"In the doc": Acting Processes in Brian Hill's docudrama, Consent

TY - JOUR

T1 - "In the doc"

T2 - Acting Processes in Brian Hill's docudrama, Consent

AU - Cantrell, Thomas Edward

N1 - © Edinburgh University Press. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2016/7

Y1 - 2016/7

N2 - This article explores Brian Hill’s award-winning docudrama, Consent, from the point of view of the actor. Consideration of actors’ processes has remained conspicuously absent in analyses of docudrama or documentary television. To redress this balance, this article is based on new interview material with Anna Madeley, one of the two leading actors in the piece. A complex blend of fact and fiction, Consent follows a fictional rape trial from the rape itself, the reporting of the attack with the police, the victim’s visit to a doctor, and through to the court case, the jury’s deliberations, and the judge’s verdict. Actors Anna Madeley and Daniel Mays played the victim and perpetrator, but all of the professionals with whom they came into contact – the police, medical professionals, lawyers, judge, court staff and jury members – were played by real people in their professional capacity. To facilitate a consideration of the actor’s perspective, Anna Madeley’s acting processes are explored in detail, with particular focus on her use of memory and recollection, and on her experience of improvisation and the question of agency that the project prompts. This approach demonstrates the value of placing actors’ experiences at the heart of research into television performance, as well as raising searching questions about the way that we understand and codify performance in docudrama.

AB - This article explores Brian Hill’s award-winning docudrama, Consent, from the point of view of the actor. Consideration of actors’ processes has remained conspicuously absent in analyses of docudrama or documentary television. To redress this balance, this article is based on new interview material with Anna Madeley, one of the two leading actors in the piece. A complex blend of fact and fiction, Consent follows a fictional rape trial from the rape itself, the reporting of the attack with the police, the victim’s visit to a doctor, and through to the court case, the jury’s deliberations, and the judge’s verdict. Actors Anna Madeley and Daniel Mays played the victim and perpetrator, but all of the professionals with whom they came into contact – the police, medical professionals, lawyers, judge, court staff and jury members – were played by real people in their professional capacity. To facilitate a consideration of the actor’s perspective, Anna Madeley’s acting processes are explored in detail, with particular focus on her use of memory and recollection, and on her experience of improvisation and the question of agency that the project prompts. This approach demonstrates the value of placing actors’ experiences at the heart of research into television performance, as well as raising searching questions about the way that we understand and codify performance in docudrama.

KW - Docudrama, Acting Processes, Improvisation, Television Documentary, Anna Madeley, Brian Hill, Emotion Memory, Television Acting

KW - Brian hill

KW - Television acting

KW - Television documentary

KW - Emotion memory

KW - Acting processes

KW - Anna madeley

KW - Docudrama

KW - Improvisation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84978886873&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3366/jbctv.2016.0324

DO - 10.3366/jbctv.2016.0324

M3 - Article

SN - 1743-4521

VL - 13

SP - 351

EP - 367

JO - Journal of British Cinema and Television

JF - Journal of British Cinema and Television

IS - 3

M1 - 1

ER -