IB Diploma Programme
Theatre HL Process Journal
This journal captures k’s journey through the theatre-making process in Year 11 — a space for ideas, discoveries, and reflections as each production moved from page to stage. It traces not just outcomes, but the experiments, challenges, and growth that shaped k’s understanding of theatre as both art and collaboration.
Entry 1
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Assignment 1: Creating a short scene based on the three given pictures.
Creation Process:
Description:
The scene we had created was based on the image showing people in jail, and 2 men outside of the jail along with the prison guard. We had decided to focus on a specific part of the image which was the women. We depicted her and the man in front of her as immigrants from another country that had been detained and captured in this prison. The scene had a narration and almost mime-like part where one of us had to become the narrator, acting as the present day within the jail as she explains to the audience about what happened and the other person and played the role of reenacting her day up to the prison. Additionally, the man within the image in front of her had been decided to be the audience as they listened to the woman's story of how she ended up there.
Evaluating Process:
As a Creator….
As a creator I was able to bring to life the idea I had of merging miming and dialogue. I envisioned the woman as both the narrator and main character of her own story, narrating the life she had built while providing a performance of mine to the audience allowing them to get an idea of how life could be pictured. Additionally, as the prompt was to create a “short scene” which would mean 2-3 minutes, I felt as if the final product had not met the expectations of what needed to bed done–with that being said, I believe that this performance had a concept and a basis to what was intended to be created however the execution needed more time and more energy put into it.
As a Performer…
As a performer I was able to play the role of the women within the jail, acting as the narrator of her own story. I was able to bring emotion into the dialogue as a way of engaging with the audience and honing an emotional appeal towards them. However, as it was a last minute creation I was not able to fully project emotion into the dialogue that would fully immerse the audience into the experience and exaggerate the feeling of the women, allowing the audience to understand the story.
Entry 2
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Assignment 2: Planning a performance using production elements
Chosen Elements:
An isolation room
Using Sound to enhance the scene
Using General Space (space) ; Energy (body) as performance elements
Description: This performance is about a crazed individual that has been held captive in a mental asylum for months that have been unaccounted for. In this piece, he used body and space to emphasize his madness; along with the technical element of sound as a way of conveying his inner thoughts and whispering he experiences in his head. This performance is a non-verbal performance that has minimal to no talking from the actor, but will contain screams of terror.
Stage Design:
These inspiration picks show how the stage design is intended to look like; having a full white padded room with writing on the wall acting as his inner thoughts that are scattered throughout the walls. There will be only a short, small white bed set in the corner of the room where the character will lay in the opening scene.
Additionally, lighting will be used in the set; a dim singular spotlight that will only flash during scenes that emphasize the sound of silence where the actor will be standing in the middle of the stage. The performance would open with a very bright, white, hospital-like light whoever will dim over time; General lighting will be a dim white light coming from the back of the room and a lighter light that is shined at the front to cover any dark spaces or corners with light.
The Use of Sound:
The use of sound will be used to convey his inner thoughts of whispers and overlapping screams; an example can be heard from this youtube sound Hearing Voices Simulation 30min. Other sounds will be used as well such as slow foot step sounds, light switch opening sound Big switch sound effect, or just complete silence; emphasizing on the madness that goes in the actors head. The sound is used as a perspective to give the audience as if they were in the body of a deranged lunatic.
The Use of Body:
As this is not a verbal piece, the actor will be using body movements to emphasize the message and story that is trying to be presented to the audience. There will be a heavy use of arms that gesture big or body movements where the actor is able to throw themselves around the room to emphasize on madness. Additionally, this will fall under the category of “general space” as the actor will be using the space around them as a canvas to write the story. *Note, the actor will be wearing a straitjacket, but will eventually get out of it progressively*
Entry 3
Thursday, August 26, 2025
Assignment 3: Reflection on skills that you have and want to develop
For me, theaters main purpose is…
A form of entertainment
A form of immersive education
Effects on the audience must have powerful appeal towards the audience.
The sort of theatre I would like to make is…
With no budget limitation, I would like to bring to life an Indonesian based story that is able to spread culture, awareness, and education that is both immersive, emotional, and filled with laughter. I would like this story to be able to reach broadway musicals, as a way of allowing Indonesia to open up more towards the culture of performing arts and to open the world to the stories of our islands.
Entry 4
Thursday, August 26, 2025
Assignment 4: Develop a Theatre-make Intention
Chosen Injustice Issue: The issue of “perampasan tanah” in Indonesia
Chosen Audience: Political leaders attending a conference on combating injustice + People over the age of 14
Theatre-maker Intention:
This theatre piece is a musical that would portray the lives of farmers (petani) in Indonesia as their land had been taken from them by the government (perampasan tanah) to build buildings or roads for the city; leading to their loss in jobs and homes. The ideal message that this portrays is a call out to the government or political leaders (as the intended audience) to restore the farmers rightful land and to be able to prevent further land dispossession in the future.
This theatre piece is intended to use the effects of emotional appeal towards the audience, allowing them to feel the pain and sorrow for the farmers. Additionally, it is intended to have effects of call to action towards the audience, specifically the political leaders, as a way of bringing awareness to this issue through the use of lighting—for example, red lighting to express anger and outrage—and through the music where the actors are able to express their characters feelings—adding exaggeration from body movements or specific scenes that are able to embrace the farmers fighting spirit against the government.
The performance style would be a combination of political drama and musical theatre due to the topic; musical theatre would allow exaggeration and more of appeal the performance would have to the audience as music is a general way to captivate the audience's attention. Additionally, the performance space could be either proscenium arch or arena—however, in my opinion arena would have a better appeal due to the intricate lighting details and more use of space but proscenium arch would have a bigger impact as the actors would be able to have a specific focus instead of having to engage with the audience all around them.
Aims & Intentions
What are the artistic intentions of your play?
The artistic intentions of this performance is to bring awareness towards the issue of perampasan tanah to be able to call to the intended audience (the political leaders) with the ideal results of justice towards the farmers that had been robbed of their homes.
My intention is to be able to educate the public regarding a severe injustice issue that had been neglected and hidden, providing an educational experience that is both entertaining and understandable to the younger audience that watches it.
Entry 5
Monday, September 1, 2025
Assignment 5: Identify moments of TEAM
Given Script: Sfile:///Users/keiarto/Downloads/Script_Extract__Macbeth_by_William_Shakespeare.pdf
TEAM: Tension, Emotions, Atmosphere, Meaning
Tension:
In Act I, Scene I, we are introduced to the witches as they are conversing to arrange their next meeting. This opening was able to establish the use of tension, as the use of mysterious tone in their dialogue was able to add a dark and unsettling feeling towards the audience.
Atmosphere:
The atmosphere was shaped by the setting of a deserted place, with additional effects of thunder and lightning, which were able to create a sense of unease. Additionally, the witches closing lines;
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair;
Hover through the fog and filthy air,”
was able to build up on the sense of unease. This line was able to contribute to the atmosphere by providing the audience with a glimpse of the situation being depicted. The chanting-like lines were also able to emphasize the witches’ otherworldly presence, setting the play's themes.
Emotion:
Emotion is evoked through the lines the characters recite within the play. An example from Scene II;
“What bloody man is that?”
We are able to sense the emotion of pity coming from Duncan as his attention is drawn towards a wounded soldier. Additionally, this whole scene has contrasts between emotion between Duncan and Malcolm as they both are able to evoke a different emotion; Duncan evokes a sense of empathy while Malcolm evokes a sense of admiration and bravery for the wounded soldier.
Meaning:
In Scene I, the key themes of the scene with the witches is chaos and foreshadowing, chaos plays a part due to the setting as it is able to represent the witches—representing manipulation of fate—while foreshadowing plays a part as the witches have someone's prophecy in their hands.
In Scene II, the key themes of the scene are loyalty and bravery, evoked by the bleeding soldier that is able to embody courage and sacrifice as he protects his king and his country. Additionally, we can sense an upcoming rise of conflict and violence as war rises between nations.
Entry 6
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Assignment 6: Exploring Personal Context
Reflection:
The biggest part in my life that has affected me in terms of theatre making, planning, or being able to understand production management is my family. Most of my family members play a part in the performing arts industry; I have been to multiple productions in my life, to even going backstage due to the "privileges" I have of knowing someone from the production team. This aspect of my life has shaped me into the person I am, the person who has decided to choose performing arts as a major.
In addition to that, other aspects of my life have shaped the way I see certain things or the way I create things in theatre. In the aspect of culture—I am fully Indonesian—there was one activity we had done in class; the question asked me what kind of theatre would I like to make with no budget limitation. My answer was to make an Indonesian musical that was able to reach Broadway. The pride of my own culture has allowed me to bring that confidence into theatre.
Entry 7
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Assignment 7: Analysing The use of TEAM
The Play: https://edu.digitaltheatreplus.com/content/productions/things-i-know-to-be-true
Entry 8
Monday, September 8, 2025
Assignment 8: Analyze a Theatre Company
Chosen Company: Complicité Theatre Company
Origin:
Complicité— originally known as Théâtre de Complicité— is a British theatre company that was founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, Marcello Magni, and Fiona Gordon.
Reason Works:
Complicité’s recent works include; the dance trilogy Figure in Extinction, the reimagined Mnemonic, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Can I Live?, The Encounter, and The Dark is Rising.
Stylistic Choices:
It is said on their website that they create work that is able to strengthen human connection through the complicit relationship between a performer and their audience. Complicité uses all kinds of mediums to express an artistic intention; theatre, opera, dance, film, radio, installation, publication and participatory arts.
In terms of the play Complicité creates, I have reason to believe that their themes have a connection with each other as they are able to represent something within our real lives; this could be a way they use to be able to connect and have a sense of relatability with the audience as they create a connection between the performer and their audience.
It is also stated how they generally use the language of movement within performances as it is able to build and portray a specific environment, however it also can be stated how Complicité believes that in a performance they do not need a specific atmosphere at times as they are able to reflect it through the use of the actors body.
Reflection:
Based on research, it can be concluded that Complicité has interesting stylistic choices when it comes to a performance. They can be seen to utilize the language that is projected by a performer as a way of creating an atmosphere and adding tension—as they said that without the full use of a performer's body, the performance becomes saggy and is not able to fully project the message to the audience.
In terms of staging, it can be seen the love and continuous use of colorful (yet subtle) lights that are used in the background of performances. It is believed that this is a way of creating an atmosphere in the scenes or dances—in dances it can be a way of portraying the music itself.
Additionally, it is believed that the choices regarding theme have a recurring similarity to one another as it can be seen that Complicité uses almost real-life topics that they twist and turn to become more entertaining, this is used as a way of being able to relate to the audience, allowing them to have a bigger impact and in a way an easier topic for the audience.