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The Shoe-Horn Sonata and Mankind is No Island

 

            The way that we perceive the world is constantly being challenged and altered because of our subjective views of the texts that we read, particularly through distinctively visual techniques. John Misto's play 'The Shoe-Horn Sonata' (1996) and Jason Van Genderen's short film 'Mankind Is No Island' (2008) explores distinct visuals of survival, injustice, triumph of spirit and significance of history.
             Misto provides distinct visuals of the acts of injustice committed against vulnerable groups as a constant reminder to the audience of their inflicted pain and suffering. The projected image of Australian and British female prisoners dressed in rags from camp-style beds in Act 1, Scene 6, portrays their filthy environment during their imprisonment. This scene is reinforced by dim lighting on the empty set to create a foreboding atmosphere and draw attention to Bridie as she enters the set to promote engagement with the audience. Furthermore, this is enhanced by the deafening sound of a machine gun fire and cries of women on a diegetic sound track. This creates a moving visual of the Japanese officers taking part in injustice against innocent women to portray how human life is depicted as worthless and disposable. Misto depicts through distinctive visuals that such acts of injustice against women were also inflicted by the British Empire. Their ignorance is conveyed through colloquial language, 'the British were a bit thick' to criticise their resistance in evacuating their women. The neglect of Australian nurses is also portrayed through dialogue, 'Japanese destroyers had been sighted in the area' to convey that the carelessness of the Empire put innocent women in jeopardy. This creates a frightening atmosphere and shows the viewer how the neglect of their government causes women to be captured and put through terrifying ordeals. This is further enhanced through the repetition, 'it was the thirteenth of Friday.


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