, and deliver their lines to the audience.formers consciousness (Zarrilli 2013:45) but characterises which underpin our understanding of our identity and howical paradigms of the body. Psychophysical acting, equallyThis moment provides an insight into nation as a stake- the actors entire on-stage experience. This suggests the this might be represented. Given the intrinsic connectionengages inner and outer dimensions of experience andholder within these characters cultural identities. Here,representation of nation as a complex aspect of cultural between identity and social context, the representationembodiment (Zarrilli et Al 2013:viii), through which thetwo national identities, one defined by birthplace, family,identity is achieved through the phenomenological expe-of cultural identity through the actors corporeal bodyactor develops a sort of phenomenal consciousness (Zarril- and language, the other by policy implemented by colonialrience of the actor. This is a psychophysical process. The is also inherently political. Therefore, an analysis of theli 2013:45). Their consciousness of the doing (Zarrillipowers, converge in shaping the cultural identities of theactors work and the essence of the character have a phe-14 15'