The final project of Studio 1, “The Selfish Giant”, an reproduction of the famous Oscar Wilde fairy tale in a modern setting, is a approximately 10 minutes’ performance which includes 5 parts, “the garden”, “the wall”, “the winter”, “the hole”, and “the spring”. The performance is accompanied by the reading-out-loud of the rewritten story.
The protagonist who was unwilling to share his knowledge locked himself in his room with his 3 walls of books (represented by the tiny house without a window), stayed silent for 5 years, then finally found himself became a giant who is stuck in the room.
The accidental break of his window let him hear a child’s voice and made friend with him (the small hole appear).
The giant found himself no longer able to endure the loneliness each day (a larger hole opens up allowing the audience see more of the interior and the giant stuck inside), so he broke the room wishing to find the child while the eagerness made him increase in size crazily that he became dust in the wind.
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The professor assigned this project in wish that we learn what is the most important part of stories that would not change even in a fake one. So I twisted the plot as much as I could and found that the unchanging parts is the “change”, in other word, the climax of a story is when the difference is made. In the original one, the change is that the giant finding out spring comes into his garden with the children so he put the wall down forever, in mine, that the giant found communicating more fun than being a lonely big brain and broke out his cage. It seems that the story would still be recognisable when any other part is changed.
At the same time, my intention in the way this story is being performed, as a sub-purpose, was to show the importance of interaction. When all the other classmates’ textile works were worn on themselves just walking as if on a stage, mine was dynamic. I still think the destruction is successful powerful act, creating a strong contrast to the tedious (haha but yes) story at the beginning and the slowing cutting out of the holes.
Personally, as I was acting inside this box made of foam core, the experience was pretty unique. Squeezed inside the dark and sweaty hot box for a quite long time, I was actually felt the eagerness for light and fresh air, and most importantly, going back to my seat and be a common person seating with my friends. I think I would like to explore more about the topics like community and interaction.
