Research into 'Squatter's'.

As this is going to be our last performance I took this opportunity to take on a character that will differ from the other characters I've played over the two years of studying Performing Arts. For this performance myself and Jay are taking on the role of 'Squatter's'. The background to all of this is that my character, 'Louise' aka 'Lou' was the first to arrive at the Church to live in as a squatter, this is because I was put in care and at the age of 16 nobody wanted me so I was chucked onto the streets forced to live homeless. When Jay's job crumbled and eventually left him jobless and broke he came to the church (as if he was depending on God for help) to where he met me, and decided to live my lifestyle with me. As the riots get worse over the years more people decided to come into the church for safety, for example, Kieran who is a very religious person. Eventually, when the riots hits its climax and nothing can be done to solve it a lot more people come to the church as a 'safe haven' in hope that they will not be found.

I really want to make sure I gain an understanding and characteristics of a squatter so I decided to research pictures, videos etc that would help me during my development.



This video has helped a lot, as I already see how they walk, how they dress, how they talk, their attitudes etc. A lot of them appear to have trolleys too to help them transfer their possessions to and from places as they never seem to have one secure home, always have to be ready to be on the move. 

Furthermore, one thing that did strike me when researching into my character was the title of this next video, "SQUATTING: Alternative Living or a Criminal Act?"
For some it may be an alternative way of living but for others it is considered as a criminal act. In some cases a lot of squatters do shelter in places where warning signs say, "Trespassers will be prosecuted", however, is that choice of sheltering in a place like that just due to desperation or by choice. Again, this video has helped me gain an insight of how they dress and act which will help me when creating my costume for 'Lou'.




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When myself and Jay are first introduced in our piece we are seen to be having an arguement. This arguement is due to 'Mark' (Jay) not wanting to share his home with any other people, he feels that their safety will jeopardize our safety from the riots. However, 'Lou' (myself) feels that if we do chuck them out that they will have no other safe place to go, they will get killed by these rioters. 'Lou' is the sort of person to put others before herself, she likes to care for people and this shows when the audience find out that Mark has not always been a squatter like Lou, he once had a life where he had a family, home and job but soon all of that was destroyed and he found me and I was the one who let him in - and Mark seems to forget this sometimes. If it wasn't for me where would he be?